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Show MY , FRIEND1i FRIEND ' ' : ' 1i 1iMARY MARY O'HARA OHARA ' w I - - - ' THE mE STOHT STORY SO FAR Ten year 014 old 014ten olden olden ten ( ; en McLaothlln IIleLao-hlln IIleLao hlln McLaughlin ; - can riae rl4e ride my any hone horse on onJr onJ Jr * . tamlly lamUy famUy . ! Wyoming nne ranch " , , but he be herants berants beranti rants a eolt colt ot of his Ms bls own . . HI His ha . fither hther fttber a * aeUre4 aetired cured eUre4 etired army * rmy offlcer omeer otllcer retuses refuse refuses . to llv rIve give himno hIm hImne himne ne no DDtfl until untll M his bir . . ichool .chool chool school grades ru4e . Improve ande and an4 18 e learns learn . ! to 10 t . tike take ke responsibility respoDslhUJty Ken Kensaether e . eaother o.olher oolher aother . tries to 10 protect "rotect rotect " him Mm from tho the thotern thetern thatern tern disciplino dlsclpUno discipline of M hia hie . tather father and an4 the theoothfnl theothful theonthtnl oothfnl othful bull bullllnr bull ) } Ins Ing ot of M his bie . older brolher brother brolherloward brothertoward brothertoward loward toward who always alwo.y alwoy . . manaces mana-e mana e manages ; - . to dogg do doitaCI itaCI g gg . right . . . Captain McLaughlln IIIcL:1ughlln IIIcL1ughlln McLaughlin : ha hacelved has hac . . . . _ . . _ elved a letter from - - - - Ken - a . - .chool chool school . IA I .4 4 ad adlag . .4Ing i Istng Ing lag him Mm that Ihal Ken has bas not teen been pro- pro prooled prooted pro-loted pro loted - - oled oted So while whllo whilo the others othen otherl prepare to toound toound toomod ound up 01 ' the mares and aod colts call ! Ken has 10 to 10ta7 totay totay ta7 tay In the house bouse and studyNow studyNow study studyNow Now continue contLooe with the storyCHAPTER story storyCHAPTER CHAPTER CIIAI'TER CIIAITER ' UWhen n U nWhen When KenFft Ken \Fft Fft Oft \ left the kitchen ldtchen the thelarm thelarm thelarm larm clock on the wall shelf sheI ! beside besidehe besidehe besidebe he spice closet pointed to twenty twentynlhutes twentynihutes : nfuutes nlhutes to nine He wondered it if ite ife ife itI I e should time himself himseI ! right from fromhen fromhen fromhen hen or from the moment he went wentnto wentnto wentnto nto his room or from when he set setifs setil ; lis ifs books boo.s boos ) , . on the table This was a aery acry acry ery cry Important point pomt , , but as he be heauld bemild heould auld mild not decide he went upstairi upstairss upstair upstairs * . s . . riowly .lowly lowly slowly as he could just In case 11 it 11vas itvas Itw vas all part of the hourHe hourHe hour hourHe He paused on the landing landmg In front frontt frontf f the picture ot of the duck U If he be hetoad betood betood toad tood there looking lookmg at the duck dnck pic plc picure plcure picare ure he could get into another world world.Ie worldIe . . . Ie 1e knew how to do It To get Into Intonother intonother Intonother nother world you had to make your youreI yourelf yourelf eI elf ! the same size in your mindBut mindBut mind mindBut But he felt misgivings IItanding standing IItandinghere standinghere standinghere here His mother would hear from frombe fromhe fromtie be he kitchen ldtehen that he hadn t gont gone gona all allhe allhe allie he way upstairs He went on up uplown upsown upown lown sown the hall Into his room , , , and andois11y andolsily andoisUy ois11y olsily closed the door PossIbly Posstbly PossIblyhe Posstblybe Possiblybe he be would time him tooHe tooHe too tooHe He stood a few momenta moments looking lookingi1'ound lookinground lookinground i1'ound i1ound round ' He and Howard each hadsmall hadsmall had mall small room to himselfKen himself himseI himselfKen ! Ken loved his room . . . The walla walls wallafere wallsrere wallawe fere rere white washed and there ther * Wal was WalbIg wasbig wa big window opening openmg out front over overbe overhe overie be he terrace and the Green . . He could couldee couldee couldee ee everything from it It . . Sunshine SunshinelOured Sunshinetoured Sunshineoured lOured toured InBest ! In InBest n nBest Best InI of all all , . , Ken loved his hi * . little littlefainut littleralnut Uttleralnut I fainut ralnut bed because that was really reallyome reallyome reallyome reallyomeIt ome omeIt 11wasn It 11 wasn wash t very tidy He and How Howrd Howrd Howrd rd had to make mahe their own beds bedsad bedsnd bedsnd ad nd he had made hi his . In a hurry hurryefore hurryefore hurryefore efore he went out riding Now Nowcould Nowrould ould could be a good time to straightent . straighten .traighteJ traighteJ ; ! t ; up That was a good dutiful dutifuleedabout dutifuleedabout dutifuleed eed-about eed about - about as good as studymg-II studymg II studying-it studying it studymgIIrobably studyingitrobably studying - Itrobably robably could be counted In the theour theour theour our The quilt which was Wal light lightreen lightreen lightreen reen with sprIgsof sprigs of -of - pink and blue blueowers blueowers blueowers owers on It was crooked and andumped andumped andumped umped over the bedclothes under undereath undereath undereath eath He threw ! it t back then thenaused thenaused thenaused aused his Ius eyes on the wall at the theead thecad theead ead cad of the bedThere bedThere bed bedThere There were these pictures-one pictures one pictures--one pictures - - - one on onach onach onach ach side - about eight inches inchesquare inchesquare inchesquare quare with a flat wooden frame framen n Inch WIdeAnd wideAnd wide wideAnd And inside mSlde the frameHe frame- frame frameHe frame - He dropped the quilt moved up upo up3 o 0 one picture add atld and stood minutely minutely.xammmg minutelyxaminmg minutelyxamimng .xammmg xammmg xaminmg . it . What peoplel people I ! Peas Peasnt Peasnt Peasnt nt people his mother had bad told him himrobably himrobably himrobably robably SwissDown SwissDown Swiss SwissDown Down at the end of his room was wasIe was5e wasSe Ie 5e ! strangest picture of alLKen alLKen aIL alL aILKen wasI I Ken went to look at it It . . There Thereras Thereras Therer ' ras s a verse written In the corner cornerfilch cornermien rbich filch he be knew by heart heartIntreat heart.Intreat heartIntreat . . I Imtreat mtreat Intreat me not to leave thee theetor theefor theetor tor for to return from following after afterj afterf afterthee afterI j f ' thee theeor theeor I Ior or whither wluther thou goest I will gowhere go 1d 1dwhere B goB where thou lodgest I 1 willlodge will willlodge lodgelit lodgeIIt lodge lodgeIt lit IIt [ It was a picture of a desert land'id land landBd . . . -Bd Bd ld -'id 'id id - - ' - a man stood as if it waiting to to9 -9 9 - to9 $ -9 9 - , . looking at the maiden for whom whomwas whomy ; was waiting But she sh . bad had nm'ck rimack run nm rim -'ck 'ck ck ack - ' - ck to throw her ann arms . around aan a an and there they stood arms armsout armsout arm * out ; each other And the verse versetthe versee verseIi Sm Ii tthe the corner was what she was wasying wasyang wasg ying yang They v.ere vere sere . v ere dressed in longaped longaped long longd aped -d d - brightly colored calored cplored shawls"Intreat shawlsIntreat shawls "Intreat Intreat " - .uilreat uilreat Intreat . me- me meHe me - - He lumped jumped and end endJn andjn .F F Jn . back to the bed when ha he heard heardck beardlick Ck steps across the kitchen ldtch n floor floord floorflpow 6 d ow Outside the kitchen door his histher histher's hisfcther ther ther's thers ' ' * . voice called . . ' Here 'Here ' Kimo Kim o " lere ere Chaps- Chaps Chapss Chaps - Ms s tame time me he ha really . finished ftn.ished ftnished the theand theand the1 and smoothed the quilt It Itked Itked Itked ked very nice He stood Itood regardit regardlit regard lit ; ! It t thinking that now be he must mustE e down his bookse.olutely bookseaolutely books booksElesolutely Elesolutely e.olutely eolutely eaolutely . he picked out his hi * . nUh aria ariatic nUhtic trithtic ( tic book sat down down , , , opened It and andan andI andan andan I ( an to think . . . , uddenly Ken heard the lound sound of of.e ofgee . ses gee .e e . . coming near the house and andrted andirted rted up . so .0 0 quickly that the leg leghlhi leg114h11 legjbis hl\hi hl hi 114h11 ' \ . chair tangled with the leg lei of ofU ofV ofiift U V 1 table and be he went sprawling onfloor on " 0 ' floor then scrambled serambled serarnbled up and andefI andto andf efI " ( r to the windowen window dn ncfL farncfL ncfLe , ! ; en leaned out the windowSag window Sag \ as aI far tary be Ir e could to see the last ot of them1 themBo themto them Bo to ; they went down the Green Green , , , just justtrotting aroundt trotting and disappeared aroundend around aroundf t , f end of the house- house housejJII houseenl house - - jJII id jJIIenl floatingid Keni enl Nell a . voice came floating floatingpjic idfrom > from the open window belowat below belowVIJE .111 111 . at are you doing ? ' VIJE t ! scurried .curried curried . back to the table and andjiijde d andd anddA dA de It true before he answered answeredrad answeredtoo answeredof'gn answeredofgn rad too ' doing my arithmetic ! 'JIWhat JIWhat ' at was Wal that crash ? ! ' Jv y 7 J chair fell over ' What at made It fall over overT ! ? ' It t lust just fell feU over--- over overothlng over- over overothing over overr'othtng - r'othtng rothtng ' - ' ' othlng othing more from Nell NeH Nell , , , end and Ken Kenoned KenHA Etn"noned Etnnoned HA HAoned " oned an all hi his . nergy energy and anded anded andMild ed at his hiJI open book . , . Ha He musf mult must multe muste musfover e a plan . . He would do cancella cancellaover . over Itfun Ifun He liked cancellation canceUation . . . It I fun noulnl crossing out the Lgtueg Lgtuega ftiur . e a and nd below tha the line Un and turn- turn - turnnU7thJn . fJ fJeverything nU7thJn everything , into IlOtI1.Iq IlOtI1Iq nothing . . . He hunted for his pad opened an all anthe allthe allthe the drawers and found it it . . Then he hard Nell coming up the thestairs thestairs thestairs stairs and she opened his doorShe doorShe door doorShe She had some fresh bureau bureauscarves bureauscarves bureauscarves scarves over her arm and came inbriskly inbriskly In ' briskly and went to his chlffomer chiffonier chiffonierto chlffomerto to change the scarf scarfI I was thinking thmkmg Ken It 11 would be bea bea bea a good idea It If you spent your study studyhour studyhour studyhour hour on that compositionThe compositionThe composition compositionThe The composition9 composition composition9Yes ' Yes the one you d dn do t , write vTlte If Ifyou Ifyou Ityou you write it nicely we could send itto It Itto itto to Mr Gibson and tell him how itwas it Itwas was you came not to write any anythmgthat anythingthat anything thmg-that thmg that thing-that thing - that you " , were sere ere thinking about aboutitand aboutItand aboutit it-and it and - and he might let you have some somecredit somecredit credIt for itThe itThe It ItThe The one about the Albino saidKen said saidKen Ken and his eyes vent " , v cnt thoughtfully thoughtfullyto to the window vmdow ' " mdow How would I begin be- be begm be begin - - gin gm It ? Have you got paper there ? YesWell Yes Well Well , , just pretend you re telling tellingsomeone tellingsomeone tellingsomeone someone about it-someone it someone It - someone whodoesn who whodoesn whodoesn doesn t know Me for Instance Perhaps Per Perhaps Perhaps haps I ve ye forgotten Who was the theAlbmo theAlbino theAlbino Albmo Albino anyway ? Ken grinned grIMed and said A bIg bIgwhIte bigwhite bigwhite whIte stallion-just stallion just stallion - just a bronc-who bronc who broncwhocame broncwhocame bronc - whocame came over the border from Montana Montanawhen Montanawhen Montanawhen when they had a drouth there Dad Dadcalled Dadcalled Dadcalled called him a big ugly devil but a e alotta elotta alotta lotta horse- horse horseThat horse - - horse'That ' That 'That s . fine encouraged Nell Nell.And NellAnd , . And what did he do doKen ? Ken sighed deeply and wrote wrote'The wrote'The wroteThe ' 'The The ' Story of Gypsy carefully at atthe atthe atthe the top of the paperKen paper paperKen Ken tore down the road He dtake d dtake dtake take the short cut . . . They d been beengone beengone beengone gone almost an hour and they were wereon wereon wereon on horseback . . . He d meet them themShe ! ! r1 r1I r1I 1) 1 ) I i , t tt I t , r rrP rP rPShe She Sbe snorted la In terror and wentstraight went wentstraight wentstraight straight up on her bind lund hind legsabout legs legsabout about halfway haIway ! coming back maybe maybeand maybeand maybeand and see the whole bunch moving movingHe movingHe movingHe He d find fuld end a good place and hide .0 0 so sohis . 10his .0hi his hi . father wouldn t see himHe him himHe He trotted along in the irrIgation irrIgationditch irrigationditch Irrigationditch ditch . . It was dry because the wa we water weter water ter hadn t been turned In yet . . Thb This Thbway Thisway Thl Thlway way he would avoid the road andthe and andthe andthe the gates Howard might be stationed sta stationed stattoned tioned at anyone any one of the gatesHe gatesHe gates gatesHe He left the dItchand ditch and climbed up upa upa upa a hffl hill bill . . From here he could . see .ee ee sea GUI Gus GUIand Gusand Gusand and Tim working in the ditch In theCrooked the theCrooked theCrooked Crooked Meadow and could hear heartheir heartheir heartheir their voices Tim was swinging a apIck apick apick pIck the sound of the blow reached reachedhim reachedhim reachedaim him after he saw the pick landAnd land landAnd And a mile or more away he ha hacould hecould hecould could see Castle Rock the great greatbeetlmg greatbeetling greatbeetling beetlmg beetling rock jutting uttmg up lIevent seventy seventyfeet seventyfeet ) ' feet high with peaks and parapets parapetsand parapetsand parapetsand and turrets shaped like a castle It Itoverhung Itoverhung Itoverhung overhung tha the aspen grov grove athe at a\ a \ the thefar thefar th thtar tar far end of the meadowThat meadowThat meadow meadowThat That was wal where they were down downthere downthere downthera there near the rock . . m His . father fatherWal fatherwas fatherwas Wal was rounding up the mares marea withtheir wIth wIththeir withtheir their foals getting gettmg them out of thewoods the thewoods thewoods woods bringing bringmg them back through throughthe throughthe throughthe the meadow slowly glowly He never ran ranthem ranthem ranthem them . . . Ken ran down the hill bill and headedfor headed headedfor beadedtor for the big rock . . . He ran as 81 far aI as aIhe ashe asbe he could and then stopped to get gethis gethis getbis his wind again and make a calcula calculatIon calculation calculitlon tIon . . . from where he was Wal now on the thegraU1g thegrazing th thgrating grating graU1g grazing % land which sloped eloped down to tothe tothe totha the barbed wire fence around the themeadow themeadow themeadow meadow be he could see thi the wide gate gateopen gateopen gateopen open and fastened back . . That wu was wuso wasso wasso so the mares mareJ could come through throughup throughup up to where he was Wal There Thera wai W8I was asort a asort asort sort of road here and the th mare mares mareswould mareswould . would follow It natur naturally and .tay tay stay stayright . stayright .tayright right on itIf It ItIf . If he could hide . somewhere .omewhere omewhere near nearhere nearhere Bearhere here where he could keep nil hiI bts ey e7e eye on onthe onthe onth the gate he h d see them pass pas * quite quitecIOII quiteclose quitclose quitcloseHi * cIOII close cIOIIHe closeHe Hi He looked about for shelter shelt8l ' Here Hereand Hereand Herand * and there was WBI a . jagged outcropping outcroppingof of the pink granite which underlaythe underlay underlaythe underlaythe the loll soil .oll oll . , , , here her * and there ther * a .mall mall |