Produced by Charles Keller  HTML version by Al HainesJean of the Lazy AByB M BOWERCONTENTSCHAPTER     I  HOW TROUBLE CAME TO THE LAZY A    II  CONCERNING LITE AND A FEW FOOTPRINTS   III  WHAT A MANS GOOD NAME IS WORTH    IV  JEAN     V  JEAN RIDES INTO A SMALL ADVENTURE    VI  AND THE VILLAIN PURSUED LITE   VII  ROBERT GRANT BURNS GETS HELP  VIII  JEAN SPOILS SOMETHING    IX  A MANSIZED JOB FOR JEAN     X  JEAN LEARNS WHAT FEAR IS LIKE    XI  LITES PUPIL DEMONSTRATES   XII  TO DOUBLE FOR MURIEL GAY  XIII  PICTURES AND PLANS AND MYSTERIOUS FOOTSTEPS   XIV  PUNCH VERSUS PRESTIGE    XV  A LEADING LADY THEY WOULD MAKE OF JEAN   XVI  FOR ONCE AT LEAST LITE HAD HIS WAY  XVII  WHY DONT YOU GIVE THEM SOMETHING REAL XVIII  A NEW KIND OF PICTURE   XIX  IN LOS ANGELES    XX  CHANCE TAKES A HAND   XXI  JEAN BELIEVES THAT SHE TAKES MATTERS INTO HER OWN HANDS  XXII  JEAN MEETS ONE CRISIS AND CONFRONTS ANOTHER XXIII  A LITTLE ENLIGHTENMENT  XXIV  THE LETTER IN THE CHAPS   XXV  LITE COMES OUT OF THE BACKGROUND  XXVI  HOW HAPPINESS RETURNED TO THE LAZY AJEAN OF THE LAZY ACHAPTER IHOW TROUBLE CAME TO THE LAZY AWithout going into a deep psychological discussion of the elements inmens souls that breed events we may say with truth that the Lazy Aranch was as other ranches in the smooth tenor of its life until oneday in June when the finger of fate wrote bold and black across theface of it the word that blotted out prosperity content warm familytiesall those things that go to make life worth whileJean sixteen and a range girl to the last fiber of her being hadgotten up early that morning and had washed the dishes and swept andhad shaken the rugs of the little livingroom most vigorously  On herknees with stiff brush and much soapy water she had scrubbed thekitchen floor until the boards dried white as kitchen floors may beShe had baked a loaf of gingerbread that came from the oven with amost delectable odor and had wrapped it in a clean cloth to cool onthe kitchen table  Her dad and Lite Avery would show cause for thebaking of it when they sat down fresh washed and ravenous to theirsupper that evening  I mention Jean and her scrubbed kitchen and thegingerbread by way of proving how the Lazy A went unwarned andunsuspecting to the very brink of its disasterLite Avery long and lean and silently content with life had riddenaway with a package of sandwiches after a full breakfast and a smilefrom the slim girl who cooked it upon the business of the day whichhappened to be a long ride with one of the Bar Nothing riders down inthe breaks along the river  Jeans father big Aleck Douglas hadsaddled and ridden away alone upon business of his own  And presentlyin midforenoon Jean closed the kitchen door upon an immaculatelyclean house filled with the warm fragrant odor of her baking and infresh shirt waist and her best ridingskirt and Stetson went whistlingaway down the path to the stable and saddled Pard the brown colt thatLite had broken to the saddle for her that spring In ten minutes or soshe went galloping down the coulee and out upon the trail to townwhich was fifteen miles away and held a chum of hersSo Lazy A coulee was left at peace with scratching hens busy with thefeeding of halffeathered chicks and a rooster that crowed from thecorral fence seven times without stopping to take breath  In the bigcorral a sorrel mare nosed her colt and nibbled abstractedly at thepile of hay in one corner while the colt wabbled aimlessly up andsniffed curiously and then turned to inspect the rails that felt soqueer and hard when he rubbed his nose against them  The sun was warmand cloudshadows drifted lazily across the coulee with the breeze thatblew from the west  You never would dream that this was the lastdaythe last few hours evenwhen the Lazy A would be the untroubledhome of three persons of whose lives it formed so great a partAt noon the hens were hovering their chickens in the shade of the mowerwhich Lite was overhauling during his spare time getting it ready forthe hay that was growing apace out there in the broad mouth of thecoulee  The rooster was wallowing luxuriously in a dusty spot in thecorral  The young colt lay stretched out on the fat of its side in thesun sound asleep  The sorrel mare lay beside it asleep also withher head thrown up against her shoulder  Somewhere in a shed a calfwas bawling in bored lonesomeness away from its mother feeding down thepasture  And over all the coulee and the buildings nestled against thebluff at its upper end was spread that atmosphere of homey comfort andsheltered calm which surrounds always a home that is happyLite Avery riding toward home just when the shadows were beginning togrow long behind him wondered if Jean would be back by the time hereached the ranch  He hoped so with a vague distaste at finding theplace empty of her cheerful presence  Be looked at his watch it wasnearly four oclock  She ought to be home by halfpast four or fiveanyway  He glanced sidelong at Jim and quietly slackened his pace alittle Jim was telling one of those long rambling tales of the littlehappenings of a narrow life and Lite was supposed to be listeninginstead of thinking about