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Show "v5' r' W.N.u. FEATURES'"" .C..J XDE STORY THUS FAR: Thunder brid or the Gobliu at he Is commonly known, is the only white horse ever born on the Goose Bar ranch in Wyoming, fie grows from an otly, misshapen colt 10 i powerful yearling, showing more nd more characteristic! of his great pindslre. a wild stallion called the Al-pLno. Al-pLno. One day the Goblin wanders (onthward Into the mountains. An eagle gtucks htm, and he runs home in terror, toon, however, he goes back, and finds t valley in which wild horses live. Re encounters the Albino, and barely es-tapes es-tapes with his life. Meanwhile his mother, Flicka, la bearing her next foaL jit birth Is premature, and the veterinarian veter-inarian is in attendance. CIIAPTEIt XI "Sacrifice the foal," said McLaughlin, Mc-Laughlin, "the mare won't stand much more." 'May not have to," said Doc. "I'm not stumped yet." They fastened a block and tackle to the wall and ran the rope through it. Then Doc fetched an instrument like a pair of ice tongs, and to Ken's borror, thrust the points into the foal's eye sockets. Then they all pulled together. It moved a little. Flicka heaved and struggled convulsively. The men hauled until they were red in the face. And suddenly the whole little body slid out. Instantly the men undid the ropes and Gus went to prepare a hot mash for Flicka. The doctor kneeled over the foal, which was barely alive. "Is it premature?" asked Nell. "It might be a little. The teeth are just through. When was the mare bred?" "We don't know exactly." "Will it live?" asked Ken. The doctor did not answer. He Biped the foal dry and clean, mas Kged it and gave It a hypodermic Injection. It was a very small but neatly made filly. It had a short back, long spidery legs close together to-gether and a small fine head with a dish face. It was a pinkish yellow yel-low with blond tail and mane. "Just like Flicka!" exclaimed j NelL "Will it live?" insisted Ken. "Can't say for sure, it's pretty wak. But sometimes these little fellows surprise you. It's just touch and go." They were all astonished to see that the terrible hooks had not injured in-jured the foal's eyes at all. Nell noticed Ken's face. It was white and drawn. When Flicka suffered suf-fered he suffered. She wondered if, alter all the suffering, there would ever be any good thing come from the Albino's blood. Would it be, per-: per-: haps, this tiny filly? Soon Flicka was able to get to her j feet and eat her mash. The filly I showed signs of life and struggled lo rise. Doc and McLaughlin lifted It and held it up underneath its dam to nurse. When the teat touched Its lips it opened its mouth and began be-gan to suck, and everyone watching miled and relaxed. When it had had enough, it was Put down on the hay again and the veterinarian prepared to leave. At this moment, a shadow at the lor blocked out the sunlight. They tunied to look and saw the Goblin Handing there. K Ken had seen someone returned from the dead he could hardly have Kit a more violent shock. Over his rtole body there poured a wave of "eat, followed by such bliss that he wuld not see clearly. Then Gus's voice exclaimed, Timiny Crickets 1 Luk at him! He's re to pieces!" And Ken's eyes ared and he saw the wounds and K4s on Goblin's white coat and N-hed to him. Goblin was startled and fled round the corraL He did not, how- !rrf' Ut f pen Sate' but M r Snd came hesitat'ngly back. McLaughlin reprimanded Ken rply, then, himself, went quietly rd the colt, his eye running over J". 'Steady, old boy! Gosh! Look that ear! That's a nice fellow a rip in the shoulder" lf.71(l "e's a piece chewed out Ns fanny!" said Howard. um .? colt's sure been Sn a fieht-" 2,14 vet eyei"g the swollen Jfcr wound. "That was done by M Jf: 3nd a mlg"ty big one. fnjrtake a look at it while ia!?M bucket of oats Howard," 1 ft cLaughiin- "and Ken, bring I Ke nailer," 1 lat?e S,0blin was "venous for the t LiioM 1Cy haltered him and Mc-, Mc-, nnd the vet examined his tott?'' saId Doc "here ktalcd i wounds that are nearly Look iIe s been in two fight kW ! mark of cIaws here on . cart.?ulder-rnight have been sald Howard excitedly, ft ider.M HUle scars 811 over the dethatv!S neCk 8nd beIly &! WJ;re 8cattered snags, nearly fci C' was Puzzled. lie shook St la,y "M,8ht be wire snags," Yva 1 doubtfully. ' Com1"? the Goblin Wted his hH. bucket he turned , JJJ ard Nell. She smoothed . Ufo onderin6 if this ended tSL? iUr hopes- That shoul-$ shoul-$ 1.ked deeP- If Jt had CI bones or tendons- ldJ1Cecl her thought. "This ., i ipe,0und' Doc-will it hurt " "I don't think so said Doc. "It was a glancing blow." "What gets me," said McLaughlin, McLaugh-lin, "is how did he get in here? There's a four-strand barbed-wire fence between this pasture and the county road." Doc laughed as he pulled on his shirt. "My guess Is, you've got a Jumper." "I've seen plenty of wooden fences in the east Jumped." Rob shook his head. "But horses don't jump these wire fences. No there must be some gates open somewhere up the line." "Train him for a hunter." nald Doc, "and send him east to a hunt club. You'd get a big price for him. He's a husky how old is he? A long yearling?" "A short yearling," said Ken proudly. "He was foaled last September." Sep-tember." "By Jinks!" said the vet. "He's a baby elephant." "He's made a good beginning as a stallion," said McLaughlin dryly. "He'll carry these scars all his life." "Gee! It must have been some fight!" exclaimed Howard excitedly. excited-ly. "Do you think he mixed it up with Banner, Dad? Banner's the only stallion around here." "It might have been one of the other yearlings," said NelL "They might have been fighting" "Not a hoof of that size," said Rob, indicating the shoulder wound. "It could only be Banner. ( If Goblin Gob-lin has started fighting Banner but I can't understand Banner's giving him such punishment the colt must have done something to deserve it." They exchanged a flurry of blows. But Ken didn't have the colt for long. He had been put into the home pasture, to be close at hand in case his wounds needed tending. Flicka and her filly were put there too as soon as the little foal could run at her mother's side. There sprang up between Goblin and his little sister one of those strange attachments at-tachments that exist between horses. When he was near, sk-fiiu.iVid've her dam's side and wander to him. He would stand, his high head curved and bent to her. She would reach up her little muzzle to touch his face and neck. The boys carried oats to them morning and evening. One morning the Goblin was not there. Rob examined ex-amined all the fences. "I'm beginning begin-ning to think Doc must have been right, and that he can Jump these fences," he said frowning. "Unless he rolled under that place on the south side where there's a little hollow." hol-low." The boys saddled up and rode out to hunt for him. He was not with the yearlings, nor brood mares, nor the two-year-olds. He was nowhere to be seen. This time Ken was not so unhappy. un-happy. The colt had come back once he probably would again. The new fortitude was sufficient for this strain upon it, although when he was ready to say his prayers that night, it did cross his mind to ask the Almighty Al-mighty if He thought it was quite fair to be an Indian giver? He suppressed sup-pressed this impulse as being not entirely respectful and, possibly, prejudicial to future favors. The little filly grew and thrived. Her hoofs and bones hardened. She came to know the family, the dogs, the cats, and to be interested in all their comings and goings. Nell named her Touch And Go. Rob McLaughlin was crazy about her. She meant something to him the justification of his theory of line-, breeding. His eyes were very keen and blue and narrow as he looked at her. "Now there's a little filly that's got points!" he said. "Look at those perfect legs!" He began to feed her oats almost from the start. He would let her mouth a few grains at a time. With plentiful feeding she would overcome over-come the handicap of her premature birth she had It In her. What she had in her would come out. They halter-broke and handled her early without any trouble at alL "I always had a hunch that if Flicka was bred back to Banner I'd get something out of the ordinary." They were sitting on the terrace after supper, Flicka and the filly near the fountain in the center of the Green. Suddenly they heard the thunder of hoofs from below In the calf pasture and saw, rounding the shoulder of the hill, the Goblin coming com-ing at a canter. Rob rose to his feet, astonished how could the colt have got into the calf pasture? In a moment they all knew. There was a four-strand barbed wire fence between the Green and the calf pasture. pas-ture. Goblin cantered easily up to it swerved to aim at the gate post, and cleared it easily. He came cantering can-tering to Flicka and the filly, neighing neigh-ing a greeting. "Well I'm damned," said Rob, then put his pipe back slowly into his mouth. "If he's started fighting Banner and jumping all the fences, there's going to be hell to pay from now on. This means he can come and go as he pleases." The boys rushed down to the Green, chattering excitedly. Nell followed them with Rob. Goblin and his little sister were in an ecstasy of reunion. "He's kissing her!" shouted Ken. "Look Mother! Look at Goblin!" "It's simply ridiculous to call him Goblin," said Nell. "That's not a Goblin. That's Thunderhead." There was a moment's silence. Ken felt his mother's words go' right through him. It had come at last The white foal seemed inches taller. He tiad grown in all his parts so that he had still that appearance of maturity and strange precocity like a boy carrying a man's responsibility. responsibil-ity. Nell looked up at her husband. "Don't you see, Rob? He's completely com-pletely changed. He's been changed ever since he was lost the first time, when he got those awful cuts." "How do you mean changed?" demanded Howard. "Well sort of grown-up. More dignified. Something has come into him that was never there before, and it's ironed out a lot of his awkwardness awk-wardness and meanness. We must call him by his right name from now on he deserves it." "The Goblin is dead long live Thunderhead," shouted Howard. Ken got a bucket of oats and fed the wanderer. Then Flicka. Then offered the bucket to the tiny filly. She jabbed her inquisitive little nose into it, took it out with a few grains sticking to it and jumped away, mouthing them, tossing her head up and down. "Dad," said Ken, "where does he go when he goes off Thunderhead, I mean?" Ken almost blushed with embarrassment when he gave his colt the great title. "I wish I knew," said Rob slowly. "And that jumping of wire fences he's had no training he's inherited that straight from the Albino. He's an absolute throwback. That fellow fel-low was a great jumper. No fence could hold him." When it grew darker they put the three horses down into the calf pasture. pas-ture. "Not that it will do much good," said Rob dryly. "That brone'll come and go as he pleases." They sat on the terrace again for a while in the dark. Across the Grjeen two hoot owls were calling to each other. Rob said at last thoughtfully, "Well Thunderhead can jump. Thunderhead can buck. Thunderhead Thunder-head can fight. But none of these accomplishments are important to a racer. It remains to be seen if Thunderhead can run." Thunderhead could run, but another an-other year passed before they knew it for certain. The boys had come home from school for their summer vacation again, and the colt, being now a two-year-old, was started on a course of intensive training. He had had his freedom all winter. win-ter. There had been times when, Rob and Nell knew, he was nowhere no-where on the Goose Bar ranch. He went south that much had been discovered. dis-covered. He stayed away awhile. He came back. But now that Ken was home and had begun training him in earnest, he was to be kept in all summer. No more gallivanting. Ken worked with the colt for a fortnight. He went through the drill with halter, grooming, blanketing all over again. He rode him bareback, then with saddle. He rode him in the corral, neck-reining him, doing figure eights, making him back and advance, stand. Seldom was a day that he was not bucked off. He finally final-ly took him out of the corral and struggled with him in the open. The colt wheeled, lunged, balked gal loped a little, then fought and backed and refused refused then bucked. Ken remounted him and the fight began again. Thunderhead didn't like his master. mas-ter. Often he seemed animated by a definite spirit of hatred. He galloped gal-loped at a big tree and tried to scrape the boy off. Ken yanked his yead around Just in time. Then Thunderhead learned how to take the bit In his teeth and run away. It was a rough, Gghting gallop, with the j weight of the horse's head so heavy j in Ken's hands that he was racked j to pieces. |