The Moving Picture Girls at Rocky Ranch

꘼
The Moving Picture Girls at Rocky Ranch, by

Laura Lee Hope
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Title: The Moving Picture Girls at Rocky Ranch Or, Great Days Among the Cowboys
Author: Laura Lee Hope

Release Date: January 12, 2007 [eBook #20349]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
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THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH
Or
Great Days Among the Cowboys
by
LAURA LEE HOPE
Author of "The Moving Picture Girls," "The Moving Picture Girls Under the Palms," "The Outdoor Girls Series," "The Bobbsey Twins Series," Etc.
Illustrated

The Goldsmith Publishing Co. Cleveland Made in U. S. A.
Copyright, 1914, by Grosset & Dunlap
Press of The Commercial Bookbinding Co. Cleveland

[Illustration: "WE ARE HEMMED IN BY THE PRAIRIE FIRE!" Moving Picture Girls at Rocky Ranch.--Page 192.]

CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I THE SPY 1
II WESTERN PLANS 13
III A DARING FEAT 23
IV A CLOUD OF SMOKE 32
V A MIX-UP 42
VI THE AUTO SMASH 49
VII OFF FOR THE WEST 56
VIII THE OIL WELL 66
IX THE RIVALS 72
X THE CYCLONE 78
XI AT ROCKY RANCH 90
XII SUSPICIONS 96
XIII AT THE BRANDING 109
XIV A WARNING 117
XV THE INDIAN RITES 125
XVI PRISONERS 134
XVII THE RESCUE 143
XVIII A RUSH OF STEERS 156
XIX TOO MUCH REALISM 163
XX IN THE OPEN 168
XXI THE BURNING GRASS 178
XXII HEMMED IN 186
XXIII THE ESCAPE 193
XXIV A DISCLOSURE 201
XXV THE ROUND-UP 208

THE MOVING PICTURE GIRLS AT ROCKY RANCH
CHAPTER I
THE SPY
"Well, Ruth, aren't you almost ready?"
"Just a moment, Alice. I can't seem to get my collar fastened in the back. I wish I'd used the old-fashioned hooks and eyes instead of those new snaps."
"Oh, I think those snaps are just adorable!"
"Oh, Alice DeVere! Using such an extreme expression!"
"What expression, Ruth?"
"'Adorable!' You sometimes accuse me of using slang, and there you go----"
"'Adorable' isn't slang," retorted Alice.
"Oh, isn't it though? Since when?"
"There you go yourself! You're as bad as I am."
"Well, it must be associating with you, then," sighed Ruth.
"No, Ruth, it's this moving picture business. It just makes you use words that mean something, and not those that are merely sign-posts. I'm glad to see that you are getting--sensible. But never mind about that. Are you ready to go to the studio? I'm sure we'll be late."
"Oh, please help me with this collar. I wish I'd made this waist with the new low-cut effect. Not too low, of course," Ruth added hastily, as she caught a surprised glance from her sister.
Two girls were in a room about which were strewn many articles of feminine adornment. Yet it was not an untidy apartment. True, dresser drawers did yawn and disclose their contents, and closet doors gaped at one, showing a collection of shoes and skirts. But then the occupants of the room might have been forgiven, for they were in haste to keep an appointment.
"There, Ruth," finally exclaimed the younger of the two girls--yet she was not so much younger--not more than two years. "I think your collar is perfectly sweet."
"It's good of you to say so. You know I got it at that little French shop around the corner, but sewed some of that Mexican drawn lace on to make it a bit higher. Now I'm sorry I did, for I had to put in those snap fasteners instead of hooks. And if you don't get them to fit exactly they come loose. It's like when the film doesn't come right on the screen, and the piano player sounds a discord to call the operator's attention to it."
"You've hit it, sister mine."
"Oh, Alice! There you go again. 'Hit it!'"
"You'd say 'hit it' at a baseball game," Alice retorted.
"Oh, yes, I suppose so. But we're not at one," objected the older girl, as she finished buttoning her gloves, and took up her parasol, which she shook out, to make sure that it would open easily when needed.
"There, I think I'm ready," announced Alice, as she slipped on a light jacket, for, though it was spring, the two rivers of New York sent rather chilling breezes across the city, and a light waist was rather conducive to colds.
"Have you the key?" asked the older girl, as she paused for a moment on the threshold of the private hall of the apartment house. She had tied her veil rather tightly at the back, knotting it and fastening it with a little gold pin, and now she pulled it away from her cheeks, to relieve the tension.
"Yes, I have it, Ruth. Oh, don't