All the way to the Rainbow she puzzled over Blakeman’s strange deal with the rancher. She was almost positive that the foreman had not brought a steer to the ranch the previous day. In fact, she remembered seeing him when he rode into the yard and had noticed how tired his pony appeared.
“If Blakeman doesn’t have enough money to pay salaries, how could he buy a steer?” she reflected. “Especially when we don’t need one. There’s something mighty queer about this business.”
The foreman was nowhere about when Connie reached the ranch. However, she asked both Lefty and Alkali if any new stock had been bought and both assured her in the negative.
“I believe I’ll just wait and see if Blakeman says anything about the matter to me,” she thought.
Later when the foreman returned she carelessly mentioned that she had seen Nate in town. While Blakeman gave her a quick, sharp glance, he said nothing about the steer. Connie was further puzzled because her inspection of the ranch stock did not reveal an addition to the herds.
“Did he buy that steer with his own money or with mine?” Connie speculated. “And where is the animal?”
She spent the morning going over the records which Blakeman had kept. The foreman had not been a good bookkeeper and it was almost impossible to tell anything about his figures.
“He may have cheated me,” the girl thought. “I can’t tell. But in any event, it looks as if the ranch will not pay for itself on the present basis. My only hope would be to operate a dude ranch, but I can’t do that without money.”
Connie glanced at the calendar and frowned. Only two more days until the rodeo, and then a scant ten days before the sixteenth. She was certain she could never meet her obligations.
“I’d have a chance if I could win a few prizes at the rodeo,” she told herself. “Oh, why did I have to cripple myself?”