"Flower, Jessie Graham - Grace Harlowe - Overland Riders 01 - Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders On the Great American Desert" - читать интересную книгу автора (Flower Jessie Graham)

scene was not only exciting, but it stirred feelings of alarm in some of Grace
Harlowe's Overland Riders.
"Surely, Grace, you girls aren't going to ride those wild animals!" protested
Tom Gray.
"Judging from the performances I have just witnessed, I am inclined to think we
are not," replied Grace whimsically. "Which is Mr. Lang?"
"The man with his hat off leading the pony from the corral."
Tom beckoned to the man who was to guide the Overlanders across the desert, and,
as soon as he had turned the protesting bronco over to a cowboy, the guide
responded to Tom Gray's summons.
"Lang, this is Mrs. Gray and Miss Briggs," said Tom by way of introduction.
"Reckon I'm mighty glad to know you all," greeted the guide, mopping the
perspiration from his forehead with his sleeve.
Hi Lang interested Grace at once. Of medium height, thin-featured, with a
complexion that reminded her of wrinkled parchment, eyes that, though
intelligent and alert, frequently took on a dreamy, far-away expression, Hiram
Lang proved a new type of westerner to Grace Harlowe.
"Got your telegram that you reckoned on starting to-day," he told her.
"Yes. Of course we do not wish to hurry you, but we are eager to get on our way.
What about the supplies and equipment! Have you ordered everything that I
suggested?"
The guide nodded.
"The stuff already has gone on ahead in charge of Ping WingЧ"
"Who?" laughed Elfreda Briggs.
"Ping Wing, a Chinaman, with four lazy burros. Good man. Can cook, too. Been on
the desert before. Lively as a cricket. Only trouble with Ping is that he thinks
he can sing. Ride and shoot?" he demanded, abruptly changing the subject.
"I am not much of a rider, but manage to stick to the saddle most of the time,"
answered Grace. "I shoot a little. We are all novices, with the exception of
Lieutenant Wingate who is an excellent shot. The lieutenant was a fighting
aviator in the war."
Hi nodded and stroked his chin.
"Reckoned you could ride some. When we get out on the desert I'll see how you
can shoot. When do you think you want to start?"
"I will leave that to you," replied Grace.
"Three o'clock this afternoon. We'll make the range where Ping will be waiting
for us, and have chow there, then go on in the cool of the evening. Want to look
over the broncos?"
"If you please. I should like to try the ponies that we are to ride."
"DoЧdo they always kick and buck as we saw them do just now?" questioned Miss
Briggs apprehensively.
The guide shook his head and grinned.
"They don't like to be roped, that's all. No bronco does. They'll be as all
right as a bronc' can be, so long as you don't use the spur or get the critters
stubborn."
"If you say they are perfectly safe for my friends to ride, I am satisfied,
though I should like to try them out. Hippy, have you ridden any of these
animals?" asked Grace, turning to Lieutenant Wingate.
"He tried to," observed Tom Gray dryly. "Hippy mounted one on one side and
promptly fell off on the other before getting his feet in the stirrups. It was