The holdup man jerked it from her hand.
“Now dismount!” he commanded.
Connie hesitated and then slowly obeyed.
The masked man gave Silvertail a sharp clip with his quirt which sent the horse racing down the road. Then with a mock bow to Connie, he wheeled his own pony, and disappeared into the brush. For several minutes the girl could hear the thud of hoofs and then all was quiet.
Connie stood in the middle of the road, too stunned to move. Every penny of the money she had won at the rodeo was gone! And likewise lost was the hundred dollars given her by Mr. Postil as an advance on his board and room.
After a moment Connie started on down the road. She had a long, discouraging walk ahead of her for the nearest habitation was Slocer’s Ranch, a full mile away.
“This is the cruelest thing that ever happened,” Connie told herself bitterly as she trudged along. “All my hopes ended!”
A half hour later she pounded on the door of the Slocer ranch house. Connie knew the owners well although she had not seen them since her return from the East. They were two bachelor brothers who worked the ranch in partnership.
George Slocer, a man with a bushy red beard, opened the door. For a moment he did not recognize Connie.
“May I use your telephone?” she asked quickly. “It’s terribly important.”