| Show U f am k MY FLICK AV tit MARY 6 HARA shi THE STORY SO VAR fail ten year old ken mclaughlin can ride any horse hone on an hla his wyoming ranch but he be wants a colt of his own ills lather father a retired army officer refuses because ken his ban not been promoted at school and has bat shown rio oo sense ol of responsibility dut but kens hens mother coti convince vinces captain laughlin lii that the colt may be just what reu ken needs ken picks the yearling filly BUY of 0 a 4 loco no tood good mare named rocket locket A little later rocket Is sold old but Is killed billed before she he reaches tier ber new owner sells all of 0 rockets offspring but kens keni colt I 1 in spite fathers ta thera displeasure ken wants that colt and an no other now continue with the story CHAPTER LX IX I 1 they dined in town with the bart letts and by the time they got back to the ranch a number of visitors were there and from then on the pleasant of sunday aft ernson kept the place alive with cars coming and going trays of bottles and glasses being carried in and out and much talk and laughter later in the afternoon mclaughlin stuck a tin can on the up tip of one of the branches of a pine tree on the hill opposite and the officers took their revolvers and practiced target shooting standing on the terrace then mrs grubb and mrs gilman said they wanted to ride out and see the brood mares so they all crowded into two automobiles and mcl ln led the way 1 when they found the brood mares they stopped some distance oft off and got out and mclaughlin ln promised that banner would come out to meet them and do the honors how do you know he will asked mrs lie he always does the mares stopped grazing and stood alert curious and ready to run banner was amongst them his head topped them all and even from a distance dI the men and women watching could feel the penetration of his eye suddenly the big stallion moved towards them ears pricked inquiring g eyes y eb wide and tearless fearless and began lr net a to 0 trot his legs alternating in high free curving steps his mane streaming his tail up flying all his flags cried nell A roar and cheer burst from the officers as the stallion without breaking his trot increased his bis pace and came down the wind to them lila like a bugle call banner halted ten yards oft off and stood looking the group over his golden coat blazed in the sunshine what an intelligent facet exclaimed the colonel mclaughlin ln still in his gray suit and rakish hat bat went forward to the stud apologizing gravely for not having brought a bucket bucke of oats in the car lying in bed that night ken remembered the way banner had looked banner the sire of blicka flicks ads was the same the same burnished gold the same beauty the same flags flying oh ob mine my colt rny my own my very own he wondered when his father would brini bring her in again he had been wondering that every day when gus put his ha round pink lace face in at the kitchen door and said today boss but his father had planned other work meadows to be taken care of water to be turned out ot of one ditch and into the other endless hours bours of work on the three year olds tha that t must be ready to ship tn in just a few days now A new cattle guard being built at one ot of the railroad gates but next morning when gus said today boss mclaughlin ln gave the order for the days work and then said and I 1 think and paused ken looke looked d down to hide bide his excitement cit ement he clenched his fists under the table mclaughlin ln went on tomorrow well get the yearlings yearnings year lings in again gus and cut out kens filly I 1 want to do that before ross leaves we may need his help tomorrow when ken hen opened bis eyes next morning and looked out he saw that the house was wrapped in tog fog there had been no co rain at all since the d day ay a week ago when the wind had torn the sprinkling system to pieces and blown oil all the tattered clouds away that was the day he had found folcka and it had been terribly hot since then they had hardly been able to stand the sun out on the terrace they had gone swimming in the pool every day on the hills the grass was turning to soft tan now there were clouds and they had closed down after a severe hot spell there often came a heavy fog or hallor hail or even snow standing at the window ken could hardly see uie the pines on the hill opposite he wondered if his father would go after the yearlings yearnings year lings in such a fog as this they be able to see them but at breakfast mclaughlin said cald there would be no change of plans it was just a big cloud that had settled down over the ranch it would lift and fall perhaps up on saddle back it would be clear they mounted ana rode out the fog lay in the folds of the kius here and there a bare sum alt was in sunshine then a little farther on came a smother of cottony white that soaked the lour four riders to the skin and hung rows of roon moonstones moon stones on the whiskers of the horses it was hard to keep track ot of each other suddenly ken was lost the others had vanished lie he reined in shorty find and sat listening the clouds an and d mist rolled around him he felt as if he were alone in the world A bluebird color ot of the deep blue w wild ild delphinium that dots the plains became interested in him and P perched er on a bush near by and as he started shorty forward again the bluebird followed along hopping bopping from bush to bush the boy rode slowly vly not knowing in which direction to go then hearing shouts he touched heels to shorty and cantered and suddenly came out of the fog and saw his father and tim and ross there they arel said mclaughlin pointing down over the curve of the hilli hill they rode forward and ken could see the yearlings yearnings year lings standing bunched at the bottom looking up wondering who was coming then a huge coil of fog swirled over them and they were lost to sight again mclaughlin ln told them to circle around spread out fan wise on the far side of the colts and then gently bear down on them so they would R 4 4 f Z banner start towards the ranch it if the colts once got running in this fog he said be no chance of catching them the plan worked well the year lings were not so frisky as usual and allowed themselves to be driven in the right direction it was only when they were anthe county road and near the gate where howard was watching that ken whose eyes had been scanning the bunch as they appeared and disappeared in the fog realized that blicka was missing mclaughlin noticed it at the same moment and as ken rode toward his father mclaughlin turned to him and said ashes not in the bunch T they hey sat in silence a few moments while mclaughlin irk planned the next step the yearlings yearnings year lings dispirited by the tog fog nibbled langl languidly jUly at the grass by the roadside mccaugh Mc Laugh gh lin looked at the saddle back and ken looked too the passionate desire in his heart reaching out to pierce the tog fog and the hillside and see where blicka had hidden hersell herself away well well drive the yearlings yearnings year lings back up said rob finally no chance of finding her alone if they happen to pass anywhere near her ashes likely to join them they drove the yearlings yearnings year lings back once over the first hill the colts got running and soon were out of sight the fog closed down again so that ken pulled up unable to see where he was going unable to see his father or ross boss or tim he sat listening astonished that th the e sound of their hoofs had been wiped out so completely again he seem seemed ed alone in the world the fog lifted in front 61 othla him and showed him that he stood at the brink of a sharp drop almost a precipice though not very deep it led down into a semicircular semi circular pocket on the hillside which was fed by a spring there was a clump of young cottonwoods cotton woods and a great bank of clover dotted with small yellow blossoms in the midst of the clover stood blicka quietly feasting she had seen him before he saw her and was watching him her bead up clover sticking slicking out of both sides of her mouth her jaws going busily at sight of her ken was incapable of cither thought or action suddenly from behind him in the fog he heard his fathers low voice dont move il howd the she get in there said tim she scrambled do down this bank and she could scramble up again it if we here I 1 think weve got her said mclaughlin ln other side of that pocket the ground drops twenty feet sheer said tim she cant go down there folcka had stopped chewing there were still stalks of clover sticking out between her hei jaws but her head was up andl her ears pricked listening and there was a tautness and tension in her whole body ken found himself trembling too hoare you going tf toa catch her dad beasker be asked in a low voice 1 I kin snag her from brorn here said ross boss and in the same breath answered russ RUES can rope her might as well rope her here as in the corral well spread out in a semi circle above this bank she cant get up past us and she he cant can t get down they took their positions and ross lifted saddle his rope oft off the 1 horn orn ot of his ahead of them for far down below the pocket the yearlings year lings lingi were running A whinny or two drifted ul up p and the sound of their hoots hoofs mut fled by the fog blicka heard them too loo suddenly she was aware of danger she leaped out of the clover to the edge of the precipice which tell fell away down the mountainside toward where the yearlings yearnings year lings were running but it yas was too steep and too high she came straight up on her hind legs with a neigh of terror and whirled back toward the bank down which she had bad slid to reach the pocket but on the crest of it looming uncannily in the fog were tour four black figures she screamed and ran around the vase base of the bank ken heard ross rope sing it snaked snake dout out just as flicia dove into the bank of clover stumbling she went down and for a moment was lost losi to view goldart Gol darn said ross hauling in his rope while flicki floundered up and again circled her heli small prison hurling herself at every point only to realize that there was no way out she stood over the precipice poised in despair and frantic I 1 longing ong there drifted up the sound of the colts running blicka trembled and strained over the brink a perfect target for ross and he whirled his lariat again it made a vicious whine blicka went down like a diver she hit the ground with her legs legi folded under her then rolled and bounced the rest of the way it was exactly like the bronco that had climbed over the side of the truck and rolled down the forty foot bank aad ln in ethe tour four watchers sat tn in their saddles waiting to see what would hip happen pen when sh she hit bottom ken already thinking of the winchester and the way the crack of it had bad echoed back from the hills lit it seemed an on four steel springs that tossed her up and sent her flying down the mountainside perfection of speed and power and action A hot sweat bathed ken from head to foot and he began to laugh hall half choking the wind roared down and swept up the fog and it went bounding away over the hills leaving trailing streamers of white in the gullies and coverlets of cotton around the bushes way below they could see blicka galloping toward the year lings in a moment she joined them and then there was just a many colored blur ot of moving shapes with a fierce sun blazing down striking sparks of light off their glossy coats get g going cinal shouted mclaughlin get around behind them on the run now and its cleared keep them running and we wa may get them all in together before they stop tim yau you take the short way back to the gate and help jhoward turn thern them and get them through tim shot off toward the county road and the other three riders gal loped down and around the mountain until they were at the back of the band of yearlings yearnings year lings shouting and yelling and spurring their mounts moun tit they kept the colts running circling them around toward the ranch until they had bad them on the county road way ahead ken could see tim and howard at the gate blocking the road the yearlings yearnings year lings were bearing down on them now slowed up and began to call whoa whoa and tho the pace decreased often enough the year lings had swept down that road and through tho the gate and down to the corrals it was the pathway to oats cats and hay bay and shelter from winter storms would they take it now blicka was with thern them right in the middle it if they went would she go too 60 it was oil all over almost before ken could draw a breath the yearlings yearnings year lings turned at the gate swept through went down to the corrals on a dead run and through the gates that gus had opened folcka blicka was caught again TO BE CONTINUED |
