"Whenever there is a rain, or in winter, the roads are impassable, you know, Bob," added Mrs. Brewster. "I'd love to have a car just for fun, but there is no pleasure in riding it around the farm where I know every foot of ground. And excepting on our own land, there are no decent roads."
"I never thought of that!" admitted Barbara.
"So we make the best of things, and ride to the fair in a wagon that will hold a village of people," concluded Polly.
"I think it will be heaps of fun to camp right in town where crowds of other folks are camping," said Eleanor, giggling.
"It is. You never know who your next-door neighbor is going to be," laughed Polly. "Once, we camped right next to a horse-thief who was wanted by the sheriff. My, but we had an exciting time when he crawled into mother's bed and hid!"
"Polly! You forgot to say that this happened while we were at the fair and he was driven from his own tent," hastily added Mrs. Brewster, while the others laughed heartily at Polly's omission.
At these yearly events, every workhand on a ranch went to the fair, whether the cattle starved or not. But with Mr. Brewster's help, it was so planned that half of them went from Monday morning until Tuesday noon, and then the other half went from Tuesday noon until Wednesday night. In this way each side had plenty of time to spend their hoardings, and to drink all the "Sure Death" whisky that could be had in Oak Creek.
The great ranch-wagon rumbled away Monday noon, and a gay party it carried, too. The tents were tightly rolled and tied to the sides, while rolls of bedding and hampers of food were stacked under the high front seat. Hard wooden seats were clamped to each side for the travelers to sit upon.
Tom Latimer and John kept every one laughing, so that no one complained of the uncomfortable seats that seemed to grow harder the nearer the travelers came to Oak Creek.
Then the party drew near their objective. But such a different Oak Creek from its usual sleepy appearance! The entire countryside, outside of the settlement proper, was dotted with canvas tents, and campers were running back and forth. Just to the right of the town stood a vast tent, like a circus canvas; and in line with it were several smaller ones.