"We don't exactly live on a ranch," went on Bert. "But it's my mother's, and we came out West to see it. Before that we were at a lumber camp."
"My! you are doing some traveling," exclaimed the man, who was rubbing the velvet nose of the pony. "Are these some of your friends coming?" he asked, looking down the road.
The Bobbsey twins turned and looked, and saw their father and mother and the foreman hurrying along. When the father and mother saw that the pony had been stopped and that the children were safe, they were no longer frightened.
"He stopped the pony for us," explained Bert, pointing to the stranger who had mounted his horse as Mr. Weston took hold of the pony's bridle, so it would not try to run away again.
"You appeared just in time," said Mr. Bobbsey to the strange man. "The children might have been hurt, only for you."
"Well, I'm glad I could stop the runaway," was the answer. "They said they lived on a ranch around here."
"Yes, the Three Star," said Mr. Weston. "You look like a cattleman yourself," he added.
"I am," said the man. "My name is Charles Dayton, and I am looking for a place to work. I was foreman at the Bar X ranch until that outfit was sold. I've been looking for a place ever since."
"The Bar X!" cried Mr. Weston. "I know some of the cowboys over there.
And so you are looking for a place as foreman. Why, this is strange.
Mrs. Bobbsey here, the owner of Three Star, is looking for a foreman.
I'm going to leave."
"Well, I would be very glad to work for Mrs. Bobbsey at Three Star," said Mr. Dayton.