in a yelling heap.

The cowpunchers howled with delight as Chunky, covered with dust, wiping
the sand from his eyes, staggered angrily to his feet.

"Did he kick me?" he demanded.

"With his back, yes," chuckled Shorty Savage.

Again and again the saddle was shot into the air the instant it touched
the pony's back. It was back in place in no time, however. After a time
the broncho paused, as if to devise some new method of getting rid of
the hated thing.

As he did so, Big-foot Sanders cautiously poked a stick under the
animal, pulling the girth toward him. A moment more and he had slipped
it through a large buckle, and, with a jerk, made the girth fast.

Again the bucking began, but more violently than before.

The saddle held, though it slipped to one side a little.

"I've got him now," cried Stallings. "The instant he lets up, catch that
flank girth and make fast."

"Right," answered Big-foot.

It was accomplished almost before the boys realized it.

Walter and his companions set up a shout.

The pony stood panting, head down, legs braced apart. The blinder had
been torn from his eyes. He was waiting for the next move.

"Are you ready for me now?" asked Tad Butler quietly.

The foreman turned his head, glancing at Tad questioningly.

"Think you can stand it?"

"I can't any more than fall off."

Stallings nodded.

Tad slipped to the pony's side. Cautiously placing his left foot in the
stirrups, he suddenly flung himself into the saddle.

The next instant Tad Butler was flying through the air over the pony's
head.

CHAPTER XIX

GRIT WINS THE BATTLE

The lad appeared to strike the ground head-on. Fortunately, the spot
where he landed was covered with soft sand.

"Are you hurt?" asked Big-foot, running to the boy and reaching out to
assist him.

"I guess not," answered Tad, rubbing the sand from his eyes and blinking
vigorously.

The skin had been scraped from his face in spots where the coarse sand
had ground its way through. His hair was filled with the dirt of the
plain, and his clothes were torn.

But Tad Butler, nothing daunted, smiled as he pulled himself to his
feet.

"You better let that job out. You can't ride that critter!"

"I'll ride him--if he kills me!" answered the boy, his jaws setting
stubbornly.

Tad hitched his belt tighter before making any move to approach the
pony, which Stallings was now holding by main force. While doing so, the
lad watched the anim