“Right away. I’ll tell my wife.” He walked swiftly toward the house.
“Looks like business,” Teddy declared. “How’d you find Star?”
“O. K. Jules Kolto fixed him up for me. He’ll be all right to ride. Take some of the stiffness out of him. Come on, let’s get going.”
“Hey!” Mr. Ball called from the porch. Then, as he recalled the sick man within, he motioned with his arm. When Teddy and Roy approached, he said: “We’ll get some chuck first. Might be a long ride.”
He, Teddy, Roy, and Bug Eye ate together. In the middle of the meal Mr. Ball saw the cut on Roy’s head, as the boy unwittingly brushed back his hair. The rancher heard the story of the spill into the river and insisted that Roy should see the doctor before the party started.
So with a strip of adhesive tape covering the wound, Roy mounted Star and waited for Mr. Ball to give the signal to start. The doctor had declared that Roy’s cut was superficial, and there would be no danger in riding.
“All set, boys?” Mr. Ball called. He had provided Teddy and Roy with dry clothes—although their own were nearly dry by that time—and with guns.
“All set, boss,” Bug Eye answered. “Let’s go!”
The three girls, Nell, Ethel, and Belle Ada, waved to them from the porch.
“Good luck!” Belle called softly.