THE CHARACTERS
The X Bar X ranch is owned by Bardwell Manley, a hardy and good-hearted, tough but fair man, "perhaps fifty-five" (On the Ranch, page 14). His father, Temple Manley, started the ranch in 1868, in the days of the wild west. The ranch hasn't changed too much since then. Bardwell, who in his younger days was a steely-eyed, don't-mess-with-me-or-my-dog type, was mellowed a little when he married Barbara. A former teacher of English in a Denver school, she is a blonde, blue-eyed beauty, also tough but always feminine, described in the books as "the blonde angel of the West."
One of the books describes them briefly in these words:
Bardwell Manley was a typical Westerner, as was his father before him—tall, dark and heavy-set. His wife, Barbara, is the opposite extreme, being a small blonde of the Dresden china type.
(Copperhead Gulch, page 12)
In one of the early volumes, Barbara Manley's attitude toward her boys is described in words which also reveal a lot about her own character:
Whatever fears Mrs. Manley had for [her sons] she kept to herself. Never would she let them see that she worried when they were unaccountably absent. Long ago she had determined that the best way to bring up her sons was to make them independent, self-reliant. She knew that continual expressions of worry would only hinder their growth into what she wanted them to be—true men, sons of the West. They never realized that she had spent many sleepless nights wondering, praying for their safety when they were from home on a mission of danger. She wished them to be brave, and she, herself, held forth the shining example. What she was, her sons would be.
(At the Round Up, page 27)
The X Bar X boys are their two sons, Roy (age 16) and Teddy (age 15). The brothers enjoy the pure out-of-doors, and throughout the sixteen years of their series frustrate rustlers, kidnappers, and other ne'er-do-wells. They are described in the books as follows:
A glance at these two boys would instantly flash a word into the observer's mind—brothers. True, one was light and the other dark—but each had the same facial characteristics, the same set of shoulders and head. Roy Manley, who had ridden in from the ranch to meet Teddy, was the elder by one year. He it was who inherited the dark hair and eyes from his father, owner of the X Bar X. Yet, strangely enough, he was more inclined to his mother's disposition—serious, grave, thoughtful. The mother had been a teacher of English in a school near Denver before her marriage, and Roy took from her his love for books and poetry and, as Teddy remarked, "the blooming sunsets." Roy was the family philosopher.
Teddy Manley, on the other hand, had the hair and eyes of his mother and the happy, carefree, joyful nature of his father. He could never quite understand what Roy saw in the contemplation of a mountain at night, or of a river flashing beneath the morning sun.
"Golly," he would say, "you see that blamed thing day after day, night after night, and still you stand and moon at it! It'll be there tomorrow! Come on, let's eat!"
(On Big Bison Trail, pages 2-3)
The differing but very complementary dispositions of the brothers represent the two strengths and major features of the series—on the one hand practicality, action, and down-to-earth duty, with a shoot-from-the-hip eagerness for action and adventure; and on the other hand a deep appreciation for natural beauty which is almost contemplative.
The Manleys also have a daughter, Belle Ada, sometimes called Belle in the early volumes. Roy and Teddy's sister is twelve; she becomes thirteen sometime between volumes 14 and 15, and then miraculously becomes twelve again in volume 17. She is a true girl of the West, spotlessly pure but feisty, described as 'fun-loving' and 'dark-eyed and attractive.' She teases her brothers almost relentlessly, but they adore her and she clearly loves and admires them.
Close friends to Belle Ada and providing romantic but very platonic interest for the boys are Nell Willis and Ethel Carew, New York girls who are long-time guests at the 8 X 8, a neighboring ranch fifteen miles to the west. The 8 X 8 is owned by Bardwell's good friend, Peter Ball, whose wife is aunt to Nell and Ethel (the latter usually called Curly). In the very last volume of the series, we learn that Mrs. Ball's first name is Martha (page 150). These city girls take to western ways quickly, learning to ride and adapting with eagerness to life in a ranch house.
The "girls," as Teddy called them, were the nieces of Mrs. Peter Ball, whose husband owned the nearest ranch to the X Bar X, the 8 X 8. For several summers the two girls had come from New York to spend their vacations on the ranch, and had become great favorites with the X Bar X boys, who regarded them simply in the light of pals, although Belle Ada tried her best to tease them about their love affairs.
Nell Willis, tall and dark, was the special favorite of Roy, while Ethel Carew, small and with golden locks, consequently christened Curly, was particularly interesting to Teddy.
(Copperhead Gulch, page 35)
Other characters include the ranch hands. Main fixtures on the X Bar X ranch are first of all Nick Looker, followed closely by Pop Burns, then Gus Trippe and Nat Raymond. In volume 14, Ranny Brown is added; by then Gus and Nat have faded into minor characters, rarely mentioned. Pop is the oldest puncher on the X Bar X, and claims to have invented the brand of the Manley ranch when Temple Manley first settled it—"two sawbucks with a piece of rail fence in between," as he described it.
A good summary of the hands is given in volume 12:
There was Nick Looker, tall and straight, a special favorite of the boys, who always acted as their bodyguard when any danger seemed lurking.
Pop Burns, the veteran of the X Bar X ranch, was waiting, his shiny bald head having been tanned a deep red by exposure to many years of suhshine.
Gus Trippe, long and lank, and Nat Raymond, fat and short but as strong as an ox, and a number of others who had heard that the boys had returned and wanted to hear their story, were on duty.
(Copperhead Gulch, pages 39-40)
Another ever-present personage is the cook for the cowboys, a Chinaman named Sing Lung, who definitely cannot be overlooked. He is overtly included in the family celebrations, an action pointedly moving against the common prejudice of the time. The incident is noted by the boys in this passage:
"Sing Lung will be over from the bunk house. It wouldn't be a party if he wasn't along. One thing about Mom, she doesn't play any favorites when she gives a party." "Shouldn't, either," asserted Roy. "Sing's as good as anybody else."
(At Grizzly Pass, page 23)
This rejection of racial stereotypes extends to the early series' attitude toward American Indians. The initial volumes credit the boys' skill in tracking to training they received from a respected Indian friend, although he never appears in the books. Regrettably, in later volumes, Sing Lung's character devolves into a humorous stereotype—almost an Oriental Stepen Fetchit—though the last volume goes far to redeem this image.
Inside the family's ranch house, there is the cook and housekeeper, the widowed Mrs. Norah Moore, who has been with the ranch for many years. She is ably assisted by her daughter Norine, in her late teens and described as being "Irish—and pretty." Being the only young and available female within miles, now and then she fans the flames in the romantically naive and inexperienced ranch hands. By the middle of the series, Nick Looker has edged out his fellows to become her main suitor, although for a time he has an earnest rival in one of the hands of 8 X 8 ranch. The rival disappears in the last volumes, but Nick still makes no progress with this Irish beauty.
The 8 X 8 ranch has its share of punchers too, but the singular character there is Bug Eye, whose interest in mechanical contraptions (usually jalopies put together from spare parts and junk) is matched only by his incompetence with them. He provides uncounted opportunities for comic relief, much like Chet Morton in the Hardy Boys series and Chow Winkler in the Tom Swift, Jr. series.
To be true to the West, the list of characters must include the boys' horses, Roy's Star and Teddy's Flash. These mounts are almost extensions of the boys' souls, and just about have the gift of reading their masters' minds. When they are rustled from Roy and Teddy on a few different occasions, the boys are able to ride other horses from the corral, but consarn it, it just ain't the same.
Though Nell and Curly have plenty of opportunity to see how shy the boys are when it comes to affection, Roy and Teddy show that they are tender souls after all when it comes to their horses. When Flash gets mired in quicksand while trying to cross a river, Teddy stays with him at the risk of his own life. Roy and Star manage to rescue them by lassooing Flash and pulling them out, a process that leaves painful, burning welts on Flash's hide. Once the rescue is complete,
Roy slid from his pony, struck the ground, and pitched forward on his face. His legs seemed turned to straw. But he was up again in a moment and alongside Flash, soothing him, removing the rope with hands as gentle as those of a woman.
(On Big Bison Trail, page 135)
In a later book, the boys' devotion is made even more specific.
Teddy caressed his mount's neck. Roy did not hear his imploring whisper, "Do be careful where you step, Flash. You mean more to me than you'll ever know."
(At Triangle Mine, page 11)
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