in and got in his lap . - ' Good morning , there , ) iust
.. he said , as he ran his hand through his boy ’ s hair Little Lonny just sat there trying to wake L
AH of a sudden Helen rattled a pan on the stove and putting her hand to her stomach , left m a hurry . her way out she said , W atch the eggs . . . ni b right back ." Lonny knew something was wrong . After removing the scrambled eggs from the stove , he went into the bedroom . Helen was in the bathroom , obviously sick .
" Are you sure , Mrs . Barnes , that you know what you ’ re talking about ?'’ Lonny asked with a smile on his face . Helen was still lying on the bed with a cold wet towel on her forehead . She said , " Yes ,. l - ’ m sure , ' the doctor said 1 was definitely in foal and v was due tn have another colt sometime in Au *
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If- _ _ i- - J I _____ 1^ . ^ * AA / sntk \
( Continued from Last Month ) by Charles Barry Sanderson
As Lonny Barnes took stock of his personal attitude he was rather pleased with himself . He would be thirty years old the following month and he and his wife Helen were pretty well fixed . They had a nice home and a stable that they were able to make payments on . In addition to his pickup truck , he had a new automobile and a used tractor that were both in running order . Lonny , -junior was six years old and doing fine in kindergarten , and Ralphy was growing like a weed for a four-year-old . Lonny reflected that he had done quite well since going into business for himself and , for a Professional Walking Horse trainer , was fairly successful . He had won the Two-Year-Old World Championship the year before and this past year had tied high in the two-year-old class as well as making a good showing in the stake . It was not a great claim to fame , but he was happy with his accomplishments nevertheless .
His line of thought was broken by the alarm clock . He sat up in bed , brushed his black hair out of his eyes and turned off the alarm . He had been awake for about twenty minutes , but it still shook him up when the clock went off that early in the morning . Rolling out of bed , he walked into the kitchen to fix coffee . He was particular about his ■joe ," and Helen had never learned to fix it to suit him . . . especially in the morning . After a shower and shave Lonny went into the kitchen , poured himself a cup of coffee and settled back to read the morning paper .
He checked the headlines and then scanned the weather prediction . " More cold , nasty weather . . ." he said to himself as he turned the page . This was the time of day that he really enjoyed . It was still only 6:30 AM and he had been up for almost fortyfive minutes . He enjoyed the quiet and the time to himself . Later , walking into the bedroom , he leaned over the pile of covers . Picking his spot , he laid a firm hand on Helen ’ s bottom-side with a resounding whack . " Get up . . . get up . . . get up !" he said . " It ’ s time to rise and shine !” Helen was not too receptive to his playful attitude and rolled over muttering , " It ’ s not time to get up already , is it ?"
They always let little Ralphy sleep in the morning , but Lonny , -Jr . had to get up for kindergarten . Lonny sat down at the kitchen table as a sleepyhead came
12 her . " Well , that ’ s just fine ! Maybe we will get that girl we ’ ve wanted ." Helen sat up on the edge of the bed and said , " Yes , but do you know what happens in August ? The annual Walking Horse Festival comes up then ." All Lonny could say was , " Oh , boy . . . that ’ s all we need — to have you in the hospital having a baby during the Walking Horse Festival !”
Several hours had passed since Lonny had learned of their upcoming " blessed event ." He was not too disturbed with Helen ’ s timing . . . figuring that he had played a small part in the situation . His line of thought was broken by the jangled ringing of his stable telephone . Dismounting , he yelled to Martin Luther , " Hold this colt while I get the phone ." His new stablehand dropped a pitchfork and ran to get the colt . Lonny answered the phone and was obviously interested in the proposition that he was hearing . " Well , sure , Doc ..." he said . " I was planning to take at least two horses to the Florida shows but I believe I can make it back before then . How long should it take to drive out there ?" He listened a few minutes and then said , " All right ... I can get Don Wells to feed for me , and I ’ ll take my new boy and we ’ ll just go ." Getting the details again , he made a few notes and thanked Dr . Greely for the call .
Two days later Lonny Barnes and Martin Luther were on their way to Pierre , South Dakota with a load of six horses . He had said goodby to Helen on a cold , dark morning and had gone to Dr . Greely ’ s farm and picked up four broodmares and a couple of
two-year-olds that the doctor had sold to a rancher in South Dakota . His six-horse van was in good shape and he was confident that they could make the trip easily . It was a long way and the weather was rough up there , but with mud-grips on his truck he should do all right . As they rolled along the highway , Lonny
was thinking to himself that it sure was nice to have friends like Dr . Greely . The doctor had made him a
real good deal : he was getting milage for the trip and a commission on the six horses . Altogether he should make about six hundred dollars on the trip . " Not ba lor a week ’ s work ," he told himself .
1 hey had stopped over at a friend ’ s place in MlS ‘ souri to let the horses rest , and headed out again
ior Omaha and then on to Pierre . Martin Luther had
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