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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20332-h.zip b/20332-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..7f0d759 --- /dev/null +++ b/20332-h.zip diff --git a/20332-h/20332-h.htm b/20332-h/20332-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e642906 --- /dev/null +++ b/20332-h/20332-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,9756 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Tabitha's Vacation, by Ruth Alberta Brown</title> +<style type="text/css"> +BODY { color: Black; + background: White; + margin-right: 5%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: medium; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +P {text-indent: 4% } + +P.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +P.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-size: small } + +P.letter {font-size: small ; + margin-left: 15% ; + margin-right: 15% } + +P.footnote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.index {font-size: small ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.intro {font-size: medium ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.dedication {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 15%; + text-align: justify } + +P.published {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 15% } + +P.quote {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +P.report2 {font-size: small ; + text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +P.finis { text-align: center } + + +H4.h4left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H4.h4center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5left { margin-left: 0%; + margin-right: 1%; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: left ; + clear: left ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5right { margin-left: 1%; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: right ; + clear: right ; + text-align: center } + +H5.h5center { margin-left: 0; + margin-right: 0 ; + margin-bottom: .5% ; + margin-top: 0; + float: none ; + clear: both ; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgleft { float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 1%; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgright {float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1%; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center } + +IMG.imgcenter { margin-left: auto; + margin-bottom: 0; + margin-top: 1%; + margin-right: auto; } + +.pagenum { position: absolute; + left: 1%; + font-size: 95%; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-style: normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-variant: normal; } + + hr.full { width: 100%; + height: 5px; } + a:link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none; } + link {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none; } + a:visited {color:#0000ff; + text-decoration:none; } + a:hover {color:#ff0000; + text-decoration: underline; } + pre {font-size: 75%; } +</style> +</head> +<body> +<h1 align="center">The Project Gutenberg eBook, Tabitha's Vacation, by Ruth Alberta Brown, +Illustrated by Wuanita Smith</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: Tabitha's Vacation</p> +<p>Author: Ruth Alberta Brown</p> +<p>Release Date: January 11, 2007 [eBook #20332]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TABITHA'S VACATION***</p> +<br><br><center><h3>E-text prepared by Al Haines</h3></center><br><br> +<hr class="full" noshade> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<A NAME="img-front"></A> +<CENTER> +<IMG SRC="images/img-front.jpg" ALT=""I hope," panted Tabitha, trotting along at the rear of the procession, "that you don't have your fun in such a hurry."" BORDER="2" WIDTH="409" HEIGHT="606"> +<H3 STYLE="width: 409px"> +"I hope," panted Tabitha, trotting along at the rear of the procession, "that you don't have your fun in such a hurry." +</H3> +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR> + +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +TABITHA'S VACATION +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +VOLUME III +<BR> +IN THE IVY HALL SERIES +</H3> + +<BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +BY +</H4> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +RUTH ALBERTA BROWN +</H3> + +<BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +AUTHOR OF "TABITHA AT IVY HALL," "TABITHA'S GLORY," <BR> +"AT THE LITTLE BROWN HOUSE," ETC. +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H4 ALIGN="center"> +THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +<BR> +CHICAGO, —— AKRON, OHIO —— NEW YORK +<BR> +MADE IN U. S. A. +</H4> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H5 ALIGN="center"> +COPYRIGHT, MCMXIII +<BR> +By THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY +</H5> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +CONTENTS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<CENTER> + +<TABLE WIDTH="80%"> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">I. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap01">The McKittricks' Misfortune</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">II. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap02">Tabitha and Gloriana, Housekeepers</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">III. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap03">Unwelcome Guests</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap04">Mischief Makers</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">V. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap05">Irene's Song</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap06">Gloriana's Burglars</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap07">Toady and the Castor Beans</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">VIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap08">Billiard Runs Away</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">IX. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap09">Billiard Surrenders</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">X. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap10">Susanne Entertains a Caller</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XI. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap11">In the Canyon</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap12">The Bank of Silver Bow is Robbed</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIII. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap13">The Robbers and the Haunted House</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XIV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap14">The Unexpected Happens</A></TD> +</TR> + +<TR> +<TD ALIGN="right" VALIGN="top">XV. </TD> +<TD ALIGN="left" VALIGN="top"> +<A HREF="#chap15">Myra's Climax</A></TD> +</TR> + +</TABLE> + +</CENTER> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<H2 ALIGN="center"> +ILLUSTRATIONS +</H2> + +<BR> + +<H3> +<A HREF="#img-front"> +"I hope," panted Tabitha, trotting along at the rear of the procession, +"that you don't have your fun in such a hurry." . . . <I>Frontispiece</I> +</A> +</H3> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap01"></A> +<H1 ALIGN="center"> +TABITHA'S VACATION +</H1> + +<BR> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER I +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE MCKITTRICKS' MISFORTUNE +</H3> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"'Ho, ho, vacation days are here,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">We welcome them with right good cheer;</SPAN><BR> +In wisdom's halls we love to be,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">But yet 'tis pleasant to be free,'"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P> +warbled Tabitha Catt, pausing on the doorstep of her little desert home +as she vigorously shook a dingy dusting cloth, and hungrily sniffed the +fresh, sweet morning air, for, although the first week of June was +already gone, the fierce heat of the summer had not yet descended upon +Silver Bow, nestling in its cup-like hollow among the Nevada mountains. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"'Ho, ho, the hours will quickly fly,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">And soon vacation time be by;</SPAN><BR> +Ah, then we'll all in glad refrain,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Sing welcome to our school again.'"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<P> +piped up a sweet voice in muffled accents from the depths of the closet +where the singer was rummaging to find hooks for her wardrobe, which +lay scattered rather promiscuously about Tabitha's tiny bedroom. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Gloriana Holliday, where did you learn that?" demanded the girl +on the threshold, abruptly ceasing her song. "It's as old as the +hills. Mrs. Carson used to sing it when she went to school." +</P> + +<P> +"So did my mother. I've got her old music book with the words in it," +responded her companion, emerging from the dark closet, flushed but +triumphant. "There! I've hung up the last dud I could find room for. +The rest must go back in the trunk, I guess. My, but it does seem nice +to have a few weeks of vacation, doesn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"One wouldn't think so to hear you carolling about school's beginning +again," laughed Tabitha, shaking her finger reprovingly at the +red-haired girl now busily collecting the remainder of her scattered +property and bundling it into a half-empty trunk just outside the +kitchen door. +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana echoed the laugh, and then answered seriously, "But really, I +have never been glad before to see vacation come. It always meant only +hard work and worry, gathering fruit in the hot sun or digging +vegetables and peddling them around from door to door; while school +meant books and lessons and a chance to rest a bit, and the last two +years it meant Miss Angus, who did not mind my red hair and crutches." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is all different now," Tabitha interrupted hastily, shuddering +at the gloomy picture her companion's words had called up. "You are my +sister now, and there won't be any more goats and gardens to bother +about. You have left off using one crutch altogether, and don't need +the other except out of doors. We are going to have a lovely vacation, +and you won't want school to begin at all in September." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, it is all different now, Kitty Catt, thanks to dear old you!" +agreed the younger girl, giving the slender figure in the doorway an +affectionate hug. "And I suppose I shall be as daffy about this queer +desert place as you are by the time Ivy Hall opens its doors again——" +</P> + +<P> +"Aha!" triumphed Tabitha. "Then you don't like it now, do you? I +never could get you to admit it last winter." +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't admitted it yet," Gloriana retorted spiritedly. "It looks +so much different in the summer time, but still seems queer to me with +its heaps of rocks and no trees except the stiff old Joshuas. I wonder +why they are called that. Even they don't seem like trees to me. They +look like giant cactus plants, and just as cruel." +</P> + +<P> +"They have beautiful blossoms," Tabitha interrupted. "We are a little +too late to see them, though many of the other desert flowers are still +in bloom. Look across that stretch beyond the river road. Isn't it +pretty with its red and yellow carpet? May is the month to see the +desert in its glory, though. <I>Then</I> it is truly beautiful. <I>No</I> one +could think it ugly. But come, let's run over to Mercy's house. We +have swept and dusted, and you have finished unpacking. This is our +second day at home and I haven't been near to inquire how Mr. +McKittrick is. He was hurt before Christmas, so we never went there +during the holidays, you remember." +</P> + +<P> +"Where do they live?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, I showed you the place—that queer brown house perched up——-" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes, on that great shelf of rock, overlooking the railway station." +</P> + +<P> +"The first house we see on our way up here from the depot. Mr. +McKittrick always called it the Eagles' Nest, and his children the +eaglets." +</P> + +<P> +"What a pretty idea! How many eaglets are there besides Mercedes and +the little boy you named?" +</P> + +<P> +"Four other girls. Mercy is the oldest of the family. Then come +Susanne, or Susie, as they call her; the twins, Inez and Irene; Rosslyn +and the baby, Janie." +</P> + +<P> +"That's quite a family. What nice times they must have together!" +sighed Gloriana wistfully, thinking of her own orphaned life with no +brothers or sisters with whom to make merry. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I reckon they are a pretty lively bunch sometimes, for Susie is +as wild as Mercedes is quiet; and Inez should have been her twin +instead of Irene's. Janie is a regular little mischief, too, but such +a darling! You are sure to love her, though Rosslyn is my favorite. +Put on your hat and let's go down before dinner. Daddy won't be home +until evening, and there is nothing to keep us here." +</P> + +<P> +Seizing her sunbonnet from its peg by the door, Tabitha started up the +path toward town with Gloriana hobbling along at her side, when they +saw Mercedes, with roguish Janie and chubby Rosslyn in tow, coming down +the slope toward them. Her round, serious eyes looked heavy and +worried, her childish face pale and frightened; but at sight of the two +approaching figures, a smile of relief suddenly curved the drooping +lips, and she exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, girls, I was just going for you! +Are you on the way to our house? Oh, please say yes! Something +dreadful has happened, I'm sure, for mamma has sent us all out-doors, +and is in the kitchen crying fit to kill. She won't say what's the +matter, and I'm horribly scared. I never saw her cry before." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha's face paled instantly. "I wonder—" she began, then stopped. +How could she put her thought into words when Mercedes was already so +dreadfully frightened? "Has the doctor been to see your father this +morning?" she asked. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. He stayed ever so long and talked to mamma in the kitchen. I am +afraid papa is worse, for 'twas right after the doctor was gone that +she began to cry so hard." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha turned to Gloriana. "I'll run on ahead," she said, "if you +don't mind. You can follow more slowly with Mercedes. I—perhaps it +would be better if I saw Mrs. McKittrick alone first." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," agreed Glory, who, like Tabitha, was wondering if the +message the doctor had delivered in the Eagles' Nest that morning had +left the little mother without a ray of hope; and so she fell in step +beside the anxious Mercedes, and began to chat in spritely, diverting +tones while Tabitha sped swiftly up the narrow, winding path to the +lonely-looking, little, brown house perched on the steep mountainside. +</P> + +<P> +Arriving at the door breathless and panting, she hesitated a moment +before knocking, suddenly aware that she had not the slightest idea of +what she intended to say or do. A glimpse through the screen of a +huddled figure bowed despairingly over the kitchen table drove every +other thought from her mind, however, and flinging open the door, she +ran lightly across the room and impulsively laid her hand upon the +quivering shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercedes, must I tell you again—" began the muffled voice of the +distracted woman, as she impatiently shook off the hand resting on her +arm. +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't Mercedes," Tabitha interrupted. "It is I—Tabitha. I don't +know what is the matter, but if you will tell me, perhaps I can be of +some use, even if I am only a girl." +</P> + +<P> +Mrs. McKittrick lifted a red, swollen face from her arms outstretched +on the table, glanced in surprise at the black-eyed girl bending so +sympathetically above her, and once more burst into a flood of tears, +sobbing wildly, "It ain't any use, Tabitha! You couldn't help if you +was a woman grown. No one can help. The doctor says—" The choking +words died on her lips. She could not bear to repeat the doctor's +verdict. +</P> + +<P> +"That Mr. McKittrick is worse?" whispered Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +The bowed head nodded despairingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Surely he isn't going to——" +</P> + +<P> +"Die?" cried the woman wildly. "Yes, he must die unless we can get him +out of here. The only hope is an operation. That means Los Angeles, a +hospital, a nurse, and hundreds of dollars; and not a cent coming in +from anywhere. The children are too young to earn, and I can't work +with him to nurse and six youngsters to care for. Oh, it does seem as +if troubles never come singly! Whatever we are going to do is more +than I know. The whole world has turned upside down!" +</P> + +<P> +Gravely Tabitha nodded her head. Only a year before as she had stood +beside the bed of her father, fighting what seemed like a hopeless +battle with death, she, too, had felt that despairing helplessness. +"If only Dr. Vane were here!" she whispered fervently. +</P> + +<P> +"I don't believe he could do a bit more for the man than Dr. Hayes is +doing. He'd just say the same thing, and there wouldn't be any more +money than there is now to carry out his orders." +</P> + +<P> +In vain Tabitha sought to comfort and cheer the despondent soul, but +seemed only to make matters worse, and at length, disheartened at her +apparent failure, she stole away from the brown house on the bluff, and +with Gloriana following silently at her heels, set out for home. Not a +word passed between them as they hastened down the main street of the +town, until, just as they reached the dingy telegraph station, the +sound of the busy, clattering key caused Tabitha to halt abruptly and a +gleam of determination to flash over her sober, worried face. +</P> + +<P> +"That's what!" she exclaimed joyfully. "I'll do it! Mr. Carson will +fix everything. 'Twas in his mine that McKittrick was hurt." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean? Where are you going?" asked bewildered Gloriana, +unable to follow Tabitha's thoughts, and wondering what errand was +taking her into the low, dimly lighted shack from which issued the +monotonous, nervous, clicking sound which had attracted Tabitha's +attention. +</P> + +<P> +"To telegraph Mr. Carson. If he knew how badly off Mr. McKittrick is, +he would send him inside in a minute." +</P> + +<P> +"Inside?" +</P> + +<P> +"To Los Angeles, I mean. People here on the desert call that 'inside,' +though I never could see why. Please, Mr. Goodwin, give me a blank. I +want to send a telegram." +</P> + +<P> +The man behind the counter supplied her with the necessary materials, +and stood waiting curiously for the message to be written. But another +idea had occurred to Tabitha, and turning away from the operator with +the blank in her hand, she whispered to Gloriana in dismay, "I don't +dare telegraph. Mr. Goodwin is a worse gossip than any old maid I ever +knew, and he'd tell it all over town before noon!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then write a letter." +</P> + +<P> +"It takes nearly a week for mail to travel that far. It might be too +late by—I've got it! How will this do?" +</P> + +<P> +Rapidly she scribbled a few hasty words on the slip in her hands and +passed it to Gloriana, who read in amazement this queer scrawl: +</P> + +<P> +"Wire five hundred silver headed eagles. Must get rich quick. Ask +Carrie to translate. Letter follows. +<BR><BR> +Tabitha Catt." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"That is more than ten words, but I can't help it. I'm willing to pay +for it if it does the work." +</P> + +<P> +"But, Kitty, what does it mean?" asked mystified Gloriana, privately +thinking it the silliest piece of nonsense she had ever heard of. +"Will he know what you want?" +</P> + +<P> +"Carrie will. We used to write notes to each other in cipher when we +were little. <I>We</I> called it cipher. Of course it was all utter +nonsense, but I am sure she will remember." +</P> + +<P> +"It doesn't sound—sensible—to me," Gloriana confessed. "I suppose +five hundred silver headed eagles means five hundred dollars, but what +is that about getting rich?" +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha laughed gleefully. "Rosslyn McKittrick was a long time +learning to say his own name when he was a baby," she explained. "As +near as he could get it, 'twas 'Russ Getrich.' Mr. Carson was +superintendent of the Silver Legion then, instead of one of the owners, +and as Mr. McKittrick was working there when Rosslyn was born, the +miners made him their mascot, and Mr. Carson used to tease him by +calling him 'Must get rich quick.' I couldn't write 'McKittrick' in +the telegram without Goodwin suspecting what I am up to; so I did the +next best thing I could think of." +</P> + +<P> +"But—" It all still seemed so ridiculous to the red-haired girl. +</P> + +<P> +"You think he will wonder if I am crazy?" Tabitha had read the look of +doubt in her companion's face, and correctly surmised what she was +thinking. "Perhaps he will, but I don't believe so. He is quick to +understand things. Now we will skip back to the post-office and I'll +scratch him a letter of explanation, so it will go out with to-day's +mail. Then if he shouldn't translate the telegram correctly—well, the +letter will get there as soon as possible afterward." +</P> + +<P> +As she spoke, she delivered the written message to the waiting +operator, smiled with satisfaction at his look of baffled curiosity and +bewilderment, and assuring him that it was worded exactly as she wanted +it sent, she left the dingy office confident that the queer cipher +would bring the desired results. Nor was she mistaken. +</P> + +<P> +Early the next morning Mercedes came flying excitedly down the path to +the Catt cottage, and, without the formality of knocking, burst into +the kitchen where the two girls were busy washing up the breakfast +dishes. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Kitty! Gloriana!" she cried, half laughing, half sobbing with +sheer delight. "Guess what's happened! Mr. Carson has sent mamma some +money to take papa to Los Angeles. Now he can get well. That is what +has been worrying her so much. The doctor said he would die unless he +was operated on and mamma hadn't the money to get it done. They are to +start to-morrow. Mamma's going, too. Doctor says every minute counts, +and he has telegraphed to the hospital to make arrangements already." +</P> + +<P> +She paused, all out of breath, to mop her steaming forehead; and +Tabitha, studying the flushed, shining face, wondered that she had ever +thought Mercedes McKittrick dull and homely. +</P> + +<P> +"Isn't that fine?" she heard Gloriana saying, as heartily as if she had +not known anything about the telegram before. "What are the rest of +you going to do while your mother is away? You children, I mean." +</P> + +<P> +"That's how I happened to come here," Mercedes replied, her eyes losing +some of their glow as she recalled her errand in that part of the town. +"Mamma sent me down to Miss Davis' house with a note, but she isn't +there; and the woman next door says she has gone to Riverside for two +weeks. I s'pose we'll have to find someone else instead. But I was so +near I couldn't help running on down to tell the news. I must be going +now. There is lots to be done before train time to-morrow, and +mamma'll need me." +</P> + +<P> +"We will come up and help her pack as soon as we get the house +righted," Tabitha found tongue to say. "She mustn't get too tired +before she starts." +</P> + +<P> +So Mercedes raced away again, and a few moments later the two busy +little housekeepers in the hollow locked up their orderly cottage and +followed more slowly up to the Eagles' Nest on the bluff. +</P> + +<P> +"Where can the children be?" Tabitha's expectant eyes searched in vain +for a glimpse of the noisy, lively brood of 'eaglets,' who usually saw +her coming a long way off, and met her half-way down the mountainside +with a boisterous shout of welcome. To-day, however, not one of the +sextette was in sight about the queer little brown house, and the whole +place wore a deserted air. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe they have gone visiting so Mrs. McKittrick can look after her +packing unmolested," suggested Gloriana, letting her keen gray eyes +sweep the steep, rocky incline for some sign of the youthful +McKittricks, but with no better result. +</P> + +<P> +"That must be it," concluded Tabitha, "though I should have +thought—why, Mercedes, Susie! What <I>is</I> the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +Coming suddenly around the corner of a huge boulder where the children +often played house, the two girls almost tumbled over a row of the most +woe-begone, utterly miserable looking figures they had ever +seen,—Mercedes, Susie, Inez, Irene, Rosslyn and Janie, all seated on a +broad, flat rock as stiff as marble statues, and with faces almost as +stony and staring. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, children!" echoed Gloriana, equally amazed. "What are you doing +here? What has happened?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mamma is crying again," whispered Mercedes, dabbing savagely at a tear +which suddenly brimmed over and splashed down the end of her nose. +</P> + +<P> +"She says she won't go and leave us alone with Mercy," gulped Susanne, +striving hard to keep the telltale quiver out of her voice. +</P> + +<P> +"And there ain't money enough to go and take us all," supplemented +Inez, who had earned the title of "Susie's shadow," because she +preferred the society of her older sister to that of her quiet twin. +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Davis has gone away and won't be back until it's too late," +mourned gentle Irene, gazing sorrowfully down toward the low station +house on the flats below. +</P> + +<P> +"Mrs. Goodale's gone, too, and there ain't nobody else to housekeep for +us," Rosslyn added plaintively, "'cept Mercy." +</P> + +<P> +"But we'd be ist as dood as anjils wiv Mercy," lisped little Janie +dejectedly, seeming to comprehend the tragedy of the situation as well +as did the older children. +</P> + +<P> +Slowly Tabitha turned toward her companion. Gloriana's gray eyes +bravely met the questioning glance of the black ones. "Would your +father——" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Our</I> father," Tabitha mechanically corrected her. +</P> + +<P> +"Our father let you—us, I mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"All summer, if he thought we wanted to; but it won't be that long." +</P> + +<P> +"Only two weeks." +</P> + +<P> +"Until Miss Davis gets back—or Mrs. Goodale." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think Mrs. McKittrick would leave the——" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know," confessed the older girl in worried accents. "It's a +chance for him. I believe she'll take it. I'm sure we are old enough." +</P> + +<P> +"And know enough about keeping house." +</P> + +<P> +"They would be perfectly safe with us two." +</P> + +<P> +"Supposing we ask her." +</P> + +<P> +Impulsively, Tabitha started for the house with Gloriana at her heels; +and the children, though not understanding the drift of the +conversation they had just overheard, fell in behind the two, and +marched in solemn procession up the path, feeling sure that something +was about to happen which would clear away the heavy cloud of despair +hovering over their household. +</P> + +<P> +Again Mrs. McKittrick was sitting beside the battered kitchen table +with her head on her arms as they had found her the day before, but +this time Tabitha did not hesitate. Breathlessly, excitedly, she +began, almost before she was inside the house: +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Mrs. McKittrick, Mercy has told us all about it—how Miss Davis +and Mrs. Goodale are away and you can't find anyone to leave the +children with. But you mustn't stay here on that account! Glory and I +will take charge of the house. Really, we know how to cook and can +manage splendidly, I'm sure, if you will let us try. Miss Davis will +soon be back and then she can look after everything. Two weeks isn't +very long. No harm can come to us in that time, I know. We'd love to +do it. Say you will go. It means so much to you——" +</P> + +<P> +She had not intended to say just that, but misreading the look of +wondering surprise in the tear-stained face lifted to hers, she +blundered, hesitated, and stood silent and distressed in the middle of +the floor, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other, and looking so +much like the frank, outspoken, bungling Tabitha of old, that Mrs. +McKittrick could not refrain from laughing. It was an odd, hysterical, +little laugh, to be sure, more pathetic than mirthful, but it relieved +the sharp tension of the situation; and Gloriana, quick to take +advantage of auspicious moments, broke in, "All you need to do is to +say yes. We will be model housekeepers and take the best of care of +the family." +</P> + +<P> +"But—but—what about your father? He won't listen to such a plan, I'm +sure." +</P> + +<P> +"Now, don't you fret about that!" cried Tabitha joyfully, regarding the +battle as good as won. "Daddy won't care a mite! Two weeks is such a +little time. He will be glad to have us come." +</P> + +<P> +"I believe—I better—take Janie. She is so small, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"I believe you better not!" the black-eyed girl laughingly retorted. +"She would be dreadfully in your way, no matter how good she is; and +you want to be free to take care of your—patient. Now, where is your +trunk? What clothes do you need to take? If you will tell us where to +find things, we will begin to pack at once while you are getting the +house settled the way you want to leave it, and writing out your +orders." +</P> + +<P> +"'Cause we'll be ist as dood as anjils," lisped Janie, as the +procession, at a signal from Mercedes, quietly trooped forth into the +June sunshine once more, and, with radiant faces and happy hearts, +skipped down to their boulder playhouse to celebrate. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap02"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER II +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TABITHA AND GLORIANA, HOUSEKEEPERS +</H3> + + +<P> +"You really think you want to do it?" Mr. Catt glanced quizzically +from one bright, girlish face to the other as his fingers gently +stroked the red tresses and the black hovering so close to his knee. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, daddy!" promptly answered Tabitha, patting the arm nearest her +in a fashion that a year before she never would have dreamed of. +</P> + +<P> +"Perfectly sure!" repeated Gloriana, snuggling closer to the big +armchair in which her adopted father sat, and smiling contentedly at +thought of the new life opening up before her. +</P> + +<P> +"Two weeks mean fourteen whole days," he warned them. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," they giggled, "fourteen whole days!" +</P> + +<P> +"And six lively children can raise quite a racket." +</P> + +<P> +"The house is too far from the rest of town for their noise to bother +anyone else," Tabitha reminded him. +</P> + +<P> +"That's another point. What would you do if burglars broke in at +night? You would be too far from town to call help." +</P> + +<P> +"There is nothing at McKittrick's to burgle," his daughter retorted +triumphantly. "I am not afraid." +</P> + +<P> +"Nor I," said Gloriana, though somewhat faintly, for of a sudden a new +phase of the matter had presented itself. She <I>was</I> still afraid of +the black desert nights, and burglars were a constant source of terror +to her, though never in all her life had she encountered any of that +species of mankind. +</P> + +<P> +"The cottage on the cliff is no more isolated than our cottage here in +the hollow, now that the Carsons are away," continued the black-haired +girl. "It would be just as easy—easier, in fact, to get help if we +needed it there, than here; for the McKittrick house is on the side of +the mountain overlooking the town, while our place is hidden from the +rest of Silver Bow by that hill. We can see only the roof of the +assayer's office from here, and that is the nearest building to ours +except Carrie's house." +</P> + +<P> +"That's true!" exclaimed Gloriana with such an air of relief that Mr. +Catt could not refrain from smiling. +</P> + +<P> +"And besides, nothing is going to happen in two weeks," continued +Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose Miss Davis doesn't return in two weeks? I thought you wanted +to spend your summer at the beach." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Miss Davis will be back on time," was the confident reply. "And +we had planned to stay here a few weeks anyway, you know. Myra won't +be looking for us before the first of July, for we had expected Tom +would come home early in the summer for his vacation instead of having +to wait until fall, and so made our plans accordingly." +</P> + +<P> +He smiled at the grown-up air she had assumed, then sighed, for +something in her quiet self-assurance and dignified poise suddenly +brought home to him the realization that his little girl was fast +growing up. The sensitive, rebellious, little spitfire of a few months +ago had developed into a charming, gentle-mannered maid; and while he +rejoiced in gaining so sweet a daughter, he disliked to lose the wild, +untamed elf who had so suddenly blossomed into a young lady before he +could in any measure atone for the unhappy years of her loveless +childhood. He would have kept her a little girl all her life, had he +been able; but here she was springing up into the beauty of a glorious +womanhood before his very eyes. So he sighed as he thought of his lost +opportunities, then abruptly asked, "How old are you, Tabitha?" +</P> + +<P> +"Going on sixteen, daddy." +</P> + +<P> +"And you, my other daughter?" turning to Gloriana sitting silently on +her low stool by his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Fourteen, sir." +</P> + +<P> +"Rather youthful housekeepers," he drawled, teasingly. +</P> + +<P> +"But experienced in spite of youth," Tabitha gayly retorted. "Why, +Miss King says we are the two most promising domestic science pupils +she has. Now what do you think of that?" +</P> + +<P> +"That she is right," came the prompt though unexpected reply; "and if +you really think you want to play Good Samaritan for a couple weeks, +you have my hearty sanction. The fact of the matter is, I find it +impossible to be here at home much for the next fortnight, myself; +possibly not at all after tonight. So you might just as well be +mothering the McKittricks as left alone in this end of the town, so far +as I can see." +</P> + +<P> +"I knew you would say yes," sighed Tabitha contentedly. "You shall see +what model housekeepers your daughters can be. We'll make you proud of +us." +</P> + +<P> +"I have no doubt of it," he answered heartily. "But if you begin your +arduous duties to-morrow, it is time you were in bed this minute. Fly +away now!" +</P> + +<P> +So they ran laughingly away to their room, both secretly glad of the +chance to seek their pillows an hour earlier, for that day at the +McKittrick cottage had been a busy one, and though neither would +acknowledge it to the other, feet, arms and backs ached sadly. But the +next morning, after a refreshing night's sleep, the duet was ready and +eager for the novel role they were about to play; and just as soon as +their own simple tasks were done, the necessary clothes packed and the +little cottage made secure for its two weeks of solitude, they tramped +merrily up the steep path to the Eagles' Nest, and entered upon their +summer vacation as housekeepers for a family of six, as Susie expressed +it. +</P> + +<P> +Everything was topsy-turvy in the excitement of getting the injured +father, and weary, distracted mother started on their brief journey; +but finally they were off, and a row of sober-faced children stood on +the bluff overlooking the flats below, watching the train puff its way +slowly out of sight behind the mountains. +</P> + +<P> +With the last glimpse of the departing cars, the sense of +responsibility in her new charge descended upon the shoulders of the +volunteer housekeeper, and Tabitha was for a brief moment appalled at +the task which she had so rashly undertaken. +</P> + +<P> +"Six children to look after for two whole weeks!" she gasped in dismay. +Then her courage returned with a rush. "Why, Tabitha Catt, you coward! +I am ashamed of you! If you can't take care of six children for two +short weeks, particularly with Gloriana to help, you are not good for +much!" Resolutely she turned toward the house, saying briskly, to hide +her own wavering spirits, "Well, folkses, let's have chocolate pie for +supper!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, goody!" cried Inez, whirling about to follow her leader; and at +mention of these words, the faces of the whole group brightened +wonderfully. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't we have some cake, too? Mamma said we might if you knew how to +make it." +</P> + +<P> +"Knew how to make it?" boasted Tabitha scornfully. "Well, I should say +we do! What kind will you have?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nut loaf," quickly responded Mercedes, who knew from experience how +delicious Tabitha's nut loaves were. +</P> + +<P> +"Angel cake," wheedled Susie, with her most engaging smile. +</P> + +<P> +"Frosted with chocolate," added Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"Devil's food," suggested Irene. +</P> + +<P> +"Cookies," pleaded Rosslyn, who had a boy's fondness for that +particular delicacy. +</P> + +<P> +"Dingerbread," lisped the baby. +</P> + +<P> +And Tabitha laughed. "That's quite a collection, my dears." +</P> + +<P> +"I should say so!" gasped Gloriana. "We can't make them all to-night. +In fact, it is nearly four o'clock now. There isn't time for both pie +and cake." +</P> + +<P> +"Unless we do make gingerbread, as Janie suggested," said Tabitha +slowly, seeing the look of disappointment clouding the row of round, +serious faces watching them so expectantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Wiv raisins," coaxed Rosslyn. "Lots of 'em!" +</P> + +<P> +Instantly the faces brightened again. "Oh, yes, that's the way we like +it best," chorused the four older members. +</P> + +<P> +"And let us seed them," pleaded Inez. "Mamma often lets us." +</P> + +<P> +"She won't let us eat more'n twelve," added Irene hopefully, "and we +can work real fast." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you will have to if we have gingerbread for supper," said +Gloriana. "I supposed the raisins were already seeded. Will we have +time, Tabitha?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if everyone hustles, I reckon. Mercy, you know where things are +in the pantry. Supposing you get out the spices, sugar, flour, and +things. Susie and the twins stone the raisins; and, Rosslyn, you might +bring in some small wood for the stove. We'll use the range to-night, +because I have baked in that oven before and know how it works, but +won't know until I experiment with it, how the gasolene oven bakes." +</P> + +<P> +While she was issuing orders, Tabitha flaxed blithely about the little +kitchen, lighting the fire, hunting up cooking utensils, and beginning +the process of making chocolate pie, leaving Gloriana to wrestle with +the mysteries of a raisin gingerbread. +</P> + +<P> +Anxious for the coming treat, the children obediently flew to their +various tasks; and soon voices buzzed busily, while the little hands +tried their best to hurry. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" breathed Tabitha at last, lifting a red, perspiring face from +an inspection of two beautifully frosted pies in the oven, "they are +done. Don't they look fine? Now you can put in your gingerbread +whenever you are ready, Glory. I'll set these on the wash bench +outside to cool, while I hustle up the rest of the supper." +</P> + +<P> +"Mamma always puts her pies in the pantry window," volunteered Irene, +not wishing to have the tempting delicacy removed from her sight. +</P> + +<P> +"But they will cool quicker in the open air," explained Tabitha. "And +supper will be ready so soon that they won't be cool enough to eat if +we set them in the window. Now, Mercy——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Kitty," came a sudden wail of alarm from the dooryard where +Rosslyn was still busy with his basket of chips, "Janie is gone! I +can't find her anywhere!" +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha dropped her platter of cold potatoes which she was preparing to +warm over; Mercedes hastily left her dishpan where she was piling up +the soiled kitchen utensils which the youthful cooks had used with +extravagant hand; Susie and the twins abruptly deserted the raisin jar; +and all bolted for the door. +</P> + +<P> +Only Gloriana remained at her post. She had arrived at the most +critical stage of her gingerbread making, and though her first impulse +was to join in the search for the missing baby with the rest of her +mates, her thrifty bringing-up reminded her that in the meantime the +cake would spoil. So she paused long enough to dump in the cupful of +raisins still standing on the doorsill, where the seeders had been +sitting at their task. Giving the mixture a final beat, she poured the +spicy brown dough into the baking sheet, thrust it into the oven, +adjusted the dampers, and followed the example of the others, setting +out down the rocky path as rapidly as her lameness would permit. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile, toiling up the steep trail on the other side of the house, +came a tiny, tired figure, almost ready to drop from her unusual +exertions. Her dress was torn in a dozen places where the cruel +mesquite had caught her as she passed, one shoe was unlaced, one +stocking hung in rolls about the plump, scratched ankle, she wore no +hat, and her fair hair was sadly tousled by the wind and her struggle +through sagebrush and Spanish bayonets. Altogether, she presented a +woeful spectacle; but in spite of it all, she clasped tightly in one +chubby fist, a soiled and crumpled letter, which every now and then she +examined critically, having discovered that the warmth and moisture of +her fat hands left tiny, smudgy fingerprints on the white envelope, and +being anxious to present a clean document to her wondering audience +when she should have reached her goal. But oh, it did seem so far up +to the Eagles' Nest, and the way was so rough for her little feet! +Still she kept plodding wearily along, and at length reached the end of +her journey, only to find the house silent and deserted. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercy!" she piped shrilly, pushing open the screen and stumbling into +the hot kitchen. "I'se dot a letter! Where is you? Susie! Rossie!" +</P> + +<P> +Still no answer. Puzzled at this unusual state of affairs, she raced +from room to room as fast as her short, tired legs would carry her, but +no one was there. +</P> + +<P> +"Tabby!" she shrieked. "Dory! What did you leave me for?" +</P> + +<P> +A panic seized her. She had been deserted! Tears gathered in her +sea-blue eyes, and trickled in rivulets down her flushed cheeks. She +was afraid to stay alone. Why had everyone left her? Back to the +kitchen she pattered. It was empty, but a fire still burned in the +stove and savory odors from the oven lured her on. Curiosity overcame +her fear for a moment, and with a mighty tug, she jerked open the door, +revealing Gloriana's gingerbread just done to a turn. +</P> + +<P> +"Dingerbread!" cried the child, gloating over the huge, golden sheet +which smelled, oh, so good! "I want some now!" And forgetting that +the oven was hot, she seized the pan with both chubby fists, but +instantly let go her hold and roared with pain, for ten rosy fingers +were cruelly burned, and how they did smart! +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly above the wail of her lusty voice came the sound of excited +voices and flying feet; and the next instant frightened Tabitha with +her adopted brood in close pursuit, flew into the kitchen, and gathered +up the hurt, sobbing baby in her arms, crooning tenderly, "There, +there, dearie, you mustn't cry any more. We've all come back. We were +hunting you. Where did you go?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, see her hands!" cried Irene, shuddering in sympathy. "She has +burned herself!" +</P> + +<P> +"But the gingerbread isn't burned at all," volunteered Susie with +satisfaction, after a keen and anxious scrutiny of the spicy loaf +half-way out of the oven. +</P> + +<P> +"For goodness' sake!" ejaculated Tabitha, not having noticed the seared +fingers up to that moment, "What do you do for burns?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bring some butter," ordered Gloriana, remembering Granny Conover's +first remedy for burns. +</P> + +<P> +"Mamma uses molasses," said Irene; and Susie and Inez, recovering their +senses at the same instant, dived into the pantry, returning +immediately, one with a crock of butter in her hand, and the other +bearing a bucket of molasses; and before either of the older girls +could intervene, they plunged both of Janie's dirty, scorched hands +first into one dish and then into the other, leaving them to drip +sticky puddles down the front of Tabitha's dress and on to the clean +kitchen floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, you little monkeys!" gasped the senior housekeeper, forgetting +the dignity of her position in her wrath at what seemed inexcusable +carelessness on the part of the girls. +</P> + +<P> +"Mamma <I>always</I> puts molasses on burns," quavered Inez, her lip +trembling at Tabitha's tone. +</P> + +<P> +"And Glory said butter," surprised Susie defended. Then both culprits +dissolved in tears. +</P> + +<P> +"There, there, never mind!" cried Tabitha in dismay. "I didn't mean to +scold, but you ought to have known more than to stick the baby's dirty +hands into the molasses pail and butter crock." +</P> + +<P> +"Not dirty!" screamed the outraged Janie, striking the face above her +with a dripping fist. "On'y burned! Ve pan was—" Her sentence +unfinished, she found herself ruthlessly shaken and dumped into the +middle of the floor, while angry Tabitha rushed out of the door into +the cool dusk of early evening, leaving a dismayed family staring +aghast at each other in the hot kitchen. Even the amazed baby forgot +to voice her protest at such treatment, but stood where she had landed, +staring with round, scared eyes after the fleeing figure. +</P> + +<P> +Down the mountainside sped Tabitha to the big boulder, wheeled about +and rushed back to the house as swiftly as she had left it, and before +the astounded children had recovered their breath, she cried, "I am +sorry I was cross. I reckon I'm a little tired and everything has gone +upside down and—suppose we have supper now. I know you are all +hungry. Susie, while I am tying up Janie's hands, you might put the +potatoes on in the frying pan; Irene, set the table; Inez, fetch the +water; and Mercy, cut the bread. Is the gingerbread done, Gloriana?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," responded the junior housekeeper proudly, "and already sliced +for the table. Shall I bring in the pie?" +</P> + +<P> +"The pies!" shouted the six McKittricks. +</P> + +<P> +"I had forgotten all about them," confessed the older girl. "Yes, you +better get them right away. One will be enough for supper,—the tins +are so large." +</P> + +<P> +While Tabitha was speaking, Gloriana had stepped briskly out of the +door into the summer night and disappeared around the corner of the +house; but immediately a terrified scream pierced the air, there was a +loud snort and the sound of startled, scampering feet, and Gloriana +burst into the room again bearing an empty plate in one hand and a +dilapidated looking pie, minus all its frosting, in the other. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, our lovely pies!" wailed the children in chorus. +</P> + +<P> +"The burros!" gasped Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana nodded. "One had his nose right in the middle of this pie. +The other beast had upset the second tin and was licking up the crumbs +from the gravel." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear, I want some pie!" whimpered Rosslyn, puckering his face to +cry. +</P> + +<P> +"Ain't that the worst luck?" Susie burst out. +</P> + +<P> +"If you had put the pies in the <I>window</I> to cool, like mamma does—" +began Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"It's too late to make any more to-night," Gloriana hastily +interrupted, seeing a wrathful sparkle in Tabitha's black eyes; "but if +you don't make any more fuss about it this time, we'll bake some +to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"And if you want any supper at all, you'd better come now," advised +Mercedes, from her post by the stove, where she was vigorously making +hash of the sliced potatoes. "This stuff is beginning to burn." +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana rescued the frying pan, and the disappointed children gathered +about the table, trying to look cheerful, but failing dismally. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't want any 'tato," objected Janie, scorning the proffered dish. +"Dingerbread!" +</P> + +<P> +"Potato and beans first," insisted Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +"Dingerbread!" stubbornly repeated the child, so sleepy and cross that +the weary older girl said no more, but slid a large slice of the savory +cake into the little plate, and proceeded to help the other children in +the same liberal manner. No one wanted beans and potato, but at the +first mouthful of the tempting-looking gingerbread, everyone paused, +looked inquiringly at her neighbor, chewed cautiously a time or two, +and then eight hands went to eight pair of lips. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought we stoned raisins for this cake," cried Susie, half +indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"So you did," replied Gloriana, her face flushed crimson as she bent +over her plate, intently examining her slice of cake. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, and put the stones in the cake! What did you do with the +raisins?" demanded Inez. +</P> + +<P> +Before Glory could frame a reply, or offer any excuse for the accident, +Irene slid hurriedly off her chair, flew through the doorway and down +the path toward town, but she was back in a moment, and in her hand she +held a cup of raisins. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Irene McKittrick!" cried Mercedes, lifting her hands in horror. +"What made you hide them?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't hide them," the twin indignantly protested. "The cup was in +my lap when Rosslyn called that Janie was lost, and I forgot to put it +down when I ran out-doors. I remembered it by the time we reached our +playhouse, so I set it down there and that's where I found it now." +</P> + +<P> +"Janie wasn't lost," interrupted that small maiden in drowsy tones. +"Me went to get a letter." +</P> + +<P> +"To get a letter!" chorused her sisters. "Where?" +</P> + +<P> +"To the store where Mercy goes. A man dave me one, too," she finished +triumphantly, squirming down from her high chair to search about the +room for the missing epistle, while the rest of the family forgot both +pie and gingerbread in joining in the hunt. Rosslyn found it at last +under the stove where it had fallen when Janie began her investigation +of the oven; and the girls exclaimed in genuine surprise, "Why, it <I>is</I> +a real letter!"' +</P> + +<P> +"Addressed to mamma," said Mercedes, "Do you suppose Janie really went +to the post-office all alone?" +</P> + +<P> +But Janie was fast asleep in her chair where she had retired when +convinced that Rosslyn had actually found her precious letter; so the +sisters once more bent curious eyes upon the soiled envelope. +</P> + +<P> +"Better re-address it to your mother," suggested Tabitha, remembering +that in her written instructions, Mrs. McKittrick had failed to mention +the matter of mail which might come to Silver Bow for her. +</P> + +<P> +"Mamma told me to open all her letters, and not even to send papa's to +Los Angeles, unless 'twas something <I>very</I> important." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why don't you open it?" cried Susanne impatiently. +</P> + +<P> +"And see who wrote it," added Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I—guess I will." Deliberately she tore open the envelope, spread +out the brief letter it contained, and with a comically important air, +read the few short lines. Then beginning with the heading, she read it +the second time, her face growing graver at each word, until impatient +Inez could stand the strain no longer, and burst out, "Well, what's it +all about? Does it take you all night to read that teenty letter?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's from Aunt Kate, Uncle Dennis' wife," Mercedes slowly retorted. +"She is going to Europe for something, and wants to send the boys out +here to us." +</P> + +<P> +"Williard and Theodore?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"But how can they, with papa hurt and mamma gone?" +</P> + +<P> +"She says that they will pay good board and she knows mamma will be +glad enough to get the money, seeing that papa's still unable to work." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha's face darkened. "It's an imposition!" she exploded wrathfully. +</P> + +<P> +"I sh'd say so!" agreed Susanne. "They are dreadful noisy boys. We +had 'em here once before, and Aunt Kate got awful mad 'cause papa +licked 'em when they touched a match to the old shed to see how the +people on the desert put out fires." +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +</P> + +<P> +"She said they never should come again," added Inez, "but I guess she's +forgot." +</P> + +<P> +"How old are they?" ventured Gloriana. +</P> + +<P> +"Williard's between me and Susie," Mercedes answered, "and Theodore's +between Susie and the twins." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you going to let them come?" demanded Irene. +</P> + +<P> +Mercedes turned helplessly toward Tabitha. "What would you do, Kitty?" +she asked. "Shall I write and ask mamma?" +</P> + +<P> +"I shouldn't," Tabitha promptly replied. "Your mother has her hands +full now, and it would only worry her to know how nervy your Aunt Kate +is. I'd write her,—your aunt, I mean,—and tell her just how things +stand, your father in the hospital and your mother with him. She ought +to know more than to send them then. Still, I believe I'd just say +that the boys can't come. She would understand that all right. And +I'll be responsible, Mercedes, if your mother should think we ought to +have told her about it first." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>I'd</I> telegraph, so's to be sure," said Susanne. "Aunt Kate doesn't +think much about other folks' wishes, and if she wanted to go to Europe +bad enough, she'd ship the boys to us if we all had smallpox." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a good idea," Tabitha acknowledged. "We'll telegraph at once, +and then she will have no excuse for not knowing how sick your father +is. Where is there a pencil and paper? I'll write out a telegram now, +and we'll slip down town, and send it to-night." +</P> + +<P> +She hastily scribbled the words: +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +"Mrs. Dennis McKittrick,<BR> +Jamaica Plains, Mass.<BR> +</P> + +<P> +Don't send boys. Father in Los Angeles hospital. Mother with him. +<BR><BR> +MERCEDES McKITTRICK." +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Then taking Irene as company, she carried the message to the telegraph +station that same evening, to make sure it reached its destination in +time to prevent the threatened visit from the unwelcome cousins. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps I acted in a high-handed manner," she confessed to Gloriana, +as they were preparing for bed that night, "but I couldn't bear to +think of that selfish old cat—yes, that's what she is,—imposing upon +Mrs. McKittrick again. I remember the boys, though it was quite a +while ago that they were here. They were only little shavers then, +too. I never met them, but one doesn't have to in order to know all +they want to know about their antics." +</P> + +<P> +"And judging from our first day's experiences as housekeepers in this +family, we shall have all <I>we</I> want to do, without two terrors of boys +added." +</P> + +<P> +"To-day has been rather hard and disappointing," Tabitha acknowledged +with a gusty sigh. +</P> + +<P> +"But to-morrow will be better," Gloriana comforted her. "And it is +only for two weeks. That's one consolation." +</P> + +<P> +"Thank fortune!" Tabitha exclaimed with fervor; and the tired eyelids +closed over the drowsy black eyes and the gray. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap03"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER III +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +UNWELCOME GUESTS +</H3> + + +<P> +"Well, one whole week is gone," said Tabitha exultantly, as she bent +over the heaped-up mending basket one hot afternoon, and tried to make +neat darns of the gaping holes in the heels of Susie's stockings. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and half of the first day of the second week," Gloriana replied +cheerily. "But really, Puss, time hasn't dragged as slowly as I +feared. That first day was the longest, I think, I ever knew." +</P> + +<P> +"That first day was a horrible nightmare," the older girl emphatically +declared. "I thought it <I>never</I> would end, and I'd have quit my job on +the spot if there had been anyone to take my place." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd have quit it anyway if you had just said the word," laughed her +companion. "I thought you'd never go to sleep that night—I wanted so +badly to cry." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you? So did I, but you kept tossing so restlessly that I knew you +were still awake, and finally I dropped off without getting my cry at +all." +</P> + +<P> +"That's just what I did, too!" giggled Gloriana. +</P> + +<P> +"And the next morning everything looked so different——" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I could laugh then at the burro's nose in your lovely pie and the +seeds in my gingerbread; but they didn't seem so funny the night +before." +</P> + +<P> +"They seemed anything but funny to me for several days, and I don't +think I'll ever see a chocolate pie or a gingerbread again in my life +without remembering this vacation." +</P> + +<P> +"But things have gone splendidly since that first night," Gloriana +reminded her. "The children have tried to be angels, even if they have +executed some queer stunts for cherubs." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I know, but I am glad just the same that half of +our—apprenticeship—is over. If this week will pass as smoothly as +last week did, it's all I'll— What in the world is the matter with +the children? Sounds as if they were having an Indian war dance. I +wonder if those Swanberg boys are bothering again." +</P> + +<P> +Both girls dropped their mending and hurried to the door just in time +to hear Inez's voice say cuttingly, "Of course we know who you are, +Williard and Theodore McKittrick!" +</P> + +<P> +"Guess again!" drawled the older of two strange boys, lolling on +suitcases in the middle of the yard. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, those <I>are</I> your names," Inez insisted. +</P> + +<P> +"You look enough like you used to when you were here before, so we +can't be mistaken," said Mercedes primly. +</P> + +<P> +"Can't, eh? Well, our names are Williard and Theodore no longer. We +are Billiard and Toady these days. Mind you don't forget! We've come +to stay till the folks get back——" +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't you get our telegram telling you not to come?" demanded +belligerent Susie. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure we did!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then why didn't you stay at home?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Cause ma had the arrangements all made to go across the ocean and +there wasn't anyone else to send us to. Grandma's away travelling, and +Aunt Helen's kids have got scarlet fever." +</P> + +<P> +"But papa's in the hospital and mamma's there nursing him," said Irene +indignantly. +</P> + +<P> +"Truly?" The boy called Toady spoke for the first time. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think I'm lying?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, ma said she bet it was all a bluff to keep us from coming out +here," Billiard explained, looking genuinely surprised at Irene's words. +</P> + +<P> +"And anyway," supplemented Toady, "she said if it was true about your +father and mother being away to Los Angeles, there'd have to be someone +here to look after you kids, and two more wouldn't make much +difference." +</P> + +<P> +"Specially when she's paying for our board!" +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha, a silent spectator in the doorway, ground her teeth in +helpless rage, while Gloriana gasped audibly at the impudence of mother +and sons. +</P> + +<P> +"It's no more'n right that you should pay board," Susie declared in +heat. "You make so much trouble wherever you go." +</P> + +<P> +"Do, huh?" Billiard, frowning darkly, advanced threateningly toward +his outspoken cousin, with fists doubled up and an ugly sneer on his +face. But Susie was no coward, and when he shook his knuckles close to +her little pug nose to emphasize his words, the girl's arm shot out +unexpectedly and landed a blow fair and square on one eye. +</P> + +<P> +With a yell of rage and pain, the surprised boy lunged forward, but +instead of confronting Susie, he found himself in the grasp of a tall, +irate young lady, who wore her shining black hair pinned up on top of +her head, although her skirts were still short enough to show a pair of +trim ankles. "Now stop right here!" +</P> + +<P> +She spoke quietly, almost too quietly; but one look into the +smouldering depths of those big, black eyes was enough to cow the +bully, and he jerked himself free, muttering sulkily, "She hit me +first!" +</P> + +<P> +"She had to, or get hit herself," bawled Inez, jigging excitedly from +one foot to the other in her exultation over her cousin's defeat. +</P> + +<P> +"Inez!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, he needn't have come! We telegraphed them not to!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Inez</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +The girl subsided, and Billiard found courage to leer triumphantly at +her discomfiture. But Tabitha intercepted the glance, and in that +ominously calm voice which had struck terror to his cowardly heart +before, she announced, "It is too late now to think of that side of the +question. We'll have to make the most of a bad situation; but I <I>will +not</I> tolerate fighting. You may as well understand that first as last. +If you boys can't behave like gentlemen, you can just move on down to +the hotel. Is that plain?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir—ma'am," stammered the abashed Billiard, glancing uneasily +about for some means of escape, but Tabitha had delivered her +ultimatum, and now swept grandly into the house, satisfied that she had +displayed her authority in a very impressive manner. +</P> + +<P> +Hardly had the screen closed behind her, however, when her sharp ears +caught Billiard's hoarsely whispered question, "Who is that high-headed +geezer?" +</P> + +<P> +"The girl who is taking care of us," answered Mercedes unguardedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Girl?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure! What did you take her for?" +</P> + +<P> +"A—a new woman. A—one of these things that's trying to vote and do +men's work and such like." +</P> + +<P> +"Oho!" yelled the McKittrick girls in unison. "Why, she ain't much +older'n us!" +</P> + +<P> +"She goes to Ivy Hall in Los Angeles, the boarding school I belong to," +said Mercedes. +</P> + +<P> +"Honest Injun?" +</P> + +<P> +"Cross my heart!" +</P> + +<P> +"Huh!" +</P> + +<P> +And instinctively Tabitha knew that there was trouble ahead for her. +"Isn't this the worst luck you ever heard of?" she groaned to Gloriana +when once inside the house again. +</P> + +<P> +"If I had my way about it, I'd ship them straight home on the next +train," declared the red-haired girl angrily. "The very idea of their +mother doing such a thing as that! What kind of a woman is she, +anyway?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know much about her, except that she is utterly selfish and +very rich. The boys are sent away to school most of the year; and +during vacations she manages to shift them onto some of her relatives. +Fortunately, Jim McKittrick is too far away to be bothered with them +very often." +</P> + +<P> +"But what shall you—we do with them? Shall we tell Mrs. McKittrick +that they have come?" +</P> + +<P> +"Goodness, no! At least not yet. It would just worry her more than +ever and she is worn to distraction now. No, we must make the best of +it this week, and by that time Miss Davis will be here. She was raised +in a family of boys and ought to know how to manage them." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I am thankful <I>I</I> am not in her shoes," breathed Gloriana. "I +suppose we can get along somehow for the six days that are left. Where +shall you put them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I declare! I had forgotten all about that part of it. They +will think I am a real hospitable hostess." She stepped to the door to +call them, but not a soul was in sight anywhere. Two open suitcases +lay on the ground with their contents scattered all about, but both +owners and their cousins had disappeared. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercedes! Susie!" she called peremptorily, but no one answered; and +not even the sound of their voices at play fell on her listening ear. +"Strange," she muttered. "They were here a minute ago. Where can they +have gone so quickly?" +</P> + +<P> +She was about to start on a tour of investigation when a series of +wild, piercing screams of abject terror rent the air, and Rosslyn came +stumbling down the steep incline behind the house, bruised, scratched, +torn, and covered from head to foot with what looked like blood +Gloriana caught him as he fell, for Tabitha turned faint and sick at +the sight; but a shout of boyish disgust from above brought her to her +senses. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, come back, you bawl baby! We were just foolin'! You ain't hurt a +mite!" Billiard swaggered into view from behind a tall boulder +half-way up the mountainside, and even Tabitha shuddered at the +spectacle he presented, for he was togged out in war paint and feathers +till he looked fiendish as he brandished a tomahawk in one hand and an +evil-looking knife in the other. At sight of the girl on the narrow +piazza, he hastily retreated behind the rocks again; but Tabitha was +there almost as soon as he. Snatching the gorgeous headdress from the +culprit's head, she trampled it ruthlessly in the sharp gravel, +disarmed the would-be Indian brave, breaking the treasured tomahawk and +knife against the rocks, and shook the cowering savage with strong, +relentless hands. But not a word did she speak, and though her victim +writhed and squirmed and wriggled, he could not break the fierce grip +on his shoulders. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't, don't," he blubbered in desperation. "I didn't mean to scare +him so bad. We were only playing Indian." +</P> + +<P> +"Only—playing—Indian!" panted Tabitha, in scorching scorn. "Look at +those children! You have frightened them all to death!" Pausing an +instant in her vigorous shaking, she pointed at the circle of +sisters,—Mercedes, weak and trembling, bent over the limp form of +little Janie, blowing frantically in the still, white face; a +thoroughly subdued and frightened Toady was wildly fanning poor Irene, +who had likewise crumpled in a faint; while close by sat Susie and Inez +clinging to each other and sobbing in terror. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I didn't mean to!" bellowed Billiard, as Tabitha resumed her +shaking. "I thought they'd seen Indians before." +</P> + +<P> +"And so they have, but not such horrible savages as you!" Shake! +Shake! Shake! +</P> + +<P> +Irene sighed faintly and opened her eyes. Toady's heart gave a violent +thump of relief and thanksgiving, and abruptly dropping the headdress +of feathers which he had been using as a fan, he flew to his brother's +rescue. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, please, Mrs. Tabitha," he pleaded, "you've drubbed him enough. +Shake me if you ain't through yet. You'll have him plumb addled! +Really, we were just in for some fun. We never dreamed the kids would +scare so easy. That's only vegetable dye on Rosslyn's head. He +thought we had scalped him, but we didn't mean to hurt him." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha glanced down into the entreating brown eyes at her elbow, +straightway forgave Toady, and released her victim so suddenly that he +fell sprawling into a nest of sharp-thorned Mormon pears; but of this +she was unaware, for with one swoop she gathered up the now hysterical +baby, and stalked off toward the house, saying grimly, "You boys stay +right where you are until you are willing to apologize and promise to +behave yourselves in the future. I've a mind to turn you over to the +sheriff now. Come, girls!" Followed by the troop of white, shivering +sisters, she disappeared within doors, and soon quiet reigned in the +Eagles' Nest. +</P> + +<P> +Only then did the cowed Billiard venture to peer from his retreat at +the house below. It was nearing the supper hour and he was hungry, but +Tabitha had said he must apologize and promise good behaviour before he +would be admitted to the family circle. It was evident that she meant +business. +</P> + +<P> +"Toady," he whispered to the other boy, sitting silent and motionless +where he had dropped when Tabitha had left them an hour before. +"Toady, can you see anyone down there?" +</P> + +<P> +Toady glanced off at the hazy flat below with its winding silver ribbon +of railroad track, and the lonely, dingy station house, and shook his +head. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, not there!" Billiard protested, seeing that his brother's thoughts +had evidently been running in the same channel. "Down to Uncle Jim's, +I mean." +</P> + +<P> +Scarcely shifting his position, dutiful Toady craned his neck around a +boulder, surveyed the quiet mountainside in the waning afternoon light, +and again shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Creep down and see what they're doing. Maybe they are talking about +us." +</P> + +<P> +"Go yourself," returned Toady briefly. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, come now, Toady! She ain't so mad at you, and besides, you're +littler. They wouldn't see you so quick." +</P> + +<P> +Still Toady remained seated. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll have to have some water to wash off this stuff before she'll let +us in to—to apologize," wheedled Billiard. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Are</I> you going to apologize?" +</P> + +<P> +"Looks like we got to," answered the older boy gloomily. "She's a +reg'lar cyclone. Smashed up half our things already, and like enough +she will sick the sheriff on us like she said, 'nless we +do—er—apologize." +</P> + +<P> +It was very evident that Billiard was not in the habit of apologizing +for anything; and Toady, grinning with no little satisfaction at his +brother's discomfiture, arose and slowly descended by a roundabout +trail to the cottage. He was gone a long time and Billiard was growing +decidedly restless and anxious when he appeared in sight once more. +"She's—they are going to write to Uncle Hogan!" he announced +breathlessly. +</P> + +<P> +"Uncle Hogan!" cried Billiard in dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's just what I heard them say. Mercedes told her how Uncle +Hogan——" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll get even with Miss Mercedes," Billiard interrupted fiercely. +</P> + +<P> +"You better get that paint off your face and hike for the house with +your apology," advised the more easily persuaded brother, "else you'll +never have a chance to get even with anybody again." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because if we don't promise to be good inside of an hour, they are +going to ask the—the—some man, sort of a policeman, I guess, to look +after us until Uncle Hogan answers." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you really think they'd write to Uncle Hogan?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure! Tabitha knows him. She and that Glory girl with the red hair +kept him all night last winter off some mountain he wanted to climb +'cause they didn't know who he was. She had a gun and shot at them; +but when her father got there he said 'twas all right, and Uncle Hogan +thinks Tabitha is the whole cheese now." +</P> + +<P> +"Supposing we do—apologize, will they write to him still?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I guess not. If you'll promise to behave, they will let you stay +until some woman who's going to take care of the kids most of the +summer gets here. Then she can do as she pleases about writing. You +better knuckle under, Billiard." +</P> + +<P> +The older boy groaned. "You don't seem to care very much," he +complained bitterly, feeling that Toady had deserted him at the most +critical moment. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I've apologized already," acknowledged the other. "I'd rather do +that than have Uncle Hogan get after us." +</P> + +<P> +"So would I," Billiard sulkily decided, and pulling himself up from his +rocky seat, he slowly shambled down the mountainside, with Toady at his +heels hugely enjoying his brother's humiliation, for, though comrades +in mischief, the older boy loved to bully the younger, and Toady had a +long list of scores to settle, so he could not refrain from grinning +broadly behind Billiard's back, particularly since his part of the +disagreeable program had already been accomplished. +</P> + +<P> +"Better wash your face, first," he suggested, as Billiard made straight +for the kitchen door, through which savory odors of supper cooking were +beginning to steal. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, come off!" +</P> + +<P> +"She won't let you in till you do." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, where's the water?" +</P> + +<P> +Toady pointed toward a basin on a nearby rock, and Billiard made a +vigorous, if somewhat hasty toilet. Then, after a moment's further +hesitation, he entered the kitchen with hanging head, and, addressing a +grease spot on the floor by Tabitha's feet, muttered surlily, +"I—er—apologize." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha's lips twitched. He looked so utterly downcast and abject that +she could scarcely keep from smiling openly. "Are you ready to promise +to behave yourself from now on?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, sir—I mean, ma'am," he gulped, flushing angrily as the girls +tittered. +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha instantly silenced their mirth, and turning to the boy, said +graciously, "Then we'll let bygones be bygones; but we'll have no more +such actions while you stay. Your suitcase is in the back bedroom. +Toady will show you. But first, please bring in a couple armfuls of +wood. It looks like rain and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Wood! We never bring in wood at home!" the boy rebelled. +</P> + +<P> +"You are not at home now," Tabitha answered sweetly. +</P> + +<P> +"But—we're paying board!" +</P> + +<P> +"I haven't seen any board money yet. And anyway, we need the wood." +</P> + +<P> +Angrily the boy jerked out a purse from his trousers pocket and slammed +some gold pieces on the table. +</P> + +<P> +"Twenty dollars," she counted. "For how long?" +</P> + +<P> +"All summer." +</P> + +<P> +"Ten weeks! Two dollars a week for two of you! Board on the desert is +cheap at a dollar a day. You can write your mother to that effect; and +in the meantime, perhaps you better put up at the hotel——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, she said if anyone made a fuss, she'd pay more," Billiard hastily +explained, for somehow the hotel idea did not appeal to him. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you tell her a dollar a day for each of you is the regular rate. +And now you will have just about time to get that wood before supper is +ready." +</P> + +<P> +Billiard glanced questioningly up into the clear, olive face above him, +as if he could not believe his ears. +</P> + +<P> +"The pile is close to the door," she continued, paying no attention to +the amazement in his face: "and the woodbox is on the screened porch." +</P> + +<P> +Billiard hesitated, opened his lips as if to speak, closed them again, +and inwardly raging, but outwardly meek, marched out of the door to the +woodpile. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap04"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MISCHIEF MAKERS +</H3> + + +<P> +Tabitha retired late that night, weary but triumphant, congratulating +herself that Billiard was conquered; but she had reckoned without her +host. Two little heathen such as Williard and Theodore McKittrick are +not to be converted in one day, nor are they apt to be forced into +reforming. Brought up with utter disregard for other people's rights, +by a mother who bore them no particular love, but who surrounded them +with every luxury money could buy simply because she found it less +trouble to indulge than to deny them, it is scarcely to be wondered at +that they had no idea of honor or obedience. +</P> + +<P> +Their father, Dennis McKittrick, had been more successful than his +brothers in his struggle for wealth. After amassing a comfortable +fortune, he had not lived to enjoy it, and before his oldest son had +seen his sixth birthday, the father was laid to rest in the shadow of a +resplendent monument in an Eastern cemetery; and the rearing of the two +boys was left wholly to their fashion-plate mother, whose only gods +were dress and personal pleasure. Tabitha had heard many stories of +the selfish, heartless woman, who found her motherhood a burden rather +than a blessing, but she did not understand the difficulties one must +contend with in attempting to reform such lawless youths, and being +little more than a child herself, it was only natural that she should +make mistakes. +</P> + +<P> +But she did not at once realize this fact, for Billiard, completely +surprised by the unusual treatment accorded him, was a model of +obedience and politeness for the next two days, and Tabitha was +deceived into thinking his reformation was genuine and lasting; while +in reality, the young scapegrace was merely studying the unique +situation and plotting how to "get even" with the girl who already had +mastered him twice. A coward at heart, he knew he could not come out +openly and fight her, so he slyly planned little annoyances to hinder +her work and try her patience. Yet so adroitly did he manoeuvre that +Tabitha was some time in finding out the real culprit. +</P> + +<P> +"My brefus food ain't nice," wailed Janie, the third morning of her +cousins' stay. +</P> + +<P> +"Nor mine, either," protested Rosslyn, tasting his critically, and +wrinkling his nose in disgust. +</P> + +<P> +"You've salted it something fierce," said Billiard, winking solemnly at +Toady while Tabitha was busy sampling her dish of porridge. +</P> + +<P> +"It's so salt that sugar doesn't sweeten it," added Susie, making a wry +face at the first mouthful and taking a hasty swallow of water. +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha's mystified face quickly cleared. Seizing the sugar-bowl, she +cautiously tasted its contents, and turning toward Inez, said +accusingly, "You filled it with salt instead of sugar!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then someone put the salt cup in the sugar barrel," cried Inez +indignantly, "'cause I just poured one cupful into the sugar-bowl." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, be more careful the next time," admonished the black-eyed girl, +retreating to the pantry for a fresh supply of sweetening; and +Billiard, elated at the success of his first attempt, determined to try +again. +</P> + +<P> +"What in the world did you put in that salad dressing, Glory?" cried +Tabitha, snatching up her glass of water with eager hands. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter with it?" demanded the second cook, whose turn it +was to wait upon the table that day. +</P> + +<P> +"You used ginger 'stead of mustard," scolded Toady, who had a +particular aversion for red hair, and took little pains to conceal it. +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana had her suspicions as to how such an accident could have +happened, but a hurried visit to the pantry disclosed the spice cans in +their proper places, all correctly labelled; so she reluctantly +admitted her mistake, but decided to keep her eyes open. +</P> + +<P> +"There's soap in my glass of water," complained Irene at the next meal. +</P> + +<P> +"Soap!" echoed Mercedes. "I washed those glasses myself, and never +used a bit of soap on them! That's the way mamma told us to wash them." +</P> + +<P> +But the fact still remained that not only was Irene's glass soapy, but +more than half the dishes on the table tasted of Fels Naptha. Tabitha +looked concerned, but Billiard and Toady were so innocent appearing +that she never suspected them of having had a hand in the affair. +</P> + +<P> +The next time it was Tabitha's biscuits. When they appeared on the +table they were as thin as wafers and as hard as bricks. In some way +she had substituted corn starch for baking powder; but as another +hurried visit to the pantry showed both articles where they belonged on +their respective shelves, she concluded that carelessness on her part +had caused the trouble, and let the matter drop. +</P> + +<P> +Then the house began to be infested with all sorts of obnoxious insects +and reptiles. Mercedes found two huge grasshoppers in the soup one +day; a long, wriggling centipede fell out of the cook-book as Tabitha +turned its pages in search of a favorite recipe; a scorpion dropped off +the cake plate which Gloriana was in the act of passing, so frightening +the girl that she dashed cake, dish and all onto the floor, and +promptly had hysterics. Horned toads, ugly lizards, and worms of every +description made their appearance by the dozen, until even Tabitha grew +alarmed; but still she did not suspect the cause of such an invasion, +as the two brothers were apparently as docile and obedient as their +gentler cousins. +</P> + +<P> +Even when they found a dead rattler coiled up in the middle of the +kitchen floor, Tabitha attributed it to Carrie's dog, General, who +still spent much of his time at the McKittrick cottage. Nor did she +notice that the reptile was coiled in a most impossible manner, with +its head propped up by two tiny wires. She merely hustled the thing +out of doors, hacked it into pieces with the axe, and buried the +remnants under a pile of rocks to make sure no harm came of them. It +never occurred to her to wonder how General, who was not allowed in the +house, could have dragged the snake inside without someone seeing or +hearing him, for he was proud of his snake-killing accomplishment and +always made a big commotion when he succeeded in trapping one. So the +culprits enjoyed the girls' scare, and retired to the water-tank behind +the assayer's office to hatch up some new scheme. +</P> + +<P> +Only Gloriana, whose cordial dislike for boys, caused by her unhappy +experiences in Manchester, made her suspicious of all that species of +humanity, seemed aware of what was going on, but she could not catch +them red-handed. And knowing that she suspected them, the brothers +made life miserable for her in a hundred ways. They hid her crutch in +the most out-of-way places, adroitly misplaced her cooking utensils, or +whatever article she was about to use, causing her many a long and +annoying search when she was in a hurry. They stopped the clock or set +it ahead with aggravating frequency; and discovering that the plucky +girl grimly bore their tormenting in silence, they grew bolder, jumping +out at her from unexpected corners, tweaking her long braids, tripping +her up, and calling her "Carrots," or "Red-top," when Tabitha was out +of hearing, for they still entertained a wholesome fear of that +strong-armed, hot-tempered little housekeeper, who demanded instant +obedience from her charges, and was able to enforce her authority by +main strength if necessary. +</P> + +<P> +Also, they felt a certain boyish admiration for the tall, lithe girl +who bore such a record for bravery, though not for the world would they +have admitted the fact, even to each other; and they could not resist +plaguing her on the sly whenever a chance presented itself. But to +tease her openly was out of the question; so Gloriana received a double +share of tormenting, which she bore with such uncomplaining fortitude +that the boys forgot to be cautious, and one afternoon while Tabitha +was in town on an errand, Mercedes came upon them as they were limping +about the kitchen in an exaggerated fashion chanting with tuneless +voices, +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Baa-baa, black sheep, have you any wool?<BR> +Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full;<BR> +One for the master, one for the dame,<BR> +And one for the 'gory head' who limps awful lame."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Tears were standing in the tired gray eyes, but Gloriana, with her back +resolutely turned toward her tormentors, scrubbed her pan of vegetables +more vigorously, and tried not to hear the taunting words, though she +knew from the sound of their steps that the boys were circling nearer +and ever nearer, and would soon jerk off her hair-ribbon or poke her in +the back. +</P> + +<P> +"Cowards!" exploded Mercedes wrathfully. "You'd never dare do that if +Tabitha was here! I'm going to tell her just how mean you are!" +</P> + +<P> +"Tattletale, tattletale!" jeered Billiard, taking a rapid survey of the +yard as he limped past the door, to see if the other housekeeper had by +any chance returned from the post-office. +</P> + +<P> +"You wait and see what you get when Tabby finds out what you have been +doing," threatened the girl; and the little name slipping inadvertently +from her tongue gave the boys another inspiration. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Tabby Catt, Tabby Catt," they began in<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 2em">unison, "where have you been?</SPAN><BR> +I've been to Silver Bow to buy me a bean.<BR> +Tabby Catt, Tabby Catt, what saw you there?<BR> +I saw 'Gory Hanner' with her fearful red hair."<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +So intent were they upon rendering their new song, that neither boy +heard the screen open and close softly behind him, but Mercedes caught +a glimpse of the set, white face and flashing eyes through the doorway, +and held her breath in mingled fear and expectation. +</P> + +<P> +"Billy goat, Billy goat, where have you been?" a low, ominous voice +interrupted; and the two tormentors came to an abrupt halt in the +middle of the floor, paralyzed at the unexpected appearance of the +black-haired girl. +</P> + +<P> +"A-chewing the whiskers, that grow under my chin," the voice calmly +finished, and seizing the pan of dirty water from which Gloriana had +just rescued the last potato, Tabitha dashed its contents over the +astonished duet. Then realizing that once more she had let go of her +fiery temper, she fled from the house up the trail to a great boulder +on the summit of the mountain, and threw herself face down in an +abandon of shame, remorse and despair. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear, why can't I be good?" she sobbed. "Just when I think I can +hold onto myself and be ladylike no matter how mad I get, something +comes up to show me that I'm mistaken. I'm just as hateful as +Billiard! Oh, dear! And I thought he was being so good, and all the +while he was doing mean things behind my back. I make a miserable +fizzle of everything I undertake. What would Mrs. McKittrick say if +she could have seen me a few minutes ago? Now I've lost all the hold I +had on the boys. They can't respect anyone who doesn't control her +temper any better than I. +</P> + +<P> +"How I wish I had never offered to take care of the tribe of +McKittrick! No, that isn't so, either, for then the mother couldn't +have gone inside with Mr. McKittrick, and perhaps the operation would +have killed him. I'm glad he had his chance, bad boys or no bad boys! +But oh, I am so thankful that Miss Davis will soon be home. I will +never play housekeeper again, never! But now,—how can I make it right +with Billiard and Toady? What a world this is to live in! Always +stepping on someone's toes and then having to beg pardon. The trouble +of it is I—I don't believe I am very sorry that I doused the boys. I +am sorry I got so mad and did such a hateful thing, of course, but they +deserved more than they got. And yet they aren't to blame, either, +after the bringing up they have had. I suppose—it's up to me—to do +the apologizing act—myself—this trip." +</P> + +<P> +Drying her eyes and taking a firm grip on herself, she descended from +her refuge and sought out the boys in their room. +</P> + +<P> +"Come in," Billiard called gruffly in response to her knock, though +inwardly he was quaking with fear lest it might be the sheriff or Uncle +Hogan, whose authority he had never but once dared to defy. So he was +visibly relieved when he saw Tabitha standing alone on the threshold, +but waited uncertainly for her to state her errand. +</P> + +<P> +She was as anxious as they to have the ordeal over with, and plunged +into the middle of her carefully framed speech, saying briefly, "I came +to ask your pardon for my rudeness of a few minutes ago. I forgot +myself. It was wrong of me to speak and act as I did, no matter how +great the provocation." +</P> + +<P> +Her wandering gaze suddenly fell upon Billiard's face, just in time to +see him wink wickedly at Toady, and her good resolutions abruptly took +wing. "But you deserved every bit you got," she finished fiercely, +"and the next time I'll <I>souse you in the rain barrel</I>!" +</P> + +<P> +Slamming the door in their surprised faces, she marched majestically +away to the kitchen, and furiously began beating up a cake, so +chagrined over this new defeat of her plans that she could not keep the +tears from her eyes. +</P> + +<P> +Suddenly a meek voice at her elbow spoke hesitatingly, "Say, Tabitha, +we've apologized to Gory Anne—Gloriana, I mean. Will you—excuse—me +for what we said about you, too?" +</P> + +<P> +Toady's big, beseeching, brown eyes met hers unflinchingly—he +certainly knew how to look angelic when occasion demanded it—and +Tabitha relented. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, Toady, I'll excuse <I>you</I>," she said with meaning emphasis, which +was not lost on the older brother, keeping well in the background. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I'm ready to be excused, too," Billiard gulped at length, shuffling +forward a few steps, but not raising his eyes from the floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Very well," she answered coldly. "But don't you dare bother Gloriana +again. I won't stand for it!" +</P> + +<P> +"No, ma'am," Billiard responded meekly; and the two boys made good +their escape, feeling very virtuous indeed. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap05"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER V +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IRENE'S SONG +</H3> + + +<P> +"Miss Davis gets home to-day," sang Tabitha under her breath, as she +drew on her slippers that bright, hot morning. "Do you know that, +Gloriana Holliday?" +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't I been counting every minute,—yes, every second for the past +twenty-four hours?" laughed the second girl, letting down her luxuriant +auburn mane and beginning to brush it vigorously. "But I had a +horrible dream last night. I thought she sent us her wedding +announcements, and we had to stay here all summer." +</P> + +<P> +"False prophet! How dare you dream such a thing as that? Didn't we +have a letter from her just two days ago saying she would reach here on +to-day's train? And anyway, dreams always go by contraries, you know." +</P> + +<P> +"It's mighty lucky they do in this case," Gloriana replied seriously. +"But I woke in a cold sweat, the dream was so very real. I couldn't +help wondering if something <I>had</I> delayed her so she wouldn't reach +here as soon as we had expected." +</P> + +<P> +"What a pessimist you are!" cried Tabitha, eyeing her companion in +surprise. "You are usually just the opposite. What is the matter with +you to-day, Glory?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I just somehow feel it in my bones that something is going to +happen——" +</P> + +<P> +"To be sure! Miss Davis is coming home and relieve us of our job." +</P> + +<P> +"Something disappointing, I mean. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you just get that feeling out of your bones right away!" +commanded Tabitha, thrusting the last pin into her shining, black hair +and whisking into her big, kitchen apron. "You must have the +rheumatism and that is bad for one's health. One more meal after this, +and—exit Tabitha Catt and Gloriana Holliday, housekeepers." +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana laughed, as, with a comical flourish and backward courtesy, +the black-haired girl disappeared through the door, but her gay spirits +were contagious, and presently the younger maid joined her companion in +the kitchen, singing softly: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"'Maxwellton's braes are bonnie<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Where early fa's the dew,</SPAN><BR> +And 'twas there that Annie Laurie<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Gave me her promise true.'"</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +"There, that sounds better," Tabitha commented. "Really, I was +beginning to get shivers of misgiving myself from your gloomy +forebodings in the other room. What shall we have for dinner in honor +of the occasion? Green peas, asparagus tips, French potatoes and +caramel pudding? Or shall we invest in some strawberries at two bits a +box and have shortcake for dessert?" +</P> + +<P> +Merrily she skipped about the kitchen, making ready the simple +breakfast for the hungry brood; and when that was out of the way, and +the house swept and dusted, the two housekeepers began preparations for +an elaborate dinner. +</P> + +<P> +"To celebrate our release from bondage," laughed Gloriana, browning the +sugar for a caramel pudding, while Tabitha carefully concocted her best +layer cake. So busy were they that the morning flew by as on wings, +and before either was aware of the hour, a shrill blast of a whistle +proclaimed the approach of a locomotive. +</P> + +<P> +"The train!" gasped Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +"And we haven't tidied the children up or changed our own dresses," +mourned Gloriana. +</P> + +<P> +"I intended to meet Miss Davis at the station, to be sure she came here +for dinner," wailed the other. +</P> + +<P> +"It's too late now to do that, but we can make the youngsters a little +more presentable before the 'bus comes up from the depot," suggested +the younger girl. +</P> + +<P> +"They certainly will need cleaning up by this time, I'll admit. Call +them, will you, please?" +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana stepped to the door and yodelled shrilly, but there was no +answering trill, save the echo thrown back by the mountain peaks. +</P> + +<P> +"Decamped again!" sighed Tabitha impatiently. "Did you ever see a +bunch of children who could do the disappearing act as quickly or as +completely as the tribe of McKittrick? If you will watch these +potatoes, I will go hunting. They were here only a few seconds ago, +seems to me." +</P> + +<P> +Briskly she circled the house. Not a chick nor a child was anywhere in +evidence. Down to the boulder playhouse, up the trail to the summit, +but nowhere were the children to be found. Tabitha became alarmed. +What mischief had Billiard led them into now? He had been perfectly +angelic for twenty-four hours. It was time for another outbreak. +</P> + +<P> +Shading her eyes with her hand, she anxiously surveyed the surrounding +hillsides, the gray flat below, the dingy station house, and presently +her sharp eyes espied a procession of lagging figures straggling down +the steps from the depot platform. +</P> + +<P> +"Can it be—" she began. "Yes, I do believe it is! Horrors! Whatever +will Miss Davis say when she sees that bunch of dirty ragamuffins! +One, two, three, four—Billiard is lugging Janie pickaback, and Mercy +and Toady have made a chair for Rosslyn. Yes, that is my family!" +</P> + +<P> +She turned to go back to the house, but another thought had suddenly +occurred to her. "Miss Davis! She's not with them. Can it be she +didn't come? Was Gloriana right after all? She surely would not let +the children plod home in the heat while she rode in the 'bus. No, +there are only eight people in that bunch and they are all children. +Oh, dear, suppose Glory's dream has come true!" +</P> + +<P> +Mechanically she turned back to the house, and her comrade in misery, +catching a glimpse of her disturbed face, cried in alarm, "Can't you +find any of them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, they have been to the depot." +</P> + +<P> +"The little rascals! Without so much as asking leave! And it is such +a long walk for Rosslyn and Janie!" +</P> + +<P> +"I suppose Billiard put them up to it," Tabitha murmured, glad that +Glory had not asked about Miss Davis; and she fell to dishing up +potatoes with such reckless energy that the hot fat slopped over and +blistered her hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" cried Gloriana pityingly, "you have burned yourself. Let me +finish taking them up." +</P> + +<P> +"No, it's nothing. Serves me right for getting so provoked. I do wish +I could learn to control my temper." +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana remained discreetly silent, thinking that Tabitha was angry +because of the children's latest escapade; and in silence they finished +dinner preparations, both waiting anxiously, nervously for the +runaways' return. +</P> + +<P> +At length they heard them coming up the steep path from town, and Susie +flew through the door with two letters in her hand. "They are both for +you, Tabitha," she panted. "One's from mamma. I'd know her writing in +the dark. Miss Davis didn't come on to-day's train, but I s'pose +likely she'll be here to-morrow, don't you think?" +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha snatched the envelopes from Susie's outstretched hand, and +ripped them open with one stroke of the knife she held, muttering +feverishly, "The other is from Miss Davis." Her quick eyes swept the +page at a single glance, it seemed, and a smothered groan escaped her. +</P> + +<P> +"What is it?" ventured Gloriana timidly, the morning's foreboding +gripping her anew. +</P> + +<P> +"She has broken her leg." +</P> + +<P> +"Broken her leg!" repeated the red-haired girl dully. +</P> + +<P> +"Broken her leg!" echoed mystified Susie. +</P> + +<P> +"Who? Mamma?" +</P> + +<P> +"Miss Davis." +</P> + +<P> +"Holy snakes!" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Susie!" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean—I—I—that just slipped out accidental. I was so s'prised at +wondering what we'd do with a broken-legged woman hopping around here." +</P> + +<P> +"But she won't be hopping around here," Tabitha grimly told her. "She +must stay flat on her back in bed for three weeks, and then it will be +days and days before she can get around without a crutch." +</P> + +<P> +"Then—who—will housekeep—for us?" gasped Susie. "I reckon it is up +to you to stay a while longer. Mrs. Goodale's grand-baby's got the +fever and she is going to stay in Carson City until he's well. He is +the only grandbaby she's got." +</P> + +<P> +"How did you hear that?" demanded Tabitha, her heart sinking within her +at Susie's words. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't we know the Goodales well? She has only one girl, and that girl +has only one baby." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I didn't mean that! Where did you hear that the baby was sick?" +</P> + +<P> +"Mr. Porter told us at the station. He has just got home from Carson +City, and he saw Mrs. Goodale there. Why don't you read mamma's +letter? You hain't looked at it yet." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha had completely forgotten the second envelope, and now hurriedly +drew out the written page and scanned the blurred, uneven lines. Then +without a word of explanation, she slipped the paper back into its +envelope, and dropped it into her pocket, saying only, "Let the +children have their dinner now. Everything is ready." +</P> + +<P> +But all through the meal she was unusually preoccupied, puzzling, +pondering, struggling, longing to be alone with herself, and yet held +to her post by her sense of duty. At last, however, the hungry +appetites were satisfied, the chattering children had gone back to +their play, the dishes were washed and piled away in the cupboard, and +Tabitha slipped away to the little room which she shared with Gloriana +and Janie, knowing that no one would molest her here as long as the +lame girl stood guard at the door. +</P> + +<P> +Once alone, she spread the two letters out on the bed before her and +read and re-read them until she knew both word for word. +</P> + +<P> +Only one course lay open to her, that was plain; but yet her heart +rebelled hotly against the circumstances which made this one course the +only right one. +</P> + +<P> +"There never was such a girl for getting into scrapes,", she groaned. +"And this time I've not only got myself into one, but Gloriana as well. +It will be six weeks at the very least before Miss Davis can come home, +and there is no telling when Mrs. Goodale will be back. It is out of +the question for Mrs. McKittrick to leave her husband just when he +needs her most, even though she does offer to come. No, it's up to me, +as Susie says. And I did want to go to Catalina with Myra so much! +Here's my whole summer spoiled just because of a hasty promise. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Tabitha Catt</I>! Aren't you ashamed of yourself! You know right well +that Mrs. McKittrick never could have gone to the city if you hadn't +taken charge of her children, and the chances are that Mr. McKittrick +would have died without her. He isn't wholly out of danger even yet. +You selfish wretch! What do you think of a person who will talk the +way you have been doing? Oh, dear, what a queer world it is! I +wouldn't mind so much if Gloriana didn't have to suffer, too; but it is +too bad to keep her here on the boiling desert when she might be +enjoying life on the Island or at the beach. It wouldn't be so bad if +those awful boys weren't here, either; but they are the <I>limit</I>. I am +on edge every minute of the day, looking for the next outbreak. I +don't believe they <I>can</I> be good. And yet—there's no other way—out +of it. I can't let Mrs. McKittrick come home just because I am too +utterly selfish to stay here myself. She has been so good to me. And +it is positively out of the question for her to have the children with +her." +</P> + +<P> +Undecided, rebellious, unhappy, Tabitha crossed the room to the window, +and stood looking out over the barren mountainside. Should she? Could +she? What ought she to do? On the other side of a little gully just +opposite the window, sat Irene, rocking to and fro on a teetering +stone, and singing in a high, sweet treble to a battered rag-doll, +hugged tightly to her breast. The words floated up to the girl in the +window, indistinct at first, but growing clearer as the singer forgot +her surroundings; and Tabitha suddenly found herself listening to the +queer, garbled words of the song that fell from the childish lips. +</P> + +<P> +"What in creation does she think she is singing?" she asked herself in +amazement, recognizing with a fresh pang the tune Gloriana had begun +the day with. +</P> + +<P> +Irene finished the verse and commenced again: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"Maxwellton breaks her bonnet,<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">And nearly swallows two,</SPAN><BR> +An' 'twas their hat and her locket<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Gave me a pummy stew.</SPAN><BR> +Gave me a pummy stew<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">Which near forgot can be,</SPAN><BR> +And for bonnet and a locket<BR> +<SPAN STYLE="margin-left: 1em">I'd lame a downy deed."</SPAN><BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +Three times she repeated the distorted version of that grand old song, +and somehow the frown of perplexity smoothed itself from the listener's +brow. +</P> + +<P> +"Dear little girl," she whispered; "it's your father and your mother! +I am a selfish old heathen! Of course I will stay as long as I am +needed!" +</P> + +<P> +Quietly returning to the kitchen where Gloriana sat pretending to sew, +she laid the mother's letter on the table before the seamstress, and +when the gray eyes had read the message and glanced inquiringly up at +the dark face beside her, Tabitha nodded her head. "Yes," she +half-whispered. "I can't desert them now." Then after a moment of +silence, she added, "But you will go with Myra, Glory. Please! I'd +feel so much better, knowing that you were having a good time." +</P> + +<P> +The red head shook a vigorous denial. "I shall stay with you," +Gloriana declared. "I knew you wouldn't leave here as long as you were +needed, and you needn't think I'll let you stay alone. I shouldn't +have a good time at all if I did such a thing as that, Tabitha." +</P> + +<P> +"But it may mean all summer," Tabitha protested. "And it does get so +hot here. Besides, there will be little fun in such a vacation." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it is up to us to <I>make</I> some fun," said Gloriana firmly. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so," Tabitha replied, startled at the thought. "Maybe the boys +wouldn't be such trials then. Let's try it!" +</P> + +<P> +"All right," agreed Gloriana. +</P> + +<P> +And straightway the two girls put their heads together to devise some +method of breaking the deadly monotony of the desert days, and bringing +added enjoyment to their troublesome charges. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap06"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +GLORIANA'S BURGLARS +</H3> + + +<P> +There was a glorious moon that night, and as the girls were washing the +supper dishes, Tabitha proposed, "Let's go up to the peak when we are +through here and watch the moon rise." +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment of dead silence in the room. Usually the two +inexperienced young housekeepers sought to hustle their restless, +boisterous brood into bed as soon as the evening meal had ended and the +night's chores were done. What had come over her to suggest such a +thing as an evening stroll, or climb, as it would be if they went up to +the peak? Susie looked at Tabitha with incredulous eyes, then glanced +questioningly at Mercedes, but the older sister was as much mystified +as were the rest. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you mean that, or are you joking?" demanded Irene bluntly. +</P> + +<P> +"I mean it," replied Tabitha calmly, though her face flushed +uncomfortably under the surprised stare of eight pair of eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"You usually chase us off to bed, you know," said Susie, still +wondering what the unexpected proposal meant. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it is such a lovely night, I thought it would be fun to follow +the trail to the top of the mountain, and watch the moon come up." +</P> + +<P> +"And tell stories?" breathed Irene, clasping her hands ecstatically. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, if you wish," laughed the senior housekeeper. +</P> + +<P> +"And speak pieces!" cried Mercedes, who was never tired of hearing +Tabitha recite. +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps." +</P> + +<P> +"And sing songs," suggested Rosslyn, who loved to listen to Gloriana's +rich, sweet voice carolling joyous lays or softly crooning lullabyes. +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe." +</P> + +<P> +"And build a bonfire to roast—" began Billiard, but paused, +remembering that it was too early for green corn yet, and not being +able to think of anything else roastable. +</P> + +<P> +"Mosquitoes," finished Toady mischievously. +</P> + +<P> +But Tabitha's face clouded anxiously. "I am afraid we'll have to let +the bonfire go this time," she said gravely. "There is a law against +such things here in Silver Bow. A fire is such a hard thing to fight +on the desert, supposing it once gets started; so no one takes any +risks." +</P> + +<P> +Toady's face fell and Billiard looked rebellious, seeing which, Tabitha +hastily continued, "Some day we will go down to the river——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, and have a picnic!" squealed Susie, giving such an eager little +hop of anticipation that the cup she was drying flew out of her hand +and half-way across the room, falling with a dull thud in a pan of +bread sponge which Tabitha had just been mixing. +</P> + +<P> +"My!" breathed Irene enviously, "I wish my dishes would do that! When +<I>I</I> drop one it always bu'sts." +</P> + +<P> +Her peculiar grievance, coupled with Susie's look of utter amazement at +the performance of her cup, caused a merry laugh all around, and the +subject of bonfire was speedily forgotten, to Tabitha's unbounded +relief. +</P> + +<P> +The dishes were soon washed and piled away in the cupboard, the evening +chores completed, and the troop of eager children romped gaily up the +rocky trail to the summit of the mountain, on which the Eagles' Nest +was built. It was just such a night as Tabitha loved, and she would +gladly have sat in silence the whole evening through, watching the +barren landscape lying glorified in the white moonlight; but not so +with the younger members of the party. To be sure, it was a pretty +picture that the old moon revealed to their eyes, but even the most +beautiful pictures cannot hold a child's attention long. It is +excitement that they desire; so scarcely had the party reached their +goal than Inez demanded imperiously, "Now Tabitha, speak something for +us." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, not right away," protested the older girl, glancing wistfully +about her at the beauties of the night, and longing for a few moments +of solitude that she might enjoy herself in her own peculiar fashion. +"Let's watch the moon come up." +</P> + +<P> +"No," clamored the boys, who had heard Tabitha's many talents lauded by +their cousins until their curiosity had well-nigh reached the bursting +point. "Speak right away. It's no fun watching the old moon come up! +Besides, it's high enough now to make things as plain as day." +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose you recite something first, then," suggested Gloriana, noting +the wistfulness in the big, black eyes of her new sister. +</P> + +<P> +"Not on your tin-type!" Billiard emphatically declared. "It's ladies +first, you know! We want Tabitha to spiel." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, then, what shall it be?" sighed that young lady resignedly. +</P> + +<P> +"Something with ginger in it," was Toady's prompt reply. "Not a +sissy-girl piece." +</P> + +<P> +"About a battle or a prize-fight," suggested Billiard with amusing +impartiality. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Barbara Fritchie</I>," put in eager Irene. +</P> + +<P> +"No, don't," cried Susie. "We've heard that so often. Speak +<I>Sheridan's Ride</I>." +</P> + +<P> +"Or <I>Driving Home the Cows</I>," suggested Mercedes. "I think that is so +pretty, and it is a war piece, too." +</P> + +<P> +"But it is too sad," promptly vetoed Susie. "We want something—noisy." +</P> + +<P> +"With cannons and guns," seconded the boys. +</P> + +<P> +So Tabitha obligingly recited the thrilling lines: +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"'Up from the South at break of day,<BR> +Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay,<BR> +The affrighted air with a shudder bore,<BR> +Like a herald in haste, to the chieftain's door,<BR> +The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar,<BR> +Telling the battle was on once more,<BR> +And Sheridan twenty miles away.'"<BR> +</P> + +<BR> + +<P> +And her thoughts flew back to that black day in the dingy old town +hall, when she had declaimed those very lines, and of the dire +punishment which had overtaken her; but the sting of it was all gone +now, and she found herself smiling at the recollection of that fateful +encore. Everything was so different these days. She could afford to +forget the old heartaches and longings in the happiness which had come +to her during the past year. +</P> + +<P CLASS="poem"> +"'Here is the steed that saved the day<BR> +By carrying Sheridan into the fight,<BR> +From Winchester, twenty miles away!'"<BR> +</P> + +<P CLASS="noindent"> +she finished; and before the enthusiastic audience realized that the +recitation was ended, she began <I>Horatius at the Bridge</I>. Then +followed in quick succession all the thrilling wartime pieces at her +tongue's command, while the delighted children held their breath in +wondering admiration. +</P> + +<P> +Breathless at length, she paused, and surveying the circle of faces +about her, said whimsically, "That's a plenty, I reckon. My throat is +as dry as the desert!" +</P> + +<P> +"Just one more!" they pleaded eagerly. +</P> + +<P> +"But I have spoken all I can think of now with guns and cannons in +them." +</P> + +<P> +"Then give us a different kind," wheedled Irene, in her most persuasive +tones. +</P> + +<P> +"That one you spoke May Day at Ivy Hall," suggested Mercedes, "when you +tumbled off the platform." +</P> + +<P> +"Tumbled off the platform?" echoed the boys in great surprise. This +was an adventure which had never been recounted to them. "How did she +tumble off the platform? Tell us about it." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha merely laughed and shook her head, but Mercedes, elated at the +opportunity of singing the praises of her idol, regaled them with a +laughable description of Tabitha's mishap. This led to other boarding +school reminiscences,—the christening of the vessel, when Cassandra +took her memorable plunge into the ocean; the night of the opera and +their experiences with the runaway ostriches; the voice of the +mysterious singer in the bell-tower, which some of the more timid +students had mistaken for a ghost; and finally, the appearance of the +Ivy Hall ghost itself. The McKittrick girls had heard all these events +recounted so often that they knew them almost by heart; but, +nevertheless, they were never tired of listening, and drank in the +stories of all those delightful mishaps with almost as much eagerness +as was displayed by Billiard and Toady, hearing them for the first time. +</P> + +<P> +But all frolics come to an end, and Tabitha at length roused with a +start to announce, "That clock struck ten, I am positive." +</P> + +<P> +"What clock?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yours. The one in the kitchen. We were unusually quiet, I reckon, +for I was able to count ten strokes. We must fly into bed as fast as +we can get there. I had no idea it was so late, although Janie and +Rosslyn have been snoozing for ages. Come on, let's march. See who +can get to the house first." +</P> + +<P> +Away they scampered as hard as they could run down the rough path, +while Tabitha and Glory wrestled with the two little sleepers, trying +to rouse them from their slumber so they might walk down to the cottage +instead of having to be carried. But Rosslyn refused to waken +thoroughly, and created such a scene that it was some minutes before +they could coax him to follow them down the trail. So when they +entered the moonlit kitchen, leading the stumbling boy and carrying +Janie, who could not keep her eyes open or her feet under her, the rest +of the family had vanished completely. +</P> + +<P> +"Can they be in bed already?" asked Tabitha in surprise. "Have we been +wrestling with those children so long?" +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana tiptoed across the floor and opened the door to the room where +the four sisters slept, and disclosed four flushed faces peacefully +reposing on their pillows. Mercedes and Irene were already fast +asleep, and the other two so near the land of Nod that their eyes +merely fluttered open for an instant at the sound of the opening door, +and then drowsily fell again. +</P> + +<P> +Satisfied, Gloriana turned to Tabitha, busy trying to slip Rosslyn's +nightgown over his limp body, and whispered, "All serene!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then skip off to bed," said the other girl. "I will bring Janie when +I come." +</P> + +<P> +"But——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it is just the bread. I want to knead it down once more. It +won't take me half a jiffy, but if I don't do it now, it will be all +over the floor by morning." +</P> + +<P> +So Gloriana crept wearily away to her room, for it had been a long, +hard, disappointing day, but a moment later she scurried back into the +kitchen; and when Tabitha wheeled about in surprise at her hasty +entrance, she laughed nervously, half apologetically, "I kicked +someone's shoes under the bed! Don't know whether they are my own or a +burglar's!" +</P> + +<P> +Knowing how timid the red-haired girl still felt on the desert at +night, Tabitha refrained from smiling at what seemed an uncalled-for +fright, and said reassuringly, "No burglars ever visit Silver Bow. +There is nothing in a miner's shack to tempt them." +</P> + +<P> +"I should think there would be plenty of gold nuggets," answered +Gloriana in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Not many in Silver Bow houses, I reckon," Tabitha placidly replied, +"But if you are afraid to go to bed alone, you better wait for me. +I'll be ready in a minute." +</P> + +<P> +She did not mean to speak scornfully, for she sympathized heartily with +the sensitive gain remembering with what horror the desert nights used +to fill her when Silver Bow first became her home. But Gloriana +thought she detected a hint of ridicule in her companion's voice, and +hurriedly departed for their room once more, saying with a great show +of bravado, "Oh, I'm not afraid! Come to think of it, I believe I left +my slippers at the foot of the bed, and that is probably what I hit." +</P> + +<P> +The door closed behind her again, and Tabitha, smiling sympathetically +at the girl's attempt at bravery, began to cover the mound of soft, +white dough in the huge pan, when a wild, unearthly shriek echoed +through the house, followed by the sharp crack of a pistol, and the +muffled fall of a body. +</P> + +<P> +For one brief instant Tabitha stood rooted to the spot, fairly +paralyzed with horror. Then the thought of Glory gave wings to her +feet, and, heedless of her own danger, she flew for the scene of +disaster, whispering to herself, "Oh, why did I leave the house +unlocked all the evening while we were gone?" +</P> + +<P> +As the door of her room swung back on its hinges, the first thing her +eyes fell upon was the flickering, smoking, chimneyless lamp standing +on the low dresser; and even in her terror she wondered how it chanced +that careful Glory had neglected to protect the light properly. The +next object that met her gaze was Glory herself, leaning white and limp +against the closet door, holding a battered, smoking pistol at arm's +length from her. +</P> + +<P> +"Glory, are you hurt?" she gasped. +</P> + +<P> +"No!" +</P> + +<P> +"But the gun—the shot——" +</P> + +<P> +"No one's shot—only the lamp chimney! I aimed at the—the burglars +under the bed, and shot off the lamp chimney," she panted, beginning to +laugh hysterically, and tightening her grasp on the rusty gun. +</P> + +<P> +"Where is the burglar?" Intrepidly she stooped and peered under the +bed, half expecting to see the disturber of their peace still hiding +there. +</P> + +<P> +"In the closet,—-both of them!" +</P> + +<P> +"Two?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Glory!" +</P> + +<P> +"They are locked in. Here is the key." +</P> + +<P> +"I must go for the constable." +</P> + +<P> +A scuffling sound suddenly issued from the closet, and Gloriana cried +in terror, "And leave me here alone with them?" +</P> + +<P> +"There is no other way. I'll be gone but a minute. They surely can't +get loose in that time!" And she darted from the room without giving +Gloriana opportunity for further objections. +</P> + +<P> +Hardly had the sound of her racing footsteps died away in the distance, +however, when the red-haired guard, leaning against the door, half dead +with fear, was electrified at hearing a muffled voice call through the +keyhole, "I say, Glory, let us out, do! We were just a-foolin'. +Didn't you know 'twas us? Please don't turn us over to the sheriff!" +</P> + +<P> +"'Twas Tabitha's story about the Ivy Hall ghost that made us think of +it," pleaded Toady. "We ain't sure-enough burglars. We just meant to +scare you a little bit." +</P> + +<P> +"And you sure scared <I>us</I> enough to make up," coaxed Billiard. "Please +let us out before Tabitha gets back. She said she'd write Uncle Hogan +the next time we got into trouble." +</P> + +<P> +"And that will mean he will take us away from here," wheedled Toady. +"He's awful hard on a fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"You deserve it!" suddenly answered Glory, with a grimness that +startled even the girl herself. +</P> + +<P> +"Then you won't let us out?" cried the boys in great dismay. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I haven't decided yet," Gloriana was forced to admit. +</P> + +<P> +"But Tabitha will be back directly." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, she's a swift runner. I don't think she will be gone long." +Glory was beginning to enjoy the strange situation. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Glory, don't keep us here, please! prayed Billiard desperately. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll <I>never</I> play burglar again!" promised repentant Toady. +</P> + +<P> +"No, it will be something else the next time," said their jailer +heartlessly. +</P> + +<P> +"If you'll just set us free this time, we'll be reg'lar sissy girls all +the rest of the summer," they cried. +</P> + +<P> +"You have promised so many times—" Glory began wearily. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I can hear her coming!" cried Toady, half frantic at thought of +the constable whom Tabitha had gone to summon. +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana thought she could, also, and swiftly turning the key in the +lock, she let the quaking prisoners out, urging them on with a violent +push as they scurried past her, and hissing in their ears, "Scamper! +If you aren't in bed when she gets here, she'll know you did it." +</P> + +<P> +But they needed no urging. Their feet scarcely touched the floor, it +seemed to Gloriana, as they made a mad rush for their room; and when +Tabitha returned a moment later, alone, they lay tense and breathless +under the coverlets of the cot. +</P> + +<P> +"Glory!" they heard her ejaculate. "You let them get away from you!" +</P> + +<P> +"I couldn't help it," replied the red-haired girl in excited tones. +"Couldn't you get anyone? Wasn't the constable at home?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, but he'll investigate as soon as——" +</P> + +<P> +The rest of the sentence was lost in the slamming of a door; but the +two culprits lay and quaked with fear long after the rest of the +household was fast asleep, little dreaming that as soon as the door was +tightly closed so they could no longer distinguish the voices, Glory +had wheeled on Tabitha and giggled accusingly, "You knew all the time!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not until I ran past their door and saw their bed was empty," +whispered the black-haired girl with her hand over her mouth to stifle +the laughter she could no longer suppress. +</P> + +<P> +"What possessed you to keep on, then?' +</P> + +<P> +"I surmised what would happen, and decided to scare <I>them</I> a little, +too. So I crept around the house and listened to you talking with +them. When they thought they heard me coming back, I concluded it was +time I did put in appearance again; but I thought I'd die laughing to +hear them scuttling into bed. Now I reckon the score is even!" +</P> + +<P> +"Then you won't tell their Uncle this time?" +</P> + +<P> +"I ought to." +</P> + +<P> +"They've had a big punishment already, Puss." +</P> + +<P> +"They deserve it." +</P> + +<P> +"I—I scared them stiff when I shot." +</P> + +<P> +"Poor girlie, and you were as badly scared yourself. My brave Glory!" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't praise me, Kitty. I'm an awful coward. My teeth are chattering +yet." +</P> + +<P> +"And you are trembling as if you had the ague. Are you sure you're not +hurt? I thought I heard something fall." +</P> + +<P> +"The gun kicked and knocked me over," Gloriana admitted. "That is what +gave the boys a chance to scramble into the closet. I didn't know it +was Billiard and Toady then, because the bullet splintered the lamp +chimney and I couldn't see real well." +</P> + +<P> +"But you locked them in." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that was easy! They were holding the door shut with all their +might, and the only thing left to do was to turn the key in the lock. +I am so thankful it was only a prank!" +</P> + +<P> +"So am I," Tabitha admitted grudgingly. "But I can't say I relish that +class of pranks." +</P> + +<P> +"Give them another chance, Tabitha. I think they really are trying to +be good." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I'll—see. We'll forget all about it now and go to sleep. +Morning can't be very far off." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap07"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +TOADY AND THE CASTOR BEANS +</H3> + + +<P> +But when morning dawned, Gloriana lay flushed and feverish upon her +pillow, her head throbbing until she could scarcely open her eyes. +Tabitha was alarmed, and between her worry over the sick girl lying in +their darkened room, and her ministrations to croupy Janie, who had +caught cold sleeping in the night air on the mountain top, the poor +housekeeper was so nearly distracted that she had little time to devote +to the rest of her large family, and they wandered about the premises +like so many disconsolate chicks who had lost their mother. It was an +ideal time to get into mischief, and yet something restrained them. +</P> + +<P> +The girls, it seemed, had slept through all the racket of the previous +night, and were not aware that anything out of the ordinary had +occurred, but they could not understand the tense atmosphere; and when +Mercedes heroically tried to fill Tabitha's place the other members of +the brood resented her authority, frankly found fault with her badly +cooked oatmeal and unsalted potatoes, and insulted her attempts at +housekeeping in such a heartless, unfeeling manner that she finally +dissolved in tears and refused to do anything further toward their +comfort. Susie and Inez quarreled over the dishes and had the sulks +all day. The boys, still fearful of the consequences of their latest +prank, and somewhat remorseful at having frightened Gloriana into a +fever, wandered aimlessly away toward town, glad to escape from +Tabitha's watchful eye, and greatly relieved to think no mention had +been made by anyone of the burglars' visit. +</P> + +<P> +"Guess the girls couldn't have heard the noise last night," ventured +Toady, when they had left the house far enough behind to make it +impossible for anyone to overhear their conversation. +</P> + +<P> +"The girls?" repeated Billiard blankly, his thoughts on another phase +of the situation. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercedes and Susie and the twins, I mean." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! P'r'aps Tabitha's making 'em keep still." +</P> + +<P> +"Do you think Tabitha knows we did it?" cried Toady in alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"Naw, you ninny! That is, not 'nless Glory's gone and squealed." +</P> + +<P> +"But——" +</P> + +<P> +"I meant she'd prob'ly try to hush them up if they had heard our +racket, so's the whole town wouldn't know about the burglars." +</P> + +<P> +"Why? That's just what is worrying me. If she has hushed them up, +it's just to make us believe she doesn't suspect. I'll bet the +constable will be up there bright and early with his d'tectives, asking +all sorts of questions, and everyone in Silver Bow will join in the +hunt." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll be found out even if Glory doesn't tell." +</P> + +<P> +Toady nodded gloomily. +</P> + +<P> +"It'll go hard with us if the <I>constable</I> should find out who did it." +</P> + +<P> +Again Toady nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"We—better—light—out—now." +</P> + +<P> +Toady stopped stock-still in the roadway. "Why?" he demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you want to go to jail?" +</P> + +<P> +"Naw, but they don't put <I>kids</I> in jail here. I s'pose likely we'd get +a good thrashing——" +</P> + +<P> +"Would you rather stay here and take a whaling than skip while you've +got the chance?" cried Billiard, turning pale at the mere thought of +such a punishment at the hands of a desert constable, who, somehow, in +his imagination, had assumed the proportions and disposition of a +monster. +</P> + +<P> +"We—we deserve a sound licking," bravely replied Toady, whose +conscience was troubling him sorely. +</P> + +<P> +It was Billiard's turn to halt in the rocky road and stare with +unbelieving eyes at his brother, finally finding vent for his feelings +by hissing the single word, "Coward!" +</P> + +<P> +"No more coward than you!" Toady denied. "We have been as mean as dirt +ever since we came here, and if Tabitha had been as hateful as most +girls are, she'd have written Uncle Hogan long ago." +</P> + +<P> +"So you're fishing to get her to write, are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, I ain't, but I believe she'd—like it—better—if we told her +ourselves, instead of getting found out by someone else." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! Going to turn goody-goody, are you?" sneered Billiard, not +willing to admit that he had been thinking similar thoughts. +</P> + +<P> +Toady bristled. "I hate goody-goodies as bad as you do," he said, with +eyes flashing. "But I'm going to own up to my part in last night's +racket. We might have scared Glory to death." +</P> + +<P> +"Pooh! You make me sick! Suppose you think she'll let you off easy if +you squeal. Well, go ahead, tattler! You will change your mind maybe, +when she writes to Uncle Hogan." +</P> + +<P> +"If she wants to write Uncle Hogan, let her write!" screamed the +exasperated Toady, stung by his brother's taunts. "I'm going to quit +bothering them right here and now; and what's more, I'm going to own +up, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Tattler!" +</P> + +<P> +Toady turned on his heel and strode haughtily away, not daring to trust +himself to further speech. +</P> + +<P> +"Coward! 'Fraid cat! Sissy girl!" jeered Billiard. +</P> + +<P> +That was the last straw. The younger boy wheeled about and retraced +his steps in a slow, ominous manner. Thrusting his angry face close to +Billiard's, and shaking his clenched fist under his nose, he said +quietly, "Say that again if you dare, Williard McKittrick!" +</P> + +<P> +Billiard was delighted. He had succeeded in making Toady mad, and now +he would have the pleasure of thrashing him. He felt just like +pounding someone. +</P> + +<P> +"Coward! 'Fraid cat! Sis——" +</P> + +<P> +A white fist shot out with accurate aim, striking the bully squarely +between the eyes. A shower of stars danced merrily about him, blood +spurted from his nose, and the next thing he knew, he was stretched +flat on the rocky ground, with a grim-faced Toady bending over him. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you take it back?" a menacing voice was asking. +</P> + +<P> +"You—you—" spluttered the angry victim, mopping his streaming nose +with his coat sleeve. +</P> + +<P> +"Or do you want some more?" The doubled-up fist drew perilously near +the disfigured face in the gravel. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it! Hit a fellow when he's down!" taunted the fallen bully, +still unable to realize just what had happened. +</P> + +<P> +"I shan't hit you while you're down," said Toady calmly but decisively. +"I'll let you get onto your pins and then I'll knock them from under +you again." +</P> + +<P> +And Billiard, looking up into the determined face above him, knew that +it was no idle threat. Toady was in deadly earnest, but still the +older boy temporized. It would never do to give in to Toady. If he +took such a step as that, his leadership was gone forever. "Aw, come +off!" he began, in what he meant to be jocular tones. "Quit your +fooling and let me up! I've swallowed a bucket of blood already!" +</P> + +<P> +"Will you take it back, or shall I pummel the stuffing out of you?" +</P> + +<P> +Billiard capitulated. "I take it back," he said sullenly, "but,"—as +Toady removed his knees from his chest and allowed him to rise—"I'll +get even with you for this." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," responded the younger boy cheerfully. "But don't forget +that you will get what's coming to you, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Don't be so sure, sonny! You took me off guard; you know you did, or +you'd never have laid me out. You weren't fair." +</P> + +<P> +Toady, tasting his first victory over his bully brother, and finding it +very sweet, suggested casually, "I'll scrap <I>you</I> any time you say. +Now, if you like." +</P> + +<P> +"My head aches too bad," said the other hastily. "That was a nasty +place to fall. It's a wonder it didn't fracture my skull." +</P> + +<P> +Toady looked back at the spot which Billiard had adorned a moment +before, and remorse overtook him. "I'm sorry, old chap, if I hurt +you," he said contritely. "I wasn't aiming to put you out of business, +but you made me so all-fired mad——" +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, forget it! I was just fooling," protested Billiard, shamed by +Toady's frank and manly confession. "Say, ain't that the haunted house +the girls are always talking about?" +</P> + +<P> +"Which? Maybe 'tis. It's the last one in town, they said. Mercy +promised to point it out the next time we climbed the trail behind the +house. Do you s'pose it really is haunted?" +</P> + +<P> +"I dunno," Billiard answered indifferently. +</P> + +<P> +Haunted houses in his opinion were things to be avoided. He had merely +sought to distract Toady's thoughts from their fistic encounter by +mentioning the place. But the younger boy's curiosity was aroused, and +as they neared the deserted, unpainted, dilapidated hut, he studied it +closely. To him it looked like any other untenanted shack in the +mining town, and so he said musingly, "I wonder if that man really did +kill himself there, or was he murdered?" +</P> + +<P> +Billiard shivered. "Mercedes said he <I>died</I> there. That's all I know." +</P> + +<P> +"She told me he was <I>found</I> dead, with all his pockets turned inside +out, and——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Toady," interrupted Billiard again, "here's a plant just like +those mamma always has in her garden. I didn't s'pose things like that +would grow here on the desert." +</P> + +<P> +"That's a castor bean." +</P> + +<P> +"Like they make castor oil of?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure! At least, I guess so. Glory told me it's the only thing green +on the desert that the burros won't eat. Folks could have flowers here +the same as back home if water didn't cost so much, and the burros +didn't eat the plants as fast as they came up." +</P> + +<P> +"It's the first castor bean <I>I've</I> seen here." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, there's a whole bunch down by the drug-store! We've passed them +dozens of times. Where are your eyes?" +</P> + +<P> +Billiard's face flushed wrathfully. Toady's recent victory had made +him suddenly very important and domineering, but his fists were +certainly hard enough to deal a telling blow; so the older boy, still +caressing his swollen, aching nose, thought it wise to overlook such +sarcastic flings, and, pretending to be deeply interested in the +queer-leaved plant, he casually asked, "Do they all have such funny +burrs on them?" +</P> + +<P> +"When they're big enough. That's where the castor beans themselves +grow." +</P> + +<P> +Billiard gingerly picked one of the strange balls and minutely examined +the hooked prickles of the reddish covering. Then with his jack-knife +he proceeded to investigate the inside. "Do you s'pose they really +make castor oil out of these? I don't see how they can." +</P> + +<P> +"Glory says they do." +</P> + +<P> +"The insides <I>smell</I> something like castor oil, but they don't look at +all oily." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bet they taste oily." +</P> + +<P> +"Stump you to eat one!" +</P> + +<P> +"Huh! It doesn't bother me to take castor oil. I can eat anything!" +To prove his boast, he plumped one white bean into his mouth, and +chewed it down with apparent relish. +</P> + +<P> +Billiard watched him with eagle eyes to see that he actually did +swallow it, then held out another, and Toady obediently munched it. +Three, four, five,—bean by bean they disappeared down his throat; but +at last he rebelled. +</P> + +<P> +"You hain't tasted one, Billiard McKittrick! How many do you think you +are going to feed <I>me</I>?" +</P> + +<P> +The brother laughed derisively. "Wanted to see how big a fool you +was," he jeered. "Thought you were going to eat all there were on the +bush." +</P> + +<P> +Toady made no reply. The beans tasted anything but appetizing, and +already the boy was beginning to feel queer. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure you don't want some more?" teased Billiard. +</P> + +<P> +"No. Guess I'll go home." +</P> + +<P> +"And tat—tell about last night?" Billiard remembered all at once the +reason they were so far from the Eagles' Nest, and was alarmed lest +Toady's threatened confession should involve him also. +</P> + +<P> +"Y-e-s." +</P> + +<P> +"I think you're downright mean, Toady McKittrick!" +</P> + +<P> +"I shan't tell on you." +</P> + +<P> +"Might as well! They will know I was in it." +</P> + +<P> +"And you know you ought to own up, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Cut it out, good—Toady. If you won't tell, I'll not plague them—nor +you—any more." +</P> + +<P> +Toady silently plodded on, and in exasperation Billiard caught him by +the shoulder and shook him roughly. +</P> + +<P> +"Le' go!" muttered the boy. "I'm going home, I tell you! Ge' out my +way!" +</P> + +<P> +The white misery of that round, freckled face as it turned toward him +struck terror to the older brother's heart, and he excitedly demanded, +"What's the matter, kid? Are you sick?" +</P> + +<P> +"Feel funny," panted the castor-bean victim. "I—want—to—lie—down." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's hurry then. We'll soon be home." Billiard was genuinely +alarmed now, and seizing the other's cold hand, he tried to hasten the +lagging steps up the rocky trail. But Toady was really too ill to care +what happened or where he went, and he stumbled blindly on, tripping +over a loose pebble here, or bruised by staggering into a boulder +there, protesting one minute that he could go no further, and the next +instant begging Billiard to hurry faster. +</P> + +<P> +At length, however, the house was reached, and Toady drifted like a +crumpled leaf across the threshold and lay down in the middle of the +floor. Irene had seen them coming, and rushed pell-mell for Tabitha, +shrieking in horrified accents, "Kitty, oh, Kitty, they've been to a +s'loon and got drunk!" +</P> + +<P> +So Tabitha was somewhat prepared for their dramatic entrance; but one +glance at the livid lips, pinched nose and heavy, lusterless eyes would +have convinced her that Irene was mistaken, even if Billiard had not +caught the words and indignantly denied it. However, recalling a +certain episode in Jerome Vane's life in Silver Bow, she demanded +severely, "How many cigarettes has he smoked, Billiard McKittrick?" +</P> + +<P> +"He hain't been smoking at all!" declared that young gentleman, more +ruffled at Tabitha's tone than at her accusation. "He—he—I dared him +to eat some castor-beans, and I guess they made him sick." +</P> + +<P> +"Castor-beans!" shrieked Tabitha in wild alarm. "Go for the doctor at +once. Dr. Hayes at the drug-store! Tell him it's castor-beans. He +worked all night to save the Horan children who ate them once." +</P> + +<P> +Billiard had shot out of the door before the words were out of her +mouth and was half-way down the trail before the dazed girl awoke with +a start to the realization that something must be done at once for the +suffering boy on the floor, or it might be too late. "We must make him +vomit," she said to red-eyed Mercedes, who had come out of her +hiding-place to see what was the cause of all the commotion. +</P> + +<P> +"But how?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know myself what emetic would be best. They use mustard and +warm water for some poisons, and—oh, I remember! Bring me that +three-cornered, blue bottle from the cupboard, Susie. Hurry! Your +mother told me to use plenty of that if any of you got poisoned. +Mercedes, light the stove and set on the tea kettle. Inez, get the +boy's bed ready, and Irene, bring some clean towels from the closet." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha had suddenly grown calm again, and as she issued orders to the +panic-stricken sisters, she was deftly at work herself, pouring the +vile-tasting emetic down poor, unresisting Toady's throat. She worked +hard and furiously, fearful that her efforts might fail, and her heart +sank within her as she watched the white face grow whiter and listened +to the weak moans which escaped his lips with every breath. +</P> + +<P> +Would the doctor never come? The suspense was horrible. When it +seemed as if she must scream with frenzy, the five watchers on the +door-step shouted wildly, "He's coming, he's coming! Billiard found +him and he's got his v'lise!" +</P> + +<P> +Another instant and he was in the kitchen kneeling beside the limp form +on the floor, and working as he questioned. It was over at last, the +boy was pronounced out of danger, and Tabitha, weak and trembling, felt +her strength suddenly ooze from her limbs. +</P> + +<P> +"Here, here, none of that!" commanded the physician in gruff but kindly +tones. "There is no use of fainting now, my girl, when you have done +your work so well. But for your efforts before I got here, the chap +might have been—well, he can thank his lucky stars that he is in the +land of the living." +</P> + +<P> +Perhaps Toady heard, for when Tabitha bent over him a few moments +later, the brown eyes fluttered weakly open, and the repentant sinner +murmured, "How is Glory?" +</P> + +<P> +"Better. She will be well by morning. But you mustn't talk now." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I must, 'cause I made her sick. I burgled—that is, I pretended +I was a burglar last night and hid under your bed. I only meant to +scare you, though. Honest!" +</P> + +<P> +"Sh! I know all about it. Go to sleep now, Toady." When seeing an +unspoken question in his eyes, she answered, "No, Glory didn't give you +away. I found it out myself." +</P> + +<P> +"The constable——" +</P> + +<P> +"I never went for him at all. He doesn't know a thing about it." +</P> + +<P> +"Uncle Hogan—I expect you'd better write him. It was awful mean of +me, and I'm sorry, but he ought to know." +</P> + +<P> +"Not this time, Toady. I am sure you will not forget again." +</P> + +<P> +A great light of relief crept into the big, brown eyes, and Toady +answered with all the vim he could muster, "You are right, I won't." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap08"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER VIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BILLIARD RUNS AWAY +</H3> + + +<P> +Billiard, white, scared, remorseful, had crept away up the mountainside +the minute he had seen Dr. Hayes bending beside the still form on the +kitchen floor, and remained in his retreat, watching the house with +frightened eyes, until the physician's bulky figure strode down the +path toward town again. Then, flinging himself face down in the +gravel, he sobbed in unrestrained relief, until, exhausted by the +strain of his recent fearful experience, he fell asleep in the shadow +of a ragged boulder, where late that afternoon Tabitha found him, after +a vain search about house and yard. +</P> + +<P> +Surprised at having caught a glimpse of this unsuspected side of the +bully's character, she beat a hasty retreat, and with the tact of a +diplomat, sent one of the younger girls in quest of him, feeling that +he might resent being awakened by her while the trace of tears still +showed on his face. Nor was she mistaken in this surmisal, for the +instant the boy's eyes unclosed in response to Susie's energetic +shaking, he demanded, "Does Tabitha—know where I am?" +</P> + +<P> +"She wouldn't have set the rest of us to hunting if she had, would she?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, 'tain't necessary for you to tell her I was asleep. The sun was +so hot it made my head ache, and I guess it has burned my face to a +blister," cautiously touching his puffed, smarting cheeks. +</P> + +<P> +Susie eyed the swollen lids and scarlet visage suspiciously, but for +once held her tongue, only announcing briefly as she started on a trot +down the trail, "We're waiting supper for you." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, you needn't for I'm not hungry. Tell Tabitha I don't want +anything to eat. I am going to bed. My head aches." +</P> + +<P> +"All right," retorted Susie, too cheerfully, he thought with bitterness +in his heart, as he followed her nimble feet toward the house. He had +hoped she would at least express some sympathy for his aching head; but +what did she care? What did anyone care about him? Morosely he +shambled along behind his agile cousin; but instead of entering the +kitchen, which was of necessity also the dining-room, he chose the +front door, and quietly sought the room where he and his brother slept. +</P> + +<P> +Toady's pale face on the pillow made him pause on the threshold, while +a twinge of remorse tugged at his heart, but the victim, hearing the +creak of the opening door, opened his round eyes, and smiling +beatifically, asked in a weak voice, "Seen Tabitha?" +</P> + +<P> +Billiard grunted an unintelligible reply. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell you what, she's a crackerjack!" continued the invalid. Then, as +Billiard's only answer was a vicious jerk which divested him of collar +and waist at a single effort, Toady cried in surprise, "Why, Bill, have +you had your supper?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't want any!" growled the other, tugging savagely at his boots. +</P> + +<P> +"What's the matter? Sick?" +</P> + +<P> +"Headache!" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>You</I> didn't eat any castor-beans, did you?" +</P> + +<P> +Billiard paused in the act of crawling into bed to glare angrily at his +brother, thinking he was being made fun of; but Toady's cherubic face +seemed to allay his suspicions, and he briefly, but savagely replied, +"Naw!" +</P> + +<P> +"You better tell Tabitha—" began Toady in genuine solicitude; but +Billiard again misconstrued his brother's meaning, and interrupted, +"Aw, shut up! Let a feller alone for once, can't you?" And as +Billiard wriggled into bed, puzzled Toady lapsed into silence. +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha, too, was puzzled by the older boy's actions. She had hoped +that the poisoning of his brother would awake his better nature if +nothing else would, so she was keenly disappointed, as well as +surprised, at the change which now took place in him. +</P> + +<P> +"It seems so strange," she confided to Gloriana. "He acted so terribly +cut up the day he brought Toady home sick, that I thought it would cure +him of his mean mischief, at least. But now he seems bent on trying to +find the limit of human endurance—doubling his mischief and being more +aggravatingly hateful than ever." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps he is getting even for Toady's reform," suggested the +red-haired girl, looking worried. +</P> + +<P> +"Toady—bless the boy!" exclaimed Tabitha fervently. "I should go wild +if he had taken the streak Billiard has." +</P> + +<P> +"And yet I can see how provoking it must be to Bill——" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Gloriana!" +</P> + +<P> +"I mean that Toady's declaration of independence would naturally rouse +Bill's 'mad,' as Rosslyn says, when Toady had blindly followed his +leadership for so long. And besides, the way Toady flaunts his virtues +in his brother's face——" +</P> + +<P> +"That <I>is</I> rather amusing, isn't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"Provoking? I should, say! Billiard has been used to saying the word +and Toady has obeyed. It's rather a—a—jar, to be defied, or ignored +all of a sudden. Bill is bright——" +</P> + +<P> +"Too bright," sighed Tabitha, somewhat sarcastically, Gloriana thought. +</P> + +<P> +"He <I>is</I> bright!" championed the younger girl warmly. "This morning I +happened to overhear him teasing the girls at play under the kitchen +window, and he declared that it was a mistake for Inez and Irene to be +twins; that it should have been Susie and Inez, and then their names +would have been Suez and Inez." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha smiled in spite of herself, then said heatedly, "But he is so +mean about it! To-day while you were at the bakery and he thought I +had gone for the mail, I heard a commotion in the yard, and what do you +suppose I found him doing?" +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana shook her head. +</P> + +<P> +"He had the girls and Rosslyn lined up by the woodpile and was making +them carry in <I>his</I> wood. Even little Janie was loaded down with two +immense sticks, so heavy she could hardly toddle with them." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you do?" +</P> + +<P> +"Made them drop their loads right where they were, and he had to carry +it all in by himself." +</P> + +<P> +"Without even Toady's help?" +</P> + +<P> +"All by himself!" repeated Tabitha emphatically. +</P> + +<P> +"I am afraid—we are not apt—to——" +</P> + +<P> +"To what?" asked Tabitha, as her companion stammered in confusion and +paused abruptly. +</P> + +<P> +"To gain anything—<I>much</I> of anything by trying to force Billiard into +being good." +</P> + +<P> +"How <I>are</I> we to make him mind, then? He won't coax. You can't +flatter him into behaving himself, and threats don't do a mite of good. +<I>I</I> think a smart dose of the hickory stick would be the most effective +medicine for such cases as his." +</P> + +<P> +Glory looked dubious. +</P> + +<P> +"You don't agree with me?" suggested Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +"He is such a big boy to be thrashed," she evaded. +</P> + +<P> +"He is such a big boy to act that way!" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that's true, but——" +</P> + +<P> +How she would have finished her sentence Tabitha never found out, for +at that moment a piercing scream broke the stillness of the desert +afternoon, followed by a medley of excited accusations, denials, +threats, and Billiard's taunting laugh. Tabitha flew to the rescue of +her brood and found Irene stretched full length in the gravel, with +Mercedes and Toady deluging her with water, while the rest of the +sisters danced frantically about the trio. +</P> + +<P> +"He—he shot her!" cried Rosslyn indignantly, at sight of the slender +figure in the doorway. +</P> + +<P> +"I gave her fair warning," said defiant Billiard. +</P> + +<P> +"Hand me your gun!" demanded Tabitha in exasperation, after a hasty +examination of the victim had convinced her that Irene was more +frightened than hurt. +</P> + +<P> +"Gun! Ha, ha, ain't that rich?" mocked Billiard. +</P> + +<P> +"'Twas a slingshot," volunteered Toady. +</P> + +<P> +"And he shooted a rock," added Janie. +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha held out her hand with an imperious gesture. "Pass it over +quietly, or I shall make you." +</P> + +<P> +Billiard calmly pocketed the article in dispute, and seeing that Irene +was recovering under the heroic treatment of her amateur nurses, he +seated himself in tantalizing silence upon the saw-horse, as if to +enjoy the scene he had created. But his enjoyment was short lived. +Tabitha, now thoroughly aroused, and forgetful of her dignity, swooped +down upon the tormentor, wrested his slingshot from his grasp, and +before anyone could divine her intentions, seized a barrel stave from +the woodpile and gave the surprised boy a sound drubbing. +</P> + +<P> +In the midst of the thrashing, there came vividly to her mind her +childish horror of that day of reckoning with her father, when he had +struck her with one of his slippers, and she recalled the fact that it +was not the physical hurt, but the humiliation of the blow which had +wounded her most deeply. Flinging down the stick, she released the +struggling lad as suddenly as she had seized him; and in tones that +sounded husky in spite of herself, briefly ordered, "Go to your room!" +</P> + +<P> +Angry, stunned, shamed, Billiard bounced through the kitchen, slammed +the door of his room, turned the key in the lock and—stood still in +the middle of the floor. Whipped by a girl not four years his senior! +Whipped by a <I>girl</I>! It was an unforgivable outrage. He would get +even for that. But what was he to do? Would <I>could</I> he do? She had +beaten him at every turn, she had set Toady against him, she had made +him the laughing stock of his cousins. He—he—he would do something +desperate. He would—— +</P> + +<P> +As if in answer to his thoughts, he heard a strange voice close beside +the open window say, "Yes, he has run away. The inspector completed +his job this morning, found Atwater's accounts five hundred dollars +short, and he skipped." +</P> + +<P> +"Who?" demanded Mercedes. "The post-master?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yep! Lit out. Can't have been gone more'n an hour, but no one seems +to have seen him anywhere around town, and they are scouring the +country for him." +</P> + +<P> +Billiard drew a deep breath. That was an idea. Why hadn't he thought +of it before! He, too, would run away. Stealthily he crept to the +little closet, selected a clean shirt, a pair of stockings, a necktie, +and his pajamas, tied them up in a bath-towel, not having such a thing +in his wardrobe as a bandana handkerchief, although he felt that this +was an essential; and after a cautious survey of the premises to make +sure that the children were nowhere near, he crawled out of the window, +carefully shut the screen again, and darted swiftly down the steep, +pathless incline on the west side of the house to the flat below. It +was a hazardous undertaking, and at any other time he would have shrunk +from attempting it, but in his unreasonable anger and desire for +revenge, all else was forgotten; and he arrived at the sandy bottom +breathless, badly scratched by the mesquite, and smarting from the +prick of cactus thorns, but triumphant. +</P> + +<P> +Pausing only long enough to shake his fist defiantly at the house on +the cliff above, he made off across the desert as fast as his legs +would carry him. His first idea had been to follow the railroad, but +on second thought he concluded that he might easily be overtaken and +brought back if he took that course. So after a brief survey of the +pathless landscape, he decided to skirt the mountains in whose hollow +lay the town of Silver Bow, and to strike off to the west, in the +direction of a neighboring mining camp called Crystal City. +</P> + +<P> +"If I <I>should</I> miss that place," he reasoned to himself, "I am sure to +get somewhere. Perhaps to Los Angeles that Mercy goes so crazy about. +Say, that's just the thing! It takes only about twelve hours to get +there by train; I ought to be able to walk it in two days, and I'll +join the navy. I always did want to be a sailor!" +</P> + +<P> +So he trudged sturdily on through the heavy sand of the flats, building +air castles and nursing his wrath, but paying little heed to the course +he was taking, until with a shiver of alarm he discovered that the +afternoon sun had set and the range of white-capped mountains which +sheltered Crystal City was seemingly no nearer than when he had set +out. He began to feel faint with hunger and thirst, and was appalled +to think he had forgotten in his flight to pack any lunch in his small +store of belongings, and was now what seemed miles from civilization, +in the midst of the pathless desert with neither food nor drink, and +night coming on. +</P> + +<P> +Night! He shuddered. How could he have forgotten the night part of +it? Where was he to stay? He was afraid of the desert darkness. +Somehow, it always seemed blacker and stiller there than anywhere else +on earth. But perhaps the moon would come up. That would be lots of +company, and the weather was so warm that he would really enjoy +sleeping out in the open air. Eagerly he scanned the evening sky, and +perceiving that the east appeared to be growing lighter, his spirits +began to rise. After all, he was not sorry he had run away. Wouldn't +there be consternation in the Eagles' Nest when his absence was +discovered? How Tabitha would regret her unwarranted harshness! And +Toady—Toady would cry and snivel because he had deserted his dear, big +brother in his hour of need. And searching parties would be sent all +over the country to find him. How he gloated over the pictures his +vivid imagination had drawn! +</P> + +<P> +But all the while he stumbled on, it was growing darker, the landscape +had become an indistinct blur, and night sounds filled the air. The +lonely howl of a wolf in the distance sent a chill of fear down +Billiard's spine; the scream of a night-hawk overhead made him jump +almost out of his shoes, and he was just beginning to consider where he +should lie down to sleep when a sudden scurry in the underbrush froze +him in his tracks. The next minute, however, he laughed at his fright, +for it was merely a mother burro and her baby colt which his steps had +routed from their hiding-place and sent flying across the flats for +safety. A twig snapping sharply under his feet startled him; what +sounded like a warning hiss close by brought his heart into his mouth; +and trembling from head to foot he paused by a clump of Spanish +bayonets, uncertain what to do next. +</P> + +<P> +Oh, if only he had not run away! If only he were sitting with the rest +of the lively troop of children around the supper table! Or perhaps it +was too late for supper now. More likely they would be preparing for +bed. What frolics they had enjoyed in the evenings when Tabitha made +taffy and recited stirring ballads to fill in the moments while the +toothsome sweet was cooking. What exciting tales his cousins told of +the brave, black-haired maid whom he was trying so hard to hate. He +did hate her! That is, sometimes he did. But he could not help +admiring her pluck, even though he stood in awe of the fierce temper +that blazed up so quickly, and as quickly died away again. She was +certainly a wonder for a girl. There was no 'fraid cat about her. He +wished she liked him better. But how could she, when he was so +tantalizing, mean and sly? Perhaps if he went back home, that is, to +Aunt—— +</P> + +<P> +"Hands up! We've got you at last!" growled a stern voice almost in his +ear, it seemed; and poor Billiard's hands shot high into the air, he +shut his eyes, held his breath and waited for the end. But to his +utter amazement, a second voice huskily replied, after an instant, +"Yes, you've got me, boys. I knew it was no use to run away, +but—I—couldn't bear—to stay—and know that everyone looked at me as +a thief. I never took the money." +</P> + +<P> +The moon, which had seemed so slow in rising, had finally mounted to +the crest of the surrounding hills, and poured a stream of mellow light +upon the waste below. Billiard, his hands still thrust stiffly above +his head, now distinguished a few feet in front of him the dark shapes +of a dozen or more men, armed with revolvers, clustering around one +whom he recognized as Atwater, the runaway post-master of Silver Bow. +</P> + +<P> +"That's all right, Atwater," growled the first speaker, who was +evidently leader of the posse. "Tell your tale in court, but be a man +and face the music. Fall in, boys!" +</P> + +<P> +For a long time, Billiard watched them as they marched their hapless +prisoner back to town, and the leader's words kept ringing in his ears, +"Be a man and face the music!" Suddenly a new thought flashed through +his brain. Why had he not followed them? It wasn't too late yet. He +could still see their forms indistinctly moving across the desert, and +by following their lead, would sooner or later reach Silver Bow +himself. Stepping out from the clump of Spanish bayonets which had +formed his retreat, he set out on a dog-trot in the direction the men +had taken, and after a long, rough, weary journey, actually found +himself trailing up the familiar path to the Eagles' Nest. +</P> + +<P> +He paused as he reached the children's play house and took a furtive +survey of the place. One lone light burned in the low cottage. +Probably Tabitha had missed him and was waiting for his return. +Supposing she should lick him again for running away? +</P> + +<P> +"Billiard!" +</P> + +<P> +'Twas only a whisper from a rock nearby? but the boy almost screamed +aloud in his fright at the unexpectedness of it. +</P> + +<P> +"Sh!" the voice continued. "It's only I,—Glory. I had to go to the +drug-store for some alum,—Janie has the croup,—and I saw you coming +up the trail. Tabitha hasn't missed you yet. She has been so anxious +over the baby. So sneak back to your room and I'll bring you something +to eat as soon as I can. Run now! Tabitha will be expecting me." +</P> + +<P> +"But Glory, doesn't <I>anyone</I> know I—" began bewildered Billiard, much +taken back at his reception. +</P> + +<P> +"Ran away?" finished Gloriana. "No one but Toady and myself. He won't +tell. I made him promise. Of course we'd have had to, if you hadn't +come back, but I knew—I thought you would—" How could she tell him +that she knew he was too much of a coward to persist in running away? +"Scramble into your room as quietly as possible," she continued, "so as +not to disturb the others, and I will bring you some supper in a minute +or so." +</P> + +<P> +"You're—you're awfully good to a feller," mumbled the abashed boy, +wondering how he ever could have disliked the red-haired Glory. +"I—I'll not forget it." And as the girl hurried up the path to the +kitchen door, he skirted the house till he reached the window of his +room, through which he wriggled cautiously and disappeared in the +friendly darkness within, thankful that he was home again. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap09"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER IX +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +BILLIARD SURRENDERS +</H3> + + +<P> +Toady kept his promise not to mention Billiard's runaway expedition to +anyone else save Gloriana; but being human, he could not keep from +twitting his brother occasionally, and the days which followed that +memorable night were full of misery for the unhappy boy. His cousins +avoided him, Tabitha ignored him, Toady tormented him, and even +Gloriana seemed indifferent to his plight. In his fright at +discovering himself lost on the desert at night, he had resolved to +follow Toady's example and turn over a new leaf. He could not quite +make up his mind to confess his sins to eagle-eyed Tabitha, but was +really sincere in his desire to do better; and was as surprised as he +was disappointed to find that no one paid any attention to the sudden +change in his deportment. +</P> + +<P> +"Might as well have kept on being bad," he growled with an injured air +one afternoon when a fortnight had passed without any noticeable change +in the atmosphere. "Wish I hadn't come back that night. Guess they'd +have sung a different tune then! Maybe a coyote would have got me, or +I'd have stepped into a rattlesnake's nest and been stung to death. +Bet they'd have felt sorry when they found me—," he hesitated. His +picture was too vivid, and he shuddered as he thought what a fate would +have been his had a rattlesnake bitten him as he tramped across the +pathless waste in his flight. "Pretty near dead," he finished finally, +unable to endure the thought that they <I>might</I> have found him dead. +</P> + +<P> +"If I had kept on, I'd be in Los Angeles now,—maybe in the navy +already. I've a good notion to try again. I could almost go by train, +now that my 'lowance has come. Mercy says it takes twelve dollars, and +I've got ten. 'T any rate, I could ride as far as that would take me, +and—by George, I b'lieve I could beat my way without spending a cent! +That's the way tramps travel from city to city." +</P> + +<P> +He winced at the idea of being classed with tramps, and fell to +debating whether he would buy a ticket and ride like a gentleman as far +as his ten dollars would carry him, or whether he would attempt the +hobo's hazardous method of transportation. Before he had arrived at +any satisfactory conclusion, he heard the tramp of feet close by, and +the lively chatter of voices, and around the bend of the path came +Toady with his six cousins. They did not see him at first, half hidden +as he was by the heap of ragged rocks on which he lay stretched full +length, but even when they did become aware of his presence, they +merely glanced indifferently at the lazy figure and passed by without +speaking. +</P> + +<P> +Angered at thus being ignored and left out in the cold, Billiard +resolved to display no interest in them, either, although he was +consumed with curiosity as to where they were bound; but a chance +remark of Susie's about being lowered in a bucket overcame his resolve, +and he called after them, "Where you going, kids?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't you wish you knew?" Inez flung back with a saucy toss of her +head. +</P> + +<P> +"Up Pike's Peak," said Toady, without so touch as looking back. +</P> + +<P> +"You mean down Ali Baba's cave," suggested Mercedes laughingly. +</P> + +<P> +"Shall we tell him?" asked Irene, relenting as she glanced back at the +lonely figure on the rocks. +</P> + +<P> +"He'll just be bad if we let him come," warned Susie. +</P> + +<P> +"He hasn't been bad for a long time," gentle Irene reminded them. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, what do you s'pose I care where you are going?" sung out Billiard, +more hurt by their manner than he cared to acknowledge. "Keep on to +Jericho, if you want to." +</P> + +<P> +"We ain't going to Jericho," said Irene, lagging uncertainly behind the +others. "Only just across town to that hill over there where is a—a +'bandoned mine. Toady's never seen what one looks like, so we're +taking him along to get a peek at it. Have you ever seen a mine?" +</P> + +<P> +Billiard shook his head. +</P> + +<P> +"Tabitha says if we're real good, she'll see if the superintendent +won't take us all through the Silver Legion mine before the summer is +over; but to-day we're just going to show Toady how the miners go up +and down the shaft. He won't b'lieve they use a bucket. Don't you +want to come too?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nope, guess not," Billiard answered promptly, though the wistful look +in his eyes belied his words. +</P> + +<P> +"It's int'resting," urged Irene, who somehow seemed to understand that +Billiard did not really mean what he said. +</P> + +<P> +"Is it a real bucket?" he could not refrain from asking. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Like a water bucket?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, only bigger." +</P> + +<P> +"I sh'd think the miners would fall out." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's big enough so they can't tumble if they mind the rules; but +you've got to keep your head down inside, or you'll be killed by the +big beans—" she meant beams—"which are built in to hold the dirt from +caving in and filling up the mine. Come and see for yourself." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, p'r'aps I will." With a great show of indifference, the boy +uncoiled his legs, slid to the ground beside Irene, and hurried with +her after the others, now a considerable distance in advance; but the +little group had reached their goal and were gingerly peering into the +black depths of the abandoned shaft when Billiard and Irene joined them. +</P> + +<P> +"Ugh!" shuddered Mercedes, drawing back with a shiver from the yawning +mouth of the hole. "It smells like lizards. I'll bet the bottom of +the shaft is full of them." +</P> + +<P> +"It didn't use to be," remarked Susie, dropping a pebble over the brink +and listening to the hollow echoes it awoke as it bounded from timber +to timber. +</P> + +<P> +"Were you ever down there?" asked Toady in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"No, but papa was one of the men here when the mine was working." +</P> + +<P> +"What did it quit working for?" ventured Billiard, testing the +weather-stained rope still coiled about the winch above the shaft. +</P> + +<P> +"The vein of rich silver stopped all of a sudden and they couldn't make +the other ore pay, so they shut down, and the men went to work in other +mines, or else moved away." +</P> + +<P> +"How deep is a shaft?" asked Toady, as Susie sent another pebble +spinning after the first and counted rapidly until it struck the bottom. +</P> + +<P> +"Some are <I>hundreds</I> of feet deep," replied Mercedes impressively, glad +of a chance to air her meagre knowledge of mining affairs. "But +this——" +</P> + +<P> +"Is only a hole," finished Inez contemptuously. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean by that?" demanded Billiard, mystified. "Ain't this +a sure-enough shaft?" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, yes," Mercedes hastened to inform him; "only 'tisn't the main one. +That's all boarded up, and no one can go down it any more. This was +dug later. Someone thought there was more silver here, and they made +this shaft. It's not very deep——" +</P> + +<P> +"Let's go down it!" proposed Billiard, boyishly eager for such an +adventure. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, horrors!" shrieked Mercedes. "With all those lizards down there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Shucks! Lizards won't hurt a fellow." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe there are snakes, too," said Rosslyn, hastily backing away from +the place. +</P> + +<P> +"We'd have heard them," Billiard answered promptly. "Susie has fired +enough rocks at 'em to stir 'em up if there was any there." +</P> + +<P> +"But Tabitha mightn't like it," suggested Irene in troubled tones. +</P> + +<P> +"Did she ever say you <I>couldn't</I> go?" +</P> + +<P> +"N-o." +</P> + +<P> +"Or did your mother?" +</P> + +<P> +"N-o." +</P> + +<P> +"Then what's to hinder?" +</P> + +<P> +"S'posing the rope should bu'st," mused Irene aloud. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>That</I> rope? Why, it's half as big as my arm! Yes, bigger." +</P> + +<P> +"But it has been here a long, long time. Ever since I can remember. +Doesn't rope rot?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll bet that's as strong as iron," boasted Billiard. "There's +nothing rotten about it. I'll stump any of you to go down with me." +</P> + +<P> +"Will you go first and see if there are any snakes?" demanded Susie, +whose love of adventure was constantly leading her into mischief. +</P> + +<P> +"If you'll promise honor bright to come next." +</P> + +<P> +"I will," Susie rashly promised, her eyes dancing with excitement and +eagerness. "Will you go, too, Toady?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, but who's going to let us down? I'll bet it takes some work to +keep the rope unwinding just right." +</P> + +<P> +"I'll lower you all," proposed Mercedes magnanimously, for the idea of +descending into that black, musty hole did not appeal to her in the +least, but she could not bear to appear less brave than fly-away Susie. +</P> + +<P> +"You! Pooh! You are just a girl! The bucket would get away from you +the first thing, and then where'd the rest of us be? No, I've got a +better plan than that. You and Toady and Irene let Susie and Inez and +me down first; and after we have had a look at the thing, we'll come up +and let you down. How does that suit you?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's a go," Toady readily responded. +</P> + +<P> +"All right," quavered Mercedes. +</P> + +<P> +But Irene held her peace. Nothing could tempt her to crouch in that +great, swaying bucket and be dropped into the blackness of that yawning +pit, but she did not mean to voice her opinions until the proper +moment. So she took her place beside Mercedes and Toady and puffed and +panted as the rope slowly unwound, and Billiard, scrooched low in the +bucket, disappeared from view. It was hard work and slow, to pay out +the rope evenly, but Billiard did not seem at all inclined to be +critical, and accepted his rough, jolting descent without a murmur. +Had the truth been known, the boy was too nearly paralyzed with fright +to notice anything of his surroundings, and more than once he was on +the point of signalling for his companions to hoist him to the surface +again, but fear of ridicule kept him tongue-tied until it was too late. +</P> + +<P> +With a final jerk and jolt, the bucket stood still, and cautiously +opening his eyes for the first time since he had stepped into his queer +elevator. Billiard beheld a row of black, shadowy heads hovering over +the brink of the aperture, and heard Toady's voice, sounding strangely +muffled and far away, call cheerfully, "Well, you've struck bottom, old +boy! What does it look like?" +</P> + +<P> +Bottom? Billiard blinked and rubbed his eyes, and peered about him in +surprise; but at first in the semi-darkness, he could distinguish +nothing. Then as he grew more accustomed to the blackness, he could +see before him the mouth of a still blacker cavern, which to his vivid +imagination seemed yawning to swallow him up; and he shudderingly +shrank back into the friendly protection of the bucket. +</P> + +<P> +"Why don't you answer?" demanded an impatient voice from above. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Are</I> there snakes and lizards?" called Mercedes. +</P> + +<P> +Snakes! Lizards! Billiard had forgotten them, but with a sigh of +relief he realized that there was not a sound of anything stirring +about him. "Naw!" he yelled back, trying to make his voice sound brave +and scornful. "Guess not. I can't see a thing. Might as well haul me +up, 'cause no one could tell what a mine looks like in this blackness." +</P> + +<P> +"Got any matches?" inquired Toady. +</P> + +<P> +Billiard rapidly felt through his pockets. "One," he announced. +</P> + +<P> +"Then here's a candle. Catch it!" +</P> + +<P> +Toady let it drop almost before the words were out of his mouth, and +with a tremendous thump it struck poor Billiard on the head before he +had caught the significance of the directions from above; and with a +yelp of surprise and pain, he tumbled out of the bucket against a +timber, which shivered and splintered under his weight. But in some +mysterious manner, he found himself in possession of the candle when he +had righted himself once more and brushed the rotten wood from his eyes +and mouth. He lost no time in striking his one lone match and lighting +the slender taper in his hand, much to the relief of the group hovering +anxiously about the shaft. +</P> + +<P> +"There!" he heard Susie ejaculate. "I was sure he had killed himself." +</P> + +<P> +"You mean that Toady did," spluttered the indignant Billiard. "What do +you think my head is made of—iron?" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>I</I> couldn't tell that it would hit you on the head, could I?" +protested the younger boy apologetically. "Why didn't you dodge?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dodge? D'ye think I'm a cat with eyes that see in the dark?" +</P> + +<P> +"Never mind," soothed Irene, who had ventured near enough the curbing +to take an occasional peep down into the blackness. "It's too bad it +hurt you. Put some cold water on the bump——" +</P> + +<P> +A derisive shout from her sisters stopped her, and even Billiard had to +smile, though he felt grateful toward the little twin who was sorry he +was hurt. By this time the pale candle flame had ceased to sputter and +flicker uncertainly, but burned with a steady light, and with a thrill +of exultation Billiard looked curiously about him, relieved to find no +snakes or crawly things in the abandoned shaft, and pleased beyond +measure to think he had actually braved the terrors of the dark to +explore this mysterious place, so he could crow over his brother and +cousins because of his courage. +</P> + +<P> +"Say, but it's great down here," he called, venturing just inside the +timbered cross-cut and staring at the rocky walls which here and there +glistened alluringly. "And there's pecks of silver sticking out of +every stone. Why don't you come on down, Toady?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't till you come up. It's Susie and Inez now. Going, girls?" +</P> + +<P> +"You bet!" cried Susie enthusiastically. "Pull up the bucket and help +me in." +</P> + +<P> +Eagerly they turned the creaking old windlass and Susie descended to +join Billiard in his underground explorations. Being much lighter than +her cousin, it was easier to lower her down the shaft; and still easier +with Inez in the bucket; but once the trio were safely at the bottom, +the little group above became all impatience for their turn. Mercy's +courage had returned as she saw how simple an operation it was to let +down the loaded bucket, and even Irene began to feel a desire to +explore the mysteries of the abandoned mine with the rest of her mates. +Only Rosslyn and Janie hung back, but no one cared. In fact, it +simplified matters not to have to bother with such little tads; but it +was a nuisance to have Billiard linger so long when he knew the others +were just dying to go down. +</P> + +<P> +At last Toady could resist temptation no longer. "I'm going, too," he +announced with determination. +</P> + +<P> +"Before Billiard comes up?" +</P> + +<P> +He nodded grimly. +</P> + +<P> +"But s'posing you're too heavy for just Irene and me," suggested +Mercedes. +</P> + +<P> +"I shall slide down the rope. I'd rather do that than have you drop me +or let the rope out too fast." +</P> + +<P> +"But—how can you?" Mercedes demurred. +</P> + +<P> +"It's so far down there," said Irene. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, in gym work at school we slide down poles and bars and all sorts +of things. It oughtn't to be any harder with a rope. I'm going to +try, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +Silently but enviously, the girls watched him spit on his palms, test +the rope, and finally let himself slowly down into the shaft, with legs +wrapped tightly about his slender, swaying support, and hands grasping +the rough strands with a desperate grip, for, too late, he realized +what a horrible fate would be his if he should fall; but when he would +have gone back, he could not. +</P> + +<P> +"How in the world will we ever get them up?" whispered Irene +wonderingly; but before Mercedes could frame a reply, there was a crash +from below, a cry, a grating sound of falling rock and then hideous, +horrible silence. +</P> + +<P> +"Toady!" shrieked the girls in frenzy, "did you fall?" +</P> + +<P> +"No," came back a muffled answer. "I'm all right, but we have knocked +down some boards and can't get out." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't get out!" they repeated dully. +</P> + +<P> +"No. Run for help! Our candle has gone out and it's as black as pitch +in here." +</P> + +<P> +"Who'll I go for?" wailed panic-stricken Mercedes, while Irene danced +frantically around the shaft and wrung her hands as she chanted, +"They'll smother, they'll smother, they'll smother!" +</P> + +<P> +"Anyone, but hustle up!" yelled Toady impatiently, for his companions +in the disaster had uttered not a sound since their first wild scream, +and a horrible fear that they were hurt or even killed gripped his +heart. +</P> + +<P> +However, little Rosslyn was already half-way down the mountain, fairly +skimming over the rocks and rubbish, and almost before the distracted +girls had recovered their senses enough to be of any aid to the +prisoners, the little fellow stumbled across the threshold of the +Eagles' Nest, gasping, "They've caved in—Bill and Toady and the girls. +I guess maybe they're dead by now!" +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha was on her feet in an instant and the pan of potatoes which she +was peeling went spinning across the floor. "Where, Rosslyn?" +</P> + +<P> +Mutely he pointed, too spent for words; and the girl, remembering the +old, unprotected shaft of the abandoned Selfridge mine, flew to the +rescue of her brood, pausing only to snatch a lantern from a peg on the +wall, and a handful of matches from the pantry shelf. +</P> + +<P> +Mercedes had disappeared when she reached the spot of the accident, but +Irene was tugging desperately at the huge windlass, slowly winding up +the heavy bucket, moaning all the while in a distracted undertone, +while tears of fright trickled down her dirty face. So busy was she +that she never heard the patter of Tabitha's feet behind her, and the +first intimation she had of help at hand was when the older girl jerked +her back from the mouth of the shaft, released the half-raised bucket, +and sent it hurtling back into the pit once more. +</P> + +<P> +"Go for the assayer," she commanded hoarsely, seizing the heavy rope +with both hands, and preparing to descend as Toady had done. "Run, +hurry! And then get Dr. Hayes. We may need him." +</P> + +<P> +The windlass creaked and groaned, the rope swayed and strained, as +Tabitha slid out of sight, while Irene raced madly away to do her +bidding. Unmindful of bumps or bruises, and almost unaware that her +hands were cruelly burned and torn from her too rapid descent, the +black-eyed girl had scarcely touched the bottom of the shaft before she +had her lantern lighted and was digging like mad at the fallen rock and +debris which almost completely blocked the entrance of the narrow +cross-cut. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is it?" called a voice from behind the barrier. +</P> + +<P> +"Thank God!" breathed Tabitha, working with renewed fury. "That you, +Toady?" +</P> + +<P> +"Bet you!" came the cheering response. +</P> + +<P> +"Are you hurt?" +</P> + +<P> +"Nope!" +</P> + +<P> +"Where are the others?" +</P> + +<P> +"Here!" +</P> + +<P> +"Safe?" +</P> + +<P> +"I—don't know. I can feel 'em, but they don't answer." +</P> + +<P> +At that instant, without any warning, one of the fallen timbers slipped +from its position, and revealed a narrow aperture into the crosscut, +through which Tabitha caught a glimpse of Toady's white face and the +gleam of Susie's scarlet dress. +</P> + +<P> +"Can you crawl through?" she demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Carefully now, so as not to start another landslide. There! Now, can +you help me make the opening bigger?" +</P> + +<P> +But other aid was at hand. The assayer with three men from the town +had arrived and the rescue of the quintette at the bottom of the shaft +was speedily effected. +</P> + +<P> +"Are they—" Tabitha's voice faltered as she stood at last on the +rocky mountainside and looked down into the still, white faces of +Billiard, Susie and Inez. How could she ever have let them out of her +sight? How could she ever break the news to the mother? +</P> + +<P> +"Merely stunned," replied the doctor, examining the victims with rapid, +practised fingers. "See, the girls are coming to their senses. It's +nothing short of a miracle that— Hello, Susie, what did you say?" +</P> + +<P> +"It wasn't gold at all," murmured the child faintly; "just quartz, but +he wouldn't b'lieve it." +</P> + +<P> +Billiard opened his eyes slowly. "She says gold don't look like gold +in a mine, but I got a pocketful of—" His sentence ended in a groan +of pain, and the hand he was trying to thrust into his trousers fell +limply at his side. +</P> + +<P> +"Aha!" cried the doctor. "Let's see what we have here." +</P> + +<P> +"A break?" questioned the assayer. +</P> + +<P> +"Bad sprain, I think, but it will keep the young man out of mischief +for one while. Are your legs all right? Then I reckon we better move +on to town." +</P> + +<P> +So it happened that no serious results came from their latest prank, +but Tabitha, in her thankfulness that all her brood was safe and sound, +fell into a fit of bitter weeping as soon as the children were back in +the Eagles' Nest once more and the rescuers had departed. +</P> + +<P> +"Don't," begged Janie tearfully. "I loves 'oo! I was dood!" +</P> + +<P> +"Please don't," pleaded the other sisters in great distress. "We'll +never do it again." +</P> + +<P> +"It was all my fault," cried Toady contritely. "I'm ever so sorry." +</P> + +<P> +"It was not," muttered Billiard, wincing with the pain in his arm, but +truly repentant. "I dared 'em to go. Honest, Tabby, <I>I</I> was to blame! +Will you—will you—er—forgive me? I'm horribly—sorry. Won't you +try me again?" +</P> + +<P> +So sincere was his tone, so straightforward his confession, so manly +his bearing, that Tabitha could not fail to be convinced of his +earnestness of purpose, and drying her eyes, she took Billiard's +proffered hand in a hearty grasp, saying with quivering, smiling lips, +"Let's all try each other again." +</P> + +<P> +"Let's!" cried the rest of the brood; and they meant it, every one. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap10"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER X +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +SUSANNE ENTERTAINS A CALLER +</H3> + + +<P> +"Let's make some candy. It's too hot to play." +</P> + +<P> +Susie and the twins were sitting idly on a great, shaggy, redwood log +in the scanty shade of the house, fanning themselves as briskly as +their tired arms would move, and longing for the cool of sundown. +</P> + +<P> +Irene looked startled at the older sister's suggestion, and began, +"Tabitha——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I know she made us promise not to get into mischief," Susie +impatiently interrupted her, "but taffy ain't mischief. We'll make a +big batch so's there will be plenty for the others when they get back." +</P> + +<P> +"It's so hot," objected Inez, as Susie turned to her for approval. +</P> + +<P> +"We'll use the gasolene stove." +</P> + +<P> +"But you've never lighted it. How'll you——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Irene, you make me tired! Don't you s'pose I know how? Haven't I +watched mamma and Tabitha hundreds of times? Guess I can manage it if +Mercy can. Come on, Inez!" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know how to make taffy?" questioned the undaunted Irene, +following the other two into the sweltering kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +"Course! Molasses and sugar and vinegar and butter. Ask me something +hard." +</P> + +<P> +"Tabitha measures 'em." +</P> + +<P> +"So shall I. You go fetch the m'lasses jug and a cup. Inez, bring the +vinegar and butter, and I'll measure things after I get the stove +a-going." Mopping her face and bustling energetically about the small +room, Susie marshalled her forces and set to work with contagious +enthusiasm. All three donned huge aprons, hunted up long-handled +spoons, and rattled among the neat array of pots and pans until it +sounded as if a whole regiment had been turned loose in the kitchen. +</P> + +<P> +The stove was lighted without any trouble, much to the relief of the +breathless trio, and the candy making was soon in progress. Sugar was +measured and molasses spilled with reckless abandon over table, floor +and stove, in their hurry to get their delectable sweet on cooking +before the rest of the family should return from their day's outing and +interfere, for, secretly, each be-aproned girl, paddling in the pot +with her sticky spoon and dribbling syrup wherever she ran, felt that +she was not strictly obeying Tabitha's parting injunction, and was +anxious to have a peace offering ready when she returned with the rest +of her brood. +</P> + +<P> +They had gone for a drive to the river, and as there was not room in +the light wagon for all the large family, Susie and the twins had been +bribed to remain at home with the promise of ice-cream sodas at the +little drug-store. However, that unusual treat had disappeared long +ago down the three eager throats, and they had begun to rue their +bargain when Susie's inspiration fired them with enthusiasm once more. +</P> + +<P> +"I wish we had some nuts," panted perspiring Inez, stirring the +bubbling mess in the kettle so vigorously that a great spatter flew up +and struck Irene on the hand. +</P> + +<P> +"Ooo!" screeched the unfortunate victim. "What made you do that?" +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't do it a-purpose," indignantly denied her twin. "Stop your +jumping and suck it off." +</P> + +<P> +Irene obediently thrust the smarting wound into her mouth, and +immediately let out another howl of anguish, for the sticky mass had +burned the little tongue sadly, and the tears rained down the rosy +cheeks unchecked while the dismayed sisters racked their brains for +some soothing remedy to deaden the pain. +</P> + +<P> +"Try this," suggested Susie, hurrying out of the pantry with a can of +baking powder in her hand, vaguely recalling that some kind of white +powder used in cooking was good for burns. +</P> + +<P> +"I will not," sobbed Irene angrily. "You don't know what it will do. +You're just guessing." +</P> + +<P> +"Gloriana put coal oil on Toady's foot," timidly began Inez, half +distracted at having been the cause of all her sister's woe. +</P> + +<P> +"And you think I'll stick my <I>tongue</I> in <I>that</I>?" roared the usually +gentle twin so savagely that both her companions fell silent, perplexed +at the unhappy situation. +</P> + +<P> +Meanwhile the bubbling syrup had been forgotten, and with an ominous +hiss and a pungent odor, the seething mass boiled over the top of the +kettle and was promptly licked up by the eager flames of the stove. A +great cloud of smoke filled the kitchen, and the paralyzed girls awoke +to their danger with a sickening horror. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, oh, oh!" they screamed in frenzy. "The house will catch! We'll +all be burned up! What will mamma say?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush! Shut up! Give me your apron!" commanded an authoritative voice +behind them, and a big, shabby stranger rushed past them, snatched +Susie's apron, gave a deft twist to the flaming burner, seized the +smoking kettle, and vanished through the kitchen door before any of the +sisters realized what had happened. He was soon back with the +blackened pot in his hands and a reassuring smile on his lips. "It's +all right, kids," he announced cheerily, noting the terror in their +faces. "No harm's done. It won't take but a few minutes to clean up +that stove and pan and no one will be the wiser. You are housekeeping +by yourselves to-day, I see." His quick, restless, eager eyes had +noted the tell-tale signs of mischief about him before he hazarded that +remark. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, oh, yes!" breathed Susie in great relief. "Tabitha's taken the +rest of the children down to the river, and we're all alone." +</P> + +<P> +"The river?" +</P> + +<P> +"The Colorado. We often go there when we can get the assayer's horses, +but the wagon won't hold us all, so we three stayed at home to-day." +</P> + +<P> +"And had ice-cream sodas for being good," added Irene. +</P> + +<P> +"We <I>wanted</I> to make some taffy," mourned Inez, ruefully eyeing the +blackened mass which the mysterious stranger was deftly removing from +the stove and floor. +</P> + +<P> +"'Twas so lonesome here by ourselves," supplemented Susie +apologetically, remembering that she was responsible for the candy +suggestion. +</P> + +<P> +"So 'while the cat's away the mice will play'," chuckled the man, +beginning a vigorous scraping of the sticky kettle. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, how did you know her name was Catt?" cried Irene in amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"Goosie!" exclaimed Susie sarcastically. +</P> + +<P> +"He didn't know. That's not what he meant. But truly, mister, I don't +think Tabitha would have minded a bit if our candy had come out all +right. As 'tis, we've wasted such a lot of m'lasses and sugar that I +reckon she'll scold——" +</P> + +<P> +"If she ever finds it out," broke in Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"That's it—<I>if</I> she ever finds it out," chuckled the man again. "Who +is this mysterious Tabitha that you are so scared of?" +</P> + +<P> +"We ain't <I>scared</I> of her," protested Susie loyally. "Her name is +Tabitha Catt, and she's taking care of us while mamma is with papa at +the hospital in Los Angeles. She's only a girl herself, but we +promised to mind her so mamma could go, and not fret about us all the +time, and we're trying hard to keep our promise." +</P> + +<P> +"But sometimes we forget," said truthful Irene. "We oughtn't to have +made that candy, 'cause we told her we wouldn't get into mischief while +she was gone. I guess that's why it burnt up." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess it's no such thing!" Inez contradicted hotly. "You made such +a fuss over nothing that Susie and me forgot to watch it and it boiled +over." +</P> + +<P> +"I guess you'd have made a fuss if I'd blistered your hand like you did +mine," cried Irene in great indignation, suddenly remembering her +grievance, and affectionately regarding the white blister on her plump +hand. "Then on top of that you told me to suck it off, when you knew +it was boiling hot and would skin my whole mouth." +</P> + +<P> +"Tut, tut!" interrupted the stranger, seeing that a quarrel was +imminent. "Now don't get mad all at once. I've a proposition to make +to you——" +</P> + +<P> +"A what?" asked Susie, glad she had taken no part in the flare-up +between the twins. +</P> + +<P> +"A bargain. I'll make you a mess of candy that'll pop your eyes out if +you will give me a square meal,—something to eat, you know, and plenty +of it. I'm hungry as the deuce, and candy ain't very filling. Is it a +go?" +</P> + +<P> +Susie looked at her crestfallen companions, and they looked at her. +</P> + +<P> +"There were no potatoes left from dinner," began Irene. +</P> + +<P> +"But there's any number of cans of stuff in the pantry," said Inez +hastily. +</P> + +<P> +"Salmon and sardines and veal loaf and corned beef and vegetables," +added Susie hopefully, yet fearful lest the menu should not prove +sufficiently tempting to the queer, unexpected, unknown visitor. "And +Tabitha cut the cake for dinner." +</P> + +<P> +"Besides cookies and crackers and bread," murmured Irene, seeing +reproof in her sisters' eyes, and feeling that she had been +inhospitable to their hungry guest. +</P> + +<P> +"Good!" promptly answered the man. "I reckon we'll make out. Just +open a tin of salmon, make a pot of strong coffee, and bring on your +bread and cake and sauce—lots of it, now, for I haven't had a bite to +eat since last night. Lost my money, you know, and it hurts a decent +fellow's pride to beg." +</P> + +<P> +The trio nodded sympathetically, and hurried to do his bidding, while +he rapidly measured out fresh supplies of sugar and syrup, and briskly +began stirring the mass over the fire, talking all the while. "I just +happened to be passing when I smelled your stuff burning, and thinks I, +now there's trouble in there. Just then you all commenced screaming, +and I was sure the house was a-fire, so I rushed in to help. Good +gracious, but I was scared for a minute when I see the flames jumping +so high. You might have had an explosion any minute." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," gravely agreed the girls, the look of terror returning to their +eyes. +</P> + +<P> +"If it hadn't been for you, I reckon the house would have burned down, +and it's the only one we've got," said Irene. +</P> + +<P> +He nodded. "I understand, and so I thought you wouldn't begrudge me a +bite to eat, after I had put out the fire and cleaned up the clutter so +Tabitha wouldn't know that you had been in mischief." +</P> + +<P> +"Course we're glad to give you something to eat," Inez again hastily +interrupted. "'Specially when you are making us some more candy. Are +you ready for your—lunch—now?" +</P> + +<P> +"In a jiffy. Just grease a pan for this dope and I'll pour it out to +cool. Bet it beats yours all hollow. There! Set it in the +window—so! Now, I'll sample your larder. Looks fine and smells +bully. Which store is best here in town?" +</P> + +<P> +"Brinkley's," promptly answered the trio, with longing eyes fixed upon +the golden flood of syrup cooling in the window. +</P> + +<P> +"Though Dawley's is bigger," added Irene. +</P> + +<P> +"Do they make much money?" +</P> + +<P> +"They ought to. Prices are high enough," answered Susie with a +comically grown-up air. +</P> + +<P> +"Most of the miners trade at Dawley's, 'cause he don't hurry 'em so +about paying," said Inez naively. "But the Carsons and Catts and Dr. +Hayes, and those folks buy at Brinkley's, 'cause his stuff is nicer." +</P> + +<P> +"We <I>did</I> trade there," began Irene, but Susie interrupted, "Most of +our stuff comes from Los Angeles now. It's cheaper to trade that way, +and anyhow, papa knows the man real well, and now that he's sick in the +hospital, he doesn't have to worry about pay day all the time, for this +man will wait till he is well enough to work again." +</P> + +<P> +"When is pay day?" casually inquired the man. "I mean how often does +it come?" +</P> + +<P> +"Once a month—the fifteenth." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger's eyes glittered with satisfaction, and he muttered, "The +fifteenth,—that's to-morrow." +</P> + +<P> +"What did you say?" asked Susie. +</P> + +<P> +"I was just thinking," he replied, glancing uneasily from one bright +face to the other to see if any of the children had caught his +indiscreet remark. "By the way, who lives in that little, unpainted +house on the edge of town?" He pointed vaguely over his shoulder, and +the sisters looked at each other in bewilderment. +</P> + +<P> +"The pest house?" suggested Irene. +</P> + +<P> +"The Ramsey place?" said Inez questioningly. +</P> + +<P> +"The haunted house?" ventured Susie. "You see, there are so many +unpainted houses on the edge of town." +</P> + +<P> +"The haunted house!" laughed the stranger incredulously. "Whoever +heard tell of a haunted house in a mining camp!" +</P> + +<P> +"Silver Bow has one," stoutly asserted the twins. +</P> + +<P> +"Where? Which one? I confess I am curious." +</P> + +<P> +"It's the last one on the East End Lode," replied Susie with dignity, +feeling that the reputation of her town was at stake. +</P> + +<P> +"The queer old shack beyond Tabitha's," added Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"There are only three houses in that hollow," explained Irene. "The +Carson's big house, the Catt's littler one, and this haunted house." +</P> + +<P> +"What haunts it?" jeered the man, pushing back from the table and +glancing sharply down the trail toward town. +</P> + +<P> +"A—a ghost," the twins half whispered. +</P> + +<P> +"A man killed himself there once," said Susie. +</P> + +<P> +"Or was murdered," shuddered Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"Or else he just died," put in practical-minded Irene. "Anyway, they +found him there dead." +</P> + +<P> +"And sometimes now folks hear queer things there." +</P> + +<P> +"And see lights." +</P> + +<P> +"Tabitha never has," Irene declared. "And she lives nearest it." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, 't any rate, it's haunted and no one ever goes there now, not +even Tabitha, who ain't afraid of a <I>thing</I>." +</P> + +<P> +The stranger rose slowly to his feet, yawned as if bored by their +chatter, picked up his hat, and started for the door; then paused, and +casually surveying the pan of taffy on the window sill, remarked, +"Believe if I was you, I'd eat that all up before the rest of the folks +get back. There's just about enough for three, and I've a notion that +Miss Tabitha will think you didn't keep your promise very well if she +ever finds out how near you came to setting the house a-fire. She'll +never dare trust you again. It might be well not to mention that I +dropped in, either. Tramps aren't often welcome visitors, even in a +mining camp, you know. But I appreciate your dinner, and thank you +kindly. Good-day, ladies." +</P> + +<P> +"Good-day," they echoed mechanically, and with puzzled eyes watched him +disappear in the direction of the railroad station on the flats. Then +they faced each other. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you s'pose we better—" began Susie slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"Not tell?" ventured Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"And eat all the candy ourselves?" added Irene. +</P> + +<P> +There was a moment's pause while three active brains worked furiously. +</P> + +<P> +Then Susie sighed, "I b'lieve he's right. Tabitha would never trust us +again. We better keep still about the whole thing." +</P> + +<P> +"Then we'll have to hurry and clear up this mess," said Irene. "We can +hide the candy until later, but this table would give everything away." +</P> + +<P> +So the trio flew to work again, put away the remains of the tramp's +dinner, washed the telltale dishes, and had the kitchen in its usual +spick and span order when the rest of the large family returned an hour +later from their sojourn to the river. If their consciences pricked +them a little for their deception, they said nothing, not even to each +other; and it was several days before the young housekeeper discovered +their secret. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap11"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XI +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +IN THE CANYON +</H3> + + +<P> +The next day was Saturday, and the morning dawned so hot and sultry +that almost before the old kitchen clock struck five, the restless +eaglets were stirring once more. +</P> + +<P> +"Now's the time I wish we didn't live so far up the mountain," sighed +Mercedes, mopping her perspiring face on her sleeve as she struggled to +button the dress she had just donned. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, summer's an awful trial here in this house," agreed Susie, trying +to decide whether to put on her shoes and stockings and suffer from the +heat in that manner, or to go bare-footed and burn her tender soles on +the hot sands. +</P> + +<P> +"Le's do down to the river to-day," lisped Janie, lifting eager eyes to +scan the dark face bending over, as Tabitha patiently brushed the +tangled curls into smooth ringlets. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, let's!" seconded the twins. +</P> + +<P> +"You know we had to stay at home yesterday when the rest of you went," +wheedled Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"And 'twould have been awful lonesome," began Irene, "if it hadn't been +for that——" +</P> + +<P> +"Ice-cream," hastily interposed Susie, giving the little blunderbus a +warning glance. "Can't we go, Tabitha? It would be so much cooler +there." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't see how we can manage it," answered the flushed housekeeper, +glancing longingly out of the window down the yellow ribbon of a road +which wound its way in and out among the rocks and yuccas on its way to +the muddy Colorado, seven miles away. "The assayer will be wanting his +horses to-day and it's too far to walk." +</P> + +<P> +"Can't we hire a team from the stables?" proposed Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"And pay ten dollars a day for it?" scoffed Mercedes. "Where are you +going to get your money to foot the bill?" +</P> + +<P> +"Then let's catch enough burros to lug us all," suggested the +resourceful Susie. "No one would care. They run loose on the desert +all the time." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha shook her head slowly, although her eyes gleamed appreciatively +at the plan. If only Rosslyn and Janie were older! How she would +enjoy such a frolic as Susie's suggestion would mean. +</P> + +<P> +Only Gloriana remained discreetly silent. +</P> + +<P> +She shuddered whenever she recalled her first and only ride on one of +the wicked little beasts,—that wild New Years Even when she and +Tabitha had tried to keep Mr. McKittrick's claims from being +jumped,—and she drew an audible sigh of relief at Tabitha's decision. +But the next instant her heart sank within her, for with a scurry of +feet in the narrow hallway, the door of the room was unceremoniously +flung open, and two eager, boyish faces peered in. +</P> + +<P> +"I say, Tab," began Billiard, so excited he could hardly refrain from +shouting his news, "your Uncle Decker is out here——" +</P> + +<P> +"And he's brung a whole—flock—of burros," broke in Toady, so anxious +to tell part of the good news that he could not stop for choice of +words. +</P> + +<P> +"Saddled," Billiard hurried on, trying to beat Toady to the climax. +</P> + +<P> +"For us!" cried the smaller boy. +</P> + +<P> +"To ride to the canyon on!" bellowed the two as with one voice. +</P> + +<P> +"Really?" gasped Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +"How perfectly scrumptious!" squealed the tribe of McKittrick. +</P> + +<P> +"But Janie and Rosslyn," faltered Gloriana faintly. "Aren't they too +small——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, he's got a buckboard, too," grinned Billiard, who had recently +discovered the red-haired maid's poor little secret; but forbore to +make unkind remarks about it because he himself stood somewhat in awe +of the sleepy-eyed demons of the desert, since one had unexpectedly +kicked him when he was trying to mount. "He drove in for some +provisions, and your father told him to bring us all back with him, and +we're to <I>camp</I> at the mines until Monday. Won't that be great? +Whoop-ee!" He leaped into the air, cracked his heels together and came +down with a resounding thump which shook the whole house and made the +dishes in the pantry rattle. +</P> + +<P> +But no word of reproof was uttered, for Tabitha had seized the +half-dressed, half-combed Janie in her arms, and rushed from the room. +It seemed impossible that anyone could have come up that narrow, rocky +trail to the Eagles' Nest with a half dozen or more burros and a +buckboard without her having heard them, but there they were lined up +by the kitchen steps,—seven sleepy-eyed, wicked little burros, saddled +and bridled, and a pair of small, wiry mustangs hitched to a light +wagon, and driven by Decker Simmons, Mr. Catt's partner. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Uncle Decker!" Tabitha began. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't we tell you he was here?" exulted the two boys who had followed +her. +</P> + +<P> +"But—but—" she stammered. +</P> + +<P> +"But she didn't b'lieve us," crowed Toady. +</P> + +<P> +"I thought you must be mistaken," she confessed, "for I could not +imagine anyone so crazy as to want <I>ten</I> children under foot at a mine. +Whatever possessed Dad, Uncle Decker?" +</P> + +<P> +The man laughed good-naturedly. "Thought we all needed a vacation, I +reckon," he answered. "Are you anywhere near ready? Better hurry. +Sun will soon be unmercifully hot, and the canyon isn't exactly within +walking distance. Can't I help?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, thanks. It won't take us long——" +</P> + +<P> +"We're ready now," announced the procession of girls crowded around her. +</P> + +<P> +"Mercy finished Janie's hair while you stood here gabbing. Glory +packed up what duds we'd need, and Billiard's got the house all locked +up. Who's to take which burro?" +</P> + +<P> +"Makes no difference," answered the man, chuckling at the despatch with +which preparations for the outing were made. "Put the little tikes in +here with me, and any of the rest of you who perfer the buckboard can +pile in. That red—the girl with the game hip—you better ride with +us, too." +</P> + +<P> +This suited Gloriana perfectly, and she lost no time in making herself +comfortable among the leather cushions with Rosslyn and Janie beside +her; but the rest of the party declined that method of transportation, +and mounted the animals standing patiently in the scant shade of the +porch. In less time than it takes to tell, the hilarious procession +was on its way to the canyon, and the baking town was left behind. +</P> + +<P> +"Let's race," cried Billiard, who was mounted on an innocent-looking, +lazy beast. +</P> + +<P> +"Come on!" cried Susie, giving her animal a prod with a sharp stick she +had snatched from the woodpile as they clattered out of the yard; and +away they flew, shouting and flapping reins, urging the stolid little +burros out of their poky gait into a surprised run. +</P> + +<P> +But the race came to an abrupt and unexpected end. Susie's mount +seemed more ambitious than its mates, or else the youthful rider goaded +it to desperation; for, with a mighty spurt, it took the lead, and shot +three lengths ahead of the rest, cantering off across the desert as if +racing were its daily delight. Rosy-cheeked Susie glanced back over +her shoulder, waved the sharp stick triumphantly in the air, and +jeered, "Yah, yah! Why don't you come along? Has you burro gone to +sleep?" +</P> + +<P> +This was too much for Billiard, and grabbing a needle-pointed Spanish +bayonet frond from the hands of his brother, he gave the brown-coated +beast beneath him a vicious stab, as he yelled in disgust, "Giddap, you +old demon! Wake up and stretch your legs a lit——" +</P> + +<P> +Brownie awoke into surprising activity, leaped forward with unseating +suddenness, planted his forefeet firmly among the rocks, and with one +deliberate, energetic kick, sent Billiard flying through the air. The +watchers behind held their breath in terror. Would the boy be killed +for his folly? Then a wild shout of laughter rose from eight throats. +But who could have resisted it? For the luckless Billiard, after +turning a summersault high in the air, fell astraddle the neck of +Toady's burro, and slipped to the ground in a sprawling heap, while the +second startled beast bolted across the desert with its plucky rider +still clinging to its back. +</P> + +<P> +The dazed Billiard picked himself up from the ground considerably +shaken but not hurt, and gazing ruefully first after his own fleeing +burro, and then after Toady's, now far in advance of Susie's little +animal, remarked, "Well, the old thing has got <I>some</I> ginger in him +after all! Do you suppose I can ever catch him?" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll help," quickly volunteered Tabitha, trying hard to suppress her +mirth, so meek and woebegone was the tumbled figure standing in the +roadway; and with a nimble spring she landed beside him, tethering her +burro to a yucca, growing close at hand. Mercedes and the twins +followed her example, but it was a lively chase they had before the +unruly animal was finally captured, and the party continued its +journey, reaching their destination without further mishap. +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana was disappointed at first, as she looked about her while her +companions were dismounting, for she had expected to see a canyon like +those lovely spots hidden among the San Bernardino hills; but this +place was no different from the rocky, barren mountains surrounding +Silver Bow. However, there was little time for lamentations, for with +surprising ingenuity, Mr. Catt had arranged a delightful program for +the two days the young folks were in camp, and not a moment of the +brief holiday was dull even for Rosslyn and Janie. So it was with +reluctant hearts that the party mounted their burros Monday morning for +their return trip. +</P> + +<P> +"Where are the boys?" inquired Mercedes curiously, as she sprang nimbly +into her saddle and gathered up the reins ready to start. +</P> + +<P> +"Susie isn't here, either," said Tabitha, pausing in her task of +packing to count noses. "They must be in the tent. I saw them not +very long ago. Dad, are the boys ready?" +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't seen them," he answered emerging from one of the tents with a +light grip and dumping it into the back of the buckboard. +</P> + +<P> +"I saw Billiard and Toady whispering something to Susie just as the +wagon drove up," tattled Inez, provoked to think she had not been +included in the secret, "and they all ran off that way." She pointed +up the mountainside, where the mesquite and cacti grew thickest, and +huge boulders made climbing difficult. +</P> + +<P> +"What in the world possessed them to go off like that?" fretted +Tabitha, impatient at the unexpected delay. +</P> + +<P> +"Bet I know," Irene piped up. "They prob'ly went for a last look at +the puppies." +</P> + +<P> +"Puppies!" cried the others in amazement. "Where are there any puppies +about here?" +</P> + +<P> +"Quite a piece up there on the other side,—they weren't going to tell +the rest of us, but I happened to find them myself." +</P> + +<P> +"Here they come now," Rosslyn excitedly interrupted; and sure enough, +the trio had appeared on the hillcrest, each tugging something which +squirmed and twisted, and snarled and yapped until their flushed, +panting owners could scarcely hold them. +</P> + +<P> +"Holy snakes!" ejaculated Decker Simmons. +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Catt whistled. The rest of the party stared. +</P> + +<P> +"What in creation have you got, Susie McKittrick?" demanded Mercedes, +with all the severity her gentle nature could muster, as the three +children came within speaking distance, Susie in advance. +</P> + +<P> +"A pup," gasped the red-faced girl, taking a fresh grip on the +wriggling, sharp-nosed little animal, half hidden in the torn skirt of +her dress. "Isn't he cute? See what bright eyes he's got." +</P> + +<P> +"And see how you've snagged your clothes," said Irene reprovingly. +</P> + +<P> +"And scratched your face," added Inez, glad now that she had not been a +party in the expedition. +</P> + +<P> +"That's nothing to what Billiard's did to him," Susie retorted sharply, +nettled at her reception. "He picked out the prettiest of the bunch +for Tabitha. We told him how much you used to want a dog all your own, +Kitty. But it's the wildest thing I ever saw. Here he comes now. +Billiard, didn't you choose your pup for Tabitha?" +</P> + +<P> +"Would you accept it?" he panted somewhat shyly, embarrassed and a +little provoked that Susie should have announced his intentions the +first thing. "I—I got the handsomest fellow of them all, but I pretty +near had to club it to death before it would come along peaceably." +</P> + +<P> +"But Billiard," gasped Tabitha, finding her tongue at last, "that isn't +a pup!" +</P> + +<P> +"What is it then?" Susie bristled so aggressively that she forgot to +keep a tight hold on her unwilling prisoner, and with a final scratch +and yap of exultation, it freed itself from her arms, and darted away +among the sagebrush. +</P> + +<P> +"A coyote." +</P> + +<P> +"No!" Toady dropped his as if it were poison, and lifted startled eyes +to Tabitha's face. +</P> + +<P> +"You're fooling!" cried Susie in exasperation over her loss. +</P> + +<P> +"Dad, Uncle Decker, isn't that a baby coyote?" +</P> + +<P> +Both men nodded silently, a look of amusement flickering about their +lips. +</P> + +<P> +"But—but—" spluttered Billiard, still hugging his half-smothered +treasure to his bosom. "It—they <I>look</I> like pups." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, they do, but you found them pretty frisky for pups, didn't you?" +</P> + +<P> +"They <I>were</I> pretty lively," admitted the older boy slowly. +</P> + +<P> +"And as scratchy as—" began Toady. +</P> + +<P> +"As <I>cats</I>," finished Susie, angry at Tabitha for calling the animals +coyotes, angry at her sisters for laughing, and angry at herself for +not knowing the truth of the matter without being told. +</P> + +<P> +"That's so, too," agreed Mr. Catt amiably. "It beats me how you ever +managed to catch them." +</P> + +<P> +"It was a job," sighed Billiard regretfully, freeing the pretty little +ball wrapped so snugly in his coat, and watching it skulk away after +its two brothers. "We had some empty sacks——" +</P> + +<P> +"But they weren't much good," Susie broke in contemptuously. "If it +hadn't been for that can of meat we swiped, we'd never have caught 'em. +They bite like everything, as well as scratch." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes," said Billiard mournfully, taking the reins from Tabitha's hands +and mounting his burro, "and we had all our pains for nothing." +</P> + +<P> +"Not quite," whispered Tabitha sympathetically. "I understand, and I'm +glad you took such trouble for me. But hurry. It's late already, and +will be terribly hot before we reach home." +</P> + +<P> +So the party said good-bye to the canyon and set out briskly on their +long ride back to Silver Bow, but Tabitha was exultant, for Billiard, +unruly, rebellious Billiard was at last completely won. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap12"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE BANK OF SILVER BOW IS ROBBED +</H3> + + +<P> +"It must have rained here since we left," observed Toady, as they drew +near the town. +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" asked Irene curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"'Cause there's a puddle of water in that hollow rock and unless it had +rained, how would it get there?" +</P> + +<P> +"By Jove, the lad is right," muttered Decker Simmons to himself. +"Queer we didn't get any at the canyon, though. Wonder what's the +trouble ahead. Town seems excited. Do you suppose the new postmaster +has embezzled his funds already?" +</P> + +<P> +"Uncle Decker," Tabitha's voice interrupted his meditations. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes?" +</P> + +<P> +"Something must have happened in town while we were gone." +</P> + +<P> +"Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Main street is full of people and the bank platform is black with +them. Do you suppose there is another run on the bank, or can it have +failed?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, so 'tis!" ejaculated the man, noting for the first time what +Tabitha's keen eyes had seen,—that the greater crowd of the people +were gathered in front of the Silver Bow Bank. "Wonder what's up." +</P> + +<P> +"Hello, Simmons," called Dawley, the grocer, from his position in the +doorway of his store. "You don't look as if you'd heard the news." +</P> + +<P> +"No. Let's have it." The whole party halted and waited curiously. +</P> + +<P> +"Bank robbed." +</P> + +<P> +"You don't say so! When?" +</P> + +<P> +"Saturday night." +</P> + +<P> +"Get much?" +</P> + +<P> +"Don't know yet, but reckon 'twas only a few hundred. Brinkley lost a +lot of provisions, too, but fortunately his safe was empty." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I declare! Any clue?" +</P> + +<P> +"Not so far. Rain wiped out all tracks that might have been made. Had +a corker of a thunderstorm that night." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well! Now what do you think of that! What steps are you taking +toward the capture of the thieves?" +</P> + +<P> +"Posse out scouring the desert." +</P> + +<P> +"Humph!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, what else can we do without clues?" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Find</I> some clues. You'll never catch the rascals by scouring the +desert with a handful of men. They must have gone into camp close by, +or they would never have stocked up. Bet they are new at the business. +<I>Must</I> be to make a mistake like that. I'd laugh if they had never +left town." And gathering up the reins, he drove on, followed by the +cavalcade of burros. +</P> + +<P> +The children were greatly excited. Burglaries in that lonely little +desert town were unheard of, and this novel experience furnished food +for their lively imaginations to feed upon. Tabitha was particularly +impressed, for never before in her short life had a robbery occurred so +near home, and she could think of little else. A reward of two hundred +dollars had been offered for the capture of the thieves, and as soon as +the little brood in the Eagles' Nest heard of this, they began to amuse +themselves by telling how they would spend the money if by chance they +could win the reward. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd buy me a pony," said Toady, as they sat on the shady side of the +house discussing the all-absorbing topic. "Ma said she never should +get us another after Spotty kicked her when she struck it with the +whip." +</P> + +<P> +"I'd save it towards a motorcycle," declared Billiard boastfully. "No +ponies for mine! With another hundred I could get a dandy machine, and +then wouldn't you see me spinning about the country just as I pleased!" +</P> + +<P> +"It would almost pay for another term at Ivy Hall," sighed Mercedes, +who, though she never mentioned the matter, knew that the family purse +was too flat to permit of her returning to her beloved school with the +coming of September. +</P> + +<P> +"I'd buy a little house in Los Angeles and go there to live," said +Irene. "It must be pretty where there are real trees and flowers the +year around." +</P> + +<P> +"It's not your turn," Susie objected. "I'd buy—I'd buy—what <I>would</I> +I buy? There are so many things I want, but I b'lieve I'd go +travelling. Two hundred dollars would take me quite a piece, and I'd +see lots of big cities." +</P> + +<P> +"And I'd go along," breathed Inez in ecstasy, "and we'd beat our way +back on freight cars." +</P> + +<P> +"Ho! That wouldn't be any fun," scoffed Rosslyn. "I'd buy candy, 'n' +ice-cream, 'n' peanuts, 'n' popcorn." +</P> + +<P> +"And a doctor," laughed Mercedes. +</P> + +<P> +There was a pause, and seven pair of eyes turned expectantly toward +Gloriana, who, perceiving the look, said shyly, "There are probably +heaps of things I'd like to get for myself now and then, but I think +the most of my two hundred would go to Granny Conover for taking care +of me all those years. I'd like to see her have plenty of money to do +as she pleased with before she dies." +</P> + +<P> +"Wouldn't that be splendid?" cried the children, who were never tired +of hearing the pitiful tale of Gloriana's life. +</P> + +<P> +"Now, Tabitha," suggested Billiard. "Why, where <I>is</I> Tabitha?" +</P> + +<P> +"Gone to put Janie to bed, I guess," said Toady, seeing that the +youngest member of the family was also missing. "It's her nap time." +</P> + +<P> +But in reality, Tabitha was far down the mountainside, speeding like a +deer in pursuit of a tiny, white-clad figure toddling in and out among +the sagebrush and greasewood toward a forbidden playground, where, +half-hidden by rocks and rubbish, were several unprotected prospect +holes, mysterious and alluring to the investigative baby eyes. Even as +Tabitha came within calling distance of the child, Janie discovered +that she was being pursued, and quickened her steps into a run, +heedless of the path she was taking, until with a shrill cry of fright, +she slipped over the brink of one of the very holes she had stolen away +to visit, and disappeared from sight. +</P> + +<P> +"O, God, don't let her be killed!" prayed the black-eyed girl, and her +feet fairly flew over the uneven ground, till she, too, reached the +edge of the deep excavation. But before she could discover the plight +of the runaway, she felt the ground give way beneath her feet, and +echoing Janie's cry of alarm, she, too, shot out of sight. +Fortunately, however, little sand fell with her, and as by a miracle, +she landed free and clear of the frightened, sobbing, but unhurt figure +crouching in the opposite corner. +</P> + +<P> +Scrambling to her feet, she seized the scared baby in her arms, +exclaiming over and over again, "Janie, Janie, are you sure you aren't +killed?" till at length she had soothed the child's fright and had +coaxed her into laughing again. "Now, Miss Mischief," she cried, +setting the baby down and beginning to investigate their prison, "we +must find some way out of this place. 'Tisn't very deep, to be sure; +but the sides seem pretty crumbly, so I don't dare to climb out. I +reckon we'll have to shout. Help, help, help!" +</P> + +<P> +They screamed themselves hoarse, but no one came to answer their call, +and Janie began to wail dismally, for the minutes seemed like hours to +her, and she was tired and cross. "Never mind, honey," Tabitha +comforted. "If they don't find us around the house by supper time, +they will know something has gone wrong and send General to find us. +Now let's amuse ourselves for a while, and then we'll shout again. +Here is a stick. See if you can dig a deeper hole than I can. Why, +what's this?" +</P> + +<P> +Stooping over to pick up a fragment of redwood bark at her feet, she +uncovered a small bag, which rattled as she touched it; and as she +untied the drawstring, a shower of glittering gold pieces fell into her +lap. +</P> + +<P> +"Pennies!" cried Janie, making a dive for a share of the shining coins. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, dear, gold pennies, but Janie mustn't touch," answered Tabitha, +busily sorting the money into various piles according to its +denomination. "It doesn't belong to us, and we must take it to the— +Say, Janie McKittrick, what will you bet this isn't the money stolen +from the bank Saturday night? Mr. Dawley said they got only a few +hundred. Let's count it. One, two, three, four, five hundred dollars. +Janie, that's just what we've found! The robbers didn't dare take it +with them, and so hid it here, thinking it would be absolutely safe." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, Tabitha Catt! Of all things! Look, girls, she's as calm and +cool as if she had gone on a picnic, instead of tumbling into a +prospect hole." +</P> + +<P> +So intent had the two prisoners become in their find that neither had +heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and as breathless Susie's +voice rang out above their heads, both started guiltily. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, how did you know where to look for us?" cried Tabitha, bouncing +to her feet, and slipping the bag out of sight, lest the children see +and ask questions. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, when we couldn't find you about the house anywhere, Glory +remembered that Janie had slipped off down the trail while we were +talking, and so we decided that you must have chased her. Then Mercy +happened to think of these holes. Janie is always possessed to play +down here, and has run away three times before; so we came down to +look, and here you are in the very first one," explained Susie. +</P> + +<P> +"You hauled us out of the abandoned mine one day, and now we are going +to fish you out of a prospect hole," exulted Billiard, much relieved to +find the two girls unhurt, but unable to resist crowing a little over +their mishap. +</P> + +<P> +"How?" asked Tabitha, a frown of anxiety gathering in her forehead. +"Don't get too near the edge there, or some of you may join us in our +retreat. You must go for help. You can't get us out all alone." +</P> + +<P> +"Mercy has gone for the assayer," began Inez. +</P> + +<P> +"And here he is now," Billiard interrupted. "He has got a long board +and a rope. Stand back, Irene, so you won't be in the way. There, +now, Tabby, tie up the baby, and we'll lift her out first." +</P> + +<P> +In a surprisingly short time, both girls were hoisted from the sultry +pit and landed laughing gaily among their mates. +</P> + +<P> +"Well," said the assayer, shaking his gray head in a puzzled fashion, +"I don't understand how you kids work the stunt." +</P> + +<P> +"What stunt?" they all inquired. +</P> + +<P> +"Why, tumbling into every hole you come across and not getting hurt. +You aren't hurt, are you?" +</P> + +<P> +"No, indeed!" +</P> + +<P> +"And Kitty finded a whole sack full of gold pennies down there, but her +won't div Janie any," volunteered the baby quite unexpectedly. +</P> + +<P> +"She—what?" +</P> + +<P> +"Gold pennies!" +</P> + +<P> +"What does she mean?" +</P> + +<P> +The children lifted questioning eyes to Tabitha's crimson face, and +even the assayer looked down at her curiously. She had not meant to +let the children know about the money; at least, not until she had +consulted older and wiser heads than theirs; but now that Janie had +betrayed her secret, she displayed her find, and explained how it had +come into her possession. +</P> + +<P> +The assayer's eyes grew thoughtful, as he examined each coin minutely, +and counted the treasure, to make sure that Tabitha's figures were +right. "What shall you do with it?" he finally asked, as he dropped +the last piece into the sack and returned it to Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +"Take it to the bank. I thought it might be part of the money the +robbers got." +</P> + +<P> +He glanced at her quickly, keenly; then answered, "That's the thing to +do, all right, and I don't believe your surmise is far off, either. +But see here, children, don't you dare lisp a word to a single soul +about this money until we know for certain whose it is." +</P> + +<P> +"We won't," hastily promised the wondering, round-eyed flock, for they +stood much in awe of the silent, almost taciturn man who worked wonders +with the rock which the miners brought him; and the little company set +out for home, leaving Tabitha and the assayer to carry the precious +find over to the bank. +</P> + +<P> +"Do you know," said Gloriana, as the black-eyed girl finished relating +the afternoon's happenings to her, "I half believe that man snooping +around the pesthouse is the robber." +</P> + +<P> +"What man?" demanded the startled Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, I don't know who he is, but it is someone I've never seen here +in town. He was there this morning, but I didn't think much about it +then. We were so excited over the robbery. But this afternoon while +the assayer was dragging you out of the prospect hole, and I was +watching through your field glasses, I happened to turn them in the +direction of the pesthouse, and there he was again, humped up on the +doorsill, watching through glasses of his own. When you started off +toward town, he hustled into the house and shut the door. Now, it +seems to me no one would stay in a <I>pesthouse</I> unless he was hiding +from someone." +</P> + +<P> +"No one ever had smallpox there." +</P> + +<P> +"Then why does everyone avoid it so?" +</P> + +<P> +"I don't know. The name, I reckon. It was built for a pesthouse, but +the doctors decided the patient didn't have smallpox after all, so the +building has never been used." +</P> + +<P> +"Then perhaps he knows there is nothing to be afraid of in the house." +</P> + +<P> +"That may be, of course. Is he there yet?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I think he is. I've kept a close lookout ever since I discovered +him, and I haven't seen him leave." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha seemed lost in thought a moment, then turned an eager face +toward her companion. "Gloriana, the reward!" +</P> + +<P> +"Could we?" +</P> + +<P> +"Can't tell till we try!" +</P> + +<P> +"But how——" +</P> + +<P> +"There are only two small windows in the house,—funny, isn't it, when +air is so necessary in case of sickness,—he can't get out of them. So +all we have to do is guard the door." +</P> + +<P> +"But how shall we get him to the—police?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sheriff? I hadn't thought of that part. We couldn't tie him up and +march him to jail,—we aren't strong enough, just us girls. We'll have +to make sure he is there, lock him in, and then while one of us guards +the door, the other must go for help." +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana shuddered. She hoped it would not fall to her lot to guard +the door, and yet she could not bear to think of Tabitha's staying +there alone with only a flimsy structure between her and a desperate +character. +</P> + +<P> +"I—we—had we better try it alone?" she asked timidly. "Wouldn't it +be wiser to tell the assayer and get him to help?" +</P> + +<P> +"The more people there are connected with his capture, the smaller our +share of the reward will be. We can do it all right." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha's daring swept away her objections. "That's so," she answered. +"Well, we better not wait any longer then, or perhaps he will get away +yet." +</P> + +<P> +"I'm ready," Tabitha replied promptly, and with quaking hearts but +determined steps the two set out, armed with a stout stick and the +rusty old pistol which Gloriana had used the night the boys had played +burglar. +</P> + +<P> +"What is that broom handle for?" questioned the red-haired girl, +wondering if she would be expected to crack the desperado over the head +with it. +</P> + +<P> +"To lock the door with." +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Lock the door</I>?" Could Tabitha have gone suddenly crazy? +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. It's the only way we can fasten him in. The door has an iron +handle on the outside, instead of a knob, you see." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh!" +</P> + +<P> +"Is that the man?" The door of the pesthouse had opened abruptly and a +short, portly man roughly dressed, unshaved and florid of complexion, +appeared on the threshold a moment, eyed the approaching girls +indifferently, glanced searchingly toward town, and again vanished +within, closing the door behind him. Gloriana's heart seemed to stop +beating, then pounded so loudly that it sounded to her like the pulsing +of the engines in the Silver Legion Mine. "Yes," she gasped. +</P> + +<P> +"Then we've got him!" Scared but exultant, Tabitha leaped to the door, +thrust her stick through the handle, and cocked her revolver, just as +the man, hearing the noise outside, grasped the knob and tried to open +the door. +</P> + +<P> +"What the deuce!" they heard him exclaim, and then he wrenched again. +"Who's out there, and what do you want?" he bellowed in rage, when the +door refused to budge. +</P> + +<P> +"You're our prisoner," Tabitha answered boldly, though trembling like a +leaf with nervous dread; "and you might just as well keep quiet as to +make a fuss. Glory, hurry for the sheriff, the assayer—anyone! He's +desperate!" +</P> + +<P> +And indeed he sounded desperate as he kicked and banged the door, +shouted and swore, tearing about his small prison like a madman, and +breathing threats of vengeance against his jailer, who stood pale but +undaunted in front of the door, with a cocked revolver clinched tightly +in both hands, waiting anxiously for the return of Gloriana with help +from town, and thanking her lucky stars that neither of the small +windows was on the door side of the house. +</P> + +<P> +Then suddenly the tumult ceased within, and terrified Tabitha began to +take courage again. "He has decided to behave himself at last," she +thought. "It's the only sensible thing to do, for he can't get away +from here now without being caught. There comes Glory at last, but oh, +gracious! look at the crowd following her. Half the town is out." +</P> + +<P> +Just then a subdued grunt from around the corner of the house caught +her attention, and beckoning wildly to the approaching throng, she +crept cautiously forward to investigate, but paused again, paralyzed at +the sight which met her eyes. The portly prisoner had attempted to +escape by means of one of the small windows, and now hung suspended by +the middle over the sill, his hands clawing the air helplessly inside, +and his heels waving frantically without. At another time, Tabitha, +would have shouted with laughter at the ridiculous figure he cut, but +now her only thought was to prevent his escaping, and flinging aside +her pistol, she plunged toward the body seesawing through the air, and +clutched the feet with a determined grip, while the helpless victim +protested in emphatic language. +</P> + +<P> +Thus the crowd found them and went wild with delight at the spectacle, +much to the discomfiture of both captor and captive, and when at length +the florid prisoner was freed from his uncomfortable position, his face +was purple with rage and exertion. "What is the meaning of this +outrage?" he exploded as soon as he could find sufficient breath to +voice his indignation. "Who put you up to such a trick as that, you +young minx? Do you know who I am?" +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Jerry Weller!" exclaimed an astonished voice from the interested +throng of onlookers. "What are you doing here?" +</P> + +<P> +"I bought this old shack and was to have had it moved onto my claims +to-day, if the movers had showed up," exclaimed the irate man, his +voice thick with anger. "But along come these jades and fasten me +in——" +</P> + +<P> +"We thought he was the bank robber," Tabitha murmured faintly, sick at +heart over the mistake. "He was acting so—so suspiciously." +</P> + +<P> +"Bank robber!" echoed the speaker from the crowd. "Why, Jeremiah +Weller is owner of the biggest placer mines in the country. He made a +fortune in Alaska. He's a millionaire! Bank robber! Ha—ha! That's +rich!" +</P> + +<P> +The crowd roared appreciatively, but the victim of the mistake quite +unexpectedly lost his glowering look, and gruffly declared, "Well, you +needn't laugh at her. She's pluck to the backbone. Show me another +girl who would have undertook to corral a bank robber as she did. I +don't wonder she thought that was my occupation. I certainly look +rough enough—" Suddenly his roving eyes fell upon the timid, +shrinking Gloriana, so depressed at the way matters had turned out that +she could scarcely keep back the scalding tears. If it had not been +for her, Tabitha would never have gone on such a wild-goose chase. Why +hadn't she kept her suspicions to herself? +</P> + +<P> +"What's your name?" demanded the stranger so abruptly that he seemed +positively rude. +</P> + +<P> +"Gloriana Holliday," she managed to articulate. +</P> + +<P> +"Did you ever have an Uncle Jerry?" +</P> + +<P> +"If I did, he never came near us that I can remember," she candidly +replied. +</P> + +<P> +The purple of his face deepened. "That's right, too," he muttered. +"But your mother ran away to get married." +</P> + +<P> +"And her folks told her never to let them see her face again," +supplemented Gloriana bitterly. +</P> + +<P> +"Was her name Weller at one time? But of course it was. There +couldn't be two people on earth look as much alike as she and you +unless they were mother and daughter; and besides, she married a +Holliday,—Jack Holliday." +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana nodded. +</P> + +<P> +"Then, my girl, I'm your Uncle Jerry, and if you didn't catch your bank +robber, you made a pretty good haul anyway. Your +mother—she—she's—dead, isn't she? And your father? You're an +orphan——" +</P> + +<P> +"She's not any longer!" Tabitha broke in savagely. "We've adopted her +and she's my sister." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh! Well, that simplifies matters, too, for I'm a bachelor and have +no <I>home</I> to offer, but— Say, I want to talk with you. Where's your +adopted father? Not in town now? Well, isn't there some place we can +go where we won't be gawked at by all these hoodlums? Bring your +black-haired sister,—my jailer. I certainly do admire pluck." +</P> + +<P> +At this broad hint, the curious crowd reluctantly withdrew, and left +the trio alone at the pesthouse threshold. Standing there bare-headed +with the waning sunlight glinting through the heavy, red locks, +Gloriana told what she could remember of the pitiful struggle of her +parents, their deaths, and her unhappy lot until the scholarship at Ivy +Hall had opened the way to better things. +</P> + +<P> +So affected was the bluff stranger by the sad tale that he made no +effort to check the tears which filled his eyes and rolled down his +cheeks. "Well, the past is passed," he said when the story was done, +"and we can't do anything now to change it. I've been downright sorry +at the way we treated your mother, but she effaced herself pretty well. +We never got a trace of her whereabouts, though years afterwards we +heard that she was dead. We never knew there was a child, but never +mind, you shall not want again as long as I live. Being a rover and +unmarried, I have no home to offer, as I said before; so I am glad to +find you settled with such good friends. But I've got all kinds of +money, and insist upon paying for your education from now on. Here's a +check for pin money." +</P> + +<P> +Drawing a check-book from his pocket, he rapidly scribbled a few lines, +tore out the slip and handed it to Gloriana. Mechanically she took it, +and her gray eyes grew round with wonder as she read. "One hundred +dollars! Oh, you must have made a mistake, Mr.——" +</P> + +<P> +"Uncle Jerry," he corrected her. +</P> + +<P> +"Uncle Jerry," she dutifully repeated. +</P> + +<P> +"Not a bit of it! And what's more, there will be one of those ready +for you every quarter." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, that's too much!" she protested. "Whatever would a girl do with +four hundred dollars a year spending money?" The sum appalled her, and +well it might, for never before had she possessed more than five +dollars at one time. +</P> + +<P> +He laughed at her dismay. "Why, I often spend that much in a day. You +can lay in a stock of jimcracks like the other girls have. You'll find +plenty of ways to dispose of every cent, I know." +</P> + +<P> +"Maybe," she half whispered. "You see, I never had so much as a dollar +all my own that I can remember until I came to live with Tabitha, but +perhaps when I get used to knowing it's really mine and—genuine, I'll +find ways to spend it. I—I thank you. It's nice to have an Uncle +Jerry." +</P> + +<P> +"It's nice to have a Niece Gloriana, too," he answered gruffly, +clearing his throat with much gusto; and as there seemed to be nothing +further to say, the trio turned from the lonely pesthouse, and silently +climbed the hill toward town. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap13"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIII +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE ROBBERS AND THE HAUNTED HOUSE +</H3> + + +<P> +"Billiard, did you ever see a ghost?" +</P> + +<P> +It was almost a week since the bank robbery had occurred, and still no +clue as to the identity of the robbers had been found, although posses +were still searching the country, determined to catch them if such a +thing were possible. But the excitement of the event had already died +down in the youthful minds of Silver Bow, and other topics of +conversation absorbed their attention. +</P> + +<P> +"Naw," answered Billiard contemptuously, without looking up from the +stick he was whittling. "What's eating you, Toady? There ain't any +ghosts, and you know it." +</P> + +<P> +"What about that haunted house in the east end of town?" +</P> + +<P> +"'Tain't haunted." +</P> + +<P> +"Susie says it is." +</P> + +<P> +"And Tabitha has lived alone near it for six or seven years and she has +never seen anything stirring there." +</P> + +<P> +"But ghosts walk only at midnight. She's never been there at night." +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, you softy——" +</P> + +<P> +"Susie says the Gates boy declares he saw a ghost in the graveyard one +night." +</P> + +<P> +"Well, that's different. I don't blame a ghost for walking there." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Billiard McKittrick, what do you mean?" +</P> + +<P> +"Did you ever see a lonesomer place on earth than the Silver Bow +graveyard?" demanded Billiard. "Why, it's the worst looking cemetery +in the country, I believe,—just heaps of rocks and wooden sticks to +show where folks are buried. Tabitha says they <I>blast</I> out the graves +with dynamite, six at a time, and fill them up with people as fast as +they die. Would you rest easy if you were planted in that style? +Wouldn't your ghost want to get out and walk?" +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Billiard McKittrick</I>!" Toady looked positively shocked. Then after +a moment, as the older boy made no reply, the younger one continued +thoughtfully, "Maybe that's what is the matter with the ghost in the +haunted house." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, pshaw, Toady, I tell you there ain't such a thing as a ghost!" +</P> + +<P> +"I'll stump you to go down to the haunted house some time and find out." +</P> + +<P> +"All right, come along!" +</P> + +<P> +"Not during daylight. It must be after dark. Midnight is the best +time, Susie says." +</P> + +<P> +"Bother Susie! Why don't you get her to go with you?" +</P> + +<P> +"You are afraid to go!" jeered Toady. +</P> + +<P> +"Am not!" retorted Billiard angrily. +</P> + +<P> +"Then why don't you take my dare?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's all tommy-rot," insisted Billiard, with a fine show of scorn. +</P> + +<P> +"'Fraid cat!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, I'll take you up," cried the other, stung into recklessness by +Toady's taunts. "We'll go to-night." +</P> + +<P> +"To-night?" stammered Toady, much abashed at his brother's sudden +acceptance of the dare. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, to-night!" +</P> + +<P> +"What's your hurry?" +</P> + +<P> +"Who's the 'fraid cat now?" taunted Billiard. +</P> + +<P> +"Not me! To-night's the time. We'll set the alarm-clock for half-past +ten." +</P> + +<P> +"Suppose it wakes the rest of the bunch?" +</P> + +<P> +"They'll think it's a mistake, and in a few minutes will be asleep +again, and we can steal outside without their hearing us at all." +</P> + +<P> +So it was decided, and though each boy, deep down in his heart, hoped +that the other would back out before the hour set, both resolved not to +show the white feather, and as the alarm-clock pealed forth its summons +in the silence of the night, two sleepy lads crept stealthily out of +bed, drew on their clothes, and without exchanging a word, started for +the haunted house at the other end of town. +</P> + +<P> +Never, it seemed to the quaking boys, had the desert night seemed so +black. The stars were shining, to be sure, but the very heavens seemed +further away, and the silence was appalling. Nervous, excited, +dreading the ordeal, each boy waited for the other to propose that they +give up their wild-goose chase; but neither was willing to acknowledge +his cowardice first, so they stumbled fearfully on, clutching each +other's hands to keep from falling, they told themselves, but really to +feel the nearness of another human being. +</P> + +<P> +At length, however, they reached the old, abandoned shack, where they +were to keep their ghostly vigil, and with bated breath they opened the +sagging door and crept trembling over the threshold into the black +shadows of the interior. Fear held them tongue-tied, and they crouched +upon the dusty floor as close to the door as they could get. The +silence was intense, terrifying. +</P> + +<P> +Then the stillness was sharply broken by a hoarse whisper, "What was +that, Bill?" +</P> + +<P> +Billiard, thinking Toady had spoken to him, was about to reply when a +second voice answered, "Only the wind, I reckon. Shut up." +</P> + +<P> +"But it sounded like someone opened the door." +</P> + +<P> +"You're as bad as an old woman with the fidgets," said the second voice +crossly. "Go to sleep, can't you? At least, let me sleep. I tell you +we're safe enough. The fools will never think of looking for us here. +This is a <I>haunted</I> house and no one ever comes here. When they get +tired of scouring the desert and give up hunting for us, we'll light +out, but until then we've <I>got</I> to lie low; and we might as well spend +our time snoozing as to be worrying all the while." +</P> + +<P> +"The bank robbers!" thought each boy to himself. What should they do? +It would be impossible for two small boys to capture such desperadoes +in the dead of night, especially as neither lad was armed, they argued. +Their only course was to steal noiselessly away, rouse the sheriff, +bring back a posse and surprise the men in hiding. +</P> + +<P> +With one impulse, the terrified boys clasped hands, slipped cautiously +out of the house, hardly daring to breathe for fear of being heard, and +raced off along the road toward the sleeping town with all the speed +they could muster. Once they fancied they heard a voice call to them, +but this only increased their head-long flight. Their feet seemed +fairly to skim over the ground, and when they reached the main street +of the town they were breathless, exhausted and frightened almost past +speaking. +</P> + +<P> +"Where—does—the sheriff—live?" panted Billiard, as they tore down +the last steep slope. +</P> + +<P> +"Dunno," gasped Toady. +</P> + +<P> +"Then how'll we find him?" +</P> + +<P> +"Drug-store." +</P> + +<P> +"It's shut." +</P> + +<P> +"Ring the night bell." +</P> + +<P> +And ring they did, sending peal after peal echoing through the silent +building until the sleepy proprietor, dishevelled and wrathy, stumbled +through the doorway, and demanded fiercely, "What the deuce is wanted?" +</P> + +<P> +"The robbers—" half sobbed the boys. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, they ain't here," snarled the angry druggist, not catching the +meaning of their words. "Now you hike for home and the next time you +want to play a practical joke——" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, this isn't a joke!" cried Toady imploringly. "We've found the +sure 'nough robbers, but——" +</P> + +<P> +"We aren't big enough to capture them," finished Billiard. +</P> + +<P> +"Aw, come off!" said the man, beginning to see from the boys' demeanor +that something was really wrong. "You are having a bad dream. How do +you happen to be wandering around town this time of night?" +</P> + +<P> +"We dared each other to visit the haunted house to see if there was a +really ghost, like Susie said." +</P> + +<P> +"And you found one, did you?" the druggist laughed sarcastically. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, this ain't a ghost. It's burglars, truly! They talked and we +heard what they said," cried Toady with convincing earnestness. +</P> + +<P> +"And what <I>did</I> they say?" persisted the druggist, though in a +different tone of voice. +</P> + +<P> +Briefly they recounted their adventure in the vacant house, and as the +man listened he took down the telephone, said a few words which the +boys could not hear, and hung up the receiver again. Almost +immediately there was a sound of footsteps without, and an armed +citizen of Silver Bow appeared in the doorway, then another, and +another, until a score or more had gathered just outside the building. +There was a hasty consultation one with another, then the boys were +bidden to repeat the story they had told the druggist, and after the +men had heard the meagre details, the posse separated, vanishing one by +one in the blackness. But instinctively the boys knew that they would +attempt to surround the haunted house, and taking its occupants by +surprise, would compel them to surrender. +</P> + +<P> +They wanted to remain at the drug-store until the capture was effected, +but the keeper ordered them home to bed, and they reluctantly obeyed, +listening every step of the way for the sound of shots. But nothing +occurred to mar the stillness of the night, and they wondered if the +desperadoes had after all escaped. So anxious were they, and so +nervous over their unusual experience that it seemed as if sleep would +never come to close their eyes, as they lay once more in their bed at +the Eagles' Nest; and they were astonished to find themselves waking up +the next morning at the sound of someone knocking at their door. +</P> + +<P> +"Who is it?" called Billiard, vaguely wondering if he could have +dreamed all that had transpired during the past twelve hours. +</P> + +<P> +"Susie," answered a voice from the hall. "The sheriff wants to see +you." +</P> + +<P> +"The sheriff?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes. Hurry up! The bank robbers have been caught and you have to go +to the justice of the peace's office." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it's really so," sighed Billiard in relief. +</P> + +<P> +"Course it is!" retorted Toady, now thoroughly awake. "But what do you +s'pose the <I>sheriff</I> wants us for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Dunno. Quickest way to find out is to go down and see." +</P> + +<P> +Susie and the twins were waiting for them when they emerged from their +room, and ecstatically announced, "We're all going, too. They want you +to be <I>witnesses</I>, and Tabitha to take notes. No one else in town +writes shorthand." +</P> + +<P> +"But what is it all about?" demanded Billiard. "Ain't the robbers in +jail?" +</P> + +<P> +"We have no real jail here," explained Tabitha, who chanced to overhear +his question. "When a man does anything that he has to go to prison +for, they take him to the county seat. This court only tries to prove +whether or not there is evidence enough to hold him for trial by the +county. Hurry up, they are waiting for us. And children, remember, +you must come straight back here after you take a look at the +prisoners. Queer how youngsters want to see such things, isn't it? +Perhaps it will be quite a while before I can get back, but I know I +can trust you to keep out of mischief and mind Mercedes. Oh, Glory, +I've got nervous chills already about taking that dictation. The +lawyer who is to defend the robbers can talk like lightning." +</P> + +<P> +"Fudge!" replied Gloriana reassuringly. "You won't have any trouble at +all, I know. They will take into consideration the fact that you have +no experience outside of school. Is this the place? What a funny +looking court! Does he live here, too? The justice of peace, I mean." +</P> + +<P> +"Why, Tabitha!" interrupted Irene, clutching the older girl by the arm. +"Look there! That's our candy man,—the tallest one—and they've got +him hand-cuffed. Does— Is <I>he</I> the man they say robbed the bank? I +don't believe he ever did it!" +</P> + +<P> +"Hush!" warned Inez, giving her twin a vicious dig in the ribs. But +the damage was already done. +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" demanded Tabitha, pausing on the threshold of the +tiny, dirty room that served as courthouse for the town of Silver Bow. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, what do you mean?" asked one of the lawyers, who had chanced to +overhear the remark. +</P> + +<P> +"He made candy for us the day you went to the river and left us at +home," explained Irene, ignoring the frowns of her partners in guilt. +</P> + +<P> +"Tell us all about it." +</P> + +<P> +Bit by bit the story came out, and to Irene's great grief it forged +another link in the chain of evidence already so strong against the +cheery stranger. "I don't want him to go to jail," she sobbed. "He's +an awfully nice man." +</P> + +<P> +"But, dear, he is a thief," Tabitha told her. "He ought to go to jail." +</P> + +<P> +"If they'd only let him loose this time, I'm sure he would never steal +again," the child staunchly maintained. But in spite of her faith in +him, the "candy man," as the children continued to call him, was sent +to the county seat for trial, convicted, and sentenced to a long term +in prison. +</P> + +<P> +"He shouldn't have stolen if he didn't want to go to prison," asserted +Billiard virtuously. "If he hadn't robbed the bank, he never would +have had to hide in the haunted house and we wouldn't have found them +there." +</P> + +<P> +"But as 'tis," added Toady, "they paid Billiard and me each fifty +dollars for finding them. I mean the town paid us." +</P> + +<P> +"Though you didn't discover whether there are any ghosts or not," said +Susie much disappointed. +</P> + +<P> +"Who cares?" retorted the boys, drawing out their little hoard of gold +pieces and gloating over them. "I wish there were more haunted houses +if they'd all pay us as well as this one did. Now, what shall we do +with our money?" +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap14"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XIV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS +</H3> + + +<P> +"Only two weeks more of vacation," sighed Tabitha, sinking wearily into +the hammock one August afternoon, and looking longingly away to the +west where the train was just puffing into view. "I never dreamed we +should be here all summer when I offered to take care of the kidlets +for Mrs. McKittrick." +</P> + +<P> +"Are you sorry?" asked Gloriana, glancing up from her sewing in +surprise at the tone of Tabitha's voice. +</P> + +<P> +"No, oh, no!" she answered hastily, for fear her companion would think +she was complaining. "I don't regret staying here at all, for that was +the only way Mr. McKittrick could get well; but still—I should have +enjoyed getting a peek at the ocean again, and having a good time all +around, like we'd surely have had with Myra." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, that would have been lovely," sighed Gloriana, who could not help +feeling sorry that their vacation had not turned out as they had +planned, although she admired Tabitha more than ever because of the +unselfishness which had prompted her to shoulder such a responsibility +in the first place. +</P> + +<P> +"You see, I never have spent the summer at the seashore," Tabitha +continued; "nor anywhere else, for that matter, except here in Silver +Bow, since we came here to live; and I had planned so much on Myra's +invitation. She is such a whirlwind for fun." +</P> + +<P> +"It's too bad Miss Davis didn't let us know any sooner that she didn't +intend to come back to the desert till fall. Perhaps we could have +found someone else—" +</P> + +<P> +"I'm afraid not. It's awfully hard to get anyone dependable away out +here. <I>Hired help</I> is simply out of the question. They think Silver +Bow is beyond the bounds of civilization, I reckon." +</P> + +<P> +"I don't blame them," began Gloriana impetuously; then blushed +furiously, and stammered, "Oh, what did I say? What will you think of +me? I didn't mean—" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, you did mean it," laughed her companion. "And I don't blame +<I>you</I>. I used to feel the same way myself." +</P> + +<P> +"And did you <I>really</I> get over it?" Gloriana eagerly asked. "Do you +truly like this—this desolate place now?" +</P> + +<P> +"I <I>love Silver Bow</I>," she answered slowly, yet with emphasis. "I +sometimes wonder what kind of a girl I would have been if we had stayed +on at Dover or Ferndale, where there was no Carrie. Then there would +have been no Ivy Hall, either, I suppose." +</P> + +<P> +"And no me," half whispered the red-haired girl. "Then I should be +thankful for the desert, too; because if it hadn't been for you, I +never should have been adopted by the best people in the whole wide +world, nor found an Uncle Jerry who really belongs to me. And anyway, +there will be other summers, and the ocean will keep." +</P> + +<P> +"No, it won't, either!" thrilled a bubbling voice behind them, and a +red-faced, perspiring, disheveled figure swept around the corner of the +house and plumped itself down in the hammock beside Tabitha whom she +proceeded to hug rapturously. +</P> + +<P> +"Myra!" gasped the black-haired girl, trying to return the embrace, but +finding herself held fast by a pair of strong, sinewy arms. +</P> + +<P> +"Myra!" echoed Gloriana, dropping her sewing and staring with +fascinated eyes at the newcomer, who promptly dragged the lame girl +from her chair into the already overloaded hammock and hugged her +vigorously. "Where did you come from and <I>how</I> did you get here?" +</P> + +<P> +"On the train," Myra paused long enough to pant, "and as to finding +you,—haven't you described and sketched the Eagles' Nest often enough +in your letters for me to know it when I saw it? I never even had to +ask directions how to find the trail. Now just rustle your things +together and we'll catch that train back to Los Angeles this afternoon. +It leaves at three o'clock, doesn't it? I simply had to come after +you, but it's too beastly hot to stay here a minute longer than +necessary." +</P> + +<P> +"But Myra, the children!" cried the two maids, looking oh! so eager at +the mere thought of the seashore, but determined to turn their backs on +temptation at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Hark ye!" answered Myra in tragic tones. "What sound doth smite your +ears? Or be you <I>deef</I>?" Her abrupt change of tone and manner was too +comical to be resisted, but her upraised hand checked the mirth of the +other two, and they dutifully cocked their heads on one side and +listened intently. +</P> + +<P> +"The youngsters at play," both replied in the same breath. +</P> + +<P> +"Is that all?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes." +</P> + +<P> +"Then I guess you're <I>deef</I>." +</P> + +<P> +At that moment sturdy Rosslyn flew around the corner of the cottage, +and throwing himself into Tabitha's lap shrieked out, "Kitty, Kitty, +mamma's come, but papa must stay down there till it gets cooler." +</P> + +<P> +"What!" whispered Tabitha, her face paling. "It can't be! Is she +truly?" +</P> + +<P> +Myra nodded solemnly. +</P> + +<P> +"What wonderful things are happening—" +</P> + +<P> +There was an ominous crack, the hammock rope snapped in two, and the +quartette found themselves a tangled, huddled heap of arms and legs +upon the piazza floor. +</P> + +<P> +"Indeed, and I see nothing wonderful about that," spluttered Myra, who +had just opened her lips to speak, when their downfall came, and in +consequence she had shut her sharp teeth together on her tongue. +</P> + +<P> +Gloriana scrambled to her feet, then laughed. She could not help it, +for long-limbed Myra did look so funny, sprawled on the floor like a +huge spider; and amazement was written so large upon Tabitha's face +that sterner hearts than hers would have made merry at the picture +which they presented. Rosslyn's wail of grief checked her mirth, +however, and she came hastily to his rescue, but his mother had heard +the outcry, and now appeared on the scene with the remainder of her +brood clinging to her skirts, and Billiard and Toady following close at +their heels. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, for the land sakes!" she ejaculated, holding up her hands in +surprise and amusement. "What a sight! Are any of you hurt? That's +good! Now, girls, perhaps it will seem rude and ungrateful to rush you +off this way, but I had orders to see that you caught the train back to +Los Angeles this afternoon. So I reckon you will have to move lively, +with your packing and all." +</P> + +<P> +"Who gave you such orders?" demanded Tabitha in bewilderment, rubbing +her eyes to make sure she was not dreaming. +</P> + +<P> +"Your father. I met him in the city just as I was about to board the +train for Silver Bow." +</P> + +<P> +"But—but—" +</P> + +<P> +"No 'buts' about it," put in Myra, still sucking her injured tongue. +"I accidentally ran up against Mrs. McKittrick in Los Angeles, knew her +at once because Mercy looks so much like her, discovered that she was +planning to come back here before school opened; so I just attached +myself to her and came along—" +</P> + +<P> +"Aha!" crowed Gloriana jubilantly. "Then all that tale about finding +the Eagles' Nest without help was a—fib!" +</P> + +<P> +Myra's face crimsoned and her tell-tale eyes dropped, then lifted +again, twinkling like twin stars. "Huh!" she giggled, "our detective +again! Say, are you going to catch that train at three o'clock? If +so, just take wings to your feet and fly for home. Mrs. McKittrick can +hear all about everything when you get back. The children are alive +and well, and that's the main point. I told her everything you had +written me and—" +</P> + +<P> +"Myra Haskell!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, she was on her way home and 'twas time she knew." She glanced +across at Mrs. McKittrick, who smiled back through her tears. "And she +says you are bricks. Also I told the station agent to send up his rig +for your trunks, and if you don't make haste pretty lively, he'll be +there before we are. I suppose your trunks are at your own house? +That's where I told him to call. Now sling out the duds you've got +here, and I'll pack them while you are getting slicked up. No, Mrs. +McKittrick, I don't want another bite to eat, and it's evident from the +looks of the house that either these folks don't get dinner, or else +they have already eaten it." +</P> + +<P> +"We've had it," volunteered Irene, "but it wasn't very good." +</P> + +<P> +"Irene McKittrick!" gasped her mother. +</P> + +<P> +"She is right," laughed Tabitha. "To-day was scrap dinner. We have it +once a week to get rid of all the odds and ends. However, it isn't +very popular. No, thanks, we won't need a lunch put up for us. If we +get hungry before we reach Los Angeles, we'll patronize the diner. +Sorry we can't stop to tell you all the news, but if Dad said we must +go back on this train, I suppose we must. Where are you staying, Myra? +Avalon? Catalina Island?" +</P> + +<P> +"The very same." +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha clasped her hands together and drew a deep breath. "How +perfectly splendid!" +</P> + +<P> +"I guess I'm dreaming," murmured Gloriana, half aloud, pinching herself +vigorously to make sure she was really awake. "Do you get there by +boat?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course, goosie! Did you think we took an airship? Hurry up, +slowpokes!" +</P> + +<P> +Laughing and chattering gleefully, the trio gathered up their +possessions, made a hurried visit to the Catt cottage, packed their +trunks, and were at the station long before the train rumbled its way +back to the great city by the sea. +</P> + +<P> +"We are going to have the grandest kind of a time," Myra told them. +"All sorts of high jinks. We've got a dandy site for our camp,—a +dozen tents—" +</P> + +<P> +"A dozen!" cried Tabitha in a panic. "Why, who are with you? I +thought it was just your family." +</P> + +<P> +"You knew Gwynne was there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but she wouldn't occupy a dozen tents. I'm scared!" +</P> + +<P> +"You needn't be," mocked Myra soothingly. "I'll bet you will vote it +the jolliest bunch you ever got mixed up with." +</P> + +<P> +"Do I know any of them?" +</P> + +<P> +"Do you consider yourself acquainted with Gwynne and me?" +</P> + +<P> +"Of course. I meant any of the others." +</P> + +<P> +"Well," Myra spoke dubiously, "if you don't, I think you will get +acquainted easily." And with that remark she adroitly turned the +conversation and managed to avoid that subject during the rest of their +journey. +</P> + +<P> +When the train drew into the dingy little depot the next morning, and +the trio gathered up their wraps preparatory to alighting, Tabitha was +suddenly heard to ejaculate, "Why, there is Dad! And he's talking +with—Miss Pomeroy, as sure as I'm alive! Myra Haskell, is Miss +Pomeroy occupying one of those twelve tents?" +</P> + +<P> +Myra glanced hastily through the iron gates, saw that Tabitha was +right, and demurely nodded her head. +</P> + +<P> +"Then I can imagine who the others are." +</P> + +<P> +"Bet you can't! At least, not all." +</P> + +<P> +"Bet I can!" +</P> + +<P> +"Who, then, smarty?" +</P> + +<P> +"Grace Tilton, Bessie Jorris, Jessie Wayne, Julia, Chrystie—<I>is</I> +Chrystie there?" +</P> + +<P> +"Wait and find out," teased Myra. +</P> + +<P> +"Possibly Madeline and Vera,—in fact, all our bunch." +</P> + +<P> +Myra merely laughed, and as they were now spied by Mr. Catt and his +companion, there was no further opportunity for discussion; for, after +a hasty greeting all around, the man seized all the grips he could +manage, and made for the street, saying briskly, "We must hurry. The +boat goes at ten, and it is quite a ride to San Pedro." +</P> + +<P> +"I hope," panted Tabitha, trotting along at the rear of the procession, +tugging a heavy suit-case, "that you don't have your fun in such a +hurry." +</P> + +<P> +"What do you mean?" Myra demanded. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, it's been nothing but hustle since we started out yesterday +afternoon, and I was just wondering if that's the atmosphere of your +camp, too." +</P> + +<P> +"Perhaps you will think so," laughed Myra; "for there certainly are few +idle minutes with us." +</P> + +<P> +"How long has the bunch been at Avalon? Surely not all summer, or you +never could have kept it secret for such a while." +</P> + +<P> +"No," Myra acknowledged, "only—but there, not another question till we +reach Catalina. Then you can ask all you want. I've said too much +already. First thing I know, you will guess the rest of our surprise." +And the girl resolutely closed her lips. +</P> + +<P> +"<I>Rest</I> of the surprise," mused Tabitha to herself, when further +questions failed to bring forth any more information, and Myra was +devoting her attention to quiet Gloriana. "I wonder what it can be. +Seems as if there had been about all the surprises one human being +could expect in twenty-four hours. Who would ever imagine that Dad +would go on a jaunt like this? Isn't it great to be alive in this day +and age?" +</P> + +<P> +She fell to dreaming over the many changes that had come to pass in her +life during one short year, and was only roused from her revery by +Myra's gripping her shoulder and shouting in her ear, "The boat is +whistling its warning now. Not a minute to spare. Run, Kit, run!" +And again the little company tore frantically down the street toward +the dock where the <I>Cabrillo</I> was tugging at her anchor, waiting for +the signal to steam away to the Enchanted Isle on her daily voyage. +</P> + +<P> +It was the first time either Tabitha or Gloriana had been on the ocean; +and with rapturous hearts they drank in every detail of their brief +trip, counted the flying fish that darted out of the water on either +side of them, watched the foam dashing high against the bow of the +vessel, wondered at the long ribbon of silent water which the ship left +in its wake, and were sorry when suddenly Myra called, "There's the +island. We are almost there. Now for the fun! There's a bride and +groom on board." +</P> + +<P> +"How do you know?" +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't you hear the whistle blow?" +</P> + +<P> +"Sure, but I supposed it was to tell the islanders that we were coming. +Doesn't it always whistle?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but not like it did just now. That's the way they have of +letting the folks at Avalon know when there is a recently married +couple on board. Then the men are ready and waiting at the dock with a +wheelbarrow." +</P> + +<P> +"A wheelbarrow! What on earth do they want of a wheelbarrow?" demanded +both girls at once. +</P> + +<P> +"Just for fun. They cart the groom all around the island in it and +make a fearful racket. Regular chivari." +</P> + +<P> +"How mean!" cried Gloriana compassionately. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, it's fun," Myra declared. "They like it. I believe an Avalon +citizen who didn't get treated that way would feel insulted, really. +Here we are at the landing, and there is the wheelbarrow brigade. It's +Murphy, the ice-man, who got married this time. See, he's as proud as +a peacock at the prospect." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, but look at the poor little bride," said Gloriana indignantly. +"She is scared stiff." +</P> + +<P> +"Bet she's game," replied Myra, after a quick scrutiny of the little, +shrinking woman, clinging to the arm of the big, burly Irishman, as +they stepped briskly down the gangplank. +</P> + +<P> +"Do they put her in the wheelbarrow, too?" cried Tabitha in amazement. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, dear, no——" +</P> + +<P> +"They will this one," said the bride with startling suddenness, having +chanced to overhear both question and answer. "If they cart my Pat +around town in that kind of a rig, they cart me, too." And to the +delight and amusement of the crowd gathered to greet the <I>Cabrillo's</I> +passengers, the little lady tucked herself in the barrow beside her +husband and was trundled away by the surprised citizens, who had never +wheeled just such a cargo before. +</P> + +<P> +"'Here comes the bride'," a voice began to sing; the crowd took it up, +and amid a shower of bright-colored confetti, the plucky bride +disappeared down the street still seated beside her smiling Pat. +</P> + +<P> +So intent was Tabitha in watching the queer procession that she had not +noticed the quiet approach of a bevy of happy-faced girls; but now, as +she turned toward Myra with the remark, "She's clear grit. I'd choose +a wife like that if I were a man," she found the laughing eyes of Grace +Tilton staring at her, and before she could find her tongue to voice +her surprise, Gwynne's regal head bobbed through the crowd toward her. +Jessie and Julia, Vera and Kate, all her particular friends at Ivy +Hall, seemed to spring up around her, and although half expecting to +find them there, she stood transfixed with amazement, silently +regarding them one by one, while they in silence stared back at her. +Then the circle parted, and among the familiar faces of her schoolmates +appeared another, which dimpled and smiled and nodded engagingly, and +Tabitha awoke with a start. +</P> + +<P> +"Carrie Carson!" she cried, and ran straight into the outstretched arms +of the golden-haired girl. +</P> + +<P> +"Kitty, my puss!" whispered Carrie, cuddling the black head dropped on +her shoulder; and the other girls thoughtfully turned away to watch the +sea-gulls careening about the mastheads of the big <I>Cabrillo</I>. +</P> + +<P> +But after a moment, that sweet, familiar voice spoke again, and turning +back, the Ivy Hall girls saw Carrie stretching out her hands to timid +Gloriana, as she said, "So this is my other sister, my Gloriana! It +seems as if I had always known you. We are going to have great times +at Ivy Hall this year. Come on, girls, the glass bottom boat is to +take us to the Marine Gardens right after dinner, and we'll have to +hurry, or be late." +</P> + +<P> +Myra turned to Tabitha with a comical grimace, and said, "What did I +tell you? Hurry's the word." +</P> + +<P> +Then a babel of voices broke loose, all laughing and talking at once, +and in triumph Tabitha and Gloriana were escorted to Ivy Hall Camp. +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR> + +<A NAME="chap15"></A> +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +CHAPTER XV +</H3> + +<H3 ALIGN="center"> +MYRA'S CLIMAX +</H3> + + +<P> +"Well, vacation is over, and we had just begun having a good time," +sighed Tabitha mournfully, drawing back the curtains and peering out of +the window that September morning into the gray fog of early dawn. "It +doesn't seem possible that we are back in Los Angeles again. I 'most +wish we had stayed at Catalina for this last day." +</P> + +<P> +The Catalina campers, after a delightful two weeks' outing on the +Island, had returned to mainland the day before; but as Ivy Hall had +not yet opened its doors to its pupils, and most of the girls lived in +neighboring towns, Myra Haskell had invited them to spend the night +with her at her aunt's house. The aunt, Mrs. Cummings, was herself +away on a brief vacation, but had given her harum-scarum niece +permission to take possession of her pretty bungalow for the two nights +the party would be in Los Angeles before school commenced. So, as the +gray day dawned, it found a dozen mummy-like figures stretched about +the floor of the great living-room, wrapped in blankets and quilts, and +snoring blissfully. +</P> + +<P> +This was the audience which Tabitha addressed, but she did not realize +that she had spoken her thoughts aloud, and was startled when Myra, +without opening her eyes, grunted, "Huh! You'll sing another tune +before night. This is to be <I>the</I> gala day of your life. You will +never forget it. When Dad starts out to do a thing, he never stops +half way. The only trouble is to get him started." +</P> + +<P> +"I didn't mean to grumble, truly," cried Tabitha, dismayed at having +had her ungracious complaint overheard by her young hostess. "It is +just grand of your family to invite all of us out to your ranch for the +day, but I believe it's going to rain. It certainly looks like it. +You could cut the fog with a knife." +</P> + +<P> +"Whist! my young friend," murmured Gwynne, wakened from her slumbers by +the sound of voices in the room. "Don't be so pessimistic. Don't you +know it never rains in California? At least not in the summer time." +For from the opposite corner of the room someone had sleepily murmured, +"What about the ostriches?" and the whole company laughed +reminiscently, recalling that Thanksgiving night when the storm had +frightened the ostriches at the Park until they broke loose and created +a panic among the returning theatre-goers. +</P> + +<P> +"Who said rain?" demanded Grace, lifting a tousled head from the pillow +to survey the hilarious group scattered about the floor of the spacious +room. +</P> + +<P> +"Go back to sleep,—you dreamed it!" teased Bessie, who had begun to +slip on her clothes. "'Twas snow we were talking about. Feels like +it, anyway." +</P> + +<P> +"It <I>is</I> pretty chilly," admitted Tabitha, shivering under the thin +folds of her borrowed dressing-gown, as she turned away from the window +and prepared to follow Bessie's example. "Wake up, thou sluggards, +'tis time you were dressed. Remember we have a long and arduous day +ahead of us." +</P> + +<P> +"Kitty must be tired," said Julia in mock sympathy, crawling out of her +warm nest and jerking the blanket off her nearest neighbor with +ruthless hand. "Is that it, Kitty? First you want it to rain, and +then when you can't make it do that, you begin to moan about the length +of the day before us." +</P> + +<P> +"All wrong," Vera spoke up suddenly. "She is merely thinking of that +dear, cross-eyed boatman at Avalon. You know he promised to give us a +free ride to the Marine Gardens this morning, and here we all came away +and dragged Tabitha with us. Shame on us! What could we be thinking +about!" +</P> + +<P> +Tabitha wisely joined in the laugh which followed this sally, and sent +a pillow flying after her tormentor, who had made a wild dash for the +hall. "No, sir, I'm not bemoaning my fate," she vigorously denied, +with her mouth full of pins. "I know we shall have a splendid time at +the ranch. Only it seems as if vacation had only just begun, instead +of being nearly ended; and the day looks so cloudy and gray that it +doesn't seem like a fitting climax for our lovely two weeks at +Catalina." +</P> + +<P> +"It is too bad that you got cheated out of all the fun this summer," +Myra sympathized heartily. "But just you wait until the day is done +before you say it is not a fitting climax— Gracious Caesar! Here's +one of the autos already! Surely they can't be coming so soon! What +time is it, anyway?" +</P> + +<P> +"Half-past six," Gloriana answered, glancing at an open watch that lay +on the library table. +</P> + +<P> +"Half-past nothing!" cried Vera, tumbling hastily into the room with +her eyes as big as saucers. "It is almost eight o'clock!" +</P> + +<P> +"You are joking!" cried the rest of the group in wild alarm. +</P> + +<P> +"Am not! True as you're alive, the kitchen clock says a quarter of +eight o'clock." +</P> + +<P> +"Oho!" murmured Myra guilty. "I—I—really, I forgot——" +</P> + +<P> +"Forgot what?" they demanded, as she doubled up and shrieked with +laughter. +</P> + +<P> +"I—I must have set all the watches in the crowd behind time," she +managed to explain at length. +</P> + +<P> +"When?" +</P> + +<P> +"Last night." +</P> + +<P> +"What for?" +</P> + +<P> +"Just a joke." +</P> + +<P> +"A joke? I can't see any joke about that!" spluttered Jessie +indignantly. "Did you think we wanted to go for a forty-mile auto ride +on empty stomachs? I'm as hungry as a bear this minute." +</P> + +<P> +"I am awfully sorry," cried Myra penitently, sobering at the +realization of just what would be the outcome of her joke. "I meant to +set them two hours ahead, so you would all get up at daybreak and be +ready long before the autos came." +</P> + +<P> +"Just like you!" they exclaimed, half amused, half provoked. "What are +you going to do about it now?" +</P> + +<P> +"What can we do? The autos are here already with the rest of the +people. There are the Carsons and here comes Miss Pomeroy." +</P> + +<P> +"And there is Tabitha's father in his new machine." +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, and mine," said Myra. "My! won't he be mad to think we aren't +even dressed? If there is one thing above another that he abominates, +it is having to wait for a woman to get ready to go somewhere. Well, I +suppose I'll have to break the news to him. Then after you have all +gone home again, won't I get the dickens?" +</P> + +<P> +"Hold on!" cried Tabitha, as Myra started for the door. "There is no +need of that, is there? I've got a brilliant inspiration. Didn't you +say when you investigated the larder last night that your aunt must +have baked just a-purpose for our visit?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, words to that effect. There is a whole crock full of doughnuts +and another of cookies. She must have had baking day just before she +decided to take her little trip. But why?" +</P> + +<P> +"We'll just fill our pockets——" +</P> + +<P> +"Haven't any!" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, our hands, then, and eat our breakfast on the sly." +</P> + +<P> +"On the <I>fly</I> you mean," said Gwynne, sarcastically. +</P> + +<P> +"To be exact, yes. Or perhaps it would be better to pretend that we +just found the supplies as we were about to leave the house. That will +be the truth, so far as the most of us are concerned. Won't it?" +</P> + +<P> +"But cookies and doughnuts are pretty slim fare for hungry bodies," +grumbled Vera, tugging at an unruly collar. +</P> + +<P> +"Better than nothing," said Bessie cheerfully. "Dinner will taste all +the better." +</P> + +<P> +"But we aren't ready," objected Julia, slipping the last hairpin in the +heavy coil at the back of her head. "My shoes aren't buttoned yet, and +I can't scare up a hook in the whole outfit." +</P> + +<P> +"Bring 'em in your hand, then," suggested Gwynne. "I'm ready now, and +I elect myself commissary general to distribute the rations as you pass +out. Who'll be first in line? Gather up your bedding, Jessie, and +stack it in the corner, else Myra's aunt will think tramps camped here +instead of civilized human beings. Now, are you all clothed and in +your right minds? Then, Grace, poke your head out of the window and +announce to the audience that we will be out in a minute. Where are +your hats and coats? Yes, Kate, there'll be time for you to wash your +face if you haven't been able to do so before. Look pleasant, please! +No one must suspect that we've had no breakfast; but in my mind's eye, +I can see this bunch stowing away their dinner three or four hours from +now. Hope they serve it as soon as we get there. Do you suppose there +will be enough to go around? How far did you say it was, Myra? Forty +miles?" +</P> + +<P> +Laughing and joking, the dozen hungry, breakfastless girls hurried into +their coats and veils, seized their pitifully small allotment of +doughnuts and cookies, and boisterously climbed aboard the autos +waiting for them. +</P> + +<P> +"Only ten minutes late by actual count," Mr. Haskell complimented them, +as the merry crowd poured out of the door. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, well, that's doing fine! How did it happen?" +</P> + +<P> +"It's all Myra's fault," began Vera plaintively, but Myra, fearful that +she was about to be betrayed, hastily asked, "Where is the dinner, Dad? +Didn't mother tell you to bring——" +</P> + +<P> +"Some stuffed squabs, fruit and cake? Yes, she did; and it's packed in +that trunk hitched onto the step there. You'll have to sit on it, I +guess. There doesn't seem to be quite room enough to accommodate all +the crowd." +</P> + +<P> +This arrangement just suited Myra, who loved to romp like her brothers; +so she gleefully perched on top of the long, flat chest strapped on one +side of the auto, and the procession slowly set out on its long journey. +</P> + +<P> +"My! but it's a beautiful day," sighed Tabitha at length, her eyes +wandering from the fog-wet landscape below to the sky above, where the +blue was already chasing away the gray, as the sun struggled up behind +the eastern hills. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't I tell you so?" crowed Gwynne, regretfully studying the last +bite of a doughnut before popping it into her mouth. "It doesn't rain +in California. Is this the river we cross eighteen times, Myra, in +order to reach your ranch?" +</P> + +<P> +"Only eight," mumbled Myra, with her mouth full of cookie crumbs. +"This is it. Allow me to introduce you to the great——" +</P> + +<P> +"Great!" echoed Tabitha, looking down at the shallow, sluggish stream +with critical eyes. "Is it <I>really</I> a river? Looks to me like the +little puddles we used to sail boats in after a heavy rain-storm back +home when I was a little tot." +</P> + +<P> +"It isn't very awe-inspiring now, is it? But you should see it in the +spring after the rains. It certainly can play havoc then. Changes its +channel every two or three years, and causes all sorts of damage. What +is the matter ahead there?" Their auto had slowed down suddenly, and +now came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the road. "What has +happened, Dad?" +</P> + +<P> +"Carson's auto is stuck in the mud." +</P> + +<P> +"Mud?" +</P> + +<P> +"Well, the river-bed, if that suits you any better. I'll get out and +see if I can help them——" +</P> + +<P> +"No need; they've started up again," said Tabitha, waving her hand at +Carrie and wishing that she had been fortunate enough to get a seat in +Mr. Carson's machine. +</P> + +<P> +The delayed procession started onward again, and without further +difficulty crossed the muddy river-bed and sped swiftly away down the +smooth road on the other side. But that same river had to be reckoned +with seven more times, and each time at least one of the cars sank in +the treacherous mud and had to be dug out. +</P> + +<P> +"Well, thank fortune, this is the last time we cross!" breathed Myra, +as they approached the winding river for the eighth time. "Ours is the +only auto that hasn't stuck fast so far. Let her out, Dad, and we'll +be on the other bank in a jiffy. I never knew the river to be so high +at this season of the year." +</P> + +<P> +"Knock on wood, Myra, knock on wood!" cried Gwynne in mock alarm. "Too +late, we've stuck fast! Why on earth couldn't you wait until we had +safely reached the other side before you commenced bragging?" +</P> + +<P> +"Huh! You superstitious duck, did you think we could escape? Oh, +pshaw, we're out! Not even the fun of having to be helped across like +the others were! Well, never mind, Mr. Catt's machine is sure to stick +again. It has every time so far. There, didn't I tell you? Hurrah! +Watch your father puff, Kitty. Ain't he a sight? Get out your shovel, +Mr. Catt!" +</P> + +<P> +Myra was excitedly dancing on the lid of the luncheon-filled chest, as +she hung precariously over the back of the tonneau, and bawled her +remarks at the unfortunate occupants of the auto behind them, which +seemed to sink deeper and deeper in the mire with every effort to dig +her out. +</P> + +<P> +"Fasten this rope to your car and we'll try dragging you out," finally +suggested the ponderous Mr. Haskell, clambering heavily down from his +seat at the wheel and going to the aid of his unlucky neighbor, who was +not yet much skilled in the art of running an automobile. So they tied +the two cars together with a heavy rope, and tried to drag the captive +machine loose, but without success. +</P> + +<P> +"Let me drive," suggested Myra, after they had tugged in vain for +several minutes, "and you get out and pull on the rope, too." +</P> + +<P> +"What good will that do?" growled her father crossly. "If sixty horse +power won't budge the thing, do you suppose man's puny strength will?" +</P> + +<P> +Nevertheless, he crawled out of his seat once more, and seized the +great rope dangling between the two cars. Mr. Catt, resigning his +wheel to the driver of the next machine in line, followed Mr. Haskell's +example, and with three or four of the other men of the party, they +added their strength to that of the machine, and pulled with all their +might. Myra, at the wheel, was in her element, and putting on full +power, she gave the lever a vicious jerk. The car leaped forward like +a thing alive, and bounded up the opposite bank at break-neck speed. +</P> + +<P> +"Ah!" she cried in triumph, "I knew I could get her started. I'm a +bird!" +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Daddy," shrieked Tabitha's voice from the rear seat. "Let go, oh, +let go! Mr. Haskell, you'll be killed!" +</P> + +<P> +"Myra, you chump!" hissed Gwynne in her ear. "Shut that thing off! +The rope's bu'sted and you are dragging our precious men folks uphill." +</P> + +<P> +Myra glanced hastily behind her, reversed the wheel, and as the car +came to a standstill, she sprawled across the seat, doubled up with +merriment, half hysterical. "Oh, didn't they look funny hanging onto +that rope? What fools some mortals be! Why didn't they let go? Bet +Dad's got his nose skinned good, for when I looked back, he was plowing +up the road on his head. Is he hurt? I don't dast to ask! Mr. Catt, +your clothes are pretty dusty." +</P> + +<P> +"Dusty I'll admit, but not very pretty," he smiled grimly, as he wiped +the perspiration from his grimy face. "However, you got the car out of +the rut, so perhaps we can proceed on our way now." +</P> + +<P> +"Then it might be wise if I resigned my seat to the chauffeur before I +am requested," chuckled Myra, still laughing immoderately at thought of +her father's undignified attitude as he was dragged through the dust, +clinging desperately to the frayed end of the broken rope. So she +scrambled nimbly to her place on the running board, and there Mr. +Haskell found her sitting prim and decorous when he had finally +recovered his breath and made himself sufficiently presentable to face +the rest of the party. +</P> + +<P> +"Your nose is a little—soiled," she told him, as he climbed stiffly +into his seat, "and somewhat scrubbed, I'm afraid." +</P> + +<P> +Her voice shook a little in spite of her efforts to control her mirth, +and he scowled darkly at his irrepressible daughter, though he only +said, "Are you all ready?" +</P> + +<P> +So again the procession of autos took up their journey, and with no +further accident finally reached the great walnut ranch where the +Haskell family lived during the summer. The rosy, smiling mother +greeted them from the veranda as the cars rolled up the smooth driveway +and unloaded at the door. "You are late," she said cheerily. "Did you +have any mishaps? I knew you would be hungry after your long ride, so +we are serving dinner early. Dave, did you get the squabs all right?" +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, he did," Myra answered. "I sat on them all the way out here. +Dad, bring on the 'eats'. Why, what is the matter?" +</P> + +<P> +Mr. Haskell stood in the driveway frowning heavily at the car, much as +he might have done at a naughty little boy. At Myra's boisterous call, +he raised his eyes and inquired, "Where <I>are</I> the 'eats'?" +</P> + +<P> +"In the chest, of course. What do you—" Her voice died away in a +husky, bewildered squeak. The rest of the party came closer, followed +the direction of her glance, and gasped. The hamper full of stuffed +squabs was gone! +</P> + +<P> +"Well, of all things!" cried Gwynne, when the silence was becoming +oppressive. "How could it have happened?" +</P> + +<P> +"With Myra sitting on it!" chorused the girls. +</P> + +<P> +"Didn't you miss it?" +</P> + +<P> +"N-o." +</P> + +<P> +"Ha, ha, that's one on you, Miss Haskell," laughed Mr. Carson. +"<I>Sitting</I> on the lunch box and never missed it when it tumbled +overboard. How did <I>you</I> manage to stick on?" +</P> + +<P> +"How did the other machines manage to come along behind us and never +find it?" retorted Myra, nettled at the hilarity of her companions. +"<I>That</I> is the question!" +</P> + +<P> +"We must have lost it in the river," suggested Tabitha. +</P> + +<P> +"Of course! When we were trying to pull out the other machine and I +shaved Dad's nose. Didn't I do a good job, Mumsie? Must we go hungry +now because I lost all your little stuffed scrubs,—I mean squabs?" +Anxiously she turned toward her mother and scanned that sober face, for +her eighteen hour fast had left her half famished, and there were at +least eleven other girls in the same boat, all because of her stupid +attempt at joking. +</P> + +<P> +"We-ll, I have cooked a kettle of new potatoes and another of green +corn,—plenty of both. But it looks as if you must go without meat." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, we can get along nicely, I know. Vegetables are better than meat +anyway, you know. Come on, let's eat!" At that moment she felt hungry +enough to swallow the dishes themselves, and anything sounded +appetizing to her. As the rest of the party were equally as hungry, +they were not slow to respond to her invitation, and in a very short +time the tables were stripped; but the ravenous appetites were +appeased, and the little company scattered in groups about the ranch to +enjoy the few brief hours of their stay. +</P> + +<P> +The return trip was as tame as the first part of the journey had been +exciting, for not a single car stuck once, and just as the city clocks +were striking nine, the tired, sunburned, but blissfully happy girls +again found themselves entering Mrs. Cummings' deserted house, where +they were to spend this last night before Ivy Hall opened its doors to +receive them. +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, Kit, your father gave me a letter for you, hours ago," suddenly +exclaimed Myra in dismay, as they were unrolling their blankets ready +for bed, and she dragged forth a crumpled envelope from her blouse and +presented it to her surprised companion. "I'm so sorry I forgot it. +Really, it's inexcusable in me." +</P> + +<P> +"It's of little consequence," Tabitha assured her, scanning the +unfamiliar handwriting with puzzled eyes. "I don't know anyone in +Boston. Oh, it's from Billiard and Toady, I reckon. They live at +Jamaica Plains, and—why, there's money in it! One hundred dollars. +What in the world— Will you listen to this, girls? You know I told +you about their getting part of the reward for helping capture the bank +robbers in Silver Bow? Well, they are sending it back and want to know +if it's enough to give Mercedes another year at Ivy Hall." +</P> + +<P> +A deep hush fell upon the group of tired, sleepy girls preparing for +the night. Each maid recalled with a twinge of conscience the picture +of quiet, sober-faced Mercedes McKittrick, as she had said good-bye to +them that last day of school. "I can never forget any of you," she had +said shyly, "and I'm glad of that, for it's nice to remember pleasant +times when you can't have any more." They had not understood then, but +now they knew it was her way of renouncing the happy school days which +she must give up because of her father's illness; and they were ashamed +of their indifference. +</P> + +<P> +"I'll add fifty dollars of the check Uncle Jerry gave me," whispered +Gloriana, breaking the painful silence at last. +</P> + +<P> +"And there's my birthday money in the bank," said Tabitha. "That's +another fifty." +</P> + +<P> +"Oh, if only I hadn't spent my allowance for clothes that I didn't +need!" groaned Myra. "But I still have nine dollars and ninety-nine +cents left. Can anyone make it an even ten? Ivy Hall will be open to +us to-morrow, and school begins Monday. I can get along nicely on my +nerve until my next allowance comes in. Here, let's pass the hat." +</P> + +<P> +"Me, first!" cried Bessie enthusiastically, reaching for her purse. +"I'll give ten dollars." +</P> + +<P> +"My money is <I>all</I> gone," mourned Grace, "but I'll <I>promise</I> ten +dollars if you will take pledges." +</P> + +<P> +In utter amazement Tabitha sat curled up on her pile of blankets, +watching the shower of gold and silver which poured into her lap. "Oh, +girls," she gasped, when she could find her tongue. "How can I ever +thank you? Mercy will be transported with joy. Here's more than +enough to pay all her expenses, and Carrie will want a share in it, +too. Aren't friends splendid!" Her voice was husky and tremulous, and +two bright drops glistened in her black eyes. What a beautiful world +this is to live in! Somehow, the spontaneous gift to little Mercedes +seemed a gift to her also, and she thoroughly appreciated the loving +act of her classmates. What a beautiful climax to her summer vacation! +</P> + +<P> +Jessie sniffed audibly, and Vera surreptitiously wiped a big tear off +the end of her nose. Myra, who hated scenes, brought the group back to +the earth with a thump, saying briskly, "Come, let's to bed! I'm half +dead already, and my face is smarting like sin. I don't like your cold +cream, Kitty." +</P> + +<P> +"Cold cream?" repeated Tabitha in surprise. +</P> + +<P> +"Yes, I helped myself to the contents of the jar I found in your +suitcase. No one else had any, and my face was burned to a frazzle." +</P> + +<P> +"Did you put that stuff on your face?" screamed Tabitha, holding up a +tiny white jar of creamy paste. +</P> + +<P> +"Sure. Why?" +</P> + +<P> +"Because it's corn salve. No wonder it smarts. Go wash——" +</P> + +<P> +But Myra waited to hear no more. There was a wild scamper of bare feet +on the hall floor, the bath-room door banged noisily, water splashed +vigorously, and just as the girls were drifting off to sleep, they +heard Myra, snuggling down in her blankets, murmur sadly, "It's lucky +the Hall opens to-morrow. Otherwise these girls would soon be the +death of me." +</P> + +<BR><BR><BR><BR> +<hr class="full" noshade> + +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TABITHA'S VACATION***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 20332-h.txt or 20332-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/3/3/20332">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/3/3/20332</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. 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For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL">http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/GUTINDEX.ALL</a> + +*** END: FULL LICENSE *** +</pre> +</body> +</html> diff --git a/20332-h/images/img-front.jpg b/20332-h/images/img-front.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..6c4d8dd --- /dev/null +++ b/20332-h/images/img-front.jpg diff --git a/20332.txt b/20332.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d0abe59 --- /dev/null +++ b/20332.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6487 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, Tabitha's Vacation, by Ruth Alberta Brown, +Illustrated by Wuanita Smith + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: Tabitha's Vacation + + +Author: Ruth Alberta Brown + + + +Release Date: January 11, 2007 [eBook #20332] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TABITHA'S VACATION*** + + +E-text prepared by Al Haines + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustration. + See 20332-h.htm or 20332-h.zip: + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/3/3/20332/20332-h/20332-h.htm) + or + (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/3/3/20332/20332-h.zip) + + + + + +TABITHA'S VACATION + +Volume III in the Ivy Hall Series + +by + +RUTH ALBERTA BROWN + +Author of "Tabitha at Ivy Hall," "Tabitha's Glory," "At the Little +Brown House," Etc. + + + + + + + +[Frontispiece: "I hope," panted Tabitha, trotting along at the rear of +the procession, "that you don't have your fun in such a hurry."] + + + + +The Saalfield Publishing Company +Chicago, ---- Akron, Ohio ---- New York +Made in U. S. A. +Copyright, MCMXIII +By the Saalfield Publishing Company + + + + +CONTENTS + + I. The McKittricks' Misfortune + II. Tabitha and Gloriana, Housekeepers + III. Unwelcome Guests + IV. Mischief Makers + V. Irene's Song + VI. Gloriana's Burglars + VII. Toady and the Castor Beans + VIII. Billiard Runs Away + IX. Billiard Surrenders + X. Susanne Entertains a Caller + XI. In the Canyon + XII. The Bank of Silver Bow is Robbed + XIII. The Robbers and the Haunted House + XIV. The Unexpected Happens + XV. Myra's Climax + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +"I hope," panted Tabitha, trotting along at the rear of the procession, +"that you don't have your fun in such a hurry." . . . _Frontispiece_ + + + + +TABITHA'S VACATION + + +CHAPTER I + +THE MCKITTRICKS' MISFORTUNE + + "'Ho, ho, vacation days are here, + We welcome them with right good cheer; + In wisdom's halls we love to be, + But yet 'tis pleasant to be free,'" + +warbled Tabitha Catt, pausing on the doorstep of her little desert home +as she vigorously shook a dingy dusting cloth, and hungrily sniffed the +fresh, sweet morning air, for, although the first week of June was +already gone, the fierce heat of the summer had not yet descended upon +Silver Bow, nestling in its cup-like hollow among the Nevada mountains. + + "'Ho, ho, the hours will quickly fly, + And soon vacation time be by; + Ah, then we'll all in glad refrain, + Sing welcome to our school again.'" + +piped up a sweet voice in muffled accents from the depths of the closet +where the singer was rummaging to find hooks for her wardrobe, which +lay scattered rather promiscuously about Tabitha's tiny bedroom. + +"Why, Gloriana Holliday, where did you learn that?" demanded the girl +on the threshold, abruptly ceasing her song. "It's as old as the +hills. Mrs. Carson used to sing it when she went to school." + +"So did my mother. I've got her old music book with the words in it," +responded her companion, emerging from the dark closet, flushed but +triumphant. "There! I've hung up the last dud I could find room for. +The rest must go back in the trunk, I guess. My, but it does seem nice +to have a few weeks of vacation, doesn't it?" + +"One wouldn't think so to hear you carolling about school's beginning +again," laughed Tabitha, shaking her finger reprovingly at the +red-haired girl now busily collecting the remainder of her scattered +property and bundling it into a half-empty trunk just outside the +kitchen door. + +Gloriana echoed the laugh, and then answered seriously, "But really, I +have never been glad before to see vacation come. It always meant only +hard work and worry, gathering fruit in the hot sun or digging +vegetables and peddling them around from door to door; while school +meant books and lessons and a chance to rest a bit, and the last two +years it meant Miss Angus, who did not mind my red hair and crutches." + +"But it is all different now," Tabitha interrupted hastily, shuddering +at the gloomy picture her companion's words had called up. "You are my +sister now, and there won't be any more goats and gardens to bother +about. You have left off using one crutch altogether, and don't need +the other except out of doors. We are going to have a lovely vacation, +and you won't want school to begin at all in September." + +"Yes, it is all different now, Kitty Catt, thanks to dear old you!" +agreed the younger girl, giving the slender figure in the doorway an +affectionate hug. "And I suppose I shall be as daffy about this queer +desert place as you are by the time Ivy Hall opens its doors again----" + +"Aha!" triumphed Tabitha. "Then you don't like it now, do you? I +never could get you to admit it last winter." + +"I haven't admitted it yet," Gloriana retorted spiritedly. "It looks +so much different in the summer time, but still seems queer to me with +its heaps of rocks and no trees except the stiff old Joshuas. I wonder +why they are called that. Even they don't seem like trees to me. They +look like giant cactus plants, and just as cruel." + +"They have beautiful blossoms," Tabitha interrupted. "We are a little +too late to see them, though many of the other desert flowers are still +in bloom. Look across that stretch beyond the river road. Isn't it +pretty with its red and yellow carpet? May is the month to see the +desert in its glory, though. _Then_ it is truly beautiful. _No_ one +could think it ugly. But come, let's run over to Mercy's house. We +have swept and dusted, and you have finished unpacking. This is our +second day at home and I haven't been near to inquire how Mr. +McKittrick is. He was hurt before Christmas, so we never went there +during the holidays, you remember." + +"Where do they live?" + +"Why, I showed you the place--that queer brown house perched up-----" + +"Oh, yes, on that great shelf of rock, overlooking the railway station." + +"The first house we see on our way up here from the depot. Mr. +McKittrick always called it the Eagles' Nest, and his children the +eaglets." + +"What a pretty idea! How many eaglets are there besides Mercedes and +the little boy you named?" + +"Four other girls. Mercy is the oldest of the family. Then come +Susanne, or Susie, as they call her; the twins, Inez and Irene; Rosslyn +and the baby, Janie." + +"That's quite a family. What nice times they must have together!" +sighed Gloriana wistfully, thinking of her own orphaned life with no +brothers or sisters with whom to make merry. + +"Yes, I reckon they are a pretty lively bunch sometimes, for Susie is +as wild as Mercedes is quiet; and Inez should have been her twin +instead of Irene's. Janie is a regular little mischief, too, but such +a darling! You are sure to love her, though Rosslyn is my favorite. +Put on your hat and let's go down before dinner. Daddy won't be home +until evening, and there is nothing to keep us here." + +Seizing her sunbonnet from its peg by the door, Tabitha started up the +path toward town with Gloriana hobbling along at her side, when they +saw Mercedes, with roguish Janie and chubby Rosslyn in tow, coming down +the slope toward them. Her round, serious eyes looked heavy and +worried, her childish face pale and frightened; but at sight of the two +approaching figures, a smile of relief suddenly curved the drooping +lips, and she exclaimed eagerly, "Oh, girls, I was just going for you! +Are you on the way to our house? Oh, please say yes! Something +dreadful has happened, I'm sure, for mamma has sent us all out-doors, +and is in the kitchen crying fit to kill. She won't say what's the +matter, and I'm horribly scared. I never saw her cry before." + +Tabitha's face paled instantly. "I wonder--" she began, then stopped. +How could she put her thought into words when Mercedes was already so +dreadfully frightened? "Has the doctor been to see your father this +morning?" she asked. + +"Yes. He stayed ever so long and talked to mamma in the kitchen. I am +afraid papa is worse, for 'twas right after the doctor was gone that +she began to cry so hard." + +Tabitha turned to Gloriana. "I'll run on ahead," she said, "if you +don't mind. You can follow more slowly with Mercedes. I--perhaps it +would be better if I saw Mrs. McKittrick alone first." + +"All right," agreed Glory, who, like Tabitha, was wondering if the +message the doctor had delivered in the Eagles' Nest that morning had +left the little mother without a ray of hope; and so she fell in step +beside the anxious Mercedes, and began to chat in spritely, diverting +tones while Tabitha sped swiftly up the narrow, winding path to the +lonely-looking, little, brown house perched on the steep mountainside. + +Arriving at the door breathless and panting, she hesitated a moment +before knocking, suddenly aware that she had not the slightest idea of +what she intended to say or do. A glimpse through the screen of a +huddled figure bowed despairingly over the kitchen table drove every +other thought from her mind, however, and flinging open the door, she +ran lightly across the room and impulsively laid her hand upon the +quivering shoulders. + +"Mercedes, must I tell you again--" began the muffled voice of the +distracted woman, as she impatiently shook off the hand resting on her +arm. + +"It isn't Mercedes," Tabitha interrupted. "It is I--Tabitha. I don't +know what is the matter, but if you will tell me, perhaps I can be of +some use, even if I am only a girl." + +Mrs. McKittrick lifted a red, swollen face from her arms outstretched +on the table, glanced in surprise at the black-eyed girl bending so +sympathetically above her, and once more burst into a flood of tears, +sobbing wildly, "It ain't any use, Tabitha! You couldn't help if you +was a woman grown. No one can help. The doctor says--" The choking +words died on her lips. She could not bear to repeat the doctor's +verdict. + +"That Mr. McKittrick is worse?" whispered Tabitha. + +The bowed head nodded despairingly. + +"Surely he isn't going to----" + +"Die?" cried the woman wildly. "Yes, he must die unless we can get him +out of here. The only hope is an operation. That means Los Angeles, a +hospital, a nurse, and hundreds of dollars; and not a cent coming in +from anywhere. The children are too young to earn, and I can't work +with him to nurse and six youngsters to care for. Oh, it does seem as +if troubles never come singly! Whatever we are going to do is more +than I know. The whole world has turned upside down!" + +Gravely Tabitha nodded her head. Only a year before as she had stood +beside the bed of her father, fighting what seemed like a hopeless +battle with death, she, too, had felt that despairing helplessness. +"If only Dr. Vane were here!" she whispered fervently. + +"I don't believe he could do a bit more for the man than Dr. Hayes is +doing. He'd just say the same thing, and there wouldn't be any more +money than there is now to carry out his orders." + +In vain Tabitha sought to comfort and cheer the despondent soul, but +seemed only to make matters worse, and at length, disheartened at her +apparent failure, she stole away from the brown house on the bluff, and +with Gloriana following silently at her heels, set out for home. Not a +word passed between them as they hastened down the main street of the +town, until, just as they reached the dingy telegraph station, the +sound of the busy, clattering key caused Tabitha to halt abruptly and a +gleam of determination to flash over her sober, worried face. + +"That's what!" she exclaimed joyfully. "I'll do it! Mr. Carson will +fix everything. 'Twas in his mine that McKittrick was hurt." + +"What do you mean? Where are you going?" asked bewildered Gloriana, +unable to follow Tabitha's thoughts, and wondering what errand was +taking her into the low, dimly lighted shack from which issued the +monotonous, nervous, clicking sound which had attracted Tabitha's +attention. + +"To telegraph Mr. Carson. If he knew how badly off Mr. McKittrick is, +he would send him inside in a minute." + +"Inside?" + +"To Los Angeles, I mean. People here on the desert call that 'inside,' +though I never could see why. Please, Mr. Goodwin, give me a blank. I +want to send a telegram." + +The man behind the counter supplied her with the necessary materials, +and stood waiting curiously for the message to be written. But another +idea had occurred to Tabitha, and turning away from the operator with +the blank in her hand, she whispered to Gloriana in dismay, "I don't +dare telegraph. Mr. Goodwin is a worse gossip than any old maid I ever +knew, and he'd tell it all over town before noon!" + +"Then write a letter." + +"It takes nearly a week for mail to travel that far. It might be too +late by--I've got it! How will this do?" + +Rapidly she scribbled a few hasty words on the slip in her hands and +passed it to Gloriana, who read in amazement this queer scrawl: + +"Wire five hundred silver headed eagles. Must get rich quick. Ask +Carrie to translate. Letter follows. + +Tabitha Catt." + + +"That is more than ten words, but I can't help it. I'm willing to pay +for it if it does the work." + +"But, Kitty, what does it mean?" asked mystified Gloriana, privately +thinking it the silliest piece of nonsense she had ever heard of. +"Will he know what you want?" + +"Carrie will. We used to write notes to each other in cipher when we +were little. _We_ called it cipher. Of course it was all utter +nonsense, but I am sure she will remember." + +"It doesn't sound--sensible--to me," Gloriana confessed. "I suppose +five hundred silver headed eagles means five hundred dollars, but what +is that about getting rich?" + +Tabitha laughed gleefully. "Rosslyn McKittrick was a long time +learning to say his own name when he was a baby," she explained. "As +near as he could get it, 'twas 'Russ Getrich.' Mr. Carson was +superintendent of the Silver Legion then, instead of one of the owners, +and as Mr. McKittrick was working there when Rosslyn was born, the +miners made him their mascot, and Mr. Carson used to tease him by +calling him 'Must get rich quick.' I couldn't write 'McKittrick' in +the telegram without Goodwin suspecting what I am up to; so I did the +next best thing I could think of." + +"But--" It all still seemed so ridiculous to the red-haired girl. + +"You think he will wonder if I am crazy?" Tabitha had read the look of +doubt in her companion's face, and correctly surmised what she was +thinking. "Perhaps he will, but I don't believe so. He is quick to +understand things. Now we will skip back to the post-office and I'll +scratch him a letter of explanation, so it will go out with to-day's +mail. Then if he shouldn't translate the telegram correctly--well, the +letter will get there as soon as possible afterward." + +As she spoke, she delivered the written message to the waiting +operator, smiled with satisfaction at his look of baffled curiosity and +bewilderment, and assuring him that it was worded exactly as she wanted +it sent, she left the dingy office confident that the queer cipher +would bring the desired results. Nor was she mistaken. + +Early the next morning Mercedes came flying excitedly down the path to +the Catt cottage, and, without the formality of knocking, burst into +the kitchen where the two girls were busy washing up the breakfast +dishes. + +"Oh, Kitty! Gloriana!" she cried, half laughing, half sobbing with +sheer delight. "Guess what's happened! Mr. Carson has sent mamma some +money to take papa to Los Angeles. Now he can get well. That is what +has been worrying her so much. The doctor said he would die unless he +was operated on and mamma hadn't the money to get it done. They are to +start to-morrow. Mamma's going, too. Doctor says every minute counts, +and he has telegraphed to the hospital to make arrangements already." + +She paused, all out of breath, to mop her steaming forehead; and +Tabitha, studying the flushed, shining face, wondered that she had ever +thought Mercedes McKittrick dull and homely. + +"Isn't that fine?" she heard Gloriana saying, as heartily as if she had +not known anything about the telegram before. "What are the rest of +you going to do while your mother is away? You children, I mean." + +"That's how I happened to come here," Mercedes replied, her eyes losing +some of their glow as she recalled her errand in that part of the town. +"Mamma sent me down to Miss Davis' house with a note, but she isn't +there; and the woman next door says she has gone to Riverside for two +weeks. I s'pose we'll have to find someone else instead. But I was so +near I couldn't help running on down to tell the news. I must be going +now. There is lots to be done before train time to-morrow, and +mamma'll need me." + +"We will come up and help her pack as soon as we get the house +righted," Tabitha found tongue to say. "She mustn't get too tired +before she starts." + +So Mercedes raced away again, and a few moments later the two busy +little housekeepers in the hollow locked up their orderly cottage and +followed more slowly up to the Eagles' Nest on the bluff. + +"Where can the children be?" Tabitha's expectant eyes searched in vain +for a glimpse of the noisy, lively brood of 'eaglets,' who usually saw +her coming a long way off, and met her half-way down the mountainside +with a boisterous shout of welcome. To-day, however, not one of the +sextette was in sight about the queer little brown house, and the whole +place wore a deserted air. + +"Maybe they have gone visiting so Mrs. McKittrick can look after her +packing unmolested," suggested Gloriana, letting her keen gray eyes +sweep the steep, rocky incline for some sign of the youthful +McKittricks, but with no better result. + +"That must be it," concluded Tabitha, "though I should have +thought--why, Mercedes, Susie! What _is_ the matter?" + +Coming suddenly around the corner of a huge boulder where the children +often played house, the two girls almost tumbled over a row of the most +woe-begone, utterly miserable looking figures they had ever +seen,--Mercedes, Susie, Inez, Irene, Rosslyn and Janie, all seated on a +broad, flat rock as stiff as marble statues, and with faces almost as +stony and staring. + +"Why, children!" echoed Gloriana, equally amazed. "What are you doing +here? What has happened?" + +"Mamma is crying again," whispered Mercedes, dabbing savagely at a tear +which suddenly brimmed over and splashed down the end of her nose. + +"She says she won't go and leave us alone with Mercy," gulped Susanne, +striving hard to keep the telltale quiver out of her voice. + +"And there ain't money enough to go and take us all," supplemented +Inez, who had earned the title of "Susie's shadow," because she +preferred the society of her older sister to that of her quiet twin. + +"Miss Davis has gone away and won't be back until it's too late," +mourned gentle Irene, gazing sorrowfully down toward the low station +house on the flats below. + +"Mrs. Goodale's gone, too, and there ain't nobody else to housekeep for +us," Rosslyn added plaintively, "'cept Mercy." + +"But we'd be ist as dood as anjils wiv Mercy," lisped little Janie +dejectedly, seeming to comprehend the tragedy of the situation as well +as did the older children. + +Slowly Tabitha turned toward her companion. Gloriana's gray eyes +bravely met the questioning glance of the black ones. "Would your +father----" + +"_Our_ father," Tabitha mechanically corrected her. + +"Our father let you--us, I mean?" + +"All summer, if he thought we wanted to; but it won't be that long." + +"Only two weeks." + +"Until Miss Davis gets back--or Mrs. Goodale." + +"Do you think Mrs. McKittrick would leave the----" + +"I don't know," confessed the older girl in worried accents. "It's a +chance for him. I believe she'll take it. I'm sure we are old enough." + +"And know enough about keeping house." + +"They would be perfectly safe with us two." + +"Supposing we ask her." + +Impulsively, Tabitha started for the house with Gloriana at her heels; +and the children, though not understanding the drift of the +conversation they had just overheard, fell in behind the two, and +marched in solemn procession up the path, feeling sure that something +was about to happen which would clear away the heavy cloud of despair +hovering over their household. + +Again Mrs. McKittrick was sitting beside the battered kitchen table +with her head on her arms as they had found her the day before, but +this time Tabitha did not hesitate. Breathlessly, excitedly, she +began, almost before she was inside the house: + +"Oh, Mrs. McKittrick, Mercy has told us all about it--how Miss Davis +and Mrs. Goodale are away and you can't find anyone to leave the +children with. But you mustn't stay here on that account! Glory and I +will take charge of the house. Really, we know how to cook and can +manage splendidly, I'm sure, if you will let us try. Miss Davis will +soon be back and then she can look after everything. Two weeks isn't +very long. No harm can come to us in that time, I know. We'd love to +do it. Say you will go. It means so much to you----" + +She had not intended to say just that, but misreading the look of +wondering surprise in the tear-stained face lifted to hers, she +blundered, hesitated, and stood silent and distressed in the middle of +the floor, shifting uneasily from one foot to the other, and looking so +much like the frank, outspoken, bungling Tabitha of old, that Mrs. +McKittrick could not refrain from laughing. It was an odd, hysterical, +little laugh, to be sure, more pathetic than mirthful, but it relieved +the sharp tension of the situation; and Gloriana, quick to take +advantage of auspicious moments, broke in, "All you need to do is to +say yes. We will be model housekeepers and take the best of care of +the family." + +"But--but--what about your father? He won't listen to such a plan, I'm +sure." + +"Now, don't you fret about that!" cried Tabitha joyfully, regarding the +battle as good as won. "Daddy won't care a mite! Two weeks is such a +little time. He will be glad to have us come." + +"I believe--I better--take Janie. She is so small, and----" + +"I believe you better not!" the black-eyed girl laughingly retorted. +"She would be dreadfully in your way, no matter how good she is; and +you want to be free to take care of your--patient. Now, where is your +trunk? What clothes do you need to take? If you will tell us where to +find things, we will begin to pack at once while you are getting the +house settled the way you want to leave it, and writing out your +orders." + +"'Cause we'll be ist as dood as anjils," lisped Janie, as the +procession, at a signal from Mercedes, quietly trooped forth into the +June sunshine once more, and, with radiant faces and happy hearts, +skipped down to their boulder playhouse to celebrate. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +TABITHA AND GLORIANA, HOUSEKEEPERS + +"You really think you want to do it?" Mr. Catt glanced quizzically +from one bright, girlish face to the other as his fingers gently +stroked the red tresses and the black hovering so close to his knee. + +"Sure, daddy!" promptly answered Tabitha, patting the arm nearest her +in a fashion that a year before she never would have dreamed of. + +"Perfectly sure!" repeated Gloriana, snuggling closer to the big +armchair in which her adopted father sat, and smiling contentedly at +thought of the new life opening up before her. + +"Two weeks mean fourteen whole days," he warned them. + +"Yes," they giggled, "fourteen whole days!" + +"And six lively children can raise quite a racket." + +"The house is too far from the rest of town for their noise to bother +anyone else," Tabitha reminded him. + +"That's another point. What would you do if burglars broke in at +night? You would be too far from town to call help." + +"There is nothing at McKittrick's to burgle," his daughter retorted +triumphantly. "I am not afraid." + +"Nor I," said Gloriana, though somewhat faintly, for of a sudden a new +phase of the matter had presented itself. She _was_ still afraid of +the black desert nights, and burglars were a constant source of terror +to her, though never in all her life had she encountered any of that +species of mankind. + +"The cottage on the cliff is no more isolated than our cottage here in +the hollow, now that the Carsons are away," continued the black-haired +girl. "It would be just as easy--easier, in fact, to get help if we +needed it there, than here; for the McKittrick house is on the side of +the mountain overlooking the town, while our place is hidden from the +rest of Silver Bow by that hill. We can see only the roof of the +assayer's office from here, and that is the nearest building to ours +except Carrie's house." + +"That's true!" exclaimed Gloriana with such an air of relief that Mr. +Catt could not refrain from smiling. + +"And besides, nothing is going to happen in two weeks," continued +Tabitha. + +"Suppose Miss Davis doesn't return in two weeks? I thought you wanted +to spend your summer at the beach." + +"Oh, Miss Davis will be back on time," was the confident reply. "And +we had planned to stay here a few weeks anyway, you know. Myra won't +be looking for us before the first of July, for we had expected Tom +would come home early in the summer for his vacation instead of having +to wait until fall, and so made our plans accordingly." + +He smiled at the grown-up air she had assumed, then sighed, for +something in her quiet self-assurance and dignified poise suddenly +brought home to him the realization that his little girl was fast +growing up. The sensitive, rebellious, little spitfire of a few months +ago had developed into a charming, gentle-mannered maid; and while he +rejoiced in gaining so sweet a daughter, he disliked to lose the wild, +untamed elf who had so suddenly blossomed into a young lady before he +could in any measure atone for the unhappy years of her loveless +childhood. He would have kept her a little girl all her life, had he +been able; but here she was springing up into the beauty of a glorious +womanhood before his very eyes. So he sighed as he thought of his lost +opportunities, then abruptly asked, "How old are you, Tabitha?" + +"Going on sixteen, daddy." + +"And you, my other daughter?" turning to Gloriana sitting silently on +her low stool by his side. + +"Fourteen, sir." + +"Rather youthful housekeepers," he drawled, teasingly. + +"But experienced in spite of youth," Tabitha gayly retorted. "Why, +Miss King says we are the two most promising domestic science pupils +she has. Now what do you think of that?" + +"That she is right," came the prompt though unexpected reply; "and if +you really think you want to play Good Samaritan for a couple weeks, +you have my hearty sanction. The fact of the matter is, I find it +impossible to be here at home much for the next fortnight, myself; +possibly not at all after tonight. So you might just as well be +mothering the McKittricks as left alone in this end of the town, so far +as I can see." + +"I knew you would say yes," sighed Tabitha contentedly. "You shall see +what model housekeepers your daughters can be. We'll make you proud of +us." + +"I have no doubt of it," he answered heartily. "But if you begin your +arduous duties to-morrow, it is time you were in bed this minute. Fly +away now!" + +So they ran laughingly away to their room, both secretly glad of the +chance to seek their pillows an hour earlier, for that day at the +McKittrick cottage had been a busy one, and though neither would +acknowledge it to the other, feet, arms and backs ached sadly. But the +next morning, after a refreshing night's sleep, the duet was ready and +eager for the novel role they were about to play; and just as soon as +their own simple tasks were done, the necessary clothes packed and the +little cottage made secure for its two weeks of solitude, they tramped +merrily up the steep path to the Eagles' Nest, and entered upon their +summer vacation as housekeepers for a family of six, as Susie expressed +it. + +Everything was topsy-turvy in the excitement of getting the injured +father, and weary, distracted mother started on their brief journey; +but finally they were off, and a row of sober-faced children stood on +the bluff overlooking the flats below, watching the train puff its way +slowly out of sight behind the mountains. + +With the last glimpse of the departing cars, the sense of +responsibility in her new charge descended upon the shoulders of the +volunteer housekeeper, and Tabitha was for a brief moment appalled at +the task which she had so rashly undertaken. + +"Six children to look after for two whole weeks!" she gasped in dismay. +Then her courage returned with a rush. "Why, Tabitha Catt, you coward! +I am ashamed of you! If you can't take care of six children for two +short weeks, particularly with Gloriana to help, you are not good for +much!" Resolutely she turned toward the house, saying briskly, to hide +her own wavering spirits, "Well, folkses, let's have chocolate pie for +supper!" + +"Oh, goody!" cried Inez, whirling about to follow her leader; and at +mention of these words, the faces of the whole group brightened +wonderfully. + +"Can't we have some cake, too? Mamma said we might if you knew how to +make it." + +"Knew how to make it?" boasted Tabitha scornfully. "Well, I should say +we do! What kind will you have?" + +"Nut loaf," quickly responded Mercedes, who knew from experience how +delicious Tabitha's nut loaves were. + +"Angel cake," wheedled Susie, with her most engaging smile. + +"Frosted with chocolate," added Inez. + +"Devil's food," suggested Irene. + +"Cookies," pleaded Rosslyn, who had a boy's fondness for that +particular delicacy. + +"Dingerbread," lisped the baby. + +And Tabitha laughed. "That's quite a collection, my dears." + +"I should say so!" gasped Gloriana. "We can't make them all to-night. +In fact, it is nearly four o'clock now. There isn't time for both pie +and cake." + +"Unless we do make gingerbread, as Janie suggested," said Tabitha +slowly, seeing the look of disappointment clouding the row of round, +serious faces watching them so expectantly. + +"Wiv raisins," coaxed Rosslyn. "Lots of 'em!" + +Instantly the faces brightened again. "Oh, yes, that's the way we like +it best," chorused the four older members. + +"And let us seed them," pleaded Inez. "Mamma often lets us." + +"She won't let us eat more'n twelve," added Irene hopefully, "and we +can work real fast." + +"Well, you will have to if we have gingerbread for supper," said +Gloriana. "I supposed the raisins were already seeded. Will we have +time, Tabitha?" + +"Yes, if everyone hustles, I reckon. Mercy, you know where things are +in the pantry. Supposing you get out the spices, sugar, flour, and +things. Susie and the twins stone the raisins; and, Rosslyn, you might +bring in some small wood for the stove. We'll use the range to-night, +because I have baked in that oven before and know how it works, but +won't know until I experiment with it, how the gasolene oven bakes." + +While she was issuing orders, Tabitha flaxed blithely about the little +kitchen, lighting the fire, hunting up cooking utensils, and beginning +the process of making chocolate pie, leaving Gloriana to wrestle with +the mysteries of a raisin gingerbread. + +Anxious for the coming treat, the children obediently flew to their +various tasks; and soon voices buzzed busily, while the little hands +tried their best to hurry. + +"There!" breathed Tabitha at last, lifting a red, perspiring face from +an inspection of two beautifully frosted pies in the oven, "they are +done. Don't they look fine? Now you can put in your gingerbread +whenever you are ready, Glory. I'll set these on the wash bench +outside to cool, while I hustle up the rest of the supper." + +"Mamma always puts her pies in the pantry window," volunteered Irene, +not wishing to have the tempting delicacy removed from her sight. + +"But they will cool quicker in the open air," explained Tabitha. "And +supper will be ready so soon that they won't be cool enough to eat if +we set them in the window. Now, Mercy----" + +"Oh, Kitty," came a sudden wail of alarm from the dooryard where +Rosslyn was still busy with his basket of chips, "Janie is gone! I +can't find her anywhere!" + +Tabitha dropped her platter of cold potatoes which she was preparing to +warm over; Mercedes hastily left her dishpan where she was piling up +the soiled kitchen utensils which the youthful cooks had used with +extravagant hand; Susie and the twins abruptly deserted the raisin jar; +and all bolted for the door. + +Only Gloriana remained at her post. She had arrived at the most +critical stage of her gingerbread making, and though her first impulse +was to join in the search for the missing baby with the rest of her +mates, her thrifty bringing-up reminded her that in the meantime the +cake would spoil. So she paused long enough to dump in the cupful of +raisins still standing on the doorsill, where the seeders had been +sitting at their task. Giving the mixture a final beat, she poured the +spicy brown dough into the baking sheet, thrust it into the oven, +adjusted the dampers, and followed the example of the others, setting +out down the rocky path as rapidly as her lameness would permit. + +Meanwhile, toiling up the steep trail on the other side of the house, +came a tiny, tired figure, almost ready to drop from her unusual +exertions. Her dress was torn in a dozen places where the cruel +mesquite had caught her as she passed, one shoe was unlaced, one +stocking hung in rolls about the plump, scratched ankle, she wore no +hat, and her fair hair was sadly tousled by the wind and her struggle +through sagebrush and Spanish bayonets. Altogether, she presented a +woeful spectacle; but in spite of it all, she clasped tightly in one +chubby fist, a soiled and crumpled letter, which every now and then she +examined critically, having discovered that the warmth and moisture of +her fat hands left tiny, smudgy fingerprints on the white envelope, and +being anxious to present a clean document to her wondering audience +when she should have reached her goal. But oh, it did seem so far up +to the Eagles' Nest, and the way was so rough for her little feet! +Still she kept plodding wearily along, and at length reached the end of +her journey, only to find the house silent and deserted. + +"Mercy!" she piped shrilly, pushing open the screen and stumbling into +the hot kitchen. "I'se dot a letter! Where is you? Susie! Rossie!" + +Still no answer. Puzzled at this unusual state of affairs, she raced +from room to room as fast as her short, tired legs would carry her, but +no one was there. + +"Tabby!" she shrieked. "Dory! What did you leave me for?" + +A panic seized her. She had been deserted! Tears gathered in her +sea-blue eyes, and trickled in rivulets down her flushed cheeks. She +was afraid to stay alone. Why had everyone left her? Back to the +kitchen she pattered. It was empty, but a fire still burned in the +stove and savory odors from the oven lured her on. Curiosity overcame +her fear for a moment, and with a mighty tug, she jerked open the door, +revealing Gloriana's gingerbread just done to a turn. + +"Dingerbread!" cried the child, gloating over the huge, golden sheet +which smelled, oh, so good! "I want some now!" And forgetting that +the oven was hot, she seized the pan with both chubby fists, but +instantly let go her hold and roared with pain, for ten rosy fingers +were cruelly burned, and how they did smart! + +Suddenly above the wail of her lusty voice came the sound of excited +voices and flying feet; and the next instant frightened Tabitha with +her adopted brood in close pursuit, flew into the kitchen, and gathered +up the hurt, sobbing baby in her arms, crooning tenderly, "There, +there, dearie, you mustn't cry any more. We've all come back. We were +hunting you. Where did you go?" + +"Oh, see her hands!" cried Irene, shuddering in sympathy. "She has +burned herself!" + +"But the gingerbread isn't burned at all," volunteered Susie with +satisfaction, after a keen and anxious scrutiny of the spicy loaf +half-way out of the oven. + +"For goodness' sake!" ejaculated Tabitha, not having noticed the seared +fingers up to that moment, "What do you do for burns?" + +"Bring some butter," ordered Gloriana, remembering Granny Conover's +first remedy for burns. + +"Mamma uses molasses," said Irene; and Susie and Inez, recovering their +senses at the same instant, dived into the pantry, returning +immediately, one with a crock of butter in her hand, and the other +bearing a bucket of molasses; and before either of the older girls +could intervene, they plunged both of Janie's dirty, scorched hands +first into one dish and then into the other, leaving them to drip +sticky puddles down the front of Tabitha's dress and on to the clean +kitchen floor. + +"Why, you little monkeys!" gasped the senior housekeeper, forgetting +the dignity of her position in her wrath at what seemed inexcusable +carelessness on the part of the girls. + +"Mamma _always_ puts molasses on burns," quavered Inez, her lip +trembling at Tabitha's tone. + +"And Glory said butter," surprised Susie defended. Then both culprits +dissolved in tears. + +"There, there, never mind!" cried Tabitha in dismay. "I didn't mean to +scold, but you ought to have known more than to stick the baby's dirty +hands into the molasses pail and butter crock." + +"Not dirty!" screamed the outraged Janie, striking the face above her +with a dripping fist. "On'y burned! Ve pan was--" Her sentence +unfinished, she found herself ruthlessly shaken and dumped into the +middle of the floor, while angry Tabitha rushed out of the door into +the cool dusk of early evening, leaving a dismayed family staring +aghast at each other in the hot kitchen. Even the amazed baby forgot +to voice her protest at such treatment, but stood where she had landed, +staring with round, scared eyes after the fleeing figure. + +Down the mountainside sped Tabitha to the big boulder, wheeled about +and rushed back to the house as swiftly as she had left it, and before +the astounded children had recovered their breath, she cried, "I am +sorry I was cross. I reckon I'm a little tired and everything has gone +upside down and--suppose we have supper now. I know you are all +hungry. Susie, while I am tying up Janie's hands, you might put the +potatoes on in the frying pan; Irene, set the table; Inez, fetch the +water; and Mercy, cut the bread. Is the gingerbread done, Gloriana?" + +"Yes," responded the junior housekeeper proudly, "and already sliced +for the table. Shall I bring in the pie?" + +"The pies!" shouted the six McKittricks. + +"I had forgotten all about them," confessed the older girl. "Yes, you +better get them right away. One will be enough for supper,--the tins +are so large." + +While Tabitha was speaking, Gloriana had stepped briskly out of the +door into the summer night and disappeared around the corner of the +house; but immediately a terrified scream pierced the air, there was a +loud snort and the sound of startled, scampering feet, and Gloriana +burst into the room again bearing an empty plate in one hand and a +dilapidated looking pie, minus all its frosting, in the other. + +"Oh, our lovely pies!" wailed the children in chorus. + +"The burros!" gasped Tabitha. + +Gloriana nodded. "One had his nose right in the middle of this pie. +The other beast had upset the second tin and was licking up the crumbs +from the gravel." + +"Oh, dear, I want some pie!" whimpered Rosslyn, puckering his face to +cry. + +"Ain't that the worst luck?" Susie burst out. + +"If you had put the pies in the _window_ to cool, like mamma does--" +began Inez. + +"It's too late to make any more to-night," Gloriana hastily +interrupted, seeing a wrathful sparkle in Tabitha's black eyes; "but if +you don't make any more fuss about it this time, we'll bake some +to-morrow." + +"And if you want any supper at all, you'd better come now," advised +Mercedes, from her post by the stove, where she was vigorously making +hash of the sliced potatoes. "This stuff is beginning to burn." + +Gloriana rescued the frying pan, and the disappointed children gathered +about the table, trying to look cheerful, but failing dismally. + +"Don't want any 'tato," objected Janie, scorning the proffered dish. +"Dingerbread!" + +"Potato and beans first," insisted Tabitha. + +"Dingerbread!" stubbornly repeated the child, so sleepy and cross that +the weary older girl said no more, but slid a large slice of the savory +cake into the little plate, and proceeded to help the other children in +the same liberal manner. No one wanted beans and potato, but at the +first mouthful of the tempting-looking gingerbread, everyone paused, +looked inquiringly at her neighbor, chewed cautiously a time or two, +and then eight hands went to eight pair of lips. + +"I thought we stoned raisins for this cake," cried Susie, half +indignantly. + +"So you did," replied Gloriana, her face flushed crimson as she bent +over her plate, intently examining her slice of cake. + +"Oh, and put the stones in the cake! What did you do with the +raisins?" demanded Inez. + +Before Glory could frame a reply, or offer any excuse for the accident, +Irene slid hurriedly off her chair, flew through the doorway and down +the path toward town, but she was back in a moment, and in her hand she +held a cup of raisins. + +"Why, Irene McKittrick!" cried Mercedes, lifting her hands in horror. +"What made you hide them?" + +"I didn't hide them," the twin indignantly protested. "The cup was in +my lap when Rosslyn called that Janie was lost, and I forgot to put it +down when I ran out-doors. I remembered it by the time we reached our +playhouse, so I set it down there and that's where I found it now." + +"Janie wasn't lost," interrupted that small maiden in drowsy tones. +"Me went to get a letter." + +"To get a letter!" chorused her sisters. "Where?" + +"To the store where Mercy goes. A man dave me one, too," she finished +triumphantly, squirming down from her high chair to search about the +room for the missing epistle, while the rest of the family forgot both +pie and gingerbread in joining in the hunt. Rosslyn found it at last +under the stove where it had fallen when Janie began her investigation +of the oven; and the girls exclaimed in genuine surprise, "Why, it _is_ +a real letter!"' + +"Addressed to mamma," said Mercedes, "Do you suppose Janie really went +to the post-office all alone?" + +But Janie was fast asleep in her chair where she had retired when +convinced that Rosslyn had actually found her precious letter; so the +sisters once more bent curious eyes upon the soiled envelope. + +"Better re-address it to your mother," suggested Tabitha, remembering +that in her written instructions, Mrs. McKittrick had failed to mention +the matter of mail which might come to Silver Bow for her. + +"Mamma told me to open all her letters, and not even to send papa's to +Los Angeles, unless 'twas something _very_ important." + +"Then why don't you open it?" cried Susanne impatiently. + +"And see who wrote it," added Inez. + +"I--I--guess I will." Deliberately she tore open the envelope, spread +out the brief letter it contained, and with a comically important air, +read the few short lines. Then beginning with the heading, she read it +the second time, her face growing graver at each word, until impatient +Inez could stand the strain no longer, and burst out, "Well, what's it +all about? Does it take you all night to read that teenty letter?" + +"It's from Aunt Kate, Uncle Dennis' wife," Mercedes slowly retorted. +"She is going to Europe for something, and wants to send the boys out +here to us." + +"Williard and Theodore?" + +"Yes." + +"But how can they, with papa hurt and mamma gone?" + +"She says that they will pay good board and she knows mamma will be +glad enough to get the money, seeing that papa's still unable to work." + +Tabitha's face darkened. "It's an imposition!" she exploded wrathfully. + +"I sh'd say so!" agreed Susanne. "They are dreadful noisy boys. We +had 'em here once before, and Aunt Kate got awful mad 'cause papa +licked 'em when they touched a match to the old shed to see how the +people on the desert put out fires." + + + + +"She said they never should come again," added Inez, "but I guess she's +forgot." + +"How old are they?" ventured Gloriana. + +"Williard's between me and Susie," Mercedes answered, "and Theodore's +between Susie and the twins." + +"Are you going to let them come?" demanded Irene. + +Mercedes turned helplessly toward Tabitha. "What would you do, Kitty?" +she asked. "Shall I write and ask mamma?" + +"I shouldn't," Tabitha promptly replied. "Your mother has her hands +full now, and it would only worry her to know how nervy your Aunt Kate +is. I'd write her,--your aunt, I mean,--and tell her just how things +stand, your father in the hospital and your mother with him. She ought +to know more than to send them then. Still, I believe I'd just say +that the boys can't come. She would understand that all right. And +I'll be responsible, Mercedes, if your mother should think we ought to +have told her about it first." + +"_I'd_ telegraph, so's to be sure," said Susanne. "Aunt Kate doesn't +think much about other folks' wishes, and if she wanted to go to Europe +bad enough, she'd ship the boys to us if we all had smallpox." + +"That's a good idea," Tabitha acknowledged. "We'll telegraph at once, +and then she will have no excuse for not knowing how sick your father +is. Where is there a pencil and paper? I'll write out a telegram now, +and we'll slip down town, and send it to-night." + +She hastily scribbled the words: + +"Mrs. Dennis McKittrick, + Jamaica Plains, Mass. + +Don't send boys. Father in Los Angeles hospital. Mother with him. + +MERCEDES McKITTRICK." + + +Then taking Irene as company, she carried the message to the telegraph +station that same evening, to make sure it reached its destination in +time to prevent the threatened visit from the unwelcome cousins. + +"Perhaps I acted in a high-handed manner," she confessed to Gloriana, +as they were preparing for bed that night, "but I couldn't bear to +think of that selfish old cat--yes, that's what she is,--imposing upon +Mrs. McKittrick again. I remember the boys, though it was quite a +while ago that they were here. They were only little shavers then, +too. I never met them, but one doesn't have to in order to know all +they want to know about their antics." + +"And judging from our first day's experiences as housekeepers in this +family, we shall have all _we_ want to do, without two terrors of boys +added." + +"To-day has been rather hard and disappointing," Tabitha acknowledged +with a gusty sigh. + +"But to-morrow will be better," Gloriana comforted her. "And it is +only for two weeks. That's one consolation." + +"Thank fortune!" Tabitha exclaimed with fervor; and the tired eyelids +closed over the drowsy black eyes and the gray. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +UNWELCOME GUESTS + +"Well, one whole week is gone," said Tabitha exultantly, as she bent +over the heaped-up mending basket one hot afternoon, and tried to make +neat darns of the gaping holes in the heels of Susie's stockings. + +"Yes, and half of the first day of the second week," Gloriana replied +cheerily. "But really, Puss, time hasn't dragged as slowly as I +feared. That first day was the longest, I think, I ever knew." + +"That first day was a horrible nightmare," the older girl emphatically +declared. "I thought it _never_ would end, and I'd have quit my job on +the spot if there had been anyone to take my place." + +"I'd have quit it anyway if you had just said the word," laughed her +companion. "I thought you'd never go to sleep that night--I wanted so +badly to cry." + +"Did you? So did I, but you kept tossing so restlessly that I knew you +were still awake, and finally I dropped off without getting my cry at +all." + +"That's just what I did, too!" giggled Gloriana. + +"And the next morning everything looked so different----" + +"Yes, I could laugh then at the burro's nose in your lovely pie and the +seeds in my gingerbread; but they didn't seem so funny the night +before." + +"They seemed anything but funny to me for several days, and I don't +think I'll ever see a chocolate pie or a gingerbread again in my life +without remembering this vacation." + +"But things have gone splendidly since that first night," Gloriana +reminded her. "The children have tried to be angels, even if they have +executed some queer stunts for cherubs." + +"Yes, I know, but I am glad just the same that half of +our--apprenticeship--is over. If this week will pass as smoothly as +last week did, it's all I'll-- What in the world is the matter with +the children? Sounds as if they were having an Indian war dance. I +wonder if those Swanberg boys are bothering again." + +Both girls dropped their mending and hurried to the door just in time +to hear Inez's voice say cuttingly, "Of course we know who you are, +Williard and Theodore McKittrick!" + +"Guess again!" drawled the older of two strange boys, lolling on +suitcases in the middle of the yard. + +"Well, those _are_ your names," Inez insisted. + +"You look enough like you used to when you were here before, so we +can't be mistaken," said Mercedes primly. + +"Can't, eh? Well, our names are Williard and Theodore no longer. We +are Billiard and Toady these days. Mind you don't forget! We've come +to stay till the folks get back----" + +"Didn't you get our telegram telling you not to come?" demanded +belligerent Susie. + +"Sure we did!" + +"Then why didn't you stay at home?" + +"'Cause ma had the arrangements all made to go across the ocean and +there wasn't anyone else to send us to. Grandma's away travelling, and +Aunt Helen's kids have got scarlet fever." + +"But papa's in the hospital and mamma's there nursing him," said Irene +indignantly. + +"Truly?" The boy called Toady spoke for the first time. + +"Do you think I'm lying?" + +"Well, ma said she bet it was all a bluff to keep us from coming out +here," Billiard explained, looking genuinely surprised at Irene's words. + +"And anyway," supplemented Toady, "she said if it was true about your +father and mother being away to Los Angeles, there'd have to be someone +here to look after you kids, and two more wouldn't make much +difference." + +"Specially when she's paying for our board!" + +Tabitha, a silent spectator in the doorway, ground her teeth in +helpless rage, while Gloriana gasped audibly at the impudence of mother +and sons. + +"It's no more'n right that you should pay board," Susie declared in +heat. "You make so much trouble wherever you go." + +"Do, huh?" Billiard, frowning darkly, advanced threateningly toward +his outspoken cousin, with fists doubled up and an ugly sneer on his +face. But Susie was no coward, and when he shook his knuckles close to +her little pug nose to emphasize his words, the girl's arm shot out +unexpectedly and landed a blow fair and square on one eye. + +With a yell of rage and pain, the surprised boy lunged forward, but +instead of confronting Susie, he found himself in the grasp of a tall, +irate young lady, who wore her shining black hair pinned up on top of +her head, although her skirts were still short enough to show a pair of +trim ankles. "Now stop right here!" + +She spoke quietly, almost too quietly; but one look into the +smouldering depths of those big, black eyes was enough to cow the +bully, and he jerked himself free, muttering sulkily, "She hit me +first!" + +"She had to, or get hit herself," bawled Inez, jigging excitedly from +one foot to the other in her exultation over her cousin's defeat. + +"Inez!" + +"Well, he needn't have come! We telegraphed them not to!" + +"_Inez_!" + +The girl subsided, and Billiard found courage to leer triumphantly at +her discomfiture. But Tabitha intercepted the glance, and in that +ominously calm voice which had struck terror to his cowardly heart +before, she announced, "It is too late now to think of that side of the +question. We'll have to make the most of a bad situation; but I _will +not_ tolerate fighting. You may as well understand that first as last. +If you boys can't behave like gentlemen, you can just move on down to +the hotel. Is that plain?" + +"Yes, sir--ma'am," stammered the abashed Billiard, glancing uneasily +about for some means of escape, but Tabitha had delivered her +ultimatum, and now swept grandly into the house, satisfied that she had +displayed her authority in a very impressive manner. + +Hardly had the screen closed behind her, however, when her sharp ears +caught Billiard's hoarsely whispered question, "Who is that high-headed +geezer?" + +"The girl who is taking care of us," answered Mercedes unguardedly. + +"Girl?" + +"Sure! What did you take her for?" + +"A--a new woman. A--one of these things that's trying to vote and do +men's work and such like." + +"Oho!" yelled the McKittrick girls in unison. "Why, she ain't much +older'n us!" + +"She goes to Ivy Hall in Los Angeles, the boarding school I belong to," +said Mercedes. + +"Honest Injun?" + +"Cross my heart!" + +"Huh!" + +And instinctively Tabitha knew that there was trouble ahead for her. +"Isn't this the worst luck you ever heard of?" she groaned to Gloriana +when once inside the house again. + +"If I had my way about it, I'd ship them straight home on the next +train," declared the red-haired girl angrily. "The very idea of their +mother doing such a thing as that! What kind of a woman is she, +anyway?" + +"I don't know much about her, except that she is utterly selfish and +very rich. The boys are sent away to school most of the year; and +during vacations she manages to shift them onto some of her relatives. +Fortunately, Jim McKittrick is too far away to be bothered with them +very often." + +"But what shall you--we do with them? Shall we tell Mrs. McKittrick +that they have come?" + +"Goodness, no! At least not yet. It would just worry her more than +ever and she is worn to distraction now. No, we must make the best of +it this week, and by that time Miss Davis will be here. She was raised +in a family of boys and ought to know how to manage them." + +"Well, I am thankful _I_ am not in her shoes," breathed Gloriana. "I +suppose we can get along somehow for the six days that are left. Where +shall you put them?" + +"Well, I declare! I had forgotten all about that part of it. They +will think I am a real hospitable hostess." She stepped to the door to +call them, but not a soul was in sight anywhere. Two open suitcases +lay on the ground with their contents scattered all about, but both +owners and their cousins had disappeared. + +"Mercedes! Susie!" she called peremptorily, but no one answered; and +not even the sound of their voices at play fell on her listening ear. +"Strange," she muttered. "They were here a minute ago. Where can they +have gone so quickly?" + +She was about to start on a tour of investigation when a series of +wild, piercing screams of abject terror rent the air, and Rosslyn came +stumbling down the steep incline behind the house, bruised, scratched, +torn, and covered from head to foot with what looked like blood +Gloriana caught him as he fell, for Tabitha turned faint and sick at +the sight; but a shout of boyish disgust from above brought her to her +senses. + +"Aw, come back, you bawl baby! We were just foolin'! You ain't hurt a +mite!" Billiard swaggered into view from behind a tall boulder +half-way up the mountainside, and even Tabitha shuddered at the +spectacle he presented, for he was togged out in war paint and feathers +till he looked fiendish as he brandished a tomahawk in one hand and an +evil-looking knife in the other. At sight of the girl on the narrow +piazza, he hastily retreated behind the rocks again; but Tabitha was +there almost as soon as he. Snatching the gorgeous headdress from the +culprit's head, she trampled it ruthlessly in the sharp gravel, +disarmed the would-be Indian brave, breaking the treasured tomahawk and +knife against the rocks, and shook the cowering savage with strong, +relentless hands. But not a word did she speak, and though her victim +writhed and squirmed and wriggled, he could not break the fierce grip +on his shoulders. + +"Don't, don't," he blubbered in desperation. "I didn't mean to scare +him so bad. We were only playing Indian." + +"Only--playing--Indian!" panted Tabitha, in scorching scorn. "Look at +those children! You have frightened them all to death!" Pausing an +instant in her vigorous shaking, she pointed at the circle of +sisters,--Mercedes, weak and trembling, bent over the limp form of +little Janie, blowing frantically in the still, white face; a +thoroughly subdued and frightened Toady was wildly fanning poor Irene, +who had likewise crumpled in a faint; while close by sat Susie and Inez +clinging to each other and sobbing in terror. + +"Oh, I didn't mean to!" bellowed Billiard, as Tabitha resumed her +shaking. "I thought they'd seen Indians before." + +"And so they have, but not such horrible savages as you!" Shake! +Shake! Shake! + +Irene sighed faintly and opened her eyes. Toady's heart gave a violent +thump of relief and thanksgiving, and abruptly dropping the headdress +of feathers which he had been using as a fan, he flew to his brother's +rescue. + +"Oh, please, Mrs. Tabitha," he pleaded, "you've drubbed him enough. +Shake me if you ain't through yet. You'll have him plumb addled! +Really, we were just in for some fun. We never dreamed the kids would +scare so easy. That's only vegetable dye on Rosslyn's head. He +thought we had scalped him, but we didn't mean to hurt him." + +Tabitha glanced down into the entreating brown eyes at her elbow, +straightway forgave Toady, and released her victim so suddenly that he +fell sprawling into a nest of sharp-thorned Mormon pears; but of this +she was unaware, for with one swoop she gathered up the now hysterical +baby, and stalked off toward the house, saying grimly, "You boys stay +right where you are until you are willing to apologize and promise to +behave yourselves in the future. I've a mind to turn you over to the +sheriff now. Come, girls!" Followed by the troop of white, shivering +sisters, she disappeared within doors, and soon quiet reigned in the +Eagles' Nest. + +Only then did the cowed Billiard venture to peer from his retreat at +the house below. It was nearing the supper hour and he was hungry, but +Tabitha had said he must apologize and promise good behaviour before he +would be admitted to the family circle. It was evident that she meant +business. + +"Toady," he whispered to the other boy, sitting silent and motionless +where he had dropped when Tabitha had left them an hour before. +"Toady, can you see anyone down there?" + +Toady glanced off at the hazy flat below with its winding silver ribbon +of railroad track, and the lonely, dingy station house, and shook his +head. + +"Aw, not there!" Billiard protested, seeing that his brother's thoughts +had evidently been running in the same channel. "Down to Uncle Jim's, +I mean." + +Scarcely shifting his position, dutiful Toady craned his neck around a +boulder, surveyed the quiet mountainside in the waning afternoon light, +and again shook his head. + +"Creep down and see what they're doing. Maybe they are talking about +us." + +"Go yourself," returned Toady briefly. + +"Aw, come now, Toady! She ain't so mad at you, and besides, you're +littler. They wouldn't see you so quick." + +Still Toady remained seated. + +"We'll have to have some water to wash off this stuff before she'll let +us in to--to apologize," wheedled Billiard. + +"_Are_ you going to apologize?" + +"Looks like we got to," answered the older boy gloomily. "She's a +reg'lar cyclone. Smashed up half our things already, and like enough +she will sick the sheriff on us like she said, 'nless we +do--er--apologize." + +It was very evident that Billiard was not in the habit of apologizing +for anything; and Toady, grinning with no little satisfaction at his +brother's discomfiture, arose and slowly descended by a roundabout +trail to the cottage. He was gone a long time and Billiard was growing +decidedly restless and anxious when he appeared in sight once more. +"She's--they are going to write to Uncle Hogan!" he announced +breathlessly. + +"Uncle Hogan!" cried Billiard in dismay. + +"Yes, that's just what I heard them say. Mercedes told her how Uncle +Hogan----" + +"I'll get even with Miss Mercedes," Billiard interrupted fiercely. + +"You better get that paint off your face and hike for the house with +your apology," advised the more easily persuaded brother, "else you'll +never have a chance to get even with anybody again." + +"Why?" + +"Because if we don't promise to be good inside of an hour, they are +going to ask the--the--some man, sort of a policeman, I guess, to look +after us until Uncle Hogan answers." + +"Do you really think they'd write to Uncle Hogan?" + +"Sure! Tabitha knows him. She and that Glory girl with the red hair +kept him all night last winter off some mountain he wanted to climb +'cause they didn't know who he was. She had a gun and shot at them; +but when her father got there he said 'twas all right, and Uncle Hogan +thinks Tabitha is the whole cheese now." + +"Supposing we do--apologize, will they write to him still?" + +"No, I guess not. If you'll promise to behave, they will let you stay +until some woman who's going to take care of the kids most of the +summer gets here. Then she can do as she pleases about writing. You +better knuckle under, Billiard." + +The older boy groaned. "You don't seem to care very much," he +complained bitterly, feeling that Toady had deserted him at the most +critical moment. + +"I--I've apologized already," acknowledged the other. "I'd rather do +that than have Uncle Hogan get after us." + +"So would I," Billiard sulkily decided, and pulling himself up from his +rocky seat, he slowly shambled down the mountainside, with Toady at his +heels hugely enjoying his brother's humiliation, for, though comrades +in mischief, the older boy loved to bully the younger, and Toady had a +long list of scores to settle, so he could not refrain from grinning +broadly behind Billiard's back, particularly since his part of the +disagreeable program had already been accomplished. + +"Better wash your face, first," he suggested, as Billiard made straight +for the kitchen door, through which savory odors of supper cooking were +beginning to steal. + +"Aw, come off!" + +"She won't let you in till you do." + +"Well, then, where's the water?" + +Toady pointed toward a basin on a nearby rock, and Billiard made a +vigorous, if somewhat hasty toilet. Then, after a moment's further +hesitation, he entered the kitchen with hanging head, and, addressing a +grease spot on the floor by Tabitha's feet, muttered surlily, +"I--er--apologize." + +Tabitha's lips twitched. He looked so utterly downcast and abject that +she could scarcely keep from smiling openly. "Are you ready to promise +to behave yourself from now on?" + +"Yes, sir--I mean, ma'am," he gulped, flushing angrily as the girls +tittered. + +Tabitha instantly silenced their mirth, and turning to the boy, said +graciously, "Then we'll let bygones be bygones; but we'll have no more +such actions while you stay. Your suitcase is in the back bedroom. +Toady will show you. But first, please bring in a couple armfuls of +wood. It looks like rain and----" + +"Wood! We never bring in wood at home!" the boy rebelled. + +"You are not at home now," Tabitha answered sweetly. + +"But--we're paying board!" + +"I haven't seen any board money yet. And anyway, we need the wood." + +Angrily the boy jerked out a purse from his trousers pocket and slammed +some gold pieces on the table. + +"Twenty dollars," she counted. "For how long?" + +"All summer." + +"Ten weeks! Two dollars a week for two of you! Board on the desert is +cheap at a dollar a day. You can write your mother to that effect; and +in the meantime, perhaps you better put up at the hotel----" + +"Oh, she said if anyone made a fuss, she'd pay more," Billiard hastily +explained, for somehow the hotel idea did not appeal to him. + +"Well, you tell her a dollar a day for each of you is the regular rate. +And now you will have just about time to get that wood before supper is +ready." + +Billiard glanced questioningly up into the clear, olive face above him, +as if he could not believe his ears. + +"The pile is close to the door," she continued, paying no attention to +the amazement in his face: "and the woodbox is on the screened porch." + +Billiard hesitated, opened his lips as if to speak, closed them again, +and inwardly raging, but outwardly meek, marched out of the door to the +woodpile. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +MISCHIEF MAKERS + +Tabitha retired late that night, weary but triumphant, congratulating +herself that Billiard was conquered; but she had reckoned without her +host. Two little heathen such as Williard and Theodore McKittrick are +not to be converted in one day, nor are they apt to be forced into +reforming. Brought up with utter disregard for other people's rights, +by a mother who bore them no particular love, but who surrounded them +with every luxury money could buy simply because she found it less +trouble to indulge than to deny them, it is scarcely to be wondered at +that they had no idea of honor or obedience. + +Their father, Dennis McKittrick, had been more successful than his +brothers in his struggle for wealth. After amassing a comfortable +fortune, he had not lived to enjoy it, and before his oldest son had +seen his sixth birthday, the father was laid to rest in the shadow of a +resplendent monument in an Eastern cemetery; and the rearing of the two +boys was left wholly to their fashion-plate mother, whose only gods +were dress and personal pleasure. Tabitha had heard many stories of +the selfish, heartless woman, who found her motherhood a burden rather +than a blessing, but she did not understand the difficulties one must +contend with in attempting to reform such lawless youths, and being +little more than a child herself, it was only natural that she should +make mistakes. + +But she did not at once realize this fact, for Billiard, completely +surprised by the unusual treatment accorded him, was a model of +obedience and politeness for the next two days, and Tabitha was +deceived into thinking his reformation was genuine and lasting; while +in reality, the young scapegrace was merely studying the unique +situation and plotting how to "get even" with the girl who already had +mastered him twice. A coward at heart, he knew he could not come out +openly and fight her, so he slyly planned little annoyances to hinder +her work and try her patience. Yet so adroitly did he manoeuvre that +Tabitha was some time in finding out the real culprit. + +"My brefus food ain't nice," wailed Janie, the third morning of her +cousins' stay. + +"Nor mine, either," protested Rosslyn, tasting his critically, and +wrinkling his nose in disgust. + +"You've salted it something fierce," said Billiard, winking solemnly at +Toady while Tabitha was busy sampling her dish of porridge. + +"It's so salt that sugar doesn't sweeten it," added Susie, making a wry +face at the first mouthful and taking a hasty swallow of water. + +Tabitha's mystified face quickly cleared. Seizing the sugar-bowl, she +cautiously tasted its contents, and turning toward Inez, said +accusingly, "You filled it with salt instead of sugar!" + +"Then someone put the salt cup in the sugar barrel," cried Inez +indignantly, "'cause I just poured one cupful into the sugar-bowl." + +"Well, be more careful the next time," admonished the black-eyed girl, +retreating to the pantry for a fresh supply of sweetening; and +Billiard, elated at the success of his first attempt, determined to try +again. + +"What in the world did you put in that salad dressing, Glory?" cried +Tabitha, snatching up her glass of water with eager hands. + +"What's the matter with it?" demanded the second cook, whose turn it +was to wait upon the table that day. + +"You used ginger 'stead of mustard," scolded Toady, who had a +particular aversion for red hair, and took little pains to conceal it. + +Gloriana had her suspicions as to how such an accident could have +happened, but a hurried visit to the pantry disclosed the spice cans in +their proper places, all correctly labelled; so she reluctantly +admitted her mistake, but decided to keep her eyes open. + +"There's soap in my glass of water," complained Irene at the next meal. + +"Soap!" echoed Mercedes. "I washed those glasses myself, and never +used a bit of soap on them! That's the way mamma told us to wash them." + +But the fact still remained that not only was Irene's glass soapy, but +more than half the dishes on the table tasted of Fels Naptha. Tabitha +looked concerned, but Billiard and Toady were so innocent appearing +that she never suspected them of having had a hand in the affair. + +The next time it was Tabitha's biscuits. When they appeared on the +table they were as thin as wafers and as hard as bricks. In some way +she had substituted corn starch for baking powder; but as another +hurried visit to the pantry showed both articles where they belonged on +their respective shelves, she concluded that carelessness on her part +had caused the trouble, and let the matter drop. + +Then the house began to be infested with all sorts of obnoxious insects +and reptiles. Mercedes found two huge grasshoppers in the soup one +day; a long, wriggling centipede fell out of the cook-book as Tabitha +turned its pages in search of a favorite recipe; a scorpion dropped off +the cake plate which Gloriana was in the act of passing, so frightening +the girl that she dashed cake, dish and all onto the floor, and +promptly had hysterics. Horned toads, ugly lizards, and worms of every +description made their appearance by the dozen, until even Tabitha grew +alarmed; but still she did not suspect the cause of such an invasion, +as the two brothers were apparently as docile and obedient as their +gentler cousins. + +Even when they found a dead rattler coiled up in the middle of the +kitchen floor, Tabitha attributed it to Carrie's dog, General, who +still spent much of his time at the McKittrick cottage. Nor did she +notice that the reptile was coiled in a most impossible manner, with +its head propped up by two tiny wires. She merely hustled the thing +out of doors, hacked it into pieces with the axe, and buried the +remnants under a pile of rocks to make sure no harm came of them. It +never occurred to her to wonder how General, who was not allowed in the +house, could have dragged the snake inside without someone seeing or +hearing him, for he was proud of his snake-killing accomplishment and +always made a big commotion when he succeeded in trapping one. So the +culprits enjoyed the girls' scare, and retired to the water-tank behind +the assayer's office to hatch up some new scheme. + +Only Gloriana, whose cordial dislike for boys, caused by her unhappy +experiences in Manchester, made her suspicious of all that species of +humanity, seemed aware of what was going on, but she could not catch +them red-handed. And knowing that she suspected them, the brothers +made life miserable for her in a hundred ways. They hid her crutch in +the most out-of-way places, adroitly misplaced her cooking utensils, or +whatever article she was about to use, causing her many a long and +annoying search when she was in a hurry. They stopped the clock or set +it ahead with aggravating frequency; and discovering that the plucky +girl grimly bore their tormenting in silence, they grew bolder, jumping +out at her from unexpected corners, tweaking her long braids, tripping +her up, and calling her "Carrots," or "Red-top," when Tabitha was out +of hearing, for they still entertained a wholesome fear of that +strong-armed, hot-tempered little housekeeper, who demanded instant +obedience from her charges, and was able to enforce her authority by +main strength if necessary. + +Also, they felt a certain boyish admiration for the tall, lithe girl +who bore such a record for bravery, though not for the world would they +have admitted the fact, even to each other; and they could not resist +plaguing her on the sly whenever a chance presented itself. But to +tease her openly was out of the question; so Gloriana received a double +share of tormenting, which she bore with such uncomplaining fortitude +that the boys forgot to be cautious, and one afternoon while Tabitha +was in town on an errand, Mercedes came upon them as they were limping +about the kitchen in an exaggerated fashion chanting with tuneless +voices, + + "Baa-baa, black sheep, have you any wool? + Yes, sir, yes, sir, three bags full; + One for the master, one for the dame, + And one for the 'gory head' who limps awful lame." + + +Tears were standing in the tired gray eyes, but Gloriana, with her back +resolutely turned toward her tormentors, scrubbed her pan of vegetables +more vigorously, and tried not to hear the taunting words, though she +knew from the sound of their steps that the boys were circling nearer +and ever nearer, and would soon jerk off her hair-ribbon or poke her in +the back. + +"Cowards!" exploded Mercedes wrathfully. "You'd never dare do that if +Tabitha was here! I'm going to tell her just how mean you are!" + +"Tattletale, tattletale!" jeered Billiard, taking a rapid survey of the +yard as he limped past the door, to see if the other housekeeper had by +any chance returned from the post-office. + +"You wait and see what you get when Tabby finds out what you have been +doing," threatened the girl; and the little name slipping inadvertently +from her tongue gave the boys another inspiration. + + "Tabby Catt, Tabby Catt," they began in + unison, "where have you been? + I've been to Silver Bow to buy me a bean. + Tabby Catt, Tabby Catt, what saw you there? + I saw 'Gory Hanner' with her fearful red hair." + + +So intent were they upon rendering their new song, that neither boy +heard the screen open and close softly behind him, but Mercedes caught +a glimpse of the set, white face and flashing eyes through the doorway, +and held her breath in mingled fear and expectation. + +"Billy goat, Billy goat, where have you been?" a low, ominous voice +interrupted; and the two tormentors came to an abrupt halt in the +middle of the floor, paralyzed at the unexpected appearance of the +black-haired girl. + +"A-chewing the whiskers, that grow under my chin," the voice calmly +finished, and seizing the pan of dirty water from which Gloriana had +just rescued the last potato, Tabitha dashed its contents over the +astonished duet. Then realizing that once more she had let go of her +fiery temper, she fled from the house up the trail to a great boulder +on the summit of the mountain, and threw herself face down in an +abandon of shame, remorse and despair. + +"Oh, dear, why can't I be good?" she sobbed. "Just when I think I can +hold onto myself and be ladylike no matter how mad I get, something +comes up to show me that I'm mistaken. I'm just as hateful as +Billiard! Oh, dear! And I thought he was being so good, and all the +while he was doing mean things behind my back. I make a miserable +fizzle of everything I undertake. What would Mrs. McKittrick say if +she could have seen me a few minutes ago? Now I've lost all the hold I +had on the boys. They can't respect anyone who doesn't control her +temper any better than I. + +"How I wish I had never offered to take care of the tribe of +McKittrick! No, that isn't so, either, for then the mother couldn't +have gone inside with Mr. McKittrick, and perhaps the operation would +have killed him. I'm glad he had his chance, bad boys or no bad boys! +But oh, I am so thankful that Miss Davis will soon be home. I will +never play housekeeper again, never! But now,--how can I make it right +with Billiard and Toady? What a world this is to live in! Always +stepping on someone's toes and then having to beg pardon. The trouble +of it is I--I don't believe I am very sorry that I doused the boys. I +am sorry I got so mad and did such a hateful thing, of course, but they +deserved more than they got. And yet they aren't to blame, either, +after the bringing up they have had. I suppose--it's up to me--to do +the apologizing act--myself--this trip." + +Drying her eyes and taking a firm grip on herself, she descended from +her refuge and sought out the boys in their room. + +"Come in," Billiard called gruffly in response to her knock, though +inwardly he was quaking with fear lest it might be the sheriff or Uncle +Hogan, whose authority he had never but once dared to defy. So he was +visibly relieved when he saw Tabitha standing alone on the threshold, +but waited uncertainly for her to state her errand. + +She was as anxious as they to have the ordeal over with, and plunged +into the middle of her carefully framed speech, saying briefly, "I came +to ask your pardon for my rudeness of a few minutes ago. I forgot +myself. It was wrong of me to speak and act as I did, no matter how +great the provocation." + +Her wandering gaze suddenly fell upon Billiard's face, just in time to +see him wink wickedly at Toady, and her good resolutions abruptly took +wing. "But you deserved every bit you got," she finished fiercely, +"and the next time I'll _souse you in the rain barrel_!" + +Slamming the door in their surprised faces, she marched majestically +away to the kitchen, and furiously began beating up a cake, so +chagrined over this new defeat of her plans that she could not keep the +tears from her eyes. + +Suddenly a meek voice at her elbow spoke hesitatingly, "Say, Tabitha, +we've apologized to Gory Anne--Gloriana, I mean. Will you--excuse--me +for what we said about you, too?" + +Toady's big, beseeching, brown eyes met hers unflinchingly--he +certainly knew how to look angelic when occasion demanded it--and +Tabitha relented. + +"Yes, Toady, I'll excuse _you_," she said with meaning emphasis, which +was not lost on the older brother, keeping well in the background. + +"I--I'm ready to be excused, too," Billiard gulped at length, shuffling +forward a few steps, but not raising his eyes from the floor. + +"Very well," she answered coldly. "But don't you dare bother Gloriana +again. I won't stand for it!" + +"No, ma'am," Billiard responded meekly; and the two boys made good +their escape, feeling very virtuous indeed. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +IRENE'S SONG + +"Miss Davis gets home to-day," sang Tabitha under her breath, as she +drew on her slippers that bright, hot morning. "Do you know that, +Gloriana Holliday?" + +"Haven't I been counting every minute,--yes, every second for the past +twenty-four hours?" laughed the second girl, letting down her luxuriant +auburn mane and beginning to brush it vigorously. "But I had a +horrible dream last night. I thought she sent us her wedding +announcements, and we had to stay here all summer." + +"False prophet! How dare you dream such a thing as that? Didn't we +have a letter from her just two days ago saying she would reach here on +to-day's train? And anyway, dreams always go by contraries, you know." + +"It's mighty lucky they do in this case," Gloriana replied seriously. +"But I woke in a cold sweat, the dream was so very real. I couldn't +help wondering if something _had_ delayed her so she wouldn't reach +here as soon as we had expected." + +"What a pessimist you are!" cried Tabitha, eyeing her companion in +surprise. "You are usually just the opposite. What is the matter with +you to-day, Glory?" + +"Oh, I just somehow feel it in my bones that something is going to +happen----" + +"To be sure! Miss Davis is coming home and relieve us of our job." + +"Something disappointing, I mean. + +"Well, you just get that feeling out of your bones right away!" +commanded Tabitha, thrusting the last pin into her shining, black hair +and whisking into her big, kitchen apron. "You must have the +rheumatism and that is bad for one's health. One more meal after this, +and--exit Tabitha Catt and Gloriana Holliday, housekeepers." + +Gloriana laughed, as, with a comical flourish and backward courtesy, +the black-haired girl disappeared through the door, but her gay spirits +were contagious, and presently the younger maid joined her companion in +the kitchen, singing softly: + + "'Maxwellton's braes are bonnie + Where early fa's the dew, + And 'twas there that Annie Laurie + Gave me her promise true.'" + + +"There, that sounds better," Tabitha commented. "Really, I was +beginning to get shivers of misgiving myself from your gloomy +forebodings in the other room. What shall we have for dinner in honor +of the occasion? Green peas, asparagus tips, French potatoes and +caramel pudding? Or shall we invest in some strawberries at two bits a +box and have shortcake for dessert?" + +Merrily she skipped about the kitchen, making ready the simple +breakfast for the hungry brood; and when that was out of the way, and +the house swept and dusted, the two housekeepers began preparations for +an elaborate dinner. + +"To celebrate our release from bondage," laughed Gloriana, browning the +sugar for a caramel pudding, while Tabitha carefully concocted her best +layer cake. So busy were they that the morning flew by as on wings, +and before either was aware of the hour, a shrill blast of a whistle +proclaimed the approach of a locomotive. + +"The train!" gasped Tabitha. + +"And we haven't tidied the children up or changed our own dresses," +mourned Gloriana. + +"I intended to meet Miss Davis at the station, to be sure she came here +for dinner," wailed the other. + +"It's too late now to do that, but we can make the youngsters a little +more presentable before the 'bus comes up from the depot," suggested +the younger girl. + +"They certainly will need cleaning up by this time, I'll admit. Call +them, will you, please?" + +Gloriana stepped to the door and yodelled shrilly, but there was no +answering trill, save the echo thrown back by the mountain peaks. + +"Decamped again!" sighed Tabitha impatiently. "Did you ever see a +bunch of children who could do the disappearing act as quickly or as +completely as the tribe of McKittrick? If you will watch these +potatoes, I will go hunting. They were here only a few seconds ago, +seems to me." + +Briskly she circled the house. Not a chick nor a child was anywhere in +evidence. Down to the boulder playhouse, up the trail to the summit, +but nowhere were the children to be found. Tabitha became alarmed. +What mischief had Billiard led them into now? He had been perfectly +angelic for twenty-four hours. It was time for another outbreak. + +Shading her eyes with her hand, she anxiously surveyed the surrounding +hillsides, the gray flat below, the dingy station house, and presently +her sharp eyes espied a procession of lagging figures straggling down +the steps from the depot platform. + +"Can it be--" she began. "Yes, I do believe it is! Horrors! Whatever +will Miss Davis say when she sees that bunch of dirty ragamuffins! +One, two, three, four--Billiard is lugging Janie pickaback, and Mercy +and Toady have made a chair for Rosslyn. Yes, that is my family!" + +She turned to go back to the house, but another thought had suddenly +occurred to her. "Miss Davis! She's not with them. Can it be she +didn't come? Was Gloriana right after all? She surely would not let +the children plod home in the heat while she rode in the 'bus. No, +there are only eight people in that bunch and they are all children. +Oh, dear, suppose Glory's dream has come true!" + +Mechanically she turned back to the house, and her comrade in misery, +catching a glimpse of her disturbed face, cried in alarm, "Can't you +find any of them?" + +"Yes, they have been to the depot." + +"The little rascals! Without so much as asking leave! And it is such +a long walk for Rosslyn and Janie!" + +"I suppose Billiard put them up to it," Tabitha murmured, glad that +Glory had not asked about Miss Davis; and she fell to dishing up +potatoes with such reckless energy that the hot fat slopped over and +blistered her hand. + +"Oh!" cried Gloriana pityingly, "you have burned yourself. Let me +finish taking them up." + +"No, it's nothing. Serves me right for getting so provoked. I do wish +I could learn to control my temper." + +Gloriana remained discreetly silent, thinking that Tabitha was angry +because of the children's latest escapade; and in silence they finished +dinner preparations, both waiting anxiously, nervously for the +runaways' return. + +At length they heard them coming up the steep path from town, and Susie +flew through the door with two letters in her hand. "They are both for +you, Tabitha," she panted. "One's from mamma. I'd know her writing in +the dark. Miss Davis didn't come on to-day's train, but I s'pose +likely she'll be here to-morrow, don't you think?" + +Tabitha snatched the envelopes from Susie's outstretched hand, and +ripped them open with one stroke of the knife she held, muttering +feverishly, "The other is from Miss Davis." Her quick eyes swept the +page at a single glance, it seemed, and a smothered groan escaped her. + +"What is it?" ventured Gloriana timidly, the morning's foreboding +gripping her anew. + +"She has broken her leg." + +"Broken her leg!" repeated the red-haired girl dully. + +"Broken her leg!" echoed mystified Susie. + +"Who? Mamma?" + +"Miss Davis." + +"Holy snakes!" + +"Why, Susie!" + +"I mean--I--I--that just slipped out accidental. I was so s'prised at +wondering what we'd do with a broken-legged woman hopping around here." + +"But she won't be hopping around here," Tabitha grimly told her. "She +must stay flat on her back in bed for three weeks, and then it will be +days and days before she can get around without a crutch." + +"Then--who--will housekeep--for us?" gasped Susie. "I reckon it is up +to you to stay a while longer. Mrs. Goodale's grand-baby's got the +fever and she is going to stay in Carson City until he's well. He is +the only grandbaby she's got." + +"How did you hear that?" demanded Tabitha, her heart sinking within her +at Susie's words. + +"Don't we know the Goodales well? She has only one girl, and that girl +has only one baby." + +"Oh, I didn't mean that! Where did you hear that the baby was sick?" + +"Mr. Porter told us at the station. He has just got home from Carson +City, and he saw Mrs. Goodale there. Why don't you read mamma's +letter? You hain't looked at it yet." + +Tabitha had completely forgotten the second envelope, and now hurriedly +drew out the written page and scanned the blurred, uneven lines. Then +without a word of explanation, she slipped the paper back into its +envelope, and dropped it into her pocket, saying only, "Let the +children have their dinner now. Everything is ready." + +But all through the meal she was unusually preoccupied, puzzling, +pondering, struggling, longing to be alone with herself, and yet held +to her post by her sense of duty. At last, however, the hungry +appetites were satisfied, the chattering children had gone back to +their play, the dishes were washed and piled away in the cupboard, and +Tabitha slipped away to the little room which she shared with Gloriana +and Janie, knowing that no one would molest her here as long as the +lame girl stood guard at the door. + +Once alone, she spread the two letters out on the bed before her and +read and re-read them until she knew both word for word. + +Only one course lay open to her, that was plain; but yet her heart +rebelled hotly against the circumstances which made this one course the +only right one. + +"There never was such a girl for getting into scrapes,", she groaned. +"And this time I've not only got myself into one, but Gloriana as well. +It will be six weeks at the very least before Miss Davis can come home, +and there is no telling when Mrs. Goodale will be back. It is out of +the question for Mrs. McKittrick to leave her husband just when he +needs her most, even though she does offer to come. No, it's up to me, +as Susie says. And I did want to go to Catalina with Myra so much! +Here's my whole summer spoiled just because of a hasty promise. + +"_Tabitha Catt_! Aren't you ashamed of yourself! You know right well +that Mrs. McKittrick never could have gone to the city if you hadn't +taken charge of her children, and the chances are that Mr. McKittrick +would have died without her. He isn't wholly out of danger even yet. +You selfish wretch! What do you think of a person who will talk the +way you have been doing? Oh, dear, what a queer world it is! I +wouldn't mind so much if Gloriana didn't have to suffer, too; but it is +too bad to keep her here on the boiling desert when she might be +enjoying life on the Island or at the beach. It wouldn't be so bad if +those awful boys weren't here, either; but they are the _limit_. I am +on edge every minute of the day, looking for the next outbreak. I +don't believe they _can_ be good. And yet--there's no other way--out +of it. I can't let Mrs. McKittrick come home just because I am too +utterly selfish to stay here myself. She has been so good to me. And +it is positively out of the question for her to have the children with +her." + +Undecided, rebellious, unhappy, Tabitha crossed the room to the window, +and stood looking out over the barren mountainside. Should she? Could +she? What ought she to do? On the other side of a little gully just +opposite the window, sat Irene, rocking to and fro on a teetering +stone, and singing in a high, sweet treble to a battered rag-doll, +hugged tightly to her breast. The words floated up to the girl in the +window, indistinct at first, but growing clearer as the singer forgot +her surroundings; and Tabitha suddenly found herself listening to the +queer, garbled words of the song that fell from the childish lips. + +"What in creation does she think she is singing?" she asked herself in +amazement, recognizing with a fresh pang the tune Gloriana had begun +the day with. + +Irene finished the verse and commenced again: + + "Maxwellton breaks her bonnet, + And nearly swallows two, + An' 'twas their hat and her locket + Gave me a pummy stew. + Gave me a pummy stew + Which near forgot can be, + And for bonnet and a locket + I'd lame a downy deed." + + +Three times she repeated the distorted version of that grand old song, +and somehow the frown of perplexity smoothed itself from the listener's +brow. + +"Dear little girl," she whispered; "it's your father and your mother! +I am a selfish old heathen! Of course I will stay as long as I am +needed!" + +Quietly returning to the kitchen where Gloriana sat pretending to sew, +she laid the mother's letter on the table before the seamstress, and +when the gray eyes had read the message and glanced inquiringly up at +the dark face beside her, Tabitha nodded her head. "Yes," she +half-whispered. "I can't desert them now." Then after a moment of +silence, she added, "But you will go with Myra, Glory. Please! I'd +feel so much better, knowing that you were having a good time." + +The red head shook a vigorous denial. "I shall stay with you," +Gloriana declared. "I knew you wouldn't leave here as long as you were +needed, and you needn't think I'll let you stay alone. I shouldn't +have a good time at all if I did such a thing as that, Tabitha." + +"But it may mean all summer," Tabitha protested. "And it does get so +hot here. Besides, there will be little fun in such a vacation." + +"Then it is up to us to _make_ some fun," said Gloriana firmly. + +"That's so," Tabitha replied, startled at the thought. "Maybe the boys +wouldn't be such trials then. Let's try it!" + +"All right," agreed Gloriana. + +And straightway the two girls put their heads together to devise some +method of breaking the deadly monotony of the desert days, and bringing +added enjoyment to their troublesome charges. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +GLORIANA'S BURGLARS + +There was a glorious moon that night, and as the girls were washing the +supper dishes, Tabitha proposed, "Let's go up to the peak when we are +through here and watch the moon rise." + +There was a moment of dead silence in the room. Usually the two +inexperienced young housekeepers sought to hustle their restless, +boisterous brood into bed as soon as the evening meal had ended and the +night's chores were done. What had come over her to suggest such a +thing as an evening stroll, or climb, as it would be if they went up to +the peak? Susie looked at Tabitha with incredulous eyes, then glanced +questioningly at Mercedes, but the older sister was as much mystified +as were the rest. + +"Do you mean that, or are you joking?" demanded Irene bluntly. + +"I mean it," replied Tabitha calmly, though her face flushed +uncomfortably under the surprised stare of eight pair of eyes. + +"You usually chase us off to bed, you know," said Susie, still +wondering what the unexpected proposal meant. + +"Well, it is such a lovely night, I thought it would be fun to follow +the trail to the top of the mountain, and watch the moon come up." + +"And tell stories?" breathed Irene, clasping her hands ecstatically. + +"Yes, if you wish," laughed the senior housekeeper. + +"And speak pieces!" cried Mercedes, who was never tired of hearing +Tabitha recite. + +"Perhaps." + +"And sing songs," suggested Rosslyn, who loved to listen to Gloriana's +rich, sweet voice carolling joyous lays or softly crooning lullabyes. + +"Maybe." + +"And build a bonfire to roast--" began Billiard, but paused, +remembering that it was too early for green corn yet, and not being +able to think of anything else roastable. + +"Mosquitoes," finished Toady mischievously. + +But Tabitha's face clouded anxiously. "I am afraid we'll have to let +the bonfire go this time," she said gravely. "There is a law against +such things here in Silver Bow. A fire is such a hard thing to fight +on the desert, supposing it once gets started; so no one takes any +risks." + +Toady's face fell and Billiard looked rebellious, seeing which, Tabitha +hastily continued, "Some day we will go down to the river----" + +"Oh, and have a picnic!" squealed Susie, giving such an eager little +hop of anticipation that the cup she was drying flew out of her hand +and half-way across the room, falling with a dull thud in a pan of +bread sponge which Tabitha had just been mixing. + +"My!" breathed Irene enviously, "I wish my dishes would do that! When +_I_ drop one it always bu'sts." + +Her peculiar grievance, coupled with Susie's look of utter amazement at +the performance of her cup, caused a merry laugh all around, and the +subject of bonfire was speedily forgotten, to Tabitha's unbounded +relief. + +The dishes were soon washed and piled away in the cupboard, the evening +chores completed, and the troop of eager children romped gaily up the +rocky trail to the summit of the mountain, on which the Eagles' Nest +was built. It was just such a night as Tabitha loved, and she would +gladly have sat in silence the whole evening through, watching the +barren landscape lying glorified in the white moonlight; but not so +with the younger members of the party. To be sure, it was a pretty +picture that the old moon revealed to their eyes, but even the most +beautiful pictures cannot hold a child's attention long. It is +excitement that they desire; so scarcely had the party reached their +goal than Inez demanded imperiously, "Now Tabitha, speak something for +us." + +"Oh, not right away," protested the older girl, glancing wistfully +about her at the beauties of the night, and longing for a few moments +of solitude that she might enjoy herself in her own peculiar fashion. +"Let's watch the moon come up." + +"No," clamored the boys, who had heard Tabitha's many talents lauded by +their cousins until their curiosity had well-nigh reached the bursting +point. "Speak right away. It's no fun watching the old moon come up! +Besides, it's high enough now to make things as plain as day." + +"Suppose you recite something first, then," suggested Gloriana, noting +the wistfulness in the big, black eyes of her new sister. + +"Not on your tin-type!" Billiard emphatically declared. "It's ladies +first, you know! We want Tabitha to spiel." + +"Well, then, what shall it be?" sighed that young lady resignedly. + +"Something with ginger in it," was Toady's prompt reply. "Not a +sissy-girl piece." + +"About a battle or a prize-fight," suggested Billiard with amusing +impartiality. + +"_Barbara Fritchie_," put in eager Irene. + +"No, don't," cried Susie. "We've heard that so often. Speak +_Sheridan's Ride_." + +"Or _Driving Home the Cows_," suggested Mercedes. "I think that is so +pretty, and it is a war piece, too." + +"But it is too sad," promptly vetoed Susie. "We want something--noisy." + +"With cannons and guns," seconded the boys. + +So Tabitha obligingly recited the thrilling lines: + + "'Up from the South at break of day, + Bringing to Winchester fresh dismay, + The affrighted air with a shudder bore, + Like a herald in haste, to the chieftain's door, + The terrible grumble, and rumble, and roar, + Telling the battle was on once more, + And Sheridan twenty miles away.'" + + +And her thoughts flew back to that black day in the dingy old town +hall, when she had declaimed those very lines, and of the dire +punishment which had overtaken her; but the sting of it was all gone +now, and she found herself smiling at the recollection of that fateful +encore. Everything was so different these days. She could afford to +forget the old heartaches and longings in the happiness which had come +to her during the past year. + + "'Here is the steed that saved the day + By carrying Sheridan into the fight, + From Winchester, twenty miles away!'" + +she finished; and before the enthusiastic audience realized that the +recitation was ended, she began _Horatius at the Bridge_. Then +followed in quick succession all the thrilling wartime pieces at her +tongue's command, while the delighted children held their breath in +wondering admiration. + +Breathless at length, she paused, and surveying the circle of faces +about her, said whimsically, "That's a plenty, I reckon. My throat is +as dry as the desert!" + +"Just one more!" they pleaded eagerly. + +"But I have spoken all I can think of now with guns and cannons in +them." + +"Then give us a different kind," wheedled Irene, in her most persuasive +tones. + +"That one you spoke May Day at Ivy Hall," suggested Mercedes, "when you +tumbled off the platform." + +"Tumbled off the platform?" echoed the boys in great surprise. This +was an adventure which had never been recounted to them. "How did she +tumble off the platform? Tell us about it." + +Tabitha merely laughed and shook her head, but Mercedes, elated at the +opportunity of singing the praises of her idol, regaled them with a +laughable description of Tabitha's mishap. This led to other boarding +school reminiscences,--the christening of the vessel, when Cassandra +took her memorable plunge into the ocean; the night of the opera and +their experiences with the runaway ostriches; the voice of the +mysterious singer in the bell-tower, which some of the more timid +students had mistaken for a ghost; and finally, the appearance of the +Ivy Hall ghost itself. The McKittrick girls had heard all these events +recounted so often that they knew them almost by heart; but, +nevertheless, they were never tired of listening, and drank in the +stories of all those delightful mishaps with almost as much eagerness +as was displayed by Billiard and Toady, hearing them for the first time. + +But all frolics come to an end, and Tabitha at length roused with a +start to announce, "That clock struck ten, I am positive." + +"What clock?" + +"Yours. The one in the kitchen. We were unusually quiet, I reckon, +for I was able to count ten strokes. We must fly into bed as fast as +we can get there. I had no idea it was so late, although Janie and +Rosslyn have been snoozing for ages. Come on, let's march. See who +can get to the house first." + +Away they scampered as hard as they could run down the rough path, +while Tabitha and Glory wrestled with the two little sleepers, trying +to rouse them from their slumber so they might walk down to the cottage +instead of having to be carried. But Rosslyn refused to waken +thoroughly, and created such a scene that it was some minutes before +they could coax him to follow them down the trail. So when they +entered the moonlit kitchen, leading the stumbling boy and carrying +Janie, who could not keep her eyes open or her feet under her, the rest +of the family had vanished completely. + +"Can they be in bed already?" asked Tabitha in surprise. "Have we been +wrestling with those children so long?" + +Gloriana tiptoed across the floor and opened the door to the room where +the four sisters slept, and disclosed four flushed faces peacefully +reposing on their pillows. Mercedes and Irene were already fast +asleep, and the other two so near the land of Nod that their eyes +merely fluttered open for an instant at the sound of the opening door, +and then drowsily fell again. + +Satisfied, Gloriana turned to Tabitha, busy trying to slip Rosslyn's +nightgown over his limp body, and whispered, "All serene!" + +"Then skip off to bed," said the other girl. "I will bring Janie when +I come." + +"But----" + +"Oh, it is just the bread. I want to knead it down once more. It +won't take me half a jiffy, but if I don't do it now, it will be all +over the floor by morning." + +So Gloriana crept wearily away to her room, for it had been a long, +hard, disappointing day, but a moment later she scurried back into the +kitchen; and when Tabitha wheeled about in surprise at her hasty +entrance, she laughed nervously, half apologetically, "I kicked +someone's shoes under the bed! Don't know whether they are my own or a +burglar's!" + +Knowing how timid the red-haired girl still felt on the desert at +night, Tabitha refrained from smiling at what seemed an uncalled-for +fright, and said reassuringly, "No burglars ever visit Silver Bow. +There is nothing in a miner's shack to tempt them." + +"I should think there would be plenty of gold nuggets," answered +Gloriana in surprise. + +"Not many in Silver Bow houses, I reckon," Tabitha placidly replied, +"But if you are afraid to go to bed alone, you better wait for me. +I'll be ready in a minute." + +She did not mean to speak scornfully, for she sympathized heartily with +the sensitive gain remembering with what horror the desert nights used +to fill her when Silver Bow first became her home. But Gloriana +thought she detected a hint of ridicule in her companion's voice, and +hurriedly departed for their room once more, saying with a great show +of bravado, "Oh, I'm not afraid! Come to think of it, I believe I left +my slippers at the foot of the bed, and that is probably what I hit." + +The door closed behind her again, and Tabitha, smiling sympathetically +at the girl's attempt at bravery, began to cover the mound of soft, +white dough in the huge pan, when a wild, unearthly shriek echoed +through the house, followed by the sharp crack of a pistol, and the +muffled fall of a body. + +For one brief instant Tabitha stood rooted to the spot, fairly +paralyzed with horror. Then the thought of Glory gave wings to her +feet, and, heedless of her own danger, she flew for the scene of +disaster, whispering to herself, "Oh, why did I leave the house +unlocked all the evening while we were gone?" + +As the door of her room swung back on its hinges, the first thing her +eyes fell upon was the flickering, smoking, chimneyless lamp standing +on the low dresser; and even in her terror she wondered how it chanced +that careful Glory had neglected to protect the light properly. The +next object that met her gaze was Glory herself, leaning white and limp +against the closet door, holding a battered, smoking pistol at arm's +length from her. + +"Glory, are you hurt?" she gasped. + +"No!" + +"But the gun--the shot----" + +"No one's shot--only the lamp chimney! I aimed at the--the burglars +under the bed, and shot off the lamp chimney," she panted, beginning to +laugh hysterically, and tightening her grasp on the rusty gun. + +"Where is the burglar?" Intrepidly she stooped and peered under the +bed, half expecting to see the disturber of their peace still hiding +there. + +"In the closet,---both of them!" + +"Two?" + +"Yes." + +"Oh, Glory!" + +"They are locked in. Here is the key." + +"I must go for the constable." + +A scuffling sound suddenly issued from the closet, and Gloriana cried +in terror, "And leave me here alone with them?" + +"There is no other way. I'll be gone but a minute. They surely can't +get loose in that time!" And she darted from the room without giving +Gloriana opportunity for further objections. + +Hardly had the sound of her racing footsteps died away in the distance, +however, when the red-haired guard, leaning against the door, half dead +with fear, was electrified at hearing a muffled voice call through the +keyhole, "I say, Glory, let us out, do! We were just a-foolin'. +Didn't you know 'twas us? Please don't turn us over to the sheriff!" + +"'Twas Tabitha's story about the Ivy Hall ghost that made us think of +it," pleaded Toady. "We ain't sure-enough burglars. We just meant to +scare you a little bit." + +"And you sure scared _us_ enough to make up," coaxed Billiard. "Please +let us out before Tabitha gets back. She said she'd write Uncle Hogan +the next time we got into trouble." + +"And that will mean he will take us away from here," wheedled Toady. +"He's awful hard on a fellow." + +"You deserve it!" suddenly answered Glory, with a grimness that +startled even the girl herself. + +"Then you won't let us out?" cried the boys in great dismay. + +"I--I haven't decided yet," Gloriana was forced to admit. + +"But Tabitha will be back directly." + +"Yes, she's a swift runner. I don't think she will be gone long." +Glory was beginning to enjoy the strange situation. + +"Oh, Glory, don't keep us here, please! prayed Billiard desperately. + +"We'll _never_ play burglar again!" promised repentant Toady. + +"No, it will be something else the next time," said their jailer +heartlessly. + +"If you'll just set us free this time, we'll be reg'lar sissy girls all +the rest of the summer," they cried. + +"You have promised so many times--" Glory began wearily. + +"Oh, I can hear her coming!" cried Toady, half frantic at thought of +the constable whom Tabitha had gone to summon. + +Gloriana thought she could, also, and swiftly turning the key in the +lock, she let the quaking prisoners out, urging them on with a violent +push as they scurried past her, and hissing in their ears, "Scamper! +If you aren't in bed when she gets here, she'll know you did it." + +But they needed no urging. Their feet scarcely touched the floor, it +seemed to Gloriana, as they made a mad rush for their room; and when +Tabitha returned a moment later, alone, they lay tense and breathless +under the coverlets of the cot. + +"Glory!" they heard her ejaculate. "You let them get away from you!" + +"I couldn't help it," replied the red-haired girl in excited tones. +"Couldn't you get anyone? Wasn't the constable at home?" + +"No, but he'll investigate as soon as----" + +The rest of the sentence was lost in the slamming of a door; but the +two culprits lay and quaked with fear long after the rest of the +household was fast asleep, little dreaming that as soon as the door was +tightly closed so they could no longer distinguish the voices, Glory +had wheeled on Tabitha and giggled accusingly, "You knew all the time!" + +"Not until I ran past their door and saw their bed was empty," +whispered the black-haired girl with her hand over her mouth to stifle +the laughter she could no longer suppress. + +"What possessed you to keep on, then?' + +"I surmised what would happen, and decided to scare _them_ a little, +too. So I crept around the house and listened to you talking with +them. When they thought they heard me coming back, I concluded it was +time I did put in appearance again; but I thought I'd die laughing to +hear them scuttling into bed. Now I reckon the score is even!" + +"Then you won't tell their Uncle this time?" + +"I ought to." + +"They've had a big punishment already, Puss." + +"They deserve it." + +"I--I scared them stiff when I shot." + +"Poor girlie, and you were as badly scared yourself. My brave Glory!" + +"Don't praise me, Kitty. I'm an awful coward. My teeth are chattering +yet." + +"And you are trembling as if you had the ague. Are you sure you're not +hurt? I thought I heard something fall." + +"The gun kicked and knocked me over," Gloriana admitted. "That is what +gave the boys a chance to scramble into the closet. I didn't know it +was Billiard and Toady then, because the bullet splintered the lamp +chimney and I couldn't see real well." + +"But you locked them in." + +"Oh, that was easy! They were holding the door shut with all their +might, and the only thing left to do was to turn the key in the lock. +I am so thankful it was only a prank!" + +"So am I," Tabitha admitted grudgingly. "But I can't say I relish that +class of pranks." + +"Give them another chance, Tabitha. I think they really are trying to +be good." + +"Well, I'll--see. We'll forget all about it now and go to sleep. +Morning can't be very far off." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +TOADY AND THE CASTOR BEANS + +But when morning dawned, Gloriana lay flushed and feverish upon her +pillow, her head throbbing until she could scarcely open her eyes. +Tabitha was alarmed, and between her worry over the sick girl lying in +their darkened room, and her ministrations to croupy Janie, who had +caught cold sleeping in the night air on the mountain top, the poor +housekeeper was so nearly distracted that she had little time to devote +to the rest of her large family, and they wandered about the premises +like so many disconsolate chicks who had lost their mother. It was an +ideal time to get into mischief, and yet something restrained them. + +The girls, it seemed, had slept through all the racket of the previous +night, and were not aware that anything out of the ordinary had +occurred, but they could not understand the tense atmosphere; and when +Mercedes heroically tried to fill Tabitha's place the other members of +the brood resented her authority, frankly found fault with her badly +cooked oatmeal and unsalted potatoes, and insulted her attempts at +housekeeping in such a heartless, unfeeling manner that she finally +dissolved in tears and refused to do anything further toward their +comfort. Susie and Inez quarreled over the dishes and had the sulks +all day. The boys, still fearful of the consequences of their latest +prank, and somewhat remorseful at having frightened Gloriana into a +fever, wandered aimlessly away toward town, glad to escape from +Tabitha's watchful eye, and greatly relieved to think no mention had +been made by anyone of the burglars' visit. + +"Guess the girls couldn't have heard the noise last night," ventured +Toady, when they had left the house far enough behind to make it +impossible for anyone to overhear their conversation. + +"The girls?" repeated Billiard blankly, his thoughts on another phase +of the situation. + +"Mercedes and Susie and the twins, I mean." + +"Oh! P'r'aps Tabitha's making 'em keep still." + +"Do you think Tabitha knows we did it?" cried Toady in alarm. + +"Naw, you ninny! That is, not 'nless Glory's gone and squealed." + +"But----" + +"I meant she'd prob'ly try to hush them up if they had heard our +racket, so's the whole town wouldn't know about the burglars." + +"Why? That's just what is worrying me. If she has hushed them up, +it's just to make us believe she doesn't suspect. I'll bet the +constable will be up there bright and early with his d'tectives, asking +all sorts of questions, and everyone in Silver Bow will join in the +hunt." + +"Then we'll be found out even if Glory doesn't tell." + +Toady nodded gloomily. + +"It'll go hard with us if the _constable_ should find out who did it." + +Again Toady nodded. + +"We--better--light--out--now." + +Toady stopped stock-still in the roadway. "Why?" he demanded. + +"Do you want to go to jail?" + +"Naw, but they don't put _kids_ in jail here. I s'pose likely we'd get +a good thrashing----" + +"Would you rather stay here and take a whaling than skip while you've +got the chance?" cried Billiard, turning pale at the mere thought of +such a punishment at the hands of a desert constable, who, somehow, in +his imagination, had assumed the proportions and disposition of a +monster. + +"We--we deserve a sound licking," bravely replied Toady, whose +conscience was troubling him sorely. + +It was Billiard's turn to halt in the rocky road and stare with +unbelieving eyes at his brother, finally finding vent for his feelings +by hissing the single word, "Coward!" + +"No more coward than you!" Toady denied. "We have been as mean as dirt +ever since we came here, and if Tabitha had been as hateful as most +girls are, she'd have written Uncle Hogan long ago." + +"So you're fishing to get her to write, are you?" + +"No, I ain't, but I believe she'd--like it--better--if we told her +ourselves, instead of getting found out by someone else." + +"Oh! Going to turn goody-goody, are you?" sneered Billiard, not +willing to admit that he had been thinking similar thoughts. + +Toady bristled. "I hate goody-goodies as bad as you do," he said, with +eyes flashing. "But I'm going to own up to my part in last night's +racket. We might have scared Glory to death." + +"Pooh! You make me sick! Suppose you think she'll let you off easy if +you squeal. Well, go ahead, tattler! You will change your mind maybe, +when she writes to Uncle Hogan." + +"If she wants to write Uncle Hogan, let her write!" screamed the +exasperated Toady, stung by his brother's taunts. "I'm going to quit +bothering them right here and now; and what's more, I'm going to own +up, too." + +"Tattler!" + +Toady turned on his heel and strode haughtily away, not daring to trust +himself to further speech. + +"Coward! 'Fraid cat! Sissy girl!" jeered Billiard. + +That was the last straw. The younger boy wheeled about and retraced +his steps in a slow, ominous manner. Thrusting his angry face close to +Billiard's, and shaking his clenched fist under his nose, he said +quietly, "Say that again if you dare, Williard McKittrick!" + +Billiard was delighted. He had succeeded in making Toady mad, and now +he would have the pleasure of thrashing him. He felt just like +pounding someone. + +"Coward! 'Fraid cat! Sis----" + +A white fist shot out with accurate aim, striking the bully squarely +between the eyes. A shower of stars danced merrily about him, blood +spurted from his nose, and the next thing he knew, he was stretched +flat on the rocky ground, with a grim-faced Toady bending over him. + +"Do you take it back?" a menacing voice was asking. + +"You--you--" spluttered the angry victim, mopping his streaming nose +with his coat sleeve. + +"Or do you want some more?" The doubled-up fist drew perilously near +the disfigured face in the gravel. + +"That's it! Hit a fellow when he's down!" taunted the fallen bully, +still unable to realize just what had happened. + +"I shan't hit you while you're down," said Toady calmly but decisively. +"I'll let you get onto your pins and then I'll knock them from under +you again." + +And Billiard, looking up into the determined face above him, knew that +it was no idle threat. Toady was in deadly earnest, but still the +older boy temporized. It would never do to give in to Toady. If he +took such a step as that, his leadership was gone forever. "Aw, come +off!" he began, in what he meant to be jocular tones. "Quit your +fooling and let me up! I've swallowed a bucket of blood already!" + +"Will you take it back, or shall I pummel the stuffing out of you?" + +Billiard capitulated. "I take it back," he said sullenly, "but,"--as +Toady removed his knees from his chest and allowed him to rise--"I'll +get even with you for this." + +"All right," responded the younger boy cheerfully. "But don't forget +that you will get what's coming to you, too." + +"Don't be so sure, sonny! You took me off guard; you know you did, or +you'd never have laid me out. You weren't fair." + +Toady, tasting his first victory over his bully brother, and finding it +very sweet, suggested casually, "I'll scrap _you_ any time you say. +Now, if you like." + +"My head aches too bad," said the other hastily. "That was a nasty +place to fall. It's a wonder it didn't fracture my skull." + +Toady looked back at the spot which Billiard had adorned a moment +before, and remorse overtook him. "I'm sorry, old chap, if I hurt +you," he said contritely. "I wasn't aiming to put you out of business, +but you made me so all-fired mad----" + +"Aw, forget it! I was just fooling," protested Billiard, shamed by +Toady's frank and manly confession. "Say, ain't that the haunted house +the girls are always talking about?" + +"Which? Maybe 'tis. It's the last one in town, they said. Mercy +promised to point it out the next time we climbed the trail behind the +house. Do you s'pose it really is haunted?" + +"I dunno," Billiard answered indifferently. + +Haunted houses in his opinion were things to be avoided. He had merely +sought to distract Toady's thoughts from their fistic encounter by +mentioning the place. But the younger boy's curiosity was aroused, and +as they neared the deserted, unpainted, dilapidated hut, he studied it +closely. To him it looked like any other untenanted shack in the +mining town, and so he said musingly, "I wonder if that man really did +kill himself there, or was he murdered?" + +Billiard shivered. "Mercedes said he _died_ there. That's all I know." + +"She told me he was _found_ dead, with all his pockets turned inside +out, and----" + +"Oh, Toady," interrupted Billiard again, "here's a plant just like +those mamma always has in her garden. I didn't s'pose things like that +would grow here on the desert." + +"That's a castor bean." + +"Like they make castor oil of?" + +"Sure! At least, I guess so. Glory told me it's the only thing green +on the desert that the burros won't eat. Folks could have flowers here +the same as back home if water didn't cost so much, and the burros +didn't eat the plants as fast as they came up." + +"It's the first castor bean _I've_ seen here." + +"Why, there's a whole bunch down by the drug-store! We've passed them +dozens of times. Where are your eyes?" + +Billiard's face flushed wrathfully. Toady's recent victory had made +him suddenly very important and domineering, but his fists were +certainly hard enough to deal a telling blow; so the older boy, still +caressing his swollen, aching nose, thought it wise to overlook such +sarcastic flings, and, pretending to be deeply interested in the +queer-leaved plant, he casually asked, "Do they all have such funny +burrs on them?" + +"When they're big enough. That's where the castor beans themselves +grow." + +Billiard gingerly picked one of the strange balls and minutely examined +the hooked prickles of the reddish covering. Then with his jack-knife +he proceeded to investigate the inside. "Do you s'pose they really +make castor oil out of these? I don't see how they can." + +"Glory says they do." + +"The insides _smell_ something like castor oil, but they don't look at +all oily." + +"I'll bet they taste oily." + +"Stump you to eat one!" + +"Huh! It doesn't bother me to take castor oil. I can eat anything!" +To prove his boast, he plumped one white bean into his mouth, and +chewed it down with apparent relish. + +Billiard watched him with eagle eyes to see that he actually did +swallow it, then held out another, and Toady obediently munched it. +Three, four, five,--bean by bean they disappeared down his throat; but +at last he rebelled. + +"You hain't tasted one, Billiard McKittrick! How many do you think you +are going to feed _me_?" + +The brother laughed derisively. "Wanted to see how big a fool you +was," he jeered. "Thought you were going to eat all there were on the +bush." + +Toady made no reply. The beans tasted anything but appetizing, and +already the boy was beginning to feel queer. + +"Sure you don't want some more?" teased Billiard. + +"No. Guess I'll go home." + +"And tat--tell about last night?" Billiard remembered all at once the +reason they were so far from the Eagles' Nest, and was alarmed lest +Toady's threatened confession should involve him also. + +"Y-e-s." + +"I think you're downright mean, Toady McKittrick!" + +"I shan't tell on you." + +"Might as well! They will know I was in it." + +"And you know you ought to own up, too." + +"Cut it out, good--Toady. If you won't tell, I'll not plague them--nor +you--any more." + +Toady silently plodded on, and in exasperation Billiard caught him by +the shoulder and shook him roughly. + +"Le' go!" muttered the boy. "I'm going home, I tell you! Ge' out my +way!" + +The white misery of that round, freckled face as it turned toward him +struck terror to the older brother's heart, and he excitedly demanded, +"What's the matter, kid? Are you sick?" + +"Feel funny," panted the castor-bean victim. "I--want--to--lie--down." + +"Let's hurry then. We'll soon be home." Billiard was genuinely +alarmed now, and seizing the other's cold hand, he tried to hasten the +lagging steps up the rocky trail. But Toady was really too ill to care +what happened or where he went, and he stumbled blindly on, tripping +over a loose pebble here, or bruised by staggering into a boulder +there, protesting one minute that he could go no further, and the next +instant begging Billiard to hurry faster. + +At length, however, the house was reached, and Toady drifted like a +crumpled leaf across the threshold and lay down in the middle of the +floor. Irene had seen them coming, and rushed pell-mell for Tabitha, +shrieking in horrified accents, "Kitty, oh, Kitty, they've been to a +s'loon and got drunk!" + +So Tabitha was somewhat prepared for their dramatic entrance; but one +glance at the livid lips, pinched nose and heavy, lusterless eyes would +have convinced her that Irene was mistaken, even if Billiard had not +caught the words and indignantly denied it. However, recalling a +certain episode in Jerome Vane's life in Silver Bow, she demanded +severely, "How many cigarettes has he smoked, Billiard McKittrick?" + +"He hain't been smoking at all!" declared that young gentleman, more +ruffled at Tabitha's tone than at her accusation. "He--he--I dared him +to eat some castor-beans, and I guess they made him sick." + +"Castor-beans!" shrieked Tabitha in wild alarm. "Go for the doctor at +once. Dr. Hayes at the drug-store! Tell him it's castor-beans. He +worked all night to save the Horan children who ate them once." + +Billiard had shot out of the door before the words were out of her +mouth and was half-way down the trail before the dazed girl awoke with +a start to the realization that something must be done at once for the +suffering boy on the floor, or it might be too late. "We must make him +vomit," she said to red-eyed Mercedes, who had come out of her +hiding-place to see what was the cause of all the commotion. + +"But how?" + +"I don't know myself what emetic would be best. They use mustard and +warm water for some poisons, and--oh, I remember! Bring me that +three-cornered, blue bottle from the cupboard, Susie. Hurry! Your +mother told me to use plenty of that if any of you got poisoned. +Mercedes, light the stove and set on the tea kettle. Inez, get the +boy's bed ready, and Irene, bring some clean towels from the closet." + +Tabitha had suddenly grown calm again, and as she issued orders to the +panic-stricken sisters, she was deftly at work herself, pouring the +vile-tasting emetic down poor, unresisting Toady's throat. She worked +hard and furiously, fearful that her efforts might fail, and her heart +sank within her as she watched the white face grow whiter and listened +to the weak moans which escaped his lips with every breath. + +Would the doctor never come? The suspense was horrible. When it +seemed as if she must scream with frenzy, the five watchers on the +door-step shouted wildly, "He's coming, he's coming! Billiard found +him and he's got his v'lise!" + +Another instant and he was in the kitchen kneeling beside the limp form +on the floor, and working as he questioned. It was over at last, the +boy was pronounced out of danger, and Tabitha, weak and trembling, felt +her strength suddenly ooze from her limbs. + +"Here, here, none of that!" commanded the physician in gruff but kindly +tones. "There is no use of fainting now, my girl, when you have done +your work so well. But for your efforts before I got here, the chap +might have been--well, he can thank his lucky stars that he is in the +land of the living." + +Perhaps Toady heard, for when Tabitha bent over him a few moments +later, the brown eyes fluttered weakly open, and the repentant sinner +murmured, "How is Glory?" + +"Better. She will be well by morning. But you mustn't talk now." + +"Yes, I must, 'cause I made her sick. I burgled--that is, I pretended +I was a burglar last night and hid under your bed. I only meant to +scare you, though. Honest!" + +"Sh! I know all about it. Go to sleep now, Toady." When seeing an +unspoken question in his eyes, she answered, "No, Glory didn't give you +away. I found it out myself." + +"The constable----" + +"I never went for him at all. He doesn't know a thing about it." + +"Uncle Hogan--I expect you'd better write him. It was awful mean of +me, and I'm sorry, but he ought to know." + +"Not this time, Toady. I am sure you will not forget again." + +A great light of relief crept into the big, brown eyes, and Toady +answered with all the vim he could muster, "You are right, I won't." + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +BILLIARD RUNS AWAY + +Billiard, white, scared, remorseful, had crept away up the mountainside +the minute he had seen Dr. Hayes bending beside the still form on the +kitchen floor, and remained in his retreat, watching the house with +frightened eyes, until the physician's bulky figure strode down the +path toward town again. Then, flinging himself face down in the +gravel, he sobbed in unrestrained relief, until, exhausted by the +strain of his recent fearful experience, he fell asleep in the shadow +of a ragged boulder, where late that afternoon Tabitha found him, after +a vain search about house and yard. + +Surprised at having caught a glimpse of this unsuspected side of the +bully's character, she beat a hasty retreat, and with the tact of a +diplomat, sent one of the younger girls in quest of him, feeling that +he might resent being awakened by her while the trace of tears still +showed on his face. Nor was she mistaken in this surmisal, for the +instant the boy's eyes unclosed in response to Susie's energetic +shaking, he demanded, "Does Tabitha--know where I am?" + +"She wouldn't have set the rest of us to hunting if she had, would she?" + +"Well, 'tain't necessary for you to tell her I was asleep. The sun was +so hot it made my head ache, and I guess it has burned my face to a +blister," cautiously touching his puffed, smarting cheeks. + +Susie eyed the swollen lids and scarlet visage suspiciously, but for +once held her tongue, only announcing briefly as she started on a trot +down the trail, "We're waiting supper for you." + +"Well, you needn't for I'm not hungry. Tell Tabitha I don't want +anything to eat. I am going to bed. My head aches." + +"All right," retorted Susie, too cheerfully, he thought with bitterness +in his heart, as he followed her nimble feet toward the house. He had +hoped she would at least express some sympathy for his aching head; but +what did she care? What did anyone care about him? Morosely he +shambled along behind his agile cousin; but instead of entering the +kitchen, which was of necessity also the dining-room, he chose the +front door, and quietly sought the room where he and his brother slept. + +Toady's pale face on the pillow made him pause on the threshold, while +a twinge of remorse tugged at his heart, but the victim, hearing the +creak of the opening door, opened his round eyes, and smiling +beatifically, asked in a weak voice, "Seen Tabitha?" + +Billiard grunted an unintelligible reply. + +"Tell you what, she's a crackerjack!" continued the invalid. Then, as +Billiard's only answer was a vicious jerk which divested him of collar +and waist at a single effort, Toady cried in surprise, "Why, Bill, have +you had your supper?" + +"Don't want any!" growled the other, tugging savagely at his boots. + +"What's the matter? Sick?" + +"Headache!" + +"_You_ didn't eat any castor-beans, did you?" + +Billiard paused in the act of crawling into bed to glare angrily at his +brother, thinking he was being made fun of; but Toady's cherubic face +seemed to allay his suspicions, and he briefly, but savagely replied, +"Naw!" + +"You better tell Tabitha--" began Toady in genuine solicitude; but +Billiard again misconstrued his brother's meaning, and interrupted, +"Aw, shut up! Let a feller alone for once, can't you?" And as +Billiard wriggled into bed, puzzled Toady lapsed into silence. + +Tabitha, too, was puzzled by the older boy's actions. She had hoped +that the poisoning of his brother would awake his better nature if +nothing else would, so she was keenly disappointed, as well as +surprised, at the change which now took place in him. + +"It seems so strange," she confided to Gloriana. "He acted so terribly +cut up the day he brought Toady home sick, that I thought it would cure +him of his mean mischief, at least. But now he seems bent on trying to +find the limit of human endurance--doubling his mischief and being more +aggravatingly hateful than ever." + +"Perhaps he is getting even for Toady's reform," suggested the +red-haired girl, looking worried. + +"Toady--bless the boy!" exclaimed Tabitha fervently. "I should go wild +if he had taken the streak Billiard has." + +"And yet I can see how provoking it must be to Bill----" + +"Why, Gloriana!" + +"I mean that Toady's declaration of independence would naturally rouse +Bill's 'mad,' as Rosslyn says, when Toady had blindly followed his +leadership for so long. And besides, the way Toady flaunts his virtues +in his brother's face----" + +"That _is_ rather amusing, isn't it?" + +"Provoking? I should, say! Billiard has been used to saying the word +and Toady has obeyed. It's rather a--a--jar, to be defied, or ignored +all of a sudden. Bill is bright----" + +"Too bright," sighed Tabitha, somewhat sarcastically, Gloriana thought. + +"He _is_ bright!" championed the younger girl warmly. "This morning I +happened to overhear him teasing the girls at play under the kitchen +window, and he declared that it was a mistake for Inez and Irene to be +twins; that it should have been Susie and Inez, and then their names +would have been Suez and Inez." + +Tabitha smiled in spite of herself, then said heatedly, "But he is so +mean about it! To-day while you were at the bakery and he thought I +had gone for the mail, I heard a commotion in the yard, and what do you +suppose I found him doing?" + +Gloriana shook her head. + +"He had the girls and Rosslyn lined up by the woodpile and was making +them carry in _his_ wood. Even little Janie was loaded down with two +immense sticks, so heavy she could hardly toddle with them." + +"What did you do?" + +"Made them drop their loads right where they were, and he had to carry +it all in by himself." + +"Without even Toady's help?" + +"All by himself!" repeated Tabitha emphatically. + +"I am afraid--we are not apt--to----" + +"To what?" asked Tabitha, as her companion stammered in confusion and +paused abruptly. + +"To gain anything--_much_ of anything by trying to force Billiard into +being good." + +"How _are_ we to make him mind, then? He won't coax. You can't +flatter him into behaving himself, and threats don't do a mite of good. +_I_ think a smart dose of the hickory stick would be the most effective +medicine for such cases as his." + +Glory looked dubious. + +"You don't agree with me?" suggested Tabitha. + +"He is such a big boy to be thrashed," she evaded. + +"He is such a big boy to act that way!" + +"Yes, that's true, but----" + +How she would have finished her sentence Tabitha never found out, for +at that moment a piercing scream broke the stillness of the desert +afternoon, followed by a medley of excited accusations, denials, +threats, and Billiard's taunting laugh. Tabitha flew to the rescue of +her brood and found Irene stretched full length in the gravel, with +Mercedes and Toady deluging her with water, while the rest of the +sisters danced frantically about the trio. + +"He--he shot her!" cried Rosslyn indignantly, at sight of the slender +figure in the doorway. + +"I gave her fair warning," said defiant Billiard. + +"Hand me your gun!" demanded Tabitha in exasperation, after a hasty +examination of the victim had convinced her that Irene was more +frightened than hurt. + +"Gun! Ha, ha, ain't that rich?" mocked Billiard. + +"'Twas a slingshot," volunteered Toady. + +"And he shooted a rock," added Janie. + +Tabitha held out her hand with an imperious gesture. "Pass it over +quietly, or I shall make you." + +Billiard calmly pocketed the article in dispute, and seeing that Irene +was recovering under the heroic treatment of her amateur nurses, he +seated himself in tantalizing silence upon the saw-horse, as if to +enjoy the scene he had created. But his enjoyment was short lived. +Tabitha, now thoroughly aroused, and forgetful of her dignity, swooped +down upon the tormentor, wrested his slingshot from his grasp, and +before anyone could divine her intentions, seized a barrel stave from +the woodpile and gave the surprised boy a sound drubbing. + +In the midst of the thrashing, there came vividly to her mind her +childish horror of that day of reckoning with her father, when he had +struck her with one of his slippers, and she recalled the fact that it +was not the physical hurt, but the humiliation of the blow which had +wounded her most deeply. Flinging down the stick, she released the +struggling lad as suddenly as she had seized him; and in tones that +sounded husky in spite of herself, briefly ordered, "Go to your room!" + +Angry, stunned, shamed, Billiard bounced through the kitchen, slammed +the door of his room, turned the key in the lock and--stood still in +the middle of the floor. Whipped by a girl not four years his senior! +Whipped by a _girl_! It was an unforgivable outrage. He would get +even for that. But what was he to do? Would _could_ he do? She had +beaten him at every turn, she had set Toady against him, she had made +him the laughing stock of his cousins. He--he--he would do something +desperate. He would---- + +As if in answer to his thoughts, he heard a strange voice close beside +the open window say, "Yes, he has run away. The inspector completed +his job this morning, found Atwater's accounts five hundred dollars +short, and he skipped." + +"Who?" demanded Mercedes. "The post-master?" + +"Yep! Lit out. Can't have been gone more'n an hour, but no one seems +to have seen him anywhere around town, and they are scouring the +country for him." + +Billiard drew a deep breath. That was an idea. Why hadn't he thought +of it before! He, too, would run away. Stealthily he crept to the +little closet, selected a clean shirt, a pair of stockings, a necktie, +and his pajamas, tied them up in a bath-towel, not having such a thing +in his wardrobe as a bandana handkerchief, although he felt that this +was an essential; and after a cautious survey of the premises to make +sure that the children were nowhere near, he crawled out of the window, +carefully shut the screen again, and darted swiftly down the steep, +pathless incline on the west side of the house to the flat below. It +was a hazardous undertaking, and at any other time he would have shrunk +from attempting it, but in his unreasonable anger and desire for +revenge, all else was forgotten; and he arrived at the sandy bottom +breathless, badly scratched by the mesquite, and smarting from the +prick of cactus thorns, but triumphant. + +Pausing only long enough to shake his fist defiantly at the house on +the cliff above, he made off across the desert as fast as his legs +would carry him. His first idea had been to follow the railroad, but +on second thought he concluded that he might easily be overtaken and +brought back if he took that course. So after a brief survey of the +pathless landscape, he decided to skirt the mountains in whose hollow +lay the town of Silver Bow, and to strike off to the west, in the +direction of a neighboring mining camp called Crystal City. + +"If I _should_ miss that place," he reasoned to himself, "I am sure to +get somewhere. Perhaps to Los Angeles that Mercy goes so crazy about. +Say, that's just the thing! It takes only about twelve hours to get +there by train; I ought to be able to walk it in two days, and I'll +join the navy. I always did want to be a sailor!" + +So he trudged sturdily on through the heavy sand of the flats, building +air castles and nursing his wrath, but paying little heed to the course +he was taking, until with a shiver of alarm he discovered that the +afternoon sun had set and the range of white-capped mountains which +sheltered Crystal City was seemingly no nearer than when he had set +out. He began to feel faint with hunger and thirst, and was appalled +to think he had forgotten in his flight to pack any lunch in his small +store of belongings, and was now what seemed miles from civilization, +in the midst of the pathless desert with neither food nor drink, and +night coming on. + +Night! He shuddered. How could he have forgotten the night part of +it? Where was he to stay? He was afraid of the desert darkness. +Somehow, it always seemed blacker and stiller there than anywhere else +on earth. But perhaps the moon would come up. That would be lots of +company, and the weather was so warm that he would really enjoy +sleeping out in the open air. Eagerly he scanned the evening sky, and +perceiving that the east appeared to be growing lighter, his spirits +began to rise. After all, he was not sorry he had run away. Wouldn't +there be consternation in the Eagles' Nest when his absence was +discovered? How Tabitha would regret her unwarranted harshness! And +Toady--Toady would cry and snivel because he had deserted his dear, big +brother in his hour of need. And searching parties would be sent all +over the country to find him. How he gloated over the pictures his +vivid imagination had drawn! + +But all the while he stumbled on, it was growing darker, the landscape +had become an indistinct blur, and night sounds filled the air. The +lonely howl of a wolf in the distance sent a chill of fear down +Billiard's spine; the scream of a night-hawk overhead made him jump +almost out of his shoes, and he was just beginning to consider where he +should lie down to sleep when a sudden scurry in the underbrush froze +him in his tracks. The next minute, however, he laughed at his fright, +for it was merely a mother burro and her baby colt which his steps had +routed from their hiding-place and sent flying across the flats for +safety. A twig snapping sharply under his feet startled him; what +sounded like a warning hiss close by brought his heart into his mouth; +and trembling from head to foot he paused by a clump of Spanish +bayonets, uncertain what to do next. + +Oh, if only he had not run away! If only he were sitting with the rest +of the lively troop of children around the supper table! Or perhaps it +was too late for supper now. More likely they would be preparing for +bed. What frolics they had enjoyed in the evenings when Tabitha made +taffy and recited stirring ballads to fill in the moments while the +toothsome sweet was cooking. What exciting tales his cousins told of +the brave, black-haired maid whom he was trying so hard to hate. He +did hate her! That is, sometimes he did. But he could not help +admiring her pluck, even though he stood in awe of the fierce temper +that blazed up so quickly, and as quickly died away again. She was +certainly a wonder for a girl. There was no 'fraid cat about her. He +wished she liked him better. But how could she, when he was so +tantalizing, mean and sly? Perhaps if he went back home, that is, to +Aunt---- + +"Hands up! We've got you at last!" growled a stern voice almost in his +ear, it seemed; and poor Billiard's hands shot high into the air, he +shut his eyes, held his breath and waited for the end. But to his +utter amazement, a second voice huskily replied, after an instant, +"Yes, you've got me, boys. I knew it was no use to run away, +but--I--couldn't bear--to stay--and know that everyone looked at me as +a thief. I never took the money." + +The moon, which had seemed so slow in rising, had finally mounted to +the crest of the surrounding hills, and poured a stream of mellow light +upon the waste below. Billiard, his hands still thrust stiffly above +his head, now distinguished a few feet in front of him the dark shapes +of a dozen or more men, armed with revolvers, clustering around one +whom he recognized as Atwater, the runaway post-master of Silver Bow. + +"That's all right, Atwater," growled the first speaker, who was +evidently leader of the posse. "Tell your tale in court, but be a man +and face the music. Fall in, boys!" + +For a long time, Billiard watched them as they marched their hapless +prisoner back to town, and the leader's words kept ringing in his ears, +"Be a man and face the music!" Suddenly a new thought flashed through +his brain. Why had he not followed them? It wasn't too late yet. He +could still see their forms indistinctly moving across the desert, and +by following their lead, would sooner or later reach Silver Bow +himself. Stepping out from the clump of Spanish bayonets which had +formed his retreat, he set out on a dog-trot in the direction the men +had taken, and after a long, rough, weary journey, actually found +himself trailing up the familiar path to the Eagles' Nest. + +He paused as he reached the children's play house and took a furtive +survey of the place. One lone light burned in the low cottage. +Probably Tabitha had missed him and was waiting for his return. +Supposing she should lick him again for running away? + +"Billiard!" + +'Twas only a whisper from a rock nearby? but the boy almost screamed +aloud in his fright at the unexpectedness of it. + +"Sh!" the voice continued. "It's only I,--Glory. I had to go to the +drug-store for some alum,--Janie has the croup,--and I saw you coming +up the trail. Tabitha hasn't missed you yet. She has been so anxious +over the baby. So sneak back to your room and I'll bring you something +to eat as soon as I can. Run now! Tabitha will be expecting me." + +"But Glory, doesn't _anyone_ know I--" began bewildered Billiard, much +taken back at his reception. + +"Ran away?" finished Gloriana. "No one but Toady and myself. He won't +tell. I made him promise. Of course we'd have had to, if you hadn't +come back, but I knew--I thought you would--" How could she tell him +that she knew he was too much of a coward to persist in running away? +"Scramble into your room as quietly as possible," she continued, "so as +not to disturb the others, and I will bring you some supper in a minute +or so." + +"You're--you're awfully good to a feller," mumbled the abashed boy, +wondering how he ever could have disliked the red-haired Glory. +"I--I'll not forget it." And as the girl hurried up the path to the +kitchen door, he skirted the house till he reached the window of his +room, through which he wriggled cautiously and disappeared in the +friendly darkness within, thankful that he was home again. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +BILLIARD SURRENDERS + +Toady kept his promise not to mention Billiard's runaway expedition to +anyone else save Gloriana; but being human, he could not keep from +twitting his brother occasionally, and the days which followed that +memorable night were full of misery for the unhappy boy. His cousins +avoided him, Tabitha ignored him, Toady tormented him, and even +Gloriana seemed indifferent to his plight. In his fright at +discovering himself lost on the desert at night, he had resolved to +follow Toady's example and turn over a new leaf. He could not quite +make up his mind to confess his sins to eagle-eyed Tabitha, but was +really sincere in his desire to do better; and was as surprised as he +was disappointed to find that no one paid any attention to the sudden +change in his deportment. + +"Might as well have kept on being bad," he growled with an injured air +one afternoon when a fortnight had passed without any noticeable change +in the atmosphere. "Wish I hadn't come back that night. Guess they'd +have sung a different tune then! Maybe a coyote would have got me, or +I'd have stepped into a rattlesnake's nest and been stung to death. +Bet they'd have felt sorry when they found me--," he hesitated. His +picture was too vivid, and he shuddered as he thought what a fate would +have been his had a rattlesnake bitten him as he tramped across the +pathless waste in his flight. "Pretty near dead," he finished finally, +unable to endure the thought that they _might_ have found him dead. + +"If I had kept on, I'd be in Los Angeles now,--maybe in the navy +already. I've a good notion to try again. I could almost go by train, +now that my 'lowance has come. Mercy says it takes twelve dollars, and +I've got ten. 'T any rate, I could ride as far as that would take me, +and--by George, I b'lieve I could beat my way without spending a cent! +That's the way tramps travel from city to city." + +He winced at the idea of being classed with tramps, and fell to +debating whether he would buy a ticket and ride like a gentleman as far +as his ten dollars would carry him, or whether he would attempt the +hobo's hazardous method of transportation. Before he had arrived at +any satisfactory conclusion, he heard the tramp of feet close by, and +the lively chatter of voices, and around the bend of the path came +Toady with his six cousins. They did not see him at first, half hidden +as he was by the heap of ragged rocks on which he lay stretched full +length, but even when they did become aware of his presence, they +merely glanced indifferently at the lazy figure and passed by without +speaking. + +Angered at thus being ignored and left out in the cold, Billiard +resolved to display no interest in them, either, although he was +consumed with curiosity as to where they were bound; but a chance +remark of Susie's about being lowered in a bucket overcame his resolve, +and he called after them, "Where you going, kids?" + +"Don't you wish you knew?" Inez flung back with a saucy toss of her +head. + +"Up Pike's Peak," said Toady, without so touch as looking back. + +"You mean down Ali Baba's cave," suggested Mercedes laughingly. + +"Shall we tell him?" asked Irene, relenting as she glanced back at the +lonely figure on the rocks. + +"He'll just be bad if we let him come," warned Susie. + +"He hasn't been bad for a long time," gentle Irene reminded them. + +"Aw, what do you s'pose I care where you are going?" sung out Billiard, +more hurt by their manner than he cared to acknowledge. "Keep on to +Jericho, if you want to." + +"We ain't going to Jericho," said Irene, lagging uncertainly behind the +others. "Only just across town to that hill over there where is a--a +'bandoned mine. Toady's never seen what one looks like, so we're +taking him along to get a peek at it. Have you ever seen a mine?" + +Billiard shook his head. + +"Tabitha says if we're real good, she'll see if the superintendent +won't take us all through the Silver Legion mine before the summer is +over; but to-day we're just going to show Toady how the miners go up +and down the shaft. He won't b'lieve they use a bucket. Don't you +want to come too?" + +"Nope, guess not," Billiard answered promptly, though the wistful look +in his eyes belied his words. + +"It's int'resting," urged Irene, who somehow seemed to understand that +Billiard did not really mean what he said. + +"Is it a real bucket?" he could not refrain from asking. + +"Yes." + +"Like a water bucket?" + +"Yes, only bigger." + +"I sh'd think the miners would fall out." + +"Oh, it's big enough so they can't tumble if they mind the rules; but +you've got to keep your head down inside, or you'll be killed by the +big beans--" she meant beams--"which are built in to hold the dirt from +caving in and filling up the mine. Come and see for yourself." + +"Well, p'r'aps I will." With a great show of indifference, the boy +uncoiled his legs, slid to the ground beside Irene, and hurried with +her after the others, now a considerable distance in advance; but the +little group had reached their goal and were gingerly peering into the +black depths of the abandoned shaft when Billiard and Irene joined them. + +"Ugh!" shuddered Mercedes, drawing back with a shiver from the yawning +mouth of the hole. "It smells like lizards. I'll bet the bottom of +the shaft is full of them." + +"It didn't use to be," remarked Susie, dropping a pebble over the brink +and listening to the hollow echoes it awoke as it bounded from timber +to timber. + +"Were you ever down there?" asked Toady in surprise. + +"No, but papa was one of the men here when the mine was working." + +"What did it quit working for?" ventured Billiard, testing the +weather-stained rope still coiled about the winch above the shaft. + +"The vein of rich silver stopped all of a sudden and they couldn't make +the other ore pay, so they shut down, and the men went to work in other +mines, or else moved away." + +"How deep is a shaft?" asked Toady, as Susie sent another pebble +spinning after the first and counted rapidly until it struck the bottom. + +"Some are _hundreds_ of feet deep," replied Mercedes impressively, glad +of a chance to air her meagre knowledge of mining affairs. "But +this----" + +"Is only a hole," finished Inez contemptuously. + +"What do you mean by that?" demanded Billiard, mystified. "Ain't this +a sure-enough shaft?" + +"Oh, yes," Mercedes hastened to inform him; "only 'tisn't the main one. +That's all boarded up, and no one can go down it any more. This was +dug later. Someone thought there was more silver here, and they made +this shaft. It's not very deep----" + +"Let's go down it!" proposed Billiard, boyishly eager for such an +adventure. + +"Oh, horrors!" shrieked Mercedes. "With all those lizards down there?" + +"Shucks! Lizards won't hurt a fellow." + +"Maybe there are snakes, too," said Rosslyn, hastily backing away from +the place. + +"We'd have heard them," Billiard answered promptly. "Susie has fired +enough rocks at 'em to stir 'em up if there was any there." + +"But Tabitha mightn't like it," suggested Irene in troubled tones. + +"Did she ever say you _couldn't_ go?" + +"N-o." + +"Or did your mother?" + +"N-o." + +"Then what's to hinder?" + +"S'posing the rope should bu'st," mused Irene aloud. + +"_That_ rope? Why, it's half as big as my arm! Yes, bigger." + +"But it has been here a long, long time. Ever since I can remember. +Doesn't rope rot?" + +"I'll bet that's as strong as iron," boasted Billiard. "There's +nothing rotten about it. I'll stump any of you to go down with me." + +"Will you go first and see if there are any snakes?" demanded Susie, +whose love of adventure was constantly leading her into mischief. + +"If you'll promise honor bright to come next." + +"I will," Susie rashly promised, her eyes dancing with excitement and +eagerness. "Will you go, too, Toady?" + +"Sure, but who's going to let us down? I'll bet it takes some work to +keep the rope unwinding just right." + +"I'll lower you all," proposed Mercedes magnanimously, for the idea of +descending into that black, musty hole did not appeal to her in the +least, but she could not bear to appear less brave than fly-away Susie. + +"You! Pooh! You are just a girl! The bucket would get away from you +the first thing, and then where'd the rest of us be? No, I've got a +better plan than that. You and Toady and Irene let Susie and Inez and +me down first; and after we have had a look at the thing, we'll come up +and let you down. How does that suit you?" + +"It's a go," Toady readily responded. + +"All right," quavered Mercedes. + +But Irene held her peace. Nothing could tempt her to crouch in that +great, swaying bucket and be dropped into the blackness of that yawning +pit, but she did not mean to voice her opinions until the proper +moment. So she took her place beside Mercedes and Toady and puffed and +panted as the rope slowly unwound, and Billiard, scrooched low in the +bucket, disappeared from view. It was hard work and slow, to pay out +the rope evenly, but Billiard did not seem at all inclined to be +critical, and accepted his rough, jolting descent without a murmur. +Had the truth been known, the boy was too nearly paralyzed with fright +to notice anything of his surroundings, and more than once he was on +the point of signalling for his companions to hoist him to the surface +again, but fear of ridicule kept him tongue-tied until it was too late. + +With a final jerk and jolt, the bucket stood still, and cautiously +opening his eyes for the first time since he had stepped into his queer +elevator. Billiard beheld a row of black, shadowy heads hovering over +the brink of the aperture, and heard Toady's voice, sounding strangely +muffled and far away, call cheerfully, "Well, you've struck bottom, old +boy! What does it look like?" + +Bottom? Billiard blinked and rubbed his eyes, and peered about him in +surprise; but at first in the semi-darkness, he could distinguish +nothing. Then as he grew more accustomed to the blackness, he could +see before him the mouth of a still blacker cavern, which to his vivid +imagination seemed yawning to swallow him up; and he shudderingly +shrank back into the friendly protection of the bucket. + +"Why don't you answer?" demanded an impatient voice from above. + +"_Are_ there snakes and lizards?" called Mercedes. + +Snakes! Lizards! Billiard had forgotten them, but with a sigh of +relief he realized that there was not a sound of anything stirring +about him. "Naw!" he yelled back, trying to make his voice sound brave +and scornful. "Guess not. I can't see a thing. Might as well haul me +up, 'cause no one could tell what a mine looks like in this blackness." + +"Got any matches?" inquired Toady. + +Billiard rapidly felt through his pockets. "One," he announced. + +"Then here's a candle. Catch it!" + +Toady let it drop almost before the words were out of his mouth, and +with a tremendous thump it struck poor Billiard on the head before he +had caught the significance of the directions from above; and with a +yelp of surprise and pain, he tumbled out of the bucket against a +timber, which shivered and splintered under his weight. But in some +mysterious manner, he found himself in possession of the candle when he +had righted himself once more and brushed the rotten wood from his eyes +and mouth. He lost no time in striking his one lone match and lighting +the slender taper in his hand, much to the relief of the group hovering +anxiously about the shaft. + +"There!" he heard Susie ejaculate. "I was sure he had killed himself." + +"You mean that Toady did," spluttered the indignant Billiard. "What do +you think my head is made of--iron?" + +"_I_ couldn't tell that it would hit you on the head, could I?" +protested the younger boy apologetically. "Why didn't you dodge?" + +"Dodge? D'ye think I'm a cat with eyes that see in the dark?" + +"Never mind," soothed Irene, who had ventured near enough the curbing +to take an occasional peep down into the blackness. "It's too bad it +hurt you. Put some cold water on the bump----" + +A derisive shout from her sisters stopped her, and even Billiard had to +smile, though he felt grateful toward the little twin who was sorry he +was hurt. By this time the pale candle flame had ceased to sputter and +flicker uncertainly, but burned with a steady light, and with a thrill +of exultation Billiard looked curiously about him, relieved to find no +snakes or crawly things in the abandoned shaft, and pleased beyond +measure to think he had actually braved the terrors of the dark to +explore this mysterious place, so he could crow over his brother and +cousins because of his courage. + +"Say, but it's great down here," he called, venturing just inside the +timbered cross-cut and staring at the rocky walls which here and there +glistened alluringly. "And there's pecks of silver sticking out of +every stone. Why don't you come on down, Toady?" + +"Can't till you come up. It's Susie and Inez now. Going, girls?" + +"You bet!" cried Susie enthusiastically. "Pull up the bucket and help +me in." + +Eagerly they turned the creaking old windlass and Susie descended to +join Billiard in his underground explorations. Being much lighter than +her cousin, it was easier to lower her down the shaft; and still easier +with Inez in the bucket; but once the trio were safely at the bottom, +the little group above became all impatience for their turn. Mercy's +courage had returned as she saw how simple an operation it was to let +down the loaded bucket, and even Irene began to feel a desire to +explore the mysteries of the abandoned mine with the rest of her mates. +Only Rosslyn and Janie hung back, but no one cared. In fact, it +simplified matters not to have to bother with such little tads; but it +was a nuisance to have Billiard linger so long when he knew the others +were just dying to go down. + +At last Toady could resist temptation no longer. "I'm going, too," he +announced with determination. + +"Before Billiard comes up?" + +He nodded grimly. + +"But s'posing you're too heavy for just Irene and me," suggested +Mercedes. + +"I shall slide down the rope. I'd rather do that than have you drop me +or let the rope out too fast." + +"But--how can you?" Mercedes demurred. + +"It's so far down there," said Irene. + +"Aw, in gym work at school we slide down poles and bars and all sorts +of things. It oughtn't to be any harder with a rope. I'm going to +try, anyway." + +Silently but enviously, the girls watched him spit on his palms, test +the rope, and finally let himself slowly down into the shaft, with legs +wrapped tightly about his slender, swaying support, and hands grasping +the rough strands with a desperate grip, for, too late, he realized +what a horrible fate would be his if he should fall; but when he would +have gone back, he could not. + +"How in the world will we ever get them up?" whispered Irene +wonderingly; but before Mercedes could frame a reply, there was a crash +from below, a cry, a grating sound of falling rock and then hideous, +horrible silence. + +"Toady!" shrieked the girls in frenzy, "did you fall?" + +"No," came back a muffled answer. "I'm all right, but we have knocked +down some boards and can't get out." + +"Can't get out!" they repeated dully. + +"No. Run for help! Our candle has gone out and it's as black as pitch +in here." + +"Who'll I go for?" wailed panic-stricken Mercedes, while Irene danced +frantically around the shaft and wrung her hands as she chanted, +"They'll smother, they'll smother, they'll smother!" + +"Anyone, but hustle up!" yelled Toady impatiently, for his companions +in the disaster had uttered not a sound since their first wild scream, +and a horrible fear that they were hurt or even killed gripped his +heart. + +However, little Rosslyn was already half-way down the mountain, fairly +skimming over the rocks and rubbish, and almost before the distracted +girls had recovered their senses enough to be of any aid to the +prisoners, the little fellow stumbled across the threshold of the +Eagles' Nest, gasping, "They've caved in--Bill and Toady and the girls. +I guess maybe they're dead by now!" + +Tabitha was on her feet in an instant and the pan of potatoes which she +was peeling went spinning across the floor. "Where, Rosslyn?" + +Mutely he pointed, too spent for words; and the girl, remembering the +old, unprotected shaft of the abandoned Selfridge mine, flew to the +rescue of her brood, pausing only to snatch a lantern from a peg on the +wall, and a handful of matches from the pantry shelf. + +Mercedes had disappeared when she reached the spot of the accident, but +Irene was tugging desperately at the huge windlass, slowly winding up +the heavy bucket, moaning all the while in a distracted undertone, +while tears of fright trickled down her dirty face. So busy was she +that she never heard the patter of Tabitha's feet behind her, and the +first intimation she had of help at hand was when the older girl jerked +her back from the mouth of the shaft, released the half-raised bucket, +and sent it hurtling back into the pit once more. + +"Go for the assayer," she commanded hoarsely, seizing the heavy rope +with both hands, and preparing to descend as Toady had done. "Run, +hurry! And then get Dr. Hayes. We may need him." + +The windlass creaked and groaned, the rope swayed and strained, as +Tabitha slid out of sight, while Irene raced madly away to do her +bidding. Unmindful of bumps or bruises, and almost unaware that her +hands were cruelly burned and torn from her too rapid descent, the +black-eyed girl had scarcely touched the bottom of the shaft before she +had her lantern lighted and was digging like mad at the fallen rock and +debris which almost completely blocked the entrance of the narrow +cross-cut. + +"Who is it?" called a voice from behind the barrier. + +"Thank God!" breathed Tabitha, working with renewed fury. "That you, +Toady?" + +"Bet you!" came the cheering response. + +"Are you hurt?" + +"Nope!" + +"Where are the others?" + +"Here!" + +"Safe?" + +"I--don't know. I can feel 'em, but they don't answer." + +At that instant, without any warning, one of the fallen timbers slipped +from its position, and revealed a narrow aperture into the crosscut, +through which Tabitha caught a glimpse of Toady's white face and the +gleam of Susie's scarlet dress. + +"Can you crawl through?" she demanded. + +"Yes." + +"Carefully now, so as not to start another landslide. There! Now, can +you help me make the opening bigger?" + +But other aid was at hand. The assayer with three men from the town +had arrived and the rescue of the quintette at the bottom of the shaft +was speedily effected. + +"Are they--" Tabitha's voice faltered as she stood at last on the +rocky mountainside and looked down into the still, white faces of +Billiard, Susie and Inez. How could she ever have let them out of her +sight? How could she ever break the news to the mother? + +"Merely stunned," replied the doctor, examining the victims with rapid, +practised fingers. "See, the girls are coming to their senses. It's +nothing short of a miracle that-- Hello, Susie, what did you say?" + +"It wasn't gold at all," murmured the child faintly; "just quartz, but +he wouldn't b'lieve it." + +Billiard opened his eyes slowly. "She says gold don't look like gold +in a mine, but I got a pocketful of--" His sentence ended in a groan +of pain, and the hand he was trying to thrust into his trousers fell +limply at his side. + +"Aha!" cried the doctor. "Let's see what we have here." + +"A break?" questioned the assayer. + +"Bad sprain, I think, but it will keep the young man out of mischief +for one while. Are your legs all right? Then I reckon we better move +on to town." + +So it happened that no serious results came from their latest prank, +but Tabitha, in her thankfulness that all her brood was safe and sound, +fell into a fit of bitter weeping as soon as the children were back in +the Eagles' Nest once more and the rescuers had departed. + +"Don't," begged Janie tearfully. "I loves 'oo! I was dood!" + +"Please don't," pleaded the other sisters in great distress. "We'll +never do it again." + +"It was all my fault," cried Toady contritely. "I'm ever so sorry." + +"It was not," muttered Billiard, wincing with the pain in his arm, but +truly repentant. "I dared 'em to go. Honest, Tabby, _I_ was to blame! +Will you--will you--er--forgive me? I'm horribly--sorry. Won't you +try me again?" + +So sincere was his tone, so straightforward his confession, so manly +his bearing, that Tabitha could not fail to be convinced of his +earnestness of purpose, and drying her eyes, she took Billiard's +proffered hand in a hearty grasp, saying with quivering, smiling lips, +"Let's all try each other again." + +"Let's!" cried the rest of the brood; and they meant it, every one. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +SUSANNE ENTERTAINS A CALLER + +"Let's make some candy. It's too hot to play." + +Susie and the twins were sitting idly on a great, shaggy, redwood log +in the scanty shade of the house, fanning themselves as briskly as +their tired arms would move, and longing for the cool of sundown. + +Irene looked startled at the older sister's suggestion, and began, +"Tabitha----" + +"Oh, I know she made us promise not to get into mischief," Susie +impatiently interrupted her, "but taffy ain't mischief. We'll make a +big batch so's there will be plenty for the others when they get back." + +"It's so hot," objected Inez, as Susie turned to her for approval. + +"We'll use the gasolene stove." + +"But you've never lighted it. How'll you----" + +"Oh, Irene, you make me tired! Don't you s'pose I know how? Haven't I +watched mamma and Tabitha hundreds of times? Guess I can manage it if +Mercy can. Come on, Inez!" + +"Do you know how to make taffy?" questioned the undaunted Irene, +following the other two into the sweltering kitchen. + +"Course! Molasses and sugar and vinegar and butter. Ask me something +hard." + +"Tabitha measures 'em." + +"So shall I. You go fetch the m'lasses jug and a cup. Inez, bring the +vinegar and butter, and I'll measure things after I get the stove +a-going." Mopping her face and bustling energetically about the small +room, Susie marshalled her forces and set to work with contagious +enthusiasm. All three donned huge aprons, hunted up long-handled +spoons, and rattled among the neat array of pots and pans until it +sounded as if a whole regiment had been turned loose in the kitchen. + +The stove was lighted without any trouble, much to the relief of the +breathless trio, and the candy making was soon in progress. Sugar was +measured and molasses spilled with reckless abandon over table, floor +and stove, in their hurry to get their delectable sweet on cooking +before the rest of the family should return from their day's outing and +interfere, for, secretly, each be-aproned girl, paddling in the pot +with her sticky spoon and dribbling syrup wherever she ran, felt that +she was not strictly obeying Tabitha's parting injunction, and was +anxious to have a peace offering ready when she returned with the rest +of her brood. + +They had gone for a drive to the river, and as there was not room in +the light wagon for all the large family, Susie and the twins had been +bribed to remain at home with the promise of ice-cream sodas at the +little drug-store. However, that unusual treat had disappeared long +ago down the three eager throats, and they had begun to rue their +bargain when Susie's inspiration fired them with enthusiasm once more. + +"I wish we had some nuts," panted perspiring Inez, stirring the +bubbling mess in the kettle so vigorously that a great spatter flew up +and struck Irene on the hand. + +"Ooo!" screeched the unfortunate victim. "What made you do that?" + +"I didn't do it a-purpose," indignantly denied her twin. "Stop your +jumping and suck it off." + +Irene obediently thrust the smarting wound into her mouth, and +immediately let out another howl of anguish, for the sticky mass had +burned the little tongue sadly, and the tears rained down the rosy +cheeks unchecked while the dismayed sisters racked their brains for +some soothing remedy to deaden the pain. + +"Try this," suggested Susie, hurrying out of the pantry with a can of +baking powder in her hand, vaguely recalling that some kind of white +powder used in cooking was good for burns. + +"I will not," sobbed Irene angrily. "You don't know what it will do. +You're just guessing." + +"Gloriana put coal oil on Toady's foot," timidly began Inez, half +distracted at having been the cause of all her sister's woe. + +"And you think I'll stick my _tongue_ in _that_?" roared the usually +gentle twin so savagely that both her companions fell silent, perplexed +at the unhappy situation. + +Meanwhile the bubbling syrup had been forgotten, and with an ominous +hiss and a pungent odor, the seething mass boiled over the top of the +kettle and was promptly licked up by the eager flames of the stove. A +great cloud of smoke filled the kitchen, and the paralyzed girls awoke +to their danger with a sickening horror. + +"Oh, oh, oh!" they screamed in frenzy. "The house will catch! We'll +all be burned up! What will mamma say?" + +"Hush! Shut up! Give me your apron!" commanded an authoritative voice +behind them, and a big, shabby stranger rushed past them, snatched +Susie's apron, gave a deft twist to the flaming burner, seized the +smoking kettle, and vanished through the kitchen door before any of the +sisters realized what had happened. He was soon back with the +blackened pot in his hands and a reassuring smile on his lips. "It's +all right, kids," he announced cheerily, noting the terror in their +faces. "No harm's done. It won't take but a few minutes to clean up +that stove and pan and no one will be the wiser. You are housekeeping +by yourselves to-day, I see." His quick, restless, eager eyes had +noted the tell-tale signs of mischief about him before he hazarded that +remark. + +"Yes, oh, yes!" breathed Susie in great relief. "Tabitha's taken the +rest of the children down to the river, and we're all alone." + +"The river?" + +"The Colorado. We often go there when we can get the assayer's horses, +but the wagon won't hold us all, so we three stayed at home to-day." + +"And had ice-cream sodas for being good," added Irene. + +"We _wanted_ to make some taffy," mourned Inez, ruefully eyeing the +blackened mass which the mysterious stranger was deftly removing from +the stove and floor. + +"'Twas so lonesome here by ourselves," supplemented Susie +apologetically, remembering that she was responsible for the candy +suggestion. + +"So 'while the cat's away the mice will play'," chuckled the man, +beginning a vigorous scraping of the sticky kettle. + +"Why, how did you know her name was Catt?" cried Irene in amazement. + +"Goosie!" exclaimed Susie sarcastically. + +"He didn't know. That's not what he meant. But truly, mister, I don't +think Tabitha would have minded a bit if our candy had come out all +right. As 'tis, we've wasted such a lot of m'lasses and sugar that I +reckon she'll scold----" + +"If she ever finds it out," broke in Inez. + +"That's it--_if_ she ever finds it out," chuckled the man again. "Who +is this mysterious Tabitha that you are so scared of?" + +"We ain't _scared_ of her," protested Susie loyally. "Her name is +Tabitha Catt, and she's taking care of us while mamma is with papa at +the hospital in Los Angeles. She's only a girl herself, but we +promised to mind her so mamma could go, and not fret about us all the +time, and we're trying hard to keep our promise." + +"But sometimes we forget," said truthful Irene. "We oughtn't to have +made that candy, 'cause we told her we wouldn't get into mischief while +she was gone. I guess that's why it burnt up." + +"I guess it's no such thing!" Inez contradicted hotly. "You made such +a fuss over nothing that Susie and me forgot to watch it and it boiled +over." + +"I guess you'd have made a fuss if I'd blistered your hand like you did +mine," cried Irene in great indignation, suddenly remembering her +grievance, and affectionately regarding the white blister on her plump +hand. "Then on top of that you told me to suck it off, when you knew +it was boiling hot and would skin my whole mouth." + +"Tut, tut!" interrupted the stranger, seeing that a quarrel was +imminent. "Now don't get mad all at once. I've a proposition to make +to you----" + +"A what?" asked Susie, glad she had taken no part in the flare-up +between the twins. + +"A bargain. I'll make you a mess of candy that'll pop your eyes out if +you will give me a square meal,--something to eat, you know, and plenty +of it. I'm hungry as the deuce, and candy ain't very filling. Is it a +go?" + +Susie looked at her crestfallen companions, and they looked at her. + +"There were no potatoes left from dinner," began Irene. + +"But there's any number of cans of stuff in the pantry," said Inez +hastily. + +"Salmon and sardines and veal loaf and corned beef and vegetables," +added Susie hopefully, yet fearful lest the menu should not prove +sufficiently tempting to the queer, unexpected, unknown visitor. "And +Tabitha cut the cake for dinner." + +"Besides cookies and crackers and bread," murmured Irene, seeing +reproof in her sisters' eyes, and feeling that she had been +inhospitable to their hungry guest. + +"Good!" promptly answered the man. "I reckon we'll make out. Just +open a tin of salmon, make a pot of strong coffee, and bring on your +bread and cake and sauce--lots of it, now, for I haven't had a bite to +eat since last night. Lost my money, you know, and it hurts a decent +fellow's pride to beg." + +The trio nodded sympathetically, and hurried to do his bidding, while +he rapidly measured out fresh supplies of sugar and syrup, and briskly +began stirring the mass over the fire, talking all the while. "I just +happened to be passing when I smelled your stuff burning, and thinks I, +now there's trouble in there. Just then you all commenced screaming, +and I was sure the house was a-fire, so I rushed in to help. Good +gracious, but I was scared for a minute when I see the flames jumping +so high. You might have had an explosion any minute." + +"Yes," gravely agreed the girls, the look of terror returning to their +eyes. + +"If it hadn't been for you, I reckon the house would have burned down, +and it's the only one we've got," said Irene. + +He nodded. "I understand, and so I thought you wouldn't begrudge me a +bite to eat, after I had put out the fire and cleaned up the clutter so +Tabitha wouldn't know that you had been in mischief." + +"Course we're glad to give you something to eat," Inez again hastily +interrupted. "'Specially when you are making us some more candy. Are +you ready for your--lunch--now?" + +"In a jiffy. Just grease a pan for this dope and I'll pour it out to +cool. Bet it beats yours all hollow. There! Set it in the +window--so! Now, I'll sample your larder. Looks fine and smells +bully. Which store is best here in town?" + +"Brinkley's," promptly answered the trio, with longing eyes fixed upon +the golden flood of syrup cooling in the window. + +"Though Dawley's is bigger," added Irene. + +"Do they make much money?" + +"They ought to. Prices are high enough," answered Susie with a +comically grown-up air. + +"Most of the miners trade at Dawley's, 'cause he don't hurry 'em so +about paying," said Inez naively. "But the Carsons and Catts and Dr. +Hayes, and those folks buy at Brinkley's, 'cause his stuff is nicer." + +"We _did_ trade there," began Irene, but Susie interrupted, "Most of +our stuff comes from Los Angeles now. It's cheaper to trade that way, +and anyhow, papa knows the man real well, and now that he's sick in the +hospital, he doesn't have to worry about pay day all the time, for this +man will wait till he is well enough to work again." + +"When is pay day?" casually inquired the man. "I mean how often does +it come?" + +"Once a month--the fifteenth." + +The stranger's eyes glittered with satisfaction, and he muttered, "The +fifteenth,--that's to-morrow." + +"What did you say?" asked Susie. + +"I was just thinking," he replied, glancing uneasily from one bright +face to the other to see if any of the children had caught his +indiscreet remark. "By the way, who lives in that little, unpainted +house on the edge of town?" He pointed vaguely over his shoulder, and +the sisters looked at each other in bewilderment. + +"The pest house?" suggested Irene. + +"The Ramsey place?" said Inez questioningly. + +"The haunted house?" ventured Susie. "You see, there are so many +unpainted houses on the edge of town." + +"The haunted house!" laughed the stranger incredulously. "Whoever +heard tell of a haunted house in a mining camp!" + +"Silver Bow has one," stoutly asserted the twins. + +"Where? Which one? I confess I am curious." + +"It's the last one on the East End Lode," replied Susie with dignity, +feeling that the reputation of her town was at stake. + +"The queer old shack beyond Tabitha's," added Inez. + +"There are only three houses in that hollow," explained Irene. "The +Carson's big house, the Catt's littler one, and this haunted house." + +"What haunts it?" jeered the man, pushing back from the table and +glancing sharply down the trail toward town. + +"A--a ghost," the twins half whispered. + +"A man killed himself there once," said Susie. + +"Or was murdered," shuddered Inez. + +"Or else he just died," put in practical-minded Irene. "Anyway, they +found him there dead." + +"And sometimes now folks hear queer things there." + +"And see lights." + +"Tabitha never has," Irene declared. "And she lives nearest it." + +"Well, 't any rate, it's haunted and no one ever goes there now, not +even Tabitha, who ain't afraid of a _thing_." + +The stranger rose slowly to his feet, yawned as if bored by their +chatter, picked up his hat, and started for the door; then paused, and +casually surveying the pan of taffy on the window sill, remarked, +"Believe if I was you, I'd eat that all up before the rest of the folks +get back. There's just about enough for three, and I've a notion that +Miss Tabitha will think you didn't keep your promise very well if she +ever finds out how near you came to setting the house a-fire. She'll +never dare trust you again. It might be well not to mention that I +dropped in, either. Tramps aren't often welcome visitors, even in a +mining camp, you know. But I appreciate your dinner, and thank you +kindly. Good-day, ladies." + +"Good-day," they echoed mechanically, and with puzzled eyes watched him +disappear in the direction of the railroad station on the flats. Then +they faced each other. + +"Do you s'pose we better--" began Susie slowly. + +"Not tell?" ventured Inez. + +"And eat all the candy ourselves?" added Irene. + +There was a moment's pause while three active brains worked furiously. + +Then Susie sighed, "I b'lieve he's right. Tabitha would never trust us +again. We better keep still about the whole thing." + +"Then we'll have to hurry and clear up this mess," said Irene. "We can +hide the candy until later, but this table would give everything away." + +So the trio flew to work again, put away the remains of the tramp's +dinner, washed the telltale dishes, and had the kitchen in its usual +spick and span order when the rest of the large family returned an hour +later from their sojourn to the river. If their consciences pricked +them a little for their deception, they said nothing, not even to each +other; and it was several days before the young housekeeper discovered +their secret. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +IN THE CANYON + +The next day was Saturday, and the morning dawned so hot and sultry +that almost before the old kitchen clock struck five, the restless +eaglets were stirring once more. + +"Now's the time I wish we didn't live so far up the mountain," sighed +Mercedes, mopping her perspiring face on her sleeve as she struggled to +button the dress she had just donned. + +"Yes, summer's an awful trial here in this house," agreed Susie, trying +to decide whether to put on her shoes and stockings and suffer from the +heat in that manner, or to go bare-footed and burn her tender soles on +the hot sands. + +"Le's do down to the river to-day," lisped Janie, lifting eager eyes to +scan the dark face bending over, as Tabitha patiently brushed the +tangled curls into smooth ringlets. + +"Oh, let's!" seconded the twins. + +"You know we had to stay at home yesterday when the rest of you went," +wheedled Inez. + +"And 'twould have been awful lonesome," began Irene, "if it hadn't been +for that----" + +"Ice-cream," hastily interposed Susie, giving the little blunderbus a +warning glance. "Can't we go, Tabitha? It would be so much cooler +there." + +"I don't see how we can manage it," answered the flushed housekeeper, +glancing longingly out of the window down the yellow ribbon of a road +which wound its way in and out among the rocks and yuccas on its way to +the muddy Colorado, seven miles away. "The assayer will be wanting his +horses to-day and it's too far to walk." + +"Can't we hire a team from the stables?" proposed Inez. + +"And pay ten dollars a day for it?" scoffed Mercedes. "Where are you +going to get your money to foot the bill?" + +"Then let's catch enough burros to lug us all," suggested the +resourceful Susie. "No one would care. They run loose on the desert +all the time." + +Tabitha shook her head slowly, although her eyes gleamed appreciatively +at the plan. If only Rosslyn and Janie were older! How she would +enjoy such a frolic as Susie's suggestion would mean. + +Only Gloriana remained discreetly silent. + +She shuddered whenever she recalled her first and only ride on one of +the wicked little beasts,--that wild New Years Even when she and +Tabitha had tried to keep Mr. McKittrick's claims from being +jumped,--and she drew an audible sigh of relief at Tabitha's decision. +But the next instant her heart sank within her, for with a scurry of +feet in the narrow hallway, the door of the room was unceremoniously +flung open, and two eager, boyish faces peered in. + +"I say, Tab," began Billiard, so excited he could hardly refrain from +shouting his news, "your Uncle Decker is out here----" + +"And he's brung a whole--flock--of burros," broke in Toady, so anxious +to tell part of the good news that he could not stop for choice of +words. + +"Saddled," Billiard hurried on, trying to beat Toady to the climax. + +"For us!" cried the smaller boy. + +"To ride to the canyon on!" bellowed the two as with one voice. + +"Really?" gasped Tabitha. + +"How perfectly scrumptious!" squealed the tribe of McKittrick. + +"But Janie and Rosslyn," faltered Gloriana faintly. "Aren't they too +small----" + +"Oh, he's got a buckboard, too," grinned Billiard, who had recently +discovered the red-haired maid's poor little secret; but forbore to +make unkind remarks about it because he himself stood somewhat in awe +of the sleepy-eyed demons of the desert, since one had unexpectedly +kicked him when he was trying to mount. "He drove in for some +provisions, and your father told him to bring us all back with him, and +we're to _camp_ at the mines until Monday. Won't that be great? +Whoop-ee!" He leaped into the air, cracked his heels together and came +down with a resounding thump which shook the whole house and made the +dishes in the pantry rattle. + +But no word of reproof was uttered, for Tabitha had seized the +half-dressed, half-combed Janie in her arms, and rushed from the room. +It seemed impossible that anyone could have come up that narrow, rocky +trail to the Eagles' Nest with a half dozen or more burros and a +buckboard without her having heard them, but there they were lined up +by the kitchen steps,--seven sleepy-eyed, wicked little burros, saddled +and bridled, and a pair of small, wiry mustangs hitched to a light +wagon, and driven by Decker Simmons, Mr. Catt's partner. + +"Why, Uncle Decker!" Tabitha began. + +"Didn't we tell you he was here?" exulted the two boys who had followed +her. + +"But--but--" she stammered. + +"But she didn't b'lieve us," crowed Toady. + +"I thought you must be mistaken," she confessed, "for I could not +imagine anyone so crazy as to want _ten_ children under foot at a mine. +Whatever possessed Dad, Uncle Decker?" + +The man laughed good-naturedly. "Thought we all needed a vacation, I +reckon," he answered. "Are you anywhere near ready? Better hurry. +Sun will soon be unmercifully hot, and the canyon isn't exactly within +walking distance. Can't I help?" + +"No, thanks. It won't take us long----" + +"We're ready now," announced the procession of girls crowded around her. + +"Mercy finished Janie's hair while you stood here gabbing. Glory +packed up what duds we'd need, and Billiard's got the house all locked +up. Who's to take which burro?" + +"Makes no difference," answered the man, chuckling at the despatch with +which preparations for the outing were made. "Put the little tikes in +here with me, and any of the rest of you who perfer the buckboard can +pile in. That red--the girl with the game hip--you better ride with +us, too." + +This suited Gloriana perfectly, and she lost no time in making herself +comfortable among the leather cushions with Rosslyn and Janie beside +her; but the rest of the party declined that method of transportation, +and mounted the animals standing patiently in the scant shade of the +porch. In less time than it takes to tell, the hilarious procession +was on its way to the canyon, and the baking town was left behind. + +"Let's race," cried Billiard, who was mounted on an innocent-looking, +lazy beast. + +"Come on!" cried Susie, giving her animal a prod with a sharp stick she +had snatched from the woodpile as they clattered out of the yard; and +away they flew, shouting and flapping reins, urging the stolid little +burros out of their poky gait into a surprised run. + +But the race came to an abrupt and unexpected end. Susie's mount +seemed more ambitious than its mates, or else the youthful rider goaded +it to desperation; for, with a mighty spurt, it took the lead, and shot +three lengths ahead of the rest, cantering off across the desert as if +racing were its daily delight. Rosy-cheeked Susie glanced back over +her shoulder, waved the sharp stick triumphantly in the air, and +jeered, "Yah, yah! Why don't you come along? Has you burro gone to +sleep?" + +This was too much for Billiard, and grabbing a needle-pointed Spanish +bayonet frond from the hands of his brother, he gave the brown-coated +beast beneath him a vicious stab, as he yelled in disgust, "Giddap, you +old demon! Wake up and stretch your legs a lit----" + +Brownie awoke into surprising activity, leaped forward with unseating +suddenness, planted his forefeet firmly among the rocks, and with one +deliberate, energetic kick, sent Billiard flying through the air. The +watchers behind held their breath in terror. Would the boy be killed +for his folly? Then a wild shout of laughter rose from eight throats. +But who could have resisted it? For the luckless Billiard, after +turning a summersault high in the air, fell astraddle the neck of +Toady's burro, and slipped to the ground in a sprawling heap, while the +second startled beast bolted across the desert with its plucky rider +still clinging to its back. + +The dazed Billiard picked himself up from the ground considerably +shaken but not hurt, and gazing ruefully first after his own fleeing +burro, and then after Toady's, now far in advance of Susie's little +animal, remarked, "Well, the old thing has got _some_ ginger in him +after all! Do you suppose I can ever catch him?" + +"I'll help," quickly volunteered Tabitha, trying hard to suppress her +mirth, so meek and woebegone was the tumbled figure standing in the +roadway; and with a nimble spring she landed beside him, tethering her +burro to a yucca, growing close at hand. Mercedes and the twins +followed her example, but it was a lively chase they had before the +unruly animal was finally captured, and the party continued its +journey, reaching their destination without further mishap. + +Gloriana was disappointed at first, as she looked about her while her +companions were dismounting, for she had expected to see a canyon like +those lovely spots hidden among the San Bernardino hills; but this +place was no different from the rocky, barren mountains surrounding +Silver Bow. However, there was little time for lamentations, for with +surprising ingenuity, Mr. Catt had arranged a delightful program for +the two days the young folks were in camp, and not a moment of the +brief holiday was dull even for Rosslyn and Janie. So it was with +reluctant hearts that the party mounted their burros Monday morning for +their return trip. + +"Where are the boys?" inquired Mercedes curiously, as she sprang nimbly +into her saddle and gathered up the reins ready to start. + +"Susie isn't here, either," said Tabitha, pausing in her task of +packing to count noses. "They must be in the tent. I saw them not +very long ago. Dad, are the boys ready?" + +"Haven't seen them," he answered emerging from one of the tents with a +light grip and dumping it into the back of the buckboard. + +"I saw Billiard and Toady whispering something to Susie just as the +wagon drove up," tattled Inez, provoked to think she had not been +included in the secret, "and they all ran off that way." She pointed +up the mountainside, where the mesquite and cacti grew thickest, and +huge boulders made climbing difficult. + +"What in the world possessed them to go off like that?" fretted +Tabitha, impatient at the unexpected delay. + +"Bet I know," Irene piped up. "They prob'ly went for a last look at +the puppies." + +"Puppies!" cried the others in amazement. "Where are there any puppies +about here?" + +"Quite a piece up there on the other side,--they weren't going to tell +the rest of us, but I happened to find them myself." + +"Here they come now," Rosslyn excitedly interrupted; and sure enough, +the trio had appeared on the hillcrest, each tugging something which +squirmed and twisted, and snarled and yapped until their flushed, +panting owners could scarcely hold them. + +"Holy snakes!" ejaculated Decker Simmons. + +Mr. Catt whistled. The rest of the party stared. + +"What in creation have you got, Susie McKittrick?" demanded Mercedes, +with all the severity her gentle nature could muster, as the three +children came within speaking distance, Susie in advance. + +"A pup," gasped the red-faced girl, taking a fresh grip on the +wriggling, sharp-nosed little animal, half hidden in the torn skirt of +her dress. "Isn't he cute? See what bright eyes he's got." + +"And see how you've snagged your clothes," said Irene reprovingly. + +"And scratched your face," added Inez, glad now that she had not been a +party in the expedition. + +"That's nothing to what Billiard's did to him," Susie retorted sharply, +nettled at her reception. "He picked out the prettiest of the bunch +for Tabitha. We told him how much you used to want a dog all your own, +Kitty. But it's the wildest thing I ever saw. Here he comes now. +Billiard, didn't you choose your pup for Tabitha?" + +"Would you accept it?" he panted somewhat shyly, embarrassed and a +little provoked that Susie should have announced his intentions the +first thing. "I--I got the handsomest fellow of them all, but I pretty +near had to club it to death before it would come along peaceably." + +"But Billiard," gasped Tabitha, finding her tongue at last, "that isn't +a pup!" + +"What is it then?" Susie bristled so aggressively that she forgot to +keep a tight hold on her unwilling prisoner, and with a final scratch +and yap of exultation, it freed itself from her arms, and darted away +among the sagebrush. + +"A coyote." + +"No!" Toady dropped his as if it were poison, and lifted startled eyes +to Tabitha's face. + +"You're fooling!" cried Susie in exasperation over her loss. + +"Dad, Uncle Decker, isn't that a baby coyote?" + +Both men nodded silently, a look of amusement flickering about their +lips. + +"But--but--" spluttered Billiard, still hugging his half-smothered +treasure to his bosom. "It--they _look_ like pups." + +"Yes, they do, but you found them pretty frisky for pups, didn't you?" + +"They _were_ pretty lively," admitted the older boy slowly. + +"And as scratchy as--" began Toady. + +"As _cats_," finished Susie, angry at Tabitha for calling the animals +coyotes, angry at her sisters for laughing, and angry at herself for +not knowing the truth of the matter without being told. + +"That's so, too," agreed Mr. Catt amiably. "It beats me how you ever +managed to catch them." + +"It was a job," sighed Billiard regretfully, freeing the pretty little +ball wrapped so snugly in his coat, and watching it skulk away after +its two brothers. "We had some empty sacks----" + +"But they weren't much good," Susie broke in contemptuously. "If it +hadn't been for that can of meat we swiped, we'd never have caught 'em. +They bite like everything, as well as scratch." + +"Yes," said Billiard mournfully, taking the reins from Tabitha's hands +and mounting his burro, "and we had all our pains for nothing." + +"Not quite," whispered Tabitha sympathetically. "I understand, and I'm +glad you took such trouble for me. But hurry. It's late already, and +will be terribly hot before we reach home." + +So the party said good-bye to the canyon and set out briskly on their +long ride back to Silver Bow, but Tabitha was exultant, for Billiard, +unruly, rebellious Billiard was at last completely won. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE BANK OF SILVER BOW IS ROBBED + +"It must have rained here since we left," observed Toady, as they drew +near the town. + +"Why?" asked Irene curiously. + +"'Cause there's a puddle of water in that hollow rock and unless it had +rained, how would it get there?" + +"By Jove, the lad is right," muttered Decker Simmons to himself. +"Queer we didn't get any at the canyon, though. Wonder what's the +trouble ahead. Town seems excited. Do you suppose the new postmaster +has embezzled his funds already?" + +"Uncle Decker," Tabitha's voice interrupted his meditations. + +"Yes?" + +"Something must have happened in town while we were gone." + +"Why?" + +"Main street is full of people and the bank platform is black with +them. Do you suppose there is another run on the bank, or can it have +failed?" + +"Why, so 'tis!" ejaculated the man, noting for the first time what +Tabitha's keen eyes had seen,--that the greater crowd of the people +were gathered in front of the Silver Bow Bank. "Wonder what's up." + +"Hello, Simmons," called Dawley, the grocer, from his position in the +doorway of his store. "You don't look as if you'd heard the news." + +"No. Let's have it." The whole party halted and waited curiously. + +"Bank robbed." + +"You don't say so! When?" + +"Saturday night." + +"Get much?" + +"Don't know yet, but reckon 'twas only a few hundred. Brinkley lost a +lot of provisions, too, but fortunately his safe was empty." + +"Well, I declare! Any clue?" + +"Not so far. Rain wiped out all tracks that might have been made. Had +a corker of a thunderstorm that night." + +"Well, well! Now what do you think of that! What steps are you taking +toward the capture of the thieves?" + +"Posse out scouring the desert." + +"Humph!" + +"Well, what else can we do without clues?" + +"_Find_ some clues. You'll never catch the rascals by scouring the +desert with a handful of men. They must have gone into camp close by, +or they would never have stocked up. Bet they are new at the business. +_Must_ be to make a mistake like that. I'd laugh if they had never +left town." And gathering up the reins, he drove on, followed by the +cavalcade of burros. + +The children were greatly excited. Burglaries in that lonely little +desert town were unheard of, and this novel experience furnished food +for their lively imaginations to feed upon. Tabitha was particularly +impressed, for never before in her short life had a robbery occurred so +near home, and she could think of little else. A reward of two hundred +dollars had been offered for the capture of the thieves, and as soon as +the little brood in the Eagles' Nest heard of this, they began to amuse +themselves by telling how they would spend the money if by chance they +could win the reward. + +"I'd buy me a pony," said Toady, as they sat on the shady side of the +house discussing the all-absorbing topic. "Ma said she never should +get us another after Spotty kicked her when she struck it with the +whip." + +"I'd save it towards a motorcycle," declared Billiard boastfully. "No +ponies for mine! With another hundred I could get a dandy machine, and +then wouldn't you see me spinning about the country just as I pleased!" + +"It would almost pay for another term at Ivy Hall," sighed Mercedes, +who, though she never mentioned the matter, knew that the family purse +was too flat to permit of her returning to her beloved school with the +coming of September. + +"I'd buy a little house in Los Angeles and go there to live," said +Irene. "It must be pretty where there are real trees and flowers the +year around." + +"It's not your turn," Susie objected. "I'd buy--I'd buy--what _would_ +I buy? There are so many things I want, but I b'lieve I'd go +travelling. Two hundred dollars would take me quite a piece, and I'd +see lots of big cities." + +"And I'd go along," breathed Inez in ecstasy, "and we'd beat our way +back on freight cars." + +"Ho! That wouldn't be any fun," scoffed Rosslyn. "I'd buy candy, 'n' +ice-cream, 'n' peanuts, 'n' popcorn." + +"And a doctor," laughed Mercedes. + +There was a pause, and seven pair of eyes turned expectantly toward +Gloriana, who, perceiving the look, said shyly, "There are probably +heaps of things I'd like to get for myself now and then, but I think +the most of my two hundred would go to Granny Conover for taking care +of me all those years. I'd like to see her have plenty of money to do +as she pleased with before she dies." + +"Wouldn't that be splendid?" cried the children, who were never tired +of hearing the pitiful tale of Gloriana's life. + +"Now, Tabitha," suggested Billiard. "Why, where _is_ Tabitha?" + +"Gone to put Janie to bed, I guess," said Toady, seeing that the +youngest member of the family was also missing. "It's her nap time." + +But in reality, Tabitha was far down the mountainside, speeding like a +deer in pursuit of a tiny, white-clad figure toddling in and out among +the sagebrush and greasewood toward a forbidden playground, where, +half-hidden by rocks and rubbish, were several unprotected prospect +holes, mysterious and alluring to the investigative baby eyes. Even as +Tabitha came within calling distance of the child, Janie discovered +that she was being pursued, and quickened her steps into a run, +heedless of the path she was taking, until with a shrill cry of fright, +she slipped over the brink of one of the very holes she had stolen away +to visit, and disappeared from sight. + +"O, God, don't let her be killed!" prayed the black-eyed girl, and her +feet fairly flew over the uneven ground, till she, too, reached the +edge of the deep excavation. But before she could discover the plight +of the runaway, she felt the ground give way beneath her feet, and +echoing Janie's cry of alarm, she, too, shot out of sight. +Fortunately, however, little sand fell with her, and as by a miracle, +she landed free and clear of the frightened, sobbing, but unhurt figure +crouching in the opposite corner. + +Scrambling to her feet, she seized the scared baby in her arms, +exclaiming over and over again, "Janie, Janie, are you sure you aren't +killed?" till at length she had soothed the child's fright and had +coaxed her into laughing again. "Now, Miss Mischief," she cried, +setting the baby down and beginning to investigate their prison, "we +must find some way out of this place. 'Tisn't very deep, to be sure; +but the sides seem pretty crumbly, so I don't dare to climb out. I +reckon we'll have to shout. Help, help, help!" + +They screamed themselves hoarse, but no one came to answer their call, +and Janie began to wail dismally, for the minutes seemed like hours to +her, and she was tired and cross. "Never mind, honey," Tabitha +comforted. "If they don't find us around the house by supper time, +they will know something has gone wrong and send General to find us. +Now let's amuse ourselves for a while, and then we'll shout again. +Here is a stick. See if you can dig a deeper hole than I can. Why, +what's this?" + +Stooping over to pick up a fragment of redwood bark at her feet, she +uncovered a small bag, which rattled as she touched it; and as she +untied the drawstring, a shower of glittering gold pieces fell into her +lap. + +"Pennies!" cried Janie, making a dive for a share of the shining coins. + +"Yes, dear, gold pennies, but Janie mustn't touch," answered Tabitha, +busily sorting the money into various piles according to its +denomination. "It doesn't belong to us, and we must take it to the-- +Say, Janie McKittrick, what will you bet this isn't the money stolen +from the bank Saturday night? Mr. Dawley said they got only a few +hundred. Let's count it. One, two, three, four, five hundred dollars. +Janie, that's just what we've found! The robbers didn't dare take it +with them, and so hid it here, thinking it would be absolutely safe." + +"Well, Tabitha Catt! Of all things! Look, girls, she's as calm and +cool as if she had gone on a picnic, instead of tumbling into a +prospect hole." + +So intent had the two prisoners become in their find that neither had +heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and as breathless Susie's +voice rang out above their heads, both started guiltily. + +"Why, how did you know where to look for us?" cried Tabitha, bouncing +to her feet, and slipping the bag out of sight, lest the children see +and ask questions. + +"Well, when we couldn't find you about the house anywhere, Glory +remembered that Janie had slipped off down the trail while we were +talking, and so we decided that you must have chased her. Then Mercy +happened to think of these holes. Janie is always possessed to play +down here, and has run away three times before; so we came down to +look, and here you are in the very first one," explained Susie. + +"You hauled us out of the abandoned mine one day, and now we are going +to fish you out of a prospect hole," exulted Billiard, much relieved to +find the two girls unhurt, but unable to resist crowing a little over +their mishap. + +"How?" asked Tabitha, a frown of anxiety gathering in her forehead. +"Don't get too near the edge there, or some of you may join us in our +retreat. You must go for help. You can't get us out all alone." + +"Mercy has gone for the assayer," began Inez. + +"And here he is now," Billiard interrupted. "He has got a long board +and a rope. Stand back, Irene, so you won't be in the way. There, +now, Tabby, tie up the baby, and we'll lift her out first." + +In a surprisingly short time, both girls were hoisted from the sultry +pit and landed laughing gaily among their mates. + +"Well," said the assayer, shaking his gray head in a puzzled fashion, +"I don't understand how you kids work the stunt." + +"What stunt?" they all inquired. + +"Why, tumbling into every hole you come across and not getting hurt. +You aren't hurt, are you?" + +"No, indeed!" + +"And Kitty finded a whole sack full of gold pennies down there, but her +won't div Janie any," volunteered the baby quite unexpectedly. + +"She--what?" + +"Gold pennies!" + +"What does she mean?" + +The children lifted questioning eyes to Tabitha's crimson face, and +even the assayer looked down at her curiously. She had not meant to +let the children know about the money; at least, not until she had +consulted older and wiser heads than theirs; but now that Janie had +betrayed her secret, she displayed her find, and explained how it had +come into her possession. + +The assayer's eyes grew thoughtful, as he examined each coin minutely, +and counted the treasure, to make sure that Tabitha's figures were +right. "What shall you do with it?" he finally asked, as he dropped +the last piece into the sack and returned it to Tabitha. + +"Take it to the bank. I thought it might be part of the money the +robbers got." + +He glanced at her quickly, keenly; then answered, "That's the thing to +do, all right, and I don't believe your surmise is far off, either. +But see here, children, don't you dare lisp a word to a single soul +about this money until we know for certain whose it is." + +"We won't," hastily promised the wondering, round-eyed flock, for they +stood much in awe of the silent, almost taciturn man who worked wonders +with the rock which the miners brought him; and the little company set +out for home, leaving Tabitha and the assayer to carry the precious +find over to the bank. + +"Do you know," said Gloriana, as the black-eyed girl finished relating +the afternoon's happenings to her, "I half believe that man snooping +around the pesthouse is the robber." + +"What man?" demanded the startled Tabitha. + +"Well, I don't know who he is, but it is someone I've never seen here +in town. He was there this morning, but I didn't think much about it +then. We were so excited over the robbery. But this afternoon while +the assayer was dragging you out of the prospect hole, and I was +watching through your field glasses, I happened to turn them in the +direction of the pesthouse, and there he was again, humped up on the +doorsill, watching through glasses of his own. When you started off +toward town, he hustled into the house and shut the door. Now, it +seems to me no one would stay in a _pesthouse_ unless he was hiding +from someone." + +"No one ever had smallpox there." + +"Then why does everyone avoid it so?" + +"I don't know. The name, I reckon. It was built for a pesthouse, but +the doctors decided the patient didn't have smallpox after all, so the +building has never been used." + +"Then perhaps he knows there is nothing to be afraid of in the house." + +"That may be, of course. Is he there yet?" + +"Yes, I think he is. I've kept a close lookout ever since I discovered +him, and I haven't seen him leave." + +Tabitha seemed lost in thought a moment, then turned an eager face +toward her companion. "Gloriana, the reward!" + +"Could we?" + +"Can't tell till we try!" + +"But how----" + +"There are only two small windows in the house,--funny, isn't it, when +air is so necessary in case of sickness,--he can't get out of them. So +all we have to do is guard the door." + +"But how shall we get him to the--police?" + +"Sheriff? I hadn't thought of that part. We couldn't tie him up and +march him to jail,--we aren't strong enough, just us girls. We'll have +to make sure he is there, lock him in, and then while one of us guards +the door, the other must go for help." + +Gloriana shuddered. She hoped it would not fall to her lot to guard +the door, and yet she could not bear to think of Tabitha's staying +there alone with only a flimsy structure between her and a desperate +character. + +"I--we--had we better try it alone?" she asked timidly. "Wouldn't it +be wiser to tell the assayer and get him to help?" + +"The more people there are connected with his capture, the smaller our +share of the reward will be. We can do it all right." + +Tabitha's daring swept away her objections. "That's so," she answered. +"Well, we better not wait any longer then, or perhaps he will get away +yet." + +"I'm ready," Tabitha replied promptly, and with quaking hearts but +determined steps the two set out, armed with a stout stick and the +rusty old pistol which Gloriana had used the night the boys had played +burglar. + +"What is that broom handle for?" questioned the red-haired girl, +wondering if she would be expected to crack the desperado over the head +with it. + +"To lock the door with." + +"_Lock the door_?" Could Tabitha have gone suddenly crazy? + +"Yes. It's the only way we can fasten him in. The door has an iron +handle on the outside, instead of a knob, you see." + +"Oh!" + +"Is that the man?" The door of the pesthouse had opened abruptly and a +short, portly man roughly dressed, unshaved and florid of complexion, +appeared on the threshold a moment, eyed the approaching girls +indifferently, glanced searchingly toward town, and again vanished +within, closing the door behind him. Gloriana's heart seemed to stop +beating, then pounded so loudly that it sounded to her like the pulsing +of the engines in the Silver Legion Mine. "Yes," she gasped. + +"Then we've got him!" Scared but exultant, Tabitha leaped to the door, +thrust her stick through the handle, and cocked her revolver, just as +the man, hearing the noise outside, grasped the knob and tried to open +the door. + +"What the deuce!" they heard him exclaim, and then he wrenched again. +"Who's out there, and what do you want?" he bellowed in rage, when the +door refused to budge. + +"You're our prisoner," Tabitha answered boldly, though trembling like a +leaf with nervous dread; "and you might just as well keep quiet as to +make a fuss. Glory, hurry for the sheriff, the assayer--anyone! He's +desperate!" + +And indeed he sounded desperate as he kicked and banged the door, +shouted and swore, tearing about his small prison like a madman, and +breathing threats of vengeance against his jailer, who stood pale but +undaunted in front of the door, with a cocked revolver clinched tightly +in both hands, waiting anxiously for the return of Gloriana with help +from town, and thanking her lucky stars that neither of the small +windows was on the door side of the house. + +Then suddenly the tumult ceased within, and terrified Tabitha began to +take courage again. "He has decided to behave himself at last," she +thought. "It's the only sensible thing to do, for he can't get away +from here now without being caught. There comes Glory at last, but oh, +gracious! look at the crowd following her. Half the town is out." + +Just then a subdued grunt from around the corner of the house caught +her attention, and beckoning wildly to the approaching throng, she +crept cautiously forward to investigate, but paused again, paralyzed at +the sight which met her eyes. The portly prisoner had attempted to +escape by means of one of the small windows, and now hung suspended by +the middle over the sill, his hands clawing the air helplessly inside, +and his heels waving frantically without. At another time, Tabitha, +would have shouted with laughter at the ridiculous figure he cut, but +now her only thought was to prevent his escaping, and flinging aside +her pistol, she plunged toward the body seesawing through the air, and +clutched the feet with a determined grip, while the helpless victim +protested in emphatic language. + +Thus the crowd found them and went wild with delight at the spectacle, +much to the discomfiture of both captor and captive, and when at length +the florid prisoner was freed from his uncomfortable position, his face +was purple with rage and exertion. "What is the meaning of this +outrage?" he exploded as soon as he could find sufficient breath to +voice his indignation. "Who put you up to such a trick as that, you +young minx? Do you know who I am?" + +"Why, Jerry Weller!" exclaimed an astonished voice from the interested +throng of onlookers. "What are you doing here?" + +"I bought this old shack and was to have had it moved onto my claims +to-day, if the movers had showed up," exclaimed the irate man, his +voice thick with anger. "But along come these jades and fasten me +in----" + +"We thought he was the bank robber," Tabitha murmured faintly, sick at +heart over the mistake. "He was acting so--so suspiciously." + +"Bank robber!" echoed the speaker from the crowd. "Why, Jeremiah +Weller is owner of the biggest placer mines in the country. He made a +fortune in Alaska. He's a millionaire! Bank robber! Ha--ha! That's +rich!" + +The crowd roared appreciatively, but the victim of the mistake quite +unexpectedly lost his glowering look, and gruffly declared, "Well, you +needn't laugh at her. She's pluck to the backbone. Show me another +girl who would have undertook to corral a bank robber as she did. I +don't wonder she thought that was my occupation. I certainly look +rough enough--" Suddenly his roving eyes fell upon the timid, +shrinking Gloriana, so depressed at the way matters had turned out that +she could scarcely keep back the scalding tears. If it had not been +for her, Tabitha would never have gone on such a wild-goose chase. Why +hadn't she kept her suspicions to herself? + +"What's your name?" demanded the stranger so abruptly that he seemed +positively rude. + +"Gloriana Holliday," she managed to articulate. + +"Did you ever have an Uncle Jerry?" + +"If I did, he never came near us that I can remember," she candidly +replied. + +The purple of his face deepened. "That's right, too," he muttered. +"But your mother ran away to get married." + +"And her folks told her never to let them see her face again," +supplemented Gloriana bitterly. + +"Was her name Weller at one time? But of course it was. There +couldn't be two people on earth look as much alike as she and you +unless they were mother and daughter; and besides, she married a +Holliday,--Jack Holliday." + +Gloriana nodded. + +"Then, my girl, I'm your Uncle Jerry, and if you didn't catch +your bank robber, you made a pretty good haul anyway. Your +mother--she--she's--dead, isn't she? And your father? You're an +orphan----" + +"She's not any longer!" Tabitha broke in savagely. "We've adopted her +and she's my sister." + +"Oh! Well, that simplifies matters, too, for I'm a bachelor and have +no _home_ to offer, but-- Say, I want to talk with you. Where's your +adopted father? Not in town now? Well, isn't there some place we can +go where we won't be gawked at by all these hoodlums? Bring your +black-haired sister,--my jailer. I certainly do admire pluck." + +At this broad hint, the curious crowd reluctantly withdrew, and left +the trio alone at the pesthouse threshold. Standing there bare-headed +with the waning sunlight glinting through the heavy, red locks, +Gloriana told what she could remember of the pitiful struggle of her +parents, their deaths, and her unhappy lot until the scholarship at Ivy +Hall had opened the way to better things. + +So affected was the bluff stranger by the sad tale that he made no +effort to check the tears which filled his eyes and rolled down his +cheeks. "Well, the past is passed," he said when the story was done, +"and we can't do anything now to change it. I've been downright sorry +at the way we treated your mother, but she effaced herself pretty well. +We never got a trace of her whereabouts, though years afterwards we +heard that she was dead. We never knew there was a child, but never +mind, you shall not want again as long as I live. Being a rover and +unmarried, I have no home to offer, as I said before; so I am glad to +find you settled with such good friends. But I've got all kinds of +money, and insist upon paying for your education from now on. Here's a +check for pin money." + +Drawing a check-book from his pocket, he rapidly scribbled a few lines, +tore out the slip and handed it to Gloriana. Mechanically she took it, +and her gray eyes grew round with wonder as she read. "One hundred +dollars! Oh, you must have made a mistake, Mr.----" + +"Uncle Jerry," he corrected her. + +"Uncle Jerry," she dutifully repeated. + +"Not a bit of it! And what's more, there will be one of those ready +for you every quarter." + +"Oh, that's too much!" she protested. "Whatever would a girl do with +four hundred dollars a year spending money?" The sum appalled her, and +well it might, for never before had she possessed more than five +dollars at one time. + +He laughed at her dismay. "Why, I often spend that much in a day. You +can lay in a stock of jimcracks like the other girls have. You'll find +plenty of ways to dispose of every cent, I know." + +"Maybe," she half whispered. "You see, I never had so much as a dollar +all my own that I can remember until I came to live with Tabitha, but +perhaps when I get used to knowing it's really mine and--genuine, I'll +find ways to spend it. I--I thank you. It's nice to have an Uncle +Jerry." + +"It's nice to have a Niece Gloriana, too," he answered gruffly, +clearing his throat with much gusto; and as there seemed to be nothing +further to say, the trio turned from the lonely pesthouse, and silently +climbed the hill toward town. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE ROBBERS AND THE HAUNTED HOUSE + +"Billiard, did you ever see a ghost?" + +It was almost a week since the bank robbery had occurred, and still no +clue as to the identity of the robbers had been found, although posses +were still searching the country, determined to catch them if such a +thing were possible. But the excitement of the event had already died +down in the youthful minds of Silver Bow, and other topics of +conversation absorbed their attention. + +"Naw," answered Billiard contemptuously, without looking up from the +stick he was whittling. "What's eating you, Toady? There ain't any +ghosts, and you know it." + +"What about that haunted house in the east end of town?" + +"'Tain't haunted." + +"Susie says it is." + +"And Tabitha has lived alone near it for six or seven years and she has +never seen anything stirring there." + +"But ghosts walk only at midnight. She's never been there at night." + +"Aw, you softy----" + +"Susie says the Gates boy declares he saw a ghost in the graveyard one +night." + +"Well, that's different. I don't blame a ghost for walking there." + +"Why, Billiard McKittrick, what do you mean?" + +"Did you ever see a lonesomer place on earth than the Silver Bow +graveyard?" demanded Billiard. "Why, it's the worst looking cemetery +in the country, I believe,--just heaps of rocks and wooden sticks to +show where folks are buried. Tabitha says they _blast_ out the graves +with dynamite, six at a time, and fill them up with people as fast as +they die. Would you rest easy if you were planted in that style? +Wouldn't your ghost want to get out and walk?" + +"_Billiard McKittrick_!" Toady looked positively shocked. Then after +a moment, as the older boy made no reply, the younger one continued +thoughtfully, "Maybe that's what is the matter with the ghost in the +haunted house." + +"Oh, pshaw, Toady, I tell you there ain't such a thing as a ghost!" + +"I'll stump you to go down to the haunted house some time and find out." + +"All right, come along!" + +"Not during daylight. It must be after dark. Midnight is the best +time, Susie says." + +"Bother Susie! Why don't you get her to go with you?" + +"You are afraid to go!" jeered Toady. + +"Am not!" retorted Billiard angrily. + +"Then why don't you take my dare?" + +"It's all tommy-rot," insisted Billiard, with a fine show of scorn. + +"'Fraid cat!" + +"Oh, I'll take you up," cried the other, stung into recklessness by +Toady's taunts. "We'll go to-night." + +"To-night?" stammered Toady, much abashed at his brother's sudden +acceptance of the dare. + +"Yes, to-night!" + +"What's your hurry?" + +"Who's the 'fraid cat now?" taunted Billiard. + +"Not me! To-night's the time. We'll set the alarm-clock for half-past +ten." + +"Suppose it wakes the rest of the bunch?" + +"They'll think it's a mistake, and in a few minutes will be asleep +again, and we can steal outside without their hearing us at all." + +So it was decided, and though each boy, deep down in his heart, hoped +that the other would back out before the hour set, both resolved not to +show the white feather, and as the alarm-clock pealed forth its summons +in the silence of the night, two sleepy lads crept stealthily out of +bed, drew on their clothes, and without exchanging a word, started for +the haunted house at the other end of town. + +Never, it seemed to the quaking boys, had the desert night seemed so +black. The stars were shining, to be sure, but the very heavens seemed +further away, and the silence was appalling. Nervous, excited, +dreading the ordeal, each boy waited for the other to propose that they +give up their wild-goose chase; but neither was willing to acknowledge +his cowardice first, so they stumbled fearfully on, clutching each +other's hands to keep from falling, they told themselves, but really to +feel the nearness of another human being. + +At length, however, they reached the old, abandoned shack, where they +were to keep their ghostly vigil, and with bated breath they opened the +sagging door and crept trembling over the threshold into the black +shadows of the interior. Fear held them tongue-tied, and they crouched +upon the dusty floor as close to the door as they could get. The +silence was intense, terrifying. + +Then the stillness was sharply broken by a hoarse whisper, "What was +that, Bill?" + +Billiard, thinking Toady had spoken to him, was about to reply when a +second voice answered, "Only the wind, I reckon. Shut up." + +"But it sounded like someone opened the door." + +"You're as bad as an old woman with the fidgets," said the second voice +crossly. "Go to sleep, can't you? At least, let me sleep. I tell you +we're safe enough. The fools will never think of looking for us here. +This is a _haunted_ house and no one ever comes here. When they get +tired of scouring the desert and give up hunting for us, we'll light +out, but until then we've _got_ to lie low; and we might as well spend +our time snoozing as to be worrying all the while." + +"The bank robbers!" thought each boy to himself. What should they do? +It would be impossible for two small boys to capture such desperadoes +in the dead of night, especially as neither lad was armed, they argued. +Their only course was to steal noiselessly away, rouse the sheriff, +bring back a posse and surprise the men in hiding. + +With one impulse, the terrified boys clasped hands, slipped cautiously +out of the house, hardly daring to breathe for fear of being heard, and +raced off along the road toward the sleeping town with all the speed +they could muster. Once they fancied they heard a voice call to them, +but this only increased their head-long flight. Their feet seemed +fairly to skim over the ground, and when they reached the main street +of the town they were breathless, exhausted and frightened almost past +speaking. + +"Where--does--the sheriff--live?" panted Billiard, as they tore down +the last steep slope. + +"Dunno," gasped Toady. + +"Then how'll we find him?" + +"Drug-store." + +"It's shut." + +"Ring the night bell." + +And ring they did, sending peal after peal echoing through the silent +building until the sleepy proprietor, dishevelled and wrathy, stumbled +through the doorway, and demanded fiercely, "What the deuce is wanted?" + +"The robbers--" half sobbed the boys. + +"Well, they ain't here," snarled the angry druggist, not catching the +meaning of their words. "Now you hike for home and the next time you +want to play a practical joke----" + +"Oh, this isn't a joke!" cried Toady imploringly. "We've found the +sure 'nough robbers, but----" + +"We aren't big enough to capture them," finished Billiard. + +"Aw, come off!" said the man, beginning to see from the boys' demeanor +that something was really wrong. "You are having a bad dream. How do +you happen to be wandering around town this time of night?" + +"We dared each other to visit the haunted house to see if there was a +really ghost, like Susie said." + +"And you found one, did you?" the druggist laughed sarcastically. + +"Oh, this ain't a ghost. It's burglars, truly! They talked and we +heard what they said," cried Toady with convincing earnestness. + +"And what _did_ they say?" persisted the druggist, though in a +different tone of voice. + +Briefly they recounted their adventure in the vacant house, and as the +man listened he took down the telephone, said a few words which the +boys could not hear, and hung up the receiver again. Almost +immediately there was a sound of footsteps without, and an armed +citizen of Silver Bow appeared in the doorway, then another, and +another, until a score or more had gathered just outside the building. +There was a hasty consultation one with another, then the boys were +bidden to repeat the story they had told the druggist, and after the +men had heard the meagre details, the posse separated, vanishing one by +one in the blackness. But instinctively the boys knew that they would +attempt to surround the haunted house, and taking its occupants by +surprise, would compel them to surrender. + +They wanted to remain at the drug-store until the capture was effected, +but the keeper ordered them home to bed, and they reluctantly obeyed, +listening every step of the way for the sound of shots. But nothing +occurred to mar the stillness of the night, and they wondered if the +desperadoes had after all escaped. So anxious were they, and so +nervous over their unusual experience that it seemed as if sleep would +never come to close their eyes, as they lay once more in their bed at +the Eagles' Nest; and they were astonished to find themselves waking up +the next morning at the sound of someone knocking at their door. + +"Who is it?" called Billiard, vaguely wondering if he could have +dreamed all that had transpired during the past twelve hours. + +"Susie," answered a voice from the hall. "The sheriff wants to see +you." + +"The sheriff?" + +"Yes. Hurry up! The bank robbers have been caught and you have to go +to the justice of the peace's office." + +"Then it's really so," sighed Billiard in relief. + +"Course it is!" retorted Toady, now thoroughly awake. "But what do you +s'pose the _sheriff_ wants us for?" + +"Dunno. Quickest way to find out is to go down and see." + +Susie and the twins were waiting for them when they emerged from their +room, and ecstatically announced, "We're all going, too. They want you +to be _witnesses_, and Tabitha to take notes. No one else in town +writes shorthand." + +"But what is it all about?" demanded Billiard. "Ain't the robbers in +jail?" + +"We have no real jail here," explained Tabitha, who chanced to overhear +his question. "When a man does anything that he has to go to prison +for, they take him to the county seat. This court only tries to prove +whether or not there is evidence enough to hold him for trial by the +county. Hurry up, they are waiting for us. And children, remember, +you must come straight back here after you take a look at the +prisoners. Queer how youngsters want to see such things, isn't it? +Perhaps it will be quite a while before I can get back, but I know I +can trust you to keep out of mischief and mind Mercedes. Oh, Glory, +I've got nervous chills already about taking that dictation. The +lawyer who is to defend the robbers can talk like lightning." + +"Fudge!" replied Gloriana reassuringly. "You won't have any trouble at +all, I know. They will take into consideration the fact that you have +no experience outside of school. Is this the place? What a funny +looking court! Does he live here, too? The justice of peace, I mean." + +"Why, Tabitha!" interrupted Irene, clutching the older girl by the arm. +"Look there! That's our candy man,--the tallest one--and they've got +him hand-cuffed. Does-- Is _he_ the man they say robbed the bank? I +don't believe he ever did it!" + +"Hush!" warned Inez, giving her twin a vicious dig in the ribs. But +the damage was already done. + +"What do you mean?" demanded Tabitha, pausing on the threshold of the +tiny, dirty room that served as courthouse for the town of Silver Bow. + +"Yes, what do you mean?" asked one of the lawyers, who had chanced to +overhear the remark. + +"He made candy for us the day you went to the river and left us at +home," explained Irene, ignoring the frowns of her partners in guilt. + +"Tell us all about it." + +Bit by bit the story came out, and to Irene's great grief it forged +another link in the chain of evidence already so strong against the +cheery stranger. "I don't want him to go to jail," she sobbed. "He's +an awfully nice man." + +"But, dear, he is a thief," Tabitha told her. "He ought to go to jail." + +"If they'd only let him loose this time, I'm sure he would never steal +again," the child staunchly maintained. But in spite of her faith in +him, the "candy man," as the children continued to call him, was sent +to the county seat for trial, convicted, and sentenced to a long term +in prison. + +"He shouldn't have stolen if he didn't want to go to prison," asserted +Billiard virtuously. "If he hadn't robbed the bank, he never would +have had to hide in the haunted house and we wouldn't have found them +there." + +"But as 'tis," added Toady, "they paid Billiard and me each fifty +dollars for finding them. I mean the town paid us." + +"Though you didn't discover whether there are any ghosts or not," said +Susie much disappointed. + +"Who cares?" retorted the boys, drawing out their little hoard of gold +pieces and gloating over them. "I wish there were more haunted houses +if they'd all pay us as well as this one did. Now, what shall we do +with our money?" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE UNEXPECTED HAPPENS + +"Only two weeks more of vacation," sighed Tabitha, sinking wearily into +the hammock one August afternoon, and looking longingly away to the +west where the train was just puffing into view. "I never dreamed we +should be here all summer when I offered to take care of the kidlets +for Mrs. McKittrick." + +"Are you sorry?" asked Gloriana, glancing up from her sewing in +surprise at the tone of Tabitha's voice. + +"No, oh, no!" she answered hastily, for fear her companion would think +she was complaining. "I don't regret staying here at all, for that was +the only way Mr. McKittrick could get well; but still--I should have +enjoyed getting a peek at the ocean again, and having a good time all +around, like we'd surely have had with Myra." + +"Yes, that would have been lovely," sighed Gloriana, who could not help +feeling sorry that their vacation had not turned out as they had +planned, although she admired Tabitha more than ever because of the +unselfishness which had prompted her to shoulder such a responsibility +in the first place. + +"You see, I never have spent the summer at the seashore," Tabitha +continued; "nor anywhere else, for that matter, except here in Silver +Bow, since we came here to live; and I had planned so much on Myra's +invitation. She is such a whirlwind for fun." + +"It's too bad Miss Davis didn't let us know any sooner that she didn't +intend to come back to the desert till fall. Perhaps we could have +found someone else--" + +"I'm afraid not. It's awfully hard to get anyone dependable away out +here. _Hired help_ is simply out of the question. They think Silver +Bow is beyond the bounds of civilization, I reckon." + +"I don't blame them," began Gloriana impetuously; then blushed +furiously, and stammered, "Oh, what did I say? What will you think of +me? I didn't mean--" + +"Yes, you did mean it," laughed her companion. "And I don't blame +_you_. I used to feel the same way myself." + +"And did you _really_ get over it?" Gloriana eagerly asked. "Do you +truly like this--this desolate place now?" + +"I _love Silver Bow_," she answered slowly, yet with emphasis. "I +sometimes wonder what kind of a girl I would have been if we had stayed +on at Dover or Ferndale, where there was no Carrie. Then there would +have been no Ivy Hall, either, I suppose." + +"And no me," half whispered the red-haired girl. "Then I should be +thankful for the desert, too; because if it hadn't been for you, I +never should have been adopted by the best people in the whole wide +world, nor found an Uncle Jerry who really belongs to me. And anyway, +there will be other summers, and the ocean will keep." + +"No, it won't, either!" thrilled a bubbling voice behind them, and a +red-faced, perspiring, disheveled figure swept around the corner of the +house and plumped itself down in the hammock beside Tabitha whom she +proceeded to hug rapturously. + +"Myra!" gasped the black-haired girl, trying to return the embrace, but +finding herself held fast by a pair of strong, sinewy arms. + +"Myra!" echoed Gloriana, dropping her sewing and staring with +fascinated eyes at the newcomer, who promptly dragged the lame girl +from her chair into the already overloaded hammock and hugged her +vigorously. "Where did you come from and _how_ did you get here?" + +"On the train," Myra paused long enough to pant, "and as to finding +you,--haven't you described and sketched the Eagles' Nest often enough +in your letters for me to know it when I saw it? I never even had to +ask directions how to find the trail. Now just rustle your things +together and we'll catch that train back to Los Angeles this afternoon. +It leaves at three o'clock, doesn't it? I simply had to come after +you, but it's too beastly hot to stay here a minute longer than +necessary." + +"But Myra, the children!" cried the two maids, looking oh! so eager at +the mere thought of the seashore, but determined to turn their backs on +temptation at once. + +"Hark ye!" answered Myra in tragic tones. "What sound doth smite your +ears? Or be you _deef_?" Her abrupt change of tone and manner was too +comical to be resisted, but her upraised hand checked the mirth of the +other two, and they dutifully cocked their heads on one side and +listened intently. + +"The youngsters at play," both replied in the same breath. + +"Is that all?" + +"Yes." + +"Then I guess you're _deef_." + +At that moment sturdy Rosslyn flew around the corner of the cottage, +and throwing himself into Tabitha's lap shrieked out, "Kitty, Kitty, +mamma's come, but papa must stay down there till it gets cooler." + +"What!" whispered Tabitha, her face paling. "It can't be! Is she +truly?" + +Myra nodded solemnly. + +"What wonderful things are happening--" + +There was an ominous crack, the hammock rope snapped in two, and the +quartette found themselves a tangled, huddled heap of arms and legs +upon the piazza floor. + +"Indeed, and I see nothing wonderful about that," spluttered Myra, who +had just opened her lips to speak, when their downfall came, and in +consequence she had shut her sharp teeth together on her tongue. + +Gloriana scrambled to her feet, then laughed. She could not help it, +for long-limbed Myra did look so funny, sprawled on the floor like a +huge spider; and amazement was written so large upon Tabitha's face +that sterner hearts than hers would have made merry at the picture +which they presented. Rosslyn's wail of grief checked her mirth, +however, and she came hastily to his rescue, but his mother had heard +the outcry, and now appeared on the scene with the remainder of her +brood clinging to her skirts, and Billiard and Toady following close at +their heels. + +"Well, for the land sakes!" she ejaculated, holding up her hands in +surprise and amusement. "What a sight! Are any of you hurt? That's +good! Now, girls, perhaps it will seem rude and ungrateful to rush you +off this way, but I had orders to see that you caught the train back to +Los Angeles this afternoon. So I reckon you will have to move lively, +with your packing and all." + +"Who gave you such orders?" demanded Tabitha in bewilderment, rubbing +her eyes to make sure she was not dreaming. + +"Your father. I met him in the city just as I was about to board the +train for Silver Bow." + +"But--but--" + +"No 'buts' about it," put in Myra, still sucking her injured tongue. +"I accidentally ran up against Mrs. McKittrick in Los Angeles, knew her +at once because Mercy looks so much like her, discovered that she was +planning to come back here before school opened; so I just attached +myself to her and came along--" + +"Aha!" crowed Gloriana jubilantly. "Then all that tale about finding +the Eagles' Nest without help was a--fib!" + +Myra's face crimsoned and her tell-tale eyes dropped, then lifted +again, twinkling like twin stars. "Huh!" she giggled, "our detective +again! Say, are you going to catch that train at three o'clock? If +so, just take wings to your feet and fly for home. Mrs. McKittrick can +hear all about everything when you get back. The children are alive +and well, and that's the main point. I told her everything you had +written me and--" + +"Myra Haskell!" + +"Well, she was on her way home and 'twas time she knew." She glanced +across at Mrs. McKittrick, who smiled back through her tears. "And she +says you are bricks. Also I told the station agent to send up his rig +for your trunks, and if you don't make haste pretty lively, he'll be +there before we are. I suppose your trunks are at your own house? +That's where I told him to call. Now sling out the duds you've got +here, and I'll pack them while you are getting slicked up. No, Mrs. +McKittrick, I don't want another bite to eat, and it's evident from the +looks of the house that either these folks don't get dinner, or else +they have already eaten it." + +"We've had it," volunteered Irene, "but it wasn't very good." + +"Irene McKittrick!" gasped her mother. + +"She is right," laughed Tabitha. "To-day was scrap dinner. We have it +once a week to get rid of all the odds and ends. However, it isn't +very popular. No, thanks, we won't need a lunch put up for us. If we +get hungry before we reach Los Angeles, we'll patronize the diner. +Sorry we can't stop to tell you all the news, but if Dad said we must +go back on this train, I suppose we must. Where are you staying, Myra? +Avalon? Catalina Island?" + +"The very same." + +Tabitha clasped her hands together and drew a deep breath. "How +perfectly splendid!" + +"I guess I'm dreaming," murmured Gloriana, half aloud, pinching herself +vigorously to make sure she was really awake. "Do you get there by +boat?" + +"Of course, goosie! Did you think we took an airship? Hurry up, +slowpokes!" + +Laughing and chattering gleefully, the trio gathered up their +possessions, made a hurried visit to the Catt cottage, packed their +trunks, and were at the station long before the train rumbled its way +back to the great city by the sea. + +"We are going to have the grandest kind of a time," Myra told them. +"All sorts of high jinks. We've got a dandy site for our camp,--a +dozen tents--" + +"A dozen!" cried Tabitha in a panic. "Why, who are with you? I +thought it was just your family." + +"You knew Gwynne was there?" + +"Yes, but she wouldn't occupy a dozen tents. I'm scared!" + +"You needn't be," mocked Myra soothingly. "I'll bet you will vote it +the jolliest bunch you ever got mixed up with." + +"Do I know any of them?" + +"Do you consider yourself acquainted with Gwynne and me?" + +"Of course. I meant any of the others." + +"Well," Myra spoke dubiously, "if you don't, I think you will get +acquainted easily." And with that remark she adroitly turned the +conversation and managed to avoid that subject during the rest of their +journey. + +When the train drew into the dingy little depot the next morning, and +the trio gathered up their wraps preparatory to alighting, Tabitha was +suddenly heard to ejaculate, "Why, there is Dad! And he's talking +with--Miss Pomeroy, as sure as I'm alive! Myra Haskell, is Miss +Pomeroy occupying one of those twelve tents?" + +Myra glanced hastily through the iron gates, saw that Tabitha was +right, and demurely nodded her head. + +"Then I can imagine who the others are." + +"Bet you can't! At least, not all." + +"Bet I can!" + +"Who, then, smarty?" + +"Grace Tilton, Bessie Jorris, Jessie Wayne, Julia, Chrystie--_is_ +Chrystie there?" + +"Wait and find out," teased Myra. + +"Possibly Madeline and Vera,--in fact, all our bunch." + +Myra merely laughed, and as they were now spied by Mr. Catt and his +companion, there was no further opportunity for discussion; for, after +a hasty greeting all around, the man seized all the grips he could +manage, and made for the street, saying briskly, "We must hurry. The +boat goes at ten, and it is quite a ride to San Pedro." + +"I hope," panted Tabitha, trotting along at the rear of the procession, +tugging a heavy suit-case, "that you don't have your fun in such a +hurry." + +"What do you mean?" Myra demanded. + +"Well, it's been nothing but hustle since we started out yesterday +afternoon, and I was just wondering if that's the atmosphere of your +camp, too." + +"Perhaps you will think so," laughed Myra; "for there certainly are few +idle minutes with us." + +"How long has the bunch been at Avalon? Surely not all summer, or you +never could have kept it secret for such a while." + +"No," Myra acknowledged, "only--but there, not another question till we +reach Catalina. Then you can ask all you want. I've said too much +already. First thing I know, you will guess the rest of our surprise." +And the girl resolutely closed her lips. + +"_Rest_ of the surprise," mused Tabitha to herself, when further +questions failed to bring forth any more information, and Myra was +devoting her attention to quiet Gloriana. "I wonder what it can be. +Seems as if there had been about all the surprises one human being +could expect in twenty-four hours. Who would ever imagine that Dad +would go on a jaunt like this? Isn't it great to be alive in this day +and age?" + +She fell to dreaming over the many changes that had come to pass in her +life during one short year, and was only roused from her revery by +Myra's gripping her shoulder and shouting in her ear, "The boat is +whistling its warning now. Not a minute to spare. Run, Kit, run!" +And again the little company tore frantically down the street toward +the dock where the _Cabrillo_ was tugging at her anchor, waiting for +the signal to steam away to the Enchanted Isle on her daily voyage. + +It was the first time either Tabitha or Gloriana had been on the ocean; +and with rapturous hearts they drank in every detail of their brief +trip, counted the flying fish that darted out of the water on either +side of them, watched the foam dashing high against the bow of the +vessel, wondered at the long ribbon of silent water which the ship left +in its wake, and were sorry when suddenly Myra called, "There's the +island. We are almost there. Now for the fun! There's a bride and +groom on board." + +"How do you know?" + +"Didn't you hear the whistle blow?" + +"Sure, but I supposed it was to tell the islanders that we were coming. +Doesn't it always whistle?" + +"Yes, but not like it did just now. That's the way they have of +letting the folks at Avalon know when there is a recently married +couple on board. Then the men are ready and waiting at the dock with a +wheelbarrow." + +"A wheelbarrow! What on earth do they want of a wheelbarrow?" demanded +both girls at once. + +"Just for fun. They cart the groom all around the island in it and +make a fearful racket. Regular chivari." + +"How mean!" cried Gloriana compassionately. + +"Oh, it's fun," Myra declared. "They like it. I believe an Avalon +citizen who didn't get treated that way would feel insulted, really. +Here we are at the landing, and there is the wheelbarrow brigade. It's +Murphy, the ice-man, who got married this time. See, he's as proud as +a peacock at the prospect." + +"Yes, but look at the poor little bride," said Gloriana indignantly. +"She is scared stiff." + +"Bet she's game," replied Myra, after a quick scrutiny of the little, +shrinking woman, clinging to the arm of the big, burly Irishman, as +they stepped briskly down the gangplank. + +"Do they put her in the wheelbarrow, too?" cried Tabitha in amazement. + +"Oh, dear, no----" + +"They will this one," said the bride with startling suddenness, having +chanced to overhear both question and answer. "If they cart my Pat +around town in that kind of a rig, they cart me, too." And to the +delight and amusement of the crowd gathered to greet the _Cabrillo's_ +passengers, the little lady tucked herself in the barrow beside her +husband and was trundled away by the surprised citizens, who had never +wheeled just such a cargo before. + +"'Here comes the bride'," a voice began to sing; the crowd took it up, +and amid a shower of bright-colored confetti, the plucky bride +disappeared down the street still seated beside her smiling Pat. + +So intent was Tabitha in watching the queer procession that she had not +noticed the quiet approach of a bevy of happy-faced girls; but now, as +she turned toward Myra with the remark, "She's clear grit. I'd choose +a wife like that if I were a man," she found the laughing eyes of Grace +Tilton staring at her, and before she could find her tongue to voice +her surprise, Gwynne's regal head bobbed through the crowd toward her. +Jessie and Julia, Vera and Kate, all her particular friends at Ivy +Hall, seemed to spring up around her, and although half expecting to +find them there, she stood transfixed with amazement, silently +regarding them one by one, while they in silence stared back at her. +Then the circle parted, and among the familiar faces of her schoolmates +appeared another, which dimpled and smiled and nodded engagingly, and +Tabitha awoke with a start. + +"Carrie Carson!" she cried, and ran straight into the outstretched arms +of the golden-haired girl. + +"Kitty, my puss!" whispered Carrie, cuddling the black head dropped on +her shoulder; and the other girls thoughtfully turned away to watch the +sea-gulls careening about the mastheads of the big _Cabrillo_. + +But after a moment, that sweet, familiar voice spoke again, and turning +back, the Ivy Hall girls saw Carrie stretching out her hands to timid +Gloriana, as she said, "So this is my other sister, my Gloriana! It +seems as if I had always known you. We are going to have great times +at Ivy Hall this year. Come on, girls, the glass bottom boat is to +take us to the Marine Gardens right after dinner, and we'll have to +hurry, or be late." + +Myra turned to Tabitha with a comical grimace, and said, "What did I +tell you? Hurry's the word." + +Then a babel of voices broke loose, all laughing and talking at once, +and in triumph Tabitha and Gloriana were escorted to Ivy Hall Camp. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +MYRA'S CLIMAX + +"Well, vacation is over, and we had just begun having a good time," +sighed Tabitha mournfully, drawing back the curtains and peering out of +the window that September morning into the gray fog of early dawn. "It +doesn't seem possible that we are back in Los Angeles again. I 'most +wish we had stayed at Catalina for this last day." + +The Catalina campers, after a delightful two weeks' outing on the +Island, had returned to mainland the day before; but as Ivy Hall had +not yet opened its doors to its pupils, and most of the girls lived in +neighboring towns, Myra Haskell had invited them to spend the night +with her at her aunt's house. The aunt, Mrs. Cummings, was herself +away on a brief vacation, but had given her harum-scarum niece +permission to take possession of her pretty bungalow for the two nights +the party would be in Los Angeles before school commenced. So, as the +gray day dawned, it found a dozen mummy-like figures stretched about +the floor of the great living-room, wrapped in blankets and quilts, and +snoring blissfully. + +This was the audience which Tabitha addressed, but she did not realize +that she had spoken her thoughts aloud, and was startled when Myra, +without opening her eyes, grunted, "Huh! You'll sing another tune +before night. This is to be _the_ gala day of your life. You will +never forget it. When Dad starts out to do a thing, he never stops +half way. The only trouble is to get him started." + +"I didn't mean to grumble, truly," cried Tabitha, dismayed at having +had her ungracious complaint overheard by her young hostess. "It is +just grand of your family to invite all of us out to your ranch for the +day, but I believe it's going to rain. It certainly looks like it. +You could cut the fog with a knife." + +"Whist! my young friend," murmured Gwynne, wakened from her slumbers by +the sound of voices in the room. "Don't be so pessimistic. Don't you +know it never rains in California? At least not in the summer time." +For from the opposite corner of the room someone had sleepily murmured, +"What about the ostriches?" and the whole company laughed +reminiscently, recalling that Thanksgiving night when the storm had +frightened the ostriches at the Park until they broke loose and created +a panic among the returning theatre-goers. + +"Who said rain?" demanded Grace, lifting a tousled head from the pillow +to survey the hilarious group scattered about the floor of the spacious +room. + +"Go back to sleep,--you dreamed it!" teased Bessie, who had begun to +slip on her clothes. "'Twas snow we were talking about. Feels like +it, anyway." + +"It _is_ pretty chilly," admitted Tabitha, shivering under the thin +folds of her borrowed dressing-gown, as she turned away from the window +and prepared to follow Bessie's example. "Wake up, thou sluggards, +'tis time you were dressed. Remember we have a long and arduous day +ahead of us." + +"Kitty must be tired," said Julia in mock sympathy, crawling out of her +warm nest and jerking the blanket off her nearest neighbor with +ruthless hand. "Is that it, Kitty? First you want it to rain, and +then when you can't make it do that, you begin to moan about the length +of the day before us." + +"All wrong," Vera spoke up suddenly. "She is merely thinking of that +dear, cross-eyed boatman at Avalon. You know he promised to give us a +free ride to the Marine Gardens this morning, and here we all came away +and dragged Tabitha with us. Shame on us! What could we be thinking +about!" + +Tabitha wisely joined in the laugh which followed this sally, and sent +a pillow flying after her tormentor, who had made a wild dash for the +hall. "No, sir, I'm not bemoaning my fate," she vigorously denied, +with her mouth full of pins. "I know we shall have a splendid time at +the ranch. Only it seems as if vacation had only just begun, instead +of being nearly ended; and the day looks so cloudy and gray that it +doesn't seem like a fitting climax for our lovely two weeks at +Catalina." + +"It is too bad that you got cheated out of all the fun this summer," +Myra sympathized heartily. "But just you wait until the day is done +before you say it is not a fitting climax-- Gracious Caesar! Here's +one of the autos already! Surely they can't be coming so soon! What +time is it, anyway?" + +"Half-past six," Gloriana answered, glancing at an open watch that lay +on the library table. + +"Half-past nothing!" cried Vera, tumbling hastily into the room with +her eyes as big as saucers. "It is almost eight o'clock!" + +"You are joking!" cried the rest of the group in wild alarm. + +"Am not! True as you're alive, the kitchen clock says a quarter of +eight o'clock." + +"Oho!" murmured Myra guilty. "I--I--really, I forgot----" + +"Forgot what?" they demanded, as she doubled up and shrieked with +laughter. + +"I--I must have set all the watches in the crowd behind time," she +managed to explain at length. + +"When?" + +"Last night." + +"What for?" + +"Just a joke." + +"A joke? I can't see any joke about that!" spluttered Jessie +indignantly. "Did you think we wanted to go for a forty-mile auto ride +on empty stomachs? I'm as hungry as a bear this minute." + +"I am awfully sorry," cried Myra penitently, sobering at the +realization of just what would be the outcome of her joke. "I meant to +set them two hours ahead, so you would all get up at daybreak and be +ready long before the autos came." + +"Just like you!" they exclaimed, half amused, half provoked. "What are +you going to do about it now?" + +"What can we do? The autos are here already with the rest of the +people. There are the Carsons and here comes Miss Pomeroy." + +"And there is Tabitha's father in his new machine." + +"Yes, and mine," said Myra. "My! won't he be mad to think we aren't +even dressed? If there is one thing above another that he abominates, +it is having to wait for a woman to get ready to go somewhere. Well, I +suppose I'll have to break the news to him. Then after you have all +gone home again, won't I get the dickens?" + +"Hold on!" cried Tabitha, as Myra started for the door. "There is no +need of that, is there? I've got a brilliant inspiration. Didn't you +say when you investigated the larder last night that your aunt must +have baked just a-purpose for our visit?" + +"Yes, words to that effect. There is a whole crock full of doughnuts +and another of cookies. She must have had baking day just before she +decided to take her little trip. But why?" + +"We'll just fill our pockets----" + +"Haven't any!" + +"Well, our hands, then, and eat our breakfast on the sly." + +"On the _fly_ you mean," said Gwynne, sarcastically. + +"To be exact, yes. Or perhaps it would be better to pretend that we +just found the supplies as we were about to leave the house. That will +be the truth, so far as the most of us are concerned. Won't it?" + +"But cookies and doughnuts are pretty slim fare for hungry bodies," +grumbled Vera, tugging at an unruly collar. + +"Better than nothing," said Bessie cheerfully. "Dinner will taste all +the better." + +"But we aren't ready," objected Julia, slipping the last hairpin in the +heavy coil at the back of her head. "My shoes aren't buttoned yet, and +I can't scare up a hook in the whole outfit." + +"Bring 'em in your hand, then," suggested Gwynne. "I'm ready now, and +I elect myself commissary general to distribute the rations as you pass +out. Who'll be first in line? Gather up your bedding, Jessie, and +stack it in the corner, else Myra's aunt will think tramps camped here +instead of civilized human beings. Now, are you all clothed and in +your right minds? Then, Grace, poke your head out of the window and +announce to the audience that we will be out in a minute. Where are +your hats and coats? Yes, Kate, there'll be time for you to wash your +face if you haven't been able to do so before. Look pleasant, please! +No one must suspect that we've had no breakfast; but in my mind's eye, +I can see this bunch stowing away their dinner three or four hours from +now. Hope they serve it as soon as we get there. Do you suppose there +will be enough to go around? How far did you say it was, Myra? Forty +miles?" + +Laughing and joking, the dozen hungry, breakfastless girls hurried into +their coats and veils, seized their pitifully small allotment of +doughnuts and cookies, and boisterously climbed aboard the autos +waiting for them. + +"Only ten minutes late by actual count," Mr. Haskell complimented them, +as the merry crowd poured out of the door. + +"Well, well, that's doing fine! How did it happen?" + +"It's all Myra's fault," began Vera plaintively, but Myra, fearful that +she was about to be betrayed, hastily asked, "Where is the dinner, Dad? +Didn't mother tell you to bring----" + +"Some stuffed squabs, fruit and cake? Yes, she did; and it's packed in +that trunk hitched onto the step there. You'll have to sit on it, I +guess. There doesn't seem to be quite room enough to accommodate all +the crowd." + +This arrangement just suited Myra, who loved to romp like her brothers; +so she gleefully perched on top of the long, flat chest strapped on one +side of the auto, and the procession slowly set out on its long journey. + +"My! but it's a beautiful day," sighed Tabitha at length, her eyes +wandering from the fog-wet landscape below to the sky above, where the +blue was already chasing away the gray, as the sun struggled up behind +the eastern hills. + +"Didn't I tell you so?" crowed Gwynne, regretfully studying the last +bite of a doughnut before popping it into her mouth. "It doesn't rain +in California. Is this the river we cross eighteen times, Myra, in +order to reach your ranch?" + +"Only eight," mumbled Myra, with her mouth full of cookie crumbs. +"This is it. Allow me to introduce you to the great----" + +"Great!" echoed Tabitha, looking down at the shallow, sluggish stream +with critical eyes. "Is it _really_ a river? Looks to me like the +little puddles we used to sail boats in after a heavy rain-storm back +home when I was a little tot." + +"It isn't very awe-inspiring now, is it? But you should see it in the +spring after the rains. It certainly can play havoc then. Changes its +channel every two or three years, and causes all sorts of damage. What +is the matter ahead there?" Their auto had slowed down suddenly, and +now came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the road. "What has +happened, Dad?" + +"Carson's auto is stuck in the mud." + +"Mud?" + +"Well, the river-bed, if that suits you any better. I'll get out and +see if I can help them----" + +"No need; they've started up again," said Tabitha, waving her hand at +Carrie and wishing that she had been fortunate enough to get a seat in +Mr. Carson's machine. + +The delayed procession started onward again, and without further +difficulty crossed the muddy river-bed and sped swiftly away down the +smooth road on the other side. But that same river had to be reckoned +with seven more times, and each time at least one of the cars sank in +the treacherous mud and had to be dug out. + +"Well, thank fortune, this is the last time we cross!" breathed Myra, +as they approached the winding river for the eighth time. "Ours is the +only auto that hasn't stuck fast so far. Let her out, Dad, and we'll +be on the other bank in a jiffy. I never knew the river to be so high +at this season of the year." + +"Knock on wood, Myra, knock on wood!" cried Gwynne in mock alarm. "Too +late, we've stuck fast! Why on earth couldn't you wait until we had +safely reached the other side before you commenced bragging?" + +"Huh! You superstitious duck, did you think we could escape? Oh, +pshaw, we're out! Not even the fun of having to be helped across like +the others were! Well, never mind, Mr. Catt's machine is sure to stick +again. It has every time so far. There, didn't I tell you? Hurrah! +Watch your father puff, Kitty. Ain't he a sight? Get out your shovel, +Mr. Catt!" + +Myra was excitedly dancing on the lid of the luncheon-filled chest, as +she hung precariously over the back of the tonneau, and bawled her +remarks at the unfortunate occupants of the auto behind them, which +seemed to sink deeper and deeper in the mire with every effort to dig +her out. + +"Fasten this rope to your car and we'll try dragging you out," finally +suggested the ponderous Mr. Haskell, clambering heavily down from his +seat at the wheel and going to the aid of his unlucky neighbor, who was +not yet much skilled in the art of running an automobile. So they tied +the two cars together with a heavy rope, and tried to drag the captive +machine loose, but without success. + +"Let me drive," suggested Myra, after they had tugged in vain for +several minutes, "and you get out and pull on the rope, too." + +"What good will that do?" growled her father crossly. "If sixty horse +power won't budge the thing, do you suppose man's puny strength will?" + +Nevertheless, he crawled out of his seat once more, and seized the +great rope dangling between the two cars. Mr. Catt, resigning his +wheel to the driver of the next machine in line, followed Mr. Haskell's +example, and with three or four of the other men of the party, they +added their strength to that of the machine, and pulled with all their +might. Myra, at the wheel, was in her element, and putting on full +power, she gave the lever a vicious jerk. The car leaped forward like +a thing alive, and bounded up the opposite bank at break-neck speed. + +"Ah!" she cried in triumph, "I knew I could get her started. I'm a +bird!" + +"Oh, Daddy," shrieked Tabitha's voice from the rear seat. "Let go, oh, +let go! Mr. Haskell, you'll be killed!" + +"Myra, you chump!" hissed Gwynne in her ear. "Shut that thing off! +The rope's bu'sted and you are dragging our precious men folks uphill." + +Myra glanced hastily behind her, reversed the wheel, and as the car +came to a standstill, she sprawled across the seat, doubled up with +merriment, half hysterical. "Oh, didn't they look funny hanging onto +that rope? What fools some mortals be! Why didn't they let go? Bet +Dad's got his nose skinned good, for when I looked back, he was plowing +up the road on his head. Is he hurt? I don't dast to ask! Mr. Catt, +your clothes are pretty dusty." + +"Dusty I'll admit, but not very pretty," he smiled grimly, as he wiped +the perspiration from his grimy face. "However, you got the car out of +the rut, so perhaps we can proceed on our way now." + +"Then it might be wise if I resigned my seat to the chauffeur before I +am requested," chuckled Myra, still laughing immoderately at thought of +her father's undignified attitude as he was dragged through the dust, +clinging desperately to the frayed end of the broken rope. So she +scrambled nimbly to her place on the running board, and there Mr. +Haskell found her sitting prim and decorous when he had finally +recovered his breath and made himself sufficiently presentable to face +the rest of the party. + +"Your nose is a little--soiled," she told him, as he climbed stiffly +into his seat, "and somewhat scrubbed, I'm afraid." + +Her voice shook a little in spite of her efforts to control her mirth, +and he scowled darkly at his irrepressible daughter, though he only +said, "Are you all ready?" + +So again the procession of autos took up their journey, and with no +further accident finally reached the great walnut ranch where the +Haskell family lived during the summer. The rosy, smiling mother +greeted them from the veranda as the cars rolled up the smooth driveway +and unloaded at the door. "You are late," she said cheerily. "Did you +have any mishaps? I knew you would be hungry after your long ride, so +we are serving dinner early. Dave, did you get the squabs all right?" + +"Yes, he did," Myra answered. "I sat on them all the way out here. +Dad, bring on the 'eats'. Why, what is the matter?" + +Mr. Haskell stood in the driveway frowning heavily at the car, much as +he might have done at a naughty little boy. At Myra's boisterous call, +he raised his eyes and inquired, "Where _are_ the 'eats'?" + +"In the chest, of course. What do you--" Her voice died away in a +husky, bewildered squeak. The rest of the party came closer, followed +the direction of her glance, and gasped. The hamper full of stuffed +squabs was gone! + +"Well, of all things!" cried Gwynne, when the silence was becoming +oppressive. "How could it have happened?" + +"With Myra sitting on it!" chorused the girls. + +"Didn't you miss it?" + +"N-o." + +"Ha, ha, that's one on you, Miss Haskell," laughed Mr. Carson. +"_Sitting_ on the lunch box and never missed it when it tumbled +overboard. How did _you_ manage to stick on?" + +"How did the other machines manage to come along behind us and never +find it?" retorted Myra, nettled at the hilarity of her companions. +"_That_ is the question!" + +"We must have lost it in the river," suggested Tabitha. + +"Of course! When we were trying to pull out the other machine and I +shaved Dad's nose. Didn't I do a good job, Mumsie? Must we go hungry +now because I lost all your little stuffed scrubs,--I mean squabs?" +Anxiously she turned toward her mother and scanned that sober face, for +her eighteen hour fast had left her half famished, and there were at +least eleven other girls in the same boat, all because of her stupid +attempt at joking. + +"We-ll, I have cooked a kettle of new potatoes and another of green +corn,--plenty of both. But it looks as if you must go without meat." + +"Oh, we can get along nicely, I know. Vegetables are better than meat +anyway, you know. Come on, let's eat!" At that moment she felt hungry +enough to swallow the dishes themselves, and anything sounded +appetizing to her. As the rest of the party were equally as hungry, +they were not slow to respond to her invitation, and in a very short +time the tables were stripped; but the ravenous appetites were +appeased, and the little company scattered in groups about the ranch to +enjoy the few brief hours of their stay. + +The return trip was as tame as the first part of the journey had been +exciting, for not a single car stuck once, and just as the city clocks +were striking nine, the tired, sunburned, but blissfully happy girls +again found themselves entering Mrs. Cummings' deserted house, where +they were to spend this last night before Ivy Hall opened its doors to +receive them. + +"Oh, Kit, your father gave me a letter for you, hours ago," suddenly +exclaimed Myra in dismay, as they were unrolling their blankets ready +for bed, and she dragged forth a crumpled envelope from her blouse and +presented it to her surprised companion. "I'm so sorry I forgot it. +Really, it's inexcusable in me." + +"It's of little consequence," Tabitha assured her, scanning the +unfamiliar handwriting with puzzled eyes. "I don't know anyone in +Boston. Oh, it's from Billiard and Toady, I reckon. They live at +Jamaica Plains, and--why, there's money in it! One hundred dollars. +What in the world-- Will you listen to this, girls? You know I told +you about their getting part of the reward for helping capture the bank +robbers in Silver Bow? Well, they are sending it back and want to know +if it's enough to give Mercedes another year at Ivy Hall." + +A deep hush fell upon the group of tired, sleepy girls preparing for +the night. Each maid recalled with a twinge of conscience the picture +of quiet, sober-faced Mercedes McKittrick, as she had said good-bye to +them that last day of school. "I can never forget any of you," she had +said shyly, "and I'm glad of that, for it's nice to remember pleasant +times when you can't have any more." They had not understood then, but +now they knew it was her way of renouncing the happy school days which +she must give up because of her father's illness; and they were ashamed +of their indifference. + +"I'll add fifty dollars of the check Uncle Jerry gave me," whispered +Gloriana, breaking the painful silence at last. + +"And there's my birthday money in the bank," said Tabitha. "That's +another fifty." + +"Oh, if only I hadn't spent my allowance for clothes that I didn't +need!" groaned Myra. "But I still have nine dollars and ninety-nine +cents left. Can anyone make it an even ten? Ivy Hall will be open to +us to-morrow, and school begins Monday. I can get along nicely on my +nerve until my next allowance comes in. Here, let's pass the hat." + +"Me, first!" cried Bessie enthusiastically, reaching for her purse. +"I'll give ten dollars." + +"My money is _all_ gone," mourned Grace, "but I'll _promise_ ten +dollars if you will take pledges." + +In utter amazement Tabitha sat curled up on her pile of blankets, +watching the shower of gold and silver which poured into her lap. "Oh, +girls," she gasped, when she could find her tongue. "How can I ever +thank you? Mercy will be transported with joy. Here's more than +enough to pay all her expenses, and Carrie will want a share in it, +too. Aren't friends splendid!" Her voice was husky and tremulous, and +two bright drops glistened in her black eyes. What a beautiful world +this is to live in! Somehow, the spontaneous gift to little Mercedes +seemed a gift to her also, and she thoroughly appreciated the loving +act of her classmates. What a beautiful climax to her summer vacation! + +Jessie sniffed audibly, and Vera surreptitiously wiped a big tear off +the end of her nose. Myra, who hated scenes, brought the group back to +the earth with a thump, saying briskly, "Come, let's to bed! I'm half +dead already, and my face is smarting like sin. I don't like your cold +cream, Kitty." + +"Cold cream?" repeated Tabitha in surprise. + +"Yes, I helped myself to the contents of the jar I found in your +suitcase. No one else had any, and my face was burned to a frazzle." + +"Did you put that stuff on your face?" screamed Tabitha, holding up a +tiny white jar of creamy paste. + +"Sure. Why?" + +"Because it's corn salve. No wonder it smarts. Go wash----" + +But Myra waited to hear no more. There was a wild scamper of bare feet +on the hall floor, the bath-room door banged noisily, water splashed +vigorously, and just as the girls were drifting off to sleep, they +heard Myra, snuggling down in her blankets, murmur sadly, "It's lucky +the Hall opens to-morrow. Otherwise these girls would soon be the +death of me." + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TABITHA'S VACATION*** + + +******* This file should be named 20332.txt or 20332.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/0/3/3/20332 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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