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Show M YFRI EN D ly v - - TIIK STORY SO FAHt Tn-yr-oll Hen M. lKiisMln. (Ivrn n opportunity to th.xs ny yi-arlliis on nil family's Wy-.imlnt Wy-.imlnt rnnoh, iU K llio filly ol "loco" nisro named KorkrL 111" fnlhcr, a. re-Un'il re-Un'il urniy offli-er, li dtjninwlnlrct by Nimx'j rtiotr ml by Ills on' tnllure I" l.'hool. Hut ho Is plMsc.l t the rhaiiRH In Ken store hp n ti.nl -,,, ol own. When Kllrka, the tllly. Is billy hurt Irylnt to Jump the corrnl (enee, Ken takes the opportunity to rare (or her n1 to make frlemt with hor. Me-I Me-I anshlln, however, Is still convinced the filly Is no sood and refuses to have any-thins any-thins to do with what he considers Ken's had bargain. Now continue wlUi the story. CHATTER XIV The filly's physical condition was Improving. She ran all over the Calf Fnsture on three legs. She was up on the hillside near the three pines in the early morning, broadside broad-side to the sun. getting what Nell said was her radium treatment; and the first tiling when Ken woke in the morning, he looked out of his window and saw her there, standing in profile, motionless as a statue, her head hanging low and relaxed. The achievement which Ken had Hons that, surely, meant n full day's work. "And Gus" added Mi-Lnuuhlln, "rli;ht now, before we begin with all that. Ken Is going to halter-break his tllly I want you and Tim on hand" Gus' eves opened In astonishment. He glanced at Ken's scarlet, downcast down-cast face. "Ja, Doss Vote will ve do it?" "In the Calf Tasturc. Call Tim." McLaughlin rose from the table. "We'll do it right now, and get It over with." Tim and Gus came down from the stable carrying lariat, halter, and a lead rope. They stood In a group Just Inside the fence, and McLaughlin walked forward a short distance with Ken, and told him to call the filly. Ken obeyed. Presently Flicka appeared ap-peared coming around the shoulder of the hill. She trotted up to Ken. McLaughlin undid the red bandana ban-dana from Ken's neck, handed It to him and said, "Just sling that around her neck and tie it in a loose knot." Puzzled by these strange directions, direc-tions, Ken obeyed, and Flicka returned re-turned what, apparently, she "Hut Dad," said Ken, completely dazed, "how did she get halU't-broko7" halU't-broko7" McLaughlin did not nnswer directly. direct-ly. "That's all, folks," he said, turning to the small audience. Gus and Tim were both grinning. "That's the way we break horses on the Goose liar Hunch. I wish Ross lluckley had been here to see that." "But Dad," protested Ken, Flipping Flip-ping the halter o(T of Fllcka's head. She stood beside him, nosing at It, nipping at It with her lips. "Figure It out," said McLaughlin boisterously as he walked away. "Come on, Gus, we'll get at those machines " That night, when Ken came back from taking Flicka her oats, he walked to the terrace where his parents par-ents were sitting and said, wagging his head, "More poultices, please " Nell, who was laughing, stopped as she heard Ken's words and turned to look at him. "What's the matter?" "Her hock Is swelled up again and she holds the leg up." Both his parents sat so still and so gravely for a moment, that it made Ken anxious. "The poultices cured it before they'll cure It again, won't they?" been getting just a hint of, like the scent of something delicious but far away tickling the nostrils of a hound, was more than a hint now. It was a ' reality. A victory that filled his lungs and shone from his eyes and gave strength to his hands. Flicka was his. Flicka had recovered. Flicka loved him. There was only one more thing . . . , "Dad." he said at supper that night, "Flicka's my friend now. She likes me." "I'm glad of that, son," said McLaughlin. Mc-Laughlin. "It's a fine thing to have a horse for a friend." Ken's face was strained. "And her leg's better," he said. "It doesn't hurt her. So " "Well what?" "Well w'e've got to find out, don't we?" "Find out what?" "If she's loco." "Loco! Oh." McLaughlin grunted grunt-ed and frowned. "She's not loco." "But you said we wouldn't know until we began her training." "Have you had that in your head all this time? That little filly's got as nice a disposition as any horse I ever knew." "But Dad, how do we know? She might be crazy like Rocket like she was herself up in the stables, if we tried to put a rope on her and she's got to be halter-broke " 'McLaughlin looked at his small son "vith a quizzical grin on his face. "Oh, that's what you want, is it? Some help in breaking that wild woman!" Nell got up suddenly. I 11 go down to look at it, Ken " McLaughlin went too. They looked at the wound which was swollen and obviously painful. Her right foreleg was swollen too, all the way from the knee up to the scar of the chest wound. Ken was alarmed when his father pointed out to him the second infection. infec-tion. "Can we put poultices on that too?" he said anxiously. Nell nodded. "Sure. It won't be an easy place to bandage, but we'll manage." Next time McLaughlin went to town he brought back a bottle of serum and gave Flicka a hypodermic hypo-dermic injection. "What's it for, Dad?" asked Ken anxiously. "For a generalized infection like this." "Generalized infection?" "Yes. She had just one Infected place, on her leg. This chest wound was all healed up and never had been infected. Now it's infected. The infection came through her bloodstream from her leg. That's called a generalized infection." McLaughlin spoke In a casual, matter-of-fact way, and Ken's anxiety anxi-ety was allayed. "Will it get her well quick, Dad?" he asked. "Hope so, son sometimes it helps a lot sometimes they seem to do as well without it." "Where'd you get it?" "I got it from Dr. Hicks." The name of the vet always made Ken think of money and it gave him a shock. That thing his father had said You cost me money every time you turn around "How much did it cost, Dad?" They were walking back together. "It cost ten dollars." Ken stopped walking and McLaughlin Mc-Laughlin strode on without him. heading for the tool house, neai which Gus was working on one of the mowing machines. Ten dollars! Ten dollars . . when his father crabbed about ev ery penny the boys spent . . . about a forkful of hay . . . Ken ran after his father. Me-Laughlin Me-Laughlin was already arguing ovei the blades with Gus. "Dad," he began. be-gan. "Well?" McLaughlin's head was raised from the machine. "I I didn't know what you said, you remember " "Well, out with it!" roared M Laughlin impatiently. "That I cost you money every tim I turn around. I didn't see how 1 could, but now, why, Dad! Ten dollars dol-lars . . . thanks ever so mucb, "I'd call that halter-broken," said McLaughlin. Kennie nodded. Rob's eyes sought Nell's and then he pushed back his chair, took out his pipe and looked out the window gravely. "I think we might do that tomorrow." tomor-row." he said finally. "Yes, I think I'll have time. Right after breakfast." break-fast." When supper was over. Ken fled from the table and ran to take Flicka her oats. He told her all about it. He stood smoothing her mane, he begged her to be good. He assured her there was nothing to be afraid of in being halter-broken. He told her how he and Howard had halter-broken the colts; that the coits had liked it; they had all had fun together. He begged her he begged her! Oh, Flicka He began to think of what would happen if she wasn't good. He thought of Rocket, and then the hole and then he laid his face against Flicka's mane, and stopped talking to her, because he couldn't tell her about those things she just wouldn't understand. Nell came looking for him. She liked to pay a little visit every day to Flicka. They walked up through the pasture together. The air was sweet with the perfume of wild roses. In the sunset there were long horizontal bands of deep rose and golden pink with dark blue sky in between. There was a mass of mauve and violet cloud above. A sickle moon rode in the midst of the color with one star drawn close. Nell seized Ken by the shoulder and whirled him around before he saw it. "There's a new moon in the sky, Kennie look at it over your left shoulder and that's good thought was a caress, nuzzling his neck with her nose. "And now take your belt off," said McLaughlin. "Here," said Ken, in a complete fog. "Slip it through the bandana," said his father. When Ken had done that, the belt hung in a loop under Flicka's neck. McLaughlin waved his hand. "Now go down the path put your arm through that loop." Ken did so, while McLaughlin stepped backward, put his arm across his wife's shoulders, and pretended pre-tended to lean his weight on her. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. him-self. Ken walked down the path and Flicka hopped by his side close to him. When they reached the cotton-woods cotton-woods on the hill, McLaughlin called, "Now turn around and come back. Let go the loop. Just hold your hand in the air under her chin." Ken obeyed. The leather belt, the bandana, hung loose on the filly's neck. Ken's hand was in the air under her chin. He led her by an invisible bridle, and the filly followed fol-lowed as close as she could "I'd call that halter-broken,"' naid McLaughlin grinning as the boy reached him. Ken was stunned. "But Dad" he said, "but it's not a halter, Dad" "You take some convincing, young feller," said Rob. "But all right. Give us a halter, Gus." Gus stepped forward and gave him the halter, "Now put it on her," said McLaughlin, Mc-Laughlin, handing it to Ken. Ken almost shook. He held the halter in his hands and turned to Flicka but dared not take a step in her direction. Dad" "Ten dollars!" shouted his father, with the twisted, sardonic grin ot his mouth. "Why, for you, Kennie, that's notbing: A mere wave of the hand. You're the boy that threw away three hundred dollars just looking look-ing out the window for an hour." "Why why I never three hun. dred dollars" - "Go on away and let me work," roared his father, and bent his head again over the machine. Ken found his mother. She was busy too, sorting the laundry, sitting sit-ting on her heels on the floor picking pick-ing over a big pile of shirts, blue-jeans, blue-jeans, socks and linen. Ken posed the problem. "How did I, Mother? I never did, did I?" Nell laughed and wrote "six prs. bluejeans" on her list. "Yes, you did. You looked out the window for an hour when you should have been writing a composition. So you weren't promoted and you have to repeat the grade. And it costs about three hundred dollars for one year's schooling for you " "Three hundred dollars," breathed Kennie with awe, "How can it?" "Count it up, eight months' board at $25.00 a month. A hundred dollars dol-lars for tuition and books. You wasted all that, you see. If you had written the composition, your father wouldn't have had to pay that over again for you." (TO BE CONTINUED) luck." Ken obediently looked. He didn't want to stop looking. If it was good iuck Oh, f it was good luck-When luck-When Gus leaned in at the door next morning and said "What's to-dav. to-dav. Boss?" McLaughlin began to outline a full day's work. He was planning the haying. They'd begin in mid-August. The grass was deep and ripe. They could cut early this year. The weather had been so fine that all the ranchers ranch-ers in the neighborhood were getting get-ting ready to cut. Along the roadsides road-sides the mowing machines were already laying swathes of fragrant hay flat. The air smelled different. It was said that when hay was cut in Wyoming, the perfume of it was on the wind for hundreds of miles. The mowing machines with all their small, razor-sharp blades must be gone over, bolts tightened, worn parts replaced; harness mended; new prongs put in the rakes; some repairs made on the slackers . . . Ken sat in an anguish of suspense While hl father gave Gus direc- "How shall I put it on her?" he asked, thinking of the way he and Howard had to struggle with the first halter and the colts. "Just the way I put the halter on Taggert," said his father. Ken thought about that. His father fa-ther walked up to Taggert holding the halter openly in his hands, and Taggert stood there and stuck her head in it. ,He summoned all his courage, went to Flicka and held out the halter. Flicka. who loved his hands, and had never felt the touch of them except in gentleness and affection, came closer, and Ken slipped the halter over her head, and hooked it under her throat. "Now lead her," said his father. Ken obeyed and went down the path twenty yards or so an easy halt and turn and back again, with Flicka following so close the lead rope was slack. |