ting any of
them," said Ollie.

We called Snoozer back, and soon one of the little animals
cautiously put up his head, saw that the coast was clear, gave
one bark, and all the rest came up, and the concert began as if
nothing had happened.

"I suppose that was the mayor of the town that peeped up
first?" said Ollie. "Yes, or the chief of police," answered Jack.
We camped that night by the bed of a dry creek, and watered the
horses at a settler's house half a mile away.

"That's the most beautiful place for a stream I ever saw,"
observed Jack. "If a man had a creek and no bed for it to run in,
he'd be awfully glad to get that."

The next day was distinctly a prairie-dog day. We passed
dozens of their towns, and were seldom out of hearing of their
peculiar chirp.

"I wonder," said Ollie, "if the bark makes the tail go, or
does the tail set off the bark."

"Oh, neither," returned Jack. "They simply check off the
barks with their tails. There's a National Prairie-Dog Barking
Contest going on, and they are seeing who can yelp the most in a
week. They keep count with their tails."

At the little town of Oelrichs we saw a number of Indians,
since we were again near the reservation. One little girl nine or
ten years old must have been the daughter of an important
personage, since she was dressed in most gorgeous clothes, all
covered with beads and colored porcupine-quill-work. And at last
Ollie saw an Indian wearing feathers. Three eagle feathers stuck
straight up in his hair. He was standing outside of a log house
looking in the window. By-and-by a young lady came to the door of
the house, and as we were nearer than anybody else, she motioned
us to come over.

[Illustration: Big Bear Looks Into the Educational Situation]

"I wish," she said, "that you'd please go around and ask Big
Bear to go away. He keeps looking in the window and bothering the
scholars."

We stepped around the corner, and Jack said: "See here,
neighbor Big Bear, you're impeding the cause of education."

The Indian looked at him stolidly, but did not move.

"Teacher says vamoose--heap bother pappooses," said Jack.

The Indian grunted and walked away. "Nothing like
understanding the language," boasted Jack, as we went back to the
wagon.

At noon we camped beside a stream, but thirty feet above
it. There was a clay bank almost as hard as stone rising
perpendicularly from the water's edge. With a pail and rope we
drew up al