Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1945-12-21
CHAPTER XIII

Rob's slight sardonic smile showed
. line of white teeth beside his pipe
stem. There's still nature, my boy
don't forget that! God made
horses, you know, Ken. Not domes-
dc horses, to labor and toll for men.
Not race horses-prima donnas in
stable-boudoirs, with Wallets and
ladies' maids and trainers-But wild
horses!
Ken sighed deeply and YEARLY,
nodding his head. Well he knew
about Nature now.
"And between you and me, Ken,"
continued his father, "every horse
lover in the world has to take off
his hat to the wild horse-a horse
that acts like horse-as God made
him-not according to some cooked
up plans of men,"
Ken gave perfunctory attention to
what his father was saying but his
mind was on one thing only. Where
exactly was Thunderhead now? How
exactly could he be got back?
1--WE hunted up there at the far end
Of the valley as long as we could"
he said. IF Howard hadn't had to
get home, we would have had
more time. I wanted Howard to
take Flicka and leave me up there
for while. But he wouldn't. He
said we had to stick together"
"Quite right. It would have been
dangerous. Besides, you had no
horse. How would you have got
hcme?"
Ken averted his eyes, ashamed to
say that his father or Gus would
have had to come for him. II might
have got hold of Thunderhead
again."
"Ah! A pretty long chance!"
There was silence while Rob sat
In thought. Then he said, Have
you any idea where he took the
mares?"
well, we went far enough up the
valley to see that it went out into
other valleys, and then other valleys
branched off of those. There wasn't
any real rampart-that volcanic
wall told you about-up at the 9TH
er end-just a lot of mountains 60
ing up one behind the other, higher
and higher. That left lot of places
where the horses could have gone.
It just looked like a-a-labyrinth
Of mountains and draws and gorges
and Valleys" Ken turned his head
away again oppressed by the men,
ory of the scene-the clouds of snow,
the blazing glaciers, pockets of en-
erald grass, the soaring grandeur Of
the peaks. He couldn't even try to
put it into words.
1T was just hopeless. There
wasn't sign of the mares or Thun-
derhead. We had trailed them all
the way up the valley-of course it
was easy to see their tracks, espe-
cially Thunderhead's. But for the
last two hours it showed. I think
it SHOWS every day up there. And it
was getting dark"
what time was it when Howard
found you after you fell off Thun-
derhead?"
ASA ulouSht HlOIliSAl. 1AS WdSA
going to tell his father that he had
lain there sobbing his heart out for
an hour. "Well-I don't know ex-
actly-I was asleep"
AFTER you fell OFF," Rob glinted
q little, looking at his son.
Ken flushed. Eyes. Twas so dead
tired. And-and-I just lay there.
When I felt Howard shaking me
and looked up and saw him and
Flicka there, I didn't know where
I was or what had happened for a
moment. But I think it was about
aoon."
Knocked cold and didn't know it,
thought Rob. Aloud he said medita-
lively, "You sure can get yourself
in the damndest predicaments! You
must have as many lives as catl
Anyone else would be dead if they'd
been caught in half the jams you've
been in! First with Flicka. And
then the eagle got your gizzard. And
now this"
Ken's head swayed in complete
agreement.
Rob smoked for a few moments.
In his mind the scene lived again.
The hidden valley, the fight of the
two stations
''I'd like to have seen that fightI"
he exclaimed.
The mere thought of it made Rob
get to his feet and walk around the
room. "It's the damndest thing
that ever was! Why, Ken! didn't
it occur to you that all he had to do
was throw out one paw the way he
did to the Albino and it would have
gone through your head like but
teri"
"But he wasn't mad at me. He
didn't pay any attention to me at
ALL"
Rob dropped in his chair again.
He was bursting with pride. He
leaned frrward and squeezed Ken's
knee and in spite of himself the boy
vlnced