"Well," scoffed Vi, his twin, "you can sit down and think of your old riddle if you want to. I'm going to pick flowers for mother."
"There must be some nice flowers here," agreed Rose. "I'll go look, too, Vi."
"Me want to pick flowers!" cried Mun Bun eagerly.
He always wanted to do anything the older children did. And picking flowers was one thing Mun Bun could do pretty well, little as he was. Holding a hand each of Rose and Vi he trudged off from the ranch house. Russ and Margy and Laddie came after. Russ and Laddie were still discussing the matter of putting on their cowboy suits so as to help herd the cattle with Cowboy Jack's "other hands." Just at this time, however, they became more interested in picking flowers.
For they did find pretty blossoms along the wagon track they followed. The ranch house was soon out of sight, for the children went over a little ridge and then down into a swale in which were clumps of low trees. It was quite a pretty country, and there was much to interest them.
At one place something jumped out of the shrub and went leaping away along the wagon track with great bounds.
"A rabbit!" cried Laddie. "Oh, such a big rabbit!"
"The very longest legs I ever saw," agreed Russ. "And long ears—like those on the mules in the corral."
"And he thumps the ground just like a horse stamping," said Rose. "There he goes out of sight. I—I believe I would be afraid of that rabbit if he came at me."
"Well, he is going, not coming," remarked Russ. "I want to see where he went."