OCR Text |
Show - - . . , J i , i MY FRIEND : fLICK tLICK : , " t tIf 0.b 0b . \If If \ . MAW MARY O'HARA OHARA OTsARA O.HARA OHARA . ' fl THE TUB ruts BTOnt BTOaY 8TOar , BO o O r&Bl rBl F&al Fal FAnt & & 1'eD-7ear-old 1'eD 1eD 7ear old 1'eD7earoldKeD Tony.ar- Tony.ar Tony.arKen ' - T 0-yeKen 0 yeKen - . - - KeD Ken McLauthlln McLsnghlla M Laueh1bl (1-vea (1 1 vea et'vea etvea given ( ' - MI all as opportUDII opportwdty opportwdtychoose opportunityeboor 1 . cboo.e cbooe choose . a any . , ; ycarlinf rearl1 yearuag & colt co1 & On ClD qn ail 1111 WI lamnrl fsmty fsmtyWyoming ( amO ; . _ Wyoming J'omiae Jomiae ' ranch raueh , , pich pick * . $ the th hh * My atl7 any 01 M M"Ioeo of"loco ofloco a a"loco "loco loco "Ioeo Ioeo " " " mare nrr * named Dame4 KockCL JtocileL noek.L noekL . m Oil Ini . ehol eholmerely cbolc choltner . Inorely merely ly adds add * . to bl hii bls . lather la&be- la&be labe la&beaaeu fatber's fatbers & ' - * ' * . aaeu anger anc r wbleb who whois wnlIs is . already a & . os.ed osed < . m .0 0 . e4 . by 11) 11 ) ' Ibe lbe U > fact laet Uull that Ur < KOD KODb.a K Khue Kha b.a ba hue . * tailed laDed fared hll his hi * school aebool work and aDd In laal hau sbor sborno alaOWll rtioiDO no _ ions . car .a a . . . o of . refpoailbulty reapooalbWt.7 reapooalbWt7 re.poa.IbWty repoa.IbWty repoaIbWty . . . It .al al Mu . a * KeD Her Hermother Keimother I Imother mother who Wbo anally 8DaUy OnalU penaadea penaaclod persuaded captalD captalDMeLa Capta Captaliscl.augbUn CapUUcLauthUa MeLa liscl.augbUn lisclaugbUn . h1bI Uut thai that bavlll havlnc bavlag . clae the ( he colt eoU mleb mig migbo mlb | . b bo . .ood ood good . Ko d lor for ( or lCea Ken Hen , , and th the . eba chaose change .e e . la ID In him himbaa hi hibac hihai baa bac proved prove4 oh alte he . wai w.a wa . ritht rlebL tight . FUckabadly FlIeD Flleka Fllekabadly ta tabadl badl badly ; , hart bun tryliif trying tr7ID . to 0 & Jump lump the tho .orr orr . oorral oorralleae oonfence .orrfence leae fence . bu but ' evea .veo veo . ven Captain CaptalD captaac MeLaueMIa McLaughlin McLau Mln baa b bto hto to . admit admtl that the little attle DIU . Ully IW3 fly " lOa may ; , Dot sot sotloco notloco . . loco after aDNow auNow all aD au allNow Now eoaunn CODU eonuuu ue * with the Ibo ttory atorT $ tory toryCHAPTER CHArTER CHAPTER XII x111 x111Ken XIIKen Ken would stand In Ln front ot of her herand h hand hiand and gay say I am Ken ( That was wasImportant wi wiimportant wiImportant Important for her to know ) And Andam Andam I Iam am your friend Fllcka Flicka I am i isorry i iorry so so.orry .orry orry sorry . orry so-very-sorry so very sorry so - - very - sorry you are hurt hur hurand huiand , and I hope It doesn doeen t hurt ' He foun.dI found foun.d . a /I I / , nicer place tor for the thefilly U Uflay Ufilly UfillyA filly flay fillyA flayA A fence ran from the corralsthe corrals of ofthe 'the the ' the cowbarn straight north divi divilog dlvid dlvidIne divlIng Ine log the Calf Pasture from the pratice prac practlce pra pratfce tlce tfce field , . , a path led along this thisfence th thfence thfence fence and and . , about three hundre hundreyards bundred bundredyards hundryards * yards from the corralt corrals reached reachedspot reachedapot a aspot spot where several leveral aeveral cottonwood tre tree trees treemade tremade < made a wall of foliage Under tlboughs the theI U Uboughs I \ boughs of the trees the path sloped slopedsharply elope elopeaharply slopesharply sharply aharply down tor for ten feet or .0 0 so . o to toflat toflat a flat at area of beautiful green turf tur turthrough turthrough . through which Lone Tree Creek ran ranWhen raiWhen rai raiWhen When the creek was In Ln flood all allthis a athis athis this flat part was wee covered but butnow bt btnow blnow now In tummer .ummer ummer summer . It was dry and th thgrass the thegrass trgrass grass such a vivid green that that , , com coming con conIng conIng ing upon it from the dryer land landroundabout Ian Ianroundabout lanroundabout roundabout , , , it was startling to the theeye th theye treye eye Golden sunlight lay upon part partof pas pasof paiof of it part of It was dark and plea pleas pleas pleasant pleasant ; ant with the shade of the cottonwoo cottonwootrees cottonwood cottonwoodtrees cottonwootrees trees that bung hung over the hill and andsent an ansent ansent sent their roots winding down Its Itsface ii iiface 11face face to bore underground for wster wa ws water w wter < ter Here without having to huifor hunt huntfor hur hurfor for it Fllcka Flicka had rich grass to eat eatand ea eaand eand ( and running water to drink there therewas ther therwas therwas was both sun and shadeKen shadeKen shade shadeKen Ken called the place Flicka FlickaNursery FlickaNursery s sNursery Nursery and each morning and eve evenlng evening ev evning < ning nlng he walked down the little path pathcarrying patcarrying pat patcarying carrying carying { a can of oats to emptinto enriptInto empty empt emptyinto into the wooden feed box which he h hhad hbad ! had set near the roots of the cotton cottonwoods cottonwoods cottorwoods cottorwoodsStanding woods woodsStandmg woodsStanding Standing Standmg as tall as & she &he he ehe could at atthe a athe athe the toot foot of the bank Flicka Flicks coup coupjust couljust could just gee see over the top of o1 it and andcatch any anycatch ancatch catch sight of Ken corning coming He Hecould H Hcould Hcould could see her too It made him tin tingle tingle tirgle gle all over the first time he sa\her sa her saw sawher say sayher \ her head-just head just head - just the pretty face with witht withthe will willthe witthe the blonde bang over her tore ford foreleai foreleaiand ) ead eadand eaiand t and the dainty pricked ears framerin framed framer framedin frame'in framein ' in the down hanging hangini : branches of the tit titcottonwoodsand thcottonwoods cottonwoods-and cottonwoods and - - and realized that she shewas shi shiwas Bh'wa Bhwa ' 4 4cottonwoodsand was looking lookmg for him and waiting waltmg tohim tohimKen for forhim fo'o foo fo'ohim ' him himKen Ken bragged about it that night a aupper at at.upper asupper upper .upper supper . but Howardsaid Howard said Nuts NutsShe NutsShe J JShe She s lookin looktn tor for her oats not for foi foryou foiyou toyou toyouMcLaughlin ) you youMcLaughlin McLaughlin answered sharply sharplyOats sharplyOats sharplyOats in th thlong the thelong thelong < Oats or the bringer-of-oats bringer of oats brlnger-of-oats brlnger - - - - - long run it gets to be the liame same liamething samething eamithing eamithingAnd thing thingAnd And Nell added dryly Are bu hu human buman ) man beings bemgs any different ? ? No doubt about It Flicka Fl1cka did loveher lov lovher love loveher < her oa oats ts As Ken stooped over to tc toempty tcempty uempty empty the can into the feed box she shewould shewould h hwould < would be close beside him blm reaching reachinghe.r reachingher reachingher he.r her . nose in but when he put out his hishand hishand hiihand hand to stroke her she IIhe pulled back backShe backShe backShe She would not let him touch herThe herThe her herThe The last week or BO so all Ken ancHoward and andHoward andHoward Howard had been doing with their theircolts theircolts thelicolts colts was to lead them by the hal hat halter hatter halter ter around the pasture saying Whoa Whoanow Whoanow Whoanow now and then at the same time halt halting halting ing the colt and making them go godifferent godifferent gcdifferent , . different speeds from a slow walk walkup walkup walkup up to a br sk trot When they had hadwalked hadwalked walked them enough they took them themback themback themback back into the pens removed the thelead thelead thelead lead ropes ropel and played ; with thempatted them thempatted , patted and whacked wbacked them waved wavedI wavedblankets wavedblankets I blankets around them leaned ontheir on ontheir ontheir their backs . , , fed them oats out 01 of 01their oftheir oftheir their bandsRight handsRight bands hands bandsRight Right over the fence trom from the CalfPasture Calf CalfPasture CallPasture Pasture where the boy boy boys boyworkedwith 1 worked workedj workedwith workedwith -workedwith workedwith - with their colts was waa the practicefield practicefield practice practicefield j field and here for many hours bours a aday aday aday day Ken 1 a mother and Bnd father and andthe andthe andthe the bronco buster worked with thefour the thefour thefour four polo ponies Rumba Blazes BlazesDon BlazesDon BlazesDon Don and Gangway GangwayAt At last the day came when the thework thework thework work was done The ' ' ' four ponieswere ponies ponieswere ponieswere were loaded into the truck and Me Mc McLaughlin MeLaughlin . Laughlin drove them to the station stationto stationto to be shipped with Sargent s , bunchTaen bunchThen bunch bunchThen \ Then Taen the little tittle bronco-buster bronco buster - - left leftThey . They all gathered around the battered bat bat- battered battered - - tered . sedan .edan edan packed full of saddles saddlesand saddlesand , and equipment , , and eaid said good by to tohim tohim tohim him and w ' ihed 1hed shed him luck at theRodeo the theRodeo theRodeoDon Rodeo RodeoDon Don t take chances Nell MeLaughlin Mc McLaughlin McLaughlin Laughlin sa d Gut Dut Put I not ce you re repretty repretty repretty pretty carefulRoss careful carefulRoss Ross steady blue eyes eye looked at ather ather her in his direct and respectfulman respectful manncr man manncr manncr ncr and he answered A man thatmonkeys that thatmonkeys thatmonkeys monkeys around wild horses don t tkid tkid tkid kid himself any M BSUS ssus saus It don tdo tdo t tlo . " . do < lo no good Then he grinned I may be inhospital in inhospital inhospital hospital agin agIO after the Rodeo butl bu but butif ' if ( lain I ain sin t , I t , , I 1 11 ll be back to see how howKpn , .pn pn } , . } .n n . makes out with hia his filly He Hegrinned Hegrinned grinned rlnned at Ken and Ken grmned grinned grmnedback grinnedback grinnedback back backS S > backThen Then he took ofl off hia his sombrerosh'XIk sombreroshook sombrero sombrerobook sh'XIk shXIk shook book ' hnnrls hanrls hands all aU nil around cHiabed cllnttled cilsabed intothe Into Intothe Intothe the driver drJV"r drJVr driv'r drivr " ' s a . seat and rattled off ofT ofTAnti oftAnr Anr Anti + the next thmg thing that happenedwas happened happenedJ happenedwas J was the Rc Rodeo RodeoBen deo > Ken Ben was entirely alone on theFanab the theranah , J1C Fanab l that day with Flicka FUcka Flicks when wben uddenly .uddenb uddenb suddenly . ' & she &he he couldn touldn t , get et up from fromthe fro frothe ( rothe in the ground 1T0und groundIt 1T0undIt It was the last day of the Rodeo RodeoThe Rode RodeThe RodeThe The Studebaker had gone Into Cheenne Chey Cheyeone Che Checone eone cone on each of the tour four day days daysthe daythe . of ofthe the big show FRONTIER DAYS DAYScaUed DAY DAYcalled DAYcalled caUed called by Cheyenne boosters The TheDaddy TI TIDaddy TDaddy Daddy of 'em em 'ern ern ' ' AllKen AllKen All AllKen Ken went the first day and ss ssLady law lawLady uLady Lady and Calico CaUco and Buck and andBaldy at atBaidy aiBaldy d Baldy Baidy in the parade ridden by four fourof foi foiof toiof j . of the City Fathers all aU dressed dresse up upin t tin iIn in ten gallon hats hatt and fringed frlnlred chapi chapiHe chap chapHe chafHe , ( He law saw the famous famoul bucking hors horsMidnight horlC honMidnight e ! Midnight , , , throw every rider that thatmounted th thmounted thmounted mounted him But Ken didn't didnt ' 1 1In eo eoLn | ; In Ln again not even on this thll last dl dlwhen da dlwhen , when there was going eolne to be the thewild U Uwild tlwild wild horse race and it annoyed hIs hIsfather h hfather tlfather father but McLaughlin said laid It was wasup wi wiup wiup la up to him If U ft bed be he d rather be aloion alone aloneon aim aimon on the ranch than at the Rodeo Rodeowith Rods Rodswith Rodiwith > o with his family why be he could su suhimself .ult ult . .ulthimself thimself lit himself . . . But one thing was wa cer certaill cc cctaro cetain taro taill . , no one was going to stay wIth wIthhimnot wit withimnot wi'him wihim ' him-not him not - not Gus or Tirn Tim either bcause be- be because b bcause - - cause they d both been promls promise promised promisedthe promisethe promlsthe < .d d . the day off Gus would be bac bacon back backon ba baon < on the four o 0 clock bus to milk the thecows U Ucows tlcows cows and until then Ken would t talone be bealone Ialone IaloneKen > e I alone aloneKen Ken said laid sold he be didn t mind-be mind be mind-he he mindhehave mind - behave d dhave I , have FlickaKen FlickaKen FUcka Flicka FUckaKen Ken stood by the car to see lee gee them thei theioff thcioff 1 off ( ) ff and the last thing his father fatherstuck Lath tatbistuck , > c stuck hia his head out the window and andI an ancalled arcalled I called to him All AU right , , kid-Ieav kid Ieav kid-lea lea kidIeaving kidleaing kid - leaIng ing you in Ln charge-it charge it charge I-it I it ! - its s a all yoursAnd yours I ! - . And the Studebaker carrying his hA h | 3 Y Yt A - | t r rtS ' / - tS tSll ' l lll . I ll ,1 1 , , 'prl prl 'prlrr ' ( . L lL rr l rt rtl l ' x 4 4 4ti ti 1 1I 1I w 1w I I The bottom strand of the fencevas feDce fence feDceWi tenciwas > Wi vas & ! brokennother broken brokenmother mother nother and father and Howard Bnd BndGus and andus an anGus < Gus ; us and Tim sl d down the hill rat- rat rattled ratled rattied . - - tled led over the cattle guard and andbowled anc ancBowled an anbowled < bowled smoothly down the roadKen roadKen road roadKen Ken stood there watching it untiit until untii untilIt untiit It t disappeared How different everything every everything everyking thing king was now that they had g gene geneIll goneAll me meAll All Ill yours He felt the responsi responsibiUty responsiiiitty rcsponsiblUty biUty iiitty his fa father ther had laid upon hirr him hire himhe hirehe hirrhe i he was In charge The two twc twodogs twclogs twdogs ( ) dogs logs Kim the collie who lookeclike looked lookedUke lookedIke Uke Ike a coyote and Chaps the blackpanel black blackspaniel blackspaniel ; spaniel panel were standing beside him himThey him'hey himThey They 'hey hey ' too were watching the empty emptyroad emptyoad emptroad ) road oad They were used to doing doingthat doinghat doingthat that hat and they knew the differencf difference differencfthe differencethe differencethe > -the the - -the the - the road with the Studebaker on onIt onI orIt i It I going gomg or coming the road empty emptyand emptynd emptyand and nd silence all aU aroundKen aroundKen around aroundKen Ken went up to bis his room and stood stoodbefore stooddare stoodbefore I before dare his book shell shelf . . . He pickedut picked pickedout pickedout , out ut the Jungle Book then ran randownstairs ranownstairs randownstairs downstairs ownstairs and out out , , , across a across ross thebeen theGreen the theGreen , Green been into the Calf Calt Pasture and andown anddown down own the path by the fence to tolicka toFlicka , FlIcka licka s a Nursery She Sbe was drinkig drink drinkihg drinktog ihg ig at the brookwhen brook when he cameHe came cameHe . He greeted areeted her with a . stream .tream tream of oftalk ofilk oltalk talk ilk he visited with her a while whilestanding whileLanding whilestanding standing Landing as close to her as Ihe she Ihewould sheould shewould would ould let him Then he seated him himself himelf himself self elf on the bank of 01 the hill hilI under underthe underse underthe the se cottonwoods and began to readFlicka readFlicks read readFlicka Flicka Flicks wandered around her nurs nurs- oura- oura ourary nursery nursery - - ery ry Sometimes she wanted sunfine sunchine sun sunshine shine fine and stood lltood under the dappled |