n and went slowly toward where the other had
been. Another whirred away like a shot. Jack fired, but missed
it. We started on, leaving the pony tossing her head and stamping
her feet in a great passion on account of the report of the gun;
but when she saw that we paid no attention to her and were
rapidly going out of sight she turned, after taking a long look
back at distant Prairie Flower, and came trotting along the road,
with her stirrups dangling at her sides, and soon was following
close behind.

Before we realized it the chronometer showed that it was
almost noon. By this time we had left the sea of sunflowers and
crept over the wrinkle at the western edge of the valley, and
were off across the rolling prairie itself. Still Snoozer never
stirred.

"I wonder when he'll wake up?" said Ollie.

"You'll see him awake enough at dinnertime," said Jack.

"Well, you'll see me awake enough then, too," answered Ollie.
"I'm hungry."

"We hardy pioneers plunging into the trackless waste of a new
and unexplored country never eat but one meal a day," said Jack.
"And that's always raw meat--b'ar-meat, generally."

"Well," said Ollie, "I don't see any b'ar-meat, or even
prairie-chicken-meat. Why didn't you hit the prairie-chicken,
Uncle Jack?"

"I'm not used to shooting at such small game," answered Jack,
solemnly. "My kind of game is b'ar--b'ar and other varmints."

Just then we passed a house, and down a little way from it,
close to the road, was a well.

"Here's a good place to have dinner," said Jack; so we drove
out by the side of the road and stopped. "If I'm to be cook,"
said Jack to me, "then you've got to take care of the horses and
do all the outside work. I'll be cook; you'll be rancher. That's
what we'll call you--rancher."

I unhitched the horses, tied them behind the wagon, and gave
them some oats and corn in the feed-box. The pony I fed in the
big tin pail near by. The grass beside the road was so dry, and
it was so windy, that we decided it was not safe to build a fire
outdoors, so Jack cooked pancakes over the oil-stove inside.
These with some cold meat he handed out to Ollie and me as we sat
on the wagon-tongue, while he sat on the dash-board. We were
half-way through dinner when we heard a peculiar whine, followed
by a low bark, in the wagon, and then Snoozer leaped out,
stretched himself, and began to wag his tail so fast that it
looked exactly like a whirling feather duster. We f