Autobiographical story of boy in 1910 Littleton, Colorado, who is quite the little cowboy. In fact, the first book of the series is Little Britches. Very Little House On The Prarie-ish. Very good.
Ralph spends the summer working for Mr. Batchlett at his ranch.
Quote:
I couldn't help thinking he and I were a good deal alike. Maybe he was trying to do things too big for him so people wouldn't call him an old man. Maybe he bragged about things he used to do because he couldn't do them any more, and because he wanted the same thing I did: to have other people think he was as smart and able to do things as they were.