Mrs. Merkel's remarks were interrupted by louder shouts from the corral, and Nell heard cries of:
"Try it again, Bud!"
"You missed him clean, that time!"
"How'd you like that mouthful of dust?"
"Git up an' ride 'im, cowboy!"
Like an echo to these sarcastic exclamations, Nell heard the voice of her brother Burton, commonly known as Bud, answer:
"I'll do it yet! Just you wait!"
"I wonder what Bud's trying to do?" murmured Nell.
"Oh, run along and look if you want to," suggested Mrs. Merkel, with a kind regard for Nell's curiosity. "I'll finish the pie."
"Thanks!" And Nell, not even pausing to clap a hat over her curls, hastened out into the yard, across the stretch of grass that separated the main house from the other buildings of Diamond X and was soon approaching the corral where were kept the cow ponies needed for immediate use by the owner, his family or the various hands on the big estate.