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_The_ CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH

HOWARD R. GARIS




    [Illustration: "YOU'VE GOT TO GROAN AND PRETEND YOU'VE BEEN SHOT."
    _The Curlytops at Uncle Frank's Ranch_      _Page 7_]




    THE CURLYTOPS
    AT
    UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH

    OR

    _Little Folks on Ponyback_

    BY

    HOWARD R. GARIS

    AUTHOR OF "THE CURLYTOPS SERIES," "BEDTIME
    STORIES," "UNCLE WIGGILY SERIES," ETC.

    _Illustrations by
    JULIA GREENE_

    NEW YORK
    CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY




    THE CURLYTOPS SERIES

    By HOWARD R. GARIS

    12mo. Cloth. Illustrated.

        _THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM
        Or, Vacation Days in the Country_

        _THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND
        Or, Camping Out With Grandpa_

        _THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN
        Or, Grand Fun With Skates and Sleds_

        _THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH
        Or, Little Folks on Ponyback_

    CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York




    COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY
    CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY

    THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH

    Printed in U. S. A.




CONTENTS


    CHAPTER PAGE

        I TROUBLE'S TUMBLE             1

       II NICKNACK AND TROUBLE        13

      III OFF FOR THE WEST            28

       IV THE COLLISION               40

        V AT RING ROSY RANCH          55

       VI COWBOY FUN                  63

      VII BAD NEWS                    72

     VIII A QUEER NOISE               87

       IX THE SICK PONY              101

        X A SURPRISED DOCTOR         114

       XI TROUBLE MAKES A LASSO      122

      XII THE BUCKING BRONCO         140

     XIII MISSING CATTLE             153

      XIV LOOKING FOR INDIANS        167

       XV TROUBLE "HELPS"            175

      XVI ON THE TRAIL               189

     XVII THE CURLYTOPS ALONE        196

    XVIII LOST                       209

      XIX THE HIDDEN VALLEY          222

       XX BACK TO RING ROSY          237




THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK'S RANCH




CHAPTER I

TROUBLE'S TUMBLE


"Say, Jan, this isn't any fun!"

"What do you want to play then, Ted?"

Janet Martin looked at her brother, who was dressed in one of his
father's coats and hats while across his nose was a pair of spectacles
much too large for him. Janet, wearing one of her mother's skirts, was
sitting in a chair holding a doll.

"Well, I'm tired of playing doctor, Jan, and giving your make-believe
sick doll bread pills. I want to do something else," and Teddy began
taking off the coat, which was so long for him that it dragged on the
ground.

"Oh, I know what we can do that'll be lots of fun!" cried Janet, getting
up from the chair so quickly that she forgot about her doll, which fell
to the floor with a crash that might have broken her head.

"Oh, my _dear_!" cried Janet, as she had often heard her mother call
when Baby William tumbled and hurt himself. "Oh, are you hurt?" and
Janet clasped the doll in her arms, and hugged it as though it were a
real child.

"Is she busted?" Ted demanded, but he did not ask as a real doctor might
inquire. In fact, he had stopped playing doctor.

"No, she isn't hurt, I guess," Jan answered, feeling of her doll's head.
"I forgot all about her being in my lap. Oh, aren't you going to play
any more, Ted?" she asked as she saw her brother toss the big coat on a
chair and take off the spectacles.

"No. I want to do something else. This is no fun!"

"Well, let's make-believe you're sick and I can be a Red Cross nurse,
like some of those we saw in the drugstore window down the street,
making bandages for the soldiers. You could be a soldier, Ted, and I
could be the nurse, and