The Adventure Girls at K Bar O Read online

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  THE ADVENTURE GIRLS At K Bar O

  By Clair Blank

  girl on horse]

  THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY

  Akron, Ohio New York

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  Copyright MCMXXXVI THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY

  The Adventure Girls at K Bar O

  Made in the United States of America

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  CONTENTS

  I ARRIVAL 7 II ROBBERY 14 III GALE'S ADVENTURE 20 IV DISCOVERY 33 V PURSUIT 41 VI GHOST CABIN 54 VII LANDSLIDE 70 VIII PRISONERS 81 IX ON THE TRAIL 90 X RUSTLERS 106 XI SURPRISE 119 XII GONE 128 XIII RESCUE 139 XIV TRAPPED 155 XV CAPTURE 166 XVI ALARM 175 XVII REVENGE 189 XVIII PREMONITION 204 XIX HELP 214 XX REWARD 225 XXI ADIOS 240

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  The Adventure Girls at K-Bar-O

  Chapter I

  ARRIVAL

  The thing that went under the name of automobile wheezed into theranchyard and rattled to a halt. With creaks and groans in every jointthe car discharged its six very dusty, very weary occupants.

  At the same time, the screen door of the ranch house banged shut and aflying figure descended on the new arrivals.

  "Oh, Gale, but I'm glad to see you," the girl from the ranch housedeclared hugging the foremost one of the visitors.

  Gale Howard returned the hug with equal warmth. The two were cousins,and Gale and her friends, The Adventure Girls, had traveled West tospend the summer on the K Bar O Ranch, owned by Gale's uncle.

  "But don't tell me you traveled all the way West in that!" VirginiaWilson murmured aghast, when the introductions and first greetings wereover.

  "We wouldn't have lived to tell the tale," declared Carol Carter. "Inever knew a car that had so many bumps in it."

  "We came West to Phoenix on the train," Gale explained. "It was there webought the car and drove up here."

  "You wouldn't think we bought it second hand, would you?" Janet Gordonmurmured.

  "No," Phyllis Elton agreed with a twinkle in her eyes. "It looks asthough we made it ourselves."

  The last two of the new arrivals, Madge Reynolds and Valerie Wallace,who had been busy unstrapping luggage and tumbling bags onto the ground,turned now to the ranch girl.

  "What shall we do with our stuff?" Madge asked.

  "I suppose you will want to change from your traveling suits," Virginiasuggested, "so just bring along what you want now. Leave the rest here.Tom can bring it in later."

  Tom was her elder brother and as the girls walked toward the ranch househe crossed the yard from the corral. Behind him came Gale's uncle.Virginia called her mother and more greetings and introductionsfollowed.

  "But how did you manage to leave home without a chaperon?" Virginiaasked from her position on the bed in the room shared by Gale andValerie.

  "It was all we could do to get away without one," a laughing voice inthe adjoining room declared, and Janet appeared on the threshold.

  "Finally our parents decided that Gale and Valerie, being the only saneand level-headed ones among us, could be trusted to see that we behavedproperly," Carol added, hanging over Janet's shoulder.

  "That shows how much they really know Gale and Valerie," added Janetmischievously. "If they had any sense at all, they would have appointedme guardian angel of the troupe."

  "Then we would never have gotten this far," Valerie declared, strugglingto pull on a brown riding boot.

  "Yes, Virginia," Gale laughed, "when we did let Janet drive for a littlewhile, she ran us into a ditch, went the wrong way on a one way streetin a little town below here, talked back to a policeman and nearlylanded us all in jail."

  "Yes, we had to let Gale drive thereafter for self preservation," Carolmurmured.

  "That is all the gratitude I get," Janet mourned in an injured tone. "Ido my best to make our trip a success and you don't appreciate me."

  "What? Aren't you dressed yet?" Phyllis demanded as she and Madgeentered the other girls' room. "Slow pokes!" she teased.

  "Yes, do hurry," Janet pleaded. "I want to get outside and see the horseI'm to ride."

  "I'll wager you don't even know what side of a horse to get on,"declared Carol as the latter two disappeared into their own room.

  "Well--ah--um--we won't go into that," Janet evaded.

  Virginia laughed and the other girls smiled sympathetically.

  "Don't mind anything they say," Madge advised Virginia. "They don't meana word of it."

  "I gathered that much," Virginia said, rising as Janet and Carolreturned, this time fully dressed and eager to get outside.

  The Adventure Girls were dressed alike in brown breeches, leather boots,and khaki shirts with brown silk ties to match. Some of them worecrushable felt hats while the others carried them. They had beendelighted with the prospect of spending a summer in the open air on theranch, looking forward to unknown adventures with keen anticipation. Thesix had dubbed themselves the Adventure Girls when on school hikes andoutings they had usually managed to stir up some kind of excitement. Itwas their desire to spend their summer becoming better acquainted withthe country out here, rather than spend their months free from school inloafing about home. They wanted to get out in the air, see new wonders,and enjoy new adventures.

  When, in response to a letter from Virginia, Gale had suggested to theother five girls that they come West and spend the summer in Arizona ithad seemed delightful and intriguing, but not probable. Gradually thegirls had won round parental objections and collected the things theywould need. Now they were here, with a full summer of freedom beforethem.

  The K Bar O Ranch was one of the biggest in the state. This the girlsdid not fully realize until later, when they began to ride around thecountryside. Henry Wilson, Virginia's father, dealt in cattle and hisherds were large and of the finest stock. There were horses too, and itwas these that the girls were most interested in.

  Virginia led the way to the corral. Tom was there, talking to a cowboyand when he saw the girls, brought up three saddled mounts, the cowboyfollowing with a string of four more. The western ponies were sturdylittle animals, sure-footed and fast.

  The girls claimed their mounts and Gale and Valerie, already experiencedriders, mounted their horses immediately.

  Janet looked her horse over with speculative eyes. "Well, horse," shesaid, "I think we are about to become better acquainted and I hope youare as nice as you look."

  "They're all tame," Tom assured the girls, a
ssisting Carol into hersaddle.

  "Hey," Carol called to Janet. "You'll never get on that way!"

  Virginia had her horse and by the time Tom had helped Janet into thesaddle, the girls were moving forward. Virginia rode ahead with Gale,the two setting their ponies at an easy trot over the trail.

  "We won't go far," Virginia said, "it will be suppertime shortly and Iknow you wouldn't want to miss it. The lunch you had wasn't verysubstantial."

  "And this Arizona air certainly gives one an appetite," Gale declared."What's that?"

  They had come to the crest of a hill and in the green valley below couldbe seen a slowly moving herd of the K Bar O cattle. But it was not tothe cows that Gale called her friend's attention. Off to the left hadsounded a series of sharp explosions, as a fusillade of rifle shots.

  Virginia had grown a little pale under her tan, and the hand thatgripped her horse's reins was clenched tightly, but she summoned a smilefor Gale's benefit.

  "Just some of the boys having target practice, I reckon," she saideasily.

  But Gale was not to be deceived. Target practice would not causeVirginia to appear suddenly so nervous. However, Gale did not press thesubject at the time. She knew if there was something wrong at the K BarO she would know it before long.