The little Bunkers liked riding in these big cars, for the Mexicans drove them very rapidly. The road was quite smooth and they kept ahead of the dust, except when they passed some other vehicle. The dust was very white and powdery, and Margy and Laddie began to sneeze. Then they grabbed each other's right little fingers, curling the fingers around each other.
"Wish!" cried Violet eagerly. "Make a wish--both of you."
"What--what'll I wish?" stammered Laddie excitedly.
"Oh, dear! Now you spoiled it," declared Vi. "Didn't he, Rose?"
"He can't make the wish after he has spoken," agreed the older sister. "No, Laddie; it is too late now."
Margy began to wave her hands and evidently wanted to speak.
The smaller girl nodded vigorously. Cowboy Jack laughed very heartily, but Rose said to the little girl:
"I wished we'd have waffles for supper," announced Margy, hungrily. "I like waffles."
"And I bet we have 'em!" cried their host, laughing again. "Maria can make dandy waffles."
"Well, I would have wished for something--just as nice if you'd let me," Laddie broke in. "I don't see why I couldn't wish, even if I did speak first."
"That's something mighty mysterious," said the ranchman soberly. "We can't change the laws about wishing. That would bust up everything."
He talked so queerly that sometimes the little Bunkers were not sure whether he was in earnest, or only joking. But they all liked Cowboy Jack very much. And best of all--so Rose thought--they did not have to call him by his right name!
The sun was very low when the cars got into a winding road through a scrubby sort of wood and then climbed into the range of hills that they had been approaching for two hours. Mun Bun was asleep. But the children in the ranchman's car were all eagerly on the outlook for the first sight of the ranch houses which Cowboy Jack told them would soon appear.
"And then for the surprise," said Russ to Rose. "I wonder what it can be?"
"Something nice, I am sure," sighed his sister contentedly. "It must be something nice, or Mr. Cowboy Jack would not have mentioned it."
It did seem, however, that the ranchman must have forgotten the surprise he had in store for the six little Bunkers. He was so busy getting his Mexican cook to make waffles for supper and seeing that the rooms had all been made ready by his Mexican house boys for the use of the Bunker family and doing a dozen other pleasant things for the comfort of his guests that he did not say a word about the surprise.