But it was too late.
Then Janet and Teddy walked on a little further, until Janet said it
was growing late and they had better go back to the porch where the
others were still talking.
Evening was coming on. The sun had set, but there was still a golden
glow in the sky. Far off in one of the big fields a number of horses
and cattle could be seen, and riding out near them were some of the
cowboys who, after their supper, had gone out to see that all was
well for the night.
"Is all this your land, Uncle Frank!" asked Teddy as he stood on the
porch and looked over the fields.
"Yes, as far as you can see, and farther. If you Curlytops get lost,
which I hope you won't, you'll have to go a good way to get off my
ranch. But let me tell you now, not to go too far away from the
house, unless your father or some of us grown folks are with you."
"Why?" asked Janet.
"Well, you _might_ get lost, you know, and then--oh, well, don't go
off by yourselves, that's all," and Uncle Frank turned to answer a
question Daddy Martin asked him.
Ted and Janet wondered why they could not go off by themselves as
they had done at Cherry Farm.
"Maybe it's because of the Indians," suggested Jan.
"Pooh, I'm not afraid of them," Teddy announced.
Just then one of the cowboys--later the children learned he was Jim
Mason, the foreman--came walking up to the porch. He walked in a
funny way, being more used to going along on a horse than on his own
feet.
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