"I said she might join the club," reiterated Tad.

"Then I resign," declared Chunky.

"All right," retorted Tad. "Jinny's
better than no horse at all. And you haven't any."

"Yes, but my uncle is going to get me one next week. He's going to buy
the handsomest one he can find out at the McCormick ranch," chortled
the fat boy.

"Gid-ap!" commanded Tad, his face sobering. "I don't care. I'll show
them yet," he gritted, urging old Jinny along with sundry coaxes and
promises of a real meal upon their arrival home.

Though the boy tried to keep his purchase a secret until he should
have conditioned the mare a little, Stacy Brown lost no time in
informing the other members of the club, and through them the news
soon became the property of the village. As a result, Tad was the butt
of many jokes and jibes, to all of which he returned a quiet smile,
registering a mental promise to "show them."

In two weeks time he had worked a marvelous change in Jinny. One who
had seen her on the day the boy brought her home, would scarcely have
recognized in her the old, wind-broken skeleton that she had appeared
two weeks previously.

By this time, Tad was beginning to use her to haul up wood which he
had gathered in a patch of forest below the village. He would first
gather and pile the poles; then, wrapping a rope about all he