"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 costumes, and even Aunt Lizzie Philbrick, who had once ridden a burro in Old Mexico, declared her intention of trying it.
While the "dudes" dressed, Pinkey and Wallie went down to the corral to saddle for them.
"We better let her ride the pinto," said Pinkey, casually.
"'Her?'" Wallie looked at his partner fixedly. "Which 'her'?"
"That lady that's so thin she could hide behind a match and have room left to peek around the corner. She seems sickly, and the pinto is easy-gaited," Pinkey explained, elaborately.
"All right," Wallie nodded, "and we'll put Aunt Lizzie on the white one and give Mrs. Budlong----"
"Kindly assign me a spirited mount," interrupted Mr. Stott, who, as to costume, was a compromise between an English groom and a fox-hunter.
Wallie looked dubious.
"Oh, I understand horses," declared Mr. Stott, "I used to ride like an Indian."
"The buckskin?" Wallie asked doubtfully of Pinkey.
Pinkey hesitated.
"You need not be afraid that he will injure me. I can handle him."
Wallie, who never had heard of Mr. Stott's horsemanship, consented reluctantly.
"I prefer to saddle and bridle myself, also," said Mr. Stott, when the buckskin was pointed out to him.
Wallie's misgivings returned to him and Pinkey rolled his eyes eloquently when they saw "the man who understood horses" trying to bridle with the chin-strap and noted that he had saddled without a blanket.
Mr. Stott laughed inconsequently when the mistake was pointed out to him and declared that it was an oversight merely.
"Now, if you will get me something to stand on I am ready to mount."
Once more Pinkey and Wallie exchanged significant glances as the man "who used to ride like an Indian" climbed into the saddle like someone getting into an upper berth in a Pullman.
Mr. Stott was sitting with the fine, easy grace of a clothespin when the rest of the party came down the path ready for their riding lesson.
Neither Pinkey nor Wallie was easily startled, but when they saw their guests the most their astonishment permitted was an inarticulate gurgle. Dismay also was among their emotions as they thought of conducting the party through Prouty and the Yellowstone. Wallie had his share of moral courage, but when they first met his vision he doubted if he was strong enough for the ordeal.