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Show MY MYFffiEND MYyRIEND FJtIEND FJtIENDi i ' - s MYFffiENDICKA1 fLrCKAtf- fLrCKAtf fLrCKAtft . ICKA1 - J , t , MARY O.HARA OHARA OHAIIA TUB TIIB TIH STOUT IITORY STORY ! 80 0 FAR 1"AR 1AR " TeD Tei Tt " year-old year old rearoId y rearoIdKen r rKen - ! Ken { en Mcl.juchlln Mcljuchlln I\1d.aughlln I1d.aughlln I 1d.aughlln 1daughlln McLaughlin \ . . ear ean Can rid rl . aD any ny ) ' bone horse r on ontli onI iil tli I , family I s WymlBf Wyomln Wyoming , ranch raneb bat hul but b be bewanta Iivvnti . 'wante wante ' wanta a colt eoU of r all ble bli own w IUa Ills 111 * father fatheretlr a aetlred aetired etlred etired < army rmy omcer offlcer cer refllel reues reiu ( _ es 0 In & t * llv give , Ive bJm him bJm"De himme Mr.i Mri . . "De De me " > n wh when be he h * Iarn learni learnl , . fkt that Kn Ken * bal ha * . not notbeen notbeen tkern been promoted But lint 0 t hli IiII lit . nctaer mother con- con convine convlnce c - n-vim-ci n vim ci - vine vlnce - . , CaptalB Captain McLaBhlln 1\1c1.aubJln 11c1.aubJln 1 1c1.aubJln 1c1aubJln McLaughlin \ . ( , that tbe the th colt coltmay coltmay celt"i celti may " y be Jllit juat Ju t what wba & Ken needl needa eea * II " "e e He * bu baa k * a ahard ahard , bard hard Ume time tin * eboo.ln ebooln chonaing eh . In . hil hie U colt cl * ( UBIJI until be he leel ieee leelthe ieeethe the lh yearlinc yearUlI yearling ' ally 1111) 1111 flhly ) ' ot t B a . loco bee l c mare mar * anie- anie named namedRocket namedRocket anieabl - Rocket I.oco Ioco toco . I It _ the bone hone breeder I . Ii r i- i iname - name tor for a no 100d good untamable abl * awne borle horue horueNow \ Now Ken baa has come > 0 to & t * the rukfait breakfa.t breakfat breakiait . 1 ta tat * , , l,1e l1e \ > , Ie beamlnl beamLng with Joy and nd simply lmply dyln dying dyingto , 0 to & t * tell teU cmf lomeone tomeone * ot of f hi IRwcket . dlacovery diucovery of ofRocket ofRocket Rocket and her ber colt coiL coiLNow It . . New Now eOrtt1nue cotlnpe c , aa with the th * ltory story storyCHAPTER ( fry , CHAPTER CIIAI'TER CIIAITER ' ViiIf VII VIIK K It If you can raise eood good calves and andcolts andcolts andcolts colts on It it , , I guess you can raist rais raisk1 . loys 1 oys Nell Neil reasoned And Mcl McI augh aughn augh41 aughA A 41 n with wu a lone long line of oat eating eatingScotch eatingScotch cotch Scotch ancestor ancestors * behind behiod his brawn brawnand brawnand brawnand and toughness agreedWith agreedWith agreed agreedWith With the oatmeal there was wa al always always alway ways a big ptcher p tcher of yellow Guern Guam GuamI Guamsey Gucrn1 I . sey ey cream and a bowl of ot brOwn brtwn brOwnbugar brtwnsugar brownhugar bugar sugar Nell milling smllmg amiling pushed them themtoward themtoward themtoward toward Ken noticing the unusual unusualcolor unusualcoior unusualcolor color coior In his face fnce The boy flashed f\ashed f ashed \ B a Bglance aglance aglance glance at t his hl mother his hl eyes eye * weredark were werenark , ? nark oark dark with excitement excitemenL . His Ills Hi * whole wholelace wholeface wholeface lace face was wa lit up--transfigurt'd up transfigurt'd transfigurtd up-transfigured transfigured up - - transfigured ' reallyand reallyand really reallyand and she ch felt telt a alight slight sense aense en e of ot otshock ofshock ofhock hock shock What had happened ? He had hadI 1 een different all week more sure surei ure i < f himself more mor alert and happy happybut happybut happybut but this- this thisRob thisRob this - - Rob McLaughlln McLaughlin was looking at atKen atKen atKen Ken too not missing a thing Some Somethmg Something Something thmg thing had happened that mornlni morning morninghon morningron ( hon * on . the ranie-- ranie range- range ranieWhat rangeWhat range - - What horae horse did you ride rlde7 ? asked askedhe askedhe askedhe askedheLady he heLady heLady Lady'And Lady . "And And 'And " ' where Is In I * she h * now nowT ? On her herf ' , Way .ay ay . to the border ? jocularly"I jocularlyI jocularly jocularly.I .I I ' . " 1 " put her ber In the Home Pasture Pat lure t She.s Shes Br . a out there at the fountain now"Was now'Was now now"Was ' "Was Was 'Was " ahe she hot hot ? ? t S tNo SNo No sir lr I cooled her off ofT coming cominghome cominghome home There was a little smile mile of ofpride ofpride ofpride ! pride on Ken s a face and Nell Nellthought Nellthought Nellthought thought , , all the right answers an wer so solar sofar ofar ofarThe lar far larf larThe farThe The exarnii examb examli ation atlon went on DId DIdyou Didyou Didyou f , you give her a good workoul workout ? Yes Ye sir'Then sir'Then air sir airThen ' ' Then 'Then don t ride her again today todaylike today1 todayI like I ike Baldy If you want a horseYes horseYes horse horseYes Yes air sir sirBreak sirBreak airBreak Breakal Breakas Break ai al as ything ? Lose any anyU anyii anyU U ii INo r I g " " > No sir sirRob sirRob ir irRob Rob laughed He lIe tie leaned over and'r and 'r r ' ) tied tted Ken on the head Good Goodw w rk young m.n-comlng m.ncomlng m.n mn comlng mln-coming mln coming rmn . - coming al t I gKen gKen e g eKen Ken burst out la Ia ighing ightng lie He Eta was wasa wasB a " excited It was wa hard to sit stIll stIllA tillB A ( d cI I answer properly He lIe wasnI wasn t tII tI II i r g to tell about his colt yet yet-not yet not yetnott - nott t 11 II tomorrow when the week wasI was I > i But nul It was hard to lo hold It InI Inrd in I ) rd i-d i d - t r I t to jumr jumi jum up and run aro ara md mdII mdit indU II it e kitchen kltlhen ahouting shouting and cr cm wingi wingywayhe wing i- i - iywayhe yway-he yway he yway - he could tell about Rockt RockI Rockt.t Rock t.t- t.t t.tI . < -t t - - I didn t Ise 1 I se anything I lound found founds lound'I 'I I S ' n Ui eti elt ett mgi ing mg ! ! He lie boasted shovelIngI shoveling I ) b g spornfuls sponluls spomnfuls ( of oatmeal Ilound IloundHackel I found foundtocket founditocket Hackel tocket . St Si c e s a back backSWhen % When Ken went to bed that night0 nightI nightIt nighta night I SWhen It a Kissed dlssed .cisaed cisaed . t Us is mother and then threws threwr threw threwarms r s arms arm * around her and held her herird herfcird . .rd rd ird . for lor a momentSmiling momentSmiling moment momentSmiling Smiling she put her hand on his hish hish hish h > xd od d Well Kennie Kennle- Kennle Kennie- Kennleher Kennieher - - her violet violeteyes violete e eyes > ) t > es s were soft solt and understanding understandingHe understandinglb lb He went upstairs miline smiling amiling back at atler ater at2er ler : er over his hi * shoulder having a se ae seeret aecret * ecret eret cret with her He knew that she sheknew sheknew theknew theknewHe knew knewHe He lit the candle In his room and andst andat andst st at od ad staring at the (1 1 tl ft ( ckering ckerlng light light'Ills light'i lightt\ lightt lighttis 'Ills Ills 'i i ' ' \ is was wa like hke a last day The last lastolY lastd lastd olY d ly iy before chool school Is i out out , , . or before beforeI beforeCiriclinaa i ( : I 1 rlshllas ristomas 1ristomas or before his hi * mother mothercme mothernme cme { ' .me me . back after alter a visit In the East . . 1 'I I ' n orrow was t'lf tlf I t ' > > e ? day when really reaily reallyH reailyS . s life I1lp w mid ) uld begin bpgin He lie would get get1 getI I s a coltHe coltlie colt coltHe He lie couldn t quite remember the theI I r I " of 01 her Orange-plnk-tanger Orange plnk tanger Orange-pink----tanger pink Orangeplnktangerlee OrangepinktangerI Orange - pink - - - - - tangeri lee I p e c lor tom tail tall and mane white like like1tIe likee likeIfie 1tIe * e hair of an Albino boy at school schoolAll schoolAlt choolAll All Alt o 0 of course her grandstres grandsires grandstre grandsire s the thp Albino-the Albino the Albino - - the famous Albino Albinof AlbinoS f S , . 1 I He lIe felt lelt a little uneasiness at att atl t s 'I I ' the Albino bloodwasn blood wasn t sale safe safet t d for ( or a flUy filly to have But i eor or eorI orI erI I aps she hadn t muchof much of 01 it I er ert erdl erI t 1 1a dl d a s the cream tail tall and m-u m u m.r mr mz . - e came camef camer cameI r I m Bar Rar ner her sire Banner had hada hadII II a cream tail tall and mane too.he too \\.he .he whe \ . nhci I m he heis he\ he heis \-is is . \ , . - is .s s a colt lots of sorrel colts had hadHe hadlie hadHe He lie hoped she spe smh would be b docile and andgoodnot andgoodnot andgood good-not good not - not like Rocket Rockt't Rocktt ' Which would'It wouldci would 'It It ci ' ; ! e a take after ' " ' ' flock Rockcf Rocket ? Or Banner Banner'He BannerHe " ' ' ,1Ie 1Ie , , , lle hadnt hadn t had time to get a good goodIt goodj goodm It > | m > k into her eyesKen eyesKen eyes eyesKen Ken began to undress Walking Walkingnd Walkingnd nd his hi room his hi * eyes caughtt caughtI caught I t of the pictures on th the tht > waU- waU wall- wall wall wallI waUt wall1 - t 1 I cy ey didn dldn t interest Interf'st Interfst interti ' himJ himp himfhe himFhe him J p ' rhe fhe speed of 01 her She ht > hod had run rijn rund rijnavav runriu.av runriuav d avav \ . . a v from Irom Banner He kt kept > pt th nk nkg nkg nkg g about that It Ii hardly seemedsible seemedsible aeemed seemed aeemedsible sible Hit His father always saidIt saidIt said It ! ( . cket oket was the fastest horse on ont onfe ( t > ral mi raich ch cli . , , and now Ro'ket Roket Rocket Rorketl ( ' s e HUy filly . 1 I ! run away from BannerK BannerH Bannerii Banner H ii ding down the mountain thut thai that1 thutj thaiI j I Y Ken had traced tra"d trad ( ' ( " hack all hili his hiliu hissc hi * u sc .c c . _ : llecliona lIechons Ilectmons of her The summer summerre ' , f { re when he ar d Howard had hadto hadn hadin to ( n the spring c It/ It lta It- It Ithe - * . / > he hadnI hadn t tI ticcially I c'lally clally ecially ( ' noticed her He lie I"emem Iemem remem I"ememel"t rememered " rememcred el"t elt ered " > d that he had teen seen her even be bef ber beI r I e a that , . , aoon soon after she was wa born bomt/o bomt o , / , . _ had been out with Gus one one1 oneI I ! ' ly 'y y iy In En the mead meadcw meadew w during dunng the theI I ring rlOg holiday The They , . were lIIoere ere clear clearng clearog clearng ng og some driftwood out of ot the irri- irri cr1- cr1 irrir [ Irrl-C Irrl C cr1gpUon - - r " . gpUon tion ditcb ditch , , , and they had seen seenIfocket seendocket seenlocket Ifocket docket landing standing stand in a s gully lly on the r hillside quiet for tor once and eyeinl eyelng eyeinlI eyeinlthem eyelngthem eyingthem them cautiouslyAy cautiouslyAy cautiously cautiouslyAy I Ay bet she IIhe got a colt " said aaid GUll Gus GUIand , . and they walked carefully up the thedraw thedraw thedraw draw Rocket gave a wild snort snort snortthrust . , I Ithrust thrust her feet out out . , shook her head head'wickedly headwickedly headwickedly 'wickedly wickedly ' th then n fled away And all as allthey asthey athey * they reached the spot they lIaw saw lIawstanding sawstanding sawstanding standing there the th wavering pink pinkIsh pinkIsh pinkIsh Ish colt barely able to keep ita Us its teet feet feet.It feetIt . . . H It gave a little lltti * squeak and started startedalter startedafter startedafter alter after Its mother on crooked wob wob- wobblmg wob- wob wobbling wobbling - - bling blmg legsYee legsYee legs legsYe Yee Ye whiz whlzl I ! Luk at de little littlefllcka littlefilckal littleflickal fllcka filckal I said GusWhat GusWhat Gus GusWhat What docs does flicka mean GusT QusT Gus ? ' . Swedish for little gurl gurI gun . . Ken- Ken Ken-S S KenHe KenSHe Ken - He had seen the filly again IIgain late lateIn latein latein In the fall She Sh was half pink half halfyellowwith haLfyellowwith halfyellow yellow-with yellow with - with streaked untidy unUdy looking lookinghair lookinghair lookinghair hair She was wall awkward and ungaln ungain ungalnly ungainly ungainly ly with legs too long haunches a alIttle alittle alittle lIttle too high highAnd highAnd highAnd And then he had gone away to toschool toschool toschool school and hadn t seen her again againuntil againuntil againuntil until now-she now she now - the ran away from tram Ban BannerHer BanncrHer Banner ner-Her ner Her ncr-Her ncr - Her eyes-they eyes they eyes - they had looked iooked like likeballs likeballs likeballs balls of fire flre this morning What Whatcolor Whatcolor Whatcolor color were they they7 " ' Banner s u were werebrown werebrown werebrown brown with flecks of gold or gold goldw w th decks flecks of brown-Her brown Her brown - Her speed and andher andher andher her delicate curving lines made him himthink himthink himthink think of a greyhound he had seen seenrunning seenrunning seenrunning running once but really she was wasmore wasmore wasmore more like Just a little girl than any anytllingthe anythingthe anything tlling-the tlling the thing-the thing - the way her face tace looked and andthe andthe andthe the way her blonde hair blew-a blew a blew - a lit little littie littie tle tie glrl- glrl girl- girl glrlKen girlKen girl-Ken girl Ken - Ken blew out the light and got Into Intobed intobed Intobed bed and before the smile smil * had tad fad taded faded faded ed from his face he h was asleep- asleep asleepI asleepI asleep - - I 11 take that sorrel nlly ftlly filly of Rock Rocket Rocket Rocket et s 5 the th * one with the th cream taU tail taUand tailarid tailand and arid maneKen maneKen mane maneKen Ken made his announcement announcerpent at atthe atthe atth the breakfast tableAlter tableAfter table tableAfter After Alter h he * spoke there wa was . a mo mo- coo- coo moment cooment moment - - ment II u astonished . silence .Uence Uence Nell Yt Tee Yea > e whiz ' Lak Lok Luk at de e little EIttIe littleftlcka EIttIefiicka littleflicka ftlcka fiicka ' aalJ Bald said GBS Gus Gusgroped GBSgroped groped for recollection and said A Asorrel Asorrel Asorrel sorrel filly ? I can t seem to remem remember remembar remember ber bar that one at all-what all what all - what s a her hername hername hername name ? But Rob remembered The smilefaded smlle smile smllefaded smilefaded I faded from trom his hi * face as he looked at atKen atKen atKen Ken Rocket s a filly Ken7 Ken7Yes Ken ? Yes sir Ken s face tace changed changedtoo changedtoo changedtoo too There waa was no mistaking his histather hisfather hisfather tather father s a displeasure displeasureI I was hoping you d make a wise wisechoice wisechoice wisechoice choice You know what I J think 01 of 01Rocketthat ofRocketthat ofRocket Rocket-that Rocket that - that whole line of horses- horses horsesKen horsesKen horses - Ken looked down the color ebbed ebbedfrom ebbedfrom ebbedfrom from his cheeks She s fast last Dad Dadand Dadand Dadand and Rocket s fast- fast fastH fastIt fast - It H s 5 the worst line of ot horses I ve ye vegot yegot vegot got There s a never one amongst amongstthem amongstthem amongstthem them wth real sense The mares maresare maresare maresare are hellions hcllIons and the stallions oul out oullaws outlaws outlaws laws they re ur UI tamable tamableI I 11 tame herRob herRob her herRob Rob guffawed gufTawed Not I nor any anyone anyone anyone one has ever been able to really reallytame reallytame reallytame tame anyone any one of them themKenn themKenn themKenn Kenn e s 5 chest heavedBetter heavedBetter heaved heavedBetter Better change your mind Ken KenYou KenYou KenYou You want wllnt a horse that 11 be a II real realIrlend realfriend realfriend Irlend friend to yo i don t you ? Yes- Yes YesKennle YesKennie Yes - Kennie Kennle s a voice was un no unsteady nosteady unsteady unsteadyWell steady steadyWell Well you 11 II U never make a Irlend friend Irlendof friendof friendof of that filly Last fall after all the thecolts thecolts thecolts colts had been weaned and separat aeparat separated aeparated separated ed from their dams she and |