by Joan Clark
Produced by Roger Frank and the Online DistributedProofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
CONNIE CARL AT RAINBOW RANCH
By Joan Clark
The Goldsmith Publishing Company CHICAGO
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COPYRIGHT MCMXXXIX BY THE GOLDSMITH PUBLISHING COMPANY
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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Contents
I. A HOMECOMING FOR CONNIE II. THE COMING RODEO III. BAD NEWS IV. THE FOREMAN'S BOAST V. POP BRADSHAW'S TREACHERY VI. KIDNAPING CATAPULT VII. A MIDNIGHT ESCAPADE VIII. A RESCUE IX. MR. POSTIL'S OFFER X. THE HOLDUP XI. WRANGLING DUDES XII. AN ARGUMENT XIII. OVER THE PRECIPICE XIV. A TELLTALE HANDKERCHIEF XV. AN UNPLEASANT REVELATION XVI. THE ROUNDUP XVII. A NIGHT PROWLER XVIII. STAMPEDE XIX. TURNING THE HERD XX. THE END OF THE TRAIL
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Connie Carl at Rainbow Ranch
CHAPTER I
A Homecoming for Connie
"I'll take your luggage now, Miss," said the colored porter politely."We'll be a-pullin' into Red Gulch in five minutes."
"Yes, I know," replied the girl softly, without shifting her gaze fromthe window.
For the past hour Connie Carl had been watching the horizon beyond theflashing telegraph poles. A faint cloud-like blue line which representedNew Mexico's mountains--her mountains--had steadily moved closer. Shewas going home at last, home to Rainbow Ranch.
At first glance a stranger never would have taken Connie Carl for aWesterner. The girl was neatly dressed in a blue suit with gray suedeslippers, and a wisp of auburn-red hair peeped from beneath her jauntyfelt hat. She looked for all the world like a young lady who had justgraduated from a stylish Eastern finishing school, which in truth, shehad. But now, at sixteen, Connie Carl had returned to the prairie landshe loved, to make her home once more at the place of her birth, RainbowRanch.
The train had slowed down for the station. Connie went quickly down theaisle, waiting in the vestibule until the train came to a full stop.
"Someone meetin' you, Miss?" asked the porter as she slipped a coin intohis hand. "This heah Red Gulch ain't nothin' but a wide place in theroad."
"Yes, I've wired ahead, so I'm sure someone will meet me," said Conniewith a smile. "Anyway, I've been here before."
The porter set out the luggage on the platform. As the train pulledslowly away, Connie looked quickly about.
Two men in wide brimmed hats and blue overalls were loading freight on amotor truck, but she did not know either of them. Otherwise the platformwas deserted.
"It's queer there's no one here to meet me," thought Connie. "Perhaps Ididn't send my wire in time for it to reach the ranch."
After hesitating a moment, the girl picked up her heavy suitcases andcarried them into the unswept little station. She walked over to theticket window where the agent was busy with a report.
"Hello, Andy!" said Connie.
The agent looked up and stared. Then light broke over his face.
"Well, if it ain't Connie Carl! I'm sure glad to see you back."
"I'm glad to get back home too, Andy. It seems as if I've been gone halfmy life."
"Let's see, how long has it been?"
"Three years--three long years."
"So they educated you, did they, Connie?"
"Well, they tried it," laughed the girl, "but I've not forgotten how toride a horse. I can hardly wait to get out to the ranch. I thoughtsomeone would meet me."
"Haven't seen Blakeman or any of the Rainbow outfit in town for a week.Roads have been pretty muddy. But you can get through now."
"I'll hire a rig," said Connie. "Does old Charlie Trench still rim hisjitney?"
"Same as ever," the agent agreed with a grin. Then his face becamesober. "But you may find other changes around here."
"What sort of changes?" inquired Connie quickly.
"Oh, one thing and another," answered the agent vaguely. "Say, I seeCharlie across the street now. If you want to catch him you betterhurry."
Connie hastened across the street, stopping the old man just as he wasentering a cafe. He greeted her with a hearty handshake and declaredthat he would be glad to drive her out to Rainbow Ranch.
"Everything looks just the same," laughed Connie as Charlie loaded herbags into the decrepit old car.
"Maybe they look thet way," replied the old taxi driver shortly, "butthey ain't! You'll find plenty of changes, Connie--'specially out atRainbow."
"Why, is anything the matter, Charlie?" Connie stared at him insurprise. "I thought everything was running well. The foreman, ForestBlakeman, seemed to be very efficient."
"Sure, he's efficient. 'Specially where his own interests are concerned.You'll find most of the old outfit broken up."
"Isn't Red Farnham there?" asked Connie in amazement. "And Shorty andSixshooter Pete?"
"Red left six months ago," Charlie answered with a shrug. "SixshooterPete drifted north this spring, and some of the other boys hired out tothe Drowsy Water outfit. Shorty took himself to Mexico. I reckon LeftyForbes is about the only one still there."
"Why didn't Blakeman write me about these changes?" asked Connieindignantly. "Why, those boys were my father's most loyal cowhands.Rainbow Ranch won't seem like home without them."
"There's been a lot of changes since your Dad died, Connie."
"Yes," agreed the girl soberly. "When he willed Rainbow Ranch to me, heprovided that I must attend school in the East. I never wished to leaveNew Mexico because I feel that I belong here. Now that I'm throughschool, I'm aiming to take over the management of Rainbow Ranch myself."
Old Charlie glanced sideways at the girl as he steered the car along thenarrow dirt road.
"Maybe that won't be so easy to do, Connie," he said quietly.
"Dad left Rainbow Ranch to me, didn't he?" the girl asked sharply. "Whatare you driving at anyway, Charlie? I wish you'd speak right out."
"I've already talked a-plenty, Connie. You'll get the lay of the landsoon enough."
Old Charlie lapsed into moody silence, devoting all his attention to theroad. For a time they drove through a winding canyon, following the bedof a swift-moving stream. On either side rose red rock walls which underthe light of the fading sun took on many beautiful hues. By craning herneck Connie could see the tops of spruce trees, aspens and cottonwoods.
The girl watched the blue mountains moving closer and closer. Shebreathed deeply of the fresh, crisp air. It was good to be home, and yetthe edge had been taken from her enjoyment.
She felt disturbed. Both the station agent and Old Charlie had hintedthat she would find many changes at Rainbow Ranch. She wondered if shehad trusted too much in the judgment of her foreman, Forest Blakeman.
Presently the car rolled over the crest of a high hill. Connie leanedforward and glanced down into the valley. She could see the rambling oldadobe buildings of Rainbow Ranch.
The car crept down the hill, and came at last to a huge wooden gateway.Old Charlie unfastened it and they drove up a long lane to the courtyardof the ranch house. A dog began to bark.
As Connie stepped from the car, she saw a tall, dark-haired man stridingtoward her. It was the ranch foreman, Forest Blakeman.
"Howdy, Miss Connie," he said heartily, sweeping off his sombrero."Welcome home to Rainbow Ranch. I was just aimin' to drive in to RedGulch myself."
"Then you did receive my telegram?" asked Connie.
"Yes, but a lot of work piled up on us this afternoon, and I couldn'tget away as early as I planned. We're short handed you know."
"Charlie was telling me that Shorty and Red are gone."
"Yes," nodded the foreman indifferently. "Here, let me take your bags.You must be tired after your long trip."
"I am," Connie confessed wearily.
She followed the foreman into the ranch house. A feeling of relief cameover her for inside the dwelling very little had been changed. The adobewalls, mellowed by the smoke of the fireplace, were still adorned withher father's Mexican treasures. The furniture was all massive and handcarved.
A shy Mexican girl whom Connie had never seen before in her trips to theranch took her bags and led her down a long tiled corridor to the eastbedchamber.
Connie unpacked her luggage and changed into a fresh skirt and blouse.She was tired but she felt too excited to lie down. She went to thewindow and opened it.
Below she could see the corrals and the barn, and beyond, a long stretchof green meadow land.
"I wish I had time for a canter before supper," Connie thought.
She had forgotten to ask the foreman about her favorite mount,Silvertail. Connie had raised the big gray from a colt and he was thebest horse in the Rainbow string.
Leaving the ranch house, the girl walked rapidly toward the barn. Butshe stopped short as she saw a familiar slouched figure leaning againstthe corral bars.
"Connie!" cried a gruff voice.
"Lefty Forbes!" laughed Connie, clasping his horny hand in her own. "I'mglad to see one familiar face around here."
"I reckon you won't be seein' mine much longer," drawled the cowboy.
"What do you mean?" asked Connie quickly.
"Blakeman is figurin' on givin' me my honorable discharge if I kin readthe signs," replied the cowboy dryly. "But I calculate to beat him tothe trigger. I'll be quittin' any day now."
"Oh, Lefty, you can't! Why, I need you here."
"That's the only reason I've stayed on, Connie," said the cowboysoberly. "I thought a lot of your Dad, and this ranch. But there ain'tnothin' I can do now. Blakeman runs things with a purty high hand."
"He's only the foreman, Lefty. Now that I'm home, I mean to manage theranch myself."
"I reckon you don't know jest how bad things are, Connie."
"Blakeman wrote me the ranch had been losing money the past year. Isthat what you mean, Lefty?"
"Things have been runnin' down hill ever since he took over, Connie.Blakeman's handled the ranch with a high hand. First he fired Pete andShorty----"
"He discharged them?" Connie gasped. "Why I thought they left of theirown accord----"
"Well, they didn't. They didn't see eye to eye with Blakeman so he told'em to go. 'Course you know how the cattle market's been the last fewyears. An' Blakeman seems to have a talent for sellin' at the bottom.Truth is, things are in a purty bad way."
"I mean to have a talk with Blakeman tomorrow," Connie declared. "If hedoesn't wish to handle the ranch as I say, I'll find a new foreman."
"You can't do that, Connie."
"Why can't I? Isn't this my ranch?"
"It was your ranch," said the cowboy quietly, "but I reckon now that theFirst National Bank has a strangle hold on it. They have a couple ofnotes----"
"Yes, Blakeman wrote me about that," Connie interrupted, "but Iunderstood the debt was only a small one."
"It's enough so the bank can take over any time. For the past yearBlakeman has paid the interest out of his own pocket--or so he claims.And you're owin' him more than a year's back salary. So you see, unlessyou're supplied with ready cash, you can't tell him to go."
"I begin to understand," murmured Connie.
"Blakeman is a slick sort of fellow, Connie. You want to think your wayand move slow."
And with that bit of sage advice, Lefty Forbes moved off toward thebarn.
