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Show fW"'' W W.N.O. FEATURES- ..J- x THE STORY THUS FAR: Fllcka's colt, overdue, is born on Goose Bar eta high l 1,16 KockJcs. Ken He Tn'MIn, Fllcka's 12-year-old owner, Is rtjed t 0,at tne colt ,s whlte evidently a throwback to the Albino, ,Dd horse that Is Fllcka's grandsire. ' v McLanshlin, Ken's father, rides out trlns In Banner, the stallion. With colonel Harris and Charlie Sar-at Sar-at mil"na,r0 horse oreedcr Colonel oirrli Iets a wl,d rlde Latr 016 parly ti Its flrst glimpse of the white colt. JvL, likes It but Ken. His mother, L nimes the horses, first calls it the Lilln. but later changes to Thundered Thunder-ed for Ken's benefit. Ken tries to faith In Us horse. CHAPTER VI flcy went down to dinner. "And now," said Rob genially, Ken's got something to tell us. He's going to tell us who is really the sire of that white foal up in the Ken had thought he was prepared 1 jor but it was a shock all the jjuse, and unpleasant feelings went though him. He couldn't find words. His mind was in a fog. The sire!" exclaimed Harris, jslonished, "Why, what's this? I (bought Banner was the sire of all jour foals." "Not that one," grinned Rob. "i'our mare is perfectly safe, Mort. you'll have a fine little sorrel colt ead ringer for Banner when she (Mis next summer. I told you, Ban-, Ban-, a: breeds true. Sorrels. Like as peas in a pod." 'Hah!" exclaimed Charley. "You're crawling. Just because you've got a throwback, you're go-tg go-tg to disown it! Didn't think it of ycu. Rob!" "Come on, Ken," said Rob, "who i the sire of that little goblin up tore?" Ken, without turning around, jerked his head and elbow in the ' direction of Charley Sargent. "That bi black stud of his!" "Whose?" "Mr. Sargent's." "Ouch!" shouted Sargent. Then, "Do you let him tell whoppers like flat, Rob? Or is he given to pipe dreams?" Rob was as astonished as anyone. "Appalachian, Ken?" -Yes, sir." "Why, he doesn't even know Appalachian," Ap-palachian," shouted Sargent. "Ken -did you ever see him? He's never been off my ranch, and that's twenty miles away." Ken answered, "He's that big black stallion with three white socks and a while star between his eyes. He hangs out in that little draw by &e quakin'-asp and the box elder fc'here the fence crosses your line. Twenty miles away by the highway, high-way, but about eight miles of straight riding across country. Only one gate to go through, and your buck fence to take down." There was a shocked silence. Ihen, as Ken's words sank home, i Charley Sargent jumped to his feet. His long brown face was serious for once, his big hat a little awry, a frown between his brows. "I don't believe it! It couldn't be! Why that little misbegotten pup up here son of Appalachian!" In two rtridej he reached Ken, seized him to the shoulder and yanked him up. "Stand up here." He set the boy the low wooden table facing them 1 Ken's face was a little pale, but w dark blue eyes looked at his aiher without flinching. ."Come on, Ken," said Rob, "let's we the story. I'll begin it for you. year ago last spring we decided Ma should be bred." "No, sir, it was the faU before t About Thanksgiving time. You ad mother said we'd breed Flicka w toon as 6he was old enough and tft a foal" That's right. I remember now. 0U 8nd Howard were home from JjJ for the Thanksgiving week- . d when we went back to rJJ- a11 winter long I was think- about that. And when I came Jfcfor the spring vacation at Eas- you remember you let me start ung with Flicka and riding her "JUe. because she was just exact- ;Bn years old and strong and JJJPown. And you said 1 1 was enough so it wouldn't hurt her any. And I worked her out with J ?'aiet and surcingle and began nJe her- And during that vaca-C vaca-C y-U remember the time you K me t0 town with you and lr-hm2Mr' Sarent and had dinner I n him at the Mountain Hotel? iv , as talk"ig about his stud, jw Appalachian. And bra well, jwwig him and praising him. And J ne got to brag well, praising 7e colts he had had from him-" W TwPaUSed' l00kJr6 interrogative- "l his father, and Rob grinned. . . I remember. He praised 'em, u J a habit he's got." karris laughed and Sargent'. C Inched Ken's shoulder a little J and he said) "Get on with story, young man. W 60 you "e when I went W 8Ch001 aftcr that Easter i WaSSn.-WM th5nking ab0Ut Ap" ' jj?b Kroaned. "And when Ken be- . tofc 8out something, I ' ffck mtd ? yU' U'8 a Bingle 1 ,5?' v 5aid Ken doggedly, "when S i thT ta June lhat'8 wbat 1 winking about. I rode ever sev- Sian!" ClgarCtte t0 l0k at I J'The hell you did!" said Charley. "Well " with some eagerness, "what did you think of him?" "Oh," Ken's voice rose In enthusiasm, enthusi-asm, "just what you did! I agreed with all the proud things you said about him!" "Thank you for that, son!" "And what then. Ken?" asked Rob. "Well, that was about the time to breed Flicka. And you told me to see to it." Rob's eyes narrowed and glanced away as he tried to remember. Nell nodded. "I remember that, Rob. You had moved Banner and the brood mares up onto the Saddle Back. There were just the saddle mares in Flicka and Taggert. And you told Ken it was his responsibility, responsi-bility, and that when she came around he was to take her to the stallion." Rob nodded. "I remember. Well. Ken?" Ken's words came with a struggle. strug-gle. "Well you see, I had been thinking think-ing and thinking about Appalachian, Appala-chian, because we wanted Flicka's foal to be a racer, and Banner was never a racer. And when I remembered remem-bered all Mr. Sargent had said about him, and every colt he had got by him, why then why then " "Well?" prompted Charley. "Well, when she came in heat, I Just rode her over there one day it took me most of the day and put her in the pasture with Appalachian and when she was bred I rode her home again. That's all." There was silence for a moment as Ken finished his recital. Suddenly Sudden-ly Harris burst out laughing. Howard How-ard stared in open-mouthed awe at his younger brother. The stunt Itself was nothing to the secrecy with which it had been concealed for more than a year. It was a faculty "Flicka to Appalachian, 12:30 p. m. June 28." Howard was envious of to do unusual un-usual things and then keep them entirely to yourself. Rob said, "You took that long, sixteen-mile ride on your mare?" "Yes, sir. I got off and rested her now and then. You were letting me ride her because you said she had grown so w;ell and I hadn't." It was true. Ken was still no larger than he had been at ten. Rob thought again. "You must have been away most of the day. I don't remember it." Ken said, "It was a day when you and mother had been in town. And you stayed there for lunch and you didn't get home until late in the afternoon." Ken was keeping his biggest punch to the end. "Anyway, I can prove it to you, dad," he added. "How?" Ken stepped down from the witness wit-ness stand and vanished into the house. They heard his steps going upstairs. He returned holding out a paper, folded and wrinkled and soiled. He handed It to Rob who opened it with a mystified air and read it silently, then passed it to Charley. Sargent stared at It a long time,. then read aloud slowly, "FLICKA TO APPALACHIAN, 12.30 P. M. JUNE 28th. Sargent flung down the . paper, sprang to his feet and shouted, "I don't believe it!" then, with one long leap over the flower border, turned his back and went striding up to the corraL "This beats me," said Rob. "I didn't dream it was Appalachian. I knew it wasn't Banner. What I thought was that the Albino was somewhere in the neighborhood again and that he had got to the mare or perhaps that Ken's mind had been working overtime and cooked up some crazy scheme and that he had taken her out to him." Charlie came striding back. "Gimme a drink,- Rob if this is true, it's a terrible blow." "It's true all right." said Colonel Harris. "I watched Ken's face when he told it. His face was straight and the story's straight." Charley gulped down the drink Rob poured for him und as Rob filled the other glasses, held his out again. "Hope this won't make you take to drink, Charley." said Harris dryly. dry-ly. "Brace up! Lots of people have family secrets to hide!" "We won't give it away, Charley," Char-ley," chuckled Rob. Charley didn't even hear them. He threw oft hfs hat and ran one hand distractedly through his hair. "Maybe "May-be it didn't take," he exclaimed suddenly. sud-denly. "Maybe, later on in the summer sum-mer she was bred by some other stallion. That's it!" he said excitedly, excited-ly, "You said the colt came months later than you expected!" But Ken shook his head. "She was never out on Hie range again. You set. that was the first summer I had been able to do much with her or ride her at all. She was a two-year-old. And I had her down here in the stable or the home pasture all summer so that she would be well schooled by the time I had to leave the ranch in the fall. And there weren't any other stallions 1 around." Nell nodded. "That's true. She was underfoot all summer. Ken did everything ev-erything but have her in the kitchen." "I did have her in the kitchen, Mother! Remember the time you put the oat bucket in the kitchen sink, and I called her In, and she walked right in and went all around the kitchen, looking at everything and smelling It. and then ate her oats at the sink?" "Look here, Ken," said Rob, "do you realize that you stole that service? serv-ice? You heard what Mr. Sargent said at dinner that the stud fee for Appalachian Is $250.00." "I've always told you. Ken," his father rubbed it in, "that you cost me money every time you turn around." "Cost you money!" "Well you owe that money to Charley here and you can't pay it. "No, sir." "Someone's got to pay it." "I should say-ay-ay not!" exclaimed ex-claimed Charley. ."If that's the Appalachian's Ap-palachian's foal, you owe me for nothing. On the contrary, I owe Ken an apology. And the nice little mare too." Ken began to breathe again and glanced at his father to see if there were to be any penalties from that quarter. " "If Mr. Sargent forgives you the debt. Ken, I've got nothing to say." "Here comes the Goblin nowl" exclaimed Howard. Gus had let the horses out of the corral to pasture and Flicka and her foal and Taggert and the geldings geld-ings were coming to water at the round stone fountain in the middle of the Green. The men and boys went down to look at them more closely. "That's a beautiful mare," said Charley, looking at Flicka's glossy . golden coat, her full, flaxen tail and mane, and the gentleness and Intelligence in the golden eyes she turned to them. She mouthed the cool water, letting streams of it run from her muzzle, then turned her head to her foal again. "Dad," said Ken miserably, "is he really so awful?" Rob hestitated. "Well, Ken, nobody no-body could say he has good conformation. con-formation. He is shaped like a full-grown full-grown horse, a bronc at that. He'll have to change a good deal." "But he will, dad! He'll grow!" "He'll have to grow In some spots and shrink in others. That jug-head!" jug-head!" Ken looked at the head. It was certainly too large. It had a terribly ter-ribly stubborn look. "Hi, fellah!" said Charley to the foal, then turned to Ken. "Well, you win, Ken. I believe your story. Your Goblin is by my Appalachian, and if you want papers, you can have them." "I can only have half papers, sir, because Flicka only has half papers." pa-pers." "'You oughtn't to have any papers at all with a stolen service, Ken," said bis father. "I'll waive that," said Charley. "Do you realize, Rob, that this little Goblin has Appalachian for a sire, Banner for a grandsire, and the Albino for a great grandsire? That ought to be enough T.N.T. to bust him wide open." Winter again. Blizzards. Wild storms. Days of terrible loneliness and fear with Rob out in weather when a man should be safe beside his own fire perhaps on the highways high-ways hauling feed in the truck, and the day passing hours crawling past with no sign of him returning. return-ing. Then night coming on. She'd be standing by the north window at the far end of the house looking out into the darkness, watching. For what? What could you see in the inky blackness? Or even if it was daylight what could you see but snow falling and falling, white as a winding sheet? You could see the lights. The two big headlights ol Rob's truck coming, way off on the ranch road. You could catch them soon after the truck left the Lincoln Highway, lose them when they curved in near the woods, then catch them again before they came down the hill. Lights boring through th darkness coming slowly down the hill with a load of oats or baled hav it i . i . |