The Boy from the Ranch

Books for Boys #3

by Frank V. Webster, 1stworld Library (Editor)

My poor pets! a lady exclaimed, sorrowfully; "it is too bad. They all knew me so well; and ran to meet me, when they saw me coming; and seemed really pleased to see me, even when I had no food to give them." "Which was not often, my dear," Captain Ripon-her husband-said. "However it is, as you say, too bad; and I will bring the fellow to justice, if I can. There are twelve prize fowls-worth a couple of guineas apiece, not to mention the fact of their being pets of yours-stolen, probably by tramps; who will eat them, and for whom the commonest barn-door chickens would have done as well. There are marks of blood in two or three places, so they have evidently been killed for food. The house was locked up last night, all right; for you see they got in by breaking in a panel of the door. "Robson, run down to the village, at once, and tell the policeman to come up here; and ask if any gypsies, or tramps, have been seen in the neighborhood." The village lay at the gate of Captain Ripon's park, and the gardener soon returned with the policeman.

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1909

Reviews

[Angie Thompson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really my favorite of the genre. The storyline was a little meandering, and the characters seemed to shift back and forth (for example, from perceptive to gullible) in a way that made it hard to connect with them. Also, while I'm used to some ethnic stereotypes in older books, the "lazy Indian" character at the beginning seemed to have no purpose other than to illustrate the stereotype, which knocks my rating down a little.

Content--mentions of drinking, smoking, and gambling; threats, drugging, and kidnapping; some stereotyped dialogue and ethnic slurs