cried Molly, eagerly. "I do believe your little Chiquita saved our
lives, Leslie's and mine."

"Tell me what you mean, child. Where is Leslie?" demanded the Gray Lady,
placing her hand on Molly's shoulder and peering into her eyes.

"Why--I mean, what I say, course, Mrs. Ford. But Leslie's all right now.
He's scratched with the briars and torn his clothes and has had to ride
double with a cowboy, or drover, because he couldn't stand Beelzebub
again. Mr. Roderick is riding that creature and--Here, here they are!"

Once in sight of the house most of the party came up at a canter, Mr.
Ford cheerfully saluting his wife, and the others waving their hats and
showing off a few tricks of their steeds--while Dorothy was handed down
from riding-pillion behind her host. Everybody's tongue was loosened at
once and such a hubbub arose that Mrs. Ford clapped her hands to her
ears, then caught hold of Leslie as he slid to the ground and ran like a
girl to the house. She wanted a chance to kiss him before the rest came
in and had learned long before this that her boy "hated coddling."

However, he submitted to a little of it that night with a better grace
than usual, understanding that he had given his mother anxiety; and told
her as briefly as possible the whole story.

"You see, Lady Gray, that 'Sorrel Tenderfoot' was too smart, so came to
grief."

"A good lesson to remember, son."

"Course. Well, he drove into a road, a trail, and got stuck. The horses
bolted, the wagon went to smash and he was hurt. Pretty bad, I guess.
The others weren't at all, only frightened and sort of stunned. They
were in a tight fix. So dark in there they didn't know which way was out
and made up their minds to stay till daylight. That Jim Barlow--I tell
you he's great!--he fixed a bed with the wagon cushions and laid
'Sorrel' on it. Then he felt the man all over and saw his legs and arms
were sound. After that he got the box of the buckboard right side up and
made Dorothy get into that and lie down. He covered her with the robes
and made Manuel promise to stay right beside her while he went back for
help. Dorothy wouldn't let him go, at first, till he made her ashamed
thinking about the 'Tenderfoot.'

"He made his way back all that distance to the main road, just by
noticing the branches that had been broken by their driving in. He was
going to walk back to Denver for help, thinking that was the quickest
way, but when he got out of the woods he cou