Printed in U. S. A.
CONTENTS
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | “Old Trouble-Maker” | [1] |
| II. | Bashful Ike | [11] |
| III. | In Which Things Happen | [18] |
| IV. | The Fire Fight | [30] |
| V. | “Old Trouble-Maker” Turned Loose | [40] |
| VI. | The Roping Contest | [51] |
| VII. | Jane Ann Turns the Trick | [57] |
| VIII. | What Was on the Records | [66] |
| IX. | The Fox Is Reckless | [75] |
| X. | Ruth Shows Her Mettle | [83] |
| XI. | An Ursine Hold-Up | [89] |
| XII. | The Man From Tintacker | [97] |
| XIII. | The Party at the Schoolhouse | [103] |
| XIV. | Bashful Ike Comes Out Strong | [112] |
| XV. | “The Night Trick” | [123] |
| XVI. | The Joke That Failed | [136] |
| XVII. | The Stampede | [143] |
| XVIII. | A Desperate Case | [150] |
| XIX. | The Man at Tintacker | [157] |
| XX. | The Wolf at the Door | [164] |
| XXI. | A Plucky Fight | [171] |
| XXII. | Service Courageous | [178] |
| XXIII. | Bashful Ike Takes the Bit in His Teeth | [185] |
| XXIV. | Coals of Fire | [192] |
| XXV. | At the Old Red Mill Again | [199] |
Ruth Fielding at Silver Ranch
CHAPTER I—“OLD TROUBLE-MAKER”
Where the Silver Ranch trail branches from the state road leading down into Bullhide, there stretch a rambling series of sheds, or “shacks,” given up to the uses of a general store and provision emporium; beside it is the schoolhouse. This place on the forked trails is called “The Crossing,” and it was the only place nearer than the town of Bullhide where the scattered population of this part of Montana could get any supplies.
One of Old Bill Hicks’ herds was being grazed on that piece of rolling country, lying in the foothills, right behind the Crossing, and two of his cow punchers had ridden in for tobacco. Being within sight of rows upon rows of tinned preserves (the greatest luxury extant to the cowboy mind), and their credit being good with Lem Dickson, who kept the store, the two cattle herders—while their cayuses stood with drooping heads, their bridle-reins on the road before them—each secured a can of peaches, and sitting cross-legged on the porch before the store, opened the cans with their knives and luxuriated in the contents.
“Old man’s nigh due, ain’t he?” asked Lem, the storekeeper, lowering himself into a comfortable armchair that he kept for his own particular use on the porch.