"Oh, I'm afraid you couldn't come--Curlytop," said the foreman,
giving Teddy the name almost everyone called him at first sight, and
this was the first time Jim Mason had seen Teddy.

"No, you little folks must stay at home," added Uncle Frank.

"Are you really going after Indians?" Teddy wanted to know.

"Yes, to find out if they took any of my ponies. You see," went on
Uncle Frank, speaking to Daddy and Mother Martin as well as to the
Curlytops, "the Indians are kept on what is called a 'reservation'
That is, the government gives them certain land for their own and
they are told they must stay there, though once in a while some of
them come off to sell blankets and bark-work at the railroad stations.

"And, sometimes, maybe once a year, a lot of the Indians get tired
of staying on the reservation and some of them will get together and
run off. Sometimes they ride away on their own horses, and again they
may take some from the nearest ranch. I guess this time they took
some of mine."

"And how will you catch them?" asked Mrs. Martin.

"Oh, we'll try to find out which way they went and then we'll follow
after them until we catch them and get back the ponies."

"It's just like hide-and-go-seek, isn't it, Uncle Frank?" asked Janet.

"Yes, something like that But it takes longer."