"This isn't a 'General Culture Club,' Sarah Blake," scolded Kitty. "We didn't come to the Blue Bonnet ranch for mutual improvement—but for fun!"
"We'll make a bonfire of those books," warned Blue Bonnet.
"All the Spanish that I can absorb through my—pores, is welcome to stick," said Debby, "but I'm not going to dig for it."
Sarah tactfully changed the subject. "Your house is a good way from the gate, Blue Bonnet," she remarked.
"Nearly two miles," Blue Bonnet smiled.
"There's nothing like owning all outdoors!" commented Kitty.
"Grandfather used to own nearly all outdoors," returned Blue Bonnet. "When father was a little boy nobody had fences and the cattle ranged through two or three counties. But now we keep a lot of fence-riders, who don't do a thing but mend fences, day after day. There's the bridge,—now as soon as we cross the river you can see the ranch-house."
"Is this what you call the 'river?'" Sarah asked, as they rattled over the pretty little stream.
"We call it a 'rio' in Texas, and you'd better not insult us by calling it a creek, Señorita Blake," Blue Bonnet warned her.
"I won't—'rio' is such a pretty name," said Sarah, making a mental note of it for future use.