Free The Dude Wrangler by Caroline Lockhart

frightened me."
    Not to be outdone in sensational experiences, Mrs. Stott averred positively:
    "There was somewild animal running over our tent. I could hear its sharp claws sticking into the canvas. A coyote, I fancy."
    "A ground-squirrel, more likely," remarked Mr. Appel.
    Mr. Stott smiled at him:
    "Squee-rrel, if you will allow me to again correct you."
    "I guess I can't help myself," replied Mr. Appel, drily.
    Mr. Stott shrugged a shoulder and his tolerant look said plainly that, after all, one should not expect too much of a man who had begun life as a "breaker-boy."
    "The squee-rrel or coyote or whatever it was," Mrs. Stott continued, "went pitter-patter, pitter-patter-so!" She illustrated with her finger-tips on the oil-cloth.
    "Prob'ly a chipmunk," said Pinkey, prosaically.
    "Are they dangerous, Mr. Fripp?" inquired Miss Gaskett.
    "Not unless cornered or wounded," he replied, gravely.
    This was a joke, obviously, so everybody laughed, which stimulated Pinkey to further effort. When Mr. Hicks poured his cup so full that the coffee ran over he remarked facetiously:
    "It won't stack, cookie."
    Coffee-pot in hand, Mr. Hicks drew himself up majestically and his eyes withered Pinkey.
    "I beg to be excused from such familiarity, and if you wish our pleasant relations to continue you will not repeat it."
    "I bet I won't joshhim again," Pinkey said, ruefully, when Mr. Hicks returned to the kitchen in the manner of offended royalty.
    "Cooks are sometimes very peculiar," observed Mr. Stott, buttering his pancakes lavishly. "I remember that my mother-my mother, by the way, Mr. Penrose, was a Sproat--"
    "Shoat?" Old Mr. Penrose, who complained of a pounding in his ears, was not hearing so well in the high altitude.
    Mr. Appel and Pinkey tittered, which nettled Mr. Stott and he shouted:
    "Sproat! An old Philadelphia family."
    "Oh, yes," Mr. Penrose recollected. "I recall Amanda Sproat-she married a stevedore. Your sister?"
    Mr. Stott chose to ignore the inquiry, and said coldly:
    "My father was in public life." He might have added that his father was a policeman, and therefore his statement was no exaggeration.
    Everybody felt that it served Mr. Penrose right for telling about the stevedore when he was seized with a violent fit of coughing immediately afterward. Wiping his streaming eyes, he looked from Wallie to Pinkey and declared resentfully:
    "This is the result of your reckless driving. The cork came out of my cough syrup in the suitcase. The only way I can get relief from the irritation is to apply my tongue to the puddle. I shall have to lick my valise until I can have the prescription refilled in Prouty."
    The culprits mumbled that they "were sorry," to which Mr. Penrose replied disagreeably that that did not keep him from "coughing his head off!"
    Looking sympathetically at Pinkey, Miss Eyester, for the purpose of diverting the irascible old gentleman's attention from the subject, asked when she might take her first riding lesson.
    Pinkey said promptly: "This mornin'-they's nothin' to hinder."
    "That's awfully good of you, Mr. Fripp," she said, gratefully.
    Pinkey, who always jumped when any one called him "Mister," replied bluntly:
    "Tain't-I wantta."
    "We'll all go!" Mrs. Stott cried, excitedly.
    "Shore." There was less enthusiasm in the answer.
    "We were so fortunate as to be able to purchase our equipment for riding broncos before coming out here," explained Mr. Budlong. "There is an excellent store on the Boardwalk and we found another in Omaha."
    "We have divided skirts and everything! Just wait till you see us!" cried Mrs. Budlong. "And you'll take our pictures, won't you, Mr. Penrose?"
    "I don't mind wasting a couple of films," he consented.
    Between the pancakes and the prospective riding lesson the atmosphere cleared and everyone's spirits rose so that the slightly strained relations were again normal by the time they got up from the table.
    They were as eager as children as they opened their trunks for their