It took a while but Ben, Adam, Hoss, and Joe finally managed to get Cat to calm down and stop crying. When they walked back into the courtroom, Cat apologized to Reverend Long for breaking her promise not to call Mrs. Warren bad names and to the judge for yelling in the courtroom. Both men forgave her and the judge asked, "Did your Pa tell you to apologize to me?"

"No sir. Uncle Matt said that I shouldn't yell at grownups unless they're hurting me or someone else or they're in danger. I could yell at you if you were standing in the street and the stage was going to run you over."

"Yes, that would be a very good time to yell at any adult," replied the judge. "Are you feeling better now?"

"Yes I am."

"Good, I'm glad that you are."

Before the judge could resume the trial, Dr. Martin stood up and said, "Your honor, if the defense intends to call Mrs. Warren to testify, I believe it would be best if Catherine Cartwright was not in the courtroom. It is not good for such a young child to get as upset as she was a little while ago."

"I would think it wouldn't be good for anyone to be that upset and I do not want her getting that upset again," replied the judge. "Miss Cartwright, you and your friends may go back over to the school and play. One of your brothers will come and get you when you are needed again."

Cat, Laura, and Mike left the courtroom and walked back over to the school. Once they were gone, Mr. Michaels called Mrs. Warren to testify. "Mrs. Warren, will you please tell the court what happened after church this past Sunday'?"

"I was driving my buggy past the church, minding my own business, when all of a sudden, this child jumped into the buggy and began attacking me. It bit me, clawed, and kicked me. I pushed it out of my buggy and began defending myself. Then these foul beasts attacked me and I had to defend myself against them. It's a miracle I wasn't killed. Then the Cartwright boys ran up and claimed that the foul creature that attacked me was their sister. Worse yet, Benjamin claimed it was his daughter and Reverend Long agreed with him. He even had the nerve to say that what I did was wrong. I don't know what is wrong with the Cartwrights and everyone else these days. Everybody knows that Benjamin does not have a daughter. He has three fine sons and is not even married, so he cannot possibly have a daughter. I don't know where that foul creature that attacked me came from but it is not Benjamin Cartwright's daughter. It belongs in an orphanage or a work home, not here among the decent citizens of Virginia City because it will never amount to anything."

Mr. Parker stood up and asked, "Mrs. Warren, do you honestly expect this court to believe that a nine year old child, dressed in her church clothes, would jump into your moving buggy and attack you, knowing all the while that her father and brothers were nearby and she would be severely punished for her actions?"

"Well yes, of course since the brat that attacked me isn't a Cartwright."

"Even if that were true, which it isn't, you were near the Cartwright's buggy, meaning that Mr. Cartwright and his sons were nearby. Surely they would have come to your aid when you called for help and taken the misbehaving child to her parents or Sheriff Coffee. You did call for help, didn't you Mrs. Warren?"

"I saw no need to call for help. I was able to take care of it myself."

"I see. A healthy nine year old child jumped into your moving buggy, bit, clawed, and kicked you but you didn't find it necessary to yell for help. I find that highly unusual, especially for a woman your age."

Mr. Michaels said he didn't have any other witnesses so Mr. Parker called Dr. Martin to testify again. "Dr. Martin, you have heard Mrs. Warren describe an alleged attack on her person that took place on Sunday after church. Have you treated her for any kind of injuries since Saturday morning?"

"No I have not. I have not treated Mrs. Warren for anything except a touch of rheumatism in more than a year."

"Thank you. Would you and two of the ladies present please take Mrs. Warren in the back and examine her for any injuries consistent with the attack she described?" Paul, Mrs. Devlin, and Mrs. McLeod took Mrs. Warren in the back and examined her. When they finished, Paul returned to the witness chair. "Dr. Martin, will you please tell the court the results of the examination you just did on the defendant?"

"Mrs. Devlin, Mrs. McLeod, and I examined Mrs. Warren very thoroughly. We did not find any injuries consistent with the attack she described. The only injury we found was a small cut on the index finger of her right hand that is consistent with a paper cut."

Mr. Michael said that he did not have any questions for Dr. Martin. After both attorneys presented their closing arguments, the jury left the courtroom to decide on a verdict. After the jury left the courtroom, Mr. Parker walked up to Ben and said, "I don't think they're going to take very long, so one of you needs to go and get Cat. She should be here when the jury returns their verdict."

Hoss walked over to the school and brought the three children back to the courthouse. Mike sat in his father's lap and Laura sat in Ben's lap, while Cat sat in Hoss' lap again. The jury returned to the courtroom a few minutes after Hoss, Cat, Laura, and Mike returned to the courthouse. The judge asked the jury if they had reached a verdict. "We have your honor," said the foreman.

"What is your verdict?" asked the judge.

"We find the defendant guilty."

"How dare you find me guilty!" exclaimed Mrs. Warren. "That brat got everything it deserved and if the Cartwrights hadn't interfered, it would have gotten even more!"

The judge banged his gavel and said, "Mrs. Warren, that is the second time you have interrupted this court since being told not to. You have been found guilty of attacking and injuring Mr. Cartwright's daughter, Catherine. I also find you guilty of perjury as you deliberately lied under oath and I find you guilty of contempt of court for the two outbursts after you were told to keep quiet. Do you have anything to say before I pronounce sentence on you?" Mrs. Warren tried saying she was an elderly lady and shouldn't face any punishment for what she did, but the judge wasn't having any of it. "Mrs. Warren, you have shown no remorse for your actions and have blamed the child you attacked for them. It does not matter who the child claimed to be. She could have claimed to be the Queen of England and still did not deserve to be attacked. I could sentence you to up to three years in prison. However, I will not do that at this time as I do not think you would survive even three months in prison due to your age. Therefore, I sentence you to a fine of three thousand dollars. One thousand is for the attack on young Miss Cartwright, who is Mr. Cartwright's daughter. I signed the adoption papers myself. One thousand is for perjury and the other thousand is for contempt of court. Please do not try and tell me that you cannot pay that fine as I know you are a very wealthy woman. You have been heard bragging about how much money your husband left you when he died.

I also sentence you to two weeks and four days in the Virginia City jail beginning at the conclusion of this trial. Sheriff Coffee has made some modifications to one of the cells so you will have some privacy. You will be released at one o'clock in the afternoon two weeks from this coming Monday. The only privileges you will have during your incarceration are that you will be allowed your Bible to read and you will be allowed to have your needlework if you are in the process of doing any. I highly recommend you spend the next two weeks and four days reading your Bible. You will follow all of Sheriff Coffee's rules and eat the food he provides for you without complaining. You will not be allowed to leave the jail for any reason other than an emergency. Attending Saturday night's dance and church services on Sunday are not emergencies.

Once you are released, you are to stay away from the Cartwrights, especially young Catherine Cartwright. When school is in session, you are not to go anywhere near the schoolhouse. You are not to go out to the Ponderosa for any reason at all unless you have been invited and I seriously doubt that will happen. If you go into one of the stores in Virginia City and any of the Cartwrights are in it, you must leave and wait for that person or persons to leave. When you are in church, you are to sit as far away from the Cartwrights as possible and are to enter after they do and leave before they do. If you violate any of these restrictions, I will put you back in jail for a month and you will incur more fines. If you violate them a second time, I will give serious thought to sending you to prison despite your age. You are also to provide Sheriff Coffee with a list of your relatives and where they live."

Mrs. Warren started to protest her sentence when the judge said, "Mrs. Warren, if you say one word, I will increase your fine by an additional one thousand dollars and your jail sentence to three weeks and four days.

Ladies of Virginia City, I apologize for the possible inconvenience, however, I would deem it a great favor if you would get together and work out a schedule to sit at the jail as chaperones for Mrs. Warren. You will only need to be there during daylight hours and need not miss church services on Sundays. You may talk with her and of course, you may have your knitting or needlework or whatever you wish to bring with you. However, I must stress that Mrs. Warren is not to have anything except her Bible and her needlework.

Now, before I adjourn the court, I have a question to ask. Miss Cartwright who won the big marble game you were playing this morning?"

"Laura did. I came in second and Mike finished last. He had to push Laura and me on the swing and then we took turns pushing him."

"I see. If I were to go over to the school, would the three of you push me on the swing?"

Mike, Laura, and Cat whispered for a minute then Mike said, "We could try but you're a grown up and grown ups are hard to push. Mitch is nineteen and I have a hard time pushing him."

"Well, I'll tell you what. If your parents will allow it, why don't the three of you meet me over at the school after dinner? The four of us will play a game of marbles and then we'll see if you can push me on the swing."

The three children looked at the judge with their eyes as wide open as they could get and their mouths hanging open in shock. Finally Laura said, "You play marbles?"

The judge laughed. "Yes I do. I used to be quite good at it and I hope to play with my son once he's old enough. Now, I need to end this court session. Sheriff Coffee, will you and your deputy please escort Mrs. Warren to the bank and ensure she withdraws the correct amount from her account? Once she has done that, please have your deputy bring the money to me and then please escort Mrs. Warren to her house to retrieve her Bible and any needlework she wishes to have with her. After she has retrieved her Bible and needlework, please escort her to the jail where she is to remain until two weeks from Monday at one o'clock in the afternoon. One of the ladies may bring her a change of clothing later in the week if they so desire. Gentlemen of the jury, I wish to thank you for coming her from Galena in order to ensure that the defendant received a fair trial. The court will pay for your dinner at the hotel restaurant before you return to your homes. Court is adjourned."

Ben looked around the courtroom and was amused to more than half a dozen Ponderosa hands, including Pete, Dave, Joshua, and Thaddeus leaving. He was even more amused to see Hop Sing leaving the courtroom with a large kitchen knife inside his belt.

Once Roy escorted Mrs. Warren from the courtroom, Hoss hugged Cat and asked, "Do you feel better now Punkin? See we told you that nobody would hurt you while you were here."

"I feel better now but I was scared she would try and hurt me again. Thanks for sitting with me so she couldn't hurt me any more. Is she really gonna be in jail for two whole weeks?"

"Not only is she going to be in jail for the next two weeks," said Ben as he handed Cat her moccasins. "She's not allowed to be anywhere near you forever. If you're in Mr. McLeod's store, she's not allowed to go inside while you're there. But that doesn't mean you can stay in there for a long time just to keep her from coming in. I still expect you to be the polite little girl you are, finish your business and leave so Mrs. Warren can go into the store and do her shopping. Also, if you go to the store and Mrs. Warren is inside, you need to wait until she leaves before you go in. If she goes over to the school while you're there, go inside the school and tell your teacher. She can send someone to get Roy."

Before he could say anything else, a voice from behind him said, "Hello Ben. I thought Hoss was the only family member who brought strays home. Now it seems as though you're following in your son's footsteps."

Ben's smile grew very large as he recognized the voice. He turned around and grabbed the shoulders of the man standing in front of him. "Sam Clemens. I thought I saw you sitting off to the side. How are you? When did you get into town? It's been too long since we've seen you. I hope you're going to stick around for a while. Let me introduce you to the littlest Cartwright. Cat, this is Mr. Sam Clemens. He's an old family friend. Sam, this is my daughter Catherine. The family calls her Wild Cat. Hoss says that she's as wild as the West Texas wind and harder to tame and I've come to realize just how right he was when he said that."

"Hello Catherine. It's a pleasure to meet you. You did a very good job telling your story today. I'm sorry you had to go through that and I hope that woman never bothers you again."

"Thank you Mr. Clemens. You can call me Cat. Everybody does."

"Ok. I'll call you Cat if you'll call me Sam."

"Sam, why don't you join the family and some friends for dinner at the International? We can do some catching up there and I hope that you'll come out to the Ponderosa while you're here."

"I'd love to do both Ben. I got into town on Monday and when I heard about the trial, I told Dan DeQuille over at the Territorial Enterprise that I'd cover it for him. He was more than happy to have me do it. I'll see you over at the International." He walked out of the courtroom with Adam, Hoss, and Joe.

Ben looked at Cat and said, "Now, while your brothers go over to the hotel and get tables for us and all of our friends so we can eat dinner, you and I are going for a short walk." Before Cat can ask where and why, Ben says, "Don't ask where or why because it's a surprise and I know you like surprises." They walked over to the general store where Mr. McLeod was waiting for them. "Hello George. I've come for that special item I asked you to hold for me."

"I thought you would which is why I'm here instead of over at the restaurant with everybody else. I have it behind the counter. Give me a minute to unlock the door and I'll get it for you." Ben and Cat followed him into the store. He went behind the counter, retrieved a package and gave it to Ben.

"Thank you George. I appreciate you keeping this for me. Now, let's go and get some dinner. I believe that Cat, Laura, and Mike have an important game of marbles to play after we finish eating."

"Do you think that Hoss will leave any food for us?" asked Cat.

"The restaurant has a lot of food. Hoss can't eat that much," laughed Ben.

Once everybody had placed their order, Ben stood up, cleared his throat, and said, "Catherine, I want everyone to know just much I love you and how proud I am of you. You were very afraid that you would be attacked again and you had every right to be. You could have refused to tell your story and nobody would have blamed you, but you didn't. You got up in the witness chair and told your story like a very brave little girl. I bought this and asked Mr. McLeod to keep it for me until I thought you were ready to have it. You showed me today that you are more than ready to have this."

Ben handed the package Mr. McLeod had given him to Cat. When she opened the package, her eyes got as big as dinner plates. Inside the package was the knife she had been looking at but some changes had been made to it. The handle had the Ponderosa brand and a wild cat carved into it and the sheath had the same things burned into it. "WOW! Gee thanks Pa. This is really swell."

"You're welcome Kitten. I thought you might like it. I'm glad you do. Your brothers and I will teach you how to take care of it. It isn't much different than taking care of your father's sword and we'll use an old axe head to teach you how to sharpen it. Not even I can ruin an old axe head and, as your brothers can tell you, I've tried several times." Cat giggled at the thought of Ben trying to ruin an old axe head.

While everybody was looking at Cat's new knife, the jury foreman walked up to Ben and introduced himself. He told Ben that the members of the jury were very impressed with Cat's testimony and behavior during the trial. He said that they didn't believe Mrs. Warren's testimony at all and were quite shocked by her attitude. He also said that while they understood the judge's decision, they were sorry that the woman wouldn't be going to prison for what she did. Before returning to the table with the other jury members, he told Ben that if he ever had the occasion to visit Galena, they hoped that Ben would bring Cat with him.

While the Cartwrights, their friends, and the jury were having dinner, Roy and Clem took Mrs. Warren to the bank so she could get the money to pay her fine. Clem took the money to the judge while Roy took Mrs. Warren to her house. When she started gathering clothes, books, needlework, knitting, and anything else she could think of to bring, Roy said, "The judge said your Bible and your needlework, nothing else. I don't have room in my jail for all of that stuff. If one of the ladies feels like it, they can bring you a change of clothes next week. Consider yourself lucky if they do because most people staying in my jail don't get that luxury. Now get your Bible and your needlework. It's dinner time, I'm hungry and don't want to waste a lot of time here when there's no need to and don't you dare complain about the food I bring you. It's what the town pays for and you'll have to eat it or go hungry. If you want something better, you'll have to take it up with the town council at their next meeting." Roy took a protesting Mrs. Warren by the arm and escorted her out of her house and over to the jail. Roy had hung several blankets between two of the cells and tied them along the sides and bottom so nobody could move them and look into the other cell. He had also moved the bunks in the two cells so they were against the far walls. He opened the door to one and told Mrs. Warren to enter it.

Mrs. Warren took one look at the cell and started complaining loudly. "I am not going into that cage and you can't make me! I am leaving here right now and returning to my home! That brat deserved everything I gave her and more! I am leaving here right now and you are not going to stop me!"

She started to leave but Roy blocked her exit. "Mrs. Warren, you were convicted of assaulting and injuring Catherine Cartwright. You were also convicted of perjury and contempt of court. Be glad the judge didn't send you to prison. The conditions in prison are much worse than they are here and you probably wouldn't survive more than a month. If I have to force you to enter that cell, I will report your lack of cooperation to the judge and he will most likely increase your sentence. He may even change his mind about sending you to prison. My deputy will be back in a few minutes and if necessary, the two of us will force you to enter the cell and we won't be none too gentle about it either."

"I am a lady and will not tolerate being treated this way. You will not lay a hand on me. I will have you fired if you do!"

"Mrs. Warren, you cannot have me fired. I was elected by the citizens of this town and hope to be reelected in the next election. You are my prisoner and will remain so until two weeks from Monday unless the judge decides otherwise. Now you can either enter that cell by yourself or when he returns, my deputy and I will carry you in and then I will let the judge know about your refusal to cooperate." Mrs. Warren continued refusing to enter the cell, so when Clem returned to the sheriff's office, he and Roy each grabbed her by an arm and carried her into the cell. Roy closed and locked the cell door then he and Clem walked out into the office, closing and locking the door leading to the cells behind them. "Let's go and get some food. I was going to get her food first, but she's been so uncooperative, she can wait until we're done."

"Alright, I'll meet you over at the café. The judge asked me to give Ben Cartwright a message for him so I'd better do that first."

"Alright. I'll see you in a few minutes." They left the office with Mrs. Warren locked in a cell and complaining loudly.

Clem walked into the International and spotted the Cartwrights and their friends right away. He walked up to Ben and told him that the judge wanted to see him, then took time to admire Cat's knife before going to join Roy for dinner. Ben told Adam where he was going, left the restaurant and walked over to the courthouse. The judge was waiting for him in his office and stood up when he walked in. "Thank you for coming back over here Ben. This will just take a minute and then you can get back to your dinner and I can go home to mine." He handed Ben a stack of cash. He counted it and looked at the judge with questioning in his eyes. "That's for Catherine. She's been through Hell this week and deserves every penny of it."

"But there's fifteen hundred dollars here. That's half of Millicent's fine."

"I am fully aware of how much money I handed you. I want Catherine to have it. Please don't put all of it in the bank. I would like to see her spend some of it."

"I'm trying to teach her that now that she has a family, she doesn't need to spend her own money on things she wants or needs. She's used to earning money to buy birthday and Christmas gifts for her uncle and since I have no intentions of letting my nine year old daughter hold even so much as one job, I'll put all of it in the bank for now and then I'll give her some at Christmas to spend on gifts for whomever she wants to give them to."

"That's fine. However, I'd still like you to give her a little bit of it to spend on herself. It doesn't have to be a lot. Five dollars would be plenty. I'd like to see what she spends it on. I know that you don't approve of gambling and neither do I, but I'm going to make you a little wager. I'll wager you one dime that she spends very little of it on candy and keeps most of it to spend at another time."

Ben laughed. "Alright Judge. I'll take that wager and make you another one. I've got a nickel that says Millicent is doing her best to give Roy a hard time."

The judge laughed loudly. "No deal Ben. We both know that she is. If she continues after today, I may increase her sentence by an additional week. After I finish playing with the children, I'm going to go over to the jail and see if she gave Roy that list of her relatives I instructed her to. I want to start writing to them and see if any of them would be willing to take her should it become necessary."

Ben gave him a funny look. "I still can't believe that you are going to get down on the ground and play marbles with three children and then play on the swings with them."

"I have to. David will be four in two weeks and I've got to keep in practice for when he gets older. I can't have him beating me, now can I?"

Ben shook his head and laughed. "Listening to you makes me wish I would have taken the time to play with my sons when they were little. I was traveling west by wagon train when Adam and Hoss were little and then I was busy building the Ponderosa when Joseph was little. I should have taken time to play with my boys. I'm not even sure I even know how to play with Cat."

"Don't worry about it Ben. You did the best you could. That's all any of us can do. I don't know that you need to spend a lot of time playing with her. If you've got a swing in the yard, I'm sure she'd love to have you push her on it. Just spend time with Cat and do things she likes to do. Above all, be patient with her as she learns to adjust to having a family and having new rules to follow. Now, I don't want to keep you from your dinner any longer. Do what you think is best with that money but please give a little bit to Catherine today."

"Alright Judge. I'll give her five dollars and see what she does with it. I have a feeling she's going to want to put it toward her uncle's birthday gift. She's buying him a new saddle that costs forty dollars and she has twenty three dollars saved up so far."

"She's a sweet child Ben and you're lucky to have her. Remember, she's been through Hell since Sunday so for the next few days, go easy on her if she breaks any rules. I don't know anything about her, but some children who have been through similar things can act out. If she does, at first, just comfort her and remind her that she is loved and safe. If she continues after a few days, start with mild punishment and then move to more severe if it is warranted. I'm speaking from experience here Ben. I was twelve and my sister was nine when two men broke into our house. They robbed it and tried to take my sister with them. I was able to get hold of a rifle and shot both of them. They didn't die but they were sentenced to long prison terms. My sister was traumatized and started acting out. The steps I described to you are what my parents did with Rachel. It took two or three weeks, but she eventually went back to being the sweet little girl we all loved. Now, go back to your dinner before everyone else eats and is ready to leave."

"I don't think I'll have any problems in that regard. Remember, Catherine was standing next to her mother when she was killed and the only problems we've had are nightmares. I'll see you at the schoolhouse after dinner."

Since Ben didn't want to go to the bank before he ate and he didn't want anyone to know he was carrying a large amount of cash on him, he pulled one of his boots off, and put the money the judge had given him inside it before putting it back on. Then he walked back to the hotel where dinner was just being served. He took a five dollar bill out of his pocket and handed it to Cat. "The judge asked me to give this to you. It's part of the fine Mrs. Warren paid. He gave me more and that's going into your bank account but he wanted you to have a little bit of it for you."

Cat took the money and said, "Gee thanks Pa." She counted on her fingers and said, "Now I have twenty eight dollars toward Uncle Matt's saddle. I only need…"

Cat struggled trying to do the math in her head when Adam said, "How much more do you need to have thirty dollars?"

Cat counted on her fingers. "Twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty. I need two dollars more."

"That's right. Now when you have thirty dollars, how much more will you need to have forty dollars?"

"That one's easy. I'll need ten more dollars."

"Very good. So if you need two more dollars to have thirty dollars and another ten to have forty, how much do you need altogether?"

Cat smiled when she realized she knew the answer. "I need twelve more dollars before I have enough money to buy the saddle for Uncle Matt."

"Excellent. You did a good job figuring that out. Would you have been able to figure that out if you had a piece of paper and a pencil?"

"Yes. I can do addition and subtraction on my slate or with a pencil and paper. I have trouble with multiplication and get confused trying to do arithmetic in my head."

"That's alright. It will come with time and practice. Here's our food so let's eat. I believe you, Laura, and Mike have an important game of marbles after dinner. You won't be able to win if you're hungry."

Cat was surprised at Adam's statement. Nobody had ever expressed an interest in her marbles games before and she never expected someone to have someone say they thought she would win.

After dinner, everyone walked over to the school to watch the game between the judge and the three children. The judge took one look at all of the adults and said, "Shoo. This is between me and these three children. We don't need you getting in the way and distracting us. Go find something else to do. Talk or better yet, go and spend your money on these three. They deserve to be spoiled. We'll let you know when we're done. Now shoo and let us play. Scat!" He waved his arms at the adults as though he was chasing chickens. "Now, how do you children decide who's going to go first?"

The children were surprised that an adult really wanted to play with them and just looked at each other for a minute when the judge asked his question. "We go by birthdays," answered Mike. "My birthday is in January so I go first. Laura's birthday is in February so she goes second and Cat's is in June so she goes third. If we play more than one game, the one who went second in the last game goes first."

"Well, it looks like I'll be going last because my birthday is in August. Go ahead Mike. Take your first shot." The judge and the three children played marbles for a while and when the game was over, Cat had won, Mike finished second, Laura finished third, and the judge finished last. After they finished playing marbles, the judge pushed each of the children on one of the swings and then the three of them pushed him, laughing the entire time.

While the judge and the children were playing, the adults walked back to the International so they could sit and talk. While they were walking, Ben said, "George, how much do I owe you for the work you had done on Catherine's knife and when did you have time to have it done?"

"You don't owe me anything Ben. I had it done because I wanted to make it special just for her. To be honest, that's not the same knife Cat was looking at yesterday. I got them in last week and thought she would like that one so I had it done up special for her then. I was just waiting for the perfect time to get you to buy it for her."

"You shouldn't be spoiling my daughter like that."

"I'm not spoiling her Ben and you know it. I got several of those knives in the last shipment so I just had that one done special for Cat so there would be no mistaking whose knife it was. Besides that, even if I was spoiling her, it wouldn't hurt her a bit. She's had a rough time of it and deserves a little spoiling. I remember all of the things you bought for her when you first brought her home and realized that she didn't have much. Now, the judge did tell us to spend some money on those three children, so why don't we go over to my store and see what we can find for them? It doesn't have to be anything big or expensive, maybe just a toy or two for each of them. Whatever we decide on for Laura, I'll buy the same thing or things for her sister, Mary since she wasn't here today."

"That's very nice of you George," said Paul. "I'm sure Mary will appreciate it. Although, depending on what we decide on, Mary may appreciate a doll more. She doesn't like getting down on the ground and playing the way those three over at the school do."

"That's alright. We'll figure something out and I know those three will be very happy with whatever we get them. Since Christmas is only four months away, I'm thinking just one or two small toys each right now and you can look in my catalogs to get ideas for Christmas gifts."

Ben walked over to the bank and deposited the money the judge had given him into Cat's bank account. Then he joined everybody else at the general store. They looked around and finally decided on a yo-yo and top each for Cat, Laura, and Mike. Then they picked out a nice doll for Mary and a rag doll for Carrie. Once the purchases were totaled, it was decided that each family present would contribute an equal amount of money toward the toys. After looking through catalogs and getting ideas for Christmas gifts, everyone walked back to the school to see who had won the game of marbles. The adults all had a good laugh at the sight of the three children pushing the judge on the swing. The judge saw the other adults and told Laura, Mike, and Cat to stop pushing him. He hugged all three children, told them he hadn't had that much fun in a long time and then said, "Let's go and see if those grown ups listen as well as the three of you do."

The four of them walked up to the group of adults who laughed when the judge admitted he had lost a game of marbles to three children. They gave the tops and yo-yos to Mike, Laura, and Cat who started to run off and play with their new toys. "Hold it you three," said Mr. Devlin. "It's getting late and we have a long ride to make before we get home. You can play with your new toys another day but right now, we need to start for home."

The Millers, Longs, Martins, and McLeods said goodbye to the Devlins and Cartwrights. Once they left, Ben turned to Mr. Devlin and said, "Dan, why don't you and your family join us for supper on the Ponderosa? It's been a long day and I'm sure that Mary will appreciate not having to cook tonight. Joe and Mitch can ride ahead and tell Charles and Caroline that Laura will be having supper with us. Then they can let Hop Sing know we're having company for supper and help him in the kitchen." The Devlins agreed so Ben sent Joe and Mitch ahead to talk to the Ingalls and start helping Hop Sing fix supper.

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a/n $3,000 in today's currency would be $52,486.39.