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Show MY MY\FRIEND MY FRIEND \ FII E1D rl . LICKA ' " " MARYO'HARA MARYOHARA ' 'S S ' r1"1 r11 ' TIIK 'l'nB lnB TIlE TORT STORY 80 SO O rAKi VAAr VRs * TeD Tea T B "er.old er.old erold yuan-old yuan old "er.oldKeD yuanoldKen " yar- yar yar14K . - - 14K KeD Ken McLaacUlM MeLauebUn McLaughlin can ar ride rr aay IUI3 any ' hone hors rsa . OD on ODhi onhis ahi hi his * . fa taaUiyi tamer 1lly " . wyailac WyoOlIDr Wyoming raneh ranch r ca . . . bat but h its itswants awfts * . wanta wants a . col colt e lt & of t hi Us , . own owia . w . nis BII Hia father t ta r a areUrell aretired arNre reUrell retired * arm army ) ' ofttcer officer leer rehiscs retulea iciness to & itv &tve tve give him himODe hImone U ODe one B auUl until Ul Us bla his achool school s h l rralles grade cra a . Improye improve l r T aaj aDd and aDdb andho b ho . learns learn ( anis . to take tak relpoD.lbWt relpoDlbWt responsibilIty r s asl . Ulty ) ' Kea KeD Ken s I a Imother amother mother rta r Sri trie trtea . . to protect r t ct him al tfm fl'om flom from ' &he he the & &he.tern theateni ta .tern tern ateni . ten IIlscipUn di.cipiins dicipiins lelBUa ( . . 01 of t hi Us hli . rather father ( kth r aaJ IIUI and the theyouthful theyouthful ta taytaful ytaful youthful buUyID bullying Uylac , ot of t hi Us his , older oider l r brother ftaerirwrtf , Boward Howard . , . wbo who lira * always alwaYI ahays , mauaeea manages a f to do dothine dothing tUac thine thing ' . risht rleht right . . NeU Nell N 11 cODvtncel convtiiceu c BTUrs * her bet B r bu buSband has buS ' band xrJ that Ur the colt e lt may ay b be . Just f t what wbat KeD Ken KeDneed Kenneed K B need . , , la III in spite spit ito . 01 of ( the th . tact fad fact that tbt * be he bas has basnot hasnot a not t been beun promoted Br t Day Days pan pass &s s & aull sad & KeD Ken KeDbal Kenhas & aas bal has not t cboseD ehocen eho e Us ha his . colt c IL . . Out flat D t be h * Is a aclaauc achanged achkacJ claauc changed ell bo boy boyNow b y , . yN Now N * ftlir eonUDne contlim * . wItB with the tk * story CIIAPTER CIIAPI'ER CIIAPIER ' VI ViKen Ken wakened one morning in thl lbs thldark Un.dark Undark . dark and turned to face the th win window window window dow and when It showed faintly faintlygray faintlygray faintlygray gray outside be he h * got up and ltood stood ltoodwatching stoodwatching stoodwatching watching Ur the dawn brighten In the theeast theeast theeast theeastTheri east eastThere Theri There wasn warn t enough light Ught yet for forhim forhim forhim him to see ae anything clearly It Itseemed Itseemed Itseemed seemed a world of near-darkness near darkness - - - In Inwhich inwhich Inwhich which vagir vague outlines appeared and andvanIshed andvanished andvanished vanIshed floating and shadowy His Hia Histhoughts Hiathoughts Histhought thoughts * were wer like Uk * that th t too He Hegroped Hegroped Hegroped groped for tor familiar fam1ltar tooting footing In his hismind hismind hismind mind but everything was changed changedSomething changedSomething changedSomething Something new had conic come Into hJm him hJmso himso himso so that he was different . . Even Tim Timsaid Timsaid Timsaid said that he h had grown an Inch since sincebis sincehis sincebis bis his father promised him Ur the colt colt coltand . , , and Howard treated him birn hint as If It he hewas heWas hewas was Important But something somethiig somethll1g had hadgone hadgone hadgone gone out of him blm too and sometimes sometimeshe he wanted it so 60 an that he was in a apanic apanic apanic apanicBut panic panicBut But now he was outside The door doorwas doorwas doorwas was shut It was windy and dan dangerous dangerous dangerous gerous outside- outside outsideThe outside - - The colt-he colt he colt - he began beganto to dress hurriedly Today or to- to - tomorrow tomorrow to tomorrow - morrow he must choose his bls colt . He Hewould Hewould Hewould would ride rid * up now onto the range rangeand rangeand rangeand and look at the yearlings agamIt againIt again agam againIt It was still dark when he stole out outthe outthe outUr the front door and nnd felt the terrace terracegrass terracegrass terracegrass grass under his feet . No one had hadheard hadheard hadheard heard him That was good He lIe Hedldn lIedidn Hedidn dldn didn t want Howard along Going Goingout Goingout Goingout out in the early morning was almost almostlike almostlike almostlike like going into the underwater underwaterworld underwaterworld underwaterworld world or the world of a picture or orIn orin orui In a dream Not quite so 10 safe as asa asa asa a dream because he did have bave to towatch towatch towatch watch his horse or if It he be was climb climb- climbIng climblag climbing - - ing lag on Castle Rock he had to be becareful becareful becareful careful of his looting footing but still noth nothIng nothlag nothIng Ing lag like the ordinary world of the thedaytime thedaytime thedaytime thedaytimeHe daytime daytimeHe He walked softly across the Green Greento Greento Greento to toe the Calf P Pasture sture to get his horseKen horseKen horse horseKen Ken had bad been a night wanderer wandererever wandererever wandererever ever since he had learned to walk walkalone walkalone walkalone alone and to climb over the edge ot of othu ofhis ofhis hu his crib Nell would wake bearing bearinga a sound in the hall hail or living room roomwould roomwould roomwould would find the baby s crib empty and andgo andgo andgo go searching learching for himShe himShe him himShe She d find him somewhere omewhere in the thedark thedark thedark dark crawling or standing unsteadl unsteadi unsteadlIly unsteadily unsteadily Ily ly on the tall tail of his nightgown and andwould andwould andwould would pick him up and carry bJm him bJmI himback himback I back to bedShe bedShe bed bedShe She tried tying tyJng the bottom of bls his blsmghtgown hisnightgown hisnightgown mghtgown nightgown In tn a knot with his feet feetinside feetInside Ilnslde feetIlnslde inside but he merely became more moreexpert moreexpert moreexpert expert at balancing Then she hob hol1- hol1 bob- bob hol1bled bobbled hobbled - - bled him with a soft diaper but helearned helearned he heover learned to swmg swing both feet together togetherover togetherover over the side of hia his crib hang with withlittle withlittle withlittle little monkey hands drop down and andahuffle andshuffle andshuffle ahuffle shuffle instead of walkWhen walkWhen walk walkWhen When he was older sometimes sometimeshe he d go outdoors in the nightOtten nightOften night nightOften Often Otten Nell did that herself Rest Restless Restless Restless less or una unable ble to sleep she would wouldslip wouldslip wouldslip slip from her bed tie tlfO t1 a robe around aroundher aroundher aroundher her take pillow and blanket and go godown godown godown down to her hammockBnd hammockand hammock and Bnd lie with withher withher withher her face to the sky watching the thestars thestars thettnrs thettnrsKen stars starsKen Ken found Lady just inside Jnslde the thefence thefence thefence fence of the Calf Pasture and when when1 whent t 1 e held out hl his hand and spoke I s.c sc . ( ) s.cher . toher her the She didn t move away sway but let lethim lethim lethim him take hold of her halter and lead leadher leadher leadher her out outHe . He lIe hacf haJ been riding Lady all week weekwhen weekwhen weekwhen when he was exercising the geld geldIngs geldings geldIngs Ings and looking for Rocket and In Insplcting insps.ciing inspieling splcting sps.ciing spsciing . the yearlings He had gone goneto goneto goneto to look at the yearlings every day dayand dayand and yesterday his hJs mother had rid ridden ridden ridden land dayland den out with him They hadn t been beenable beenable beenable able to find them anywhere until untilIsuddenly untilsuddenly untilIsuddenly theyIheard theyIbeard Isuddenly suddenly from a high place they theyheard Ibeard heard the thunder of hoofsThey hoofsThey hoofs hoofsThey I hoofsI They sounded like a regiment regimentIsald regimentsaid regimentsaid Isald said Nell Neil tellir tellh g abo st > o it Jt ii it at supperAI supperAr supper supperAi Ai Ar d we lo 10 ho ked down andsaw and saw sawthem sawthem sawthem them a stream of color flylnn flylnM flying down downthe downthe downthe the dra draw w It was beautiful to wa watch watchthem watchthem tch tchthem them ! ! They shone In the sun-sor sun sor sWl-sor sWl sunsorrei sWlsorrei sun - sorIre rei ) and black and bay and roan-the roan the roantheflowing roantheflowing roan - theflowing flowing movement-so movement so movement - so gay so o free freeso freeso freeso so frolicsome frolicsomeI frolicsomeAnd I ' And then they had ridden down to tothe tothe tothe the yearlings yearllllgs and dismountedn dismountedan dismounted an n ngst 11gSt them and Nell exclaimedu exclaimedUI exclaimed UI | n the way their thl'ir thlir ' first year of hfe life hfech'1 lifech'i lifectn ch'1 ch1 ch'i chi ' ' ged their ap appearance aptearance earance - dark darkche darkchestn darkchestn che chestn < ; tn ita Its turned to sorrels a pinkr pmkr pinkn pmk pink r n ( < an dn changed to a blue blacks light light- lightened lightmed lightened - - ened med t to brown odd spots and mark markngs marktogs markings ngs togs ! vanished completely and conI con I [ { < ( < rmat nnar n altered almost beyond beyondrecogl beyondrecogi beyondrecogi recogl recogi ition ItlOn ItlOnThey itionThey itionThey They look at 51 innine mmng inning she told told'lob toldKob tob 'lob lob < ' Smooth and sleek and glossy glossytheIr glossytheir glossyIheir theIr little hides so co fllI fi ft 11 II and taut tauttl tautti tauttl tl ti ey cy look as if they would wouJd burstKen burstKen burst burstKen Ken himself had been dazed tv by tvthe tvthe bythe the beauty of them The rich feel feelingone feelingorie feelIng ing-one ing one ing-orie orie - one f then his own butahich but buthich ahich " , hich hlch " ' " ' He lie wanted wanled wanied tl tI ii cm em alland all and andau andiii andur au iii I t I 1 he ch se in a w.iy wiy is'iy isiy " . 1y ' ' they 'erem aereall " ' were 'ere ere aere m all II hisKen hisKen his hisKen Ken led Lady Ladv up the little path pathIhr pathIhr paththr Ihr ueh ugh the Gorge Corge 'orge orge ( ' into tnto the corralsIInd corralsand corrals corralsnd IInd and nd tIen tl tI en into mto the dark stable put putthe putthe putthe the catch on her halter poured a amea ameasure ameasure mea measure ur . of oats In the feed box in inthe inthe Inthe the manger before her and began beganto beganto to groom her Dad said use saddlesean saddlescan saddles -ean ean -can can - - car t see aee why-better why better why - better do It anyvay anyway any vay- vay way- way vayI ay - I , Lady was tas as a big red roan with a ablack ablack ablack black tall tail and mane man * She moved movedquickly movedquickly movedquickly quickly . , , her head had a proud high highcarriage highcarriage highcarriage carriage . , , her dark eyes were full fulland fulland fulland and Int intelligentKen intelligent intelligentKen lllarent lllarentKen Ken . slid .Ud Ud around her close to her herhaunches herhaunches herhaunches haunches one on hand on her tall tail and andthen andthen andthen then gav gave bar her a whack and sold said soldGet saidGet saidGet Get over overtThe overt overtThe I IThe The mare mar * moved m9ved ovr over with her herquick herquick herquick quick strong . step .tep tep and Ken rubbed rubbeddown rubbeddown rubbeddown down her other side He put on the thesasidle thesajidle thesaddli sasidle sajidle blanket then Ur the saddle and andcinched andcinched andcinched cinched It as all 5 tight as 88 be he b * could rew re- re rewmembering remembering re remembering - membering the th blanket he had lost lostlastly lostlastly lostlastly lastly Ur the bridle-she bridle she bridle - - sir had finished finishedher finishedher finishedher her oa oats ts He led her out of the thecorral thecorral Urcorral corral and shut ahut the gate There Therewas Therewas Th r rwas was a rock there upon which whlcb be he beoften heoften aoften * often stood to mount the taUest tallest taUesthorses tallesthorses tallesthorses horses He lie led Lady up to It First Firsthe Firsthe Firsthe he tried trJed the cinch again Loose ! She Shealways Shealways Shealways always blew herself hersel1 up when she shewas shewas shewas was being saddled That was wbat what wbathe whathe whathe he had forgotten to do Ur the other otherday otherday otherday day with Cigarette He lie took the theclncb thecinch thecinch clncb cinch up three more rnor holes mount mounted mounted mounted ed and arid moved JDoved pioved offThe offThe off offThe The four bronca broncs that Ross Rose Ros was wasbreaking wasbreaking wasbreaking breaking were grazing In Ur the Sta Stable Stable Stable ble Pasture close by the corrals and andwhen andwhen andwhen when they saw him they trotted trottedover trottedover trottedover over to him and Ken drew rein and andstood andstood andstood stood there letting them come up upand upand upand and sniff snU'l snUl ' and nicker at t Lady and andshe andshe andshe she nickered back When he h * went wenton wenton wenton on they tbey followed tor for a little Uttle while whileand whileand whileand and then turned back to the corralswaiting corralswaiting corrals corralswaiting -waiting waiting - waiting tor for their oats he thought thoughtRoss thoughtRoss thoughtRoss Ross always gav gave each one on * a meas mess- mess mea messure measure . - ure of oats before he worked themMight them % , - , ga Might a s well keen keep hia him coin gaixg going , and andClt andgil a dgit Clt gil It ooten outen tea his sytem system " . Their names were Gangway Don DonRumba DonRumba DonRumba Rumba and BlazesSometimes BlazesSometimes Blazes BlazesSometimes Sometimes Ken thought as he hecantered hecantered hecantered cantered toward the County Road Roadgate Roadgate Roadgate gate the tqe ttpt names his mother gave the thecolts thecolts thecolts colts in their first summer didn t tstick tstick tstick stick because the colts changed 80 so 80There soThere soThere There had been Irish IrJsh Elegance so sosmooth sosmooth sosmooth smooth and classy looking the first firstsummer firstsummer firstsummer summer that Nell said she was nam narn naming narning namIng ing him after a bea bee itlful Jtlful itiful copper col cot colored cotored colored ored California rose But the lec sec lecI lecond second second I ond summer he had turned into a alittle alittle alitUe little mick mJck so 50 they dropped the Ele Elegance Elegance Elegance aI I gance and just call caU him IrishI IrishRoss IrishRoss Irish IrishRosi I Rosi Ross was having a tough time timeI timebreaking timebreaking timebreaking I breaking Gangway a big blood bay bayout bayout . out of Taggert the tallest and hand handsomest handsomest handsomest somest of the tour four Yesterday Ken Kenand Kenand Kenand and Howard had sat lat on the corral corralfence corralfence corralfence fence watching Ross working wJth with wJthhim withhim withhim him Gangway was bucking and andRoss andRoss andRoss Ross had called to Howard to open openthe openthe openthe the corral gale gate and arId let him out The Thehorse Thehorse Thehorse horse bucked out the gate with him himand himand himand and Ross swung SWWlg his quirt QuJrt , , and andspurred andspurred andspurred spurred him and Gangway sun sunfished sunfished sunfished fished and cork screwed screw'd screwd ( ' and jack jackkn Jackkn jackkn kn fed Ross Itoss sat with a little grin grinand grinand grinand and his quirt going all alt the time timeand timeand timeand and when he be came past Ken ei eiplodlng eploding e eplonmg < : plonmg plodlng ploding in great grass h ) ipper pper leaps leapshe leapshe leapshe he said Might s a well keep himgoin himgoin him himoin goin oin and git glt it Ii outen ouien his systemWhen systemWhen system systemWhen When it was |