“Dark as a tunnel,” answered Joe Jackson. “You have to carry a lantern or a flashlight when you try to ride it after dark.”
“Ever get held up?” questioned Fred curiously.
“Nary a hold-up, lad,” answered the foreman, with a grin. “We leave all that to the movie men.”
“Did you ever have a moving picture company out here?” asked Gif.
“Yes, we had one crowd out here last year. They stayed around about six weeks taking some sort of a drama, as they called it. It was funny,” added the foreman, with a chuckle. “The leading lady was scared to death of horses, and yet she had to do a little riding. The man who was having the pictures taken wanted her to smile while she was cantering along. But that smile, believe me, wasn’t anything to brag about. They ought to have brought along some leading lady who liked horses and knew all about ’em.”
“Did they use any of your outfit?”
“Oh, they used a few of our cowboys in a round-up. They wanted me to go into some of the pictures, but I told ’em there was nothing doing—that I was here to manage the ranch and not make moving pictures.”
“How many men on the place?” asked Randy.
“We have six at present. But the boss is thinking of getting some more and increasing the herd.”
“Did dad get his Chinese cook?” questioned Spouter.