"Well, of course, having a pony makes it easier to keep on the trail. You couldn't go very far walking over the prairies—at least none of us do. We all ride. But I'll tell you some stories about cowboys and Indians and that will amuse you for a while. Like to hear 'em?"
"Oh, yes!" cried Teddy.
"Very much, thank you," added Janet, a little more politely but still just as eagerly as her brother.
So Baldy, sitting on the bench in front of the bunkhouse and resting his lame foot on a saddle on the ground, told the Curlytops stories of his cowboy life—of sleeping out on the prairies keeping watch over the cattle, of Indians or other bad men who would come and try to steal them, and how he and his friends had to give chase to get the steers or ponies back.
"Did you ever get captured by the Indians?" asked Teddy.
"Well, yes, once I was," answered the cowboy.
"Oh, tell us about it!" begged the little Curlytop chap. "I love to hear stories about Indians! Don't you, Jan?"
"I like stories—yes," said the little girl. "But if you're going to tell a story about Indians, Mr. Baldy, maybe it'll be a scary one, and I don't like scary stories."
"I do!" exclaimed Ted. "The scarier they are the better I like 'em!"
Baldy laughed as he said: