“If this is a sample of the dudes I’m to herd, I’m quittin’ right now,” Lefty complained to Connie.
“Oh, you wouldn’t let me down at a time like this,” she said quickly. “Mr. Postil is fine and for that matter, so is Mr. Grimes.”
“Old Grimes ain’t so bad,” the cowboy admitted. “He broke down and told me he’s plannin’ to make a regular he-man out of that son of his. If that ain’t a laugh!”
“You be nice to Cecil, Lefty. Remember, he’s a paying guest.”
“Oh, I’ll treat him gentle unless he ‘my mans’ me again. Then I’m liable to give him a good poke in the nose!”
With the ranch undermanned, and the new arrivals demanding constant service, Connie found herself hard pressed to keep the household running smoothly. It seemed to her that Forest Blakeman had lain down on his job completely. He made it increasingly clear that he was not in sympathy with her plan of trying to run a dude ranch.
However, for some reason which was not clear to Connie, Blakeman singled Helena out, and wasted hours chatting with her. The girl kept the other cowboys from their work too, assuming that it was their duty to keep her entertained.
“There’s just nothing to do around here,” she complained to Connie.
“Perhaps you’d like to ride,” Connie suggested. “I’ll have Alkali saddle up a pony for you.”
“Let’s do go for a canter,” proposed Cecil who had come up behind the girls. “I was looking over the horses just now. There’s one that’s not bad—the others are nags.”