"I don't believe you are a bit mean," the girl said as she looked back affectionately at the nervous, high-strung animal; "you are just lonely and want to be loved—and understood—that is all, and I doubt if you'd buck a single buck if I rode you right this minute!"
As she reached the gate the Clagstone "Six" glided quietly down the grade from the bench and a moment later Ophelia and Parker joined Carolyn June on the porch. The widow's cheeks were glowing and Parker looked embarrassed and rather upset. His arms were full of bundles.
"Have a good time?" Carolyn June greeted them.
"Fine," Ophelia replied, "spent oodles of money shopping, saw the minister's wife, talked with the editor of the paper and we are going to organize a Chapter—I think we shall call it 'The Amazons of Eagle Butte.'"
"Great," Carolyn June laughed, "you are a hustler, Ophelia! Uncle
Josiah will have a fit. Does Parker know?"
"Yes," the widow answered, her eyes twinkling, as she looked at the sweating foreman of the Quarter Circle KT. "I told him all about it and he is going to give us his moral support."
"Where is Skinny?" Parker interrupted hastily, looking more uneasy and foolish than ever; "why ain't he here?"
Carolyn June told of the happenings of the morning.
"My dear, my dear!" Ophelia cried, shuddering when she heard of Carolyn June's narrow escape from the quicksand. "You must never cross that terrible river again! It's too horrible to think about!"
"It was just 'experience,'" Carolyn June said lightly. "I don't mind it a bit now that it is over. Of course," she added seriously, "I feel badly about Old Blue—and losing Parker's saddle."