"Was he going to show fight?" asked Mr. Hurd.
"He was, but he couldn't scare me," answered Gabe, as he explained the outcome of the interview. One of the miners led the bronco back to the cattlemen, receiving Will's horse in exchange, and then the three from the Diamond T Ranch turned off on another trail, and were soon lost to sight.
"Cowboys are all right," said Mr. Harrison, "but they're too much up to tricks to suit me. Hereafter, we'll be more careful who we travel with. How are you feeling, Will?"
"Pretty fair, now, Mr. Harrison, but that was certainly a shock to my system."
"Yes, a bucking bronco is about as bad a proposition as anything I want to tackle. I got fooled with one once, and later on I got kicked by a mule. I still prefer the mule."
"Suppose we stop here for grub?" proposed John Curtin. "That will give Will a chance to rest."
"Oh, I'm all right," protested the boy, who did not want to put others to trouble on his account.
"You're all right, except for what happened to you," remarked Jed, with just the suspicion of a smile. He had been quite alarmed at his brother's fall, but he was now relieved, when he found there was nothing serious the matter with him.
"Well, we'll stop here a few hours," decided Gabe. "Jed, if you'll make a fire, I'll get ready to fry some bacon."
"Say, I've eaten so much bacon lately," remarked Jed, "that I'm ashamed to look a pig in the face."