Ponderosa owner Ben Cartwright was busy at his land and got helped by his three sons. That were Adam of 21, Hoss of 17 and twelve year old Little Joe. Ranch hand Carlos Rivera de Vega worked hard along. But the brothers Cartwright soon had discovered that it was too hot to work.
Adam whispered to his brothers so that their father didn’t hear ort notice it, “Little Joe, you say that you have promised to help Hop Sing. You go away and wait at our usual spot near the water for us. Then Hoss announces that he must bring something to Tess. Same thing as Little Joe does. I say that Isabella has a date with me today. I see you at our swimming spot for the swim party.”
They went hard to work again.
Suddenly said Little Joe, “Pa, I have forgotten to say to you something.”
Ben looked at his youngest son and asked, “And what is that?”
“I had forgotten to say to you that I would help Hop Sing today. May I go away?”, asked the youngest Cartwright.
Ben nodded. Quickly Little Joe disappeared. He went to the spot where the Cartwrights always went swimming.
“Hoss, mustn’t you bringing something to Tess today?”, Adam asked sudden.
His younger brother understood it right away and came into action.
“Pa, Tess had asked if I could bring her something. May I do that now?”, the second son of Ben asked
Hoss too got permission to go away. After a while Adam remembered that he had made a date with Isabella, the sister of Carlos. Ben looked at his eldest son and suspected the worst.
“Pa, there ain’t so much to do here for the three of us. Besides, I had a date with Isabella. Can I go?”, Adam asked with begging eyes.
“Disappear then also”, Ben replied kind-hearted.
Adam went away like an arrow. Carlos said nothing but he had a vague suspicion of what the three had arranged.
Little Joe arrived as first at their swimming spot. Quickly he took off his clothes and he splashed into the water. The young Cartwright cooled off at once. Hoss came not much later into the water. From far Adam saw his younger brothers already swimming and floundering in the water. Quickly he rode on Beauty to them and dismounted.
“Adam, come in it too. The water is great”, Hoss called excited.
The eldest Cartwright boy got undressed too and went into the water too.
After a few hours Ben said, “Adam and Hoss do stay away very long. Would you like to go and look for them Carlos? Perhaps they have forgotten me.”
“Si señor Cartwright”, the hand said where after he went away too.
Carlos rode straight to the spot where the brothers were.
He saw them already in the water when Adam said warning, “Someone is coming there.”
“Hopefully not pa because then we are dead”, reacted Hoss.
“Aha, there are you then. Go swimming and let me and your father do all the hard work!”, Carlos said semi-strict.
“Carlos, come in too”, said Little Joe.
“And why should I do that?”, the hand asked.
“Then you can cool off”, was the reaction of Hoss.
His brothers laughed. Carlos threw up the sponge and went into the water too.
When Carlos too didn’t come back Ben decided to look for them. Hop Sing was the first one who got a visit from the rancher.
“Hop Sing, where is Little Joe? He said to me that he would help you today”, said Ben.
“Not seen Little Joe since breakfast”, the cook replied.
Then Ben went to the ranch of Margaret Greene where he saw Tess, the daughter of Margaret, and Isabella.
“Ladies, do Adam and Hoss happen to be her?”, asked Ben.
They looked at each other and denied that they had seen the brothers that day.
“Isabella, you haven’t seen your brother today, have you?”, Ben wanted to know.
He got a negative answer.
On the way home the rancher saw 3 horses and 1 pony standing. He recognized the riding animals at once.
“So there are the boys then. I will have them tonight”, Ben said to himself.
He rode back home.
“Hop Sing, make some extra more food ready and make a lot more dirty than you usually do. The boys will do the dishes tonight after we have eaten”, said the rancher.
Around suppertime the brothers and Carlos came home. They knew that they had lied to Ben but he didn’t let anything show.
“Had a nice swim boys?”, Ben asked sudden.
Four pair of eyes looked hasty at each other and they knew exactly what the rancher meant.
“Sorry pa, but we would rather go swimming than working hard with this hot weather”, Adam said on behalf of his brothers and Carlos.
“I accept your apology. But if you want to go swimming again, ask it first”, said Ben.
The boys were relieved that they got to hear this. But then Ben came with the punishment.
“You four do love to play with water so much? Then you may do the dishes after supper”, Ben said smiling.
Reluctantly the big dishes got done and the boys clearly had learned their lesson.