“Twenty-five miles!” repeated the stranger, turning about in his saddle and looking back over the way he had come. “That’s a long pull for a tired horse!”
“Hadn’t you better stop and take a rest?” asked Ned, who had learned how to be hospitable since he came to Texas. “My father’s rancho is only five miles from here, and every house is a hotel in this country.”
“I am obliged to you, but I can’t stop,” replied the stranger, quickly. “I am in a great hurry. I must take the straightest course for the river, and I don’t want to go by any ranchos. When night overtakes me I can camp on the prairie. I am used to it. But I wish I had a fresh horse: How will you trade?”
“Trade!” cried Ned, jumping to his feet, and looking first at the stranger’s fine animal and then at his own homely beast. “I’ll trade; but you’ll have to go home with me to get the boot you want.”
“I can’t stop for that, and besides, I may not ask any boot. All I want is a fresh horse and a fast one.”
“O, mine is fast and as fresh as a daisy!” exclaimed Ned, highly elated over the prospect of becoming the owner of the handsomest horse he had ever seen. “And he can stand the pace, too. The man I bought him of says there’s no tire out to him.”
The Unlucky Horse Trade.
“I know a good animal when I see him,” answered the man, with a smile. “I’ll trade my horse, saddle and bridle, even for yours. What do you say?”
“I say, I’ll do it!” said Ned, who was so delighted that he could scarcely speak.