Page:Honore Willsie--Judith of the godless valley.djvu/176

 You'll have the grandstand with you, every minute, if the judges aren't."

"It will be the big event of my life whether I win or not," said Judith. "What's the matter with Little Marion, Jimmy? I don't even remember her at the rodeo."

"O, she's busy, you see. I never did know a busier girl than Marion. I'm busy too, with Charleton gone so long. And that fourth-class postmaster of ours sent a lot of unclaimed magazines and mail order catalogs up to the house. We've been reading those. Say, I bet I know everything that's for sale in the United States. I'm the most price-listed rider in the Rockies."

"I'll be getting down to see Marion to-night or to-morrow," said Judith.

"O, you needn't bother," returned Jimmy. "It's a long trip, and she'll be all right."

"So you and Little Marion have been baching it!" mused Douglas. "Hang Charleton, he promised to take me out after wild horses!"

"He generally goes by himself." Jimmy mounted his horse. "He's a lone hunter, Charleton."

"When are you folks going to be married?" asked Douglas.

Jimmy turned his roan homeward. "I don't know," he answered soberly.

"I wish I could have gone with Charleton," remarked Douglas, watching Judith as she rubbed Sioux's head.

"Charleton! I should think you'd hate a long trip with that old coyote. I hate him."

"It isn't to be with Charleton I want to go. I want to get me some wild horses. But there was a time when I sure was crazy about being with him. I thought he