CHAPTER III
THE GLORIOUS FOURTH
"TO think that a crowd of New England girls, of all people, shouldforget the Fourth of July!" exclaimed Alec, when they met around thebig breakfast table, later that morning.
Sarah looked positively pained. "I never forgot it before in my wholelife," she said plaintively. "But there have been so many new thingsto think of, and travelling, you know--" she ended lamely.
"Are New England people supposed to be more patriotic than those ofother states?" inquired Blue Bonnet, bristling a little in defence ofTexas.
"Certainly!" cried Alec. "New England folks are fed on Plymouth Rockand the Declaration of Independence from the cradle to the grave.That's the diet of patriots."
"H'm!" murmured Blue Bonnet scornfully. "I'll wager that Patriot AlecTrent would have forgotten Independence Day, too, if Uncle Cliffhadn't let him into the secret. Now I know, Uncle Cliff, what was inthat box labelled 'dangerous.' Wasn't I a goose not to think of it?And Uncle Joe telegraphed so as to get us here in time. Grandmother,"here she turned a rueful countenance on Mrs. Clyde, "going to schoolhasn't helped my head a bit, I'm just downright _dull_."
Uncle Cliff gave an amused laugh. "I'm glad to have caught you nappingfor once, young lady. Now, as soon as Gertrudis stops sending incorncake, I propose that we adjourn to the stables and look over themounts. Pinto Pete says he has a nice little bunch of ponies."
"Why do they call him 'Pinto?'" asked Debby. "I thought that meant aspotted horse."
"Haven't you noticed Pete's freckles?" asked Uncle Joe. "He has moreand bigger ones than any other human in Texas, and the boys called him'Pinto Pete' the first minute they clapped eyes on him. He don'tmind--it's the way of the West."
"And is 'Shady' a nickname, too?" Debby asked.
"No--just short for good old-fashioned Shadrach. Shadrach Stringer'shis name, and he's the best twister in the county."
Debby had a third question on her lips but checked it as she metKitty's saucy eye. Kitty, known as "Little Miss Why," was always onthe alert to bequeath the name to a successor. But Sarah saw none ofthe by-play and asked at once:
"What's a 'twister?'"
"A bronco buster," replied Uncle Joe.
Sarah's look of mystification at this definition sent Alec off into afit of laughter. Blue Bonnet came to the rescue. "A twister breaks inthe wild horses, Sarah. Some day we'll get him to give an exhibition.You'd never believe how he can stick on,--it'll frighten you the firsttime you see it. The way the horse rears and bucks and runs, why--"Blue Bonnet suddenly choked and turned pale. Mrs. Clyde and UncleCliff read her thoughts at the same moment and both rose hurriedly.
"Come on, everybody," exclaimed Mr. Ashe in a resolutely cheerfultone, "we must make the most of the morning."
"Why?" asked Kitty before she thought, and then bit her lip. That word"why" was such a pitfall.
"Everybody has to take a siesta in the afternoon," explained BlueBonnet. "It's too hot to move."
"Every afternoon?" demanded Debby.
"Every afternoon," repeated Uncle Cliff. "Anybody caught awake betweenone and four P. M. will be severely dealt with. It's a law of thehuman constitution and the penalty is imprisonment in the hospital,headache, and loss of appetite."
"What a waste of time," Sarah commented, privately resolving that shewould not spend two or three precious hours every afternoon in sleep.One didn't come to Texas every summer.
"I see mutiny in Sarah's eye," said Blue Bonnet. "Wait till you've hada sunstroke, Sarah, then you'll wish you hadn't possessed such oceansof energy." She had put all unpleasant memories from her by now andwas leading the way to the stables. Straight to Firefly's stall shewent and threw her arms around her old playfellow's neck. In the fewseconds before the others came in she had whispered into his velvetear something that was both a confession and an apology, while Fireflynosed her softly and looked as pleased as a mere horse-countenance iscapable of looking.
"Isn't he a beauty?" she challenged as the rest entered.
"A stunner," Alec agreed warmly, coming up to admire. "Wouldn'tChula's nose be out of joint if she could see you petting Firefly?"
"Victor has a rival too. Where's Alec's horse, Uncle Joe?"
Pinto Pete came up just then, his freckles seeming to the girls toloom up larger and browner than ever now that they knew the origin ofhis nickname. "Shady says the roan's too skittish for any of the youngladies--" he suggested.
"Strawberry?--oh, she's splendid! Alec, you'll think you're in acradle."
The pretty creature, just the color of her namesake, was brought outand put through her paces, and the exhibition proved to thesatisfaction of all the young ladies that Shady's verdict was quitejust. Strawberry pranced, bared her teeth at any approach, and ingeneral did her best to live up to her reputation for skittishness.The fighting blood in Alec made him resolve to change that adjectiveto "kittenish" before he had ridden her many times.
The four ponies provided for the girls were next brought out forinspection, and met with unqualified approval from all but Sarah.These slender, restless little steeds seemed not at all related to thefat placid beasts to which she had heretofore trusted herself. Herface betokened her unspoken dismay.
"Sallikins, I know the best mount for you," exclaimed Kittyinnocently.
"Oh, do you?" cried Sarah hopefully.
"Um-hum,--Blue Bonnet's old rocking-horse in the nursery!" laughedKitty; whereupon Pinto Pete let out a loud guffaw, changing it at onceinto an ostentatious fit of coughing when he saw that Sarah wasinclined to resent Kitty's insult.
Her mild blue eyes almost flashed as she returned: "You can pick outany one of those four horses you choose for me, Kitty Clark, and I'llshow you if I'm afraid to ride!"
This outburst from Sarah the placid rather startled the We are Sevens.But Kitty, after a surprised stare at the ruffled one, picked up thegauntlet. She appraised the horses with a calculating glance, thenpicked out a chestnut who showed the whites of his eyes in a mostterrifying manner.
"How does that one suit you, Senorita Blake?" she asked tauntingly.
"Very well," returned Sarah with a toss of her flaxen braids. This wassheer bravado, but it passed muster. No one dreamed of the shivers ofabject fear that were chasing up and down the girl's spine at sight ofthe fiery little chestnut with the awful eyes.
"Why, that's Comanche!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He has a heavenlygait."
"Comanche!" Alec echoed, and then withdrew hastily to a convenientstall. The thought of the plump, blond Sarah mounted on a steedbearing such a wild Indian name was too much for him. He emerged amoment later very red in the face and unable to meet Blue Bonnet'seye. Their sense of humor was curiously akin, and Blue Bonnet knew,without being told, what mental picture filled Alec's mind.
"Why not have a ride this morning,--there's plenty of time beforenoon," suggested Uncle Joe. "Here, Lupe, bring out the saddles," hecalled.
Guadalupe, the "wrangler," appeared from an inner room, looking like achief of the Navajo tribe, so burdened was he with the bright-huedIndian saddle-blankets. The girls watched him with eager eyes, butwhen he was followed by several boys bearing huge cowboy saddles,there was a little murmur of dismay from the group.
"Men's saddles for us!" exclaimed Debby in a shocked undertone.
Blue Bonnet laughed outright. "Didn't you hear Grandmother say: 'Whenyou're in Texas do as the Texans do?' Well, turn and turn about isfair play. Didn't I ride a side-saddle as proper as pie in Woodford?Now it's your turn."
Sarah gave an approving look at the high pommels of the saddles, andat the strong hair-bridle that was being fitted over Comanche's wickedlittle head.
Blue Bonnet gave the same bridle a look that was far from approving."Lupe, isn't that a Spanish bit you're using?"
"Si, Senorita," said Guadalupe guiltily.
"Then take it right off!" commanded Blue Bonnet in her old imperiousway. "They're cruel wicked things that cut a horse's mouth to pieces,and I won't have them used,"
she explained to the girls. "Lupe knows Ihate them." She turned accusingly on the boy.
Lupe looked at her appealingly. "It is the safer for the Senoritas,"he urged.
Blue Bonnet was inexorable. "We're not going to do any lassoing orbranding, Lupe, and can manage very well without them. We'll have toorganize a humane society, girls, and reform these cruel cowmen," shesuggested.
Lupe discarded the offending bits and substituted others more to theSenorita's liking, and then the girls went in to dress for the ride.
"How can we ride across the saddle in these skirts?" demanded Debby.
Blue Bonnet and Uncle Cliff exchanged a significant glance, the reasonfor which was explained a moment later when the girls entered thenursery. There on the beds lay five complete riding suits: dividedskirts of khaki, "middy" blouses of a cooler material, and soft Panamahats, each wound with a blue scarf and finished with a smart bow.
"How darling of you!" cried the girls, falling on Blue Bonnetrapturously.
"It's all Uncle Cliff," exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He saw some suits likethese in a shop window while we were in New York and went in andordered seven! But Susy and Ruth won't have a chance to wear theirs,"she ended regretfully.
The girls, too excited to spend time mourning the absent ones, werealready getting into the fascinating suits. These were all of a size,close lines not being demanded of a middy blouse, and all werepronounced perfect except Sarah's, which, as Kitty remarked, "fittedtoo soon." Gauntlet gloves and natty riding whips completed theequipment of the riders, and when they went out ready to mount theywere as neat a crowd of equestriennes as ever graced Central Park.
Notwithstanding that they were all dressed alike, each girl'sparticular type stood out quite clearly. Kitty had more "style" thanthe other Woodford girls, and a carriage that had more of consciousvanity in it; her "middy" set more trimly and the little hat was seton her ruddy locks at a little more daring angle than that of theothers. Amanda and Debby appeared the same unremarkable sort ofschoolgirls that they always were. The costume was not designed formaidens of Sarah's build, and it looked quite as uncomfortable on heras she felt in it. Blue Bonnet appeared as she always did in this sortof attire: as though it had grown on her.
"Whew!" exclaimed Alec, "such elegance!"
"Strikes me you're not so slow yourself," returned Kitty. "Isn't he'got up regardless,' girls?"
Alec was dressed for his part with elaborate attention to details. Mr.Ashe had been anxiously consulted, for the Eastern boy had no desireto be dubbed a tenderfoot; and now, except for its spotless newness,his costume was quite "Western and ranchified"--according to BlueBonnet.
"COMANCHE . . . LEAPED FORWARD LIKE A CAT."]
He was in khaki, too, with trousers that tucked into high"puttees"--thick pigskin leggings which gave his long limbs quite asubstantial appearance and himself no end of comfort. A soft shirtand a carelessly knotted bandana gave the finishing touches to hisattire. He had even turned in the neck of his shirt so as to be quiteone of the cowmen, secretly hoping that the girls would not notice howwhite his throat was.
It was a gay cavalcade that cantered out of the big corral, the fivegirls leading; Alec, Pinto Pete, and Uncle Joe forming a rear guard,with Don and Solomon capering at their heels; while a crowd of little"greasers" clung on to the bars, their eyes big with the wonder of itall.
"Lucky we're not on the streets of Woodford," remarked Alec, lookingwith amused eyes over the well mounted company.
"Why?" asked Blue Bonnet a trifle resentfully. "Aren't we grand enoughfor the East?"
"Sure! But I'm afraid we'd be arrested for running a circus without alicense!"
This piece of wit so tickled Pinto Pete that he nearly stampeded thebunch by bursting again into his ear-splitting laugh. Sarah grabbedthe handy pommel with a nervous clutch that was eloquent of her stateof mind. And that action was all that saved her. For Comanche, takingPete's guffaw for a command, leaped forward like a cat, and a momentlater the whole crowd was galloping madly across the level meadow.
It is probable that if Sarah's hair had not already been as light ashair can well be, that wild ride would have turned it several shadeslighter. The terrors that were compressed into those two hours arebeyond description, while the bobbing, bumping and shaking of her poorplump body left reminders that only time and witch hazel were able toeradicate.
When they returned at noon Gertrudis had a wonderful dinner awaitingthem, and the riders, with their appetites freshened by the air andexercise, fell upon it like a pack of famished wolves. All exceptSarah. Protesting that she was not in the least hungry, she went atonce to her room. On the little stand by her bed lay the Spanishgrammar and dictionary, mute evidences of the way she had intended tospend the siesta hour. She gave them not so much as a glance, butstepping out of her clothes left them in a heap where they fell,--anaction indicating a state of demoralization hardly to be believed ofthe parson's daughter,--and flung herself into bed with a groan.
Two hours later she was awakened by the other four girls who hadturned inquisitors, and while two were stripping off the bedclothesthe other two applied a feather to the soles of her feet.
"Oh--is it morning?" gasped Sarah, sitting up and rubbing her eyes."It doesn't seem as if I had been asleep a minute."
"Such a waste of time!" quoted Kitty mockingly. "There's such athing, Sarah, as overdoing the siesta," she taunted.
Sarah drew up her feet and sat on them, smothering the groan thatarose to her lips at the action. Every bone and joint had a new andawful kind of ache, and in that minute Sarah wished she had neverheard of the Blue Bonnet ranch. Just then came the welcome clatter ofdishes and at the doorway appeared Benita bearing a tray of goodthings, while back of her was Grandmother Clyde.
"Now off with you,--you tormentors," the Senora commanded gaily. "Thispoor child must be nearly famished."
"Grandmother's pet!" sang Blue Bonnet over her shoulder, as obeyingorders, the four girls left the suffering Sarah in peace.
Existence assumed a brighter hue to Sarah when she had eaten thegenerous repast Benita set before her; and when she had bathed andrubbed herself with the Pond's Extract Mrs. Clyde had secretlyprovided her with, life seemed once more worth living. But she wasvery quiet and moved with great circumspection for the rest of theday, quite content to leave to the others the handling of thefireworks in the evening.
Uncle Cliff's "dangerous" box yielded still more wonders. The noisybombs and giant crackers of the morning were followed by pyrotechnicsthat aroused unbounded admiration from the grown-ups and caused anexcitement among the small greasers that threatened to end in a humanconflagration. A small fortune went up in gigantic pin-wheels;flower-pots that sent up amazing blossoms in all the hues of therainbow; rockets that burst in mid-air and let fall a shower ofcoiling snakes, which, in their turn, exploded into a myriad stars;Roman candles that sometimes went off at the wrong end and caused awild scattering of the audience in their immediate vicinity; and"set-pieces" that were the epitome of this school of art.
It would have been hard to say which was most tired, the hostess orher guests, when the last spark faded from the big "Lone Star" ofTexas which ended the show. No bedtime frolic to-night; the four inthe nursery undressed in a dead quiet and fell asleep before theirheads fairly touched the pillows. In her own little room Sarah heldanother seance with the witch hazel bottle, and went to sleep only todream of a wild ride across the meadows on Blue Bonnet'srocking-horse, with a fierce band of Comanche Indians pursuing her,yelling fiendishly all the while, and keeping up a mad fusillade ofRoman candles.