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Show Page 14 it some milk, she showed the calf to her mother. "Well Ann," said Mrs. Bassett. "I guess you can keep the scrawny thing until it can eat grass and rustle its own living. Then you must turn it out on the range. You know from the brand it belongs to Mr. Fisher and the Middlesex Cattle Company." Ann didn't let on to her mother, but she had no intention of giving up the little waif. Already the scrawny, burr-covered Texas longhorn-which Ann promptly named Dixie Burr-had captured her heart. As soon as Dixie Burr began to fill out and look more like a calf, Ann began making secret plans. The next time Mr. Bassett decided to go to Rock Springs for supplies, she asked to go along. Since Ann hadn't left the calf for more than a few hours at a time since she'd found it, Mr. Bassett was surprised Ann would leave Dixie Burr for the ten days it would take to make the trip. But he agreed to let her go. Ann quickly sought out her special friend, Slippery Jim, and asked the handyman to look after Dixie Burr while she was gone. "What's the matter with that brother and sister of yourn?" asked Slippery. "They too busy? Yore pa don't pay me to look after no Middlesex cow ya know." "I wouldn't trust those two near her," answered Ann. "Not after they called her a lousy, ugly, little runt, not fit |
