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Three Young Ranchmen: or, Daring Adventures in the Great West
Three Young Ranchmen; or, Daring Adventures in the Great West
PREFACE
"Three Young Ranchmen" relates the adventures of three brothers, Allen, Chetwood and Paul Winthrop, who are left to shift for themselves upon a lonely ranch home situated in the mountainous region of the beautiful State of Idaho, near one of the numerous branches of the Salmon River.
The lads, although sturdy and brave, have no easy time making a living, and among other troubles, they are visited by horse thieves, and also by a crafty prospector who wishes to take their claim away from them. In the meantime an uncle of the lads has gone off to visit the city, and he disappears entirely, adding to the complexity of the situation. What the boys did to straighten out the trouble is told in the chapters which follow.
In writing this story I have tried to give my boy readers a fair idea of life on a ranch of to-day, as well as of life in the wild mountains of Idaho, with some idea of the ranch hands and miners to be met with in these localities. The tale has been drawn as true to nature as possible, and I trust its reading will prove both entertaining and useful.
Captain Ralph Bonehill.
CHAPTER I.
An Unpleasant Discovery
"When do you think Allen will be back, Paul?"
"He ought to be back by two or three o'clock, Chet. His horse was fresh, and the roads are very good just now."
"I hope he brings good news, don't you? I am tired of waiting here."
"We will have to content ourselves on the ranch another year, I am afraid. Father left matters in a very unsettled condition, and what has become of Uncle Barnaby the world only knows."
"I don't care so much about the dullness – I like to hunt and fish and round up the cattle just as well as any one – but what I'm complaining of is the uncertainty of the way things are going to turn. For all we know, we may be cast adrift, as the saying goes, any day."
"That is true, although I imagine our title to the ranch is O. K. If those title papers hadn't been burned up when one end of the house took fire I wouldn't worry a bit."
"Neither would I. But we all know what Captain Grady is – the meanest man that ever drew the breath of life – and if he once learns that we haven't the papers he'll be down on us quicker than a grizzly bear in the spring."
"Well, we won't let him know that the papers have been burned up. We will continue to bluff him off."
"We can't bluff him forever. To my mind – "
The boy broke off short, and coming to a halt, pointed with his disengaged hand toward the barn.