FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105  
106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   >>   >|  
when he thought better of the notion and shut his lips. Urging Patches forward, he rode toward Ruth's pony at a moderate pace. Three times during the ride he looked back. Twice he was able to see Ruth, but the third time he had swerved so that some bushes concealed him from her. He was forced to swerve still further to come up with the pony, and he noted that Ruth would never have been able to see her pony from her position. It was more than a mile to where the animal stood, and curiously, as though to make amends for his previous bad behavior to Ruth, he came trotting forward to Randerson, whinnying gently. Randerson seized the bridle, and grinned at the animal. "I reckon I ought to lam you a-plenty, you miserable deserter," he said severely, "runnin' away from your mistress that-a-way. Is that the way for a respectable horse to do? You've got her all nervous an' upset--an' she sure roasted me. Do you reckon there's any punishment that'd fit what you done? Well, I reckon! You come along with me!" Leading the animal, he rode Patches to the edge of the timber. There, unbuckling one end of the reins from the bit ring, he doubled them, passed them through a gnarled root, made a firm knot and left the pony tied securely. Then he rode off and looked back, grinning. "You're lost, you sufferin' runaway. Only you don't know it." He loped Patches away and made a wide detour of the mesa, making sure that he appeared often on the sky line, so that he would be seen by Ruth. At the end of half an hour he rode back to where the girl was standing, watching him. He dismounted and approached her, standing before her, his expression one of grave worry. "That outlaw of yours ain't anywhere in sight, ma'am," he said. "I reckon he's stampeded back to the ranchhouse. You sure you ain't seen him go past here?" "No," she said, "unless he went way around, just after it got dark." "I reckon that's what he must have done. Some horses is plumb mean. But you can't walk, you know," he added after a silence; "I reckon you'll have to ride Patches." "You would have to walk, then," she objected. "And that wouldn't be fair!" "Walkin' wouldn't bother me, ma'am." He got Patches and led him closer. She looked at the animal, speculatively. "Don't you think he could carry both of us?" she asked. He scrutinized Patches judicially. A light, which she did not see, leaped into his eyes. "Why, I didn't think of that. I reckon he
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   103   104   105  
106   107   108   109   110   111   112   113   114   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
reckon
 

Patches

 

animal

 
looked
 
wouldn
 
Randerson
 

standing

 

forward

 

outlaw

 

expression


dismounted
 
approached
 

Urging

 

ranchhouse

 

stampeded

 

watching

 

making

 

appeared

 

detour

 

moderate


speculatively
 

Walkin

 

bother

 
closer
 

leaped

 
judicially
 
scrutinized
 

thought

 

horses

 

notion


objected

 

silence

 
sufferin
 
plenty
 

miserable

 
deserter
 

forced

 

swerve

 

grinned

 

severely


runnin

 

respectable

 
bushes
 

concealed

 
mistress
 
bridle
 

seized

 

curiously

 
position
 

trotting