"I forgot you were tenderfeet, boys. We call a grizzly by that name out here. This fellow we have known for some time. Hunting him has never proven a profitable business, and, as
a rule, he has never before come so far out in the open; but hunger tempted the old chap, and the man who galloped in told me he was even then dragging the yearling he had killed in the direction of the hills."
"Oh! if we could only get there in time to see them shoot him!" exclaimed Will, hitching his camera a little closer to his body.
"That's just what you're going to see. I sent word that he was not to be hurt until we arrived. Horses are being hitched up for us all. I suppose you can ride, boys?" inquired the owner of the ranch.
"To a certain extent, though I suppose your cowboys will think us pretty punky at it," answered Jerry.
"But we mean to learn everything we can while here," piped up Bluff earnestly.
"Good for you! These horses are only old plugs, however, so there's no fear of them running away with you; and here they come."
Several cowboys came toward them, each leading a number of horses. Frank thought that for "old plugs," the four intended for himself and chums possessed considerable of the fire that had animated them in other years.
"Up you go, boys. Take your pick. Then we're off."
Each seized upon the nearest animal, and, making use of the stirrup, threw himself into the saddle. As Jerry had said, all of them had frequently ridden at home, and indeed considered that they knew as much about a saddle as the average boy of the East; but that amounted to very little out here, where every one almost lived upon the back of a broncho.