Virginia of V. M. Ranch [Illustration: He removed his gayly adorned peaked hat and took from it a letter, which he handed to Virginia.] VIRGINIA OF V. M. RANCH By GRACE MAY NORTH Author of “Virginia at Vine Haven,” “Virginia’s Adventure Club,” “Virginia’s Ranch Neighbors,” “Virginia’s Romance.” A. L. BURT COMPANY Publishers—New York Printed in U. S. A. THE VIRGINIA DAVIS SERIES A SERIES OF STORIES FOR GIRLS OF TWELVE TO SIXTEEN YEARS OF AGE By GRACE MAY NORTH VIRGINIA OF V. M. RANCH VIRGINIA AT VINE HAVEN VIRGINIA’S ADVENTURE CLUB VIRGINIA’S RANCH NEIGHBORS VIRGINIA’S ROMANCE Copyright, 1924 By A. L. BURT COMPANY VIRGINIA OF V. M. RANCH Made in “U. S. A.” DEDICATED TO Virginia Davis Margaret Selover Barbara Blair Wente And to all other girls in their teens who like adventure and the desert. VIRGINIA OF V. M. RANCH CHAPTER I VIRGINIA OF V. M. RANCH Down a winding mountain trail, a girl of sixteen was riding on Comrade, her wiry red-brown pony. It was a glorious morning. The sky above was a gleaming cloudless blue, the desert, below, stretching to the far horizon, shimmered white in the sunlight, while some bird in a canon near was caroling a tipsy song of joy, but these things Virginia Davis did not see or hear, for her eyes were gazing at the rugged trail and her thoughts were puzzling over the contents of a letter which her brother Malcolm had brought to her that morning when he had returned from the town of Douglas which was twenty miles away. Her father’s best friend had died the year before, and had left a motherless girl all alone in the world. When Mr. Selover realized that he had not long to live he had written Mr. Davis asking him to become the guardian of his daughter, Margaret, who was then in a select boarding school in the East. In some unaccountable manner, the letter had been delayed for many months, and during that time, Mr. Davis had also died, leaving Virginia and Malcolm as sole owners of the vast cattle ranch which was known as “The V. M.” This morning Virginia had ridden to the top of the trail where she often went when she wanted to be alone with her thoughts, for the long delayed letter had indeed brought a new problem to these two young people. This unknown Margaret Selover, it seemed, was their father’s ward. Ought they not to assume the responsibility which he would so gladly have taken had he lived? And yet, what if the girl should prove to be very unlike themselves? She might not care to make her home on their wonderful desert, and, if she did not, would it be right for them to take her from an environment in which she was happy and content? But how could they tell, since they did not know her?