"Until you came here, I could beat any boy in the settlement.

I give in to Frank, but I can show that ugly old buffalo hunter of yours a pretty pair of heels.

Boys!" he added, suddenly, "my day's fun is all knocked in the head.

See there!" The cousins looked in the direction indicated, and saw a horseman approaching at a rapid gallop.

He was mounted on a large iron-gray, which looked enough like Roderick to have been his brother, sat as straight as an arrow in his saddle, and managed his fiery charger with an ease and dexterity that showed him to be an accomplished rider.
"That's _Colonel_ Arthur Vane--a neighbor with whom you are not yet acquainted," said Johnny, with strong emphasis on the word colonel.