Blue Bonnets Ranch Party | Page 9

then, Benita,--I can't."
"The Señora is kind--" Benita began.
"--but firm," added Blue Bonnet. "I leave her to you!"
It was so late before the girls finally settled down into their respective
corners, that it seemed only about five minutes before they were
awakened at daybreak by the most terrific tumult that ever smote the
ears of slumbering innocence.

Bang, bang! Boom, crash, bang! Shouts, yells, wild Comanche-like
cries rent the ear, and punctuated the incessant booming that shook
even the thick adobe walls of the nursery.
Four terrified faces were raised simultaneously from four white beds,
and four voices in chorus whispered: "What is it?" No one dared stir.
Suddenly the door was burst open and in sprang a white-robed figure,
hair flying, eyes wide with terror. Straight to Blue Bonnet's bed the
spectre flew and leaped into the middle of it with a plump that made its
occupant gasp.
"Oh, girls, it's Indians!" wailed the newcomer; and then they saw that it
was Sarah.
"Indians?" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "There aren't any Indians around
here. Get off my chest and I'll go see."
Casting off the bed-clothes and the startled Sarah at the same time, with
one spring Blue Bonnet was at the window. What she saw there was
hardly reassuring; the whole space between the house and the stables
seemed to be filled with a howling, whirling mass of men. In the gray
half-light of early dawn she could recognize no one. Suddenly a fresh
explosion set the windows rattling; there was a hiss and a glare of red.
In the glow she caught a glimpse of Alec; he held a revolver and was
shooting it with sickening rapidity, not stopping to take aim.
Blue Bonnet staggered back faint with horror, and the girls gathered
fearfully about her. Uncle Cliff's voice giving an order came to them
from outside. Blue Bonnet leaned out and shrieked--"Uncle,
Uncle--what's the matter--oh, what is it?"
Never had voice seemed so welcome as those calm, soothing tones,
when Uncle Cliff replied: "Reckon you've forgotten what day it is,
Honey."
Blue Bonnet turned on the girls. "What--what day is it?"

And the light from within was suddenly greater than that from without
as they answered in a sheepish chorus:
"The Fourth of July!"
CHAPTER III
THE GLORIOUS FOURTH
"TO think that a crowd of New England girls, of all people, should
forget the Fourth of July!" exclaimed Alec, when they met around the
big breakfast table, later that morning.
Sarah looked positively pained. "I never forgot it before in my whole
life," she said plaintively. "But there have been so many new things to
think of, and travelling, you know--" she ended lamely.
"Are New England people supposed to be more patriotic than those of
other states?" inquired Blue Bonnet, bristling a little in defence of
Texas.
"Certainly!" cried Alec. "New England folks are fed on Plymouth Rock
and the Declaration of Independence from the cradle to the grave.
That's the diet of patriots."
"H'm!" murmured Blue Bonnet scornfully. "I'll wager that Patriot Alec
Trent would have forgotten Independence Day, too, if Uncle Cliff
hadn't let him into the secret. Now I know, Uncle Cliff, what was in
that box labelled 'dangerous.' Wasn't I a goose not to think of it? And
Uncle Joe telegraphed so as to get us here in time. Grandmother," here
she turned a rueful countenance on Mrs. Clyde, "going to school hasn't
helped my head a bit, I'm just downright dull."
Uncle Cliff gave an amused laugh. "I'm glad to have caught you
napping for once, young lady. Now, as soon as Gertrudis stops sending
in corncake, I propose that we adjourn to the stables and look over the
mounts. Pinto Pete says he has a nice little bunch of ponies."

"Why do they call him 'Pinto?'" asked Debby. "I thought that meant a
spotted horse."
"Haven't you noticed Pete's freckles?" asked Uncle Joe. "He has more
and bigger ones than any other human in Texas, and the boys called
him 'Pinto Pete' the first minute they clapped eyes on him. He don't
mind--it's the way of the West."
"And is 'Shady' a nickname, too?" Debby asked.
"No--just short for good old-fashioned Shadrach. Shadrach Stringer's
his name, and he's the best twister in the county."
Debby had a third question on her lips but checked it as she met Kitty's
saucy eye. Kitty, known as "Little Miss Why," was always on the alert
to bequeath the name to a successor. But Sarah saw none of the by-play
and asked at once:
"What's a 'twister?'"
"A bronco buster," replied Uncle Joe.
Sarah's look of mystification at this definition sent Alec off into a fit of
laughter. Blue Bonnet came to the rescue. "A twister breaks in the wild
horses, Sarah. Some day we'll