Part 19 (1/2)

”Right away, Pete,” was the answer as the cowboy coiled his rope for a throw. Then, galloping his pony up behind the steer, Buster threw the lariat over the head of the animal, and brought it with a thud to the ground.

”Oh, am I safe?” gasped Mr. Bunn as he sank down on some saddles that had been removed from the horses.

”You're all right now,” Paul a.s.sured him. ”But it certainly was a lively time while it lasted.”

”That's so,” agreed Russ, who had not deserted his camera. ”But why didn't you run toward me while you were at it. I could have made better pictures then.”

”Do you--do you mean to say you took a film of me running away from that--that cow?” panted Mr. Bunn, who had lost his tall silk hat early in the chase.

”Well, I just couldn't help it,” confessed Russ. ”It was too good to miss. I think I got most of it.”

”Where's Mr. Pertell?” demanded Mr. Bunn, getting up quickly. ”I want to see the manager at once.”

”What's the trouble?” asked that gentleman, as he came up.

”I demand that you destroy that film of me being chase by a cow!” cried Mr. Bunn. ”I shall be the laughing stock of all the moving picture theaters of the United States. I demand that that film be not shown. To be chased by a _cow_!”

”But it wasn't a cow, my friend,” spoke the foreman. ”It was a vicious steer and you might have been badly hurt if Buster hadn't roped it in time.”

”Is that so?” asked Mr. Bunn.

”It sure is!”

”Well, er--then--perhaps after all, if it was as important as that, you may show the film,” conceded the Shakespearean actor, who had a large idea of his own importance. ”We might make it into some sort of a play like 'Quo Vadis?'” he went on.

”Hardly,” said Mr. Pertell with a smile. ”They didn't wear tall silk hats in those days. But I'll change the script of this play to conform to the chase. I'm glad you were not hurt, Mr. Bunn.”

”So am I. I thought several times that I felt those horns in my back.”

The vicious steer was held by the ropes until the company of players had left the scene. Then it was allowed to get up and join the rest of the bunch. By that time it seemed to have lost all desire to attack.

”Sometimes a steer will come for a person that isn't on horseback,”

explained Pete Batso. ”You see, the cattle are so used to seeing mounted men that they can't get used to anyone afoot. You want to get your players mounted,” he added to Mr. Pertell, who was a fair horseman, and who was on this occasion in the saddle.

”I guess I will,” agreed the manager. ”Some of the young ladies are quite anxious to try it, if you have some gentle mounts.”

”Oh, I think I can fix them up. My boys will quarrel among themselves, though, for the privilege of giving lessons to 'em. You see we don't get much of ladies' society out here and we appreciate it so much the more.”

”I see,” laughed Mr. Pertell.

The next few days were given over to horseback practice on the part of all the members of the moving picture company save Mrs. Maguire. She declared she was too old to learn, and as she would not be required in mounted scenes she was excused. But her little grandchildren were provided with gentle ponies and taught how to sit in the saddle. Mr.

DeVere had ridden in his youth, and the knack of it soon came back to him, though he was a trifle heavy. Paul took to it naturally, and Miss Pennington and Miss Dixon were soon able to hold their own, as was Ruth.

But Alice was the ”star,” according to Baldy Johnson, who insisted on being her instructor. She was an apt pupil, and he was a good and conscientious teacher. In less than a week Alice was very sure of herself in the saddle.

”Oh, it's simply great! It's wonderful!” she cried as she came back one day from a gallop, with red cheeks and eyes that sparkled with the light of health and life. ”I wouldn't have missed it for anything!”

”I am glad you like it,” said her father. ”It is good exercise for you.”