RAQUEL OF THE RANCH COUNTRY [Illustration: BELOW LAY THE RANCH] ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RAQUEL OF THE RANCH COUNTRY by ALIDA SIMS MALKUS Illustrated by GEORGE F. AVISON NEW YORK HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY ------------------------------------------------------------------------ COPYRIGHT, 1927, BY HARCOURT, BRACE AND COMPANY, INC. COPYRIGHT, 1927, BY GIRL SCOUTS, INC. Fifth printing, April, 1937 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY QUINN & BODEN COMPANY, INC., RAHWAY, N. J. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ CONTENTS I RAQUEL GOES TO SCHOOL II HOME AGAIN III PROBLEMS IV TAKING STOCK V DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINS VI THE HUNT VII CHRISTMAS VIII LOIS IX THE BLIZZARD X THAT DANIELS GAL XI THE WILD HORSE XII DROUTH XIII ACROSS THE BORDER XIV HIDING XV WHAT BECAME OF RAQUEL XVI GEORGIE GETS LOST XVII FATE PLAYS A TRICK XVIII THE MAGIC FLAME XIX CONFESSION XX HOME WITH THE HERD ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ILLUSTRATIONS BELOW LAY THE RANCH RAQUEL RODE OVER SOUTH TO A WINDMILL A MEXICAN WOMAN WAS BAKING TORTILLAS IT WAS STILL COOL ON THE DESERT WHEN THEY RODE AWAY OVER THE SANDS ------------------------------------------------------------------------ RAQUEL OF THE RANCH COUNTRY CHAPTER I RAQUEL GOES TO SCHOOL Sunset brought Raquel to The Towers, that fashionable school for girls whose turrets overlooked the Hudson. The glow behind her seemed to have lingered to introduce this child of the land of sunshine. It seemed to burnish the dowdy little figure sitting so stiffly in the sedan. Yet she resolutely kept her back to the West, for to see it made her homesick. This was all so different. No wonder a calf bawled for its mother when they took it away! Three days’ travel from Texas had put a whole world between Raquel and Los Ranchos, the Sunset Limited speeding her back over plains that the covered wagon of her grandparents had not crossed in three months’ journeying. And here she was rolling up a drive toward high iron gates. She leaned forward to peer through. It was even more imposing than she had imagined, this feudal castle in its beautiful grounds, all splashed with the reds and golds of autumn. Lights were already glowing within the school. The pupils of The Towers always dressed for dinner, and Raquel could see girlish figures passing and repassing before the windows in their soft-colored frocks. She had never been so afraid of anything in her life as of the prospect of this new world. She was trembling with nervousness. Two girls stood for a moment in one of the windows, each with an arm around the other’s waist. How happy they seemed! Oh, of course she would love school! Homesickness fell away. Raquel leaned forward, sat on the edge of the seat in her eagerness to be inside among those cheerful groups.