holler. But no sound cowboys'll ever stand for a disgrace like that.
Why, down at the bunks in the evenin's it's some mortifyin' the way
Monty an' Link crow over the rest of the outfit. They've taken on
superior airs. You couldn't reach up to Monty with a trimmed spruce
pole. An' Link--wal, he's just amazin' scornful.

"'It's a swell game, ain't it?' says Link, powerful sarcastic. 'Wal,
what's hurtin' you low-down common cowmen? You keep harpin' on Monty's
game leg an' on my game leg. If we hed good legs we'd beat you all the
wuss. It's brains that wins in gol-lof. Brains an' airstoocratik blood,
which of the same you fellers sure hev little.'

"An' then Monty he blows smoke powerful careless an' superior, an' he
says:

"'Sure it's a swell game. You cow-headed gents think beef an' brawn
ought to hev the call over skill an' gray matter. You'll all hev to back
up an' get down. Go out an' learn the game. You don't know a baffy from
a Chinee sandwich. All you can do is waggle with a club an' fozzle the
ball.'

"Whenever Monty gets to usin' them queer names the boys go round kind of
dotty. Monty an' Link hev got the books an' directions of the game, an'
they won't let the other boys see them. They show the rules, but
that's all. An', of course, every game ends in a row almost before it's
started. The boys are all turrible in earnest about this gol-lof. An' I
want to say, for the good of ranchin', not to mention a possible fight,
that Monty an' Link hev got to be beat. There'll be no peace round this
ranch till that's done."

Madeline's guests were much amused. As for herself, in spite of her
scarcely considered doubt, Stillwell's tale of woe occasioned her
anxiety. However, she could hardly control her mirth.

"What in the world can I do?"

"Wal, I reckon I couldn't say. I only come to you for advice. It seems
that a queer kind of game has locoed my cowboys, an' for the time bein'
ranchin' is at a standstill. Sounds ridiculous, I know, but cowboys are
as strange as wild cattle. All I'm sure of is that the conceit has got
to be taken out of Monty an' Link. Onct, just onct, will square it, an'
then we can resoome our work."

"Stillwell, listen," said Madeline, brightly. "We'll arrange a match
game, a foursome, between Monty and Link and your best picked team.
Castleton, who is an expert golfer, will umpire. My sister, and friends,
and I will take turns as caddies for your team. That will be fair,
considering yours i