arrows, old pistols, a splendid pipe-rack
of carved wood filled with discarded pipes, and the skins of wild
animals. Every treasure possessed by the cowboys at the rancho had been
brought forth to make an outdoor living room for "the boss," which had
always been their title of affection for their youthful employer. Two
beautiful Spanish crepe shawls were draped artistically over the back of
Jack's chair. Years before they had been purchased by two of the boys at
the rancho from some Spanish peddlers and now, much to Jack's regret,
they insisted that the shawls form a part of her porch decoration. On a
table near the invalid sat a big Indian basket of sunflowers, another of
oranges and grapes; a pile of magazines, which Frank Kent had ridden
many miles to find, lay near a box of candy from Elizabeth Harmon and a
vase of red roses sent by Peter Drummond all the way from California.
And yet Jack was feeling aggrieved.

The ranch girls had been for little more than a week at the rancho. The
third day after their arrival their old friend Frank Kent had appeared,
refusing to be kept away any longer. He had expected to find a place to
board in the neighborhood so that he could drive over each day to see
the girls, but Jim had stored him away in one of the tents, saying he
thought it good for the son "of a noble lord" to try roughing it, but
really knowing that it would give Frank great pleasure to be with them.
And until this morning Frank had never gotten without the sound of
Jack's voice if he thought there was any possibility of her needing him.

Jack was already much better and able to sit up with something to act as
a brace behind her; she had more color and was beginning to be her old
impatient self. Early in the day she had persuaded Ruth to ride out over
the ranch with Jim. Ruth was tired, having unpacked and settled them at
the rancho, and, besides, Jack was bored with Jim for being so slow in
coming to the point with Ruth and wanted to give him another chance. She
and Jean had been dreadfully disappointed that nothing had happened on
their caravan trip, but Jack had not expected, when Ruth left her, to be
deserted by the other ranch girls and Frank, for they had been given
strict orders to stay at home and amuse her.

There were no trees to be seen from the front of the rancho as there
were at the Lodge, but Jack could feast her eyes on the wide stretches
of her beloved plains and see the cattle grazing in the last