"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 desire to be dubbed a tenderfoot; and now, except for its spotless newness, his costume was quite "Western and ranchified"—according to Blue Bonnet.
"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 a substantial appearance and himself no end of comfort. A soft shirt and a carelessly knotted bandana gave the finishing touches to his attire. He had even turned in the neck of his shirt so as to be quite one of the cowmen, secretly hoping that the girls would not notice how white his throat was.
It was a gay cavalcade that cantered out of the big corral, the five girls 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 it all.
"Lucky we're not on the streets of Woodford," remarked Alec, looking with amused eyes over the well mounted company.
"Why?" asked Blue Bonnet a trifle resentfully. "Aren't we grand enough for the East?"
"Sure! But I'm afraid we'd be arrested for running a circus without a license!"