CHAPTER XIX
THE WILD STEER
Ponies can not run as fast as can horses, not being as large. But thepony drawing the small cart into which the Bobbsey twins had climbedseemed to go very swiftly indeed. Before Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and DickWeston, the foreman, could hurry outside the ranch house, the pony andcart were quite a distance down the road which led over the prairiesto the distant cattle ranges.
"Oh, the children! What will happen to them?" cried Mrs. Bobbsey, asshe saw the twins being carried away.
"Perhaps Bert can get hold of the reins and stop the pony," said Mr.Bobbsey, as he hurried along with his wife.
"If he can do that they'll be all right," said the foreman. "The ponyis a good one, and I never knew him to run away before. That shot musthave frightened him."
But whatever had caused the pony to run away, the little horsecertainly was going fast. Sitting in the cart, the Bobbsey twins hadbeen too frightened at first to know what was going on. As soon asBert and Nan had followed Flossie and Freddie up into the small cartthe shot had sounded and away the pony galloped, the reins almostslipping over the dashboard.
"Oh, Bert!" cried Nan, grasping Flossie and Freddie around theirwaists so the small twins would not fall out, "what shall we do?"
Bert did not answer just then. For one thing he had to hold on to theside of the cart so he would not be jostled out. And another reason hedid not answer Nan was because he was trying to think what was thebest thing to do.
He looked ahead down the ranch road, and did not see anything intowhich the pony might crash, and so hurt them all. The road was clear.Behind him Bert could hear his mother, his father, and the foremanshouting. Bert hoped some of the cowboys might be there also, and thatthey would run after and stop the pony. But when he looked back he didnot see any of the big, jolly, rough men on their speedy little cowponies.
Bert saw his father and mother, and also Mr. Weston running after thepony cart, and Bert wondered why the foreman did not get on his horseand gallop down the road. Afterward Bert learned that the foreman hadloaned his horse to another cowboy, who had ridden on it to a distantpart of the ranch. And none of the cowboys was near by when the ponyran away.
"Oh, Bert! what will happen?" asked Nan, still holding Flossie andFreddie to keep them from falling out of the swaying cart. "What arewe going to do?"
"I'm going to try to stop this pony!" answered Bert. He saw where thereins had nearly slipped over the dashboard. The reins were buckledtogether, and the loop had caught on one of the ends of thenickle-plated rail on top of the dashboard. Bert leaned forward to gethold of the reins, so he might bring the pony to a stop, but the littlehorse gave a sudden jump just then, as a bird flew in front of him.The reins slipped down and dragged along the ground. Bert could notreach them, and the pony seemed to go faster than ever.
"Oh, dear!" cried Nan. "We'll all be hurt!"
Flossie and Freddie were very much frightened, and clung closely toSister Nan.
But presently Freddie plucked up courage and then grew excited, andafter a minute or two he called out:
"We're havin' a fast ride, we are!"
"Too fast!" exclaimed Bert. "But maybe he'll get tired pretty soon andstop!"
However, the pony did not seem to be going to stop very soon. On andon he ran, with Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey and the ranch foreman being leftfarther and farther behind.
Suddenly, along a side path that joined the main road on which thepony was running away, appeared the figure of a man on a horse. He wastrotting along slowly, at first, but as soon as he caught sight of thepony cart and the children in it, this man made his horse go muchfaster.
"Sit still! Sit still! I'll stop your pony for you!" called the man.
Bert and Nan heard. They looked up and saw the stranger waving hishand to them. He was guiding his galloping horse so as to cut acrossin front of their trotting pony.
In a few moments the man on the big horse was closer. Then began arace between the horse and the pony, and because the horse was biggerand had longer legs it won. The man galloped up beside the pony cart,leaped down from his saddle and caught the pony by the bridle. It waseasy for the man to halt the little horse, and bring the pony to astop.
"There you are, children!" said the man. "Not hurt, I hope?"
"No, sir," answered Bert. "We're all right."
"Thank you," added Nan, for she noticed that Bert was forgetting thisvery important part.
"Oh, yes. Thank you!" said Bert.
"You are quite welcome," the man said, "But you shouldn't try to makeyour pony go so fast."
"We didn't make him go fast," replied Bert "We'd just got in the cart,to see if we would all fit, and somebody shot a gun and the pony ranaway."
"Did he run far?" asked the man.
"Yes, he gave us a long ride," answered Freddie.
"Oh, it wasn't so very far," added Nan. "Though it seemed like a goodway because we went so fast."
"We're from Three Star ranch," explained Bert.
"Oh, so you live on a ranch," said the man. "Well, I'm looking for aranch myself."
"We don't exactly live on a ranch," went on Bert. "But it's mymother's, and we came out West to see it. Before that we were at alumber camp."
"My! you are doing some traveling," exclaimed the man, who was rubbingthe velvet nose of the pony. "Are these some of your friends coming?"he asked, looking down the road.
The Bobbsey twins turned and looked, and saw their father and motherand the foreman hurrying along. When the father and mother saw thatthe pony had been stopped and that the children were safe, they wereno longer frightened.
"He stopped the pony for us," explained Bert, pointing to the strangerwho had mounted his horse as Mr. Weston took hold of the pony'sbridle, so it would not try to run away again.
"You appeared just in time," said Mr. Bobbsey to the strange man. "Thechildren might have been hurt, only for you."
"Well, I'm glad I could stop the runaway," was the answer. "They saidthey lived on a ranch around here."
"Yes, the Three Star," said Mr. Weston. "You look like a cattlemanyourself," he added.
"I am," said the man. "My name is Charles Dayton, and I am looking fora place to work. I was foreman at the Bar X ranch until that outfitwas sold. I've been looking for a place ever since."
"The Bar X!" cried Mr. Weston. "I know some of the cowboys over there.And so you are looking for a place as foreman. Why, this is strange.Mrs. Bobbsey here, the owner of Three Star, is looking for a foreman.I'm going to leave."
"Well, I would be very glad to work for Mrs. Bobbsey at Three Star,"said Mr. Dayton.
"Are you any relation to a Bill Dayton?" asked Mr. Bobbsey, while Bertand Nan listened for the answer. Flossie and Freddie were out of thecart now, gathering prairie flowers, and did not pay much attention tothe talk.
"Bill Dayton is my brother," answered Charles Dayton. "But I did notknow he was around here. The last I heard of him he was in the lumberbusiness."
"And he is yet!" exclaimed Mrs. Bobbsey. "He is foreman of a lumbertract my uncle left me."
"And if you are as good a cattleman as your brother is a lumberman Ithink we can find a place for you at Three Star," said Mr. Bobbsey.
"I can tell you Mr. Dayton is a good cattleman," said Mr. Weston. "Hehad to be, to act as foreman at Bar X ranch. You won't make anymistake in hiring him."
"Will you come to us?" asked Mr. Bobbsey who seemed to have taken asmuch of a liking to the newcomer as had the children.
"Well, I'm looking for a place," was the answer, "and I'll do my bestto suit you. It's queer, though, that you know my brother Bill."
"He mentioned you," said Mr. Bobbsey, "but he said he had lost trackof you."
"Yes, we don't write to each other very often. Both of us have beentraveling around a lot. But now, if I settle down, I'll send Bill aletter and tell him where I am."
There was room for Mrs. Bobbsey in the pony cart, and she rode backwith the children. There seemed to be no dang
er now, for the littlehorse had quieted down.
"He hadn't been out of the stable for some time, and that's what madehim so frisky," said the foreman, who was soon going to leave ThreeStar. "He won't run away again."
And Toby, which was the name of the pony, never did. Bert and Nandrove him often after that, and there never was a bit of trouble. EvenFreddie and Flossie were allowed to drive, when Bert or Nan sat on theseat near them, in case of accident.
Mr. Charles Dayton soon proved that he was a good cattleman, and hewas made foreman of Three Star ranch after Dick Weston left. Thecowboys seemed to like their new foreman.
"And, now that you are one of us here," said Mrs. Bobbsey to her newforeman, "don't forget to write and let your brother know where youare."
"I'll do that!" promised the cattleman.
Busy and happy days on the ranch followed. While Mr. and Mrs. Bobbseylooked after the new business of raising and selling cattle, theBobbsey twins had good times. The new foreman and the cowboys werevery fond of the children, and were with them as much as they could beduring the day. They took them on little picnics and excursions, andtwo small ponies were trained so Bert and Nan could ride them. As forFlossie and Freddie, they had to ride in the cart. Freddie wanted tobe a cowboy, and straddle a pony as Bert did, but his mother thoughthim too small. But Freddie and Flossie had good times in the cart, sothey did not miss saddle rides.
Bert and Nan were very fond of their ponies. The little horses soongrew very tame and gentle, though Bert and his sister did not go veryfar away from the main buildings unless some of the cowboys were withthem.
One afternoon, when they had been on the ranch about a month, and wereliking it more and more every day, Bert and Nan asked their mother ifthey could ride on their ponies across the fields to gather a new kindof wild flower a cowboy had told them about.
"Yes, you may go," Mrs. Bobbsey said. "But be careful, and do not ridetoo far. Be home in time for supper."
"We will," promised Bert.
He and Nan set off. It was pleasant riding over the green prairie. Nowand then the children saw little prairie dogs scurrying in and out oftheir burrows. And once they saw a rattlesnake. But the serpentcrawled quickly out of the way, and Bert and Nan did not stop to seewhere it went. They hurried on.
They reached the little hollow in the hills where the red flowersgrew, and, getting out of their saddles, began to pick some.
"They'll make a lovely bouquet for the living room," said Nan.
"Yes, but I guess we have enough," said Bert, "I don't want to stayhere too long. Mr. Dayton promised to show me how to throw a lassoto-day, and I've got to learn; that is, if I'm going to be a cowboy."
"All right," agreed Nan. "We'll get in a minute. I want to get just afew more flowers." She was gathering another handful of the redblossoms when suddenly she looked up, and something she saw on top ofa little hill caused her to cry:
"Oh, Bert, look! Look! What's that?"
Bert glanced up. He saw a wild steer looking at him and his sister.The big animal was lashing his tail from side to side and pawing theearth with one hoof. Suddenly it gave a loud bellow and rushed downthe slope.