at having escaped with my life that I didn't mind a little thing like
that."

The three boys laughingly voted Mr. Melton's story a "curly wolf," and
then, as it was getting late, trooped off to bed.




CHAPTER VIII

With Teeth and Hoofs


One of the most important of the many industries of the ranch was the
breeding of horses for the Eastern market. Mr. Melton had a number of
fine horses, but the most valuable of all was Satan, a big black
stallion. His pedigree was as long as his flowing tail, and physically he
was a perfect specimen. His only drawback was a fiendish temper, which it
seemed impossible to subdue. Strangers he would never tolerate, and Mr.
Melton seemed to be the only man on the ranch that could go near him
without running a chance of being badly kicked or bitten. Even he was
always very careful to keep an eye out for mischief whenever in the
neighborhood of the stallion.

All the cowboys hated Satan, and with good reason. More than one of them
bore marks of the horse's sharp teeth, and all of them could tell stories
of narrow escapes experienced while feeding him or otherwise going
through duties that called them into the neighborhood of the beautiful
but vicious animal.