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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party, by 
+C. E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+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: Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party
+
+Author: C. E. Jacobs
+        Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+Illustrator: John Goss
+
+Release Date: June 28, 2007 [EBook #21960]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY
+
+
+
+
+ The
+ Blue Bonnet Series
+
+ _By_
+ _Lela Horn Richards_
+ _and_
+ _Caroline E. Jacobs_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Each, one vol., large 12mo, illustrated $1.75
+
+        A TEXAS BLUE BONNET
+        BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY
+        BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON
+        BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE
+        BLUE BONNET--DÉBUTANTE
+        BLUE BONNET OF THE SEVEN STARS
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ THE COSY CORNER SERIES
+
+ _By Caroline E. Jacobs_
+
+  Each, one vol., small 12mo, illustrated                        $0.75
+
+        BAB'S CHRISTMAS AT STANHOPE
+        THE CHRISTMAS SURPRISE PARTY
+        A CHRISTMAS PROMISE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+THE PAGE COMPANY
+
+53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
+
+[Illustration: "BLUE BONNET . . . WATCHED THE SUN RISE OUT OF THE
+PRAIRIE." (_See page 303._)]
+
+
+
+
+BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY
+
+BY
+C. E. JACOBS
+AND
+EDYTH ELLERBECK READ
+
+A SEQUEL TO
+A TEXAS BLUE BONNET
+
+BY
+C. E. JACOBS
+
+_Illustrated by_
+JOHN GOSS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+        THE PAGE COMPANY
+        BOSTON - - PUBLISHERS
+
+        _Copyright, 1912_
+        BY THE PAGE COMPANY
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_All rights reserved_
+
+
+
+Made in U. S. A.
+
+        First Impression, July, 1912
+        Second Impression, October, 1912
+        Third Impression, May, 1913
+        Fourth Impression, January, 1914
+        Fifth Impression, April, 1914
+        Sixth Impression, February, 1915
+        Seventh Impression, June, 1915
+        Eighth Impression, July, 1916
+        Ninth Impression, April, 1917
+        Tenth Impression, March, 1918
+        Eleventh Impression, July, 1919
+        Twelfth Impression, May, 1920
+        Thirteenth Impression, December, 1921
+
+
+
+        PRINTED BY C. H. SIMONDS COMPANY
+        BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+        CHAPTER                            PAGE
+            I. THE WANDERER                  1
+           II. IN THE BLUE BONNET COUNTRY   16
+          III. THE GLORIOUS FOURTH          32
+           IV. THE ROUND ROBIN              45
+            V. THE SWIMMING HOLE            60
+           VI. AN ADVENTURE                 71
+          VII. A FALLING OUT                86
+         VIII. CONSEQUENCES                101
+           IX. TEXAS AND MASSACHUSETTS     112
+            X. ENTER CARITA                124
+           XI. CAMPING BY THE BIG SPRING   142
+          XII. POCO TIEMPO                 155
+         XIII. AROUND THE CAMP-FIRE        169
+          XIV. A FALLING IN                183
+           XV. SUNDAY                      200
+          XVI. THE LOST SHEEP              215
+         XVII. SECRETS                     230
+        XVIII. SOME ARRIVALS               242
+          XIX. BLUE BONNET'S BIRTHDAY      259
+           XX. CONFERENCES                 275
+          XXI. BLUE BONNET DECIDES         290
+         XXII. HASTA LA VISTA              300
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+                                                              PAGE
+  "BLUE BONNET . . . WATCHED THE SUN RISE OUT OF THE PRAIRIE"
+     (_See page 303_)                                 _Frontispiece_
+
+  "COMANCHE . . . LEAPED FORWARD LIKE A CAT"                   41
+
+  "'_I_ BELIEVE THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN TO SWIM IS TO DIVE IN
+     HEAD-FIRST'"                                              96
+
+  "THEY ALL GATHERED GYPSY-FASHION ABOUT THE FIRE"            187
+
+  "IT WAS AN EXQUISITE MINIATURE, PAINTED ON IVORY"           261
+
+  "ALEC SURVEYED HER PROUD LITTLE PROFILE"                    290
+
+
+
+
+Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE WANDERER
+
+
+BLUE BONNET put her head out of the car window for the hundredth time
+that hour, and drew it back with a sigh of utter exasperation.
+
+"Uncle Cliff," she declared impatiently, "if The Wanderer doesn't move
+a little faster I'll simply have to get out and push!"
+
+"Better blame the engine, Honey," said Uncle Cliff in his slow,
+soothing way. "The Wanderer is doing her best. Might as well blame the
+wagon for not making the horses gallop!"
+
+"I know," she confessed. "But it seems as if we'd never get to
+Woodford. This is the longest-seeming journey I ever took--even if it
+is in a private car." Then, fearing to appear inappreciative, she
+added quickly: "But I do think it is mighty good of Mr. Maldon to let
+us take his very own car. I can just see the We are Sevens' eyes pop
+right out when they see this style of travelling." Blue Bonnet's own
+eyes roamed over the luxurious interior of The Wanderer, dwelling with
+approval on the big, swinging easy chairs, the book-case cunningly
+set in just over a writing-desk, the buffet shining with cut glass and
+silver, and the thousand and one details that made the car a veritable
+palace on wheels.
+
+Blue Bonnet had been spending a few days in New York with her uncle,
+who had insisted that she should have a little "lark" after her long
+months in school. Now, in a private car belonging to one of Uncle
+Cliff's friends, they were on their way back to Woodford, there to
+gather up Grandmother Clyde, Alec Trent, and the other six of Blue
+Bonnet's "We are Seven" Club, and bear them off to Texas for the
+summer.
+
+"I reckon Sarah Blake and Kitty Clark aren't very used to travelling?"
+suggested Uncle Cliff, more to draw out Blue Bonnet than with any
+consuming desire for information.
+
+"Used to travelling! Why, Uncle Cliff--" Blue Bonnet shook her head
+emphatically--"not one of the other We are Sevens has ever so much as
+seen the inside of a Pullman in all her life!"
+
+Mr. Ashe hid a smile under his moustache. The fact that Blue Bonnet's
+own introduction to a Pullman car had occurred just nine months
+before, seemed to have escaped the young lady's mind.
+
+"Well, well," ejaculated Blue Bonnet's uncle, "they've some
+experiences ahead of them, to be sure!"
+
+"Oh, Uncle,"--Blue Bonnet was struck with a sudden fear,--"do you
+suppose they will all be ready to go? We're two whole days earlier
+than we said we'd be--"
+
+"They'll be ready, don't you worry. Your grandmother is not one of the
+unprepared sort, and the girls don't need much of a wardrobe for the
+ranch. Besides, I wired them explicit directions--to meet The Wanderer
+and be ready to come aboard immediately. We shall have only a few
+minutes in Woodford."
+
+Blue Bonnet settled back in her red velvet reclining chair and shut
+her eyes. Slowly a smile wreathed her lips.
+
+"What's the joke, Honey?"
+
+Blue Bonnet looked up with dancing eyes. "Benita!" she laughed. "Won't
+she be just--petrified, when she sees seven girls instead of one? And
+can't you imagine the boys--"
+
+"Benita had better not get petrified this summer," interrupted Uncle
+Cliff. "She has to do some tall hustling. I've wired Uncle Joe to get
+extra help while the ranch party is in session. If they can get old
+Gertrudis from the Lone Star Ranch--she's the finest cook in the state
+of Texas. And her granddaughter might wait on table."
+
+"Oh, I do think a ranch party is the grandest thing in the world,"
+cried Blue Bonnet. "I've read of house parties, but they must be
+downright tame compared with this kind of a party. And it's not to
+last just over a week-end either, but _two whole months_! Why, Uncle
+Cliff, any ordinary man would be scared to pieces at the prospect."
+
+"But I'm not an ordinary man, eh?" Mr. Ashe looked pleased as a boy as
+he put the question.
+
+"Well, I reckon not! You're a fairy godfather. You grant my wishes
+before they're fairly out of my mouth. And I seem to have plenty of
+wishes. Just think, Uncle, how many things I've wished for since my
+last birthday!"
+
+"First," said Uncle Cliff, "you wished to go away from the ranch."
+
+Blue Bonnet nodded assent. "Because I was--afraid--to ride. Doesn't it
+seem ridiculous, now I'm over that silliness? But oh, how I did wish I
+could get over being afraid! That was about the only wish you couldn't
+grant, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"That wish was never expressed, Honey--don't forget that. Maybe I
+could have helped even there," Mr. Ashe suggested gently.
+
+"I know, it was my own fault. But I was--ashamed, Uncle Cliff. You
+don't suppose--" Blue Bonnet's face clouded, "you don't think, do you,
+that the fear will come again when I get back where I saw
+José--dragged?" She shut her eyes and shuddered.
+
+"Nonsense, Honey. That fear died and was buried the day you rode
+Alec's horse, Victor. A good canter on Firefly over the Blue Bonnet
+country will make you wonder that such a feeling was ever born."
+
+"Dear old Firefly! Won't I make it up to him though! Isn't
+it queer how many of my wishes have come true? It makes me feel
+almost--breathless. I no sooner got through wishing I could leave the
+ranch and go East and be with Grandmother--than I woke up in Woodford.
+And I wanted--thought I wanted--to be called Elizabeth. Blue Bonnet
+became Elizabeth!"
+
+"A real lightning change artist," murmured Uncle Cliff.
+
+"And I wanted to go to school. Granted. I wanted to know a lot of
+girls, and behold the We are Sevens!"
+
+"And when was it you changed names again?" Uncle Cliff asked slyly.
+
+"When I got tired of being Elizabethed. Everybody thinks Blue Bonnet
+suits me better, except Aunt Lucinda--on occasions."
+
+"And the next wish? They're stacking up."
+
+"I reckon it was about the Sargent prize in school. I wanted Alec
+Trent to win it--and he did. And next I wished to pass my school
+examinations--"
+
+"And even that miracle was achieved!" said Uncle Cliff, pinching her
+cheek.
+
+"And, finally, I wanted to go back to Texas, and, at the same time, I
+wished I didn't have to leave Grandmother and Alec and the girls. That
+might seem a contrary pair of wishes, but it doesn't daunt Godfather
+Ashe. He straightway makes a private car arise from--from what, Uncle
+Cliff?"
+
+"Tobacco smoke," promptly supplied Mr. Ashe, with a reminiscent smile
+on his lips.
+
+"Why tobacco smoke?" asked Blue Bonnet wonderingly.
+
+"I taught Maldon to smoke when he was a young chap visiting out our
+way, and we've been friends ever since. The private car seems to have
+grown out of that," replied her uncle.
+
+"I see," Blue Bonnet nodded. "But don't tell Aunt Lucinda,--I fancy
+she doesn't approve of smoking."
+
+"So I've noticed," rather grimly rejoined Mr. Ashe. Blue Bonnet's prim
+New England aunt had not suffered him to remain long in ignorance of
+her disapproval of tobacco in any form.
+
+"There's one thing I don't understand at all," Blue Bonnet knitted her
+pretty brows. "And that is what was in Uncle Joe Terry's telegram the
+other day. Won't you tell me, Uncle?"
+
+"Nothing much,--only that I must be back at the ranch Monday evening
+without fail," answered Uncle Cliff with an air of evasion.
+
+"There's some deep reason, I can just feel it. You mean well, Uncle,
+but I just hate secrets." Blue Bonnet laid a coaxing hand on her
+uncle's arm.
+
+"Secret indeed!" scoffed Uncle Cliff, avoiding his niece's eye.
+
+"You can't pretend a bit well," Blue Bonnet assured him gravely. "You
+look just the way my dog Solomon does when he's pretending to be
+asleep--and can't keep his tail from wagging!"
+
+"Thank you!" said Uncle Cliff with well-assumed indignation.
+
+"You're quite welcome. He's a mighty wise dog, Uncle Cliff--that's why
+I named him Solomon. You know I think--" Blue Bonnet went on sagely,
+"I think there is some trouble at the ranch,--because I saw the big
+box you sent with our trunks and it was labelled 'dangerous.' Now, be
+nice, and tell me what was in it."
+
+"I understood that Miss Kitty was the inquisitive member of your
+Club," Uncle Cliff parried provokingly.
+
+Blue Bonnet sighed. "Well, I can thank Uncle Joe for cutting us out of
+two whole days in New York. I'm sure Aunt Lucinda will be
+disappointed."
+
+"Aunt Lucinda--?" echoed Mr. Ashe.
+
+"Yes, you see it was this way: Aunt Lucinda gave me a list of things I
+ought to see in New York. Every day when you asked me 'what next?'--as
+you did, you nice fairy godfather--I chose the things I'd rather see
+and left the--the educational things for the last. You see the shops,
+the Hippodrome, Coney Island, Peter Pan and the Goddess of Liberty
+were so fascinating, and I'd wanted so long to see them, that-- Well,
+to face the bitter truth, Uncle Cliff, we left New York without one
+weenty peek in at the Metropolitan Museum!"
+
+"Horrors!" Uncle Cliff looked properly stunned. Then he said craftily,
+"Keep it dark, Honey. Maybe we can bluff."
+
+Blue Bonnet shook her head. "Nobody can bluff Aunt Lucinda--I ought to
+know! Why--Uncle Cliff--I believe we're there!"
+
+And "there" they certainly were. While Blue Bonnet had been busily
+chattering, The Wanderer had drawn in to the Woodford station.
+
+Half the population of the village was assembled on the platform, it
+seemed to Blue Bonnet as she sprang from the car steps. Grandmother
+and Aunt Lucinda she saw first, and back of them Denham, the coachman,
+bearing suitcases, umbrellas, magazines and wraps, besides holding on
+by main force to a leash at which Solomon was straining frantically.
+Beside him were Katie and Delia, on hand for a final farewell to Blue
+Bonnet and Mrs. Clyde. Then came Kitty and Doctor Clark; Amanda and
+the Parkers; Sarah and the whole crowd of Blakes, big and little; Alec
+and the General; Debby, and a collection of sisters, cousins, uncles
+and aunts that overflowed the platform and straggled clear out to the
+line of hitching-posts, where all of Woodford's family conveyances
+seemed drawn up at once.
+
+The report of Blue Bonnet's ranch party had spread like wildfire
+through the town, and the going away of so many of its most prominent
+citizens to far-off Texas, had aroused quiet Woodford to a pitch of
+excitement equalled only by that of a prohibition election, or a visit
+from the President.
+
+Blue Bonnet was swallowed up by the crowd the moment she alighted, and
+it was a full five minutes before she emerged, flushed and minus her
+hat, to ask breathlessly, "Oh, is everybody here?--I can't see anybody
+for the crowd!"
+
+"No time to lose," warned Mr. Ashe. "We must pull out in ten minutes
+in order to reach Boston in time for the 5.17 to-night."
+
+Even as he spoke, The Wanderer began to move.
+
+"Uncle Cliff," cried Blue Bonnet in a panic, "they're going without
+us!"
+
+"Just switching," soothed her uncle. "The Wanderer has to be on the
+other track so as to hook on to the train for Boston. That's due in
+five minutes. Get your good-byes said so that everybody can go aboard
+when she comes alongside."
+
+During that five minutes while each girl was occupied with her own
+family, Blue Bonnet had a moment alone with her aunt. "It's a good
+thing we said our real good-bye before I went to New York, isn't it,
+Aunt Lucinda?" she asked, slipping her hand shyly into that of her
+tall, prim aunt. Somehow Aunt Lucinda had never seemed so dear as in
+this moment of parting. Perhaps it was the look as of unshed tears in
+her eyes, or the flush on her usually pale face that made her seem
+more approachable. Blue Bonnet could not tell exactly what it was, but
+there was a vague something about Aunt Lucinda that made her appear
+almost--yes, almost, pathetic. Suddenly Blue Bonnet remembered--they
+were leaving Aunt Lucinda all alone. Her heart reproached her. "Aunt
+Lucinda," she whispered hurriedly, "won't you come, too?"
+
+One of her rare sweet smiles lit Miss Clyde's face. "Thank you,
+dear--it is sweet of you to want me. But not this time, for I have
+promised friends to go abroad with them. I shall miss you, Blue
+Bonnet,--you won't forget to write often?"
+
+"No, indeed!" Blue Bonnet assured her, at the same moment registering
+a solemn vow that she would write every week without fail. "And you'll
+write too, Aunt Lucinda? It'll be so exciting getting letters from
+funny, foreign places. And now it's good-bye. You--you are sure you've
+no--a--advice to give me?"
+
+Miss Clyde restrained an odd smile at the significant question. "No,
+dear. Only this: be considerate of your grandmother, and bring her
+back safely to me."
+
+"I will! I will!" cried Blue Bonnet, and with another kiss was gone.
+
+There was only a moment for a handshake with Katie and Delia, who
+openly mopped their eyes at parting; a word with General Trent, a
+chorus of good-byes to a score of We are Seven relations, and then
+everybody crowded about the steps of The Wanderer.
+
+"Grandmother first," said Blue Bonnet. "Denham, you'd better go aboard
+and get her settled. Here, Bennie Blake--you hold Solomon till I'm
+ready to take him. Now then, We are Sevens--forward!"
+
+Suddenly Blue Bonnet gave a queer little exclamation and clapped her
+hand on a leather case which hung from her shoulder. "Stop, everybody,
+till I get a picture--I nearly forgot! And I want pictures of every
+stage of the ranch party. Grandmother, please stay on the top step and
+I'll group the girls below."
+
+"That's right," cried Kitty. "Take one now and another when we get
+back, and we can label them 'Before and After Taking!'"
+
+Sarah, Kitty, Amanda and Debby, amid the teasing remarks of sundry
+small boys, obediently took their places as designated by the young
+artist. Then Blue Bonnet's eyes turned in search of the other two
+girls.
+
+"Susy! Ruth!" she called. "Why--where are they?"
+
+An embarrassed hush fell on the group about the car. Blue Bonnet
+looked inquiringly at the telltale faces. It did not take her long to
+scent a mystery.
+
+"What's the matter?" she cried impatiently.
+
+Doctor Clark stepped forward, clearing his throat queerly. "Fact is,
+Miss Blue Bonnet," he began, "they--they can't go."
+
+"Can't go?" Blue Bonnet started incredulously at the stammering
+doctor.
+
+"No, you see,--well, in fact, they're ill," he completed lamely. Why
+didn't some one help him out, the doctor fumed inwardly, instead of
+letting him be the one to cloud that beaming face?
+
+Suddenly Kitty leaned down from the car step and whispered: "Scarlet
+fever!"
+
+"Both?" exclaimed the startled Blue Bonnet.
+
+"No, only Ruth. But Susy was exposed and Father didn't think it safe
+for her to come."
+
+"Oh, Kitty!" The tears sprang to Blue Bonnet's eyes--she fought them
+but they would come.
+
+"We're all broken up over it," said Kitty with her own lips trembling;
+"but it might have been worse. It's only because we've been too busy
+to go out there, that we weren't all exposed. Then it would have been
+good-bye to the ranch party."
+
+"Oh, Kitty, suppose you had!" The thought of the narrow escape dried
+Blue Bonnet's tears. "I'm mighty glad you four could come. But it
+won't be complete. And you know how I love to have things complete!"
+
+"Never mind, Blue Bonnet, you still have me!" cried Alec, coming in
+with a cheerful note.
+
+"'The poor ye have always with you!'" chimed in Kitty, and while
+everybody was laughing over this sally, Blue Bonnet took a snap-shot
+of the group, and then all the travellers trooped aboard.
+
+Mr. Ashe looked over the heads of the chattering crowd in the car and
+met Mrs. Clyde's amused eye. "How do you like mothering a family of
+this size?" he asked jocosely.
+
+"I fancy I feel much like the hen that hatched duck's eggs," Mrs.
+Clyde returned.
+
+There was a laugh at this, in the midst of which Sarah Blake was heard
+to remark solemnly: "Yes, children are a great responsibility."
+
+Whereat there was more laughter, and hardly had it subsided when from
+outside came the conductor's sonorous "All aboo--ard!"
+
+"Girls, we're really going!" gasped Kitty.
+
+There was a last vigorous waving of handkerchiefs out of the window.
+Suddenly a wail burst from Blue Bonnet: "Solomon! Solomon!"
+
+All looked at one another aghast. In the excitement of the last
+moments no one had thought of the dog.
+
+"Find Bennie Blake--he had Solomon last," cried Blue Bonnet, rushing
+to the platform.
+
+"I'll find him, don't you worry," exclaimed Alec, swinging down the
+steps just as the first creaks of the car gave notice of starting.
+
+"Alec--you'll get left!" cried Blue Bonnet. "There's Bennie,--oh,
+quick!"
+
+Sure enough, there on the edge of the crowd was Bennie, but alack!--no
+Solomon.
+
+"Stop the train, can't you, Uncle Cliff?" wailed Blue Bonnet. "Alec
+will be left--and Solomon too--"
+
+Uncle Cliff leaped to the bottom step,--the train was still only
+crawling,--and with one hand on the rail leaned out and peered after
+Alec. Blue Bonnet gave a nervous clutch at his sleeve. What he saw
+evidently reassured Mr. Ashe, for suddenly he straightened up and held
+out both arms. A second later a brown furry object came hurtling
+through the air and was caught ignominiously by the tail. Quick as a
+flash Uncle Cliff tossed the indignant Solomon to Blue Bonnet, and
+bent down to lend a helping hand to Alec. That young gentleman
+scrambled up with more haste than elegance, just as the train ceased
+to crawl and settled down to the real business of travelling.
+
+"I'll never forget this, Alec Trent, as long as I live,--I think you
+deserve a Carnegie medal!" Blue Bonnet cried fervently. "I'd never get
+over it if Solomon should be lost."
+
+"He wouldn't have been--lost, exactly," returned Alec in an odd tone.
+
+"Why, what do you mean? Where did you find him?" Blue Bonnet demanded.
+
+And Alec, bursting into a laugh in spite of his awful news, returned:
+"I found him just where that Blake boy left him--tied on to the end of
+the car!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+IN THE BLUE BONNET COUNTRY
+
+
+"IF one of you speaks aloud in the next five minutes," declared Blue
+Bonnet earnestly, "I'll never forgive you."
+
+No one being inclined to risk Blue Bonnet's undying enmity, there was
+complete silence for the space of time imposed. They were rolling
+along the smooth white road between the railway station and the ranch,
+Grandmother Clyde and the girls in a buckboard drawn by sturdy little
+mustangs, while Alec, Uncle Joe and Uncle Cliff, who had stayed behind
+to look after the luggage, were following on horseback.
+
+Blue Bonnet sat tense and still, her hands clasped in her lap, the
+color coming and going in her face in rapid waves of pink and white;
+her eyes very shiny, her lips quivering. This home-coming was having
+an effect she had not dreamed of. Every familiar object, every turn of
+the road that brought her nearer the beloved ranch, gave her a new and
+delicious thrill.
+
+As they neared the modern wire fence two dusky little greaser
+piccaninnies rose out of the chaparral, hurled themselves on the big
+gate and held it open, standing like sentinels, bursting with
+importance, as the buckboard rolled through.
+
+"They're Pancho's twins!" cried Blue Bonnet. "Stop, Miguel, while I
+give them something." Hurriedly seizing a half-eaten box of candy from
+Amanda's surprised hands, Blue Bonnet leaned down and tossed it to the
+grinning youngsters.
+
+"_Muchas gracias_, Señorita!" they cried in a duet, their black eyes
+wide with joy.
+
+"Bless the babies!" exclaimed Kitty, "--did you hear what they called
+you?"
+
+Blue Bonnet laughed. "I'm never called anything else here. They meant
+'Many thanks, Ma'am.' You will be 'Señorita' too,--better get used to
+it."
+
+"Oh, I shall love it," cried Kitty. "It sounds like a title--'my lady'
+or 'your grace' or something grand."
+
+"Grandmother will be 'Señora'--doesn't it just suit her, girls?" asked
+Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Mrs. Clyde, may we call you 'Señora,' too?" asked Debby, "--just
+while we're on the ranch?"
+
+"Debby believes in the eternal fitness of things," put in Kitty.
+
+"Certainly, you may call me Señora," said Mrs. Clyde. "When you're in
+Texas do as the Texans do," she paraphrased.
+
+"I intend to learn all the Spanish I can while I'm here," remarked
+Sarah. "I brought a grammar and a dictionary--"
+
+A chorus of indignation went up from the other girls.
+
+"This isn't a 'General Culture Club,' Sarah Blake," scolded Kitty. "We
+didn't come to the Blue Bonnet ranch for mutual improvement--but for
+_fun_!"
+
+"We'll make a bonfire of those books," warned Blue Bonnet.
+
+"All the Spanish that I can absorb through my--pores, is welcome to
+stick," said Debby, "but I'm not going to dig for it."
+
+Sarah tactfully changed the subject. "Your house is a good way from
+the gate, Blue Bonnet," she remarked.
+
+"Nearly two miles," Blue Bonnet smiled.
+
+"There's nothing like owning all outdoors!" commented Kitty.
+
+"Grandfather used to own nearly all outdoors," returned Blue Bonnet.
+"When father was a little boy nobody had fences and the cattle ranged
+through two or three counties. But now we keep a lot of fence-riders,
+who don't do a thing but mend fences, day after day. There's the
+bridge,--now as soon as we cross the river you can see the
+ranch-house."
+
+"Is this what you call the 'river?'" Sarah asked, as they rattled over
+the pretty little stream.
+
+"We call it a 'rio' in Texas, and you'd better not insult us by
+calling it a creek, Señorita Blake," Blue Bonnet warned her.
+
+"I won't--'rio' is such a pretty name," said Sarah, making a mental
+note of it for future use.
+
+"There!" cried Blue Bonnet, "behold the 'casa' of the Blue Bonnet
+ranch!"
+
+What they saw was a long, low, rambling house, with wide, hospitable
+verandas embowered in half-tropical vines. It had evidently started
+out as a one-roomed, Spanish 'adobe,' and, as the needs of the family
+demanded it, an ell had been added here, a room there, like cells in a
+bee-hive, until now it covered a good deal of territory, still keeping
+its one-storied, Mission-like character.
+
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet--it's just what I wanted it to be," exclaimed Kitty.
+"It looks as if a fat, Spanish monk might come out of that door this
+very minute."
+
+"Instead of which there is my dear old Benita, and Pancho and his wife
+and the children and--oh, everybody!" Blue Bonnet was bouncing up and
+down now with excitement.
+
+Alec and the other two riders came up in a cloud of dust just as
+Miguel raced the mustangs up to the veranda steps, where all the ranch
+hands were gathered to greet the young Señorita.
+
+"Señorita mia!" cried Benita, and Blue Bonnet leaped from the wheel
+straight into her old nurse's arms.
+
+"And this is Grandmother, Benita," said Blue Bonnet, helping Mrs.
+Clyde from her place.
+
+"The little Señora's mother--God bless you!" cried Benita in Spanish.
+Then, in spite of her stiff joints, she made a deep, old-fashioned
+curtsy.
+
+Tears sprang to the eyes of the Eastern woman. "Thank you, Benita,"
+she said. "My daughter always wrote lovingly of you."
+
+"Blessed Señora!" breathed Benita fervently.
+
+"This is my grandmother, everybody," said Blue Bonnet, presenting Mrs.
+Clyde to the entire circle, "and these are my friends--'amigos' from
+Massachusetts."
+
+"Pleased to know ye!" said Pinto Pete and Shady, the only American
+cowboys on the ranch; while the Mexicans, as one voice, gave a hearty
+chorus of greeting.
+
+The six "amigos" from Massachusetts were thrilled to the core,
+although at the same time a trifle embarrassed as to the correct way
+of responding to this vociferous welcome. Blue Bonnet set them all an
+example: she had a smile and a word for every man, woman and child,
+and finally sent them all off with a--"Come back when my trunks
+arrive!" And the hint brought a fresh gleam to already beaming faces.
+
+Later, after a bountiful supper, they all gathered once more on the
+broad veranda while Blue Bonnet distributed her gifts. That those days
+in New York had been profitably spent was fully attested now when the
+contents of the many trunks were displayed. There were ribbons, scarfs
+and gay beads for the women, toys and sweets for the children, and
+wonderful pocket-knives, pipes and tobacco pouches for the men.
+
+The Blue Bonnet ranch had been part of an original Spanish land-grant
+in the days when Texas was still part of Mexico, and had descended
+from father to son until it came into the hands of Blue Bonnet's
+grandfather. Many of the Mexican ranch-hands had been born on the
+place and looked on the Ashe family as their natural guardians and
+protectors. As yet they had not acquired a Yankee sense of
+independence, nor had they lost the soft Southern courtesy inherent in
+their race. They came up one at a time to Blue Bonnet as she stood at
+the top of the steps, her gifts in a great heap beside her; and each
+one, as he received his gift from her hand, called down a blessing on
+the head of the young Señorita. Then, laughing, chatting, and
+comparing gifts like a crowd of children, they trooped away, the
+single men to the "bunk-house" by the big corral, the married couples
+and their children to little cabins scattered over the place.
+
+"It's just like some old Spanish tale," declared Alec. "Blue Bonnet is
+a princess just returned to her castle, and all the serfs are come to
+pay her homage."
+
+"I suppose Don Quixote will be off soon, hunting wind-mills?"
+suggested Kitty, with a mocking glance at Alec, whose new gun was the
+pride of his heart.
+
+Alec deigned no reply.
+
+"Look!" said Mrs. Clyde, softly, "--there goes the sun."
+
+They followed her glance across the prairie that stretched away, green
+and softly undulating, in front of the veranda, and watched the red
+disk as it sank in a blaze of glory at the edge of the plain.
+
+"Now you know," said Blue Bonnet, "why I felt like pushing back the
+houses in Woodford--at first they just suffocated me."
+
+Mrs. Clyde smiled with new understanding. "You probably agree with our
+Massachusetts writer who complained that people in cities live too
+close together and not near enough," she said, patting Blue Bonnet's
+head as the girl, sitting on the step below her, leaned against her
+knee.
+
+"Didn't you ever get lonesome here?" asked Debby, snuggling up to
+Amanda. She had been brought up among houses.
+
+"Lonesome?" echoed Blue Bonnet. "I never knew what lonesome
+meant--till my first day in school!"
+
+All too soon came bedtime.
+
+"Where are we all to sleep?" Blue Bonnet asked Benita. It was like
+Blue Bonnet not to give the matter a thought until beds were actually
+in demand.
+
+Benita led the way proudly. "The Señora will have the little Señora's
+room," she said, throwing open the door of that long unused chamber.
+
+Mrs. Clyde entered it with softened eyes.
+
+"Señorita's own room is ready for her, and here is place for the
+others." Benita proceeded to the very end of a long ell to a huge airy
+room, seemingly all windows. It was Blue Bonnet's old nursery, and,
+next to the living-room, the largest room in the house. Four single
+beds, one in each corner, showed how Benita had solved the sleeping
+problem.
+
+The girls gave a shout of delight; visions of bedtime frolics and long
+talks after lights were out, sent them dancing about the place.
+
+"I tell you what," announced Blue Bonnet, "--if you imagine I am going
+off by myself when there's a sleeping-party like this going on, you're
+mistaken. I say--" here she turned on Sarah, "--you've always wanted a
+bed-room all to yourself; you told me so, one day. Well, here's your
+chance--you're welcome to every inch of mine!"
+
+Sarah, quite willing to confine her "parties" to daylight hours,
+accepted the proposition eagerly. Maybe then she could get a peek at
+those Spanish books.
+
+"Are you sure you're willing to give it up?" she asked quite honestly.
+
+And Blue Bonnet with an incredulous stare returned: "Are you quite
+willing to give _this_ up?"
+
+"Perfectly!" exclaimed Sarah with such promptness that Blue Bonnet
+dismissed her lurking suspicion that Sarah was just "being polite" and
+accepted the exchange.
+
+It was a happy Sarah who tucked herself away in a little bed all to
+herself, in a dainty room destined to be her very own for two long
+months. Four times happy was the quartet who shared the nursery. It
+was a long time before they subsided. There were so many things to be
+observed and discussed in that delightful place. Uncle Joe Terry had
+had a hand in its arrangement, and now that worthy man would have felt
+well repaid if he could have heard the gales of merriment over his
+masterpieces of interior decoration.
+
+In her childhood Blue Bonnet had been blessed--or afflicted--with more
+dolls than ever fell to the lot of child before. Now the
+long-discarded nursery-folk formed a frieze around the entire room,
+the poor darlings being, like Blue-beard's wives, suspended by their
+hair. Every nationality and every degree of mutilation was there
+represented, and the effect was funny beyond description. On the
+broad mantel-shelf over the stone fireplace reposed drums,
+merry-go-rounds, trumpets and toy horses; while on the hearth was a
+tiny kitchen range bearing a complete assortment of pots and pans of a
+most diminutive size. In every available nook of the room stood
+doll-carriages, rocking-horses, go-carts and fire-engines, each
+showing the scars of Blue Bonnet's stormy childhood.
+
+"I wish," cried Kitty, "that we weren't any of us a day over seven!"
+
+While the girls were still making merry over her childhood treasures
+Blue Bonnet slipped away. She had not had a word alone with Uncle
+Cliff for days, and had exchanged only a hurried greeting with Uncle
+Joe at the station. And there were such heaps of things to talk over!
+
+She found them both on the veranda, enjoying the evening breeze that
+came laden with sweet scents from off the prairie. Blue Bonnet clapped
+her hands over Uncle Joe's eyes in her old madcap fashion.
+
+"It's Blue Bon--er--Elizabeth, I mean," he guessed promptly.
+
+"Wrong!" cried Blue Bonnet sternly. "Elizabeth Ashe was left behind in
+Massachusetts, and only Blue Bonnet has come back to the ranch."
+
+"Thank goodness for that!" breathed Uncle Joe devoutly. "Elizabeth
+came mighty hard. It didn't fit, somehow. I reckon you're glad to get
+_home_, Blue Bonnet?"
+
+"Glad? Why, there isn't a word in the whole English dictionary that
+means just what I feel, Uncle Joe," replied Blue Bonnet, perching on
+the arm of his chair. "I love every inch of the state of Texas."
+
+The two men exchanged a significant glance that was not lost on Blue
+Bonnet.
+
+"Oh, I know what you are thinking of, Uncle Cliff. You remember the
+day when I said I hated the West and all it stood for. I meant that
+too--then. But I feel different now. It isn't that I'm sorry I went
+away; I just had to go, feeling as I did. I reckon I'll always be that
+way--I have to find things out for myself."
+
+Uncle Joe smiled humorously. "Reckon we're most of us built that way,
+eh, Cliff?"
+
+Mr. Ashe gave a rueful nod. "Yes, what the other fellow has been
+through doesn't count for much. We all have to blister our fingers
+before we'll believe that fire really burns."
+
+They were all silent for a moment.
+
+"Has any one seen Solomon?" asked Blue Bonnet suddenly.
+
+"I think Don is showing him over the ranch," replied Uncle Joe. "I saw
+them both headed for the stables a while ago."
+
+"I'm glad they're going to get on well," said Blue Bonnet in a
+relieved tone. "I was afraid Don would be jealous." She gave a clear
+loud whistle, and a moment later the two animals came racing across
+the yard, tumbling over each other in their eagerness to be first up
+the steps. Blue Bonnet stooped and picked up the smaller dog, fondling
+him and saying foolish things. Don, the big collie, gave a low whine
+and looked up at her piteously.
+
+"Not jealous, did you say?" laughed Uncle Joe.
+
+Blue Bonnet patted the collie's head. "Good dog," she said soothingly.
+"You're too big to be carried, Don." Then she put down Solomon and
+bending put a hand under Don's muzzle; his soft eyes met hers
+affectionately. "I'm going to put Solomon in your charge--understand?
+You must warn him about snakes, Don,--and don't let the coyotes get
+him." A sharp bark from Don Blue Bonnet was satisfied to take for an
+affirmative answer, and with another pat sent him off for the night.
+
+"Has Alec some place to sleep?" inquired Blue Bonnet, her hospitable
+instincts suddenly and rather tardily aroused.
+
+"Benita has put him in the ell by me. He's there now, unpacking
+to-night so that he won't have to waste any time to-morrow. I never
+saw a boy so keen about ranch-life as he is. He seems to look on
+himself as a sort of pioneer in a new country," Uncle Joe chuckled.
+
+"It's all new to him," rejoined Blue Bonnet. "This is his first
+glimpse of the West. I hope he gets strong and well out here--General
+Trent worries so about him."
+
+"It will be the making of him," Uncle Cliff assured her. "He'll go
+back to Massachusetts as husky as Pinto Pete, if he'll just learn to
+live outdoors, and leave books alone for a while."
+
+"I'm going to hide every book he has brought with him," declared Blue
+Bonnet. "And Sarah Blake will need looking after--she has the book
+habit, too."
+
+Uncle Joe shook his head. "It seems to be a germ disease they have
+back there in Massachusetts. Glad you didn't catch it, Blue Bonnet."
+
+"Oh, I'm immune!" laughed she, as she said good-night and went to seek
+Benita.
+
+She found her old nurse in the kitchen, resting after an arduous day.
+Gertrudis, the famous cook "loaned" for the summer by a neighboring
+ranch, was mixing something mysterious in a wooden bowl, while her
+granddaughter Juanita, a nut-brown beauty, pirouetted about the room,
+showing off her new rosettes in a Spanish dance.
+
+Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "That's a pretty step, Juanita,--will
+you teach it to me some day?"
+
+"Si, Señorita," she assented eagerly, showing all her white teeth in a
+delighted smile. "It is the _cachucha_."
+
+"The girls will all want to learn it," Blue Bonnet assured her. She
+draw Benita into the dining-room and then gave her a hearty squeeze.
+"Everything's just lovely, you old dear," she cried. "The girls are
+crazy about the nursery, and they think you are the dearest ever!"
+
+Benita's wrinkled face beamed. "If the Señorita is pleased, old Benita
+is happy," she said deprecatingly.
+
+"Benita, I missed you dreadfully, off there in Woodford. I had to make
+my own bed and do my own mending!"
+
+Benita gave an odd little sound of distress. "But Benita will do it
+now," she urged anxiously.
+
+"You'll have to get around Grandmother then, Benita,--I can't."
+
+"The Señora is kind--" Benita began.
+
+"--but firm," added Blue Bonnet. "I leave her to you!"
+
+It was so late before the girls finally settled down into their
+respective corners, that it seemed only about five minutes before they
+were awakened at daybreak by the most terrific tumult that ever smote
+the ears of slumbering innocence.
+
+Bang, bang! Boom, crash, bang! Shouts, yells, wild Comanche-like cries
+rent the ear, and punctuated the incessant booming that shook even the
+thick adobe walls of the nursery.
+
+Four terrified faces were raised simultaneously from four white beds,
+and four voices in chorus whispered: "What is it?" No one dared stir.
+
+Suddenly the door was burst open and in sprang a white-robed figure,
+hair flying, eyes wide with terror. Straight to Blue Bonnet's bed the
+spectre flew and leaped into the middle of it with a plump that made
+its occupant gasp.
+
+"Oh, girls, it's Indians!" wailed the newcomer; and then they saw that
+it was Sarah.
+
+"Indians?" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "There aren't any Indians around
+here. Get off my chest and I'll go see."
+
+Casting off the bed-clothes and the startled Sarah at the same time,
+with one spring Blue Bonnet was at the window. What she saw there was
+hardly reassuring; the whole space between the house and the stables
+seemed to be filled with a howling, whirling mass of men. In the gray
+half-light of early dawn she could recognize no one. Suddenly a fresh
+explosion set the windows rattling; there was a hiss and a glare of
+red. In the glow she caught a glimpse of Alec; he held a revolver and
+was shooting it with sickening rapidity, not stopping to take aim.
+
+Blue Bonnet staggered back faint with horror, and the girls gathered
+fearfully about her. Uncle Cliff's voice giving an order came to them
+from outside. Blue Bonnet leaned out and shrieked--"Uncle,
+Uncle--what's the matter--oh, what is it?"
+
+Never had voice seemed so welcome as those calm, soothing tones, when
+Uncle Cliff replied: "Reckon you've forgotten what day it is, Honey."
+
+Blue Bonnet turned on the girls. "What--what day is it?"
+
+And the light from within was suddenly greater than that from without
+as they answered in a sheepish chorus:
+
+"The Fourth of July!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE GLORIOUS FOURTH
+
+
+"TO think that a crowd of New England girls, of all people, should
+forget the Fourth of July!" exclaimed Alec, when they met around the
+big breakfast table, later that morning.
+
+Sarah looked positively pained. "I never forgot it before in my whole
+life," she said plaintively. "But there have been so many new things
+to think of, and travelling, you know--" she ended lamely.
+
+"Are New England people supposed to be more patriotic than those of
+other states?" inquired Blue Bonnet, bristling a little in defence of
+Texas.
+
+"Certainly!" cried Alec. "New England folks are fed on Plymouth Rock
+and the Declaration of Independence from the cradle to the grave.
+That's the diet of patriots."
+
+"H'm!" murmured Blue Bonnet scornfully. "I'll wager that Patriot Alec
+Trent would have forgotten Independence Day, too, if Uncle Cliff
+hadn't let him into the secret. Now I know, Uncle Cliff, what was in
+that box labelled 'dangerous.' Wasn't I a goose not to think of it?
+And Uncle Joe telegraphed so as to get us here in time. Grandmother,"
+here she turned a rueful countenance on Mrs. Clyde, "going to school
+hasn't helped my head a bit, I'm just downright _dull_."
+
+Uncle Cliff gave an amused laugh. "I'm glad to have caught you napping
+for once, young lady. Now, as soon as Gertrudis stops sending in
+corncake, I propose that we adjourn to the stables and look over the
+mounts. Pinto Pete says he has a nice little bunch of ponies."
+
+"Why do they call him 'Pinto?'" asked Debby. "I thought that meant a
+spotted horse."
+
+"Haven't you noticed Pete's freckles?" asked Uncle Joe. "He has more
+and bigger ones than any other human in Texas, and the boys called him
+'Pinto Pete' the first minute they clapped eyes on him. He don't
+mind--it's the way of the West."
+
+"And is 'Shady' a nickname, too?" Debby asked.
+
+"No--just short for good old-fashioned Shadrach. Shadrach Stringer's
+his name, and he's the best twister in the county."
+
+Debby had a third question on her lips but checked it as she met
+Kitty's saucy eye. Kitty, known as "Little Miss Why," was always on
+the alert to bequeath the name to a successor. But Sarah saw none of
+the by-play and asked at once:
+
+"What's a 'twister?'"
+
+"A bronco buster," replied Uncle Joe.
+
+Sarah's look of mystification at this definition sent Alec off into a
+fit of laughter. Blue Bonnet came to the rescue. "A twister breaks in
+the wild horses, Sarah. Some day we'll get him to give an exhibition.
+You'd never believe how he can stick on,--it'll frighten you the first
+time you see it. The way the horse rears and bucks and runs, why--"
+Blue Bonnet suddenly choked and turned pale. Mrs. Clyde and Uncle
+Cliff read her thoughts at the same moment and both rose hurriedly.
+
+"Come on, everybody," exclaimed Mr. Ashe in a resolutely cheerful
+tone, "we must make the most of the morning."
+
+"Why?" asked Kitty before she thought, and then bit her lip. That word
+"why" was such a pitfall.
+
+"Everybody has to take a siesta in the afternoon," explained Blue
+Bonnet. "It's too hot to move."
+
+"Every afternoon?" demanded Debby.
+
+"Every afternoon," repeated Uncle Cliff. "Anybody caught awake between
+one and four P. M. will be severely dealt with. It's a law of the
+human constitution and the penalty is imprisonment in the hospital,
+headache, and loss of appetite."
+
+"What a waste of time," Sarah commented, privately resolving that she
+would not spend two or three precious hours every afternoon in sleep.
+One didn't come to Texas every summer.
+
+"I see mutiny in Sarah's eye," said Blue Bonnet. "Wait till you've had
+a sunstroke, Sarah, then you'll wish you hadn't possessed such oceans
+of energy." She had put all unpleasant memories from her by now and
+was leading the way to the stables. Straight to Firefly's stall she
+went and threw her arms around her old playfellow's neck. In the few
+seconds before the others came in she had whispered into his velvet
+ear something that was both a confession and an apology, while Firefly
+nosed her softly and looked as pleased as a mere horse-countenance is
+capable of looking.
+
+"Isn't he a beauty?" she challenged as the rest entered.
+
+"A stunner," Alec agreed warmly, coming up to admire. "Wouldn't
+Chula's nose be out of joint if she could see you petting Firefly?"
+
+"Victor has a rival too. Where's Alec's horse, Uncle Joe?"
+
+Pinto Pete came up just then, his freckles seeming to the girls to
+loom up larger and browner than ever now that they knew the origin of
+his nickname. "Shady says the roan's too skittish for any of the young
+ladies--" he suggested.
+
+"Strawberry?--oh, she's splendid! Alec, you'll think you're in a
+cradle."
+
+The pretty creature, just the color of her namesake, was brought out
+and put through her paces, and the exhibition proved to the
+satisfaction of all the young ladies that Shady's verdict was quite
+just. Strawberry pranced, bared her teeth at any approach, and in
+general did her best to live up to her reputation for skittishness.
+The fighting blood in Alec made him resolve to change that adjective
+to "kittenish" before he had ridden her many times.
+
+The four ponies provided for the girls were next brought out for
+inspection, and met with unqualified approval from all but Sarah.
+These slender, restless little steeds seemed not at all related to the
+fat placid beasts to which she had heretofore trusted herself. Her
+face betokened her unspoken dismay.
+
+"Sallikins, I know the best mount for you," exclaimed Kitty
+innocently.
+
+"Oh, do you?" cried Sarah hopefully.
+
+"Um-hum,--Blue Bonnet's old rocking-horse in the nursery!" laughed
+Kitty; whereupon Pinto Pete let out a loud guffaw, changing it at once
+into an ostentatious fit of coughing when he saw that Sarah was
+inclined to resent Kitty's insult.
+
+Her mild blue eyes almost flashed as she returned: "You can pick out
+any one of those four horses you choose for me, Kitty Clark, and I'll
+show you if I'm afraid to ride!"
+
+This outburst from Sarah the placid rather startled the We are Sevens.
+But Kitty, after a surprised stare at the ruffled one, picked up the
+gauntlet. She appraised the horses with a calculating glance, then
+picked out a chestnut who showed the whites of his eyes in a most
+terrifying manner.
+
+"How does that one suit you, Señorita Blake?" she asked tauntingly.
+
+"Very well," returned Sarah with a toss of her flaxen braids. This was
+sheer bravado, but it passed muster. No one dreamed of the shivers of
+abject fear that were chasing up and down the girl's spine at sight of
+the fiery little chestnut with the awful eyes.
+
+"Why, that's Comanche!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He has a heavenly
+gait."
+
+"Comanche!" Alec echoed, and then withdrew hastily to a convenient
+stall. The thought of the plump, blond Sarah mounted on a steed
+bearing such a wild Indian name was too much for him. He emerged a
+moment later very red in the face and unable to meet Blue Bonnet's
+eye. Their sense of humor was curiously akin, and Blue Bonnet knew,
+without being told, what mental picture filled Alec's mind.
+
+"Why not have a ride this morning,--there's plenty of time before
+noon," suggested Uncle Joe. "Here, Lupe, bring out the saddles," he
+called.
+
+Guadalupe, the "wrangler," appeared from an inner room, looking like a
+chief of the Navajo tribe, so burdened was he with the bright-hued
+Indian saddle-blankets. The girls watched him with eager eyes, but
+when he was followed by several boys bearing huge cowboy saddles,
+there was a little murmur of dismay from the group.
+
+"Men's saddles for us!" exclaimed Debby in a shocked undertone.
+
+Blue Bonnet laughed outright. "Didn't you hear Grandmother say: 'When
+you're in Texas do as the Texans do?' Well, turn and turn about is
+fair play. Didn't I ride a side-saddle as proper as pie in Woodford?
+Now it's your turn."
+
+Sarah gave an approving look at the high pommels of the saddles, and
+at the strong hair-bridle that was being fitted over Comanche's wicked
+little head.
+
+Blue Bonnet gave the same bridle a look that was far from approving.
+"Lupe, isn't that a Spanish bit you're using?"
+
+"Si, Señorita," said Guadalupe guiltily.
+
+"Then take it right off!" commanded Blue Bonnet in her old imperious
+way. "They're cruel wicked things that cut a horse's mouth to pieces,
+and I won't have them used," she explained to the girls. "Lupe knows I
+hate them." She turned accusingly on the boy.
+
+Lupe looked at her appealingly. "It is the safer for the Señoritas,"
+he urged.
+
+Blue Bonnet was inexorable. "We're not going to do any lassoing or
+branding, Lupe, and can manage very well without them. We'll have to
+organize a humane society, girls, and reform these cruel cowmen," she
+suggested.
+
+Lupe discarded the offending bits and substituted others more to the
+Señorita's liking, and then the girls went in to dress for the ride.
+
+"How can we ride across the saddle in these skirts?" demanded Debby.
+
+Blue Bonnet and Uncle Cliff exchanged a significant glance, the reason
+for which was explained a moment later when the girls entered the
+nursery. There on the beds lay five complete riding suits: divided
+skirts of khaki, "middy" blouses of a cooler material, and soft Panama
+hats, each wound with a blue scarf and finished with a smart bow.
+
+"How darling of you!" cried the girls, falling on Blue Bonnet
+rapturously.
+
+"It's all Uncle Cliff," exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He saw some suits like
+these in a shop window while we were in New York and went in and
+ordered seven! But Susy and Ruth won't have a chance to wear theirs,"
+she ended regretfully.
+
+The girls, too excited to spend time mourning the absent ones, were
+already getting into the fascinating suits. These were all of a size,
+close lines not being demanded of a middy blouse, and all were
+pronounced perfect except Sarah's, which, as Kitty remarked, "fitted
+too soon." Gauntlet gloves and natty riding whips completed the
+equipment of the riders, and when they went out ready to mount they
+were as neat a crowd of equestriennes as ever graced Central Park.
+
+Notwithstanding that they were all dressed alike, each girl's
+particular type stood out quite clearly. Kitty had more "style" than
+the other Woodford girls, and a carriage that had more of conscious
+vanity in it; her "middy" set more trimly and the little hat was set
+on her ruddy locks at a little more daring angle than that of the
+others. Amanda and Debby appeared the same unremarkable sort of
+schoolgirls that they always were. The costume was not designed for
+maidens of Sarah's build, and it looked quite as uncomfortable on her
+as she felt in it. Blue Bonnet appeared as she always did in this sort
+of attire: as though it had grown on her.
+
+"Whew!" exclaimed Alec, "such elegance!"
+
+"Strikes me you're not so slow yourself," returned Kitty. "Isn't he
+'got up regardless,' girls?"
+
+Alec was dressed for his part with elaborate attention to details. Mr.
+Ashe had been anxiously consulted, for the Eastern boy had no desire
+to be dubbed a tenderfoot; and now, except for its spotless newness,
+his costume was quite "Western and ranchified"--according to Blue
+Bonnet.
+
+[Illustration: "COMANCHE . . . LEAPED FORWARD LIKE A CAT."]
+
+He was in khaki, too, with trousers that tucked into high
+"puttees"--thick pigskin leggings which gave his long limbs quite a
+substantial appearance and himself no end of comfort. A soft shirt
+and a carelessly knotted bandana gave the finishing touches to his
+attire. He had even turned in the neck of his shirt so as to be quite
+one of the cowmen, secretly hoping that the girls would not notice how
+white his throat was.
+
+It was a gay cavalcade that cantered out of the big corral, the five
+girls leading; Alec, Pinto Pete, and Uncle Joe forming a rear guard,
+with Don and Solomon capering at their heels; while a crowd of little
+"greasers" clung on to the bars, their eyes big with the wonder of it
+all.
+
+"Lucky we're not on the streets of Woodford," remarked Alec, looking
+with amused eyes over the well mounted company.
+
+"Why?" asked Blue Bonnet a trifle resentfully. "Aren't we grand enough
+for the East?"
+
+"Sure! But I'm afraid we'd be arrested for running a circus without a
+license!"
+
+This piece of wit so tickled Pinto Pete that he nearly stampeded the
+bunch by bursting again into his ear-splitting laugh. Sarah grabbed
+the handy pommel with a nervous clutch that was eloquent of her state
+of mind. And that action was all that saved her. For Comanche, taking
+Pete's guffaw for a command, leaped forward like a cat, and a moment
+later the whole crowd was galloping madly across the level meadow.
+
+It is probable that if Sarah's hair had not already been as light as
+hair can well be, that wild ride would have turned it several shades
+lighter. The terrors that were compressed into those two hours are
+beyond description, while the bobbing, bumping and shaking of her poor
+plump body left reminders that only time and witch hazel were able to
+eradicate.
+
+When they returned at noon Gertrudis had a wonderful dinner awaiting
+them, and the riders, with their appetites freshened by the air and
+exercise, fell upon it like a pack of famished wolves. All except
+Sarah. Protesting that she was not in the least hungry, she went at
+once to her room. On the little stand by her bed lay the Spanish
+grammar and dictionary, mute evidences of the way she had intended to
+spend the siesta hour. She gave them not so much as a glance, but
+stepping out of her clothes left them in a heap where they fell,--an
+action indicating a state of demoralization hardly to be believed of
+the parson's daughter,--and flung herself into bed with a groan.
+
+Two hours later she was awakened by the other four girls who had
+turned inquisitors, and while two were stripping off the bedclothes
+the other two applied a feather to the soles of her feet.
+
+"Oh--is it morning?" gasped Sarah, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
+"It doesn't seem as if I had been asleep a minute."
+
+"Such a waste of time!" quoted Kitty mockingly. "There's such a
+thing, Sarah, as overdoing the siesta," she taunted.
+
+Sarah drew up her feet and sat on them, smothering the groan that
+arose to her lips at the action. Every bone and joint had a new and
+awful kind of ache, and in that minute Sarah wished she had never
+heard of the Blue Bonnet ranch. Just then came the welcome clatter of
+dishes and at the doorway appeared Benita bearing a tray of good
+things, while back of her was Grandmother Clyde.
+
+"Now off with you,--you tormentors," the Señora commanded gaily. "This
+poor child must be nearly famished."
+
+"Grandmother's pet!" sang Blue Bonnet over her shoulder, as obeying
+orders, the four girls left the suffering Sarah in peace.
+
+Existence assumed a brighter hue to Sarah when she had eaten the
+generous repast Benita set before her; and when she had bathed and
+rubbed herself with the Pond's Extract Mrs. Clyde had secretly
+provided her with, life seemed once more worth living. But she was
+very quiet and moved with great circumspection for the rest of the
+day, quite content to leave to the others the handling of the
+fireworks in the evening.
+
+Uncle Cliff's "dangerous" box yielded still more wonders. The noisy
+bombs and giant crackers of the morning were followed by pyrotechnics
+that aroused unbounded admiration from the grown-ups and caused an
+excitement among the small greasers that threatened to end in a human
+conflagration. A small fortune went up in gigantic pin-wheels;
+flower-pots that sent up amazing blossoms in all the hues of the
+rainbow; rockets that burst in mid-air and let fall a shower of
+coiling snakes, which, in their turn, exploded into a myriad stars;
+Roman candles that sometimes went off at the wrong end and caused a
+wild scattering of the audience in their immediate vicinity; and
+"set-pieces" that were the epitome of this school of art.
+
+It would have been hard to say which was most tired, the hostess or
+her guests, when the last spark faded from the big "Lone Star" of
+Texas which ended the show. No bedtime frolic to-night; the four in
+the nursery undressed in a dead quiet and fell asleep before their
+heads fairly touched the pillows. In her own little room Sarah held
+another seance with the witch hazel bottle, and went to sleep only to
+dream of a wild ride across the meadows on Blue Bonnet's
+rocking-horse, with a fierce band of Comanche Indians pursuing her,
+yelling fiendishly all the while, and keeping up a mad fusillade of
+Roman candles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE ROUND ROBIN
+
+
+"WHAT'S the program for this morning?" asked Uncle Cliff, as the ranch
+party assembled on the veranda after a very late breakfast.
+
+"I don't know what the others are going to do," said Sarah, "but I'm
+going to write letters."
+
+The other girls exchanged amused glances: it was evident that Sarah
+wished to forestall suggestions of another ride. Kitty was beginning
+to show symptoms of sauciness when Mrs. Clyde interrupted kindly
+with--"I think Sarah's suggestion quite in order. Every one at home
+will be looking for letters."
+
+"Uncle Cliff telegraphed," said Blue Bonnet, loath to settle down to
+so prosaic a pursuit.
+
+"But a telegram isn't very satisfying to mothers and fathers, dear,"
+replied her grandmother. "And think of poor Susy and Ruth."
+
+"I intend to write them, too," remarked Sarah.
+
+"Let's all write them!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"That's the right spirit," said Señora with an approving nod. "A
+'round-robin' letter will cheer the poor girls wonderfully."
+
+"You hear the motion, are all in favor?" asked Alec.
+
+"Will you write a 'robin,' too?" bargained Kitty, who loved to torment
+the youth.
+
+"Sure!" he agreed at once, thus taking the wind out of her sails.
+
+"Aye, aye, then!" they all exclaimed, and the motion was declared
+carried.
+
+There was a scattering for paper and ink, after which every one
+settled down for an hour's scribbling, some using the broad rail of
+the veranda as a table, others repairing to desks in the house. Blue
+Bonnet doubled up jack-knife fashion on one of the front steps, using
+her knees for a pad; while Sarah, complaining that she could not think
+with so many people about her, took herself off to the window-seat in
+the nursery.
+
+"The idea of wanting to think!" exclaimed Kitty. "I never stop to
+think when I write letters."
+
+"You don't need to tell that to any one who has ever heard from you,"
+remarked Blue Bonnet. "The one letter I had from you in New York took
+me an hour to puzzle out,--it began in the middle and ended at the top
+of the first page, and there were six 'ands' and four 'ifs' in one
+sentence."
+
+"That's quite an accomplishment--I'll wager you couldn't get in half
+so many," retorted Kitty. And then for a while there was silence,
+broken only by the scratching of pens and the query from Blue Bonnet
+as to whether there were two s's or two p's in "disappoint."
+
+                 "TO SUSY AND RUTH DOYLE, WOODFORD,
+                                 MASSACHUSETTS.
+                                      "THE BLUE BONNET RANCH,
+                                          "July the fifth.
+
+        "YOU POOR DEARS: You'll never know if you live to be a
+        thousand years old what a fearful disappointment it
+        was when Doctor Clark told me the awful news. Where
+        did you get it? Is it very bad? And do you have to
+        gargle peroxide of hydrogen? Amanda says she just
+        lived on it when her throat was bad. Are you honestly
+        as red as lobsters? It's a perfect shame you should
+        have to be sick--and in vacation, too. There might be
+        some advantages if it should happen--say at
+        examination time. Grandmother says it is very unusual
+        to have scarlet fever in warm weather,--it just seems
+        as if you must have gone out of your way to get it--or
+        it went out of its way to get you.
+
+        "The ranch party isn't a bit complete without you. I'm
+        going to take pictures of everything and everybody so
+        as to show you when we get back. That sounds as if I
+        meant to go back again next fall, when really it isn't
+        decided yet. I'm more in love with the ranch than ever
+        and feel as if I never wanted to leave it again. It's
+        so fine and big out here. There's so much air to
+        breathe and such a long way to look, and you can
+        throw a stone as far as you like without 'breaking a
+        window or a tradition'--as Alec says. We have our
+        traditions, too, but they can stand any amount of
+        stone-throwing--in fact that's part of them.
+
+        "It's worth crossing the continent to see Sarah on
+        horseback, riding across the saddle in a wild Western
+        way that would shock her reverend father out of a
+        whole paragraph. Kitty dared her and I must say she
+        showed pluck--Comanche can go _some_ when he gets
+        started, and Sarah stayed with him to the finish. But
+        you can imagine why she wanted to write letters to-day
+        instead of riding again. You can thank her for the
+        round robin. There, I've reached the bottom of the
+        page before I've begun to tell you anything. But the
+        others will make up for it, I reckon. No more now--I
+        must save strength for a letter to Aunt Lucinda. Do
+        hurry and get well and out of quarantine so that you
+        can write to
+
+                                    "Your devoted
+                                              "BLUE BONNET."
+
+
+        "DEAR SUSY AND RUTH: We arrived on Monday evening
+        after a very pleasant journey. The name of the station
+        where you get off is Jonah--isn't that odd? We had to
+        drive twenty miles in a very queer kind of vehicle in
+        order to reach Blue Bonnet's home, and this letter
+        will have to go back over the same road in order to
+        be posted. I think I had better go back to the
+        beginning and tell you all about our trip from the
+        time we left Woodford.
+
+        "The private car we came in is called The Wanderer and
+        it is really a pity you could not have shared it with
+        us. It is much grander than Mrs. Clyde's drawing-room
+        at home,--the mahogany shone till you could see your
+        face in it, and wherever there was not mahogany there
+        was a mirror, and Slivers, the porter, dusted
+        everything about twenty times a day. If you could see
+        Slivers I should not have to explain why he is called
+        by that name. I am sure he is the tallest and slimmest
+        man I have ever seen. And that is odd, too, for you
+        always think of them as plump and fat. He is a negro,
+        you know, and doesn't seem to mind it a bit, but is as
+        jolly as if he were white and as fat as you think he
+        ought to be, and sang and played his banjo in the
+        evenings quite like a civilized person. He waited on
+        table, too, while the chief--the cook, you
+        know--prepared our meals in the most cunning little
+        kitchen you can imagine.
+
+        "It was a very interesting trip. Sometimes we would
+        begin our breakfast in one state and before we had
+        finished we would be in another, and yet there would
+        seem to be no difference. I think travelling is a very
+        interesting way to learn Geography, for you forget to
+        think of Kansas as yellow and Oklahoma as purple, and
+        think of them as _real_ places with trees and farms
+        and other things like Massachusetts. I knew already
+        that Texas is as big as all the New England states put
+        together, but I never really _grasped_ it before. I am
+        learning new things every day, some Spanish, though
+        not as much as I could wish. Yesterday I learned to
+        ride astride. That is, nearly learned. I don't feel
+        entirely at home that way yet and it has tired me
+        considerably, but I dare say it will come easier after
+        a while. My horse is named Comanche, and he looks just
+        that way. There is more white to his eyes than
+        anything else.
+
+        "Benita is Blue Bonnet's old nurse. She does the most
+        exquisite drawn-work and is going to teach me (it
+        would be as well for you not to mention this when you
+        write) the spider-web stitch and the Maltese cross, so
+        that I can do a waist for Blue Bonnet. She is doing so
+        much for us all that I want to make some return for
+        her hospitality. Blue Bonnet, I mean, not Benita.
+
+        "I do hope you will soon be better. I felt so mean at
+        leaving without even saying good-bye. But I had to
+        think of all my brothers and sisters and the girls--I
+        couldn't expose them to the fever, you know. I hope
+        you liked the postals we sent. Amanda and I came very
+        near being left once when we couldn't find the
+        post-box at Kansas City,--we had to run a block, while
+        Alec and Kitty stood on the back platform and laid
+        bets on the winner. (Amanda won.)
+
+        "We are all well and hope you are the same,--I mean I
+        hope you are better and will soon be well.
+
+                                 "With best love,
+                                         "SARAH JANE BLAKE."
+
+
+        "Oh, girls, I am simply speechless and can't find a
+        word to say when I try to describe our grand trip and
+        this perfect peach of a place, and the glorious time
+        we have had and are having ever since we left pokey
+        old Woodford and arrived at the Blue Bonnet ranch. I
+        keep pinching myself to see if I'm really me, but it
+        isn't at all convincing, and I suppose I'll simply go
+        on treading air and not believe in the reality of a
+        thing till I come to earth in time to hear the Jolly
+        Good say--'Miss Kitty, you may take problem number
+        ninety-four'--and wake up to the monotonous old grind
+        again--oh, if you could only see this darling old
+        house and the picturesque Mexicans--rather dirty some
+        of them (I suppose that's why they are called
+        greasers) and the perfectly dear way they adore Blue
+        Bonnet and their deference to her 'amigos'--I tell you
+        I feel like a princess when they call me 'Señorita'
+        with a musical accent that makes you downright sick
+        with envy. Why anybody on earth ever left the West to
+        go and settle up the East I don't see,--you may think
+        I mean that the other way about but I don't, for
+        anybody can see at half a glance that this country is
+        as old as Methusalem--the live-oaks look as if they'd
+        been here forever and ever and would stay as much
+        longer--they're all 'hoary with moss' and all that
+        sort of thing like that poem of Tennyson's--or maybe
+        it is Longfellow's--it doesn't matter which in
+        vacation, thank goodness. I don't like to seem to be
+        rubbing it in about our good times, for it's just too
+        hateful that you can't be here, too, and ride like mad
+        for miles without coming to a fence and wear the
+        adorable riding-suits Mr. Ashe got for us in New
+        York--all seven alike and as becoming as anything--and
+        have the best things to eat, wear, do, and see every
+        minute of the day.
+
+        "This won't go into the envelope with the rest if I
+        run on any longer so I'll close,--with a fat hard hug
+        and lots of love to you both,
+
+                                                    "KITTY."
+
+
+        "DEAR GIRLS: Don't you ever go and get conditioned at
+        school; take my solemn warning. That awful thing
+        hanging over me is going to do its best to spoil my
+        grand summer in Texas. I intended to do a lot of
+        studying as soon as we arrived here, so that I might
+        have a few weeks perfectly free from worry; but
+        goodness me, how can anybody open a book when there's
+        something going on every blessed minute of the day?
+        It's a pity it wasn't Sarah who was conditioned. She
+        actually likes to study and if it came to a choice
+        between a horseback ride and doing ten pages of
+        grammar, she'd jump at the grammar. Sometimes I think
+        Sarah isn't made like other girls. Not quite normal,
+        you know.
+
+        "Now that I've seen Blue Bonnet at home, I realize
+        what a hard time she must have had in Woodford, at
+        first especially. She's treated like a perfect _queen_
+        here, and doesn't have to mind a soul except
+        Señora--that's what we call Mrs. Clyde. Fancy having
+        run the ranch all your life and then at fifteen having
+        to start in and obey Miss Clyde, and Mr. Hunt, and the
+        rest of those mighty ones! I think she's a brick to
+        have done it at all, and I take back every criticism I
+        ever made of her. She must be terribly rich, but
+        doesn't put on any airs at all.
+
+        "How is little old Woodford getting along without us?
+        I'm almost ashamed to write Mother and Father, for I
+        can't say I'm homesick and parents always expect you
+        to be. Debby wants to finish my page, so no more now
+        from
+
+                                       "Your loving AMANDA."
+
+
+
+        "DEAR SUSY AND RUTH: There's only room for me to say
+        hello, and how are you? I wish I were a grand
+        descriptive genius like Robert Louis Stevenson so that
+        I could describe this wonderful Texas. But description
+        isn't my strong point--you know how I just scraped
+        through Eng. Comp. so I'll not try any flights.
+
+        "It isn't half as _wild_ as we used to imagine it. The
+        cowboys don't go shooting up towns and hanging
+        horse-thieves to all the trees the way they do in most
+        of the Western stories. Even the cattle are tame, but
+        Blue Bonnet says that is because they are fenced
+        nowadays, and most of them de-horned. All the cowboys
+        except two are Mexicans, and they are so picturesque
+        and--different. Mr. Ashe says Texas is filling up with
+        negroes but he won't have any on the ranch,--he sticks
+        to the Mexicans, and I'm mighty glad, for they seem
+        just to suit the atmosphere. Juanita, who waits on the
+        table, is a beauty, with the most coquettish airs.
+        Miguel is in love with her, and we all hope she won't
+        keep him waiting too long, for if they are really
+        going to be married, we want a grand wedding while we
+        are here. Wouldn't that be thrilling?
+
+        "I've just room to sign my name,
+
+                                    "Yours, with love,
+                                                    "DEBBY."
+
+
+       "TO THE ABSENT TWO-SEVENTHS OF THE 'WE-ARE-ITS'--Greeting!
+       Please don't imagine that I forced my way into this
+       Round Robin affair. My masculine chirography probably
+       looks out of place in this epistolary triumph--ahem!--but
+       you can thank Kitty Clark for it. I don't know whether
+       or not this is intended as a letter of condolence, but
+       it surely ought to be,--anybody who has to miss this
+       summer-session on the Blue Bonnet ranch deserves
+       flowers and slow music.
+
+        "This letter will be postmarked 'Jonah'--but don't be
+        alarmed; they say it's a harmless one. I'm going to
+        ride over with the mail. Just a little matter of
+        twenty miles, a trifle out here! Kitty says she
+        doesn't see how we can expect any letters to reach a
+        place with such a name, but I've faith in the
+        collection of relatives left behind in Woodford.
+
+        "Now I advise you both, the next time you go into the
+        vicinity of anything catching, cross your fingers and
+        say 'King's Ex.' for you're missing the time of your
+        young lives. As a place of residence, Texas certainly
+        has my vote. A fellow can breathe his lungs full here
+        without robbing the next fellow of oxygen.
+
+                            "With unbounded sympathy,
+                                           "Yours,
+                                               "ALEC TRENT."
+
+Blue Bonnet collected the literary installments from each of the
+different authors and put them in a big envelope.
+
+"This 'round-robin' is as plump as a partridge," she remarked. "I hope
+Susy and Ruth won't strain their eyes devouring it."
+
+"The Woodford postman in our part of town will have an unusually warm
+greeting, I fancy," said Mrs. Clyde, gathering up all the other
+letters and placing them with the round-robin in the roomy mail-bag.
+
+"I think Father had better have a social at the church for the
+We-are-Seven relatives and ask them to bring our letters. Reading and
+passing them around would make a very interesting evening's
+entertainment," said Sarah.
+
+Blue Bonnet paused long enough to shake her. "Don't you dare suggest
+such a horrible thing to your father, Sarah! My letter wasn't intended
+for--public consumption."
+
+"Nor mine!" exclaimed Kitty. "Father and mother know what a
+scatter-brain I am, but it's a family skeleton which they don't care
+to have aired."
+
+"Is the mail all in?" asked Alec in an official tone.
+
+"All in, postmaster," replied Mrs. Clyde, fastening the bag and
+handing it to him with a smile. "You're not going alone, are you?"
+
+"No, Shady is going along this trip, Señora," he replied.
+
+"Why don't we all go?" asked Blue Bonnet; "it isn't much of a ride."
+
+Sarah looked up in alarm, but met Mrs. Clyde's reassuring glance. "Not
+this time, dear," she returned to Blue Bonnet. "So far you have had
+all play and no work. The piano hasn't been touched since we
+arrived."
+
+Blue Bonnet said nothing, but into her eyes there sprang a sudden
+rebellion. Out there by the stables Don and Solomon were frolicking,
+ready at a moment's notice to dash away at Firefly's heels. Away in
+front of the house stretched the road and the prairie, calling
+irresistibly to her restless, roving spirit. And vacation had been so
+long in coming! If grandmother were going to be like Aunt Lucinda--
+Again there flashed into her mind the wish so often voiced in
+Woodford: that there might be two of her, so that one might stay at
+home and be taught things while the other went wandering about as she
+liked. All at once she remembered Alec's suggestion--that she adopt
+Sarah as her "alter ego." A smile drove the cloud from her eyes.
+"Can't Sarah do my practising while I do her riding?" she asked
+coaxingly.
+
+Her grandmother hid a smile as she said: "I was under the impression
+that my coming to the ranch was to see that Blue Bonnet Ashe did her
+practising, mending, and had coffee only on Sundays."
+
+Blue Bonnet colored. She had uttered those very words, and nobody
+should say that an Ashe was not sincere. Straightening up she met the
+questioning looks of the other girls with a resolute glance.
+"Grandmother is right, as she always is, girls. I'll go and practise,
+and you--what will you do?"
+
+"I'm sure all the girls will be glad of a little time to themselves,"
+said the Señora. "Let us all do as we like until dinner-time. I've
+been longing to sit in the shade of the big magnolia ever since I
+came. I shall take a book and spend my two hours out there, and any
+one who wishes may share my bower."
+
+"Then I'll be off," said Alec. "Any commissions for me in Jonah?" He
+stood like an orderly at attention, with the mail-bag slung over one
+shoulder and his whole bearing expressive of the importance of his
+mission. The sun and the wind of the prairie had already tanned his
+smooth skin to the ruddy hue of health, but Mrs. Clyde, observing him
+closely, could not fail to note how very slim and frail the erect
+young figure was.
+
+"Isn't twenty miles a rather long ride on a hot day?" she asked
+tactfully, fearing to wound the sensitive lad.
+
+"We shall reach Kooch's ranch by noon, and we are to rest there until
+it is cool again," he replied, flushing a little under her solicitous
+glance.
+
+"Well, keep an eye on Shady!" said Blue Bonnet, waving him good-bye as
+she went to do her practising.
+
+Fifteen minutes later each member of the ranch party was busily
+engaged in doing "just as she liked." Mrs. Clyde, deep in a book, sat
+under the fragrant magnolia; Kitty reclined on a Navajo blanket near
+her, lazily watching the gay-plumaged birds that made the tree a
+rendezvous. From the open windows of the living-room came a
+conscientious rendering of a "Czerny" exercise, enlivened now and then
+by a bar or two of a rollicking dance, with which Blue Bonnet
+sugar-coated her pill. In the kitchen Debby and Amanda were deep in
+the mysteries of "pinoche" under the tutelage of Lisa and Gertrudis;
+while Sarah, safe inside her own little sanctum, sat and drew threads
+rapturously, and later, coached by the delighted Benita, wove them
+into endless spider-webs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE SWIMMING HOLE
+
+
+THEY sat up late that evening waiting for Alec to come with the mail.
+Mrs. Clyde and Blue Bonnet were somewhat uneasy, for they knew he had
+intended to be back in time for their late supper; and when ten
+o'clock came and no Alec or Shady appeared, they grew openly anxious.
+
+Uncle Cliff refused to share their worry. "Shady's no tenderfoot," he
+scoffed, "and holding up the mail has gone out of fashion in these
+parts."
+
+Blue Bonnet had no fear of hold-ups and did not care to express her
+suspicion that the ride had proved too much for Alec. She found reason
+to reproach herself: a forty-mile ride for a delicate boy like him was
+a foolish undertaking and she should have realized it. She had ridden
+that distance herself innumerable times; but she had practically been
+reared in the saddle and had lived all her life in this land of great
+distances. It was very different with Alec. The day of their picnic in
+Woodford came back to her, and again she saw the boy, worn out by a
+much shorter ride, lying white and unconscious before the fire in the
+hunter's cabin. She grew almost provoked with her grandmother for
+having insisted upon her practising instead of riding to Jonah as she
+had wished. If she had gone along, she at least would have known what
+to do for Alec in an emergency.
+
+At eleven the moon came up, and rising out of the prairie
+simultaneously with the golden disk, came Shady, riding alone. A rapid
+fire of questions greeted him as he came up with the mail.
+
+"Left the young fella at Kooch's," he explained briefly.
+
+"What was the matter?" asked Blue Bonnet anxiously.
+
+"Well, ye see--it was this way,--" Shady paused and then stood
+awkwardly shifting his sombrero from hand to hand. Blue Bonnet guessed
+instantly that Alec had sworn the cowboy to secrecy concerning the
+real reason for his non-appearance, and she refrained from further
+questioning. But her grandmother took alarm.
+
+"Is he hurt--or ill?" Mrs. Clyde asked quickly.
+
+For a moment Shady avoided her eyes, then resolutely squaring his
+shoulders he lied boldly: "No, Señora,--the mare went lame on him.
+He'll be over in the morning."
+
+Mrs. Clyde drew a quick breath of relief; but Blue Bonnet was not so
+easily reassured. That Kooch had a dozen horses which Alec might have
+ridden if Strawberry was really disabled, was something her
+grandmother did not know; but the little Texan, used all her life to
+the easy give and take of ranch life, understood at once that Alec's
+real reason for staying at the Dutchman's was quite different from the
+one Shady had so glibly given. She knew better, however, than to press
+the cowboy, and let him go off to the cook-house without attempting to
+get at the truth.
+
+"Grammy Kooch will take good care of him," said Uncle Joe; and with
+her fears thus set at rest, Mrs. Clyde proposed an adjournment to the
+house to read their letters.
+
+The next morning Blue Bonnet was up before any one else in the house
+was stirring, and, dressing without arousing any of the other
+occupants of the nursery, she stole out of the house and made her way
+to the stable. Some of the Mexicans were already up, feeding the stock
+and doing the "chores," and one of them saddled Firefly. None of them
+wondered at Blue Bonnet's early appearance, for since her infancy she
+had ridden whenever the fancy took her, and now as she dashed out of
+the corral with Don and Solomon racing madly after her, the men
+grinned with satisfaction that the Señorita had returned to the ranch
+unchanged.
+
+As she neared the Kooch ranch she saw a solitary horseman emerging
+from the gate. He was not looking towards her, and after a moment's
+scrutiny she began to whistle "All the Blue Bonnets." With a start of
+surprise Alec glanced up the road and at once galloped towards her.
+
+"Is it really you?" he asked, hardly believing his eyes.
+
+"Nae ither!" she laughed, turning Firefly and falling in with the
+strawberry mare--whose four legs, she noted, were as sound as ever.
+
+"Well, you are an early bird."
+
+"Lucky you're not a worm,--I'm hungry enough to eat one!" she said
+gaily. Under cover of the jest she stole a quick look at him. Yes, in
+spite of the sunburn he looked worn out and ill; he needed to rest and
+be taken care of. She refrained from asking how he felt and instead
+kept up a steady fire of nonsense, describing their dull day at the
+ranch without him. If Alec had felt any resentment at her coming for
+him, it melted under her light treatment of the situation; and by the
+time they reached the little "rio" he was more like his usual,
+interested self.
+
+"I think I'd like to follow up this cree--er--river, I mean," he
+remarked, looking up the winding, willow-grown course.
+
+"Not before breakfast, thank you!"
+
+"Well, I didn't mean right this minute, but sometime," he corrected.
+
+"We will, surely. I want to introduce you to the lovely spots of the
+ranch, just as you showed me the charming places about Woodford. It
+will be different from following the brook as we used to do there,
+but I think you'll like it. There are picnic places along San
+Franciscito that can't be beat."
+
+"San Frances_cheeto_?" he echoed; "where's that?"
+
+"That's the name of this river," she replied loftily.
+
+Alec threw back his head and laughed. "The name's bigger than the
+stream!" he declared.
+
+"It has advantages over the brook, as you'll see. One of them is the
+swimming hole. Do you swim?"
+
+Alec's eyes glistened. "I'm ready to learn."
+
+"Well, get Shady to teach you. I'm going to make the girls learn. You
+boys and we girls will have the pool on alternate days,--won't it be
+fun?"
+
+"The best ever. This is the first I've heard of it."
+
+"I wanted some things for surprises," Blue Bonnet declared. "Isn't it
+odd your being here and seeing everything I used to talk about? It was
+a novelty then, but after this I won't have anything left to describe
+to you. What do you suppose we will talk about on our first jaunt by
+the brook next spring?"
+
+Alec's face changed oddly. "Maybe there won't be any jaunt by the
+brook next spring--for me," he said, looking away from her startled
+eyes.
+
+"Why, what do you mean?" she asked, and then wished she had not
+spoken, for she was suddenly afraid of his answer.
+
+"I may not be,--you can't always tell," he stammered, looking as if he
+wanted to take it all back. "Let's not talk about it now, please," he
+begged, and Blue Bonnet gladly let the subject drop.
+
+She rode on in silence the rest of the way, depressed and miserable.
+Alec's words were a revelation; she had not dreamed he felt so ill and
+doubtful of living. She had thought he would grow strong and well at
+the ranch, and already he was worse and spoke of his case as hopeless.
+
+They were greeted with a loud outcry from the girls, who were perched
+on the top bar of the corral gate awaiting them. They had been
+somewhat startled upon arising to find Blue Bonnet gone, but Firefly's
+absence from his stall had explained her disappearance.
+
+"Hurry up,--we're starving!" they cried; and Alec and Blue Bonnet,
+responding gaily, dismounted and hastened to the house with the rest,
+both glad to escape questions in the general hilarity and press of
+hunger.
+
+"Grandmother," said Blue Bonnet later in the day; "I'm worried about
+Alec." It was just after the siesta, and seeing her grandmother
+sitting alone in her chosen seat under the magnolia, she had gone out
+for a chat. They were seldom alone these days.
+
+"He does look tired," Mrs. Clyde admitted; "but it is natural he
+should after that long ride."
+
+"It isn't that." Blue Bonnet shook her head. "I'm afraid he's--got
+something."
+
+"Got something?" her grandmother repeated in puzzled surprise.
+
+"_Has_ something, if you object to 'got.' Has something the matter
+with him, I mean,--serious, you know."
+
+Then she repeated the conversation she had had with Alec that morning.
+Mrs. Clyde listened in silence, but her eyes were troubled when Blue
+Bonnet finished.
+
+"It may not be so bad as Alec imagines," she said with a forced
+hopefulness. "He has been outgrowing his strength, and being
+overtired, too, makes him despondent."
+
+In spite of her words, from that time on Mrs. Clyde was more observant
+of the boy, and the moment she saw the first signs of fatigue she
+would make some tactful suggestion for his benefit, relieving him of
+the necessity of saying he was tired, yet bringing about the
+possibility of rest. And often with her own hands she would concoct
+some nourishing dish, hardly so piquant as Gertrudis' red-hot
+creations, but rather more healthful for a growing boy. Neither she
+nor Blue Bonnet voiced their fears to the other girls nor to any of
+the men, but, with a silent understanding, ministered quietly to the
+frail boy's needs.
+
+A few days later the girls crossed the meadow to the pool for their
+first lesson in swimming. It was an odd little bunch that sat on the
+bank dabbling their toes in the limpid water. The hastily improvised
+bathing-suits they wore were of every style and color, and they looked
+as gay as a flock of parrots in their bright-hued raiment. Blue Bonnet
+dove off the big boulder in the middle, to the great envy of the
+others, who only consented to get wet all over after much persuasion
+and the threat of a forcible ducking.
+
+Sarah took the whole thing as seriously as she did most things.
+"Everybody should learn to swim," she announced authoritatively as she
+sat contemplating a plunge. "Some day we might have a chance to cross
+the ocean, and then we'd wish we knew how."
+
+"Do you mean to swim across the ocean?" demanded Blue Bonnet wickedly.
+
+"Of course not," replied Sarah, unruffled. "But in case of shipwreck,
+you know, it's well to be prepared. I believe it should be studied as
+a science,--get the stroke, then do it. It's like bicycle riding, they
+say: when you once learn how to keep your balance you never forget."
+
+Blue Bonnet demonstrated the stroke again and again, while the other
+girls watched and imitated as they sat or sprawled on the grassy
+bank. Sarah bent her whole mind to the acquiring of the proper arm
+action; lay face-down and kicked scientifically; then, convinced of
+her preparation for the feat, boldly entered the water.
+
+"Good for you, Sallikins!" cried Blue Bonnet. "The others must be
+afraid of getting their feet wet." Then she sang tauntingly:
+
+        "Mother, may I go out to swim?
+         Yes, my darling daughter,
+         Hang your clothes on a hickory limb--
+         But don't go near the water!"
+
+Thus challenged, Kitty stepped shrinkingly into the cold water. "If
+Sarah will swim from me to you, I'll try it after her," she bargained.
+It was perhaps a distance of three yards from where she stood,
+waist-deep, to the big rock whereon Blue Bonnet was perched, laughing
+at them; but the Hellespont could hardly have loomed wider to the
+anxious eyes of Hero, than did this narrow channel now appear to the
+four novices.
+
+"All right," agreed Sarah with dogged determination. She shut her
+eyes, screwed up her face, spread her arms, struck out with her feet
+and started. If a hippopotamus had suddenly slipped off the bank there
+could hardly have been a greater splash; Sarah kicked madly, puffing,
+panting, and churning the water into foam. All to no avail. Before
+she had gone a yard she sank like a paving-stone to the bottom of the
+pool. Blue Bonnet, convulsed with laughter, went down after her, but
+it took the combined efforts of herself and Kitty to bring the
+struggling Sarah to the surface. Sputtering and choking and much
+puzzled over the failure of her scientific method, Sarah retired to
+the bank to get her breath.
+
+"Kitty's turn," she said inexorably as soon as she could speak.
+
+Kitty found the bottom no less speedily, but scrambled up by herself
+and went at it again until she was able to progress almost two feet
+before going down to "call on the fishes," as Blue Bonnet said. It
+remained for Debby to cover herself with glory. Disdaining science and
+the instructions of the teacher, she took a lesson from Nature and
+struck out like a puppy. Straight to Blue Bonnet she swam, struggled
+up on the big boulder beside her, gasping and breathless, but
+delighted at her own success.
+
+"Bravo!" cried the girls, quite overcome with admiration.
+
+Emboldened by her triumph the others tried again and again, and while
+not wildly successful were so far encouraged that they lost their
+first great fear of the water. And that, as every swimmer knows, is
+the first step towards victory.
+
+"After you've all learned," said Blue Bonnet a little later, as they
+all sat on the veranda rail drying their hair, "we'll go over to the
+reservoir above Jonah some time and have a real swim. That is, if
+Grandmother's willing." She was glad she had remembered to add that
+last provision; it would have won an approving look from Aunt Lucinda.
+
+"Then we'll have to have real suits," remarked Kitty, beginning then
+and there to plan a fetching costume for the occasion. "I'll write
+home for one right away."
+
+When the plan was laid before Señora she made a brilliant suggestion.
+"Why not make your own suits? We may be able to find material in
+Jonah, and Benita and I will superintend."
+
+Sarah beamed delightedly, but Blue Bonnet looked doubtful. "Will it be
+as hard as knitting a shawl?" she asked, ignoring the giggles her
+question provoked.
+
+"Lots harder, you goose," said Kitty. "But if you begin it you'll
+probably have it finished for you by the same person who did the
+shawl."
+
+"Then I don't mind!" Blue Bonnet agreed promptly. "We'll go to Jonah
+to-morrow--" adding before the words were fairly said, "--may we,
+Grandmother?"
+
+"Perhaps," was all she said; but her eyes held more encouragement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+AN ADVENTURE
+
+
+"HAVE you decided, Grandmother," asked Blue Bonnet, "whether or not we
+can go to Jonah this morning?"
+
+"I think you may as well go," said Mrs. Clyde. "If they have no
+suitable material at Jonah, we shall have to send away for it, and the
+sooner we know the better. And, besides, we need several things for
+the house."
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled gratefully. Grandmother was so sweetly
+reasonable--most of the time. To her surprise Sarah was the only one
+of the girls who greeted the proposal with any enthusiasm. The others
+looked listless and heavy-eyed.
+
+"I feel tired all over," said Debby.
+
+"I can't move my arms without groaning," complained Amanda.
+
+"I'm as stiff as a poker," added Kitty mournfully.
+
+Sarah looked wise. "It's the swimming," she declared.
+
+"Trying to swim," Blue Bonnet corrected her. "I'm not tired or stiff."
+
+"If trying to swim has made us feel this way, why doesn't Sarah make
+her little moan?" demanded Kitty.
+
+Sarah looked still wiser. "I was so stiff before that I think swimming
+just limbered me up," she explained delightedly. Sarah could not help
+feeling a little very human satisfaction at the consciousness that she
+had borne her sufferings with far greater courage than the others now
+displayed.
+
+"I couldn't ride a mile," groaned Kitty.
+
+"Nor I!" declared both Debby and Amanda.
+
+"Then, Señorita Blake, do we go by our lones?" asked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"I'd love to," Sarah assented readily, beating down a nagging fear of
+Comanche's eyes.
+
+"Then let's hurry and dress. We must start while it's cool."
+
+"I think you will have to drive, dear," said her grandmother, looking
+up from the shopping list she was making. "Lisa says we must have
+laundry soap, and I don't see how you can bring a big box unless you
+take the buckboard."
+
+Blue Bonnet's face fell. "Lisa's always wanting soap," she grumbled.
+
+"I should love to drive," Sarah suggested wistfully.
+
+Blue Bonnet hesitated; after all a hostess should consider a guest's
+preference, and Sarah was certainly a "good sort." "Very well," she
+assented, smothering a sigh.
+
+"Have you all decided what color you want your bathing-suits?" asked
+the Señora.
+
+"Let's have them all alike," suggested Sarah.
+
+"Red!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"No, thank you," returned Kitty. "Pray consider the feelings of my
+hair! I'm willing to have any color so long as--"
+
+"--so long as it's green!" Blue Bonnet finished for her, recollecting
+former debates of this sort.
+
+"Green is lovely for swimming, anyway," Kitty contended. "It's so
+mermaidy, you know."
+
+"And so becoming to red--er--auburn hair," put in Blue Bonnet. "Having
+blue eyes myself, I'm not partial to green."
+
+"Oh, if you're going to insist on harmony of colors I think we had
+better stick to black and blue--I'm one big bruise." Kitty illustrated
+her remark with a groan.
+
+"Yes, I've seen blue trimmed with black and it was very pretty," said
+Sarah, quite missing Kitty's point.
+
+"Here, Grandmother, please make a list. Now, everybody, decide. Red
+for me. Debby, what shall yours be?"
+
+"Red with white braid, please," replied Debby after a moment's
+thought.
+
+"Blue with white ditto," was Amanda's choice.
+
+"Green," came from Kitty.
+
+"Black and blue,"--this from the consistent Sarah.
+
+"I think you will have to change the name of your club from the 'We
+are Sevens' to 'The Rainbow Quintet,'" said the Señora, laughing as
+she wrote down the variegated list.
+
+After all it was a delightful drive to Jonah. The two fleet horses
+drew the light buckboard over the smooth road with a motion that Sarah
+found far preferable to the cat-like leaps of Comanche; and Blue
+Bonnet was so proud of being trusted to drive a team that she was
+quite reconciled to the arrangement.
+
+"Denham would have fainted if I had even suggested driving
+Grandmother's carriage horses," she told Sarah, with a scornful sniff
+for those fat Woodford beasts.
+
+"You drive beautifully," was Sarah's comforting rejoinder.
+
+To their great satisfaction they found just what they wanted in Jonah.
+Alpaca was to be had in almost every shade, and wide white braid that
+made an excellent trimming. And to Blue Bonnet's delight she found a
+bright red sash that would add the finishing touch of elegance to her
+suit. Their shopping done and the buckboard well-heaped with their
+varied purchases, the two girls drove back as far as Kooch's ranch,
+where, according to an immemorial custom, they lunched and rested
+until the cool of the afternoon. On the return trip they met with an
+adventure.
+
+The road ran for a short distance beside the little river with the big
+name--San Franciscito--which had so amused Alec. It was there that
+Sarah did something unprecedented. For several miles she had been
+envying Blue Bonnet her easy manner of handling the reins and the
+light touch that sent the mustangs right or left as she willed. It was
+a beautiful accomplishment.
+
+"Blue Bonnet," she asked suddenly, "may I drive for a little while?"
+
+Blue Bonnet looked up in speechless surprise; Sarah was certainly
+"coming on." "Surely you may," she said cordially, straightway handing
+over the reins. "Hold them firmly--these colts are apt to run under a
+loose rein."
+
+Sarah felt a curious sense of power as she grasped the leather in her
+unpracticed hands. Conscientious to a degree, she did as she was bid
+and held the mustangs firmly. In her anxiety to do the thing properly,
+she overdid it, and the next moment the horses were tossing their
+heads angrily and backing with all their might. The bank of the stream
+just here was very high and steep, though just beyond was a ford where
+the road branched. The light buckboard offered no resistance to the
+spirited mustangs, and, in a second, before Blue Bonnet could grasp
+the reins, one hind wheel had slipped an inch or two over the ledge.
+For a second or two the girls were in grave danger. Blue Bonnet felt a
+swift overpowering fear; the half-broken colts were as apt to plunge
+backward as to advance if they felt the whip, and that meant a plunge
+down the steep bank. She looked about her helplessly. Sarah, with a
+faint shriek, shut her eyes and prepared for the catastrophe.
+
+At that moment a horseman came suddenly up the bank at the ford,
+emerging as if from out the earth. At a glance he took in the
+situation, was off his horse, caught the near colt by the bit and
+brought both frightened animals to a standstill with the wheel a safe
+margin from the bank. Then without waiting to hear the faintly
+murmured thanks of the terrified girls, their rescuer turned at once
+to his own horse, which had seized the moment to make a break for
+freedom. The boy--for he was hardly more--had thrown the lines over
+the animal's head and now, with another of his incredibly swift
+movements, he caught them and in a second more had jerked the horse
+about. Then in a flash he was once more in the saddle. Blue Bonnet had
+just managed to catch her breath,--when it was taken away again. For
+before the boy had put his right foot in the stirrup, he was out of
+the saddle once more, lying all of a heap in the grass, while his
+horse with a wicked kick-up of his heels, vanished around a turn in
+the road.
+
+Not daring to trust the reins out of her hands a second time, Blue
+Bonnet almost pushed Sarah from her seat. Fearfully the girl
+approached and bent over the fallen hero; to her relief she saw that
+his eyes were open. He blinked queerly for a moment, then gave a gaspy
+little laugh.
+
+"I'm all right. Don't worry. It's knocked the breath out of me--that's
+all," he managed to say at last; and then, after another pause, he
+scrambled up to a sitting posture.
+
+"I'm so sorry," said Sarah, finding her voice. "I hope you're not
+seriously hurt."
+
+"I'm--quite whole!" he assured her, and stopped with a wince of pain.
+"It's my wrist, I reckon--broken or sprained." He examined the injured
+member closely and after a vain attempt to lift it said briefly:
+"Broken. Isn't that the limit?"
+
+"Oh, dear," exclaimed Sarah, all sympathy. "What shall we do?" She
+approached Blue Bonnet with a very serious face. "We shall have to get
+a doctor to set his arm right away," she said in a low tone. "You know
+the bones go crooked if they're not set soon."
+
+"If he can get up into the buckboard we can take him to the doctor,
+that'll be quicker," replied Blue Bonnet.
+
+Sarah went back to the boy. He still sat, rather dazed and white,
+looking disgustedly at his injured arm. "Say," she began
+hesitatingly; she wished she knew his name--"say" was so plebeian;
+"--are you too badly hurt to get into the buckboard?"
+
+"No, indeed," he replied cheerfully. "Be--with you--in a minute. But
+sorry--to trouble you."
+
+"It's no trouble," said Sarah. "We're terribly sorry about your arm."
+
+"Nothing much,--only a bother," he maintained stoutly, setting his
+teeth as he said it and scrambling to his feet. Then he swayed and
+would have fallen if Sarah had not caught him. He clung to her for a
+moment, fighting the dizziness with all the pride of his seventeen
+years, then giving in sheepishly, let her lead him to the buckboard.
+Once there he leaned weakly against the wheel, while the two girls,
+anxious and frightened, yet too considerate of his feelings to show
+their concern, watched him in speechless sympathy. At last he
+straightened up and gave a short, embarrassed laugh.
+
+"Reckon I've got a funny-bone in my head," he said impatiently. Then
+steadying himself with his right hand he climbed slowly into the back
+seat of the buckboard.
+
+"We'd better go to Jonah at once, don't you think--for the doctor?"
+Blue Bonnet asked him.
+
+"Is it far?" he asked. Blue Bonnet looked her surprise and he added:
+"I don't know these parts. I'm camping up at the Big Spring and was
+just riding down this way looking for a place they call Kooch's."
+
+"Why, we've just come from there," exclaimed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Then it is near?" he asked. "I'd begun to think I must have taken the
+wrong road."
+
+"Just a mile or two back," explained Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Then if you will kindly take me there, I'll not trouble you any
+further," the youth said eagerly.
+
+"But you must have your arm set right away," protested Sarah.
+
+"Well, if the man I was looking for is at Kooch's, maybe he can set
+it," he replied, adding, "He's a 'medic' from Chicago--a friend of a
+cousin of mine. Left college on account of lung trouble, and I heard
+he was camping on Kooch's ground somewhere."
+
+"Maybe it was his tent we saw back there a ways," said Sarah. "That's
+quite near."
+
+Blue Bonnet turned the horses and driving very slowly, so as not to
+hurt the boy's injured arm, went back over the road they had just
+traversed. It was not long before they came in sight of the tent she
+and Sarah had noticed; a rather high fence prevented her approaching
+it very closely, and she stopped just opposite the camp.
+
+"I reckon you'll have to go and see if the man's there, Sarah," said
+Blue Bonnet.
+
+Sarah looked fearfully at the high fence. "I just know I can't get
+over."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave her a withering glance. "You--Woodfordite!" was the
+worst epithet she dared trust herself to before a stranger. "Then
+you'll have to hold the horses. There's no river to spill into
+here--and you don't have to pull them over backwards."
+
+"There's no need, really," the young fellow interrupted. "I can bring
+Abbott if he's here." He raised his right hand, put the tips of two
+fingers to his lips and blew. The shrillest, most penetrating whistle
+the girls had ever heard pierced the air, causing the colts to lunge
+forward in a way that might have precipitated another catastrophe, had
+not Blue Bonnet's little steel wrist brought them up sharply.
+
+At the summons a tall lanky figure appeared from within the tent and
+stood peering under his hand at the occupants of the buckboard. The
+youth whistled again, this time only with his lips,--a bird-like call.
+"That's his frat whistle. Ought to bring him."
+
+And bring him it did. The lanky figure deserted the tent and with an
+eager stride crossed the meadow and came up to the fence. After one
+scrutinizing glance at the girls his eye fell on the boy and he
+grinned broadly.
+
+"Hullo, Knight!--is it really you? Glad to see you, old chap!"
+
+"Hello, Doc. How am I going to get over this hospitable fence of
+yours?" returned the boy, with an abruptness born of an aching wrist.
+"My nag threw me and I've broken my left arm. Know anybody that can
+set it?" He winked impudently at the fledgling doctor.
+
+The latter beamed with professional delight. "Just my line, dear boy.
+I wish it had been your leg, now,--I do those beautifully!"
+
+"Or my neck--I don't doubt it. But this is quite enough, thank you,"
+retorted the boy. He was white with pain and yet could joke!--it was
+the sort of pluck Blue Bonnet admired.
+
+"If your cousin will drive down to the gate,--" the young man
+suggested.
+
+The boy looked a trifle embarrassed. "This isn't my cousin," he
+replied. "These gir--er--young ladies picked me up after my spill
+and--"
+
+"I'm Elizabeth Ashe," Blue Bonnet supplied, coloring slightly.
+
+"Of the Blue Bonnet ranch?" asked the medico, and at her affirmative
+nod he added, "I've met Mr. Ashe."
+
+"This is Doctor Abbott," said the boy, striving to make the
+introduction easily, though one could see that such social amenities
+were not a matter of habit with him.
+
+"I can't claim that title yet," the "doctor" protested. "My friends
+bestowed it when I was a freshman. I hope to earn it yet. Now,
+Knight,--about that arm. If Miss Ashe will drive on--there's a gate a
+hundred yards down the road. It isn't big enough to drive through, but
+I'll meet you there. I've some bandages in my tent. Be with you in a
+minute."
+
+He appeared at the little gate bearing a most professional looking
+leather case and various packages that emitted queer odors. His
+enjoyment of the operation in store was plain.
+
+"Hadn't I better go over to the tent with you?" asked the patient. To
+have an arm set with two strange girls looking on was evidently not to
+his taste.
+
+"Too far for you to walk if you feel as shaky as you look," said
+Doctor Abbott, his keen eyes taking in young Knight's pale face and
+twitching lips. "And I may need assistance." He sprang lightly into
+the seat beside the patient and made a rapid examination. The girls
+resolutely kept their eyes away, but they could hear the boy's quick
+breathing. He made no other sound.
+
+"A sprain, my boy," was the verdict which the girls heard with vast
+relief.
+
+"Only a sprain?" asked Knight in an injured tone. "Then what makes it
+hurt so like the mischief?"
+
+"A sprain hurts worse than a fracture, sometimes, but it is less
+serious and will heal quicker," said the doctor. "I've just the right
+thing here and will fix you up in no time."
+
+The next five minutes were bad ones for the sufferer; Sarah and Blue
+Bonnet knew it, though they still stared off over the meadow and tried
+to chat unconcernedly, while the hurried breathing of the boy
+continued.
+
+"There you are!" The girls turned to see the young man viewing his
+work and the neat bandage with approval, while Knight, with his lips
+still trembling, looked up at him with forced cheerfulness. "You'll
+have to keep it still for a few days,--wish we had some sort of a
+sling." Abbott knit his brow.
+
+Knight touched the bandanna about his neck. "How about this?"
+
+Abbott tried it but found it too short. Blue Bonnet had one of her
+sudden inspirations. Diving down underneath the seat she fished up one
+of the many packages. Under the interested eyes of the others she
+opened it and then held up something bright and silky.
+
+"Your red sash!" gasped Sarah.
+
+"Will it do?" Blue Bonnet asked the doctor anxiously.
+
+"Just the thing!" he exclaimed; and in a minute had slung his
+patient's arm in the scarlet folds of the sash.
+
+"I say," Knight protested, "I hate like everything to take this from
+you, Miss Ashe."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave him a bright smile. "I'm very glad to have it prove
+so useful. Sarah called me frivolous when I bought it."
+
+The boy looked uncomfortable but was forced to submit, vowing inwardly
+that he would buy her the "fanciest article in the sash line" that
+Chicago could boast, to make up for the loss of her finery.
+
+"Now, my friend," said the young surgeon, as he gathered up his
+instrument case in a professional manner, "I must see that wrist in
+the morning. Where are you staying?"
+
+The youth colored; it was evident that he had expected an invitation
+to stay with his friend. Blue Bonnet spoke up at once: "You must come
+with us to the ranch. Uncle would never forgive me if I let you stay
+anywhere else."
+
+"Sorry I can't ask you to stay with me," Abbott said, observing the
+boy's confusion. "But I've only a cot built for one, you know. You'll
+be a heap more comfortable at the Blue Bonnet ranch than in my
+quarters. I'll ride over in the morning and take a look at you."
+
+With the matter thus taken out of his hands, Knight had to submit.
+"It's mighty good of you," he said to Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Not at all," she returned heartily. "I'd have to do a great deal to
+get even!"
+
+"That wasn't anything," he protested. Then, turning to the doctor, he
+remarked with a return of his usual humor: "So long, Doc--hope you
+haven't injured me for life. Bring over your bill in the morning!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A FALLING OUT
+
+
+IT was quite late when they reached the ranch, and an anxious crowd
+was awaiting them on the veranda. Blue Bonnet wished there were rather
+fewer people there; it was tiresome to make explanations before such
+an audience. Besides, she did not know the visitor's name,--introductions
+had been of a rather sketchy sort that day. Suddenly she made up her
+mind: she would explain nothing just then, and trust to her grandmother's
+ready tact to understand her reasons.
+
+"This is--" Blue Bonnet looked at the youth inquiringly.
+
+"--Knight Judson," he supplied.
+
+"--and he's met with an accident and will stay here till his arm is
+better," she said rather breathlessly to her uncle.
+
+"Very glad to have you, I'm sure," said Uncle Cliff with ready,
+outstretched hand.
+
+Knight Judson took the proffered hand with an air of relief. "You're
+very kind, sir," he stammered.
+
+"Not at all," Mr. Ashe protested cordially. "Come right in to supper."
+
+They all went in without further ceremony to the delayed supper which
+Juanita stood waiting to serve; and the meal progressed in the usual
+gay fashion that prevailed at the ranch. Knight Judson was placed
+between Alec and Uncle Cliff, and in that congenial company the youth
+lost his shyness and was soon chatting away like an old friend. The
+awkwardness of eating with one hand gave him occasional bad moments,
+but little services, rendered unobserved by his attentive neighbors,
+tided over even these trying times.
+
+The girls stole occasional glances down to that end of the table,
+which were promptly frowned upon by Blue Bonnet and Sarah. On the
+whole, they acted rather well considering the strain on their
+curiosity; it was not every day that a good-looking young chap,
+wearing a bright red sash for a sling, appeared at the ranch.
+
+It was not until after supper, when Alec had taken the visitor to his
+room, that the others heard the whole story of the day's adventure.
+Sarah and Blue Bonnet told it almost together, a rather incoherent but
+wholly thrilling tale, while the rest of the girls hung breathlessly
+on the recital. Mrs. Clyde look worried when Sarah dwelt on the peril
+that had threatened the two of them; Blue Bonnet wished Sarah had not
+found it necessary to enlarge on that part of it. She, herself,
+preferred to describe young Judson's skill and quickness, his
+wonderful daring, and heroism under pain.
+
+"Judson, Judson," repeated Sarah, wrinkling up her brow. "Where have I
+heard that name before?"
+
+Blue Bonnet thought deeply for a moment. "I know," she cried; "don't
+you remember Carita, Carita Judson,--my missionary girl!"
+
+"I wonder if they're related!" exclaimed Sarah. "She lives in Texas,
+you know."
+
+"We must ask him in the morning," said Blue Bonnet.
+
+Early the next day Mr. Ashe despatched one of the Mexicans with a
+letter from Knight Judson to his uncle at the Big Spring.
+
+"Tell him not to expect you until he sees you," Mr. Ashe admonished
+the youth. "You must stay until that wrist is perfectly well."
+
+"You're very good, sir," replied Knight warmly. He was not at all
+averse to spending any length of time in this pleasant place; he and
+Alec had fraternized at once, and he welcomed the chance to know the
+bright Eastern boy better; as for the girls, there were too many of
+them, he thought.
+
+At breakfast Blue Bonnet opened fire on him.
+
+"Carita!" he exclaimed. "Am I any relation to her? Well, I guess
+yes--she's my cousin! Do you know her?"
+
+"I don't exactly know her," Blue Bonnet confessed, "--but we
+have--corresponded." She stopped abruptly; it was impossible to tell
+Knight about the missionary box; he might feel sensitive about it.
+Happily Sarah came to the rescue.
+
+"Father knows the Reverend Mr. Judson," she remarked. "Is he your
+uncle?"
+
+"Yes,--and Carita's father," he explained. "You see, Uncle Bayard has
+charge of a summer camp for boys up at the Big Spring; he has had it
+for several years,--we have wonderful times there. A few days ago I
+had a letter from my cousin George in Chicago asking me to look up his
+friend Abbott, who had been ordered to Texas for his health. Abbott
+was at the Spring with us last summer, but it didn't agree with him,
+so he came to Kooch's. I was on my way there when--"
+
+"When!" exclaimed Kitty dramatically. "We've heard what happened. We
+ought to have known better than to let a tenderfoot like Blue Bonnet
+go off with no protector but Sarah."
+
+"It wasn't Blue Bonnet's fault," protested Sarah indignantly. "I was
+driving."
+
+"And I suppose you drive as scientifically as you swim?" mocked Kitty.
+
+Knight looked up with twinkling eyes; evidently the We are Sevens were
+not all of Sarah's type. Blue Bonnet he had already put in a class by
+herself.
+
+"Please tell us some more about the boys' camp," begged Blue Bonnet,
+"I've heard about the Big Spring, and Uncle has promised to take me
+there. But, somehow, he never seems to get time. Is it a camp just for
+boys?--it sounds so interesting."
+
+"It's one of Uncle's fads," Knight returned, showing by his tone that
+he was rather proud of "Uncle's fad." "He's tremendously interested in
+boys and has started a sort of 'get together' movement for fellows who
+live on big ranches and farms and don't get a chance to see much of
+other young people--"
+
+"Like me!" Blue Bonnet nodded.
+
+"They club in on expenses, share the work, and, incidentally, have
+more fun than some of them ever had before," he continued. "Uncle
+isn't at all strong--that's why he came back from his mission--but he
+works hard all the time, always doing good--" he stopped abruptly. "I
+didn't mean to brag, but when I get started on Uncle Bayard, I never
+know when to stop."
+
+"And Carita--does she go camping, too?" asked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Aunt Cynthy often brings the whole family for over Sunday," he
+replied. Then a thought seemed to strike him. "Why don't you all come
+up and camp--it isn't a hard trip?"
+
+Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "Oh, I think it would be perfectly
+lovely. Grandmother, may we?" she asked.
+
+Mrs. Clyde looked up with her sympathetic smile. "It sounds
+attractive. Perhaps we can arrange it."
+
+Without seeming to do so Grandmother had heard every word of the
+conversation, and her heart had warmed to the boy who spoke so
+glowingly of his uncle's work. Knight Judson was a manly young fellow,
+she concluded, the right sort to be among girls; the best of
+companions for the frail, bookish Eastern lad.
+
+Alec himself was charmed with Knight. There was something fascinating
+about a boy who had spent most of his life in the open, and without
+much aid from books had yet thought more deeply than most youths of
+his age. He was tall and strong, all bone and muscle, with something
+about him that was suggestive of a restless colt; but a thoroughbred,
+every inch of him.
+
+After breakfast the two boys set out to hunt for Knight's horse, as
+nothing had been seen or heard of that frisky pony since he had
+vanished so unceremoniously the evening before. Alec carried a lariat,
+for learning to lasso had become the absorbing passion of his life,
+and young Judson, in spite of the hampering folds of the sling about
+his left arm, could give lessons in that art to any boy of his age in
+Texas.
+
+Blue Bonnet and Mrs. Clyde looked after the youthful pair with
+interested eyes. It was plain that Knight had brought a new element
+into Alec's life, and these two good friends rejoiced, though they
+said nothing and only smiled with new understanding.
+
+"I'm glad we nearly tipped over!" Blue Bonnet suddenly declared.
+
+"Blue Bonnet!" exclaimed her grandmother in a pained tone.
+
+"Well, I reckon I didn't mean that," confessed Blue Bonnet after a
+moment's reflection. "But I'm glad we've met Knight Judson. Alec has
+had too many girls around him here. He needs a spell of roughing it,"
+and then, as she saw an odd look on her grandmother's face, she asked
+quickly: "Isn't 'roughing it' in good society?"
+
+Mrs. Clyde laughed. "I believe it moves in the best circles--here."
+
+"That's good, for there isn't a Massachusetts word that could possibly
+take its place."
+
+"The dining-table is cleared, Benita says," Sarah announced from the
+doorway, "and we can begin our sewing lesson."
+
+They all repaired to the house, and a few minutes later the big
+dining-room was the scene of great activity; the table strewn with the
+bright-hued pieces of material, Benita smoothing and pinning the
+patterns, the Señora superintending, and the girls cutting and
+snipping to their hearts' content. At the same time there went on an
+incessant chatter, chatter, to the cheerful accompaniment of the
+sewing-machine.
+
+When Juanita entered to spread the cloth for their early dinner, the
+girls looked up in surprise.
+
+"I never knew time fly so quickly before," said Debby.
+
+"If I'd known this kind of sewing was so easy and so fascinating,"
+Blue Bonnet declared, "I'd have taken it up before. It's much nicer
+than embroidery or mending. Just see how much I've done!" She proudly
+held up the bright red garment.
+
+Sarah scanned it with perplexed eyes. "It looks rather queer to me,"
+she said.
+
+Kitty examined it, too, then snatched the suit from Blue Bonnet's
+hands. "Look!" she bade the rest, "--there's no place to get into it.
+Blue Bonnet has sewn it up the back!"
+
+There was a great outcry at this, which had the unexpected effect of
+making Blue Bonnet angry.
+
+"There's nothing on earth gives Kitty Clark such pleasure as finding
+me out in a mistake," she declared with flashing eyes and cheeks that
+burned with mortification. Then she turned on Kitty,--"I'm sorry the
+ranch can't offer you any other enjoyment!" she said scathingly and
+then, snatching back her ridiculed work, flung herself out of the
+room.
+
+Kitty's cheeks turned as red as her hair and she was just framing an
+angry reply to hurl after Blue Bonnet when she met Mrs. Clyde's eyes,
+full of a pained surprise. The girl checked the words on her lips at
+once, but a few hot tears came in spite of her efforts.
+
+"I was only joking," she said with a catch in her voice.
+
+"I'm afraid it was my fault," said Sarah. "I shouldn't have called
+attention to her mistake. I'll go and apologize."
+
+Kitty turned to Mrs. Clyde. "I apologize to _you_, Señora," she said,
+adding proudly, "but I've nothing to apologize for to Blue Bonnet.
+Half the fun of being a We are Seven is being able to say just what we
+want to. If everybody is suddenly going to be thin-skinned, I'll have
+to go about muzzled."
+
+"Blue Bonnet was hasty," said Mrs. Clyde, "and I'm sure she'll be
+ready to apologize as soon as she has thought it over."
+
+The sewing lesson for that day ended in a gloomy silence. At dinner
+the two "magpies," as Uncle Joe had nicknamed them, were mute. This
+unheard of state of affairs would have aroused comment at any other
+time, but just now their attention was diverted.
+
+"Doctor" Abbott, who had ridden over to "take a look at Knight's
+wrist," had stayed to dinner--there being always room for one more at
+that elastic table--and his bright humorous talk had completely
+fascinated every one. After dinner the men went off for a smoke, and
+the girls retired for their siesta in an atmosphere as hazy as if they
+too had indulged in the fragrant weed.
+
+They went to the swimming hole later in the day, but somehow the zest
+was all gone from the sport, with the two leading spirits distrait and
+moody, avoiding direct speech with each other, and preserving an
+attitude of injured pride. Blue Bonnet had made up her mind that Kitty
+owed her an apology, while Kitty obstinately refused even in her
+thoughts to acknowledge herself in the wrong.
+
+"Blue Bonnet thinks she's the king-pin of the universe," she mused
+angrily. "The others can keep on spoiling her if they want to, but I'm
+not going to kowtow all the time. They ape her every action,--_I'll_
+show her that one of us has independence."
+
+Keyed up by this formula, repeated mentally a great many times, Kitty
+began to indulge in heroics. Aching to excite some admiration for
+herself she did "stunts" in the water that would have terrified her
+the day before. Once she plunged her bright head under the water and
+kept it there until she was almost black in the face, in an effort to
+prove her "staying powers." It only frightened the other girls and
+went apparently unnoticed by Blue Bonnet for whose benefit the test
+had been made.
+
+[Illustration: "'_I_ BELIEVE THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN TO SWIM IS TO DIVE IN
+HEAD-FIRST.'"]
+
+"I'll show her we're not all 'fraid-cats!" Kitty resolved
+passionately. "I believe," she announced to the girls, in a tone loud
+enough to reach Blue Bonnet, who was doing an overhand stroke in the
+quiet water of the opposite bank. "_I_ believe the only way to learn
+to swim is to dive in head-first--then you just _have to_. Big boys
+always toss little fellows into the middle of the pool and make 'em
+scramble back--they always do it right off. Here goes!"
+
+She poised only for a moment on the bank, not daring to give herself
+time to reconsider. Blue Bonnet shot a quick glance at her; she saw at
+once that Kitty had chosen too shallow a spot,--a dive at that point
+might be dangerous. At any other time she would have shouted a hasty
+warning, but now she hesitated,--and in that second Kitty shot
+head-first into the water.
+
+The girls gave a gasp, and kept their eyes on the spot where she had
+gone down, waiting to see the red locks reappear. But the water closed
+over Kitty,--and stayed closed.
+
+"Blue Bonnet!" they shouted shrilly, "she hasn't come up!"
+
+Blue Bonnet felt a queer tightening around her heart; she had heard of
+boys breaking their necks that way. With a few powerful strokes she
+reached the shallows and felt for Kitty. "Help me girls--quick!" she
+cried, "she's struck her head on the bottom." She had seized Kitty by
+this time and held the girl's head above the water, but the body
+hung limp and heavy in her arms. The girls sprang to help and among
+them they managed to lift the slight figure to the bank and lay it
+tenderly on the soft grass. Kitty's face was deathly white, and from a
+gash on the top of her head a trickling stream was dyeing her bright
+locks a deeper red.
+
+Blue Bonnet's teeth were chattering. "Go for somebody!" she gasped,
+and then, as Debby started on the run, she called after her--"That
+young doctor--bring him!" Then she turned to Sarah: "Here, help me set
+her up--work her arms--so!"
+
+Dripping as she fled like a frightened water-sprite, Debby burst upon
+the others as they sat under the magnolia and screamed tragically:
+
+"Come quick--the doctor, everybody! Kitty dove and Blue Bonnet went
+down after her and she's drowned!"
+
+Then breathless, exhausted, and with her bare feet cut and bleeding
+from her run over the rough meadow, she fell headlong at Mrs. Clyde's
+feet.
+
+Uncle Cliff dropped his pipe and ran, followed by the two boys and
+Abbott, who paused only to catch up his medicine case from the
+veranda, and then sped like the wind after the others. Mrs. Clyde had
+turned ghastly white at Debby's cry and had sprung up to follow the
+men. But the sight of the little messenger lying in a pathetic heap by
+her chair, stopped her. Hastily summoning Benita she helped carry
+Debby into the house and put her to bed; and not until a faint tired
+moan told of returning consciousness, did she yield to her anxiety and
+hasten to the pool.
+
+With her feet winged by fear she crossed the meadow, ran as she had
+not run for forty years, and burst upon the group on the bank with a
+wild cry--"My girl, my girl--where is she?"
+
+At the sound Blue Bonnet sprang up, and running to her grandmother
+hugged her convulsively. "She isn't dead--only stunned," the girl
+sobbed in a glad relief.
+
+Mrs. Clyde held her off for a second. "It wasn't you then?" she
+questioned as if afraid to trust her eyes.
+
+"No, no!" cried Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Thank God!" breathed her grandmother. Then she folded the girl, wet
+as she was, in her arms, and held her close as if she would never let
+her go. In that moment Blue Bonnet knew and was never to forget how
+much she was loved by her mother's mother.
+
+A sound drew them to the group about Kitty.
+
+"There now!" young Abbott was saying cheerfully. "She's all right.
+Now, Knight, get in some of your good work,--first aid to the injured
+as taught by the Reverend Bayard Judson. A stretcher is what we need."
+
+Much pleased to be called upon, Knight set about his task, while Alec
+supplied the place of his disabled arm. Under his directions two stout
+saplings were cut and the small twigs trimmed from them. Then
+stripping off his coat he bade Alec thrust the two poles into its
+sleeve, one in each. Uncle Cliff's coat went on at the other end; both
+coats were buttoned underneath, and there before the eyes of the
+interested group, was a stretcher ready for the patient.
+
+Kitty, still weak and dazed, but with the color beginning to return to
+her milk-white cheeks, was borne gently to the house by Uncle Cliff
+and the doctor, attended by a body-guard of Alec and Mrs. Clyde, and
+followed by the other dripping and subdued We are Sevens.
+
+There was a rather bad quarter of an hour for Kitty while the doctor
+bathed and dressed her wound. After much debating and grave
+consideration in his most profound manner, young Abbott had decided
+that the cut was not deep or wide enough to warrant his sewing it up.
+Whereat there was great rejoicing in the household,--not, however,
+shared by the medical man. A bit of stitching would have given him
+practice and no end of professional enjoyment. However, Kitty felt
+that she had had quite her share of attention and was glad to be left
+alone in the nursery tucked in between cool sheets, to sleep off the
+ache in her broken head.
+
+When she awoke it was dusk in the room. Beside her bed stood somebody,
+bearing a tray.
+
+"Are you awake?" asked a sepulchral voice.
+
+"Yes," she whispered faintly.
+
+The tray was hastily placed on a stand, a second pillow slipped deftly
+under Kitty's head, and then before she had recognized her servitor a
+pair of soft lips were laid on hers and a penitent voice whispered:
+"I'm so sorry, Kitty,--and ashamed!"
+
+"It wasn't your fault, Blue Bonnet," said Kitty, returning the kiss
+warmly. "Served me right for being such a peacock."
+
+"Then all's serene on the Potomac?" Blue Bonnet questioned.
+
+And with a reassuring, though somewhat shaky smile, Kitty returned:
+
+"All's serene!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CONSEQUENCES
+
+
+BLUE BONNET came in from an early morning romp with Don and Solomon
+looking even more rosy and debonair than usual. It was surprising how
+much easier it was to rise early at the ranch than it had been at
+Woodford. She liked to steal quietly out of the nursery and go
+adventuring before breakfast; she felt then like Blue Bonnet the
+fourteen-year-old, full of the joy of life, untroubled by fears of any
+sort or desires for the great unknown. She and Don in those days had
+had many a ramble before the dew was off the grass. Hat-less and
+short-skirted she had climbed fences, brushed through mesquite and
+buffalo grass; hunted nests of chaparral-birds; sat on the top bar of
+the old pasture fence and watched the little calves gambolling; or,
+earlier in the spring, had gathered great armfuls of blue bonnets from
+over in the south meadow. Now when she found herself away from the
+house, skirting San Franciscito in an eager chase for a butterfly, she
+could have thought the past ten months all a dream,--except for a
+certain small brown dog tearing madly from one gopher-hole to another,
+while Don, in the veteran's scorn for the novice, refused to be
+enticed from his mistress' side.
+
+"Where's Grandmother?" she asked as she entered the dining-room.
+Grandmother always sat at the head of the breakfast table, and her
+sweet "homey" face over the teacups, was the first thing Blue Bonnet
+looked for.
+
+"Benita says the Señora is not well," replied Juanita.
+
+The brightness all went out of the morning. Grandmother breakfasting
+in bed! It was unheard of. In her impetuous rush from the room Blue
+Bonnet almost collided with Benita. "Is Grandmother awake--can I go to
+her?" she asked, impatiently.
+
+"It is better not. The Señora prefers to rest," said Benita.
+
+"What's the matter with her, Benita? I never knew Grandmother to be
+ill before," Blue Bonnet asked miserably.
+
+"It is the shock, I think. The Señora is not so young as she once was,
+Señorita."
+
+Blue Bonnet turned away, sick at heart. In the nursery she found
+nothing to improve her spirits. Kitty lay languid and pale among her
+pillows, saying that her head ached and she didn't care for any
+breakfast. Debby, too, had kept her bed, declaring that she couldn't
+bear shoes on her poor lacerated feet. Amanda and Sarah only appeared
+as usual, and these two had their spirits dampened immediately by the
+sight of Blue Bonnet's gloomy countenance.
+
+The three of them had the table to themselves, the men having
+breakfasted earlier than usual and Alec and Knight having hurried
+through the meal and ridden off, no one knew where. Blue Bonnet was
+not conversational; everything in her world seemed topsy-turvy, and
+she felt that she must have an hour of hard thinking to sort things
+out and put them in their places.
+
+Amanda and Sarah, respecting Blue Bonnet's mood, were silent. During
+this period of unusual restraint, a resolution was forming in Amanda's
+mind, and at the conclusion of the meal she made an announcement that
+would have petrified the rest had it come at any other time.
+
+"I'm going to study," she said.
+
+Sarah looked her approval of this decision. "I'll help you,--let's do
+it in my room."
+
+Relief on Blue Bonnet's part quite crowded out surprise. "Then you
+don't mind if I leave you to yourselves?" she asked.
+
+"We wouldn't get much done if you didn't," Amanda replied with more
+frankness than tact.
+
+Blue Bonnet had found solitude glorious in the half-hour before
+breakfast, but now it had lost its charm: joy in her heart had given
+place to hate. Not hatred of the old life, such as had driven her to
+pastures new; not hatred of Texas and "all it stood for"--as she had
+once passionately declared to Uncle Cliff. This time the object of her
+deep and bitter feeling was--herself. She had been rude to a guest in
+her own house. She had seen one of her best friends risk her life and
+had made no move to prevent it. She had been the cause of her
+grandmother's receiving a shock which, at her time of life, might
+prove very serious. And all this in spite of having lived for nearly a
+year with two such perfect gentlewomen as Aunt Lucinda and Grandmother
+Clyde. In spite of her boasted loyalty to the "We are Sevens." In
+spite of her promise to her aunt to care tenderly for her grandmother
+and bring her back safely to Woodford.
+
+She had wandered aimlessly outdoors and now flung herself face down on
+the Navajo under the big magnolia. "It's no use,--I reckon it's the
+same old thing. I'm not an Ashe clear through." With the thought came
+swift tears.
+
+Her head lay against something hard and unyielding; and after her
+first grief had spent itself, she put up her hand to push away the
+object--but grasped it instead. It was a book; opening her tear-wet
+reddened eyes Blue Bonnet saw that it was a volume of her
+grandmother's favorite Thoreau. It lay just where Mrs. Clyde had
+dropped it the day before when she had sprung up at Debby's frightened
+cry.
+
+She dried her eyes and sat up. Leaning against the low, wicker chair,
+that was her grandmother's chosen seat, she slowly turned the leaves
+of the well-worn volume, her thoughts more on the owner of the book
+than on its author. All at once her glance was caught and held by
+something that seemed an echo of the cry that kept welling up from her
+own unhappy heart. It was a prayer, only ten short lines, and she read
+them with growing wonder:
+
+        "Great God! I ask thee for no meaner pelf
+         Than that I may not disappoint myself;
+         That in my striving I may soar as high
+         As I can now discern with this clear eye.
+         That my weak hand may equal my firm faith,
+         And my life practise more than my tongue saith.
+         That my low conduct may not show,
+         Nor my relenting lines,
+         That I thy purpose did not know
+         Or over-rated thy designs."
+
+How could any one, and that a grown man and a poet, have so exactly
+voiced the thoughts of a young girl on a far-off Texas ranch?
+
+        " . . . . I ask thee for no meaner pelf
+         Than that I may not disappoint myself."
+
+That was just it--she had disappointed herself, grievously, bitterly.
+So absorbed was she that she did not hear a foot-fall, nor did she
+look up until Uncle Cliff exclaimed, "All alone, Honey? That doesn't
+often happen these days!" His cheerful voice expressed no regret for
+the absence of the others.
+
+She looked up, and then quickly down again; but not soon enough for
+the traces of tears to escape his watchful eye.
+
+"What's up, Blue Bonnet?" he asked anxiously. He was on the rug beside
+her now, and with a hand under her quivering chin tilted her face and
+scanned it closely.
+
+She winked fast for a moment. "Uncle Cliff, do you find it terribly
+hard to be good?"
+
+"Thundering hard, Honey." He thought whimsically that it was lucky no
+one else had heard that question. "So hard that my success at it
+hasn't been remarkable!"
+
+"Oh, Uncle, it has!" she declared. "And it always seems so easy for
+you to 'live as you ride--straight and true.' I was so proud last
+winter when you said I'd proved I was an Ashe, clear through. But I
+reckon you spoke too soon. I've been showing what Alec calls 'a yellow
+streak.'"
+
+"Don't you say that of my girl! I'll wager our best short-horn against
+a prairie-dog that if you've a yellow streak it's pure gold!" He
+caressed the brown head that nestled against his arm.
+
+She wriggled away and faced him firmly. "You may as well know the
+worst, Uncle Cliff. It was my fault that Kitty was hurt yesterday.
+It's my fault Grandmother is ill and Debby's feet hurt. I was mean
+and thoughtless and selfish and--"
+
+He put his hand over her mouth. "Look here, no Ashe is going to hear
+one of his race called all those ugly names. Remember whom you're
+talking to! Things always seem to come in bunches, Honey, but you have
+to dispose of them one at a time. Why, it's hardly a year since a girl
+about your size--a bit younger she was, but she had blue eyes just
+like yours,--was saying she reckoned she'd never make a Westerner, and
+she hated the ranch and was going to sell it as soon as she came of
+age--"
+
+"Don't!" came in a smothered tone from Blue Bonnet. Her face was
+buried again. "Don't remind me how downright horrid I was."
+
+"And six months later that same little girl--blue eyes same as
+yours--was telling me how she reckoned that three hundred years would
+never make an Easterner of her, and she loved the ranch and wanted to
+be a Texas Blue Bonnet as long as she lived!"
+
+"And so I do, Uncle."
+
+"Well, I'm just running over a few items in order to remind you that
+most troubles aren't half as black as your feelings paint them at the
+time. It's best not to worry over spilt milk till you see it's made a
+grease-spot. Ten to one the cat will lick it up,--and it's an ill wind
+that blows nobody good. There,--that figure of speech is as mixed as
+a plum-pudding, but it has a heap of sound philosophy!"
+
+Blue Bonnet was smiling now. "I wish all the preachers would say the
+kind of things you do. Most of the sermons I've heard sound like that
+last piece of mine--'variations on one theme'--and the theme is Duty
+with a big D. Sarah was brought up on those. And they must be pretty
+successful, for Sarah is awfully good. Isn't she?"
+
+"Just that--awfully good."
+
+She looked up quickly, struck by something odd in his tone; but he was
+perfectly sober.
+
+"She's the salt of the earth," he added, "and you--"
+
+"And what am I?"
+
+He smiled down at her. "Do you remember how the south pasture looks
+when the blue bonnets bloom in March,--how fresh and sweet, a sky
+turned upside down--? It's the glory of the ranch, Honey. And what
+they are to the ranch, you are to me. Please don't be trying to be
+something you can't be, Blue Bonnet!"
+
+She laughed outright. "That sounds like the Duchess in 'Alice in
+Wonderland.' Don't you remember?"
+
+"I confess I don't. You've been neglecting my education, young lady,
+since you began your own. What does the Duchess say?"
+
+"'Be what you would seem to be'--or, if you want it put more
+simply--'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might
+appear to others that what you were or might have been was not
+otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be
+otherwise.'" The face she turned to him as she finished was cloudless,
+and he breathed a sigh of relief.
+
+"That's quite plain," he said, "and I hope you'll take the lesson to
+heart!"
+
+She smiled as she rose. Glancing up he was surprised to see how tall
+she looked,--quite as tall, he thought, as her mother had been when
+she came a bride to the ranch. Well, she was almost sixteen,--the
+other Elizabeth was only eighteen.
+
+"You've done me a lot of good, Uncle Cliff," she was saying. "I think
+my 'indigo fit,' as Alec calls the blues, has faded to a pale azure,
+and I can go to Grandmother. She will be wondering where I am."
+
+"Next time I see a fit coming on, I shall quote the Duchess!" he
+warned her.
+
+Blue Bonnet was delighted to find her grandmother awake and ready for
+a "heart to heart" talk. Snuggled cosily on the bed at her feet the
+penitent poured out all her discouragement of the morning, and
+received the balm, which like the milk in the magic pitcher, bubbled
+constantly in Grandmother's heart.
+
+In Sarah's room the two students were diligently at work, Sarah in the
+rôle of preceptress, hearing Amanda's French verbs, or helping to
+discover the perplexing value of X in an algebraic equation. Only
+occasionally did the thoughts of either wander.
+
+"This is the second time," remarked Amanda, "that Blue Bonnet and
+Kitty have had a tiff. The 'third time never fails,' you know."
+
+"Do you really think that after the third falling-out they'd stay--"
+
+"Out?--indeed I do think so," Amanda declared. "I've seen it come true
+too many times to doubt it. There are always three fires--the last the
+worst; three spells of illness, three shipwrecks, three--everything!"
+
+"It sounds rather--superstitious to me," observed Sarah, doubtfully.
+"I shouldn't like to believe it anyway, for it keeps you always
+looking out for the third time, and that is _so_ uncomfortable."
+
+"It's true as gospel," Amanda insisted.
+
+From that time onward, in spite of her better judgment, Sarah lived in
+perpetual dread of Blue Bonnet's third falling-out with Kitty; and her
+attitude was continually that of the pacifier, pouring the oil of
+tactful words on troubled waters, or averting the wrath of either by a
+watchfulness that never relaxed. Just how much was due Sarah for the
+cordial spirit that prevailed for a long time following this between
+the two girls, neither realized; and Sarah asked no reward for her
+pains, save peace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+TEXAS AND MASSACHUSETTS
+
+
+AT supper-time all the invalids were up; Kitty appearing rather
+"interestingly pale," as Amanda remarked; Debby hobbling about in
+padded bedroom slippers; and Grandmother Clyde looking somewhat older
+and grayer than usual, but calm and contained once more.
+
+"Where are the boys?" asked the Señora, noting Alec's absence with
+some anxiety.
+
+"They went off early this morning loaded for big game," said Uncle Joe
+with a twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Do you mean they carried guns?" Mrs. Clyde spoke with a shade of
+worry in her tone; she had missed the twinkle.
+
+"Shady had a shotgun, I believe, but the boys carried nothing deadlier
+than lariats. I believe young Trent takes one to bed with him. He's
+been practising on the snubbing-post in the corral for hours every
+day,--he's got so he catches it about once in so often, and he's
+tickled to death." Uncle Joe chuckled.
+
+"Knight Judson can beat any of the Mexicans at lassoing," Blue Bonnet
+declared. "He must be a wonder when he has both hands free."
+
+"He doesn't seem in any hurry to discard his sling, I notice," Uncle
+Joe remarked, winking at Blue Bonnet ostentatiously.
+
+"His wrist isn't well yet," she insisted, ignoring the teasing glance.
+
+"Here they come, now," exclaimed Kitty. "Alec looks as excited as if
+he'd killed a bear at the very least!"
+
+"We've had a wonderful day," Alec declared, full of enthusiasm, when
+he and Knight had greeted every one and slipped into their places.
+Both boys were ravenous; Blue Bonnet and her grandmother exchanged a
+significant glance as Alec passed his plate for a second generous
+helping. He looked already a different boy from the pale student who
+had left Woodford only a few weeks before.
+
+"Guess what we bagged to-day?" he asked.
+
+"A bear!" Kitty said immediately.
+
+"Quail!" Blue Bonnet guessed.
+
+"Shady got some quail, but we didn't do any shooting," replied Alec.
+
+"Maybe you and Knight lassoed some prairie-hens," suggested Uncle Joe,
+laughing at his own joke.
+
+"Alec lassoed his first steer all right--made a neat job of it too,"
+said Knight enthusiastically.
+
+"Very amateurish work," Alec protested, pleased nevertheless at
+Knight's praise. "The steer thought I looked so harmless that he took
+a big chance--that's how I came to land him."
+
+"But what did you 'bag?'" asked Blue Bonnet, going back to the
+original question. "Is it good to eat?"
+
+Knight and Alec exchanged amused glances. "Never tasted them," both
+declared.
+
+"Where is it?" Blue Bonnet persisted.
+
+"'Tisn't 'it,'--but 'they'--and they're out in the barn," said Alec,
+delighting in the mystery.
+
+Blue Bonnet was all impatience. "Oh, do hurry, everybody, and let's go
+see," she urged.
+
+The rapidity with which Knight and Alec ate the rest of their supper
+should have given them indigestion, even if it did not. It was
+impossible to leave any of Gertrudis' raspberry tart; equally
+impossible to keep their hostess waiting when she was on tip-toe to be
+off; mastication therefore was the only thing they could neglect--and
+did.
+
+Blue Bonnet had felt all the weight of her sixteen years a few hours
+earlier, but now she seemed to drop at least six of them, as she raced
+across the yard, impelled by a curiosity that Kitty would have died
+rather than display.
+
+Don and Solomon were sniffing excitedly about one of the mangers,
+emitting an occasional shrill bark; Blue Bonnet went straight to it
+and peered down. It was too dark to make out anything, but she could
+hear a rustling in the hay, and a pathetic, low whine.
+
+"It's something alive!" she cried, and was about to put an exploring
+hand down to find the source of the whine, when she had a second
+thought. "Will it bite?"
+
+"Too little," Knight assured her. He bent as he spoke and lifted two
+little furry bundles and laid them in Blue Bonnet's outstretched arms.
+
+"Puppies!" she cried delightedly. She bore them to the light, the
+other girls crowding about for a view of the wriggling mites.
+
+After her first good look at them, Sarah gave an exclamation of
+surprise. "Why, they're not dogs," she cried.
+
+"Yes, they are," said Alec, "--coyote pups!"
+
+"Oh, the dears!" cried Blue Bonnet ecstatically. "Where did you get
+them?"
+
+"Shady shot the mother," Knight explained, and then wished he had
+not,--Blue Bonnet looked so grieved. "She killed a calf a few nights
+ago," he said in extenuation, "and Shady was 'laying for' her. She
+made for her hole after she was wounded and we followed,--that's how
+we came to find the pups. Lucky we did or they'd have had a hard time
+of it."
+
+"Poor babies," said Blue Bonnet. "Let's go and show them to
+Grandmother and Debby--I reckon they never saw a real live coyote
+before. Here, Sarah, you carry one." She generously held out one of
+the bright-eyed babies, but to her surprise Sarah drew back. "Why, you
+can't be afraid, Sarah?"
+
+"N-no," Sarah replied, edging away as she spoke. "But I don't like to
+touch--live animals."
+
+"Well, I'd much rather touch live ones than dead things!" exclaimed
+Blue Bonnet. "Here, Alec, you take the poor baby--Sarah doesn't know
+how to mother it!"
+
+Grandmother and Debby were rather lukewarm in their praise, Blue
+Bonnet thought, when the coyotes were brought to them on the veranda.
+Grandmother did not look in the least delighted when the two
+sharp-nosed, long-haired puppies were dropped into her lap; and
+finally Blue Bonnet gathered them both in her arms, declaring that
+nobody knew how to appreciate real Texas babies except herself.
+
+"I'm going to keep them always," she said. "And Don and Solomon will
+just have to be reconciled."
+
+"Have you asked your uncle if he is willing for you to keep two such
+pets?" her grandmother asked.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked over to Uncle Cliff and laughed. "Asked Uncle
+Cliff? Why, Grandmother, I brought him up and he knows better than to
+oppose me at this late day!"
+
+Uncle Cliff smiled back at her whimsically. "I hope I'm a credit to
+your training! Two new pets is quite a modest demand. I've known her
+to have a dozen or two at a time. One summer she had twin lambs, a
+magpie, a lizard, bunnies--"
+
+"Don't forget the snakes," Blue Bonnet interrupted.
+
+"Blue Bonnet Ashe--you never made pets of snakes!" gasped Debby.
+
+"Three of them; beauties, too," Blue Bonnet replied.
+
+"Weren't you afraid of them?" Sarah asked wonderingly.
+
+"These were perfectly harmless; nobody should be afraid of such pretty
+little things. But the magpie had fits over them, so they had to go,"
+Blue Bonnet remarked regretfully.
+
+"What became of the magpie?" asked Kitty.
+
+"Poor Mag died of curiosity," said Mr. Ashe. "She sampled some cyanide
+of potassium I had put out for ants. We had a most impressive funeral.
+You must get Blue Bonnet to show you her grave."
+
+"I will some day. We chose Mag's favorite spot--under a dewberry bush.
+Now what shall we call these cherubs?"
+
+"You've just called them 'Texas babies,' why not call one 'Texas?'"
+Knight suggested.
+
+"And the other 'Massachusetts,'" said Sarah.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked at her in open admiration. "Your inspirations don't
+come often, Sarah," she remarked, "but they're as apt as not to be
+positively brilliant when they get here! Texas and Massachusetts the
+babies shall be. Poor Massachusetts' name is as long as his tail, but
+maybe he can bear up under it."
+
+"Let's go show them to the youngsters," Alec suggested. "Pancho's
+twins are straining their eyes for a peep."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave him one of the pups to carry and together they
+crossed the yard to the Mexican quarters. A moment later Blue Bonnet
+was sitting in the doorway of the little adobe hut, the coyotes in her
+lap, while all of Pancho's brood, not to mention Pancho and his fat
+Marta, were hanging about her in an eager, admiring circle. Every
+little "greaser" on the ranch adored the Señorita, and she was
+godmother to half the babies born on the place. Alec bade fair to be
+almost as popular as she, for he was always ready for a romp and had
+an unfailing supply of nuts in his capacious pockets. The visit now
+ended in a "rough-house," Alec with his ever-handy lariat lassoing the
+fleet-footed boys and pretending to take them prisoner, while they
+dodged and ran and kept up a shrill chorus of baby Spanish that
+delighted his soul.
+
+Later he and Blue Bonnet walked to the stable and put the coyotes down
+for the night; choosing the unused manger again as being secure
+against the impertinent investigations of Don and Solomon, and deep
+enough to prevent the venturesome babies from falling out. It was
+almost dark as they strolled back towards the house, lingering and
+chatting and drinking in the beauty of the night. The lovely southern
+sky was studded with stars; the breeze laden with perfumes that only a
+Texas prairie knows; and the air full of melody,--the deep laughter of
+the cowboys lounging about the bunk-house, and the sweet tone of
+Shady's fiddle as he played to the crowd on the house-veranda.
+
+Alec paused and drew a deep breath. "And you wanted to leave it!"
+
+"I wonder at myself sometimes," she confessed. "But I'm not sorry.
+Think how much richer I am this summer than last, with Grandmother and
+all the girls,--not to mention present company!"
+
+"Thank you!" Alec laughed and made his bow.
+
+"You like it more because it is--different, than for any other reason.
+I reckon you have to know other places before you can properly
+appreciate your own," she went on thoughtfully.
+
+"This doesn't seem to add to my appreciation of--Woodford," Alec
+rejoined quickly.
+
+"That's because you haven't been here long enough. After a few years
+you'd begin to wonder how the elms look on Adams Avenue, and yearn for
+a glimpse of the Boston Common--just as I used to long for a sight of
+the prairie. But I'm glad you like it here--for it is a grand old
+place!"
+
+"I wish Grandfather would rejoice because I like it," he remarked
+moodily. "He seems to be sorry that I didn't go abroad with Boyd. And
+Boyd's letters to him--which he always forwards--are full of ravings
+about automobiles and scenery and pictures. Pictures!" Alec pointed to
+the meadow ahead of them where a million fireflies flashed their tiny
+lanterns, "--I wish he could see this! And I wish--I wish I could make
+him understand the bigness of it all. And how tired I am of sitting
+still and letting other people _do_ things. I want to live." The boy's
+voice trembled as he ended.
+
+Again Blue Bonnet had a sudden sinking of the heart--could Alec
+mean--? She opened her lips to speak, but he went on gloomily:
+
+"Grandfather doesn't seem able to understand. He has never been
+willing to admit that I am a weakling, and refuses to see that my days
+are numbered in Woodford. I've been trying to get up courage enough to
+write him about myself, but I can't do it--yet." And then, as if
+fearing he had said too much, he added: "But don't say anything to the
+others, please. It's too soon--I may feel different by the end of the
+summer. Let it be a secret between us two--three rather, for I've
+already told Knight." Then, before Blue Bonnet could gather herself
+together for a reply, he had started on a new tack. "I tell you, Blue
+Bonnet, there's a fellow that dwarfs every other chap I ever knew!"
+His tone was now as eager and enthusiastic as it had been doleful.
+
+Blue Bonnet was puzzled, but deciding that Alec needed to have his
+mind turned from introspective subjects, she took him up at once. "I
+agree with you. He's a giant for his age."
+
+"I don't mean his size," returned Alec. "He's so big--mentally, you
+know. And he's so alive, so--"
+
+"Up and coming?" interpolated Blue Bonnet. "That's pure Texan, I
+believe."
+
+"It describes him exactly."
+
+"What I can't understand is how such an expert horseman came to be
+thrown," Blue Bonnet remarked wonderingly.
+
+"I suppose he was startled at seeing a blue bonnet out of season!"
+laughed Alec. "I'm so glad something happened to bring him my way. It
+seems to give me a new lease on life just to be with him."
+
+"Uncle Cliff says he is 'greased lightning' with a lariat," said Blue
+Bonnet.
+
+"I should say he is. I could find it in my heart to envy him that
+accomplishment, even if he hadn't any others."
+
+"Uncle Joe says you are getting quite expert yourself," she threw out
+comfortingly.
+
+"Oh, yes, I can lasso a snubbing-post that can't get out of the way!"
+he retorted. He still clung to his lariat and now swung it in his hand
+rather impatiently.
+
+"Try your skill now. There's one of the girls waiting for us--lasso
+her and see how she acts!" Blue Bonnet urged mischievously.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There--just by the magnolia," she whispered.
+
+It was almost dark, but Alec could manage to make out a dark figure
+standing half within the shadow of the big tree. He crept silently a
+few steps nearer and paused, whirling the loop around his head. The
+hair rope spread into a circle, hissed and flickered for a moment in
+the air, then dropped straight over the victim. It was a good throw.
+Alec gave a twitch--not too hard--to the lariat, and the thing was
+done. Blue Bonnet clapped her hands and started forward with Alec to
+see which one of the girls he had caught. Both suddenly stopped in
+dismay. There was a struggle, a shrill scream, and a very angry
+Spanish oath.
+
+And as the two of them hastened up full of surprise and apologies,
+they saw--Juanita and Miguel both caught in the one noose.
+
+Stifling their laughter, Alec and Blue Bonnet released the embarrassed
+pair of sweethearts, and then the boy made a handsome apology. Juanita
+hung her head and was silent, but Miguel, after the first blazing up
+of his anger, cooled down and accepted the explanation in good part.
+
+Still weak with suppressed laughter, the two miscreants hurried on,
+waiting to be out of ear-shot before giving way to their wild mirth.
+As they drew near to the veranda they heard the crowd there singing to
+the accompaniment of Shady's violin.
+
+        "Nita, Jua-a-an-ita, ask thy soul if we must part!"
+
+came tremulously from Uncle Joe and the We are Sevens.
+
+It was too much. Blue Bonnet collapsed in a heap on the grass.
+
+"Oh, Alec!" she gasped. "Miguel ought to have been singing that,--only
+he ought to have said--'Jua-a-an-ita, bless my soul if we can part!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ENTER CARITA
+
+
+TWO days later Knight appeared at the table minus his sling, and
+announced that this must be his last day at the ranch. There were
+expressions of regret from everybody, and from Blue Bonnet vigorous
+objections. The boy quite glowed under the tribute.
+
+"I simply must go," he protested firmly. "Though it's a big temptation
+to stay, I tell you. But it isn't fair to Uncle Bayard for me to be
+away any longer. Those twelve boys keep things moving for him. I hope
+you will be able to come up for one of our Sundays," he said to Mrs.
+Clyde.
+
+"Grandmother has missed her church more than anything else," Blue
+Bonnet remarked. "It's been pretty warm to drive to Jonah, and none of
+the Padres has visited the ranch since we came."
+
+"We have an outdoor service in a beautiful grove of trees," Knight
+explained, "and that setting and the boys' voices in the open air and
+all--well, it has spoiled me for stuffy meeting-houses. Can't you all
+come up and stay over next Sunday?" His glance and the eyes of all the
+We are Sevens were fastened anxiously on Mrs. Clyde's face.
+
+She thought for a moment. "It seems a stupendous undertaking,--for so
+many of us," she said at length. Camping out in Texas was full of
+unknown and rather dreadful possibilities, she secretly opined.
+
+"We'll take all the responsibility, Grandmother," Blue Bonnet assured
+her gravely.
+
+Mrs. Clyde did not meet her granddaughter's eye; that young lady's
+method of taking responsibility was not such as to inspire one with
+unlimited confidence.
+
+"I can send Miguel ahead with one of the cook-wagons," Uncle Cliff
+suggested. "You can have Pancho, too, if you like,--he cooked on the
+round-up this spring and didn't kill anybody. Lisa's too fat and
+Gertrudis too old for that ride."
+
+"And we want Lupe for wrangler," said Blue Bonnet. "A wrangler looks
+after the horses, Sarah _mia_," she explained, anticipating the
+question.
+
+"If we go," said Señora, "let us go as simply as possible. Surely we
+don't need such an army of men."
+
+"But, Grandmother," Blue Bonnet protested, "there has to be a cook,
+and somebody to pitch tents, and one to look after the horses and--"
+
+"I don't see the necessity. You miss half the pleasure of camping out
+if you have everything done for you. When I was a girl we used to camp
+out in the Maine woods, and we girls took turns cooking and washing
+dishes, while the boys gathered wood for the fires, caught fish and
+looked after the horses. To take a crowd of servants along would rob
+the life of all its simplicity."
+
+Blue Bonnet looked rather blank. Cooking and washing dishes did not
+seem altogether simple to her.
+
+"I can make caramel cake," announced Kitty.
+
+"That's lovely--especially for breakfast," said Blue Bonnet.
+
+"I don't like sweet things for breakfast," said Sarah.
+
+"Beans and bacon are as good camp fare as one needs," said Knight. "It
+is pretty cool in the mornings and evenings, and one gets hungry
+enough to eat the dishes."
+
+"We'll agree to anything if Grandmother will only go," said Blue
+Bonnet eagerly.
+
+Grandmother, however, withheld her decision until she had held a
+serious conversation alone with Uncle Cliff.
+
+"Don't you think you are encouraging Blue Bonnet in habits of
+extravagance?" she asked, smiling inwardly at the likeness of her
+question to some of Lucinda's.
+
+Uncle Cliff pondered for a moment. "That depends on what you call
+'extravagance.' According to my definition it means spending more than
+you can afford."
+
+"Blue Bonnet is certainly spending a great deal this summer. It must
+cost something to keep up a big place like this, so many servants
+besides all the guests."
+
+"Mexicans don't draw down princely salaries, you know," he argued.
+"And we're not used to counting noses at table. Besides, Blue Bonnet
+has enough to do just about as she likes with. Miss Clyde and I had
+some talk about it last winter--when she put the poor child on an
+allowance. Three dollars!" Mr. Ashe made a comical grimace. "Why, Mrs.
+Clyde, I've been putting by Blue Bonnet's profits every year for
+nearly sixteen years, and they've been pretty tidy sums, too. Besides,
+she's going to have every penny of mine, some day. And now she's old
+enough to enjoy spending, I don't quite see the use of making her
+skimp." He looked very much in earnest and ready to "have it out" then
+and there.
+
+"But the possessors of wealth should be taught the value of money,
+just the same, don't you think so?" Mrs. Clyde urged.
+
+"Surely!" he agreed. "And Blue Bonnet has a very fair idea of its
+value, I think. She gives more people a good time on it than any one I
+know. You never knew her to stay awake nights worrying over something
+for herself, now did you?"
+
+"Blue Bonnet is not given to worrying over anything. Not that I wish
+her to. She is dear and warm-hearted and generous like her mother,
+but a little heedless,--Lucinda thinks. She needs to be taught that
+wealth entails responsibility."
+
+"Lucinda!" was Mr. Ashe's mental ejaculation. He might have known the
+source of Mrs. Clyde's arguments. Miss Clyde had undoubtedly sound
+ideas on the up-bringing of the young, and any amount of New England
+thrift. He had unlimited respect for her strength of character; but
+also his opinion as to why she was still _Miss_ Clyde. "Maybe I've a
+queer mental twist," he went on audibly, "but that's just what I don't
+see the need of. Poor folk have to worry about making ends meet; but
+if money is of any use at all it's to save one that kind of fretting.
+When one feels the 'responsibility of wealth,' then it's a burden. I'd
+hate to think Blue Bonnet would ever get to that pass."
+
+Mrs. Clyde wished for Lucinda just at this moment; Miss Clyde could
+have met this argument with a worthy rejoinder, she was confident.
+"Don't you fear that thoughtless spending now may grow into future
+extravagance?" she asked rather helplessly.
+
+"When the little girl begins to worry about bird-of-paradise aigrettes
+and pearl pendants for herself, I'll believe she's extravagant. As
+long as she spends only what she can afford and bestows it all upon
+others, I'll not begin to fret," he said decidedly.
+
+"Then you don't think this camping-trip an extravagance? She is doing
+so much for the girls already that it seems rather unnecessary to me."
+
+"It will be a wonderful experience for the girls--and they're just the
+right age to enjoy it most. A few years later they'll fuss about dirt
+and want springs on their beds."
+
+Grandmother Clyde smothered a sigh; she had reached the latter stage,
+but perhaps it was not her place to "reason why." The conversation
+ended for the present, and during her stay on the ranch was not
+resumed.
+
+As Uncle Cliff left the veranda after the conference, he was set upon
+by Blue Bonnet and Kitty and enticed to the lair of the We are Sevens,
+which chanced this time to be the summer-house in the Señorita's
+little garden. This rather shaky bower, overgrown by jack-beans which
+held together the would-be rustic structure, had once been the pride
+of Blue Bonnet's heart, but now, neglected--as was the garden since
+the advent of the ranch party--had become the residence of a large and
+growing family of insects. It served, however, as a very excellent
+spot for secret sessions such as the present one. A circular bench,
+very wobbly as to legs, had the advantage of bringing all the members
+face to face in solemn conclave. It was here their captive was haled.
+
+"What says the noble Señora?" demanded Blue Bonnet, and then before he
+could answer she exclaimed--"Uncle Cliff, you must help us out. Life
+without that camping trip will be stale, flat and unprofitable."
+
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet," said Sarah reproachfully, "how can you say that
+when we are having the most wonderful time that ever was?"
+
+"Sarah, don't weaken our case," Blue Bonnet admonished her. "It's your
+place to look positively _pining_!"
+
+"If you'll allow me to speak," remarked Uncle Cliff, "I'll put an end
+to your suspense. The Queen Mother says she will sacrifice herself for
+the weal of her subjects."
+
+"Hooray!" cried Blue Bonnet, and the cry was echoed even by Sarah.
+
+Alec and Knight, hearing the uproar on their way to the house, stopped
+and begged permission to enter.
+
+"Come right in and sit down on the floor," said Blue Bonnet cordially.
+"Alec, Grandmother says she'll go!"
+
+"So that's what all the row's about?" asked Knight. "Say, but I'm
+glad!"
+
+Alec's eyes shone. "Don't you think I'd better go ahead with Knight? I
+could pick out a camping place and have everything ready for you." He
+had been awaiting a favorable moment to bring forth his quietly laid
+scheme, and the present seemed auspicious.
+
+"I think that would be splendid," cried Blue Bonnet enthusiastically,
+reading Alec like a book. "But you'll wait and go with us, won't you,
+Uncle?"
+
+"Can't go this trip. Pete has gone up with some of the boys to cut out
+a bunch of beef-cattle. I'll have to see to shipping them."
+
+"Oh, Uncle,--we need you," remonstrated Blue Bonnet.
+
+"And it's almost as good to be needed as it is to be wanted. Thank
+you."
+
+"We want you even more than we need you," she insisted.
+
+"You'll have plenty of men creatures to tyrannize over in camp. How
+many boys did you say there were, Knight?"
+
+"There are twelve--and they know how to work, too."
+
+"They'll be worked all right," said Uncle Cliff with a wicked twinkle.
+
+"We must all work," said Sarah conscientiously. "I think we had better
+begin to plan things and get ready right away."
+
+"The first thing to do," said Blue Bonnet, "is to make a huge lot of
+pinoche."
+
+Sarah regarded her in astonishment. "Do you propose to live on
+pinoche?"
+
+"No, goose, but with twelve boys in camp--not counting Alec and
+Knight, a pound won't go very far. And we must send to Jonah for
+marshmallows."
+
+"Hadn't you better include several tons of angel-cake and fifty
+gallons or so of ice-cream?" asked Kitty.
+
+"Just you wait, Kitty-Kat. When you see the use to which I put those
+marshmallows, you'll see that I'm the most practical member of the
+Club," Blue Bonnet prophesied solemnly.
+
+"Grandmother, you're such a success," she said later, as they two sat
+discussing ways and means for the camping-trip.
+
+"A success?" Mrs. Clyde questioned.
+
+"As a grandmother, you know. If I'd had you made to order I wouldn't
+have had you a mite different! I hope our trip isn't going to be too
+hard for you. I promised Aunt Lucinda to take care of you, and I
+suspect sometimes that I'm not quite living up to the contract."
+
+"We elderly people must guard against getting 'set in our ways.'
+Camp-life is certainly a good corrective for that." Mrs. Clyde smiled
+rather ruefully.
+
+"It surely is," Blue Bonnet laughed. "It would never suit Aunt
+Lucinda. But she isn't sixty-five years young!"
+
+"Nor fifteen years old."
+
+"Was she ever? Somehow I can't imagine her different. It must give one
+a very--solid feeling, to be as sure about everything as Aunt Lucinda
+is. But she misses a lot of fun!"
+
+Early the next morning Alec and Knight rode away; Knight looking very
+soldierly and capable now that his arm no longer reposed in its
+scarlet sling; Alec with his blankets in a business-like roll behind
+his saddle, and both boys provided with a "snack of lunch" to eat on
+the way. Alec's eyes were shining with anticipation; even Strawberry
+pranced more joyously than usual as though she knew a good time was in
+store.
+
+The We are Sevens accompanied the travellers as far as Kooch's, and
+sent them off from that point weighted with injunctions and messages
+innumerable. That ride, even Sarah admitted, was a "grand and
+glorious" success; the air was fresh and sweet, Comanche very
+tractable, and everybody in the best of humors. The girls returned to
+the ranch full of plans for the camping trip, and for the rest of the
+day, and for several days following, made out exhaustive lists of
+eatables, bedding and utensils such as would have provided amply for a
+regiment of soldiers. In the midst of the preparations Sarah was
+caught red-handed packing her drawn-work among her effects.
+
+"She'll have to be watched, girls," said Kitty. "White linen
+drawn-work on a camping-trip! Next she'll be slipping in white piqué
+skirts and dancing slippers."
+
+"I suppose you'll object to my taking handkerchiefs, too?" Sarah's
+look was a mixture of irony and indignation.
+
+"We ought really to bar all hankies except bandanas," said Blue
+Bonnet, "but we'll stretch a point for Sarah's sake. She can't help
+having aristocratic tastes, you know."
+
+Sarah was secretly of the opinion that drawn-work was no more out of
+place than the many boxes of pinoche and marshmallows that Blue Bonnet
+packed away in the huge "grub-boxes," but she yielded with her usual
+good grace.
+
+By Wednesday all was pronounced in readiness for the start. Miguel was
+sent ahead with tents and supplies in one of the big cook-wagons used
+on the round-ups; with help from Alec and Knight he was to have a camp
+ready for the rest of the party when they should arrive on the
+following day.
+
+"I wish Grandmother were not so set on the 'simple life,'" remarked
+Blue Bonnet, "for I should like to take Juanita along. It's a pity to
+separate her and Miguel just now, when things are progressing so
+nicely."
+
+"How do you know?" Kitty looked up quickly.
+
+Blue Bonnet bit her lip. She and Alec had agreed not to tell of the
+incident of the lasso, and she had kept the secret, though she burned
+to tell the romance-loving We are Sevens. "Just by signs," she
+answered evasively.
+
+But Kitty could read signs, too, and privately longed to shake the
+mystery out of her hostess. Suspecting the trend of little Miss Why's
+thoughts, Blue Bonnet went on hurriedly: "How shall we go--in the
+buckboard or on horse-back?"
+
+"Horse-back!" exclaimed all four of the others.
+
+"Did I hear you speak, Sarah?" Kitty inquired.
+
+"You did if you were listening," replied Sarah calmly.
+
+"I believe Sarah and Comanche have formed a real attachment for each
+other," said Blue Bonnet who secretly exulted in Sarah's growing
+spirit.
+
+"It must be a patent attachment then," laughed Kitty, "--something
+that keeps Sarah on!"
+
+"Grandmother will have to go in the buckboard--Uncle Joe's going to
+drive and--" Blue Bonnet did some hasty calculating, "I had better
+stay with Grandmother--it's smoother riding with two in a seat.
+Firefly will hate being led, but I reckon some disciplining won't hurt
+him."
+
+They were up before dawn in order to complete the first stage of the
+journey before noon. As they gathered about the lamp-lighted table for
+breakfast, yawning and rubbing their eyes, Blue Bonnet gave an amused
+laugh.
+
+        "'In _summer_ I get up at night
+         And dress by yellow candle-light.'"
+
+she quoted.
+
+"I think it would have been a good plan to have had breakfast before
+we went to bed," said Sarah. "Thank you, Mrs. Clyde, I will take
+coffee, I think it will wake me up."
+
+"Never mind," said Blue Bonnet. "You can just alter the lines a bit--
+
+        "'In camp it's quite the other way,
+         We'll all go straight to bed by day'--
+
+and make up for the loss of our beauty sleep. And you'll see something
+worth getting up for later. Sunrise on the prairie, Kitty, makes the
+Massachusetts article look like your pink lawn when it came back from
+the wash."
+
+They were several miles from the ranch when Uncle Joe raised his quirt
+and pointed to the east. "There she comes!" he warned.
+
+The whole crowd came to a standstill in the middle of the road in a
+hush that was almost reverent. Blue Bonnet drew a deep breath. The
+rolling prairie with the long grass stirred by the breeze; the
+peaceful herds just waking into life; the fleecy clouds glowing from
+buff to rosy pink--she loved it all.
+
+At eleven every one was ravenous and a halt was made for lunch. From
+that point the journey was hardly so pleasant; the road began to
+ascend sharply into the sturdy little range of hills that Texans
+proudly call mountains, and being less frequented than the county
+road, was rough and full of surprises in the way of snakes and
+insects. Sarah was just beginning to wonder if she could survive
+Comanche's next fright, when a loud "Whoa-o-o-pe!" sounded from
+somewhere above and ahead of them. Blue Bonnet answered immediately
+with the ranch-call which she and some of the cowboys had adapted
+years ago from one of Uncle Joe's old-time songs:
+
+[Illustration: O Ho ye ho ho!]
+
+She had a strong, carrying voice, and the cheery summons of the
+Twickenham ferryman rang clearly on the air.
+
+The next minute three riders emerged from the trees in whose shade
+they had been waiting, and galloped to meet the campers.
+
+"It's Alec and Knight," Kitty called from the front. "And there's a
+girl with them!"
+
+Blue Bonnet shot a quick glance at the approaching trio, and then gave
+a bounce of delight. That erect little figure, just about her own
+size, with the two pig-tails flying out behind her as she rode, could
+be no other than--Carita Judson.
+
+Carita was not so quick at discovering her unknown friend; she gave a
+bashful, inquiring look at each one of the girls in turn. But as soon
+as she met Blue Bonnet's eye, full of an eager welcome, she rode
+straight to the side of the buckboard and held out a slim, brown hand.
+"You are--you must be--a Texas Blue Bonnet!"
+
+"And you're Carita,--I'm so glad!" Blue Bonnet took the outstretched
+hand in both her own and gazed with frank pleasure into the girl's
+smiling face.
+
+Knight came up beside them and presented his cousin to Mrs. Clyde and
+the other girls, and after a short but merry halt they prepared to
+move on. Camp was still at some distance and they must get settled
+before nightfall.
+
+Sarah came up to the buckboard just as the others were starting. "Do
+you mind changing places with me, Blue Bonnet?" she asked. "I'm tired
+of riding."
+
+The look Blue Bonnet gave her was ample reward for what Sarah feared
+was almost an untruth on her part. She scrambled out of the saddle in
+a manner that Blue Bonnet would have smiled at ordinarily, but now
+regarded with sober eyes. The other girls, without giving a thought to
+her natural wish for a few words with Carita had ridden on in a gay
+whirl of conversation; Sarah with a thoughtfulness that Blue Bonnet
+was beginning to believe unfailing, had been the only one to read her
+unspoken wish.
+
+"Isn't Sarah the dearest?" she whispered to her grandmother.
+
+And Mrs. Clyde, mindful of a former comment of Blue Bonnet's, smiled
+with amusement as she replied--"Not half bad--considering her
+bringing-up!"
+
+Carita had lingered behind the others and now as she saw Blue Bonnet
+mount Comanche, she rode back and joined her. They were the last of
+the procession and practically alone.
+
+"It's so wonderful," Carita's small dark face was alight with
+pleasure, "--to think of seeing you after--everything!"
+
+They smiled into each other's eyes. Carita did not in the least
+resemble the Woodford girls. She wore a queer one-piece garment of
+blue denim, not designed for riding, which pulled up in a bunch on
+either side of the saddle, showing her feet in thick boyish boots, and
+an inch or two of much-darned stocking. On her head was an old felt
+sombrero, sadly drooping as to brim and dented as to crown, secured
+under her chin by a piece of black elastic. Below it her small face,
+brown and freckled as it was, was not without a singular attraction.
+Her eyes were big and soft, her lips scarlet as holly-berries; and the
+long braids were very heavy and of a glossy chestnut. In spite of her
+clumsy costume she rode her wiry little pinto as Western girls
+ride--thistle-down in the saddle. She was a bit of the prairie
+herself, and Blue Bonnet saw it and loved her.
+
+"When did you come?" Blue Bonnet asked her.
+
+"Yesterday. And we're to stay over Sunday. Won't we just have to cram
+the days full?" Carita's eyes were wistful. "For fear we sha'n't have
+much time alone, I want to tell you how much it has meant to me--your
+letters, and the dress and the Christmas box and everything. I can't
+begin to tell you the--difference they have made. We've always had
+boxes you know--father has no regular salary. But nothing ever came
+that was half so wonderful. Last winter wasn't a bit like others--it
+was full of excitement!"
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled, but she felt nearer tears than laughter. Such a
+little thing to mean so much! For the second time she had a feeling of
+thankfulness that she was--not poor. Money was certainly worth while
+when it could give such pleasure. If Miss Lucinda could have read the
+girl's mind at this moment, she might have felt some doubts as to her
+niece's ability to profit by the last winter's lesson in New England
+thrift. Blue Bonnet's only regret was that her purse which had been
+slipped into the missionary box, had not contained several times as
+much!
+
+"I was sure we'd know each other, some day--I felt it!" Carita went
+on in her eager way. "And I believe Knight's meeting you that day was
+providential!"
+
+"It was certainly providential for Sarah and me," Blue Bonnet laughed.
+"We'd have had a pretty spill if it hadn't been for him. But as 'all's
+well that ends well,' we can consider that everything has been for the
+best."
+
+"That sounds like father." It seemed to Blue Bonnet that Carita
+smothered a sigh. "Mother and I aren't always sure that _everything_
+is for the best. But father never has the least bit of doubt." Then
+with a quick return of animation--"I know you'll love the camp. Knight
+has picked out the loveliest spot for your tents. There--look! You can
+see the Spring, and that gleam of white through the trees--that's Camp
+Judson!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+CAMPING BY THE BIG SPRING
+
+
+"OH, Blue Bonnet, do hurry!" cried Debby as Blue Bonnet galloped into
+camp. "It's the most wonderful place,--we can't wait for you to see
+it."
+
+Blue Bonnet slipped from the saddle and flung the reins to Miguel.
+
+"Show me everything!" she cried; and then not waiting to be shown,
+went from one tent to another in her usual whirlwind fashion.
+
+"Our sleeping-tent," said Kitty; they were all trooping after the
+late-comer, chattering busily and explaining the most obvious
+arrangements. "That one's for you and the Señora; this one is the
+dining-room--see the table and benches Alec and Knight made! The
+kitchen is under that awning. Isn't that the darlingest stove?"
+
+"And the little creek right handy!"
+
+By the time she had completed her survey, Blue Bonnet was more
+enthusiastic than any one else. How she loved camping out!
+
+The spot the boys had chosen for them was a beautiful one. Under two
+giant live-oaks whose branches interlaced overhead in a leafy canopy,
+the sleeping-tents were pitched, between them stretching an awning
+that formed both a dining-room and a lounging-place by day. The site
+had been used as a camping-ground before and still retained many
+conveniences installed by former campers; the underbrush had all been
+cut away, and the ground packed hard and level. For the kitchen, a
+canvas stretched between the camp-wagon and a convenient sycamore
+served as sufficient protection from sun and arboreal insects. The
+little sheet-iron stove, set up on a flat boulder, boasted an elbow in
+its pipe that could be adjusted to suit the direction of the wind.
+
+A thread of a creek, tumbling down the hillside, ran not ten yards
+from the wagon, and at one point a tiny wooden trough had been
+inserted, giving the effect of a spout where kettles could be quickly
+filled. Alec and Knight had labored diligently to have all attractive
+as well as convenient, and really deserved great praise for the
+completeness of all details.
+
+"Everything is perfect!" Blue Bonnet declared. "But we must have the
+buckboard seats in the--er--living-room. Uncle Cliff sent all three so
+that we could use them as easy chairs,--especially for Grandmo--why,
+where is she?"
+
+"Here, dear," Mrs. Clyde came up with a tin dipper in her hand. "I've
+been having a drink,--such a drink, Blue Bonnet!" She held out the
+dripping cup and Blue Bonnet drank from it thirstily.
+
+As she finished she met the Señora's eyes over the brim. "Oh,
+Grandmother, I ought to have done that--for you!" She shook her head.
+"I wonder if I'll ever think in time?"
+
+Mrs. Clyde smiled and pushed the hair back from the girl's hot brow.
+"Where is Carita?"
+
+"She rode on to tell her mother we had arrived. She'll be over later."
+Blue Bonnet glanced around the group. Every one looked warm, dusty,
+tired. And there was supper to get and beds to make! "What shall we do
+first, Grandmother?" Her manner was not exactly eager.
+
+"First, we must all wash and brush up, for we are invited out to
+dinner!" Mrs. Clyde departed to suit the action to the words.
+
+"Invited out--?" Blue Bonnet gazed at the girls incredulously.
+
+"The boys of Camp Judson, represented by Knight, have invited us over
+there--"
+
+"And we didn't waste any time in accepting!"
+
+"Wasn't it thoughtful of them?" Blue Bonnet beamed on every one. "Now
+aren't you glad we brought the pinoche?"
+
+"Let's go and dress," Debby urged.
+
+"Dress?" echoed Blue Bonnet. "What are you going to wear--your pink
+panne velvet or your yellow chiffon?"
+
+"Why, Blue Bonnet," said Sarah, "you know we haven't any clothes with
+us but these!"
+
+Blue Bonnet groaned. "Then why is that worldly-minded Debby talking
+about dressing for dinner?"
+
+"I meant wash and comb our hair," Debby protested.
+
+"Where's the wash-basin, Blue Bonnet? I saw you with it when we were
+packing," said Sarah.
+
+Blue Bonnet clapped a hand to her brow. "I think I put it in with the
+frying-pan."
+
+"Are you sure it isn't in the bread-box?" Kitty asked.
+
+"I wouldn't be sure it isn't." Blue Bonnet began a hasty search in the
+camp-wagon. Box after box was rummaged through, utensil after utensil
+picked up hopefully, only to disappoint when brought to the surface.
+
+"There's no help for it," declared Debby, "we'll have to go and wash
+in the creek."
+
+"Why, there may be campers below," said Sarah in a shocked tone, "and
+they wouldn't like to--"
+
+"You needn't draw a diagram, Sarah," interrupted Blue Bonnet. "A word
+to the wise, you know. I'll polish off with cold cream." And she
+vanished.
+
+Sarah, armed with towel and soap emerged from her tent a few minutes
+later and made her way through the willows to the creek. Blue Bonnet
+spying her called tauntingly: "Campers below!"
+
+"I'm only going to wet one corner," Sarah went on calmly.
+
+"Which corner--northeast or southwest?"
+
+"Of the towel, of course." Then a minute later she called, "Girls,
+come quick!"
+
+There was an immediate stampede to the creek.
+
+"What is it--lions?" asked Amanda.
+
+Sarah pointed without speaking. There, bending over an old tree-stump,
+admirably fashioned for a wash-stand, was the Señora calmly washing
+herself--in the basin.
+
+"I found it here all ready for us," she explained. "And see--here's a
+nail on this little tree ready for a mirror, and branches just made to
+hang towels on."
+
+"Alec and Knight haven't left a thing for me to see to," remarked Blue
+Bonnet. "I'm going to stop worrying."
+
+"Oh, you were worrying, were you?" asked Kitty. "We'll know the
+symptoms next time."
+
+The washing-up that ensued was very animated, if not thorough. Taking
+turns at the basin the girls, wincing under the cold water, "polished
+off" the top layer of dust; brushed ruffled locks and retied ribbons;
+dabbed talcum on noses and straightened creased middies. They were
+just putting on the finishing touches when the sound of cow-bells,
+rung lustily and long, came from the direction of the other Camp.
+
+"That must be the dinner-bell," said Blue Bonnet. "I hope they won't
+expect us to have dainty appetites just because we're girls!"
+
+A moment later Alec and Knight appeared to escort them in state.
+Midway they were met by Mr. and Mrs. Judson,--the latter with two
+small boys tugging at her skirts, and a third not far in the rear; a
+state of things that was later found to be invariably the case
+whenever Mrs. Judson ventured forth.
+
+Blue Bonnet decided that she was going to like the whole Judson
+family. She liked the Reverend Mr. Judson with his delicate face and
+kind, nearsighted eyes. She liked him particularly because he looked
+so unministerial in his soft shirt and blue overalls. She liked Mrs.
+Judson, with her sweet, tired face looking out from a cavernous
+sun-bonnet. Mrs. Clyde's discerning eye read in the patient worn face
+a history of privation and self-denial; and surmised that the
+enthusiasm of the missionary was paid for most dearly by this
+uncomplaining partner.
+
+It was to the tiniest toddler that Blue Bonnet was drawn most of all;
+she adored babies, and this chubby two-year-old was irresistible. She
+held out her arms to little Joe, but, to her surprise, he held off
+shyly. He scanned the row of ingratiating faces slowly, and not until
+his eyes rested on the kindly round countenance of Sarah did he show
+any response.
+
+"Pitty lady!" he cried, holding out his arms and making a charge at
+her.
+
+Sarah's face flushed pink with surprise and pleasure; and then with a
+rush she gathered Joe in a close hug. She had not realized until then
+how she had missed the little clinging arms at home.
+
+"He spurns you, Blue Bonnet!" gasped Kitty.
+
+"I reckon he can tell who has had experience with babies," Blue Bonnet
+remarked. The glance she gave Sarah was almost envious. "Well, pitty
+lady," she said at length, "you might leave a few kisses for somebody
+else!"
+
+But Joe was chary and clung tightly to the lady of his choice; while
+the other girls secretly marvelled at any one's preferring Sarah to
+Blue Bonnet.
+
+Carita made up for her brother's lack of appreciation; running to meet
+the girls, she drew Blue Bonnet's arm through her own and gave it an
+affectionate squeeze every few minutes.
+
+"I hope the other girls won't mind if I monopolize you a little bit,"
+she whispered; "they've had you so long and I'm to have such a short
+time."
+
+This sort of incense no one could have been proof against; and Blue
+Bonnet was presently glowing.
+
+"Welcome to Camp Judson!" said Knight proudly, as they neared a second
+grove of trees.
+
+"Oh, how lovely!" Every one came to a standstill while they took in
+the pretty scene.
+
+A model camp was Camp Judson. On a high flat knoll to the right was a
+long row of tiny white tents placed with military precision at regular
+spaces from each other, and each surrounded by a narrow trench. Among
+the trees gleamed other tents, and occasionally a gay quilt hung to
+air. Under one huge oak was the dining-room with a red-white-and-blue
+awning for a roof. Here were two long tables made of smooth boards
+laid on barrels, with rude benches running their entire length. They
+were guiltless of cloth and spread with tin dishes, for simplicity was
+a law as well as a necessity in this Camp. But a rustic basket of
+graceful ferns adorned one table, and the sun, hanging low in the sky,
+threw a pattern of quivering light and shade on the bare boards.
+
+The girls had rather dreaded having to meet a dozen boys all at once.
+But they found the ordeal not half so bad as they had expected. The
+youngest boys were already gathered about the smaller table awaiting
+the signal to be seated; while the second table was reserved for the
+Judsons and their guests. Standing beside it were three tall lads
+wearing towels pinned about them for aprons.
+
+"Smith, Brown and Jones--the three props of the world!" explained
+Knight, with a wave of his hand; and the girls acknowledged the
+introduction without knowing which was which. "Keep your eye on the
+waiters, ladies and gentlemen," Knight continued, "and report all
+incivilities to the management. There's a fine for every cup of cocoa
+they spill down anybody's neck, and another for every spider they
+don't see first!"
+
+Everybody stood beside the benches for a moment while Dr. Judson said
+a simple grace. Blue Bonnet noticed that even the smallest boy there
+bent his head at once, without even so much as a nudge from his
+neighbor. There was a second of absolute quiet after the pleasant
+voice finished the short invocation; then a shoving of benches, a
+rattle of dishes; and the meal progressed amid peals of laughter and
+an incessant clucking as of chickens at feeding-time.
+
+"Talk about chattering girls!" Blue Bonnet challenged Alec with an
+amused glance. She found herself seated between him and Knight, an
+arrangement that suited all three admirably; while Carita smiled at
+her across the narrow table. Some of the older boys were beside Kitty,
+Debby and Amanda, and all three girls seemed to be well entertained.
+Sarah, with a small Judson on either side of her, was occupied chiefly
+in alternately kissing and feeding the youthful pair. Steaming
+_frijoles_ in a huge earthen bowl; bass from the Spring, fried with
+slices of bacon; baked potatoes, cocoa and doughnuts formed the menu,
+which the hearty appetites of all transformed into a banquet; and no
+one felt compelled to refuse a second or third helping from motives of
+politeness.
+
+"Where's the Spring?" Blue Bonnet asked suddenly. "The only creek
+I've seen is about as wide as my hand."
+
+"Just a short walk from camp," Knight replied. "I'm saving that to
+show you in the morning."
+
+There fell a moment of silence.
+
+"Did I hear you sigh?" Alec was looking at Blue Bonnet in
+astonishment. She had never looked happier or prettier in her life;
+sun and wind had painted a rose-blush on her cheeks; the blue eyes
+were positively luminous. Yet he had distinctly heard her sigh.
+
+She nodded. "I had to. I'm just too full for utterance--no, no!--I'll
+take another doughnut! I didn't mean that literally. But I'm full of
+content,--I'd like to purr."
+
+Alec laughed. "It's the best fun I've ever had. I believe I must be
+part Indian, and this is the only time I've ever been able to obey
+'the call of the wild.' It makes me sorry for all the misguided folk
+that spend all their lives in houses."
+
+"Look at Grandmother," Blue Bonnet whispered. "Who would ever have
+thought that a Colonial Dame would look so natural eating beans with a
+tin spoon? I wish Uncle Cliff could have come, he's a born camper."
+
+"Why didn't Mr. Terry come to dinner?" Knight asked.
+
+"Uncle Joe!" Blue Bonnet's spoon dropped with a clatter. She hadn't
+even thought of Uncle Joe! "Mrs. Judson," she stammered, "will you
+please excuse me? I'll be right back." Hardly waiting for Mrs.
+Judson's surprised "Certainly," she sprang lightly over the bench and
+vanished through the trees.
+
+The We are Sevens, used to Blue Bonnet's methods, went on
+unconcernedly with their dessert; but the Judsons looked mildly
+amazed.
+
+Blue Bonnet found Uncle Joe smoking contentedly before a cosy gypsy
+fire on which a coffee-pot was steaming. She burst upon him
+breathlessly.
+
+"Uncle Joe--I forgot,--you're invited out to dinner!"
+
+He smiled at her over his pipe. "I ain't got a dinner-coat, Honey."
+
+"But, Uncle Joe--it was horrid of me I know--"
+
+"No uncomplimentary remarks, please," he interrupted; then seeing that
+she was really distressed he went on seriously: "Don't you worry about
+Uncle Joe, Blue Bonnet. He's used to looking out for Number One. I had
+to help Miguel hobble the horses, and that's a job that won't wait for
+any man. Now I've got tortillas and bacon and coffee, and I'm that
+comfortable I wouldn't stir for a whole company of Texas Rangers!"
+
+As she reluctantly departed Uncle Joe looked after the slim figure
+with quiet delight. "Same old Blue Bonnet. Boston folks can't get any
+high-toned notions into that little head!"
+
+As Blue Bonnet slipped back into her place, she found an animated
+discussion in progress.
+
+"We're trying to decide on a name for our camp," Debby explained.
+
+"We've run through Ashe, Clyde, Trent and the rest, but they're
+too--exclusive," said Kitty. "We want one that will include
+everybody."
+
+"Why not 'Camp We are Seven?'" asked Knight.
+
+"Too clumsy," declared Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Use initials then," urged Knight.
+
+"Camp W. A. S.--sounds rather like a has-been," remarked the
+bright-faced boy beside Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet flashed him an appreciative smile. "That would never do
+for a crowd as--ahem--up-to-date as we try to be!"
+
+"Let's have something beautiful," said Kitty.
+
+"And romantic," added Debby.
+
+"If you want something typical of this country," Dr. Judson spoke up,
+"--there's an expressive phrase often used hereabouts. Those of you
+who know the habits of the 'greasers' don't need to be told why their
+country is called the 'land of _poco tiempo_.' It means literally
+'little time'--but with the Mexicans it usually means 'after a while'
+or even 'by and by.' 'Always put off till to-morrow what should be
+done to-day' is their version of our old motto."
+
+"That just suits me!" cried Blue Bonnet.
+
+"I love Spanish names," exclaimed Kitty.
+
+_Poco Tiempo_ the camp was straightway christened; and, as they later
+proved, its inmates had no difficulty in living up to the name.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+POCO TIEMPO
+
+
+"I RECKON we'll all sleep without rocking," Blue Bonnet smiled
+drowsily in on the girls who were disrobing for the night. She had
+stolen from Grandmother's tent for a last word, but lingered for
+several before departing. "How's your bed, Sarah?"
+
+"A bit bumpy," the honest girl admitted.
+
+"Mustn't mind a little thing like that," Blue Bonnet admonished her.
+
+"They're not very little--just you wait and see." Sarah squirmed about
+seeking a level spot for her body.
+
+Alec and Knight, who had spent hours stuffing the bed-ticks with
+Spanish moss, would hardly have felt repaid could they have seen her
+discomfort at that moment.
+
+Observing her Blue Bonnet remarked: "I'm glad we brought the canvas
+cot for Grandmother. I don't mind bumpy beds myself--it isn't right to
+be too comfortable when you're camping out."
+
+Kitty stood, mirror in hand, ministering unto a blistered nose, and as
+Sarah gave a final grunt before closing her eyes, she called suddenly:
+"Sarah Blake, don't you dare go to sleep 'til we've drawn lots."
+
+"Lots?" Sarah blinked sleepily.
+
+"To see who's to get breakfast. After that we'll take turns, two at a
+time."
+
+"But there are five of us," protested Debby.
+
+"Grandmother says to count her in. We'll give her Sarah for a
+running-mate,--she's about the only one that can keep Sallykins in
+order."
+
+Sarah woke up at that to give the speaker a surprised and grieved
+look, at which Blue Bonnet burst into a laugh. "I'll label my next
+joke, Old Reliable," she said.
+
+Kitty looked about her for something which they could use for lots.
+
+Nothing seeming appropriate, she suddenly tweaked three bright hairs
+from her own curly head, arranged them in lengths and held them out
+for the others to draw.
+
+"Shortest gets breakfast; next lunch, longest dinner," she announced
+tersely.
+
+"Hooray for us!" cried Amanda, catching Blue Bonnet around the waist
+and hopping about on one foot, the other being unshod. "Lunch for us.
+Let's think up something easy."
+
+Kitty made a grimace at the short hair left in her hand. "Breakfast!
+Debby, I call that hard luck."
+
+"The others may call it harder," prophesied Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Never mind, the Señora and Sarah will make up for it at dinner-time,"
+said Kitty.
+
+"Night-night!" said Blue Bonnet, preparing to leave. With her hand on
+the tent-flap she paused. "Shake out your shoes before you put them on
+in the morning!" she said; and with this dark warning fled.
+
+Camp Judson had awakened, had had a fiercely contested water-fight,
+had breakfasted, tidied up, and most of its inmates scattered in quest
+of adventures, before the tired girls of _Poco Tiempo_ gathered for
+the morning meal. Kitty and Debby, enveloped in capacious gingham
+aprons, and appearing somewhat flushed and nervous, stood waiting to
+serve.
+
+Mrs. Clyde gave the two cooks an approving smile. "Everything looks
+charming," she said as she took her place at the head of the board.
+
+The table here was spread with white oilcloth, and the dishes of blue
+enamelled-ware showed bright and cheerful against the immaculate
+expanse. Bowls of steaming oatmeal porridge stood at each place, and
+huge mugs of cocoa. But it was at none of these that Blue Bonnet was
+gazing; her eyes were fastened in wonder on a pitcher of real milk and
+another of real cream.
+
+"Where did that come from?" she demanded.
+
+"The Spring!" declared Kitty.
+
+"Miguel rode to the Circle Y ranch and got it early this morning,"
+Debby confessed, "and they're going to let us have it every morning."
+
+"It's a jarring note," Blue Bonnet declared.
+
+"All right, you can have all the 'condemned milk' you want," said
+Kitty, "--we've a dozen cans of it."
+
+But Blue Bonnet was already helping herself generously to the "jarring
+note" and seemed to enjoy it as much as any one. Every one was
+exceedingly polite and made no mention of lumps in the porridge; and
+finally the anxious puckers in Debby's forehead began to smooth
+themselves out. There was a moment of veritable triumph for the cooks
+when they came in with the nicely browned bacon and a plate heaped
+high with golden corn-bread.
+
+"Who was the artist?" the Señora asked in pleased surprise.
+
+"I didn't know you knew how," Sarah commented.
+
+There was a moment's hesitation, and then Blue Bonnet, who had caught
+a glimpse of Uncle Joe's face, pointed an accusing finger at him.
+"Fess up, Uncle Joe!"
+
+Much annoyed at himself, Uncle Joe tried to deny the accusation, but
+Kitty's face confirmed the suspicion against him, and in the end he
+"fessed up" rather lamely.
+
+"Have to do something to earn my board and keep," he protested.
+
+"Amanda and I get lunch, you know," Blue Bonnet suggested tactfully;
+and Amanda telegraphed her approval of this gentle hint.
+
+"Well, this camp is well-named," said Knight, appearing suddenly with
+a half-dozen boys in his train. "Is this breakfast or lunch?"
+
+"Breakfast, and a very good one," Mrs. Clyde remarked. "Won't you join
+us?"
+
+"Don't tempt my merry men," Knight begged comically. "They've never
+yet been known to refuse food, and though it's only an hour since
+breakfast, I've no confidence in them."
+
+"Won't you please hurry?" Alec asked eagerly. "I can't wait for you
+all to see the Spring."
+
+"We're ready right now," said Blue Bonnet, jumping up impulsively.
+"Come on, girls, it's a glorious morning for a tramp."
+
+"Haven't you forgotten something, Blue Bonnet?" her grandmother asked.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked puzzled. "Do you mean hats? I'd much rather go
+without one, if you don't mind, Grandmother."
+
+But it was not hats that Grandmother was thinking of; gradually it
+dawned on Blue Bonnet that the other girls were not making ready for
+the excursion, but were gathering up the dishes and clearing the
+table. She flashed a reproachful look at them.
+
+"You might let those wait," she protested.
+
+Grandmother smiled. "You do surely belong to the 'land of _poco
+tiempo_,' Blue Bonnet."
+
+"But the dishes will keep--"
+
+"And so will the Spring!"
+
+The girl gave a discouraged sigh; it was a pity Grandmother had not
+been brought up in Texas; then she would have understood what were the
+really necessary things in life. She nodded wistfully at the boys.
+"Grandmother believes in every girl's doing her duty," she said.
+
+"We'll have the manager hold the performance," said Knight cheerfully.
+"We'll be back in half an hour,--Carita can go by that time, too."
+
+Blue Bonnet brightened visibly at this, and turned resolutely to the
+hated tasks.
+
+"Debby and I will wash the dishes; Sarah can 'red up,' and you and
+Amanda do the beds," Kitty suggested.
+
+Aunt Lucinda's training stood Blue Bonnet in good stead here. The
+going over the rather bumpy beds got in that half-hour left Amanda
+breathless with admiration.
+
+"You can do things beautifully when you want to, Blue Bonnet," she
+remarked.
+
+"When I have to, you mean," Blue Bonnet replied.
+
+"Where's the broom, do you know?" asked Sarah.
+
+"Sh!" Blue Bonnet drew her into the tent and out of every one's
+hearing. "There isn't any broom, Sarah."
+
+"But I put one in the wagon myself."
+
+"And I _threw it out_!"
+
+"Blue Bonnet!" Something like horror was in Sarah's blue eyes.
+
+Blue Bonnet met her gaze defiantly. "Did you ever see a picture of the
+Witch of Salem, Sarah?"
+
+Sarah gave a bewildered nod. "What has the Witch of Salem--"
+
+"Wasn't she riding a broom?" Blue Bonnet persisted.
+
+"Yes--but--"
+
+"Well, in my opinion that's the only good use a broom was ever put to!
+It has no place in a respectable camping party."
+
+Sarah said no more; but when, a few minutes later, Amanda and Blue
+Bonnet looked out to learn the source of an odd sound, they beheld the
+indomitable Sarah, armed with an antiquated rake, gathering up the
+leaves and litter on the hard dirt "floor" of the dining-room.
+
+"Who would have thought to see our Sarah grown rakish?" asked Blue
+Bonnet,--and then dodged the pillow sent by Amanda's indignant hand.
+
+By the time the allotted half-hour was up, _Poco Tiempo_ was a model
+of neatness and order. The girls, booted and hatted in spite of Blue
+Bonnet's objections, were ready to the minute, and when the young
+scouts appeared they set out at once, exactly--as Blue Bonnet
+remarked--like the third-graders at recess.
+
+Grandmother had settled herself comfortably with a book,--Mrs. Judson
+was coming over later for a chat,--and so it was with a free mind and
+a soul ready for a carnival of pleasure that Blue Bonnet stepped forth
+on the joyous expedition.
+
+"I reckon it is better," she admitted to Alec, "to have everything
+done first, instead of having them to do when you're tired."
+
+"Oh, wise young judge!" he laughed. "We'll make a New Englander of you
+yet."
+
+"That reminds me of something Cousin Tracey said once. He thought I
+was developing a New England conscience, and said it was an
+exceedingly troublesome thing to have around. I believe him,--it's
+much more fun to develop Kodak films. There now!" she broke off
+impatiently, "--if I haven't left my camera in the tent. And I want
+pictures of the Spring."
+
+"Never mind, we'll be up here every day," said Alec. "There's a jolly
+little rustic bridge where you can gather the crowd for a group
+picture. Here we are!"
+
+He and Blue Bonnet had walked faster than the others, and so were
+first to see this most beautiful of springs. Blue Bonnet gave one
+look, and then something rose in her throat, stifling breath and
+speech. Alec watched her appreciatively.
+
+"If he speaks to me now, he's not the boy I've always believed him,"
+the girl was saying to herself. She dreaded the first word that should
+break in on that moment of perfect beauty.
+
+Below them the giant spring surged up, a great emerald in a setting of
+woods and hills. Clear as air, the water boiled up from the bowels of
+the earth, revealing every fish and pebble in its mirror-like depths.
+Shrubs overhung it; wild cresses and ferns clustered about it; below
+the surface long tresses of pinky-coral grasses floated and waved in
+the bubbling current.
+
+A voice shattered the blissful moment of peace. "Isn't she a beauty?"
+
+It was a sandy-haired youth with Kitty who had clambered roughly into
+the picture. Blue Bonnet hated him fiercely for a few seconds. Then
+the rest came up with a babble of voices and exclamations and she
+resigned herself, with a sigh, to the fact that the gift of silence,
+being golden, is given to but few.
+
+Knight gave her a questioning glance and she glowed back at him. "It's
+perfect--almost too perfect."
+
+"There's a wee spring up higher,--the camp creek flows from it. Do you
+feel equal to the climb?" he asked her.
+
+She gave eager assent, and, after lingering a few minutes for the
+others and finding them too slow for the pace she liked, Blue Bonnet
+followed Knight up a steep winding path that circled the hill.
+
+He carried a "twenty-two" rifle swung across his shoulders, and in his
+belt a rather formidable looking knife.
+
+"For use or ornament?" she asked, indicating the weapons. "You look
+like Dick Danger."
+
+"Strictly for use," he assured her. "The gun has brought down many a
+toothsome 'possum, and the knife serves to cut anything from firewood
+to alpenstocks. Shall I cut you one to assist your feeble steps?"
+
+They halted while he selected a sapling for the purpose, trimmed and
+sharpened it at the end.
+
+"Alpine travellers put sharp iron points on their staffs, Uncle says,"
+he explained, "so that by thrusting them in the ice and snow they keep
+from slipping. We don't need them for just that purpose, but they are
+handy on steep paths--and to kill bugs with!"
+
+She accepted the "alpenstock" gratefully and soon found it useful for
+both purposes.
+
+"When we get back to camp I'll get Sandy to carve your initials in
+it--he's quite a genius at carving," Knight said.
+
+"Is Sandy the--sandy one?"
+
+"Precisely."
+
+"Then I don't think I like him."
+
+"Oh, but you will when you know him better," Knight protested. "He's
+tremendously clever,--a born orator. He won a medal last year in a
+debate."
+
+"That accounts for his talking so much," Blue Bonnet laughed. "He's
+always at it."
+
+"But unlike most incessant talkers, he says something," Knight urged
+for his friend. "We'll get him to recite some evening, then you can
+judge how talented he is."
+
+"Does he do 'Curfew shall not--?'" she asked mischievously.
+
+"Grief, no!" Knight's disgusted tone sent Blue Bonnet off in a fit of
+laughter. To her surprise the ripple of her laugh came back in a
+gleeful "ha, ha!" that had something witchlike about it. She turned a
+startled face to her companion.
+
+"We've reached the 'Whispering Grotto,'" he explained. "The echo is
+famous." He pushed aside a low-growing bough, and brushing by it Blue
+Bonnet found herself in a lovely little cave-like spot, in the centre
+of which was a tiny spring. It bubbled up somewhere back in the hill
+and had made a long tunnel, coming to the light just here.
+
+"Oh, for a cup. I'm thirsty as--as Tantalus!" sighed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"A Texas girl crying for a cup?" Knight asked teasingly.
+
+"That wouldn't have happened before I went to Woodford. I've been
+going through what they call--being civilized. It's mostly learning
+not to shock the New England sense of propriety."
+
+"I'm not a New Englander!"
+
+Knight's eyes were daring her; and it was fatal. What Sarah would have
+said if she could have seen Blue Bonnet's method of getting a drink is
+hard to conjecture. Hardly had she time to spring to her feet when
+voices were heard close at hand.
+
+"I can hear Sandy." She turned eagerly to Knight. "Let's go on--I
+don't feel ready for a crowd."
+
+"There's a lovely view from the top of the hill," he suggested.
+
+Her only answer was to push on, plying her alpenstock eagerly in her
+haste to elude the others. Pausing only when the top of the hill was
+reached, she sank at length on a fallen tree-trunk. The view was all
+Knight had promised for it, overlooking a quiet valley.
+
+"Let's call it 'Peaceful Valley,'" she said.
+
+"It may have a different name on the map, but no one can prevent our
+christening it what we like," he agreed.
+
+Blue Bonnet was content to rest for a while here. There was no sign of
+life anywhere, except a solitary bird wheeling about far above their
+heads.
+
+"A swallow-tailed kite," Knight said as the bird dropped suddenly into
+clearer view. "Graceful, isn't it?"
+
+All at once the big kite alighted on the dead branch of a tree near
+them.
+
+"What glorious wings!" breathed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Would you like one for your hat?" Knight asked.
+
+"Oh, wouldn't I!" she cried eagerly.
+
+Quick as flash Knight swung his rifle about, aimed and fired. Blue
+Bonnet put her fingers in her ears with an exclamation of alarm. The
+bird toppled as if to fall, then righted itself with a lurch and
+fluttered out from the tree. Blue Bonnet gave a sigh of relief.
+
+"I was so afraid you had hurt him!" she cried,--and the words died
+away in a gasp of distress. The kite, pitching headlong, had fallen
+almost at her feet.
+
+She dropped on her knees beside it; but the bird was still. Knight,
+bending over her, was suddenly filled with surprise and dismay; she
+was crying like a child.
+
+"It was so mean and vain of me," she said with quivering lips, "--to
+want him just for a hat, when he was having such a beautiful time."
+
+Knight was pale with hatred of himself.
+
+She looked up at last and smiled mistily through her tears. "I reckon
+you think I am pretty much of a baby. But I can't bear to see
+things--die."
+
+"It's only a big hawk," he said to comfort both himself and her.
+
+She looked up hopefully. "And hawks are mean birds, aren't they,--that
+kill little chickens and other birds?"
+
+He hesitated, then said unwillingly: "Some hawks do. But this is a
+different kind. It lives on snakes and insects--"
+
+"Then it is a good bird!--that's what Uncle Cliff calls them." Her
+face clouded again and she turned towards camp.
+
+"You don't want one of the wings then?"
+
+She shuddered. "Oh, no!" Then she paused. "I will have--I saw some
+feathers fall. Will you give me one? I want it for a reminder."
+
+Knight picked up one of the tiny barred wing-feathers and handed it to
+her. "A reminder?"
+
+"I'm never going to wear things like that again--wings and birds and
+all those cruel ornaments. I never realized before--And whenever I am
+tempted I shall look at this."
+
+Knight bent, picked up another of the feathers and laid it away in his
+fly-book. "I need a reminder, too," he remarked.
+
+"But you never wear birds in your hats," Blue Bonnet said wonderingly.
+
+"My reminder shall be: 'Think before you shoot,'" he said quietly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+AROUND THE CAMP-FIRE
+
+
+THERE was no sign of the other trampers when Blue Bonnet and Knight
+reached the little grotto; and descending to the Big Spring they found
+even that charming spot deserted.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked around in surprise.
+
+"Do you suppose we've missed them on the way down?" Raising her voice
+she gave her ranch-call--"Ho, ye ho, ho!"
+
+"--ho ho!" the hill sent back; but no feminine or masculine voice
+answered the well-known notes.
+
+Blue Bonnet, child of the open, then looked at the sun and the shadows
+and gave an exclamation of astonishment. "It's past noon! They've gone
+back to camp. My, I'll have to hurry--it's my turn to cook lunch."
+
+She darted impetuously down the hillside, and Knight found himself
+compelled to move briskly in order to keep up with her. They went too
+fast for conversation, but once Blue Bonnet paused long enough to say
+over her shoulder--"You'll come to lunch, won't you?"
+
+"Catch me refusing now I know who the cook is!" he replied gaily.
+
+The path opened at last on the open space before _Poco Tiempo_. There
+was sound of voices and laughter, and yes--the clink of dishes! Blue
+Bonnet turned a rueful face to Knight--"Do you hear that? They won't
+say a thing to me!"
+
+"I am armed,--trust me to protect you," he declaimed theatrically.
+
+They had to pass through the "kitchen" first, and there the clutter of
+empty pots and pans told their own story. From the dining-room the
+others caught sight of the tardy pair and a wild hubbub at once arose.
+
+"Tramps!"
+
+"Set the dogs on them!"
+
+"Why don't you work for a living?"
+
+Knight's eyes twinkled as he looked from Blue Bonnet's amazed
+countenance to the teasing faces about the table. Lunch was evidently
+not only ready but largely consumed.
+
+"What are you eating so early for?" Blue Bonnet demanded.
+
+"Early!"
+
+"Twenty minutes past one!"
+
+"No--!" Blue Bonnet gasped, subsiding on the end of the bench and
+fanning her hot face with her hat. "Now, isn't that the funniest
+thing?"
+
+"I'm glad you see the point of your own joke," retorted Kitty. "We
+have decided to give you a week's notice to get a new place."
+
+"I engage her on the spot," said Knight. "It's all my fault."
+
+"We won't give her a reference," said Kitty.
+
+"You needn't--if you'll just give me food," said Blue Bonnet. "Alec,
+make room for Knight beside you, will you? We're both starved. Who
+made the muffins?"
+
+"Guess," said Kitty, relenting and passing her the nearly empty plate.
+
+Sarah intercepted it. "I'll get you some hot ones." And she rose
+hastily.
+
+Blue Bonnet laughed. "Now I know! Grandmother, did you help Sarah?"
+
+Mrs. Clyde nodded. "The girls came back so hungry I thought we had
+better not wait for the chief cook. No one knew where you were."
+
+"I'm going to wear a cow-bell after this," Blue Bonnet declared.
+"Sarah, if I could make such muffins I'd insist upon cooking every
+meal."
+
+"I reckon you don't need any protection," Knight said in an undertone.
+
+"Oh, there's safety in numbers. Wait till Amanda catches me alone! We
+two will have to get dinner now." She buttered her third muffin and
+then glanced happily around the table. "I've a lovely scheme," she
+hinted.
+
+"Did you ever see any one so bowed down with penitence?" asked Kitty;
+adding promptly, "What's the scheme?"
+
+"It's to invite Alec and Knight to get down logs, make us a huge
+bonfire and--"
+
+"That's just like Blue Bonnet," Kitty broke in, "--she'll let you do
+the work and she'll do the _rest_!"
+
+"--and then invite them to a party," Blue Bonnet went on
+imperturbably.
+
+"'She'll do the grand with a lavish hand,'" quoted Alec. "We're your
+men. A Party--with a big P--is what our souls have been pining for.
+Where shall we build the festive pyre?"
+
+"In the open space between the two camps. There'll be no danger to the
+trees there and plenty of room to sit around it. I'll tell Miguel to
+bring up one of the wagon horses to drag logs,--I want a perfectly
+mammoth fire."
+
+"You ought to have been a man, Blue Bonnet," Debby remarked, "--you
+would have made such a wonderful general. Your ability to put other
+people to work amounts to positive genius."
+
+But Blue Bonnet had already gone in search of Miguel, with Alec and
+Knight in her train. For the rest of the afternoon the "General"
+demonstrated that she could not only put other people to work, but
+could work herself, to advantage. While the boys--whose forces had
+been augmented by the addition of Sandy, Smith, Brown and Jones--got
+down logs and built them into a miniature log cabin, Blue Bonnet made
+great preparations for the Party. She spread all her Indian blankets
+at a proper distance from the bonfire-to-be; distributed the
+buck-board seats judiciously, planning to add the dining-room benches
+as soon as supper was out of the way; whittled great quantities of
+long willow wands to a sharp point, maintaining great secrecy as to
+the use to which the latter were to be put; and stacked many boxes of
+the delectable pinoche in a convenient spot.
+
+Hardly had these preparations been completed when Amanda announced
+that it was time to begin cooking dinner. Blue Bonnet looked at her
+aghast.
+
+"I think it's maddening," she declared. "We are in a continual state
+of washing up after one meal and getting ready for another. And this
+is what Grandmother calls 'simplicity'--! It would be a
+heap--much--simpler if I could just say--'Lisa, we'll have dinner at
+six.' That would end it,--and what could be simpler?"
+
+"What shall we have?" asked Amanda, considering that subject more to
+the point.
+
+"Baked potatoes, then we won't have to peel them,--I'd as soon skin a
+rabbit. And Gertrudis cooked a leg of lamb, so that we'll only have to
+warm it up."
+
+"Shall we try hot bread?" asked Amanda.
+
+"Certainly not! Hot bread twice to-day already--we'll all have
+indigestion. We've stacks of loaves, and bread and maple syrup is good
+enough camp fare for any one. If we're going in for the simple life,
+let's be simple."
+
+"That reminds me of something we translated in the German class," said
+Amanda. "'Man ist was er isst'--and it means 'one is what one eats.'
+And another German said 'Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what
+you are.'"
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that if I live on angel-cake I'll grow to be
+angelic?" demanded Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Hardly!" laughed Amanda. "It would take a good deal more than that!
+No offence, Blue Bonnet,--I like you best when you're--the other
+thing. The Germans are always arguing about something or other. We
+used to take sides in class and nearly come to blows."
+
+"You should have taken French," said Blue Bonnet, before she thought.
+
+"You didn't think that last March!" Amanda teased; and the next moment
+could have bitten her tongue out for the thoughtless speech. Blue
+Bonnet did not smile; it was evident that the memory of the day when
+all the members of the French class except herself had "cut" was still
+a bitter one.
+
+"I'll wash the potatoes," Amanda offered in amend for having touched a
+painful chord.
+
+"All right!" Blue Bonnet beamed acceptance of the kind intention and
+handed over the pan without hesitation. "I'll make up a hot fire, and
+we'll get everything started and the table set,--then you and I are
+going to the Spring."
+
+"Oh, are we?" asked Amanda blankly. One never knew what scheme lurked
+in the back of Blue Bonnet's head.
+
+"For table decorations. I saw some ferns and wild honeysuckle near the
+bank, and it won't take much time to gather enough for the table."
+
+"Decorating the table isn't 'simple,' is it?" Amanda asked rather
+provokingly.
+
+"If you know anything simpler than a wildflower, I'd like to be shown
+it," retorted Blue Bonnet. "Come on, we must do some tall hustling."
+
+The "tall hustling" got the table set in a rather sketchy fashion;
+hurried the potatoes into a scorching oven; placed the already cooked
+roast in the top of the same oven at the same time; and saw Blue
+Bonnet and Amanda headed for the Spring, bearing a fruit-jar and the
+camp's only carving-knife, just as Uncle Joe came up the bank with a
+fine string of speckled trout.
+
+"All ready to fry, Honey," he said, holding them up proudly.
+
+"Hide them quick!" cried Blue Bonnet in alarm, "shooing" him back
+towards the creek.
+
+Used as he was to Blue Bonnet's impetuosity, this move of hers filled
+him with amazement. "What's the matter,--they're perfectly good
+trout!" he urged.
+
+"They're lovely. But I wouldn't fry one for ten million dollars! Keep
+them for breakfast, Uncle Joe,--Sarah will know how to do them
+beautifully."
+
+With an understanding chuckle, Uncle Joe went off to cache his string
+of beauties in a cool place along the creek; and Blue Bonnet and
+Amanda continued their quest for ferns.
+
+As they were returning, crowned with success, they met the Señora just
+back from a stroll with Mrs. Judson. The three other girls were
+already sitting suggestively about the board.
+
+"There," said Blue Bonnet triumphantly, as she deposited the fruit-jar
+in the centre of the table with its graceful ferns and honeysuckle
+trailing over the oil-cloth, "feast on that!"
+
+"I call that a pretty slim dinner," said Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet, disdaining the insinuation, departed rather hastily to
+the kitchen, drawn thither by a strong odor and a still stronger
+suspicion of disaster. The sheet-iron stove was red-hot. Catching up a
+cloth she flung open the oven door, and then backed abruptly away from
+the cloud of acrid yellow smoke that rolled thickly into her face.
+
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet!" wailed Amanda. "Everything's burned to a cinder! We
+shouldn't have gone off."
+
+Blue Bonnet's only reply was a violent fit of coughing. The smoke
+continued to pour in dense billows from the oven. "Grab the pans,
+quick!" she managed to choke out.
+
+Amanda made a valiant dive through the smoke, and had just time to
+seize the pans from the top and bottom of the oven, when she, too, was
+overcome, and in the paroxysm of coughing that followed threatened to
+burst a blood-vessel. Finally with crimson faces and streaming eyes,
+both cooks gazed ruefully down on the black marbles that had been
+potatoes, and the charred drum-stick that had once been a leg of
+spring lamb.
+
+"Keep back--no trespassing!" called Blue Bonnet as the other girls,
+scenting fun as well as the odor of burning things, came running from
+the dining-room. "This is our funeral and we don't want any mourners!"
+She waved them back peremptorily, at the same time screening the ruins
+with her apron.
+
+The discomfited We are Sevens returned to their seats, and a moment
+later there came the sound of spoons being vigorously thumped on the
+table.
+
+"We want dinner!" came imperiously from the hungry girls.
+
+Amanda looked imploringly at her partner. "What shall we do?"
+
+Blue Bonnet thought hard for a moment. All at once her brow cleared.
+"Here, take the meat, go find a gopher-hole and push that bone down
+into it as far as it will go. The potatoes can't be burned all the
+way through,--we'll scrape what's left into a bowl. And I'll tell
+Uncle Joe I've changed my mind,--we'll have the trout for dinner. And,
+Amanda, you'll hurry back, won't you, and put the fish in the pan--I
+simply can't touch 'em!"
+
+Each sped to fulfil her allotted task, and in an incredibly short
+space of time a family of gophers was sniffing about a strange object
+blocking their front door; and a pan of fragrant trout sputtered on
+top of the little stove. As Blue Bonnet set the great platter of
+perfectly browned fish in front of her grandmother, there was a
+flattering "ah!" of anticipation that repaid--almost repaid, her for
+the previous bad quarter of an hour. Canned pears and the cookies that
+should have been saved for future emergencies, completed a dinner
+which was voted "not half bad" by the other girls, who secretly
+marvelled at getting any dinner at all. No one noticed that neither
+Blue Bonnet nor Amanda partook of potatoes, and there proved to be
+ample for the rest.
+
+"I'll wash the dishes, Amanda," Blue Bonnet offered, when at last that
+night-mare of a dinner was over. "I ought to walk over red-hot
+plowshares, or wear a hair-shirt or something as a penance for my sins
+of this day. Lacking both plowshares and shirt, I'll substitute
+dish-washing. And you may bear me witness--I'd take the hair-shirt if
+I had my choice!"
+
+It was a very weary Blue Bonnet who turned the dishpan upside down and
+hung the dish-cloth on a bush to dry. The long tramp of the morning,
+the preparations for the bonfire party, and then the exhausting
+experience of getting dinner, had tired even her physique, which had
+seldom known fatigue.
+
+"I wish we could dis-invite the company," she said to Amanda.
+
+"So do I," groaned her partner. "Fancy having to sit around a bonfire
+and sing 'merrily we roll along'--! It makes me ache all over."
+
+Later, when the inmates of both camps were gathered in a great circle
+about the fire, singing, jesting and story-telling, both girls forgot
+their weariness and might have been heard singing the same "merrily we
+roll along" with great zest and vocal strength.
+
+The bonfire did its builders proud and without any preparatory sulking
+or coaxing burst almost at once into pillars of soaring flame. There
+was a backing away at first on the part of the spectators as the
+intense heat began to scorch the circle of faces; then a gradual
+drawing near again. It was not until the flames had died down and the
+logs were a mass of glowing coals that Blue Bonnet handed around her
+willow-wands. Each one was now tipped with a white ball, puffy, round
+and mysterious.
+
+To most of the boys this was an innovation, and they had to be shown
+how to hold the white globules over the coals until they spluttered
+and swelled to bursting.
+
+"Now eat them!" she commanded. There was a chary tasting and then an
+ecstatic cry--"Marshmallows!"
+
+The rapidity with which the tin boxes were emptied might have appalled
+a less generous provider than Blue Bonnet; but she had relied upon
+Uncle Cliff to fill her order for marshmallows, and consequently felt
+no fear of "going short."
+
+When little Bayard had consumed his ninth "moth-ball" as he persisted
+in calling the sweets, his mother rose to take her brood home. Mr.
+Judson bent to lift Joe who had fallen asleep in Sarah's arms, and
+then turned to Blue Bonnet. "Good-night," he said, holding out his
+free hand and smiling down into the girl's tired face; "this is the
+first time I ever partook of toasted moonshine, and I've enjoyed my
+initiation."
+
+Carita kissed her impulsively. "It's the loveliest party I've ever
+been to," she whispered.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked wistfully after the departing group. "Aren't
+families the nicest things in all the world?" she asked Sarah, as she
+sank on the blanket beside this member of a numerous clan.
+
+"The very nicest." And Sarah, whose arms still felt the warmth of
+little Joe, stared into the fire with eyes that saw in the coals the
+picture of a family in far-off Woodford.
+
+There were a few more songs; an eighth or ninth rendition of
+
+        "Meet me, dearest Mandy,
+         By the water-melion vine"--
+
+for the benefit of Amanda, who hated it, and then the rest rose
+reluctantly to depart.
+
+"It's the swellest thing in the bonfire line I've ever attended,"
+Sandy assured Mrs. Clyde; and she could excuse the phrase because of
+the undoubted enthusiasm of the speaker.
+
+Half a dozen of the boys tramped away in a bunch, and there floated
+back to the group about the fire the rhythmic refrain of "Good-night,
+ladies!" until it finally died away in a sleepy murmur.
+
+Only the older boys had lingered and they, after making arrangements
+for a horse-back ride on the morrow, slowly straggled away.
+
+"Where's Blue Bonnet?" asked Alec; he was one of the last, loitering
+for a final word with his hostess.
+
+"She was sitting by me a little while ago," said Sarah, looking
+towards the Navajo.
+
+The spot was in shadow, but as they looked in that direction, a log
+fell, and a slender flame sprang up. In the light they saw Blue
+Bonnet, curled up on the bright blanket, with her head pillowed on her
+arm.
+
+She was fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A FALLING IN
+
+
+"HOW'S the Sleeping Beauty this morning?" was Alec's salutation to
+Blue Bonnet, when he appeared early next day in advance of the other
+picnickers. Blue Bonnet asleep at her own party had been a spectacle
+he would not soon forget; it was almost as funny as being absent from
+her first tea, on that memorable day in Woodford.
+
+"The Sleeping Beauty could find it in her heart to envy Rip Van
+Winkle; a nap like his is just what I crave. But no,--Sarah must needs
+have breakfast at cock-crow," Blue Bonnet complained.
+
+"Why, Blue Bonnet, it was after eight o'clock when I called you,"
+returned Sarah in a grieved tone.
+
+"Sarah didn't want breakfast mistaken for lunch again," said Amanda.
+
+"My prophetic soul tells me that we are going to conduct ourselves
+like a model Sunday-school class to-day," Blue Bonnet remarked.
+
+"What makes you think so?" asked Amanda, in whom the memory of
+yesterday's trials was still undimmed.
+
+"'Well begun is half done,' you know. And this beginning is
+obnoxiously perfect." Blue Bonnet was wiping off the oil-cloth as she
+spoke; dishes were already washed, beds done, and all without a hitch.
+
+"I hope our picnic won't prove to be of the Sunday-school variety,"
+said Kitty.
+
+"I'm sure our Sunday-school picnics at home are always very nice,"
+Sarah said reprovingly.
+
+"Every one to his taste!" was Kitty's airy rejoinder.
+
+"You can make up your mind that this picnic won't be like any other
+you ever attended," Alec assured them. "Knight has a scheme up his
+sleeve that will bear watching. I wonder, Blue Bonnet, if Mrs. Clyde
+would mind letting us take coffee?"
+
+Blue Bonnet reflected. "To-morrow is Sunday and we're privileged to
+have it for breakfast. If we have it to-day instead I'm sure she won't
+object. What else shall we take?"
+
+"Only some bread, some lump sugar and a tin of milk, please," said
+Alec modestly.
+
+Amanda gave a sudden exclamation of joy. "Then we won't be back to
+lunch,--oh, Blue Bonnet, that lets us out to-day!"
+
+They fell upon each other rapturously.
+
+"I think we are the ones who should rejoice," said Kitty; but her
+remark met with the silent scorn it deserved.
+
+They mustered a troop of twelve, all mounted, for Knight's picnic.
+Riding by twos, they cantered decorously as long as the eyes of their
+elders followed their course; but when a turn in the road freed them
+from observation, there was a spurring and an urging of the wiry
+ponies, and away they went, recking little of the grade whether up or
+down.
+
+It became a game of follow-my-leader, with Knight and Blue Bonnet
+heading the procession and putting their horses through a performance
+that would have lamed anything but a Western cow-pony. Knight finally
+led the way to one of the "race-paths" that abound in the hilly
+regions of Texas, and there began a tournament that for years lived in
+Sarah's memory as the most reckless exhibition of daring ever seen
+outside a circus-ring.
+
+"Who made this race-track?" she asked Knight in one of the infrequent
+pauses in the performance.
+
+"Nature!" He laughed at the look of incredulity with which Sarah met
+this assertion. In truth she had good reason to doubt his word; the
+smooth broad road encircling the hill, a full quarter of a mile long,
+edged on either side by a dense growth of cedars, seemed unmistakably
+to show the hand of man in its creation.
+
+"It's the solemn truth I'm telling you," Knight insisted, "--I swear
+it by the mane of my milk-white steed!"
+
+Sarah gave one glance at the dark yellow buckskin pony he rode, and
+then clucked impatiently to Comanche. She objected to having her faith
+in people imposed upon.
+
+Knight was still laughing when Blue Bonnet came up and challenged him
+to a race. "My reputation for truth-telling is forever lost in
+Señorita Blake's estimation," he told her.
+
+"What do you think of Sarah, anyway?" It would be curious to know just
+how a Western boy regarded Old Reliable.
+
+"She's very nice," he said, with an utter absence of enthusiasm,
+"--but not exciting."
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled. "And Kitty?" she continued. Perhaps it wasn't
+polite in a hostess to discuss her guests, but she just had to ask
+that.
+
+"She's very pretty and vivacious," he replied with an increase of
+warmth. "She lacks only one thing to make her irresistible."
+
+"And that?"
+
+"Having been brought up in Texas!"
+
+If Knight had expected a blush to follow his outspoken compliment he
+was disappointed. Blue Bonnet's hearty laugh showed a very healthy
+absence of self-consciousness in her make-up.
+
+"My Aunt Lucinda thinks that is my very worst drawback," she declared;
+and then chirping to Firefly, she was off at a break-neck pace, hat
+bobbing, brown braid flying, her eyes alight with the excitement of
+the race.
+
+[Illustration: "THEY ALL GATHERED GYPSY-FASHION ABOUT THE FIRE."]
+
+The climax of the day was the gypsy picnic. When Blue Bonnet beheld
+the camp-fire with the pail of coffee steaming away over the bed of
+coals, and saw the feast spread out informally on the ground, with
+wild grape leaves for plates, she gave an exclamation of delight.
+
+"Isn't it heavenly?" she cried.
+
+Alec laughed. "I believe, Blue Bonnet, that your idea of heaven is to
+live in a wickiup and subsist on mustang grapes and wild berries
+indefinitely,--now isn't it?"
+
+"Exactly--except that I'd add some of the bacon Knight is preparing to
+give us. That's the way the cowboys cook it."
+
+Knight had cut a dozen or more twigs having a forked branch at the
+tip; on the end of each he placed a slice of bacon and then handed
+around the "forks" ceremoniously. "I'm not going to offer you anything
+so dainty as toasted moonshine," he explained, "but it's a heap more
+substantial."
+
+They all gathered gypsy-fashion about the fire, toasting the bacon and
+their faces impartially; then transferring the crisp curly brown
+strips to the big slices of bread, devoured them with exclamations of
+approval that were most grateful to the arranger of the feast. Even
+canned cream failed to detract from the flavor of the coffee, and they
+consumed great quantities of the fragrant beverage, even Sarah
+partaking most intemperately.
+
+Only a lot of ponies inured to the hardships of the round-up would
+have remained patient through the frolics of that day, and some of
+these wiry ponies looked rather drooping when the picnickers turned
+towards camp.
+
+Mrs. Clyde, who had been watching the road rather anxiously as the
+shadows began to lengthen, brightened at once when Blue Bonnet's
+cheery call sounded through the trees.
+
+"Oh, Grandmother, we've had the most gorgeous time in the world!" Blue
+Bonnet cried, as she flung herself out of the saddle. "Did you ever
+see such a beautifully mussed-up crowd in all your life?"
+
+"If that is an evidence of a 'gorgeous time' you must certainly have
+had one," Mrs. Clyde smiled as her glance travelled from one rumpled
+and spotted We are Seven to another.
+
+"These are the only skirts we brought and mine is all spluttered up
+with bacon," mourned Sarah.
+
+"I think you will all have to go to bed while I wash them," the Señora
+suggested laughingly.
+
+"Grandmother, please don't let Sarah play upon your sympathies. She
+doesn't appreciate how becoming a little dirt is to her peculiar style
+of beauty. She looks almost--human." The look of pained surprise Sarah
+turned on her sent Blue Bonnet off in a fit of merriment. "Oh, for a
+picture of that expression!" she cried. "And that reminds me,--I told
+all the boys to be at the Spring in fifteen minutes. There is plenty
+of light for a snap-shot and I've just a few films left."
+
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet, haven't you done enough tramping to-day?" her
+grandmother exclaimed. "You ought to rest."
+
+Blue Bonnet shook her head. "I can't rest till I get that picture. I
+want the boys and the We are Sevens on the little rustic bridge. Now,
+Sarah, don't you dare tidy up till I get you just as you are. I want
+you to pose as Terrible Tom the Texas Terror."
+
+That Sarah had her own opinion as to who the Texas Terror might be was
+shown by her expression as she relinquished her design of brushing her
+hair, and followed the other girls up the hill to the Big Spring.
+
+The boys were already assembled and were now grouped on the bridge in
+attitudes meant to be artistic and fetching.
+
+The rustic bridge--rather more rustic than substantial--was suspended
+just over a pretty waterfall, which slipped down a smooth runway of
+eight or ten feet into a pool all foam and spray; a charming spot for
+a group-picture. It required both skill and patience to get every one
+posed and the camera focussed; Blue Bonnet had just completed these
+preliminaries, when Alec upset everything by insisting that he should
+be the photographer and she a member of the group. The rest supported
+his contention that she should be in the picture, and in the argument
+that followed, the chances for any picture at all grew slim.
+
+Just then Uncle Joe appeared, and was at once pressed into service.
+Blue Bonnet gave explicit directions as to the precise moment at which
+the bulb was to be pressed, and then proceeded to join the rest who
+were in the agonies of trying to look pleasant.
+
+"Do hurry, Blue Bonnet," urged Sarah nervously, "I can hear the bridge
+creaking."
+
+A roar of derision followed this declaration and some of the smaller
+boys began stamping on the old timbers for the sheer joy of seeing
+poor Sarah quake. At the precise moment that Blue Bonnet stepped from
+the bank to her place by the rail, there was a loud report, followed
+by a scream.
+
+Uncle Joe, looking up from the reflector, saw the bridge parted neatly
+in the middle, and the entire party shooting the chutes in a most
+informal manner. By the time the first boy had finished the descent,
+Uncle Joe was in the water fishing out the gasping victims. The pool
+was not deep, but the swift fall carried the smaller lads under the
+surface, and they came up too dazed to see the hands held out to seize
+them. Knight and Sandy found their feet at once, and with Uncle Joe
+formed a dam against which the others were caught like salmon in a
+river-trap.
+
+Sarah was fished up by her blond braids and came up gasping, "I told
+you so!" before she opened her eyes.
+
+"That's about as busy a spell as I've had for some time," Uncle Joe
+declared as he hauled out the last of the small boys and then
+clambered up the steep bank.
+
+"You showed great presence of mind, Uncle Joe--except for one thing,"
+said Blue Bonnet. "If you had just taken a snap-shot when the bridge
+broke I'd be quite happy."
+
+"And if a few of us had drowned while he was doing it--" Kitty began
+ironically.
+
+"You'd have missed being in the picture, poor souls! Well, since we're
+all alive, let's go break the news gently to the grown-ups." Blue
+Bonnet looked around the drenched, shivering group and then burst into
+peals of laughter.
+
+In truth they were a sorry looking lot. Soaked to the skin, with hair
+and clothes dripping and bedraggled, they all looked at each other as
+if surprised and grieved to find themselves part of so undignified a
+company.
+
+Grandmother's expression when the We are Sevens hove into sight, sent
+Blue Bonnet off into another gale of merriment.
+
+"We've been shooting the chutes, Grandmother," she said with dancing
+eyes.
+
+"Without a boat," added Kitty.
+
+It took Sarah to tell the story in all its harrowing details, and at
+its conclusion Mrs. Clyde looked sober.
+
+"Were you really in danger?" she asked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Not a bit," Blue Bonnet declared. "Sarah was the only one who came
+near drowning and that was because she _would_ talk under water."
+
+Fifteen minutes later the little sheet-iron stove was red-hot, and on
+a hastily strung clothes-line about it hung an array of dripping
+garments that almost hid it from view.
+
+"There's one comfort about all this," said Kitty, "our skirts and
+middies have had a much-needed bath."
+
+"I'm afraid they won't be very clean,--cold water won't take grease
+out," said Sarah mournfully. "And I'd like to know--how are we going
+to iron them?"
+
+They were all sitting in a circle about a blazing bonfire of Uncle
+Joe's building, with their streaming hair spread out to dry.
+Dressing-gowns and bedroom slippers had made it unnecessary to go to
+bed while their wardrobe hung on the line, and now that they were warm
+and comfortable, they were disposed to look on the adventure of the
+afternoon as more of a lark than a misfortune.
+
+"Do you recall a prophecy you made this morning, Blue Bonnet?" asked
+Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet shook her head.
+
+"Your 'prophetic soul' told you, if I remember rightly, that we were
+going to conduct ourselves like a model Sunday-school class to-day."
+
+"Well, if anybody would promise me as much fun in Sunday-school as
+I've had this day, I'd never be absent or tardy!" laughed Blue Bonnet.
+
+Sarah looked pained. "It's Sunday to-morrow," she remarked. "I wonder
+what Dr. Judson will take as the text of his sermon."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave her a long, curious glance. "Do you really wonder,
+Sarah, about things like that?"
+
+Sarah raised honest, serious eyes. "Why, of course, Blue Bonnet. Don't
+you?"
+
+"No," she confessed, "but I do wonder--at you!"
+
+As they sat silent for a moment about the blazing logs, Blue Bonnet
+had an inspiration.
+
+"Grandmother," she asked abruptly, "are you very hungry?"
+
+"Why--is it your turn to get dinner?" Mrs. Clyde smiled; she was
+shaking the water from her granddaughter's long hair, and spreading it
+in the warm rays of the fire.
+
+"No, Amanda and I were to get lunch. But are you?"
+
+"Not at all. Mrs. Judson and I had an excellent dinner at noon."
+
+"Well, I've a splendid idea. There are heaps of hot ashes down under
+the logs. We can bury some potatoes there,--the cowboys cook them that
+way and they are delicious. Then with some devilled-ham sandwiches we
+could sit right here and eat, and have no tiresome dishes to wash up
+afterwards."
+
+"Hear, hear!" cried Kitty and Debby.
+
+"It's easy to see whose turn it is to wash dishes," laughed Amanda.
+
+"It's right handsome of you, Blue Bonnet," Kitty remarked gratefully,
+"--especially when it wasn't your turn to officiate. I'll make the
+sandwiches and Debby--you get the potatoes."
+
+That buffet supper was later pronounced the most successful meal ever
+prepared in _Poco Tiempo_.
+
+"This is truly Bohemian," remarked Mrs. Clyde, as with a newspaper for
+both plate and napkin, she joined the group about the fire, "--much
+more so than the studio-luncheons they call Bohemian in Boston."
+
+"Fancy anything trying to be Bohemian in Boston!" exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet. "They haven't a thing in common."
+
+"They both begin with a B," said Sarah.
+
+The girls were too surprised to laugh.
+
+"Is that a joke, Sarah?" asked Kitty in an awestruck tone.
+
+"Of course not,--they do, don't they?" she returned.
+
+As the girls collapsed at this, she looked up in puzzled surprise.
+"I'd like to know what's so funny about that," she remarked
+plaintively.
+
+"There comes Mrs. Judson," exclaimed Debby.
+
+There was a hasty wiping of blackened fingers on newspaper napkins as
+the girls rose to greet this unexpected guest. The little figure
+approaching them seemed slighter than ever, and the gingham dress
+fairly trailed over the long grass. The face was hidden in the
+inevitable sunbonnet.
+
+"Hello, everybody, are you dry yet?" called a cheerful voice.
+
+"Carita!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "We thought you were your mother."
+
+Carita looked down at her loosely fitting garment and laughed. "I had
+to wear this while my dress dried. Knight said I ought to hang out a
+sign--'room to let.' Mother made me wear the sunbonnet because my hair
+is still wet. But I said I could dry it by your fire as well as
+anywhere else." She tossed away the cavernous bonnet and the chestnut
+locks fell in a cloud about her shoulders. With her dark eyes and skin
+framed by the long straight hair she looked like a young Indian.
+
+"Have a potato?" asked Blue Bonnet, spearing one with a stick and
+presenting it to the guest.
+
+"Thank you." Carita took it as if this were the usual fashion of
+serving this vegetable, and ate it with the ease born of long
+experience. Suddenly she gave an exclamation. "Oh, I nearly forgot.
+Alec sent over something. The boys couldn't come for they've nothing
+to wear but blankets--they're rolled up like a lot of mummies around
+the fire. But Alec and Knight and Sandy have been writing
+something,--I think it's a letter."
+
+"It's a poem!--oh, Blue Bonnet, you read it aloud." Kitty handed over
+the verses and in the flickering light they gathered close about Blue
+Bonnet as she read:
+
+        THE BRIDGE
+
+        "We stood on a bridge in Texas,
+         Near a camp far, far from town;
+         We stood there in broad daylight,--
+         'Cause there wasn't room to sit down.
+
+        "We posed on that bridge so rustic,
+         To be snapped by Uncle Joe,
+         And we smiled and looked real pleasant,
+         Yet one heart was filled with woe.
+
+        "For a stream, both swift and deadly,
+         Flowed beneath the bridgelet there,
+         And the creaking of the timbers
+         Gave this timid maid a scare.
+
+        "As sweeping eddying 'neath us
+         The deep, dark waters rolled,
+         She could seem to see our finish--
+         Dashed beneath the waters cold.
+
+        "Yet the bridge still held, but trembled,
+         --Gleamed the torrent chilly, vast,--
+         And the weight of one Blue Bonnet
+         Broke the camel's back at last!"
+
+"Who did it?" cried Blue Bonnet.
+
+"All three helped," said Carita. "But I think Sandy did most."
+
+"He must be cleverer than he looks," said Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Why, don't you think he looks clever?" exclaimed Kitty, "I do."
+
+"It wasn't clever of him to have sandy hair," Blue Bonnet declared
+perversely.
+
+"As if he could help it!" said Sarah.
+
+"We must write a 'pome,' too," said Blue Bonnet.
+
+"We?" exclaimed Debby. "I never found two words to rhyme in all my
+life. You and Kitty are the only ones who ever 'drop into poetry.'"
+
+"The muse must be partial to red hair," said Amanda. And though Kitty
+sniffed insultedly at this insinuation, her bright head was soon bent
+over a pad beside Blue Bonnet's, and after much chewing of their
+pencils and shrieks of laughter at impossible rhymes, the two of them
+finally evolved the following:
+
+        WE ARE SEVEN
+
+        "You marvel that a simple band
+         Of maidens, young and fair,
+         Should linger ever on the land,
+         Nor for the water care?
+
+        "If you should ask in dulcet tone
+         Why for the earth they sigh,
+         They'll weep, they'll shriek, they'll give a groan,--
+         But they will answer why.
+
+        "'Last night we were a happy bunch,
+         Last night about eleven--'
+         Quoth you--'But why this sorry lot?
+         How many members have you got?'
+         They'll answer--'We Are Seven.'
+
+        "'But seven are not all alive?'
+         'Yea, yea, thou trifling varlet,
+         Though here we number only five,--
+         Two caught a fever scarlet.
+
+        "'And o'er us five whose courage great
+         Brought us to far-off Texas,
+         There seems to brood an awful fate,
+         And trials sore to vex us.
+
+        "'To-day the bridge on which we stood
+         And posed above the rippling wave,
+         Alas! was made of rotten wood
+         And plunged us in a watery grave.'
+
+        "'Then ye are dead! All five are dead!
+         Their spirits are in heaven!'
+         'Tis throwing words away, for still
+         These maidens five will have their will,
+         And answer--'We Are Seven!'"
+
+"I wonder what Mr. Wordsworth would say to that?" said Debby, when
+this effort had been heard and elaborately praised.
+
+"He's dead," remarked Sarah. Then, ignoring Debby's snicker she
+continued: "It's very good, Blue Bonnet,--but you shouldn't have said
+that two had the scarlet fever. There's only one, really."
+
+"Poetic license!" Kitty claimed fiercely.
+
+"I think you are the cleverest girls I ever heard of!" Carita
+exclaimed. "I'm going to run right over with that poem--I can't wait
+for the boys to see it."
+
+Snatching up her bonnet Carita ran back to the other camp; while the
+girls, quite tired out by the excitement and varied adventures of the
+day, prepared to go to bed. As they neared the tents there came a
+familiar sound from the direction of Camp Judson. It was the loud
+jangle of cowbells.
+
+"Do you suppose those boys are going to eat at this time of night?"
+asked Sarah.
+
+"Of course not, Sallykins," said Debby. "Don't you understand?--that's
+the boys applauding our poets!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+SUNDAY
+
+
+"FOR once in my life," said Blue Bonnet, with a long-drawn sigh, "I'm
+ready for a day of rest."
+
+"Please don't begin to rest till you've done the dishes," begged
+Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet tossed her head scornfully. "I wouldn't trouble trouble
+till trouble troubles you, Kitty-Kat. If you can go to church with as
+clear a conscience as mine, I'll take off my hat to you. One lapse
+doesn't make a sinner!"
+
+"One?" Kitty echoed, and would have continued scathingly had not Sarah
+interrupted with--
+
+"I don't see how we can go to church with such looking clothes."
+
+"Sarah's regretting the white piqué skirt you wouldn't let her bring,"
+said Kitty.
+
+"Why, Sarah," Blue Bonnet turned a pained look on the serious young
+person, "I would never have believed you would be one to stay away
+from church for lack of an Easter bonnet."
+
+"I didn't mention Easter--nor bonnets either," Sarah declared
+indignantly. "The idea,--to hear you girls talk any one would think I
+was completely wrapped up in clothes!"
+
+"Everybody is, you know--except savages," returned Blue Bonnet.
+
+Sarah's expression at this caused Mrs. Clyde to rise hurriedly and
+vanish within her tent. Freed from this restraint Kitty went on
+wickedly:
+
+"Anyway, Dr. Judson has been a missionary in Africa and I'm sure he'd
+excuse you if--"
+
+Sarah left the table with great dignity, leaving the other girls weak
+with laughter.
+
+Carita appeared a little later with her denim dress looking fresh,
+clean, and wrinkleless.
+
+"It looks as if it had just been ironed," Sarah silently commented.
+When Mrs. Clyde called to the girls that it was time to go over to
+Camp Judson, Miss Blake was nowhere to be found.
+
+The church service was held in the "Druid's Grove," a place of mingled
+shade and sunshine, where a little tumbling creek was the only
+accompaniment to the hymns, and the birds trilled an obligato. An old
+tree-stump served as pulpit, and here Dr. Judson talked rather than
+preached to his youthful congregation.
+
+Blue Bonnet, listening to him, unconsciously let her eyes wander, as
+they always did in the church at Woodford, in search of the memorial
+window 'Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth Clyde Ashe' that was
+inseparably linked in her mind with religious service. Instead of the
+figure of the Good Shepherd with the lamb in his arms, the branches of
+the live oaks here formed a Gothic arch, in the shadow of which sat
+Mrs. Judson with little Joe asleep on her lap. The look on the
+mother's face was full of the same brooding tenderness that the artist
+had given to the eyes of the Shepherd of Old.
+
+When they rose to sing, the young voices rang out clear and joyous,
+quite unlike the droning that too often passes for singing in a
+grown-up congregation.
+
+        "Bright youth and snow-crowned age,
+         Strong men and maidens meek:
+         Raise high your free, exulting song!
+         God's wondrous praises speak!
+
+        "With all the angel choirs,
+         With all the saints of earth,
+         Pour out the strains of joy and bliss,
+         True rapture, noblest mirth!"
+
+The stirring verses, sung with a will by every one, seemed to soar to
+the very tree-tops, making the branches sway with the rhythm and
+spirit of the hymn.
+
+Blue Bonnet heaved a sigh of regret as they rose to leave the grove.
+"It's so sweet,--I wish it could last all day."
+
+"I don't remember ever having heard you make a remark like that about
+church before," remarked Kitty.
+
+"I don't care much for anything that's held indoors," Blue Bonnet
+confessed. "And I don't like preachers who make their voices sound
+like the long-stop on an organ. Now that last hymn we sang makes me
+fairly bubble inside."
+
+"Don't let Sarah hear you say that. She seems to think one ought to
+draw a long face on the Sabbath,--a sort of 'world-without-end'
+expression, you know. I believe she thinks it almost wicked to be
+happy on Sunday."
+
+"Well, Sarah may be as blue as she likes,--this is the kind of a day
+that makes me feel bright pink!"
+
+"Where is Sarah, anyway?" asked Kitty. "I haven't seen her since
+breakfast. Surely she didn't miss the service?"
+
+"No, I saw her sitting by a big tree 'way at the back," said Amanda.
+
+"It isn't like Sarah to take a back seat--at church," remarked Blue
+Bonnet. "I believe she must be cross because we teased her this
+morning."
+
+Grandmother and Sarah were already deep in preparations for dinner
+when the others straggled into camp. The well-cooked meal of muffins,
+fried ham, potatoes and stewed dried fruit they served met with
+visible as well as audible approval.
+
+"Picnic lunches are more fun, but this kind of a meal is
+more--filling," said Blue Bonnet. "Let's eat all we can now and have
+just bread and milk for supper--we've two cans of fresh milk in the
+creek."
+
+"Blue Bonnet seems to have developed a sudden liking for 'jarring
+notes,' doesn't she, girls?" asked Kitty.
+
+When dinner was done and the dishes washed, they all sought the
+buck-board seats in the lounging room.
+
+"If we only had a book now, it would be fine to have Grandmother read
+aloud," remarked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"You wouldn't let Sarah bring any books," Amanda reminded her.
+
+"Nevertheless, methinks Sarah looks as if she had one up her sleeve,"
+said Debby.
+
+"Not up my sleeve," Sarah confessed, "--but in my bag. I'll go get
+it,--it's 'Don Quixote,' in Spanish and English both."
+
+"Did you bring the drawn-work, too?" asked Kitty. "My, Sarah, but you
+are a first-rate smuggler!"
+
+"Now that suspicion has raised its snaky head, I'd like to know--why
+is Sarah, long after the dishes are done, still wearing that apron?"
+Blue Bonnet had sent a random shot, but to her surprise Sarah flushed
+to the roots of her blond hair.
+
+She rose hastily to go in search of "Don Quixote," but the other girls
+were too quick for her. They pitilessly tore the shielding apron from
+her shoulders, and the newly sponged and pressed middy jacket and
+khaki skirt stood revealed in all their guilty freshness.
+
+"They've been ironed!" gasped Kitty.
+
+"What do you think of that for selfishness,--not to let a soul know
+she had an iron?" demanded Debby.
+
+"I got it over at Mrs. Judson's. And none of you said you wanted an
+iron," said Sarah.
+
+"And do you mean to say that our Sarah, daughter of the Reverend
+Samuel Blake, wilfully broke the Sabbath by ironing?" Concentrated
+horror appeared on Kitty's saucy countenance.
+
+"She probably thinks 'the better the day the better the deed,'" said
+Blue Bonnet.
+
+"If Mrs. Judson could press Carita's dress, I don't see that it was
+any worse for me to press mine," Sarah protested. "I'm used to looking
+respectable at church."
+
+"It's no wonder you refused to sit by so unrespectable a crowd as the
+rest of us!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.
+
+Mrs. Clyde was laughing inwardly, but she came to the aid of the
+unhappy Sarah.
+
+"I think good nature has ceased to be a virtue, Sarah," she declared.
+"Hereafter you have my permission to resort to violence if necessary
+to protect yourself. Quiet down, girls,--remember it is Sunday."
+
+Much relieved, Sarah brought forth the contraband book and the long
+peaceful afternoon was spent in listening to the various mishaps that
+befell the valiant Don and his faithful Sancho Panza.
+
+"If it weren't for setting a dangerous precedent, I'd tell Sarah how
+glad we all are that she defied the authorities and did some
+smuggling," remarked Kitty. She and Debby had gone to the creek to
+bring up the milk for supper, and now made a pretty picture as they
+came up the willow-grown path, bearing the tall cans.
+
+"You look like somebody-or-other at the well," Blue Bonnet declared as
+Kitty came into sight.
+
+"Are you sure you don't mean thing-a-ma-bob?" laughed Kitty. "If you
+mean Rebecca, I don't agree with you. I'll wager Rebecca never wore a
+middy blouse or carried a tin milk-can!"
+
+That evening the inmates of both camps again sat about a big bonfire.
+But this time the frolics and rollicking airs had given way to a
+decorous singing of patriotic songs, stirring hymns and a pleasant
+"sermonette" by the pastor of this youthful flock.
+
+Long after this Sunday was past, Blue Bonnet remembered it as one of
+the sweetest Sabbaths she had ever spent; and she could never decide
+just what part of the day she had liked most,--the hour in the Druid's
+Grove; the afternoon when Grandmother with her pleasant voice had read
+aloud from "Don Quixote;" or the evening, when they sat about the
+glowing logs, alternately singing, and listening to Dr. Judson.
+
+"I'm going to ask Sandy to recite," Knight whispered to her as there
+fell a silence.
+
+"Get him to do 'The Bridge!'" Blue Bonnet said with dancing eyes.
+
+"I'm sure he'd rather do 'We are Seven,'" he replied, laughing.
+
+"I wish he'd recite the 'Hymn of the Alamo,'" said Alec, who had
+overheard the conversation. "Ask him to, Knight,--he'll do anything
+for you, and that's a fine poem."
+
+"Alec wrote an essay on the Alamo," Blue Bonnet explained to Knight,
+"and it won a prize--the Sargent prize--in our school this year."
+
+Alec squirmed with a boyish dislike of hearing himself praised; but
+Knight slapped him on the shoulder enthusiastically.
+
+"Bully for you, old chap! Tell the fellows the story of the Alamo,
+will you? Uncle Bayard likes them to hear historical things like
+that--can't hear them too often."
+
+Alec looked horrified at the idea, but Blue Bonnet joined Knight in
+urging him. "You tell the story of the fight and maybe Sandy will
+finish with the Hymn."
+
+Sandy promising to do his part, Alec finally yielded. Sinking far back
+in the shadow where his face could not be seen by any of the great
+circle of listeners, and his voice came out of the blackness with a
+decided tremor in it, the boy told, and told well, the story of the
+frontier riflemen in their struggle for the liberation of Texas from
+the yoke of the Mexican dictator.
+
+How the Texas lads thrilled at the recital of heroism, and thrilled at
+the mention of such names as Travis and Crockett! It was not a new
+tale; not a boy there but knew the story of that handful of men--less
+than two hundred of them--who, barricading themselves within the Alamo
+fortress, for ten days defied the Mexicans, over four thousand strong;
+only to be massacred to a man in the final heartrending fall.
+
+Alec's voice lost its tremor and ended with a patriotic ring that made
+Blue Bonnet glow with pride--pride in the heroes he told of, and in
+the friend who told of them.
+
+"It just needs Colonel Potter's poem to add the right climax to that
+bit of history," Dr. Judson declared; and Sandy stood up at once.
+
+Sandy was used to "talking on his feet;" and he stood in an easy
+posture, tossing his light reddish hair back from his broad forehead,
+and with one hand resting lightly on the alpenstock he had been
+carving for Blue Bonnet.
+
+Listening to him, Blue Bonnet lost all her early prejudice against the
+clever lad, and responding to the unbounded enthusiasm and the true
+orator's ring in the boyish voice, thrilled warmly to the spirit of
+the lines:
+
+        HYMN OF THE ALAMO
+
+        "Arise! Man the wall--our clarion blast
+         Now sounds its final reveille,--
+         This dawning morn must be the last
+         Our fated band shall ever see.
+         To life, but not to hope, farewell;
+         Yon trumpet's clang and cannon's peal,
+         And storming shout and clash of steel
+         Is _ours_,--but not our country's knell.
+         Welcome the Spartan's death!
+         'Tis no despairing strife--
+         We fall, we die--but our expiring breath
+         Is freedom's breath of life!
+
+        "Here, on this new Thermopylae,
+         Our monument shall tower on high,
+         And 'Alamo' hereafter be
+         On bloodier fields the battle-cry!"
+         Thus Travis from the rampart cried;
+         And when his warriors saw the foe
+         Like whelming billows surge below,--
+         At once each dauntless heart replied:
+         "Welcome the Spartan's death!
+         'Tis no despairing strife--
+         We fall--but our expiring breath
+         Is freedom's breath of life!"
+
+As Sandy resumed his seat amid a hush that was a greater tribute than
+applause, Blue Bonnet turned to Knight with glowing eyes.
+
+"And to think those brave fellows did all that for Texas! Aren't you
+proud to belong to this state?"
+
+"You'd better believe I am!"
+
+"We've had some heroes in Massachusetts," Alec reminded them.
+
+"And they were all _Americans_--and so are we." Knight's bigger way of
+looking at the matter settled what threatened to grow into an
+argument.
+
+"That Sandy boy's a wonder," Blue Bonnet exclaimed. "I take back every
+uncomplimentary remark I ever made about him. Appearances are so
+deceiving."
+
+"'All that glitters isn't gold,'" said Knight, looking like his uncle
+as he gravely quoted this ancient maxim.
+
+"It's a pity it isn't,--Sandy would be a millionaire with that hair of
+his!" Blue Bonnet laughed.
+
+"I mean 'handsome is as handsome does,'" said Knight, "--that isn't
+quite so dangerous a quotation. I expect to see Sandy President some
+day, or at least a senator."
+
+"Can't you imagine the newspaper headings: 'Senator Red-top of
+Texas'--?" laughed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"He's hoping to go East to college this fall," Knight remarked more
+seriously.
+
+"It's queer," said Alec, "how all the Western boys long to go East and
+all the Eastern fellows think they're just made if they can come
+West. I'd like to trade him my chance at Harvard for his health and
+strength."
+
+"Can't you arrange that trifling exchange for Alec?" Blue Bonnet asked
+Knight.
+
+He shook his head. "Sandy won't take anybody's chances,--he's the sort
+that makes his own."
+
+"Some of us aren't allowed to."
+
+Alec's voice had suddenly grown moody, and Blue Bonnet thought it time
+to change the subject. In a moment her clear, sweet voice was leading
+the rest in "The Flag without a Stain."
+
+"How do you like a Texas Sunday?" Blue Bonnet found herself beside
+Sarah as they walked back to _Poco Tiempo_, and put the question
+rather mischievously.
+
+"It's been very nice, most of it," Sarah returned in a stiff manner,
+very unlike her usual one.
+
+"What part didn't you like?"
+
+Sarah made sure that the others were not listening, then answered in a
+tone Blue Bonnet had never heard from her before:
+
+"I didn't like being made to feel that whatever I do is the wrong
+thing. I never seem to please you any more, Blue Bonnet."
+
+"Why, Sarah!" Blue Bonnet stopped still and gazed at Sarah in
+consternation. Sarah paused, too, and in the faint rays from the fire
+the two girls looked at each other steadily for a moment without
+speaking. Finally Blue Bonnet blurted out:
+
+"I wish you'd tell me just what you mean."
+
+"I mean that I've come to the conclusion that I should have stayed in
+Woodford. I don't seem to fit in here." Sarah's voice shook a little.
+
+"Sarah!" was still all Blue Bonnet could stammer. It was all so sudden
+and unexpected; a bolt from a clear sky.
+
+"Please don't think I'm thin-skinned and can't stand a little
+teasing," Sarah continued, "for I'm sure I can--I always have had to.
+But lately I haven't said a thing that hasn't made one or other of you
+'hoot' as Kitty says. And everything I've wanted to do you've thought
+ridiculous. Lately the boys have begun to laugh at me; even those I
+hardly know."
+
+This time Blue Bonnet said nothing; she was overcome by the thought
+that all Sarah had said was quite true. She hastily reviewed the past
+few weeks, and as one by one she remembered various incidents, the
+force of Sarah's complaints struck her anew.
+
+Kitty's dare and that wild ride; the ban put upon Sarah's Spanish
+books and the much-loved drawn-work; and, lately, the almost concerted
+effort of all of them to convert everything Sarah said and did into
+something unwarranted and absurd. By the time Blue Bonnet had reached
+her own action of that very morning in tearing the apron forcibly
+from Sarah's shoulders, she was dumb with shame. This was the way she
+had rewarded her friend for a loyalty that had been unswerving through
+all that dreadful week in Woodford, when the other girls had sent her
+to Coventry; for all her sweet thoughtfulness that had proved itself
+unfailing!
+
+She suddenly threw her arms impulsively around Sarah's shoulders and
+faced her squarely.
+
+"I've been downright horrid," she said earnestly. "And a rude, selfish
+hostess. I haven't any right to expect you to forgive me, Sarah, dear,
+but if you can find it in your heart to give another chance, I'll show
+you I can and will be different."
+
+"It isn't serious enough to talk of forgiveness," Sarah said in her
+honest, straightforward way. "All I want to know is, that you're
+not--sorry--I came."
+
+"Sarah, don't say that! You make me hate myself!" Blue Bonnet shook
+her almost fiercely. "You mustn't think it either. I'm glad, glad,
+glad you came! I've meant you to know it, and I've wanted you to have
+a splendid time, and here all the while--" she stopped and swallowed
+hard.
+
+Sarah's face lighted up happily and she did what was for her an
+unprecedented thing,--she drew Blue Bonnet to her and gave her a
+hearty hug.
+
+"That's all I wanted to know," she said. "Please don't imagine I
+haven't enjoyed myself, Blue Bonnet. It's been the most wonderful
+visit! I'm queer, I know, but I can't help liking the things I like,
+and if only the girls would stop trying to make me over--"
+
+"I'll make them!" Blue Bonnet declared; and at this threat they both
+laughed, and the storm was over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE LOST SHEEP
+
+
+"OH, Carita, do you really have to go to-day?" Genuine regret was in
+Blue Bonnet's eyes and tone.
+
+Carita sighed.
+
+"Yes, Grandfather expects us back at the farm to-night, and Mother
+never disappoints him. He's getting old and she doesn't like to leave
+him alone much. We may come up again before the summer is
+over,--Father has to be here for several weeks yet."
+
+"But we'll be gone,--we're to leave on Wednesday, you know. Did ever
+days fly so before? I haven't seen half enough of you, Carita."
+
+"You seem to belong to so many people," Carita said rather wistfully,
+"I've been afraid to claim too much of your time. But there are other
+summers. Maybe when you come back from the East next year you can come
+to the farm,--it isn't much of a journey on the cars."
+
+Blue Bonnet lost herself a moment in reflection. "When she came back
+from the East"--why, she hadn't even decided that she was going East
+again--yet.
+
+"And you can come to see me--at the Blue Bonnet ranch," she said.
+
+Carita shook her head.
+
+"Railroad fares are pretty high. We have to be very careful since
+Father lost his health. That's why we came back from India, you know.
+The doctors said that this climate was best for his trouble, and when
+Grandfather offered us a home on the farm we were so glad. But
+Father's not having a church--only once in a while when he fills a
+pulpit for a few weeks at a time--keeps us a little short. I reckon
+you don't know much about--being short. You have everything you want,
+don't you?"
+
+"Everybody seems to think that; they forget that I haven't a mother or
+father--or any brothers and sisters," Blue Bonnet said very simply.
+
+Carita threw her arms impulsively about her friend and gave her a warm
+kiss. "How mean of me to forget! I wish you were my sister. Boys don't
+always understand. But you have so many people to love you, you can't
+ever get lonesome. And having lots of money must be so nice, and to go
+away to school, and have pretty clothes and go to parties and travel,
+why--" Carita's breath failed her.
+
+"I ought to be mighty thankful. And I am most of the time," Blue
+Bonnet replied. "But the people who love you always expect a great
+deal of you, and it's very hard to live up to their expectations.
+Besides, going to school isn't all fun, I can tell you."
+
+"I wouldn't care if it weren't all fun, if I could only go. Father
+teaches me at home, but we have so many interruptions. There are
+dishes to wash, babies to mind, Grandfather to wait upon, till neither
+of us knows whether we're doing arithmetic or grammar." Carita rose.
+"I must hurry back to camp--Mother's packing."
+
+"You never forget what's expected of you, do you?" Blue Bonnet asked,
+with a mixture of wonder and admiration.
+
+"It wouldn't do for me to forget,--I'm the eldest, you know. Mother
+depends on me." Carita spoke as though it were the most natural thing
+in the world for a fourteen-year-old girl to be "depended upon."
+
+"Nobody ever depends on me--for a very good reason!" Blue Bonnet
+laughed. "Somehow it's so much easier for me to forget than to
+remember. It's the only thing I do with shining success."
+
+"You'll learn to be responsible when you have children of your own,"
+Carita said as sagely as if she were forty instead of fourteen.
+
+Blue Bonnet's eyes shone.
+
+"I'm going to have a whole dozen!" she declared.
+
+"I wouldn't, if I were you--it would be so hard on the eldest," Carita
+reminded her.
+
+And Blue Bonnet, noticing the care-worn look in the eyes of her
+"missionary girl," decided that being the eldest of a big family might
+have its disadvantages.
+
+"Grandmother, I wish there were something I could do for Carita," she
+said later that morning, as she and Mrs. Clyde found themselves alone.
+
+"You have already done a great deal for her," her grandmother
+remarked. "Mrs. Judson has told me how much your letters and presents
+have meant to Carita."
+
+"But that was so little,--and it was just fun for me. She has all work
+and no play, and I don't think it's fair."
+
+"Perhaps you can do something for her, later on. But you must be
+careful how you assume responsibilities, Blue Bonnet. You seem to have
+taken upon yourself a great many already."
+
+"What ones?" Blue Bonnet questioned in surprise.
+
+"In the first place--you've me!" Grandmother smiled.
+
+"That's so,--I'm responsible to Aunt Lucinda for you. And what
+others?"
+
+"How about the We are Sevens whom you've brought so far away from
+their homes? And Alec?"
+
+Blue Bonnet's eyes opened.
+
+"I hadn't thought of them in that way. But I reckon you're right. And
+there's Solomon, too."
+
+Grandmother's mouth twitched. "You must be sure you can do your full
+duty by the responsibilities you have before you assume new ones."
+
+Blue Bonnet looked very serious. "Seems to me life has a heap of
+complications. Now there's Alec,--he's worse than a complication. He's
+a downright puzzle."
+
+"Has he said anything more about his trouble?" Mrs. Clyde asked.
+
+"Just hints. But they sound as if he were hiding something pretty bad.
+Sometimes I wish he would come right out with it, and then again, I'm
+afraid. If he keeps on looking dark and broody every time the
+conversation turns on the subject of health, I'm going to write the
+General about it. I think _that's_ my duty."
+
+"But Alec looks wonderfully well, bigger, broader and better in every
+way than when he left Woodford," Mrs. Clyde insisted.
+
+"I know he does. But when I remarked to Knight how well Alec looked,
+and said I thought he ought to get rid of his foolish notion about
+himself now, Knight looked queer and asked, 'Do you think it a foolish
+notion? I think he's dead right.' And Knight's a sensible boy and
+wouldn't say that unless he thought so."
+
+Mrs. Clyde's eyes reflected Blue Bonnet's look of perplexity. "Have
+you talked with your uncle about him?"
+
+"No. Just after I talked with you Alec asked me not to mention the
+matter to any one else. That shuts out Uncle Cliff. I'm sorry, for I'm
+sure he'd suggest the right thing. There comes Miguel with the horses.
+You don't mind our riding a little way with the Judsons do you?
+They're nearly ready to start."
+
+"No, so long as you are back for lunch," said her grandmother.
+
+The boys had all gone hunting early that morning, and only the girls
+of _Poco Tiempo_ were on hand to escort the departing guests. Mrs.
+Clyde said good-bye to Mrs. Judson with genuine regret, and kissed all
+the small Judsons warmly at parting.
+
+The whole family was packed into the two seats of the heavy
+farm-wagon, the mother driving with one of the boys beside her; Carita
+in the back seat holding Joe and, at the same time, keeping a watchful
+eye on the two lively youngsters by her side. Bedding and camp
+equipment were heaped high in the wagon-box.
+
+"You look like a picture of 'Crossing the Plains,'" Blue Bonnet
+exclaimed.
+
+"Play you're the Injuns going to scalp us!" begged Carita's brother
+Harry, his big dark eyes shining with eagerness.
+
+Blue Bonnet gave a shrill "Ho, ye ho, ho!" that passed for a
+war-whoop, and in a minute they were all off, the farm horses rather
+startled at the carryings-on; the small boys wild with excitement; and
+the We are Sevens tearing madly down the road "ki-yi-ing" at the top
+of their voices.
+
+Mrs. Clyde turned with a smile to Dr. Judson, who stood looking rather
+amazedly after his departing family. "Blue Bonnet is alternately five
+and fifteen," she remarked.
+
+"She is decidedly refreshing," he returned. "I hope you will try to
+keep her a child as long as possible."
+
+"I don't need to try!" she replied with a laugh.
+
+The parting between the "emigrants" and the Indians was not such as
+history records of leave-takings between these sworn enemies. Carita
+had to wink hard to keep back the tears when she said good-bye to Blue
+Bonnet, and the little Judsons set up a loud wail when their former
+pursuers waved them farewell.
+
+"It's a shame Carita has to go back and slave on that old farm," Blue
+Bonnet declared, as she looked after the little figure holding on to
+the baby with one hand and waving her handkerchief in the other.
+
+"It seems selfish of us to be having a whole summer of fun when she's
+only had two or three days," said Sarah.
+
+"Sarah talks as if it's downright wicked for any of us to be having a
+good time," Kitty retorted. "Maybe you think one of us ought to change
+places with Carita?" she challenged Sarah.
+
+"Sarah is the only one of us that's unselfish enough to do such a
+thing!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed warmly; and Sarah sent her a grateful
+glance.
+
+They were in a part of the country that Blue Bonnet called "the other
+side of the hills,"--a land of sheep-ranches, for the most part;
+rather barren and level, unlike the rolling green prairie of the
+cattle-country she loved. They could see the Judson's wagon winding
+its way across the plain, until only a blur of dust marked its course
+towards the horizon.
+
+"Let's hurry," said Blue Bonnet, "I promised Grandmother we'd surely
+be back for lunch."
+
+"It isn't your turn to cook, is it?" asked Kitty.
+
+"No,--it's my turn to eat!" And Blue Bonnet, urging Firefly, was off
+at a lively clip towards camp.
+
+"Please stop, Blue Bonnet," panted Kitty after a few minutes of this
+sort of going. "I've a dreadful pain in my side."
+
+Blue Bonnet good-naturedly fell back with her, and the rest swept past
+them with a chorus of taunts for being "quitters." Both girls looked
+after Comanche and his rider with something like wonder in their eyes.
+Sarah was riding like a veteran; it was plain that she and Comanche
+understood each other at last.
+
+"Sarah's coming on, isn't she?" said Kitty.
+
+"Coming?--I think she's arrived!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed.
+
+"She can thank me for picking out Comanche for her," remarked Kitty;
+she preferred herself to be the object of Blue Bonnet's approbation
+and could not be roused to much enthusiasm on Sarah's account.
+
+"Considering your motive, Kitty-Kat, I'm not so sure Sarah owes you
+any gratitude," laughed Blue Bonnet. Suddenly she gave an exclamation.
+"Why, there's a lamb,--I wonder if it's dead."
+
+"Where?" asked Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet pointed to a spot some distance off the road, but Kitty's
+city-bred eyes could make out nothing. Just then there came a feeble
+bleat, and in a second Blue Bonnet had slipped from the saddle and
+handed the reins to Kitty.
+
+"Hold Firefly a minute, please. That _is_ a lamb!"
+
+Kitty obediently held the unwilling Firefly, while Blue Bonnet hurried
+in the direction of the bleat. A moment later she stooped, and when
+she straightened up, there was a small woolly object in her arms.
+
+"It's too little to travel and the mean old mother's gone off with
+the flock," Blue Bonnet said, coming up with the deserted baby.
+
+"What are you going to do with it?" demanded Kitty helplessly.
+
+"I'm going to find the flock. It's been driven along here and inside
+that fence. I'm going to let down the bars and cross the field. You
+see the little shanty over there?--I believe there must be a shepherd
+somewhere about, and I'll give him the lamb. He isn't a very good
+shepherd or he'd have been looking out for poor little lambs. Shady
+used to herd sheep and he's told me lots about it."
+
+"And what shall I do?" asked Kitty. "I'm afraid to hold Firefly,--he
+nearly pulls me off the saddle."
+
+"Then tie both horses to the bars here and help me with the lamb."
+
+Kitty offered no protest. This was so like Blue Bonnet. It was always
+a stray dog or a lost baby, or an old woman at the poor-house that
+enlisted her ready sympathy; Kitty ran over a long list in her mind.
+Of course it had to be a lost lamb or a calf in Texas; the wonder was
+there hadn't been more of them.
+
+Hastily tying both ponies to a fence-post with a scrambling knot of
+the reins that would have brought down Blue Bonnet's wrath upon her
+hapless head, Kitty hastened across the close-cropped meadow. It
+seemed to her they trudged miles, taking turns carrying the lamb,
+before they reached the little shack. A stupid young fellow,
+half-asleep, lay sprawled in the shade.
+
+"Here's a lamb we found by the road," said Blue Bonnet, proffering her
+woolly burden.
+
+Without uttering a word the sleepy youth took the lamb from her; but
+Blue Bonnet, observing his manner of handling it, saw that he was wise
+in the ways of sheep, and she was content to leave her charge with
+him.
+
+"Flock's over there," he said at length, pointing vaguely with his
+thumb.
+
+"All right. Come on, Kitty." As they turned away she said in an
+undertone: "Shady says the herders are alone so much they almost
+forget how to talk."
+
+"He's evidently forgotten how to say 'thank you,'" Kitty said crossly.
+"Why, Blue Bonnet--where are the horses?"
+
+"You ought to know. Where did you tie them?"
+
+Kitty's startled eyes rested on the post beside the bars. "To that
+post there. Oh, Blue Bonnet, some one must have stolen them!"
+
+"Stolen? Who'd steal them, I'd like to know? This comes, Kitty Clark,
+of letting you hitch a horse!" Blue Bonnet was straining her eyes for
+a sight of the runaways.
+
+"This comes, Blue Bonnet Ashe, of following you on every wild-goose
+chase you choose to lead me!" Cross, tired and out of patience, Kitty
+flared up in one of her sudden outbursts, and Blue Bonnet took fire at
+once.
+
+"If you think I'm going to let a poor creature starve to death rather
+than disturb your comfort, you're much mistaken!" An angry glance
+passed between them.
+
+Sarah, the pacifier, was several miles away by this time; and even she
+would have felt her resources sorely taxed to meet this emergency.
+Miles from camp and no horses!
+
+Kitty stalked into the road and started to walk, holding her head high
+and swinging her arms as though _she_ didn't mind a little matter of
+five or six miles. Blue Bonnet, with the training of a lifetime,
+stopped to put up the bars before setting out on the long tramp. It
+was already noon and the sun glared down, unbearably hot. Before she
+had gone a mile Blue Bonnet looked about for a mesquite bush, and
+finding one sank down in its shade. Kitty kept doggedly on.
+
+"Oh, Kitty!" Blue Bonnet called after her. "I've heard of people who
+hadn't sense enough to come in out of the rain, and I think it's a
+heap sillier not to have sense enough to come in out of the sun!"
+
+Kitty wavered; and was lost. Turning back she threw herself beside
+Blue Bonnet with a groan.
+
+"My feet are one big blister," she moaned, her anger swallowed up in
+the anguish of the moment.
+
+"We can't possibly walk," said Blue Bonnet. "And I've an idea. If that
+cloud of dust I saw on the road towards camp was Firefly and
+Rowdy--and it probably was--the girls will soon be after us."
+
+And so it proved; except that it was Alec and Knight instead of the
+girls who came riding furiously down the road in search of them. When
+Alec heard Blue Bonnet's ranch-call he threw his hat in the air with a
+whoop of relief.
+
+"We've been looking for your mangled remains all along the way," he
+declared, as they reached the girls. "We had the fright of our lives
+when Firefly and Rowdy came trotting into camp minus their riders."
+
+"You thought we'd been thrown?" Blue Bonnet asked.
+
+"I would have thought so if there had been only one, but it didn't
+seem likely that both of you could have come a cropper," Knight
+replied.
+
+"Is Grandmother worried?" Blue Bonnet asked hastily.
+
+"She doesn't know. The girls didn't tell her anything except that you
+and Kitty had loafed along the way. She didn't see the horses. But
+we'd better hurry back."
+
+Each boy had led one of the errant ponies, and now the girls mounted
+and lost no time in getting back to camp.
+
+"I'm so sorry--" Blue Bonnet began to speak as soon as she came within
+sight of her grandmother, "--I didn't mean to be so late."
+
+"I can't quite understand, Blue Bonnet, why you and Kitty could not
+come back with the other girls. It is long past noon." Mrs. Clyde had
+been worried, and required more of an explanation than an apology.
+Blue Bonnet's tired face and dusty, dishevelled clothes spoke
+eloquently of adventure.
+
+"I stopped to pick up a lamb,--its mother had gone on with the flock
+and left it to starve. Shady says lots of sheep don't care about their
+children. That's why he likes beef-critters best,--cows always make
+good mothers. And Kitty and I found the shepherd and gave him the lamb
+to take care of."
+
+The annoyance faded from Grandmother's face and her eyes softened.
+
+Uncle Joe, who had been an interested listener, spoke up--"Say, Honey,
+why didn't you bring the lamb home?--fresh meat is just what we've
+been needing."
+
+"Uncle Joe!" Horror rang in Blue Bonnet's voice. "Do you think I'd
+have eaten that poor little darling?"
+
+He scratched a puzzled head. "Why seems like I've known you to eat
+nice young roast lamb, Blue Bonnet."
+
+"That's different," she insisted.
+
+"The only acquaintances Blue Bonnet is willing to have roasted are her
+friends!" said Kitty; and Blue Bonnet generously let her have the last
+word.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+SECRETS
+
+
+"THERE'S only one thing nicer than going camping," Blue Bonnet
+declared.
+
+Her grandmother looked up. "And that is--?"
+
+"Getting home again!" Blue Bonnet laughed happily.
+
+They were in sight of the ranch-house now, and could see the girls and
+Alec dismounting at the veranda steps. Don and Solomon leaping
+excitedly about the group, suddenly caught sight of the approaching
+buckboard and raced madly to meet their mistress. Even the horses
+seemed glad to be home again and tired as they were with the long
+day's travel broke into a trot.
+
+Benita's brown face beamed at them from the doorway, and over her
+shoulder peered Juanita, with eyes only for Miguel.
+
+Kitty had sunk immediately into one of the deep veranda chairs.
+
+"I had to see how it feels to sit in a real live chair with a back
+once more," she explained. "And next I want to look at myself in a
+mirror that's more than three inches square; and have a drink out of
+a glass tumbler; and put on a clean white, fluffy dress!"
+
+They each did all these things as eagerly as if they had been marooned
+on a desert island for many months; even Grandmother Clyde wearing
+fresh white linen, and Alec, for the first time on the ranch appearing
+in a starched shirt. Whereupon the girls broke into deafening
+applause.
+
+"Letters, letters for everybody!" cried Blue Bonnet bursting into the
+living-room with a great bundle of mail. "Three for you and one for
+me, Grandmother,--postmarked Turino. Heaps for you, Kitty, ditto for
+Sarah, Amanda, Debby, Alec,--all Woodford must have joined in a
+round-robin. Hurry and read them and then everybody swap news!"
+
+A long silence ensued, as profound as it was rare, while each girl
+pored over the precious home letters. It was Kitty who looked up
+first.
+
+"Susy didn't catch the fever,--and Ruth's all over it. And she's had
+to have all her hair cut off, and she's dreadfully thin and doesn't
+seem to get her strength back as she should, Father says. He thinks
+she has fretted over having to miss the ranch party,--and no
+wonder!--it would simply have killed me. Susy's been a regular trump
+and hasn't complained a bit, but every one knows it's been a dreadful
+disappointment, especially when she was perfectly well and could have
+come if it hadn't been for Ruth."
+
+"It's a downright shame!" Blue Bonnet declared.
+
+"Father says if Ruth doesn't feel better soon she'll probably have to
+stay out of school this fall," Kitty continued.
+
+"Then I should say she hadn't suffered in vain," exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet; Grandmother was deep in her letters.
+
+"But think how mean it would be to have one of the We are Sevens out
+of school. You know how you love to 'have things complete,'" Amanda
+reminded her.
+
+"Yes, but--" she began; then feeling her grandmother's eyes upon her,
+failed to finish. It was odd how the girls took it for granted that
+she was going back with them. And she was not at all sure, herself.
+
+The girls had not noticed her hesitation, and were already exchanging
+other bits of home news and gossip. Alec alone was silent. Blue
+Bonnet, stealing a look at him saw that he had finished his letters
+and was staring moodily out of the window, unmindful of all the gay
+chatter about him.
+
+"Did you get bad news, Alec?" she asked him, later that evening, as he
+accompanied her to the stable to see Texas and Massachusetts.
+
+"That depends on the way you look at it. Boyd is coming back from
+Europe to take the West Point examinations--"
+
+Blue Bonnet smothered an exclamation: she had seen that coming.
+
+"--and Grandfather says that since the Army seems out of the question
+for me, he thinks I had better hurry home and take the Harvard exams.
+He seems set on it."
+
+"And you don't want to?"
+
+"It isn't to be thought of." Alec's mouth was very determined.
+
+Now why, if West Point was disposed of, could he not take the next
+best--or in her opinion the very best--thing that offered? It was on
+the point of Blue Bonnet's tongue to put the question, when Alec spoke
+again.
+
+"I've been putting off writing Grandfather,--what I told you a while
+ago,--thinking I might feel different after a time. But I'm more
+convinced than ever now. I had a long talk with Knight's friend 'Doc'
+Abbott, and he gave me a thorough going over, as he called it--"
+
+"And what did he say?"
+
+"He agrees with me, absolutely. There's no Harvard or any other
+college for Alec Trent--"
+
+"Oh, Alec!" Blue Bonnet was trembling. To hide it she bent and picked
+up little Texas, stroking one of his silky ears. The coyotes had been
+placed in the empty rabbit-hutch, and were growing prodigiously.
+
+"Well, it's better to know the truth and face it, isn't it?" Alec
+asked, as if rather resenting her tone.
+
+"Yes, but--I can't see how you can speak so lightly about it. It's so
+dreadfully--serious."
+
+"Lightly?" echoed Alec. "You're mistaken, Blue Bonnet. I know it's a
+mighty serious business for me. Why, if I could view it lightly, I
+could sit down and write Grandfather about it this very minute--"
+
+"Well, if you don't, I'm going to!" she declared.
+
+"Will you? Oh, Blue Bonnet, that's just what I've been hoping you'd
+do!" The relief in Alec's tone was unmistakable. "He's mighty fond of
+you, and I'm sure he'd consider that it came better from you than from
+me. And it will be a lot easier for you to do it, under the
+circumstances."
+
+Easier! Blue Bonnet bent hastily and put Texas back in the bunny-house
+so that Alec might not see her face. If he had not been absorbed in
+his own thoughts he must have seen what a shock his words had been to
+her. It was so unlike Alec to put upon a girl a task he felt too hard
+for himself,--a sort of cowardice of which she would never have
+believed him capable. It took her some seconds to steady her voice
+before she could answer:
+
+"I'll write to-morrow."
+
+"You're a trump, Blue Bonnet! I seem to get deeper and deeper into
+your debt," he said earnestly.
+
+Blue Bonnet fastened the little door of the rabbit-hutch, leaving
+Texas and Massachusetts to one of their frequent naps, and then walked
+back to the house in silence. Alec, observing her, believed her to be
+composing her letter to the General.
+
+"The first of August to-day, just think how our summer is flying!"
+remarked Amanda next morning.
+
+"Just three weeks to Blue Bonnet's birthday," said Sarah, who was
+engaged in making some mental calculations.
+
+"Sixteen! Just think how old I'm getting!" Blue Bonnet's smile showed
+her not at all depressed at the prospect.
+
+Uncle Joe cleared his throat gruffly. Why on earth did everybody keep
+harping on Blue Bonnet's growing up?
+
+"I reckon you'll be having some howling celebration?" he asked rather
+crossly.
+
+"You wager we will!" Uncle Cliff replied, all the more cheerfully
+because he guessed the reason for Uncle Joe's irritation. "A sixteenth
+birthday only comes once in a lifetime."
+
+Mrs. Clyde, feeling an unusual sympathy with Uncle Joe, was silent.
+
+"We must have some sort of a party that's--different," exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet.
+
+"Everything's different in Texas," Sarah remarked, and the usual laugh
+followed.
+
+"We can't have a dance without any boys," Blue Bonnet reflected.
+
+"No boys?" exclaimed Uncle Joe, with a return of his twinkle, "Well,
+for a ranch that keeps a baker's dozen of cowboys--"
+
+"All Mexicans except Sandy and Pete!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet
+scornfully.
+
+"I'll agree to furnish a boy apiece for the festive occasion," said
+Uncle Cliff; and Blue Bonnet, exchanging a glance with him, knew he
+was nursing a well-laid scheme. "Now, listen," he continued. "I've
+been thinking over this thing--had time to think this last week!--and
+I've got it all figured out. My idea is to have an all-day affair, a
+real old-fashioned Spanish tournament."
+
+Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "Oh, Uncle Cliff, you do think of the
+most glorious things!"
+
+"In the morning," Uncle Cliff went on, "we could have a steer-roping
+contest--the Mexicans adore that--and Señorita Ashe bestow the prizes.
+And then--"
+
+"Some bronco-busting," suggested Uncle Joe. Blue Bonnet turned pale
+and Uncle Cliff kicked his foreman under the table.
+
+"None of that," he said briefly. "Too crude for our select company."
+
+"A bull-fight, then," Uncle Joe persisted, "--that's Spanish, and the
+most seeleck ladies adore the ring."
+
+"Oh, no!" cried Blue Bonnet, before she caught the gleam of mischief
+in the speaker's eye.
+
+"We might have some races in the pasture," Alec suggested.
+
+"Sure!" exclaimed Uncle Cliff. "And end with a grand fête in the
+evening,--and give everybody a holiday."
+
+"Won't it be a great deal of work?" Mrs. Clyde inquired.
+
+"Heaps. But these greasers never have enough to do,--we'll make them
+work for once," Mr. Ashe replied.
+
+"What shall we wear?" Of course it was Kitty who asked.
+
+"Oh, girls, I've the loveliest plan,--you don't mind, do you,
+Grandmother, if I get out my Spanish costume again?"
+
+Grandmother smiled at a sudden recollection. "No, dear. I think it
+would fit this occasion admirably."
+
+"But we haven't Spanish costumes!" said Debby and Amanda in a breath.
+
+"Get them!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed. "Any old-fashioned, bright-colored
+gown will do to begin with, and a lace scarf for mantilla--"
+
+"But where are we to get the gowns,--they don't grow on bushes,"
+demanded Kitty.
+
+"There is such a thing as a post, Kitty, and an express company. And
+you know your attics at home are full of lovely old things."
+
+"Then we'll have to send right away to get them here in time."
+
+The girls rose as if there were not a moment to lose, and, later in
+the day, Shady rode to Jonah with a well-filled mail-bag.
+
+Blue Bonnet spent the entire morning over the composition of her
+letter to General Trent. When she sat down soberly to write Alec's
+grandfather a plain statement of facts, she found she had no facts to
+tell,--only a host of vague fears and hints that Alec had uttered from
+time to time. It was hardly to be wondered at, therefor, that her
+epistle when finished was pervaded with mystery of a veiled sort that
+made the General knit his brow, fall into a brown study, and then
+stalk off to the telegraph office.
+
+It was Uncle Cliff who received the message and the matter aroused no
+comment. It said simply:
+
+        "With your permission will come to Texas. Arrive
+        August twentieth. Prefer Alec should not know."
+
+A telegram just as brief was despatched in reply; and no one was the
+wiser except Blue Bonnet and Grandmother Clyde. Blue Bonnet was much
+elated. Telling bad news at long range was something she did not
+approve of, and it promised to be a far easier solution of the problem
+to have the General see and learn for himself. It was not easy,
+however, to keep the matter from Alec, and Blue Bonnet, who had never
+had a secret of such importance before, had trouble more than once to
+keep from blurting it out.
+
+The air for the next few days was full of mystery. Preparations for
+the birthday went forth apace, and the question of gifts was the
+important topic of the hour. Isolation from shops threw the girls
+largely upon their own resources; besides, it was known that Mrs.
+Clyde did not favor anything but the simplest of gifts. Sarah, whose
+drawn-work had progressed steadily in spite of all obstacles, enjoyed
+a small triumph, being the only one prepared with a suitable present.
+
+"Now they'll leave me in peace while I finish it," she thought with a
+sigh of relief.
+
+But it was not altogether peace that Sarah enjoyed, for the other
+girls took it into their heads to fashion something for Blue Bonnet
+with their own hands, and sought Sarah's room as the one spot secure
+from the eyes of the curious.
+
+"What are you going to give Blue Bonnet?" Debby asked Alec one day.
+
+He laughed mysteriously. "I'm aiming to surprise everybody as well as
+Blue Bonnet. It isn't much of a present, and the surprise is the only
+thing about it worth while."
+
+Blue Bonnet was obligingly blind and deaf, in these days. Letters
+flying back and forth, packages by mail or express, she ignored
+religiously.
+
+"It's a real midsummer Christmas," she said to her grandmother one
+day, when all the other girls had shut themselves up in Sarah's room.
+"I thought there never could be anything so exciting and thrilly as
+getting ready for Christmas in Woodford, but this is running it
+close!"
+
+"The mistress of the Blue Bonnet ranch is a very important personage
+these days," said Grandmother.
+
+"She always has been made to feel important here. That's why it was so
+hard at first when I came to you and Aunt Lucinda." Blue Bonnet drew a
+low hassock beside her grandmother, and leaned cosily against her in
+the way they both loved. "You see, having my own way ever since I was
+old enough to have a way, didn't make it very easy to obey orders. My
+wishes didn't seem to count much with Aunt Lucinda."
+
+"But they do count, dear. Your aunt is very fond of you, Blue Bonnet,
+and would grant any reasonable wish if she had it in her power."
+
+"Oh, I understand her better now. It didn't take me very long to
+realize that she was running that ranch--that's a figure of speech,
+Grandmother,--and it was my turn _to be run_."
+
+Mrs. Clyde stroked the brown head lovingly. "I saw the struggle, dear,
+and I know it was not easy. The things that are worth while don't come
+without effort."
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled understanding into her grandmother's eyes. "I know.
+And I'm so glad I wasn't what Uncle Cliff calls a 'quitter.' Sticking
+it out was pretty hard, but it's made me feel more--worthy, somehow,
+to be sixteen!"
+
+Mystery reached its highest point the next day when Kitty, who had
+been absorbed in a bulky letter from home, suddenly gave a shrill
+scream of excitement, and summoning the other three girls, fled to
+Sarah's room. The high-pitched chatter and ejaculations that issued
+from that quarter made even Alec curious. Going around the house he
+hung on to the window-ledge and begged to be let into the secret.
+
+"We want to surprise everybody!" said Debby revengefully.
+
+Alec dropped to the ground and walked away in high amusement. Let them
+keep their secret then; he was sure he knew a surprise worth two of
+it. Then he betook himself to the Mexican quarters to note the
+progress of his own gift for Blue Bonnet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+SOME ARRIVALS
+
+
+THE birthday celebration really began on the day before the birthday.
+Uncle Cliff had driven to the railway station early in the day, and
+long before it was time for him to be back, five pairs of eyes began
+searching the road for a sight of the returning buckboard. The We are
+Sevens, observing Blue Bonnet to be as expectant as they, became
+apprehensive lest their great secret should have leaked out. For her
+part, Blue Bonnet had become so used to seeing the girls impatient for
+the arrival of the mail, that their frequent running to the veranda to
+peer down the road, occasioned her only amusement.
+
+How little they suspected what a valuable package that buckboard would
+contain!
+
+This was the twentieth of August. Every time Blue Bonnet thought of
+the great surprise in store for Alec, she grew first excited, then
+afraid. How would he take his grandfather's arrival? One minute she
+was sure he would be overwhelmingly glad, for Alec had a deep
+affection for the "grand old man." The next, she was afraid he would
+think she had shirked her bargain by throwing on him the burden of
+telling the General his own bad news. Well, this time she had truly
+done her best, let the results be what they might.
+
+"Do what is right let the consequence follow!" she sagely remarked to
+Solomon, and he put up his paw as if to say: "Shake on that!"
+
+She was in her garden picking flowers for the table. Indoors was a
+delightful flurry of preparation: from the kitchen came a clatter of
+pans, and a variety of appetizing odors; above the cackle of Lisa and
+Gertrudis rang the merry laugh of Juanita as she waited on the busy
+cooks; while Miguel could be seen haunting the region of the back
+door.
+
+Out on the long-disused croquet-ground, which Uncle Joe had levelled
+and tamped for Blue Bonnet years before, Alec and several of the
+cowboys were working, converting it into a dancing ground, and hanging
+Chinese lanterns on long wires strung between the surrounding trees.
+
+"It's certainly worth while having a birthday on the ranch," Blue
+Bonnet thought happily. All this bustle of preparation to celebrate
+the birthday of a Texas Blue Bonnet!
+
+Hark! Wasn't that the rattle of wheels? Yes,--there came the buckboard
+at last. Blue Bonnet sprang up excitedly. Had Alec heard? She shot a
+look in the direction of the croquet-ground.
+
+Alec had heard; had glanced at the cloud of dust that marked the
+approaching team, and then--had gone calmly on with his work. He was
+looking for travellers on horseback, and the buckboard's arrival won
+only slight notice from him. He would let the girls spring their
+surprise on Blue Bonnet and have the hubbub over before he intruded.
+
+"Alec!" called Blue Bonnet in a fever of excitement; but he merely
+waved to her indulgently and went on fitting a candle into a socket
+with exasperating slowness.
+
+With her arms full of flaming poppies, Blue Bonnet flew to the house
+and reached the veranda just as the other girls poured from the door,
+and the buckboard came to a standstill. There was the General, and
+beside him--Blue Bonnet gasped as she saw--was a boyish figure with
+close-cropped hair.
+
+The poppies fell to the ground in a brilliant heap, and the moment
+that Susy and Ruth alighted Blue Bonnet gathered them both in an
+ecstatic hug. But not for long was she permitted a monopoly. These
+newly arrived two-sevenths were passed from hand to hand, or, more
+literally, from arm to arm, and caressed and exclaimed over until Mrs.
+Clyde came to the rescue of the tired girls.
+
+The General's arrival had become of quite secondary importance. He
+stood talking to the Señora until Blue Bonnet at last turned to him
+apologetically.
+
+"I'm very glad to see you!" she said.
+
+General Trent took her outstretched hand and smiled down into the
+eager flushed face. "You are very good to say so. A mere man is
+decidedly _de trop_ on such an occasion!"
+
+"No, you're not! Only I was expecting you and I wasn't expecting Susy
+and Ruth,--so I rather lost my head. How did you happen to bring the
+girls?"
+
+"I didn't bring them, really. Dr. Clark wanted them to have a change
+of air, and when Mrs. Doyle heard I was coming here she asked if I
+would mind playing escort to her girls,--a change of air spelt only
+Texas to them, it seems. My delight may better be imagined than
+described, and--here we are. Ah, Miss Kitty, you see me at last!" He
+paused to shake hands with the young lady, and then the others came
+shyly up with greetings.
+
+"You didn't know I had a surprise up my sleeve, did you?" Blue Bonnet
+challenged the girls.
+
+"You must wear long sleeves!" laughed Kitty, tilting her chin to look
+up at the tall military figure.
+
+The General laughed with the rest but Blue Bonnet could see him
+looking about with some impatience. "Where's Alec?" he asked finally.
+
+"We'll go find him. Take everybody indoors, will you, Grandmother?
+I'll be back in a minute." Looking particularly small and slight, Blue
+Bonnet moved off with her tall companion towards the croquet-ground,
+where Alec, all unconscious of their approach, stood on a step-ladder
+adjusting one of the paper lanterns.
+
+"How is the boy by this time?" General Trent asked.
+
+"I--I don't know," Blue Bonnet stammered. It was quite true; she had
+given up trying to guess the state of Alec's health.
+
+The horizontal line between the General's eyes grew deeper: it was
+plain that the girl shrank from telling him the worst.
+
+Alec had started to descend the ladder when he caught sight of the
+approaching pair. For a second he stood transfixed with surprise; then
+with a real cowboy "whoop" of joy, took a flying leap from his perch,
+cleared various obstacles with a bound, and literally fell upon his
+grandfather.
+
+"How splendid of you to come, sir!" was all he could exclaim for some
+minutes.
+
+Finally the General took him by the shoulders and held him off,
+looking him over from head to foot. Blue Bonnet saw a look of
+incredulous wonder grow in his eyes, as he took in the increased
+breadth of the boy, the erect carriage and the red that glowed through
+the sunburn of his rounded cheeks.
+
+"Why, boy, how you've grown!"
+
+"Have I?" asked Alec eagerly. "Never felt so well before in all my
+life!"
+
+Well? Blue Bonnet felt her face grow hot. How could Alec say that
+when he had let her--even urged her--to write that letter to his
+grandfather? If it was a joke, it struck her that Alec must have
+developed rather poor taste in jokes. She could feel the General's
+eyes upon her, questioning mutely. She could not meet his glance yet,
+and said with elaborate carelessness:
+
+"I reckon you two would like to have a little talk, and the girls are
+waiting for me." She sped back to the house, and soon forgot her
+indignation in the joy of the We are Sevens' reunion.
+
+"It seems too good to be true!" she exclaimed, gazing happily from one
+girl to another, as the seven of them lounged about the living-room,
+three on the broad couch and the rest distributed impartially between
+the floor and the window-seat. Such complete informality had never
+seemed permissible in the sedate Clyde mansion; but somehow these
+surroundings seemed to invite one to be as comfortable and
+unconventional as possible.
+
+Suddenly Blue Bonnet's eyes danced. "Doesn't this remind you of my
+first tea-party?" she asked demurely.
+
+"Well, I should say not!" Kitty exclaimed. "We all sat around your
+grandmother's drawing-room with manners as stiff as our dresses,
+waiting for our hostess--"
+
+"And wondering what you would be like--" added Sarah.
+
+"Were you prepared to see the wild Indian I proved to be?"
+
+"Fishing!" sang Kitty.
+
+Susy looked from Blue Bonnet to Kitty and laughed. "My, this sounds
+like old times!"
+
+"Stop talking about old times, please," begged Ruth, "and tell us
+about the new ones. I want to be told all about the round-up, and I
+want to see the 'vast herds' and the cowboys,--and the blue bonnets!"
+
+Blue Bonnet's laugh rang out. "Blue bonnets in August! Come in March
+and I'll show you a sea of them,--and a round-up, too. The cattle and
+the cowboys you shall see to-morrow,--and some steer-roping that will
+make your hair stand on end."
+
+Ruth ran her hand through her boyish, close-cut locks and made them
+stand literally on end. "It isn't much of a trick to do that!" she
+said with a grimace.
+
+"Never mind, maybe it will come in curly," said Sarah the comforter.
+
+"You can trust Sarah not to see the thorns for the roses," said Blue
+Bonnet, sending the comforter an approving glance.
+
+"What turtle doves you all are," laughed Susy.
+
+"Oh, it's Sarah and Blue Bonnet who do all the cooing. The rest of us
+are still just geese." Kitty's voice had a tinge of envy that did not
+escape the notice of the rest.
+
+"Go play us something, Blue Bonnet," suggested Ruth tactfully, "--that
+cowboy piece we all like."
+
+"Invalids must be humored," remarked Blue Bonnet as she went to the
+piano.
+
+In a minute the little rollicking air that she had played at her first
+tea-party, had set them all to dancing and humming as on that historic
+occasion.
+
+"Aren't Kitty and Blue Bonnet as chummy as they used to be?" Ruth
+asked Amanda under cover of the music.
+
+"Yes, by spells. They had one tiff--the second since they've known
+each other,--and ever since we've lived in dread of the third, haven't
+we, Sarah?"
+
+"You have," Sarah returned. "And I have too, in fact, though I try not
+to be superstitious. Besides they've had the third--and it's all over
+now."
+
+"They have? When?" Amanda sat up in surprise.
+
+"While we were camping. Kitty told me about it and said it was all her
+fault. The last one wasn't, you know. First it's one and then the
+other that's to blame."
+
+"Kitty and Blue Bonnet aren't going to stop at three tiffs, you may
+depend on it," Ruth said wisely. "They're going to have three times
+three and then some. Because Kitty is Kitty, and Blue Bonnet is--Blue
+Bonnet!"
+
+As the gay music ceased Grandmother Clyde looked in at the door. "It
+is time for the travellers to rest. They must be fresh for the great
+occasion to-morrow," she said, nodding to Susy and Ruth.
+
+Blue Bonnet glanced over to the couch where Ruth reclined among the
+pillows. Her face, with its crown of short dark hair, looked very thin
+and white.
+
+"I reckon the girls had better go to your room, Grandmother,--it's
+about the only place where they can be quiet. Benita is putting two
+cots in the nursery, but it's never quiet in there till we're all
+asleep."
+
+Ruth rose regretfully, "I'll go rest if I must. But I hate to miss
+anything that's going on. If you only knew how deadly dull it has been
+in Woodford! I think the inhabitants have learned to appreciate the We
+are Sevens, for the place has seemed empty without them. And everybody
+wants to know when the Texas Blue Bonnet is coming back."
+
+They all looked towards Blue Bonnet. "I--why--there's Uncle Cliff
+looking for me," she said, and left the room precipitately.
+
+"Blue Bonnet's usual way of avoiding an answer," thought Kitty.
+
+"When does the Fall term of school begin?" asked Sarah.
+
+"The tenth of September,--and that means we must leave here about the
+third," said Susy. "Only two weeks of this for us, girls!"
+
+"We'll see that they are two busy weeks," Kitty promised.
+
+Blue Bonnet drew Uncle Cliff into a secluded spot on the side veranda.
+"You just saved my life, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"Were you being talked to death, Honey?"
+
+"No,--but I just escaped a pitfall. People do ask the
+most--uncomfortable questions."
+
+"Suppose you tell me what sort?"
+
+"Well, Ruth says people want to know when the Texas Blue Bonnet is
+going back to Woodford."
+
+"So that's come up again, eh?" Uncle Cliff knitted his brow. "I reckon
+you're doing some thinking along that line, Blue Bonnet?" He watched
+her face anxiously.
+
+She nodded. "Yes, I--you see there isn't much time left. I must decide
+soon. It's not going to be easy, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"No,--not for either of us, Honey."
+
+"And there's Grandmother, too,--and Aunt Lucinda. Other people seem to
+have a lot to say about one's life, don't they?"
+
+"They have a lot to say, Blue Bonnet, but the person who has the final
+'say' is yourself. You're old enough now to decide what you want to do
+with your life. Sixteen to-morrow!"
+
+"I know what I want to do with my life, Uncle, but I don't know yet
+just how to do it."
+
+"Don't you think you could manage to do it on the ranch? We know now
+where to get a first-class tutor, and--"
+
+"Oh, as far as 'book-learnin''--as Uncle Joe calls it,--goes, I reckon
+I could get that all right, here on the ranch with a tutor. But books,
+I've found out, aren't more than half of an education. You know,
+life's mighty simple on the ranch, and I've grown used to doing things
+the easiest way. But that isn't the big way. Aunt Lucinda says every
+woman should have a vocation."
+
+Uncle Cliff squirmed. Blue Bonnet seemed to have assimilated a rather
+big dose of Aunt Lucinda. "But, Honey," he protested, "a girl with
+plenty of money doesn't need a vocation."
+
+"Oh, she didn't mean that kind of a vocation. It's a sort of glorified
+way of doing your duty by your neighbor. And you know it isn't very
+easy to do your duty by your neighbor when the nearest neighbor is
+miles away! Now, Aunt Lucinda is the most all-round useful person.
+She's helping to keep up a home for cripples in Boston, and is
+secretary of the Church Aid Society, runs Grandmother's house and--"
+
+"Everybody in it!" added Uncle Cliff.
+
+Blue Bonnet slipped her hand into his with a sympathetic pressure.
+
+"I reckon I caught it from you,--liking to paddle my own canoe, I
+mean. But, though I don't love discipline, I've learned to appreciate
+what it can do. Now, look at Solomon--"
+
+"--in all his glory!" laughed Uncle Cliff.
+
+At that moment the subject of the conversation was occupied in gnawing
+a very dirty bone on the forbidden territory of the veranda.
+
+"Oh, he has his lapses," Blue Bonnet confessed, "--his forgettery is
+as active as mine. But he's hardly more than a puppy yet, and it's
+surprising how well he minds. He's getting pretty wild out here. The
+ranch has that effect I've observed. And that's why--"
+
+"Say, Honey," Uncle Cliff interrupted, "let's allow the subject of
+going back to rest right where it is until after to-morrow, will you?
+I want to enjoy my ward's birthday, and I'd rather have a clear sky
+without any clouds on my horizon."
+
+"That suits me, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"And while we're on the subject of the birthday, there's something I
+want to tell you, Blue Bonnet. I know it's usual to keep one's gift a
+secret, but--"
+
+"Oh, I hope it's just some simple thing, Uncle. Grandmother's been
+looking pretty serious lately over what she thinks is our extravagant
+way of living. The Woodford girls have to be very careful about
+expenses, you know, and she thinks it makes it harder for them to be
+satisfied when they see me have so much."
+
+"Don't you worry, young lady. I'm only taking a leaf out of your
+book, and instead of giving pleasure to just one person--i. e. Blue
+Bonnet Ashe,--I'm going to distribute it over quite a crowd. The
+trouble is it won't keep till to-morrow. It's about due now. Jump on
+Firefly, will you, and ride with me to meet it?"
+
+"Yes, everybody is resting, or supposed to be. Just wait till I slip
+on my riding-skirt and I'll be with you."
+
+A few minutes later Blue Bonnet and her uncle, after the fashion of
+the old days, cantered down the road together.
+
+Hardly had they disappeared when Kitty, also attired in
+riding-costume, stole quietly to the stable, and having found one of
+the Mexicans to saddle Rowdy, rode briskly out of the corral and off
+to the woods across San Franciscito.
+
+At the gate Uncle Cliff drew rein. "We'd better form a reception
+committee right here. I think I hear your birthday present coming."
+
+Blue Bonnet looked down the road expectantly. What could it be?
+
+Then, as they waited, there came the rhythmic pound of hoofs, a cloud
+of dust, and suddenly there swept into sight a company of riders with
+Knight and Carita in the lead.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Cliff, what a splendid birthday present!" And Blue Bonnet,
+with a glad "Ho ye, ho ho!" of welcome, galloped to meet the
+procession.
+
+Sandy and the three "props of the world"--Smith, Brown and Jones, with
+two of the younger boys from camp--made, as Uncle Cliff had promised,
+a "boy apiece" for the We are Sevens and Carita; and the entire party,
+dusty though they were from the long ride, were incorrigibly cheerful
+and apparently not at all tired by the trip.
+
+"Oh, I'm so happy!" cried Carita, as Blue Bonnet fell in beside her
+and led the way to the ranch. "I never dreamed I could come. But Mr.
+Ashe had made all arrangements, and Mother said she could get along
+without me for the three days,--she's going to stay at the Camp. Just
+think, if we hadn't gone up there again, I couldn't have known about
+it in time!"
+
+"How lucky! Carita, I think you are the nicest birthday present that
+was ever thought of."
+
+Carita looked up in surprise.
+
+"Having you and Knight and the boys here is my birthday gift from
+Uncle," Blue Bonnet explained. "Wasn't it downright grand of him to
+plan it?"
+
+"It's sweet of you to want us," Carita returned. "And your uncle looks
+as if he loved to do nice things. He has the kindest eyes I've ever
+seen."
+
+"Except your father's," Blue Bonnet added. "I think they must both
+have been cut out by the same pattern."
+
+Alec, who was in the secret, had assembled everybody on the veranda
+awaiting the arrivals, and the hubbub that ensued as the cavalcade
+dismounted and everybody exchanged greetings, convinced Susy, Ruth and
+the General that life in Texas was quite as exciting as it had been
+painted.
+
+Mrs. Clyde, having been prepared by Uncle Cliff for this invasion,
+tried to view the proceedings as a matter of course, and was her usual
+cordial self.
+
+"Where are we going to put them all?" Blue Bonnet asked in an
+undertone.
+
+"Shady and Uncle Joe put up a tent as soon as you rode off," her
+grandmother explained. "The boys are used to camping out and there are
+only two nights to plan for. Carita can share Sarah's room. Lisa has
+enlarged the dining-room table, and we shall have room for all. I hope
+we can make our guests comfortable."
+
+"Don't you worry, Grandmother. These guests will make the best of
+everything. People out here don't expect things to be--orderly, as
+they are in Woodford."
+
+"Evidently not!" was Grandmother's unspoken thought.
+
+"Where's Kitty?" asked Blue Bonnet presently, missing one saucy face
+from the group on the side veranda where they had all gathered.
+
+"Didn't she go with you? We haven't seen her for an hour or more,"
+replied Sarah.
+
+"Here she comes now." Alec rose and went to assist Kitty from her
+horse. "Hello, Miss Unsociable," he said. "Fancy riding all by your
+lones! Been keeping a tryst?"
+
+"Nothing so romantic," she confessed. "I've been gathering these
+lovely wild vines to decorate the table with. See how pretty they
+are!" She tossed the big armful of glossy green stuff down to him. To
+her surprise and indignation Alec dodged her offering and let the
+vines fall in a heap on the ground. Kitty paused in the act of
+dismounting and stared at him, speechless with surprise at this act
+from well-bred Alec.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Kitty," he laughed. "I didn't mean to be rude, but
+I'm deadly afraid of that stuff."
+
+"Stuff!" echoed Kitty. She was off her horse in a minute, and giving
+the reins to Miguel who had come up for Rowdy, she bent to pick up her
+insulted treasure.
+
+Alec prevented her. "I wouldn't, Kitty,--though I don't suppose it
+matters now. The mischief's done, I'm afraid,--that's poison ivy."
+
+"Poison ivy!" Kitty sprang back as if the vine were about to sting
+her. "I never saw any before,--and I wanted to surprise Blue
+Bonnet--it looked so pretty. Oh, Alec, are you sure?"
+
+"Sure?--positive. Dr. Judson pointed out lots of it around Camp, and
+we learned to give it a wide berth. But say, every one isn't
+susceptible, Kitty. Maybe you're immune."
+
+"Oh, dear!" wailed Kitty. "What shall I do? Can't I be vaccinated or
+something to ward it off?"
+
+"What's the trouble?" asked Uncle Joe, coming up in time to hear
+Kitty's despairing cry.
+
+"Poison ivy," said Alec, pointing to the vines.
+
+"Now that's bad." Uncle Joe kicked the innocent looking heap of greens
+off to one side. "I'll send up one of the boys to rake that up and get
+rid of it. Nasty stuff to have around,--'specially for folks with
+your--coloring." He eyed Kitty's milk-white freckled face
+apprehensively.
+
+"If I get it and have to miss the party I'll never get over it!" Kitty
+declared.
+
+"Oh, yes, you will--it only lasts a few days, generally," said Uncle
+Joe.
+
+Kitty dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief.
+
+"Here--don't do that!" Alec exclaimed hastily. "That might play the
+mischief with your eyes. Go bathe your face and hands with witch
+hazel, that may help. And hurry out again, Kitty--your friend Sandy is
+on the side veranda."
+
+Kitty for the first time glanced towards the house and saw the latest
+arrivals. "Carita, too! Have they come to the party? Oh, what fun!
+That's what Mr. Ashe meant when he promised us a boy apiece for the
+dance. But oh, Alec--what if--?" Kitty could not finish.
+
+"Please don't get it, Kitty,--it would spoil the day for Sandy!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BLUE BONNET'S BIRTHDAY
+
+
+"SIXTEEN to-day!" was Blue Bonnet's first thought as she opened her
+eyes next morning.
+
+Could it be only a year since her last birthday? Less than a year
+since she had first seen Grandmother? Why, it seemed now as if she
+must have known Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda all her life! She tried
+to remember how she used to feel before she ever left the ranch;
+before she had ever seen Woodford, or the We are Sevens, or--but the
+list seemed interminable; she gave up trying to recall how the Blue
+Bonnet of that careless time had thought and felt and spent her days.
+
+Was every year to bring as many new experiences, as many new faces
+into her life? Surely not if she stayed on the ranch, and if she
+went-- But Uncle Cliff had said that question was to be banished for
+this day.
+
+Rising and dressing noiselessly, she stole out of the nursery for one
+of her usual early morning romps. Being sixteen should not rob her of
+the right to be a child at this hour of the day!
+
+"Wish me many happy returns, Solomon!" she cried as the dogs raced to
+her across the yard. "Don, this is the fifth occasion of this sort
+you've attended,--you're getting on in years, too. Come on, I'll race
+you to the fence!"
+
+Uncle Cliff watched her from the pasture, a chuckle of satisfaction
+escaping him at this evidence of untamed tomboyism. He met her as she
+came up flushed and breathless.
+
+"Getting mighty dignified since you turned sixteen, aren't you?"
+
+Her laughing face peered at him over the rough old logs. "Not so you'd
+notice it!"
+
+"I reckon I ought to thump you sixteen times and one to grow on. But
+that would make it necessary to climb the fence. How would you like
+kisses instead?"
+
+"Give me the big one to grow on, anyway." She held up her lips. "And
+now I must run in to Grandmother,--she must have the next."
+
+She found the Señora waiting for her in the living-room.
+
+"I'm so glad you're alone, Grandmother. I wanted you all to myself for
+a minute or two." She went straight into the arms Grandmother held out
+to her, was folded close for a moment and received a second kiss "to
+grow on."
+
+[Illustration: "IT WAS AN EXQUISITE MINIATURE, PAINTED ON IVORY."]
+
+"While we're alone I want to tell you something," Blue Bonnet said
+earnestly, "--about this last year, I mean. I never have said just
+what I've felt. It has been the best of all years, Grandmother, and
+the best of all the good things it has brought me--is you."
+
+"Thank you, dear. And you must know, Blue Bonnet, without my telling
+you how great a comfort you are to me."
+
+"Truly, Grandmother,--a comfort?"
+
+"Beyond words, dear." And Grandmother gave her another kiss to grow
+on. "And now, Blue Bonnet, here is something for your birthday."
+
+Blue Bonnet took the dainty package and unwrapped it with fingers that
+trembled a little. Within the paper was a box, and inside that,
+looking out from a frame of dull Roman gold, was her mother's face. It
+was an exquisite miniature, painted on ivory. The rose-tints of the
+flesh and the deep tender blue of the eyes that smiled up at her, made
+the portrait seem a living thing. Blue Bonnet could not speak. She
+gazed and gazed at the dear features until her eyes blurred and she
+had to put up her hand to brush the tears away.
+
+"Oh, Grandmother--!" Her lip quivered and she could say no more.
+
+But Grandmother understood.
+
+"Your aunt had it done from a photograph while she was in Rome. The
+painter was a Boston woman--an old friend of ours who knew your
+mother, Blue Bonnet. That is why the coloring is so true. The eyes are
+your eyes--can't you see, dear?"
+
+"Am I truly like her?"
+
+"So like, Blue Bonnet, that sometimes it seems as if Elizabeth had
+never left me."
+
+"I'm glad, Grandmother. Oh, how I shall treasure this! How can I ever
+thank you and Aunt Lucinda? There come the others,--I think I won't
+show them this just now. I'd rather let them see it one at a time.
+Somehow a crowd--"
+
+"I understand, Blue Bonnet."
+
+It was well that she and her grandmother had made the most of that
+quiet five minutes before breakfast; for it was the last peaceful
+moment that day.
+
+As all the gay party trooped into the dining-room with its long table
+looking like a real banquet board, a big floral decoration was the
+first thing to greet all eyes. A long low basket of closely woven
+fibres formed a centrepiece, and inside it, growing so densely that
+only a vivid mass of blue showed above the brim, were blue bonnets in
+bloom.
+
+"How sweet! Where did they come from?" Blue Bonnet demanded, looking
+from face to face.
+
+"There's a card on the handle," some one suggested.
+
+Blue Bonnet bent and read: "Blue Bonnet's namesakes wish her many
+happy returns of the day." Looking up she caught Alec's eye. "You?"
+she asked.
+
+"Guilty!" he confessed.
+
+"You clever boy! You couldn't have given me anything I should love as
+much. How did you ever do it?"
+
+"Easy enough. Planted the seeds and took care of them,--had a bad
+scare for fear they wouldn't bloom in time. I've had them back of
+Marta's cabin and she's been sitting up nights with them!"
+
+They all crowded about the table for a closer view.
+
+"I'm so glad we can see some blue bonnets before leaving. That's been
+the one thing necessary to complete Texas!" exclaimed Kitty.
+
+"Sure you don't mean ivy?" asked Alec in an undertone.
+
+She wilted. "Sh! Please don't remind me of that,--I was almost happy
+again!"
+
+"No symptoms yet?" he asked.
+
+"None--yet. I live in hopes!"
+
+"Let's wait till after breakfast before we give Blue Bonnet our
+gifts," suggested Sarah. "She'll enjoy them more, I think."
+
+"Not to mention our enjoyment!" laughed Kitty.
+
+The suggestion was followed, and at the conclusion of the meal, Blue
+Bonnet kept her seat and opened the rest of her packages with the eyes
+of all the crowd upon her. Very simple were the gifts, as the Woodford
+girls had slender purses; but the love and good will that went with
+the presents made up for their lack of material value.
+
+From Kitty there was a dainty sewing apron of muslin, with pretty blue
+bows on the pockets; from Amanda, a fancy-work bag, and from Debby a
+complicated needlecase. A silver thimble from Susy and Ruth completed
+these very feminine accessories.
+
+Alec's eyes twinkled as Blue Bonnet tried the thimble on her slender
+finger-tip. "If you're not a model of industry after this, Blue
+Bonnet, it will prove you're rather slow at taking a hint!"
+
+The girls joined heartily in the laugh against them, though they
+professed entire innocence of any such intention as Alec implied.
+
+Sarah's gift provoked a chorus of exclamations. From the fine
+drawn-work, the hand-made tucks, to the tiny irreproachable
+buttonholes, the waist was a triumph of the needlewoman's art.
+
+"It's the prettiest one I ever had!" Blue Bonnet declared. She would
+have liked to jump up and kiss Sarah, the dear old thing! But with
+eight boys looking on, such a demonstration might appear done for
+effect, she concluded; and so reserved that mark of affection for a
+future occasion.
+
+When the girls had presented their offerings, Knight came up and
+dropped a paper parcel into her lap. On the card tied to the blue
+ribbon that decorated it was written: "To the Good Samaritan from the
+One Who Fell by the Wayside." There was a laugh in Knight's eyes as he
+watched her read the inscription and then unwrap the tissue-paper
+that enclosed the object.
+
+Blue Bonnet lifted the lid of the long narrow box, took one look, and
+met Knight's eyes with an answering laugh in her own. Inside the box
+was a shimmering red silk sash. Knight had kept his promise to himself
+to buy Blue Bonnet the "fanciest thing in the sash line that Chicago
+could boast"--even though it had taken the last penny of his pocket
+money.
+
+"It's a beauty!" she declared.
+
+"Knight must expect another spill to-day," laughed Alec.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked about the circle with a bright, quick glance. "I'm
+not going to try to say 'thank you' to everybody,--those two words
+would be quite worn out by the time I finished!"
+
+"Come along, everybody," said Uncle Cliff, "it's time for the
+festivities to begin."
+
+As they left the dining-room, Carita slipped her arm about Blue Bonnet
+and whispered regretfully: "I wish I had a present for you. I didn't
+know in time or I could have made something."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave her an impulsive squeeze. "Why, Carita, you're a
+birthday present yourself!"
+
+Blue Bonnet's promise to Ruth in regard to the steer-roping contest,
+proved almost literally true. This was the great feature of the day to
+the Mexicans, and their delight in the sport knew no bounds. They
+made a brilliant picture as they stood or squatted about the corral
+gate, the women in their bright yellow, red and purple calicoes; and
+the men in their tight trousers, serapes rainbow hued, gay sashes and
+enormous peaked hats. The scene was full of life, color and motion.
+
+Ruth's thin cheeks grew pink with excitement. "What's going to happen
+first?" she asked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"You see those steers inside the gate? Well, Pancho will drive one out
+and while it is running like mad, Josef--he has the first turn--will
+lasso, throw it, and tie its feet together with that short rope he
+has. Then, one after another, the rest of the cowboys will do the same
+thing, and the one that does it in the shortest time will get the
+prize and be declared champion of the Blue Bonnet ranch."
+
+"The world's record is thirty-seven seconds," Knight added, "but it
+has to be a hustler who can do it under a minute."
+
+"Look--there comes one now!" screamed Kitty.
+
+The contest was swift, breathless and soon over. The corral gate was
+opened and through it driven a steer. Outside, mounted on a swift
+cow-pony rode Josef, awaiting the signal to start in pursuit. On came
+the steer with long frightened leaps, after him the vaquero with
+lariat whirling around his head. Suddenly the rope whistled, hissed
+through the air, dropped and coiled about the steer's front feet. A
+quick movement on the part of both rider and horse; the lariat
+tightened, and the steer pitched on to its side. Josef leaped from his
+pony, bent over his victim, and, in far less time than it takes to
+tell it, had tied three of the kicking hoofs together. The cowboy
+rose, grinning, amid the cheers of the delighted audience; and
+remounting his horse, coolly rolled a cigarette.
+
+"Sixty-three seconds," said Knight, who was time-keeper.
+
+One after another the cowboys took their turns, and every fraction of
+a second shaved from Josef's record, sent the Mexicans wild with
+excitement. It was Lupe who was finally declared champion, and
+received from Blue Bonnet's hands the silver-braided Mexican sombrero
+that was the prize.
+
+"I wonder why Miguel didn't try," Blue Bonnet remarked, as Lupe walked
+proudly away with his trophy. "He's always been able to beat Lupe."
+
+"I asked Pancho where Miguel was," said Alec, "and he said no one had
+seen him to-day. Maybe Juanita objects to steer-roping!" They smiled
+with a secret understanding.
+
+"How do you like the sport?" Blue Bonnet asked, turning to Ruth.
+
+"It's exciting,--but isn't it cruel, Blue Bonnet?"
+
+"I reckon the steer thinks so," Blue Bonnet confessed. "But the
+cowboys have to practise, you know, for at the round-up that's the way
+they have to throw the calves to brand them."
+
+"Then I don't want to see a round-up!" Ruth declared.
+
+Next came races in the pasture, and in these the girls and boys were
+the contestants. Blue ribbons were the awards pinned on the winners by
+Blue Bonnet herself, and the rivalry for them was intense. Leaning
+against the pasture fence which formed the "grandstand" General Trent,
+Uncle Cliff, Uncle Joe, Mrs. Clyde, Susy, Ruth and Blue Bonnet watched
+and applauded; while the Mexicans, squatting about in characteristic
+attitudes, chattered and laughed like a lot of children.
+
+As Sarah swept by on Comanche to take her place at the starting-line,
+Ruth and Susy turned amazed and questioning eyes on Blue Bonnet. She
+laughed at their expressions of wonder.
+
+"Keep your eye on Sarah!" she bade them. "Comanche is one of the
+swiftest horses on the ranch, and he and our Sallykins are on the best
+of terms."
+
+To Blue Bonnet's secret delight Sarah won the first race. As she
+pinned the blue ribbon to the winner's middy blouse, her own face
+beamed the triumph that Sarah was too modest to betray.
+
+"Aren't you going in for any others?" Ruth asked, as Sarah returned
+on foot and dropped on the blanket beside her.
+
+"No, I only rode in that race to keep the girls from calling me
+'fraid-cat.' I'm sure Father wouldn't approve of horse-racing."
+
+Ruth laughed. "You are the same old Sarah! I was beginning to believe
+that the Blue Bonnet ranch had bewitched you."
+
+"Don't say 'bewitched,'" Blue Bonnet interrupted, "locoed is the word
+we use in Texas."
+
+The birthday dinner, served early as was the custom at the ranch, was
+the most animated of feasts, of which the birthday-cake with its
+sixteen blazing candles was the grand climax. It was fat Lisa herself
+who waddled in and deposited her masterpiece in front of the Señorita,
+and then lingered to see how it looked after cutting.
+
+"It's divine, Lisa,--a complete success!" Blue Bonnet cried, and the
+cook grinned delightedly. As Lisa turned to leave the room, Blue
+Bonnet detained her to whisper--"Why is Benita waiting on table
+alone?--where's Juanita?"
+
+"Who knows?" returned Lisa with a shrug of her massive shoulders.
+"That _niña_ is run off and Gertrudis means to thrash her."
+
+"Oh, Lisa, she mustn't!" Blue Bonnet said in genuine distress. "Tell
+Gertrudis I'll come out and see her after dinner."
+
+She found Gertrudis slamming about the dishes in a most reckless
+fashion and muttering to herself angrily. To Blue Bonnet's plea in
+behalf of the absent Juanita she returned only stormy answers.
+
+"No, Señorita, she is spoiled for lack of thrashing. Run off on the
+Señorita's birthday! With a horde to wait on! And enough work for
+fifty lazy things like herself!"
+
+No, Juanita should be thrashed if ever she could lay hands on her.
+Blue Bonnet could not sway her from her purpose, and finally gave up
+arguing and left the kitchen, vowing mentally to prevent the angry old
+woman from carrying out her threat. But in the excitement of the
+evening's festivities, she forgot all about it.
+
+What an evening it was! Not one of the boys and girls lucky enough to
+be there would ever forget the scene. The broad verandas on which half
+the furniture of the house had been brought to form cosy-corners and
+lounging places; the soft gleam of Chinese lanterns strung among the
+trees; the music of Shady's violin, augmented by a flute and cello
+from Jonah, to which they danced on the croquet-ground; and everywhere
+the We are Sevens, stately in trains and hair dressed high, tripping
+and laughing and flirting their fans in the manner fondly believed to
+be that of high-born Spanish dames.
+
+Susy and Ruth had obligingly crammed their trunks with the attic
+treasures of the various Woodford families, and the costumes, while
+not strictly Spanish, were quite gorgeous and "partified" enough to
+satisfy these finery-loving young folk. Among them they had managed to
+fit out Carita too, and she, in a yellow gown with velvety
+gold-of-Ophir roses in the dusky coils of her hair, looked like a real
+maid of Andalusia. Blue Bonnet, in her red satin gown, which had not
+seen the light since the night it had been worn for the benefit of the
+Boston relatives, was a picture.
+
+Alec came up to her in the middle of the evening and made a low bow.
+"Señorita Blue Bonnetta, you look charming to-night, but it strikes me
+you're carrying things with a high hand. Why, among all your humble
+subjects, am I not favored with a dance or promenade? You've been
+engaged three deep every time I've asked you."
+
+For a minute Blue Bonnet toyed with her fan without speaking. She had
+purposely avoided Alec for a reason she considered good and
+sufficient. There was an explanation due her from him, and that also,
+she was resolved, should be "good and sufficient" or she would not
+accept it. And it seemed best, if there was to be any clash between
+them, that it should not come on her birthday. She would not easily
+forgive him for urging her to write that letter to the General.
+
+As she hesitated and a surprised look crept into Alec's eyes, there
+came a great outcry from the direction of Marta's cabin,--shouts,
+cheers and bursts of laughter.
+
+"The Mexicans must be doing stunts,--let's go and see," Alec
+suggested.
+
+Gathering up her train Blue Bonnet hurried with him to the Mexican
+quarters, where the noisy crowd had assembled. Half way there they met
+Gertrudis, also headed for the scene of merriment.
+
+"It's that Juanita, they say," she cried, "come back after all the
+work's done!" Her swarthy face was dark with anger; in her hand was a
+willow switch.
+
+"Hurry!" cried Blue Bonnet. "Let's get there first, Alec,--she means
+to thrash Juanita!"
+
+Running and tripping on her long dress Blue Bonnet reached the group
+and at her appearance the Mexicans burst into renewed cheering.
+
+"The Señorita!" they cried and parted to make room for her.
+
+"What is it--what's all the noise about?" asked Alec.
+
+But, as the circle parted, revealing a tableau in the centre, he and
+Blue Bonnet needed no explanation. Standing hand in hand, in attitudes
+expressing both embarrassment and triumph, were--Miguel and Juanita.
+
+"Ran off to Jonah and got married!" chuckled Pinto Pete.
+
+Blue Bonnet and Alec gazed at each other in stupefaction for a second,
+then Blue Bonnet glanced hastily about for Gertrudis. The change in
+the old woman was instantaneous. She turned to Blue Bonnet with a
+grin.
+
+"That Miguel makes good wages!" she cried. The anger had faded from
+her face, and instead of the switch, Juanita received her blessing.
+
+"What a mercenary old thing Gertrudis is!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet, as,
+after congratulating the happy pair, she and Alec walked back to the
+house.
+
+"She's a sensible woman," Alec remarked provokingly. "Most of the
+Mexicans are lazy old loafers,--but Miguel has a streak of real
+American industry."
+
+"Well," said Blue Bonnet, "I little expected my birthday party to be
+turned into a wedding!"
+
+When the last candle had been blown out and all was quiet except for
+the echo of music and laughter from the Mexican quarters, where the
+wedding festivities were continued almost till dawn, Blue Bonnet
+slipped into her grandmother's room for a last word before retiring.
+
+"The sixteenth has been the best birthday of all," she said happily.
+"Are you quite tired out, Grandmother?"
+
+And Mrs. Clyde, bending to kiss the glowing face upturned to her,
+replied: "No, dear. It has been a beautiful party. But I'm glad for
+all our sakes that Blue Bonnet Ashe has but one birthday a year!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+CONFERENCES
+
+
+IT was well on towards noon before any one in either the house or tent
+was stirring. Blue Bonnet and Ruth were the first to open their eyes,
+and they carried on a conversation in whispers for some time before
+waking the others.
+
+Ruth looked around the six beds in the nursery and smiled. "It looks
+like a ward in a hospital, doesn't it?"
+
+"Pretty healthy looking invalids in them," Blue Bonnet replied. "Look
+what red cheeks Kitty has."
+
+Ruth raised herself and leaned on one elbow, peering at the
+unconscious Kitty. "Red as fire. Doesn't she look funny?"
+
+"Makes her hair look pale!" laughed Blue Bonnet. All at once, as she
+studied the face that looked a brilliant scarlet against the white
+pillow, the smile faded from her face. "Ruth, come here," she said in
+a queer tone.
+
+Ruth obediently stole from her bed and tiptoed to Blue Bonnet's side.
+
+"Look at Kitty _hard_."
+
+"Doesn't she look strange?" Ruth whispered.
+
+A sudden thought made Blue Bonnet start. "Ruth, were you fumigated
+before you left Woodford?"
+
+"Fumigated? Goodness no! They fumigate houses, not people."
+
+"Well, disinfected is what I mean, I reckon. Kitty's got a rash--and
+it's scarlet!"
+
+They gazed at each other in dismay. Kitty stirred, moaned, and sat up.
+
+"What are you all talking about?--oh, girls,--I can't open my eyes!"
+
+At her cry all the other occupants of the nursery woke up, and crowded
+about the anguished Kitty.
+
+"Oh, Susy, look at her," cried Blue Bonnet. "Did Ruth look like that?
+Do you think it's scarlet fever?"
+
+"Scarlet fever nothing!" wailed Kitty. "It's poison ivy, that's what
+it is!"
+
+"How can it be? What makes you think so?" Blue Bonnet demanded.
+
+Kitty's tale was soon told, and to her indignation it provoked a
+laugh.
+
+"It's no laughing matter, I tell you," she exclaimed miserably.
+
+"You wouldn't say that if you could see yourself!" Blue Bonnet
+returned.
+
+"You wouldn't think it so funny if both your eyes were swollen shut
+and your face burned like fire." Kitty tried to look pathetic, but
+only succeeded in looking funnier than ever.
+
+Stifling their laughter, but exchanging glances of amusement every
+time they caught sight of Kitty's blotched and swollen countenance,
+the girls dressed and went to seek advice for the sufferer. Everything
+in the shape of a remedy from soap-suds to raw beefsteak was proposed
+by somebody or other, and nearly every one of them tried before the
+day was over. Kitty kept her bed and Sarah constituting herself nurse,
+ministered unto the afflicted one.
+
+It was hard for fun-loving Kitty to be shut up in a darkened room with
+her eyes and face bandaged, while the sounds of merriment and laughter
+floated tantalizingly in. Sarah was kept busy bearing the numerous
+messages of sympathy, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, that
+Sandy and some of the other boys spent their time in composing.
+
+It was decided that the party from Camp Judson should remain over
+until the next day, since all had risen too late for the desired early
+start. Carita looked supremely happy when Knight yielded to Blue
+Bonnet's arguments and reached this decision. She had so wanted to
+stay, and yet--there were so many reasons why she should go; and it
+was a great relief to her conscience to have Knight assume all
+responsibility for their prolonged visit.
+
+"Now maybe we can have another nice talk," she said, sinking down
+beside Blue Bonnet in the hammock on the side veranda. "We've had
+only snatches, so far. And it will be so long before I see you again."
+
+"What makes you think so?" Blue Bonnet asked rather abruptly.
+
+"Why,--you will be leaving in two weeks, the girls said."
+
+"Oh, they did." Blue Bonnet was thoughtful for a moment, then burst
+out--"Carita, what would you do, if you were in my place,--about going
+back East again?"
+
+"What would I do?" Carita repeated wonderingly. "Why, Blue Bonnet, do
+you mean that you're not sure about going?"
+
+"I do mean--just that. The girls have taken it for granted all along
+that I was going back with them, but somehow I can't make up my mind.
+Every day the ranch grows dearer. And being shut up in a stuffy
+schoolroom, and having to get up and go to bed by the clock, and
+having a place for everything and everything in its place--Carita, it
+goes against the grain!"
+
+Carita gave a comical little sigh. "It's queer how things seem to
+be--cut on the bias, isn't it? Now to go to school, and see and know
+lots of people, and have libraries and hear music--why, I seem
+sometimes to _ache_ for it all."
+
+"It's a pity you're not Aunt Lucinda's niece. You'd do her credit. Now
+the only person I seem to suit through and through, is Uncle Cliff.
+He's been father and mother both to me, and I think that I owe him
+something in return. I can't bear to leave him all alone again."
+
+"I know. I should feel just that way about Mother. She needs me, but,
+if we could afford it, she'd be the first to send me away to school.
+If I could get enough education to teach, I could help her more in the
+end."
+
+"I reckon it's the end that makes everything endurable. It was the
+thought of getting back to the ranch that got me through last year.
+But I haven't let myself think what the end of this summer would
+bring. Every day on the ranch is complete in itself."
+
+"But think how it will seem after this--when the girls are all gone,
+and your grandmother--"
+
+"It's Grandmother who counts more than any one, except Uncle Cliff. I
+reckon I'll just have to be blindfolded and then choose!"
+
+"There come Knight and Alec," said Carita. "I shouldn't wonder if
+they'd been having the same sort of a conversation. They'd like to
+change places with each other. Knight is wild to go East to college,
+and Alec would give anything for--"
+
+"Knight's health and strength,--I know," Blue Bonnet interrupted.
+"It's another case of the mixed-upness of things. I'm disappointed in
+Alec."
+
+Carita opened her eyes wide. "Disappointed? Why, I should think you,
+of all people, feeling as you do, would sympathize with him."
+
+"I do sympathize with him, and always have. That's why I was so glad
+Uncle Cliff asked him out here. I was sure it would do him the world
+of good--"
+
+"And so it has," said Carita. "It has done wonders for him, Knight
+says, and that's why--"
+
+"And that's why I don't understand how he could possibly--" Blue
+Bonnet broke off as the subject of their conversation took the three
+veranda steps in one leap and settled himself comfortably on the
+railing for a chat. Knight threw himself into a chair near the
+hammock.
+
+"What are you two plotting?" asked Alec. "You've had your heads
+together like a pair of Russian conspirators."
+
+"We're only trying to make the most of every minute we're together. At
+least that's what I'm doing," said Carita. "I believe you two are
+doing very much the same thing."
+
+The boys smiled at each other: that was a girl's way of putting it,
+but it came very near the truth.
+
+"I reckon you two girls will have lots to write about this winter,"
+said Knight. "Carita used to wonder, all last year, how you looked,
+and what the We are Sevens were like, and what you all wore and did
+and ate and--" He broke off with a laugh at Carita's indignant denial.
+"I expect her mind will be in Woodford more than ever, after this."
+
+"But Blue Bonnet may not go back," Carita began, when a look from Blue
+Bonnet checked her.
+
+"Not go back?" In his surprise Alec nearly fell off the railing.
+"Here's news for the We are Sevens! Well, Blue Bonnet, I can't say I'm
+sorry." So far from being depressed at the prospect, Alec looked
+highly elated.
+
+Blue Bonnet was strangely still. Alec had said that very much as if he
+meant it. And it hurt. After almost a year of close friendship it was,
+to say the least, hardly good taste to pretend he was glad she was no
+longer going to live next door to him. She did not intend, however, to
+let him see how she felt, and rose without glancing in his direction.
+
+"I must go see Kitty," she said briefly.
+
+Alec looked after her with a perplexed expression in his eyes. "Isn't
+Blue Bonnet a bit offish lately, Carita? She doesn't seem at all like
+herself."
+
+"I think she's worried," said Carita. "It is hard trying to please
+both her uncle and her grandmother, when one wants her in
+Massachusetts, and the other urges her to stay on the ranch."
+
+"So that's the trouble?" Alec looked somewhat relieved.
+
+"Poor Blue Bonnet must feel rather like the rag we saw Texas and
+Massachusetts worrying this morning," laughed Knight, "each took a
+corner and pulled!"
+
+"She ought to appreciate one fact," added Alec, "and that is, she at
+least can decide for herself. She isn't compelled to do what somebody
+else decides for her."
+
+"Just the same, I believe she would prefer having some one else do
+it," said Carita.
+
+In spite of Carita's explanation, Alec was not wholly at ease in his
+mind about Blue Bonnet. He imagined that her manner to him for the
+last few days had conveyed a vague reproach. But he had no chance that
+day to talk with her alone.
+
+Early the next morning Carita and Knight and the other boys prepared
+for the long ride back to Camp Judson.
+
+"You'll write me soon, Blue Bonnet, won't you, and tell me what you
+decide to do?" Carita asked as she leaned down from her pinto for a
+last word with Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Indeed I will," Blue Bonnet assured her. "I wish I knew now."
+
+"And you'll write often if you go back--all about school and the girls
+and--"
+
+"I'll write about everything, if--!"
+
+And this was the word on which they parted.
+
+Sandy lingered behind the others long enough to slip an envelope into
+Blue Bonnet's hand. "For Kitty," he explained. "Tell her I'm mighty
+sorry I couldn't see her to say good-bye."
+
+"Maybe it is only '_hasta la vista_,' as the Spanish say,--'good-bye
+till we meet again,'" said Blue Bonnet. "You must surely come to
+Woodford and see us if you go to Harvard."
+
+"'Neither foes nor loving friends'--shall hinder me from doing that
+same, if--!"
+
+And with this word, Sandy, too, galloped after the others.
+
+Alec was to accompany the boys as far as the ford. As he rode away on
+Strawberry, looking very straight and manly in the saddle, General
+Trent gazed after him with an expression of pride in his eyes.
+
+"The change in the boy is hardly short of marvellous, Miss Blue
+Bonnet," he said at last, turning to her. "I should never have
+believed it if I had not seen him. I'm very grateful to you for
+writing me that letter, though I confess you had me badly puzzled."
+
+Blue Bonnet had stood looking regretfully after Carita, but at the
+General's words she turned with a brightened face. If he was grateful,
+then he must have forgiven her for bringing him to Texas on what was
+evidently an unnecessary errand.
+
+"I was afraid you might think I had--rushed in," she said.
+
+"Not at all!" he replied. "Though I did not quite understand--you
+weren't entirely clear, you know."
+
+Indeed she did know!
+
+"But Alec has explained the situation," the General continued, "and I
+understand everything now."
+
+Blue Bonnet drew a quick breath of relief. "Then it's all right?"
+
+"Yes,--and he need not have hesitated. I sympathize with him wholly."
+
+Sympathize? How queerly he said it. Again Blue Bonnet was swept out to
+sea.
+
+"I am going to talk with Mr. Ashe about the matter now. We must do
+what is best for the boy." As General Trent walked to meet Uncle
+Cliff, Blue Bonnet stood staring after him, her thoughts in a whirl.
+
+"What's the matter? You look as if you had just been through an
+earthquake," laughed Ruth, coming up and slipping her thin hand into
+Blue Bonnet's.
+
+"I think I have,--and everything is upside down." Blue Bonnet still
+looked dazed as she turned to go into the house.
+
+"Come in and see Kitty. The poor child is pretty blue."
+
+"She was pretty red when I last saw her!" laughed Blue Bonnet. "I've
+something here to cheer her--a message from Sandy. She snubs him
+dreadfully, but he seems to enjoy it."
+
+They found all the girls gathered about Kitty's bed, evidently in the
+midst of a serious discussion. Silence fell as Blue Bonnet entered.
+
+"I can see out of one eye!" Kitty announced with forced gaiety.
+
+"Praise be!" said Blue Bonnet. "Now you can see what Sandy sent for a
+farewell message." She held out the envelope.
+
+"Open it please," said Kitty. "That boy is always up to mischief and I
+can't take any more risks. I cut one of his dances the other evening
+and he vowed vengeance."
+
+Blue Bonnet obeyed while the other girls looked on with unconcealed
+interest. The envelope appeared to be empty, but when it was
+vigorously shaken upside down, something fell on to the counterpane.
+They all dove for it, but it was Debby who finally caught and held it
+up. It was a tiny square of note-paper, in the centre of which a knot
+of ribbon secured something bright and shining. It was a lock of
+Sandy's silky red hair. Under it was written: "A coal of fire. I
+forgive you."
+
+Kitty laughed for the first time since her affliction had come upon
+her; and the girls blessed Sandy for his nonsense.
+
+"May I borrow my granddaughter for a few minutes?" asked the Señora,
+looking in at the door. "Blue Bonnet, I've a letter here from your
+Aunt Lucinda."
+
+An odd look came into Blue Bonnet's face,--Grandmother's voice held a
+hint of something important. She handed Sandy's memento to Kitty and
+forced a smile. "Put this in your memory-book, Kitty. When Sandy is
+president, you can point with pride to that coal of fire--they're
+likely, by then, to call it 'the fire of genius!'"
+
+When she had left the room, Kitty looked out of her one good eye with
+a glance intended to be solemn. "Girls, I've a presentiment."
+
+"What about,--Sandy?" asked Sarah.
+
+"No, you silly,--except that he'll never be president! I'm thinking
+about Blue Bonnet,--I was just going to tell you when she came in. I
+don't believe she intends to go back with us."
+
+Kitty's words produced even more of an effect than she had expected.
+For several minutes no one spoke, then Ruth said half irritably:
+
+"If you can't have pleasanter presentiments than that, Kitty, I wish
+you wouldn't have them."
+
+"I can't help it," Kitty declared. "She won't say a word about it. And
+every time we get on to the subject, she either begins to talk about
+something else, or leaves the room."
+
+"I've noticed it, too," said Sarah, quietly.
+
+The gloom on every countenance bore silent witness to the hold Blue
+Bonnet had on the affections of the We are Sevens.
+
+"Woodford will be a stupid old hole without her," Kitty declared.
+
+"Passing over your implied compliment to us," said Debby, "I agree
+with you."
+
+Grandmother handed Blue Bonnet Aunt Lucinda's letter without comment;
+but watched the girl's face closely as she read. A characteristic
+letter it was, showing the fine mind and cultivation of the writer,
+yet like her, too, precise and rather formal in its wording. She was
+in Munich, enjoying the summer music festival. Nothing very important
+so far, Blue Bonnet concluded, and began to breathe more easily. But
+over the closing pages she sobered again.
+
+"There is a rather remarkable pianist staying at this same pension,"
+she wrote; "and she plays for us very often. Something in the charm
+and delicacy of her touch makes me think of Blue Bonnet's, when she
+plays her little 'Ave Maria.' I have talked with her about Blue Bonnet
+and she thinks with me that the child must have real talent for the
+piano. Fräulein Schirmer is to teach music in a school for girls in
+Boston, this coming winter, and I think it would be an excellent plan
+to place Blue Bonnet right in the school. She is old enough now to
+appreciate the atmosphere of culture and refinement in such a
+place,--I am told that the first families of Boston send their
+daughters there--and she could have the advantage of attending the
+Symphony concerts.
+
+"Woodford has nothing much to offer in the way of musical advantages,
+and I think Blue Bonnet should develop her talent in this line. She
+could come to us for the week-end always, and in that way we should
+not have to part with her altogether. But we can settle the matter
+when we are all in Woodford once more."
+
+Blue Bonnet sighed as she finished and let the letter drop into her
+lap. "When they were all in Woodford once more." So Aunt Lucinda, too,
+took it for granted! She stirred a trifle resentfully.
+
+"One would think I had signed a life-contract!" she thought.
+
+Mrs. Clyde sought her granddaughter's eye anxiously. "Well, Blue
+Bonnet, what are you thinking?"
+
+"I'm thinking--not for the first time either,--of something I once
+said to Alec. I wished, and keep on wishing--that there were two of
+me,--so that one might stay here on the ranch with Uncle Cliff, while
+the other was with you and Aunt Lucinda in Woodford, being educated."
+
+Grandmother smiled and sighed in the same breath. "Suppose you leave
+me and Uncle Clifford and Aunt Lucinda out of the matter entirely.
+Just think how it would have appealed to--your mother."
+
+The blue eyes turned swiftly from her grandmother's face to gaze out
+across the wide sweep of prairie. There was a long silence. When Blue
+Bonnet faced her grandmother again, her eyes were misty.
+
+"I wish she were here to tell me. Somehow I can't make it seem right,
+either way. Will you wait and let me sleep on it, Grandmother? I'll
+tell you, as the Mexicans say--_mañana_."
+
+"To-morrow?"
+
+"Well, _mañana_ with the Mexicans means almost any time in the future,
+but I'll make it--to-morrow."
+
+Mrs. Clyde was silent, but the glance that followed Blue Bonnet as she
+left the room, was very wistful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+BLUE BONNET DECIDES
+
+
+[Illustration: "ALEC SURVEYED HER PROUD LITTLE PROFILE."]
+
+"I SAY, Blue Bonnet, wait for a fellow, won't you?"
+
+Blue Bonnet waited, none too eagerly, while Alec caught up with her,
+and then, whistling to Don and Solomon, turned to resume her walk
+along the grassy bank of San Franciscito.
+
+Alec surveyed her proud little profile for a few minutes in a sort of
+puzzled wonder, and finally as she kept on in the same unsociable
+manner, he began with determined friendliness:
+
+"We've never yet taken the walk we planned, along the _rio_. Feel
+equal to it this morning?"
+
+"There isn't time to go far. I told Grandmother I'd not be gone long,"
+she returned carelessly.
+
+"Another tea-party on?" This time he succeeded in bringing the old
+sparkle of laughter to her eyes.
+
+"Not this time," she answered.
+
+"Your parties have been a sort of continuous performance this summer,
+haven't they?" he persisted, hoping to win her to a more
+conversational mood.
+
+"And the summer is almost over,--did you ever know such a short
+vacation?"
+
+"It's been the jolliest one I've ever had. And it is going to mean a
+lot to me all my life, Blue Bonnet."
+
+They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Then Alec asked--"Do you
+remember the morning we first spoke of following this stream?"
+
+"Yes,--and do you remember how we wondered what we would talk about on
+our next jaunt by the Woodford brook?"
+
+He nodded. "I remember everything; that was the first day I told you I
+wasn't likely to be in Woodford next spring. It was only a day-dream
+then,--isn't it funny how things have come out?"
+
+"Funny? Alec, you are the queerest boy. You've taken to talking in
+riddles lately, and I--I reckon I'm pretty slow at guessing riddles.
+We may as well have it out right now. I've been wanting to have a talk
+with you."
+
+"Same here," returned Alec. "What's the matter, anyway? You've not
+been a bit like yourself the last few days."
+
+"Don't you really know, Alec?" Blue Bonnet met his puzzled eyes very
+soberly.
+
+"I honestly don't, Blue Bonnet."
+
+"And haven't you felt the least little bit guilty about letting me
+write that letter to your grandfather?"
+
+"Guilty?" Alec's tone expressed unaffected amazement. "Do you mean I
+ought to have written it myself? I'd have done it if you had hinted
+that you'd rather have me. Why didn't you say so?"
+
+"You seemed so anxious to have me do it."
+
+"And so I was. It seemed only right and proper that you should be the
+first to suggest the proposition. You're the owner of the Blue Bonnet
+ranch."
+
+"What has that to do with it?"
+
+"Well, I should think it had everything to do with it. I couldn't very
+well invite myself, could I?"
+
+"Invite yourself? Oh, dear, now you're talking in riddles again."
+
+"Well, Blue Bonnet, after you had invited me to spend two months on
+the ranch, it certainly took more courage than I possessed to suggest
+extending my visit for a year or two. You can see how much better it
+was for the suggestion to come from you. Grandfather has fallen right
+in with it and is making all arrangements with Mr. Ashe right now."
+
+Blue Bonnet's eyes grew round with astonishment. "Do you mean to tell
+me that you are going to stay on the ranch a year or two?"
+
+"If you and Mr. Ashe will stand for it. I want to stay till I outgrow
+being a weakling and grow into a real man. Till I'm as broad as a
+fellow my age should be and have a muscle bigger than a girl's. The
+two months here have already shown what two years is likely to do for
+me." Alec squared his shoulders and drew himself up as if already the
+example of brawn he longed to be.
+
+"And do you mean to tell me that when you said you might not go back
+to Woodford, and that there was no college in store for Alec Trent you
+only meant--"
+
+"Till I had the strength to go through with it, yes. I've had enough
+breakdowns. Why, what--"
+
+"I wish you were a girl so that I could shake you!" Blue Bonnet's look
+was a queer mixture of relief and indignation. "Why couldn't you say
+so in the first place? When you kept making all those mysterious
+hints, I was wasting good, honest pity on you because I thought you
+were preparing for an early grave!"
+
+Alec's peal of laughter showed how far from pitiable his state was.
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet, I wish I could tell that to Knight!"
+
+"But didn't you hint?" she demanded.
+
+"Of course I did. I was fishing for an invitation to make a good long
+visit to the Blue Bonnet ranch. Hardly likely, was it, that I was
+going to demand it boldly as a right?"
+
+"Well, it would have saved me a heap of worry if you had. Why, Alec!"
+Blue Bonnet sank down on the bank to think it over. "What are you
+going to do on the ranch all winter?"
+
+He threw himself on the grass beside her.
+
+"I'm going to live, as far as possible, like Pinto Pete and Shady. I'm
+going to ride the range, go on the round-up this fall and next
+spring,--spend about fifteen hours a day in the open. And if I'm not
+as husky as a Texas cowboy by next summer, it won't be my fault. You
+know it's been my one wish, Blue Bonnet, and this, I'm convinced is
+the way to get it."
+
+"And college?"
+
+"College can wait. I'd rather have biceps like Knight's than be a
+walking encyclopædia!"
+
+"Think of all the sympathy I've wasted!" Blue Bonnet laughed at
+herself.
+
+"Oh, I don't know that it's all been wasted. I've deserved a good
+deal. I've been afraid Grandfather would be against the scheme--he's
+never been willing to admit that I wasn't as strong as I ought to be.
+I've only just begun myself to realize how good-for-nothing I used to
+feel most of the time. There's nothing like feeling able to shake your
+fist at all out-doors!"
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled. "Then I needn't regret my letter?"
+
+"Regret?--well, I should say not! You builded better than you knew.
+Getting Grandfather worried was just the right thing, though it sounds
+rather heartless to say it. Being worried, he came and saw and--I
+conquered!"
+
+"Now I won't have to ask for an explanation of a very rude speech of
+yours."
+
+"Was I rude--to you?" Alec looked up hastily.
+
+"It sounded--rather queer, for you to rejoice over my not going back
+to Woodford," she answered.
+
+"Meant purely as a compliment," he assured her. "It would be mighty
+jolly to have you here, Blue Bonnet."
+
+She rose hurriedly. "Let's not go into that, please. Every time I get
+pretty near a decision, some new argument bobs up on the other side.
+I'm dreadfully worried, Alec. But, thank goodness, you're off my
+mind!"
+
+"I'll try to stay off, Blue Bonnet," he laughed as he followed her
+along the narrow path. "If you go back you'll write often, won't you?
+I shall depend on you--"
+
+She made a movement of impatience. "I'm not going to cross bridges,
+Alec, till I come to them."
+
+"I beg your pardon. I forgot that bridges are a touchy subject with
+you!"
+
+They found Uncle Cliff and the General still absorbed in what appeared
+to be an interminable conversation. The General rose with
+old-fashioned courtesy as Blue Bonnet came up the veranda steps.
+
+"What do you think of your new cowboy?" he asked, laying his hand
+affectionately on Alec's shoulder.
+
+"We've just been exchanging opinions with each other," she said, with
+a sidelong glance at Alec.
+
+"I'm going to miss the boy," General Trent continued. "The old house
+will be very dull and empty,--unless you make up your mind to be
+particularly neighborly, Miss Blue Bonnet."
+
+Blue Bonnet colored and looked way. "I--I'll do my best if--"
+
+"Will you walk down to the stable with me, Grandfather?" Alec asked
+quickly. "I've not shown you the little coyotes yet."
+
+As the General walked away with his hand still on Alec's shoulder,
+Blue Bonnet turned to her uncle.
+
+"Read this, will you please, Uncle? It came to-day."
+
+He took Aunt Lucinda's letter, an odd expression growing around his
+mouth. But he opened it without speaking. Blue Bonnet sank into the
+hammock and watched him narrowly,--much as Grandmother had watched her
+as she read the same pages. She saw his lower teeth close on his
+mustache when he came to the significant part.
+
+He lifted his eyes at last. "Well, Honey?"
+
+"Well, Uncle?"
+
+He sighed deeply. "Are you putting this up to me?"
+
+She raised her shoulders in an expressive shrug. "I reckon you ought
+to have the deciding vote. I'm on the fence."
+
+"Do you want to be a musician, Blue Bonnet?"
+
+"I'd love to--if it weren't for all the practising!"
+
+"Seems to me you play mighty well now."
+
+"I'm very careless in my methods, Aunt Lucinda says."
+
+Uncle Cliff winced. "None of the girls play as well as you do, Honey."
+
+"I--I don't believe they do. But maybe, Uncle Cliff, that is a very
+good reason why I should go on with it. Maybe I really have talent."
+
+"Wouldn't it be very lonesome off there in Boston? And won't it be
+mostly work and very little play?"
+
+"I'm afraid it will. But, somehow, it's chiefly because it will be so
+much easier to stay on the ranch and be--desultory, as Aunt Lucinda
+says,--that I think I ought to go."
+
+"I see, Honey. You _are_ developing a New England conscience!"
+
+"I wonder?" she pondered.
+
+"I don't want you to do anything just because it's easier, Blue
+Bonnet," Uncle Cliff continued. "That wasn't your father's way."
+
+"Nor your way, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"I hope not, Blue Bonnet. That's why I'm going to stop arguing right
+here. It's my natural inclination to say 'stay with me, Honey, I need
+you.' But I know I don't,--I just want you. But what I want more is
+to have you do the thing that's best for Blue Bonnet Ashe,--the thing
+that will make you say in the end, 'I'm glad I did it!'" More moved
+than he cared to show, Clifford Ashe rose, and running down the
+veranda steps, strode off in the direction of the stable.
+
+"Oh, dear!" thought Blue Bonnet, gazing after him. "In the language of
+the cowboys,--it's certainly up to me!"
+
+When she went into her grandmother's room that night--the room that
+had been her mother's--Blue Bonnet found Benita acting as lady's maid,
+brushing Mrs. Clyde's long hair. The old nurse enjoyed nothing so much
+as waiting on the little Señora's mother,--unless it was babying the
+little Señora's daughter. As she stood in the doorway silently
+watching the two, the sight of the rippling gray locks, fast whitening
+into snow, did more to sway Blue Bonnet than all the other array of
+arguments. Uncle Cliff wanted her; it was Grandmother who really
+needed her.
+
+She tiptoed up back of Benita, but her grandmother had caught sight of
+her in the mirror and turned at her approach. Something in the
+expression of Blue Bonnet's eyes as she bent for the good-night kiss
+made Mrs. Clyde say hastily--
+
+"What is it, dear?"
+
+And Blue Bonnet, her tone reflecting the happiness her words gave,
+replied: "It isn't _mañana_ yet, but I can't wait to tell you--I'm
+going when you go, Grandmother."
+
+When they looked up, Benita stood with her apron thrown over her
+face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+HASTA LA VISTA
+
+
+THE We are Sevens were packing. An open trunk blocked each aisle
+between the six beds in the nursery; in Sarah's room two more were
+standing, half-filled, one reflecting the neatness and order of its
+owner, the other bearing silent witness to the fact that it belonged
+to Blue Bonnet Ashe.
+
+"What are you doing with that old stick, Blue Bonnet?" asked Sarah, as
+she carefully folded her riding-skirt and laid tissue paper between
+the folds.
+
+"Old stick, indeed! That's the alpenstock Knight cut for me and Sandy
+carved,--I've sawed off about six inches of it, though it broke my
+heart to do it. It's one of my dearest treasures and I'm going to take
+it to Woodford if I have to carry it all the way!" Blue Bonnet
+declared vigorously.
+
+"I don't see anything so wonderful about it," Sarah returned. "There
+are plenty of old sticks just like it to be had around Woodford."
+
+Blue Bonnet lifted indignant eyes. "As if any old Woodford stick could
+mean as much as this one. Why, this has the initials of every one in
+both camps carved on it, and every inch of it represents a good time.
+You've no sentiment, Sarah."
+
+"I certainly haven't enough sentiment to make me rumple my best white
+dress with a clumsy old stick," Sarah replied.
+
+"I reckon it ought to have gone in with my shoes, but it's too late
+now. How you do fuss over that riding-skirt, Sarah!"
+
+"Well, if you want to know it, I've a lot of sentiment about that
+skirt. I wish I could take Comanche along, too."
+
+Here Blue Bonnet amazed Sarah by jumping up and giving her a hug. "Oh,
+Sarah, I do love you for saying that! If you had been reconciled to
+riding that same old poke you had last year I'd have been
+so--disgusted. Won't the livery-man in Woodford open his eyes when
+Miss Blake demands a 'horse with some go in him'--! The inhabitants of
+the town will get a few thrills too, I reckon."
+
+"Do you think it will be proper for us to ride there the way we ride
+here?" Sarah asked eagerly.
+
+"Astride? We'll make it proper! It's the only humane way, Uncle
+says--a side-saddle is a downright cruelty. And I don't see why a
+parson's daughter shouldn't set the fashion."
+
+"Then Ruth will get a chance to wear her riding-skirt after all--her
+heart will be stronger after a while. I've hated to ride when she
+couldn't, but she has insisted upon our going."
+
+"That's just like you, you unselfish old dear! But Ruth told me that
+it was the next best thing to riding herself, to see you on Comanche."
+
+"Did she?" asked Sarah; and then hid her face in the trunk so that
+Blue Bonnet should not see how pleased she was.
+
+They were to leave in the morning, and trunks were to be sent to the
+station this very afternoon. Already Uncle Joe was hovering about,
+rope in hand, waiting to give the final touch to the baggage. He had
+found it necessary to keep very busy these last few days.
+
+"We might have seen this coming," he said disconsolately to Mr. Ashe,
+as the latter sat smoking a solitary pipe on the front veranda. "Let
+young folks get runnin' with young folks, and they're never again
+contented alone."
+
+"It isn't _young_ folks that's taking Blue Bonnet this time, Joe." Mr.
+Ashe glanced in to where a silver head showed just inside the window.
+"_Her_ girl never went back to her from Texas, and I reckon it's only
+right she should have her share of Elizabeth's daughter."
+
+Uncle Joe looked sober. "You're right, Cliff." Then, as if determined
+to look on the bright side of things, "We'll have the boy for
+company."
+
+"Yes, and there'll be more letters. She'll tell him things she
+wouldn't be likely to write to two old fellows." And with this crumb
+of comfort the "two old fellows" were forced to content themselves.
+
+Blue Bonnet was up at daybreak next morning, and, sitting on the top
+rail of the pasture fence, watched the sun rise out of the prairie.
+Don and Solomon eyed her expectantly.
+
+"Our last sunrise on the ranch, Solomon, for ever and ever so
+long,--we're off to Massachusetts this very morning. And it's a
+Pullman for me and a baggage-car for you--no private car this time!
+But I'll come and see you at every station and see that you have
+exercise. Poor dog, I wonder how you'll like the 'resumption of
+discipline'--as Alec calls it? We're going back to Aunt Lucinda, you
+know, Solomon, and Aunt Lucinda's strong for discipline."
+
+Her eyes wandered off toward the distant hills and then away across
+the wind-swept, rolling prairie. How would it seem to be back again
+among houses, tall houses with trim door-yards and clipped
+hedges,--houses so close one couldn't throw a stone without "breaking
+a window or a tradition"--?
+
+Some one was whistling "All the Blue Bonnets are over the Border." She
+looked up as Alec came towards her.
+
+"Do I intrude upon a solemn hour?" he asked.
+
+"The solemn hour has ticked its last second. I've said good-bye to
+everything and everybody,--except Texas and Massachusetts. Come with
+me to see those infants."
+
+Hardly infants any longer, however. Long-tailed, with erect silky ears
+and coats that stood out shaggily from their fattening sides, the
+coyotes were fast growing into big, clumsy dogs.
+
+"You'll look after them, won't you, Alec?" Blue Bonnet asked
+anxiously.
+
+"That I will," he promised.
+
+"And you'll write me often about--everything? And see that Uncle Cliff
+doesn't smoke too much, and that Uncle Joe takes his rheumatism
+medicine--"
+
+"Trust me!" Alec knew better than to smile at such a moment. "And in
+turn, Blue Bonnet, you'll give an eye to Grandfather, won't you?"
+
+They shook hands on it solemnly, and went in to breakfast.
+
+Kitty, her face restored to its usual milky-whiteness, and looking
+very pretty in her jaunty travelling-suit, met them at the door.
+Peering over her shoulder stood Ruth--a sunburned Ruth with bright
+eyes and a rounder curve to her cheek than it had worn two weeks
+before.
+
+"We were afraid you had decided to run off and hide at the last
+minute," said Kitty, slipping her arm around Blue Bonnet as if
+determined not to risk losing her a second time.
+
+"I was only--saying good-bye," said Blue Bonnet soberly.
+
+"Blue Bonnet is like more than one famous prima donna," said Alec,
+"she has made half a dozen 'positively last' farewell tours!"
+
+They were off at last. Distributed equally between the buckboard and
+one of the farm-wagons, the We are Sevens, Grandmother Clyde, General
+Trent and Uncle Joe went ahead. Blue Bonnet, Alec, and Uncle Cliff
+followed on horseback.
+
+As they neared the bridge Blue Bonnet drew rein, and, turning in the
+saddle, glanced back for a last look at the weather-stained old
+ranch-house. The cowboys and most of the Mexicans, who had gathered to
+say good-bye to the Señorita and her "amigos" from Massachusetts, were
+already scattering about the work of the day. But in the doorway the
+faithful Benita still stood, waving her apron.
+
+Blue Bonnet's eyes filled.
+
+"Good-bye, old house, good-bye, Benita," she said, and then added
+softly: "_Hasta la vista!_"
+
+
+=THE END.=
+
+
+
+
+  Selections from
+  The Page Company's
+  Books for Young People
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+=THE BLUE BONNET SERIES=
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $1.75
+
+
+=A TEXAS BLUE BONNET=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS.
+
+"The book's heroine, Blue Bonnet, has the very finest kind of
+wholesome, honest, lively girlishness."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND EDYTH ELLERBECK READ.
+
+"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston
+Transcript._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"It is bound to become popular because of its wholesomeness and its
+many human touches."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"It cannot fail to prove fascinating to girls in their teens."--_New
+York Sun._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET--DÉBUTANTE=
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+An interesting picture of the unfolding of life for Blue Bonnet.
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET OF THE SEVEN STARS=
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"The author's intimate detail and charm of narration gives the reader
+an interesting story of the heroine's war activities."--_Pittsburgh
+Leader._
+
+
+
+
+=THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES=
+
+By HARRISON ADAMS
+
+  _Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_         $1.65
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO; OR,= CLEARING THE WILDERNESS.
+
+"Such books as this are an admirable means of stimulating among the
+young Americans of to-day interest in the story of their pioneer
+ancestors and the early days of the Republic."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES;= OR, ON THE TRAIL OF THE
+IROQUOIS.
+
+"The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not only
+interesting but instructive as well and shows the sterling type
+of character which these days of self-reliance and trial
+produced."--_American Tourist, Chicago._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI;= OR, THE HOMESTEAD IN THE
+WILDERNESS.
+
+"The story is told with spirit, and is full of adventure."--_New York
+Sun._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI;= OR, IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX.
+
+"Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic situations,
+true to historic perspective, this story is a capital one for
+boys."--_Watchman Examiner, New York City._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE;= OR, LOST IN THE LAND OF
+WONDERS.
+
+"There is plenty of lively adventure and action and the story is well
+told."--_Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA;= OR, IN THE WILDERNESS OF THE GREAT
+NORTHWEST.
+
+"The story is full of spirited action and contains much valuable
+historical information."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+
+
+=THE HADLEY HALL SERIES=
+
+By LOUISE M. BREITENBACH
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $1.65
+
+
+=ALMA AT HADLEY HALL=
+
+"The author is to be congratulated on having written such an appealing
+book for girls."--_Detroit Free Press._
+
+
+=ALMA'S SOPHOMORE YEAR=
+
+"It cannot fail to appeal to the lovers of good things in girls'
+books."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+=ALMA'S JUNIOR YEAR=
+
+"The diverse characters in the boarding-school are strongly drawn, the
+incidents are well developed and the action is never dull."--_The
+Boston Herald._
+
+
+=ALMA'S SENIOR YEAR=
+
+"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston
+Transcript._
+
+
+
+
+=THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE SERIES=
+
+By HARRIET LUMMIS SMITH
+
+_Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_ $1.65
+
+
+=THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE=
+
+"A book sure to please girl readers, for the author seems to
+understand perfectly the girl character."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S VACATION=
+
+"It is a wholesome, hearty story."--_Utica Observer._
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S SCHOOL DAYS=
+
+The book is delightfully written, and contains lots of exciting
+incidents.
+
+
+=THE FRIENDLY TERRACE QUARTETTE=
+
+These four lively girls found their opportunities to serve their
+country. The story of their adventures will bring anew to every girl
+who reads about them the realization of what she owes to her country.
+
+
+
+
+=FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES=
+
+By CHARLES H. L. JOHNSTON
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $2.00
+
+
+=FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS=
+
+"More of such books should be written, books that acquaint young
+readers with historical personages in a pleasant, informal way."--_New
+York Sun._
+
+
+=FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS=
+
+"Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, and his relation
+of battles, sieges and struggles of these famous Indians with the
+whites for the possession of America is a worthy addition to United
+States History."--_New York Marine Journal._
+
+
+=FAMOUS SCOUTS=
+
+"It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascination for boys
+and young men."--_New London Day._
+
+
+=FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVENTURERS OF THE SEA=
+
+"The tales are more than merely interesting; they are entrancing,
+stirring the blood with thrilling force."--_Pittsburgh Post._
+
+
+=FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF THE BORDER=
+
+"The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly readable, making
+a book of wide appeal to all who love the history of actual
+adventure."--_Cleveland Leader._
+
+
+=FAMOUS DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS OF AMERICA=
+
+"The book is an epitome of some of the wildest and bravest adventures
+of which the world has known."--_Brooklyn Daily Eagle._
+
+
+=FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE GREAT WAR=
+
+Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glorious Victory.
+
+"The pages of this book have the charm of romance without its
+unreality. The book illuminates, with life-like portraits, the history
+of the World War."--_Rochester Post Express._
+
+
+
+
+=HILDEGARDE-MARGARET SERIES=
+
+By LAURA E. RICHARDS
+
+Eleven Volumes
+
+The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with "Queen Hildegarde" and
+ending with "The Merryweathers," make one of the best and most popular
+series of books for girls ever written.
+
+   _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_  $1.75
+  _The eleven volumes boxed as a set_                           $19.25
+
+
+=LIST OF TITLES=
+
+        =QUEEN HILDEGARDE=
+
+        =HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY=
+
+        =HILDEGARDE'S HOME=
+
+        =HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS=
+
+        =HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST=
+
+        =THREE MARGARETS=
+
+        =MARGARET MONTFORT=
+
+        =PEGGY=
+
+        =RITA=
+
+        =FERNLEY HOUSE=
+
+        =THE MERRYWEATHERS=
+
+
+
+
+=THE CAPTAIN JANUARY SERIES=
+
+By LAURA E. RICHARDS
+
+  _Each one volume, 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per
+    volume_                                                   90 cents
+
+
+=CAPTAIN JANUARY=
+
+A charming idyl of New England coast life, whose success has been very
+remarkable.
+
+  SAME. _Illustrated Holiday Edition_                            $1.35
+
+
+=MELODY:= THE STORY OF A CHILD.
+
+
+=MARIE=
+
+A companion to "Melody" and "Captain January."
+
+
+=ROSIN THE BEAU=
+
+A sequel to "Melody" and "Marie."
+
+
+=SNOW-WHITE;= OR, THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD.
+
+
+=JIM OF HELLAS;= OR, IN DURANCE VILE, and a companion story, BETHESDA
+POOL.
+
+
+=NARCISSA=
+
+And a companion story, IN VERONA, being two delightful short stories
+of New England life.
+
+
+="SOME SAY"=
+
+And a companion story, NEIGHBORS IN CYRUS.
+
+
+=NAUTILUS=
+
+"'Nautilus' is by far the best product of the author's powers, and is
+certain to achieve the wide success it so richly merits."
+
+
+=ISLA HERON=
+
+This interesting story is written in the author's usual charming
+manner.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Italics are denoted by _tags_ and bold text by =tags=.
+
+Varied hyphenation was retained in horseback/horse-back;
+bedroom/bed-room; bedclothes/bed-clothes; buckboard/buck-board;
+cowbells/cow-bells; oilcloth/oil-cloth; outdoors/out-doors;
+sunbonnet/sun-bonnet; We are Seven/We-are-Seven.
+
+Varied spelling of bandana/bandanna was retained.
+
+Page 36, "horse" changed to "horses" (appraised the horses)
+
+Page 101, "Francescito" changed to "Franciscito" (skirting San
+Franciscito)
+
+Page 200, "pique" changed to "piqué" (white piqué skirt)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party, by 
+C. E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 21960-8.txt or 21960-8.zip *****
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+    <title>
+      The Project Gutenberg eBook of Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party, by C. E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read.
+    </title>
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+<pre>
+
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party, by 
+C. E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+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: Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party
+
+Author: C. E. Jacobs
+        Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+Illustrator: John Goss
+
+Release Date: June 28, 2007 [EBook #21960]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+</pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+<h1>BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY</h1>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'><a name="front" id="front"></a>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Front Matter">
+<tr><td align='left'><img src="images/cover.jpg" width="258" height="400" alt="Cover" title="Cover" />
+</td><td align='left'><br /><img src="images/gs004.png" width="297" height="400" alt="&quot;BLUE BONNET . . . WATCHED THE SUN RISE OUT OF THE
+PRAIRIE.&quot;" title="&quot;BLUE BONNET . . . WATCHED THE SUN RISE OUT OF THE PRAIRIE.&quot;" />
+<br /><span class="caption">&quot;BLUE BONNET . . . WATCHED THE SUN RISE OUT OF THE
+PRAIRIE.&quot; (<a href="#Page_303">See page 303.</a>)</span>
+</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Title Page and Book list">
+<tr><td align='left'><div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Title Page">
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><img src="images/titletop.png" width="369" height="17" alt="Border Top" title="Border Top" />
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><img src="images/titleleft.png" width="20" height="565" alt="Border Left Side" title="Border Left Side" />
+</td><td align='center'><h1>BLUE BONNET'S<br />RANCH PARTY</h1>
+
+<h2><small>BY</small><br />
+C. E. JACOBS<br />
+<small>AND</small><br />
+
+EDYTH ELLERBECK READ</h2>
+
+<div class='center'><b>A SEQUEL TO</b><br />
+
+<b><big>A TEXAS BLUE BONNET</big></b><br />
+
+<b>BY</b><br />
+
+<b>C. E. JACOBS</b><br /><br /></div>
+
+<div class='center'><i>Illustrated by</i><br />
+JOHN GOSS</div>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 81px;">
+<img src="images/emblem.png" width="81" height="81" alt="Emblem" title="Emblem" />
+</div>
+
+<div class='center'>
+THE PAGE COMPANY<br />
+BOSTON - - PUBLISHERS<br />
+</div>
+</td><td align='right'><img src="images/titleright.png" width="20" height="565" alt="Border Right Side" title="Border Right Side" />
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><img src="images/titlebottom.png" width="369" height="17" alt="Border Bottom" title="Border Bottom" />
+</td></tr>
+</table></div></td><td align='left'><div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book List">
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><img src="images/booklisttop.jpg" width="381" height="23" alt="Border Top" title="Border Top" />
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><img src="images/booklistsides.jpg" width="24" height="543" alt="Border Side" title="Border Side" />
+</td><td align='center'><h2>The<br />
+Blue Bonnet Series</h2>
+
+<i>By</i><br />
+
+<i>Lela Horn Richards</i><br />
+<i>and</i><br />
+
+<i>Caroline E. Jacobs</i><br />
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 35px;">
+<img src="images/divider.png" width="35" height="14" alt="Divider" title="Divider" />
+</div>
+
+<div class='center'>Each, one vol., large 12mo, illustrated $1.75</div>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Blue Bonnet Series">
+<tr><td align='left'>A TEXAS BLUE BONNET</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>BLUE BONNET&mdash;D&Eacute;BUTANTE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>BLUE BONNET OF THE SEVEN STARS</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<hr style='width: 15%;' />
+
+<b>THE COSY CORNER SERIES</b><br />
+
+<i>By Caroline E. Jacobs</i><br />
+
+<div class='center'>Each, one vol., small 12mo, illustrated $0.75</div>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Cosy Corner Series">
+<tr><td align='left'>BAB'S CHRISTMAS AT STANHOPE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>THE CHRISTMAS SURPRISE PARTY</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>A CHRISTMAS PROMISE</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 35px;">
+<img src="images/divider.png" width="35" height="14" alt="Divider" title="Divider" />
+</div>
+
+THE PAGE COMPANY<br />
+
+53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
+</td><td align='right'><img src="images/booklistsides.jpg" width="24" height="543" alt="Border Side" title="Border Side" />
+</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='3'><img src="images/booklisttop.jpg" width="381" height="23" alt="Border Bottom" title="Border Side" />
+</td></tr></table></div>
+</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<div class='center'>
+<small><i>Copyright, 1912</i><br />
+<span class="smcap">By The Page Company</span><br /></small>
+</div>
+
+<hr style='width: 25%;' />
+
+<div class='center'><i><small>All rights reserved</small></i>
+<br /><br /><br />
+
+
+Made in U. S. A.<br /><br /><br /></div>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Book Impression Dates">
+<tr><td align='left'><small>First Impression, July, 1912</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Second Impression, October, 1912</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Third Impression, May, 1913</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Fourth Impression, January, 1914</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Fifth Impression, April, 1914</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Sixth Impression, February, 1915</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Seventh Impression, June, 1915</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Eighth Impression, July, 1916</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Ninth Impression, April, 1917</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Tenth Impression, March, 1918</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Eleventh Impression, July, 1919</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Twelfth Impression, May, 1920</small></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><small>Thirteenth Impression, December, 1921</small></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'><br /><br /><br /><br />
+<small>PRINTED BY C. H. SIMONDS COMPANY</small><br />
+<small>BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A.</small><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CONTENTS</h2>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents">
+<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'><span class="smcap">chapter</span></td><td align='center'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Wanderer</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_1">1</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In the Blue Bonnet Country</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Glorious Fourth</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Round Robin</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Swimming Hole</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_60">60</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Adventure</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_71">71</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Falling Out</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_86">86</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>VIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Consequences</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_101">101</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>IX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Texas and Massachusetts</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_112">112</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>X.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Enter Carita</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_124">124</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Camping by the Big Spring</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_142">142</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Poco Tiempo</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_155">155</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Around the Camp-fire</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_169">169</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XIV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Falling In</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XV.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Sunday</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_200">200</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XVI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Lost Sheep</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XVII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Secrets</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XVIII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Some Arrivals</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_242">242</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XIX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Blue Bonnet's Birthday</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_259">259</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XX.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Conferences</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_275">275</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXI.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Blue Bonnet Decides</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_290">290</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='right'>XXII.</td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Hasta la Vista</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_300">300</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS</h2>
+
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="">
+<tr><td align='right' colspan='2'><span class="smcap">page</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"Blue Bonnet . . . watched the sun rise out of the prairie"</span> (<a href="#Page_303"><i>See page 303</i></a>)</td><td align='right'><a href="#front"><i>Frontispiece</i></a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"Comanche . . . leaped forward like a cat"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_41">41</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"'<i>I</i> believe the only way to learn to swim is to dive in head-first'"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"They all gathered gypsy-fashion about the fire"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"It was an exquisite miniature, painted on ivory"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_261">261</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class="smcap">"Alec surveyed her proud little profile"</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_290">290</a></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1"></a>[<a href="images/1.png">1</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER I</h2>
+
+<h3>THE WANDERER</h3>
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Blue Bonnet</span> put her head out of the car window for the hundredth time
+that hour, and drew it back with a sigh of utter exasperation.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Cliff," she declared impatiently, "if The Wanderer doesn't move
+a little faster I'll simply have to get out and push!"</p>
+
+<p>"Better blame the engine, Honey," said Uncle Cliff in his slow,
+soothing way. "The Wanderer is doing her best. Might as well blame the
+wagon for not making the horses gallop!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know," she confessed. "But it seems as if we'd never get to
+Woodford. This is the longest-seeming journey I ever took&mdash;even if it
+is in a private car." Then, fearing to appear inappreciative, she
+added quickly: "But I do think it is mighty good of Mr. Maldon to let
+us take his very own car. I can just see the We are Sevens' eyes pop
+right out when they see this style of travelling." Blue Bonnet's own
+eyes roamed over the luxurious interior of The Wanderer, dwelling with
+approval<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2"></a>[<a href="images/2.png">2</a>]</span> on the big, swinging easy chairs, the book-case cunningly
+set in just over a writing-desk, the buffet shining with cut glass and
+silver, and the thousand and one details that made the car a veritable
+palace on wheels.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet had been spending a few days in New York with her uncle,
+who had insisted that she should have a little "lark" after her long
+months in school. Now, in a private car belonging to one of Uncle
+Cliff's friends, they were on their way back to Woodford, there to
+gather up Grandmother Clyde, Alec Trent, and the other six of Blue
+Bonnet's "We are Seven" Club, and bear them off to Texas for the
+summer.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon Sarah Blake and Kitty Clark aren't very used to travelling?"
+suggested Uncle Cliff, more to draw out Blue Bonnet than with any
+consuming desire for information.</p>
+
+<p>"Used to travelling! Why, Uncle Cliff&mdash;" Blue Bonnet shook her head
+emphatically&mdash;"not one of the other We are Sevens has ever so much as
+seen the inside of a Pullman in all her life!"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ashe hid a smile under his moustache. The fact that Blue Bonnet's
+own introduction to a Pullman car had occurred just nine months
+before, seemed to have escaped the young lady's mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well," ejaculated Blue Bonnet's uncle, "they've some
+experiences ahead of them, to be sure!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3"></a>[<a href="images/3.png">3</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Uncle,"&mdash;Blue Bonnet was struck with a sudden fear,&mdash;"do you
+suppose they will all be ready to go? We're two whole days earlier
+than we said we'd be&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"They'll be ready, don't you worry. Your grandmother is not one of the
+unprepared sort, and the girls don't need much of a wardrobe for the
+ranch. Besides, I wired them explicit directions&mdash;to meet The Wanderer
+and be ready to come aboard immediately. We shall have only a few
+minutes in Woodford."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet settled back in her red velvet reclining chair and shut
+her eyes. Slowly a smile wreathed her lips.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the joke, Honey?"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked up with dancing eyes. "Benita!" she laughed. "Won't
+she be just&mdash;petrified, when she sees seven girls instead of one? And
+can't you imagine the boys&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Benita had better not get petrified this summer," interrupted Uncle
+Cliff. "She has to do some tall hustling. I've wired Uncle Joe to get
+extra help while the ranch party is in session. If they can get old
+Gertrudis from the Lone Star Ranch&mdash;she's the finest cook in the state
+of Texas. And her granddaughter might wait on table."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I do think a ranch party is the grandest thing in the world,"
+cried Blue Bonnet. "I've read of house parties, but they must be
+downright tame<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4"></a>[<a href="images/4.png">4</a>]</span> compared with this kind of a party. And it's not to
+last just over a week-end either, but <i>two whole months!</i> Why, Uncle
+Cliff, any ordinary man would be scared to pieces at the prospect."</p>
+
+<p>"But I'm not an ordinary man, eh?" Mr. Ashe looked pleased as a boy as
+he put the question.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I reckon not! You're a fairy godfather. You grant my wishes
+before they're fairly out of my mouth. And I seem to have plenty of
+wishes. Just think, Uncle, how many things I've wished for since my
+last birthday!"</p>
+
+<p>"First," said Uncle Cliff, "you wished to go away from the ranch."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet nodded assent. "Because I was&mdash;afraid&mdash;to ride. Doesn't it
+seem ridiculous, now I'm over that silliness? But oh, how I did wish I
+could get over being afraid! That was about the only wish you couldn't
+grant, Uncle Cliff."</p>
+
+<p>"That wish was never expressed, Honey&mdash;don't forget that. Maybe I
+could have helped even there," Mr. Ashe suggested gently.</p>
+
+<p>"I know, it was my own fault. But I was&mdash;ashamed, Uncle Cliff. You
+don't suppose&mdash;" Blue Bonnet's face clouded, "you don't think, do you,
+that the fear will come again when I get back where I saw
+Jos&eacute;&mdash;dragged?" She shut her eyes and shuddered.</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, Honey. That fear died and was buried the day you rode
+Alec's horse, Victor. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5"></a>[<a href="images/5.png">5</a>]</span> good canter on Firefly over the Blue Bonnet
+country will make you wonder that such a feeling was ever born."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear old Firefly! Won't I make it up to him though! Isn't it queer
+how many of my wishes have come true? It makes me feel
+almost&mdash;breathless. I no sooner got through wishing I could leave the
+ranch and go East and be with Grandmother&mdash;than I woke up in Woodford.
+And I wanted&mdash;thought I wanted&mdash;to be called Elizabeth. Blue Bonnet
+became Elizabeth!"</p>
+
+<p>"A real lightning change artist," murmured Uncle Cliff.</p>
+
+<p>"And I wanted to go to school. Granted. I wanted to know a lot of
+girls, and behold the We are Sevens!"</p>
+
+<p>"And when was it you changed names again?" Uncle Cliff asked slyly.</p>
+
+<p>"When I got tired of being Elizabethed. Everybody thinks Blue Bonnet
+suits me better, except Aunt Lucinda&mdash;on occasions."</p>
+
+<p>"And the next wish? They're stacking up."</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon it was about the Sargent prize in school. I wanted Alec
+Trent to win it&mdash;and he did. And next I wished to pass my school
+examinations&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And even that miracle was achieved!" said Uncle Cliff, pinching her
+cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"And, finally, I wanted to go back to Texas, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6"></a>[<a href="images/6.png">6</a>]</span> at the same time, I
+wished I didn't have to leave Grandmother and Alec and the girls. That
+might seem a contrary pair of wishes, but it doesn't daunt Godfather
+Ashe. He straightway makes a private car arise from&mdash;from what, Uncle
+Cliff?"</p>
+
+<p>"Tobacco smoke," promptly supplied Mr. Ashe, with a reminiscent smile
+on his lips.</p>
+
+<p>"Why tobacco smoke?" asked Blue Bonnet wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>"I taught Maldon to smoke when he was a young chap visiting out our
+way, and we've been friends ever since. The private car seems to have
+grown out of that," replied her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>"I see," Blue Bonnet nodded. "But don't tell Aunt Lucinda,&mdash;I fancy
+she doesn't approve of smoking."</p>
+
+<p>"So I've noticed," rather grimly rejoined Mr. Ashe. Blue Bonnet's prim
+New England aunt had not suffered him to remain long in ignorance of
+her disapproval of tobacco in any form.</p>
+
+<p>"There's one thing I don't understand at all," Blue Bonnet knitted her
+pretty brows. "And that is what was in Uncle Joe Terry's telegram the
+other day. Won't you tell me, Uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing much,&mdash;only that I must be back at the ranch Monday evening
+without fail," answered Uncle Cliff with an air of evasion.</p>
+
+<p>"There's some deep reason, I can just feel it. You mean well, Uncle,
+but I just hate secrets."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7"></a>[<a href="images/7.png">7</a>]</span> Blue Bonnet laid a coaxing hand on her
+uncle's arm.</p>
+
+<p>"Secret indeed!" scoffed Uncle Cliff, avoiding his niece's eye.</p>
+
+<p>"You can't pretend a bit well," Blue Bonnet assured him gravely. "You
+look just the way my dog Solomon does when he's pretending to be
+asleep&mdash;and can't keep his tail from wagging!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" said Uncle Cliff with well-assumed indignation.</p>
+
+<p>"You're quite welcome. He's a mighty wise dog, Uncle Cliff&mdash;that's why
+I named him Solomon. You know I think&mdash;" Blue Bonnet went on sagely,
+"I think there is some trouble at the ranch,&mdash;because I saw the big
+box you sent with our trunks and it was labelled 'dangerous.' Now, be
+nice, and tell me what was in it."</p>
+
+<p>"I understood that Miss Kitty was the inquisitive member of your
+Club," Uncle Cliff parried provokingly.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet sighed. "Well, I can thank Uncle Joe for cutting us out of
+two whole days in New York. I'm sure Aunt Lucinda will be
+disappointed."</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Lucinda&mdash;?" echoed Mr. Ashe.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you see it was this way: Aunt Lucinda gave me a list of things I
+ought to see in New York. Every day when you asked me 'what next?'&mdash;as
+you did, you nice fairy godfather&mdash;I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8"></a>[<a href="images/8.png">8</a>]</span> chose the things I'd rather see
+and left the&mdash;the educational things for the last. You see the shops,
+the Hippodrome, Coney Island, Peter Pan and the Goddess of Liberty
+were so fascinating, and I'd wanted so long to see them, that&mdash; Well,
+to face the bitter truth, Uncle Cliff, we left New York without one
+weenty peek in at the Metropolitan Museum!"</p>
+
+<p>"Horrors!" Uncle Cliff looked properly stunned. Then he said craftily,
+"Keep it dark, Honey. Maybe we can bluff."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet shook her head. "Nobody can bluff Aunt Lucinda&mdash;I ought to
+know! Why&mdash;Uncle Cliff&mdash;I believe we're there!"</p>
+
+<p>And "there" they certainly were. While Blue Bonnet had been busily
+chattering, The Wanderer had drawn in to the Woodford station.</p>
+
+<p>Half the population of the village was assembled on the platform, it
+seemed to Blue Bonnet as she sprang from the car steps. Grandmother
+and Aunt Lucinda she saw first, and back of them Denham, the coachman,
+bearing suitcases, umbrellas, magazines and wraps, besides holding on
+by main force to a leash at which Solomon was straining frantically.
+Beside him were Katie and Delia, on hand for a final farewell to Blue
+Bonnet and Mrs. Clyde. Then came Kitty and Doctor Clark; Amanda and
+the Parkers; Sarah and the whole crowd of Blakes, big and little; Alec
+and the General; Debby, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9"></a>[<a href="images/9.png">9</a>]</span> a collection of sisters, cousins, uncles
+and aunts that overflowed the platform and straggled clear out to the
+line of hitching-posts, where all of Woodford's family conveyances
+seemed drawn up at once.</p>
+
+<p>The report of Blue Bonnet's ranch party had spread like wildfire
+through the town, and the going away of so many of its most prominent
+citizens to far-off Texas, had aroused quiet Woodford to a pitch of
+excitement equalled only by that of a prohibition election, or a visit
+from the President.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was swallowed up by the crowd the moment she alighted, and
+it was a full five minutes before she emerged, flushed and minus her
+hat, to ask breathlessly, "Oh, is everybody here?&mdash;I can't see anybody
+for the crowd!"</p>
+
+<p>"No time to lose," warned Mr. Ashe. "We must pull out in ten minutes
+in order to reach Boston in time for the 5.17 to-night."</p>
+
+<p>Even as he spoke, The Wanderer began to move.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Cliff," cried Blue Bonnet in a panic, "they're going without
+us!"</p>
+
+<p>"Just switching," soothed her uncle. "The Wanderer has to be on the
+other track so as to hook on to the train for Boston. That's due in
+five minutes. Get your good-byes said so that everybody can go aboard
+when she comes alongside."</p>
+
+<p>During that five minutes while each girl was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10"></a>[<a href="images/10.png">10</a>]</span> occupied with her own
+family, Blue Bonnet had a moment alone with her aunt. "It's a good
+thing we said our real good-bye before I went to New York, isn't it,
+Aunt Lucinda?" she asked, slipping her hand shyly into that of her
+tall, prim aunt. Somehow Aunt Lucinda had never seemed so dear as in
+this moment of parting. Perhaps it was the look as of unshed tears in
+her eyes, or the flush on her usually pale face that made her seem
+more approachable. Blue Bonnet could not tell exactly what it was, but
+there was a vague something about Aunt Lucinda that made her appear
+almost&mdash;yes, almost, pathetic. Suddenly Blue Bonnet remembered&mdash;they
+were leaving Aunt Lucinda all alone. Her heart reproached her. "Aunt
+Lucinda," she whispered hurriedly, "won't you come, too?"</p>
+
+<p>One of her rare sweet smiles lit Miss Clyde's face. "Thank you,
+dear&mdash;it is sweet of you to want me. But not this time, for I have
+promised friends to go abroad with them. I shall miss you, Blue
+Bonnet,&mdash;you won't forget to write often?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed!" Blue Bonnet assured her, at the same moment registering
+a solemn vow that she would write every week without fail. "And you'll
+write too, Aunt Lucinda? It'll be so exciting getting letters from
+funny, foreign places. And now it's good-bye. You&mdash;you are sure you've
+no&mdash;a&mdash;advice to give me?"</p>
+
+<p>Miss Clyde restrained an odd smile at the significant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11"></a>[<a href="images/11.png">11</a>]</span> question. "No,
+dear. Only this: be considerate of your grandmother, and bring her
+back safely to me."</p>
+
+<p>"I will! I will!" cried Blue Bonnet, and with another kiss was gone.</p>
+
+<p>There was only a moment for a handshake with Katie and Delia, who
+openly mopped their eyes at parting; a word with General Trent, a
+chorus of good-byes to a score of We are Seven relations, and then
+everybody crowded about the steps of The Wanderer.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother first," said Blue Bonnet. "Denham, you'd better go aboard
+and get her settled. Here, Bennie Blake&mdash;you hold Solomon till I'm
+ready to take him. Now then, We are Sevens&mdash;forward!"</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Blue Bonnet gave a queer little exclamation and clapped her
+hand on a leather case which hung from her shoulder. "Stop, everybody,
+till I get a picture&mdash;I nearly forgot! And I want pictures of every
+stage of the ranch party. Grandmother, please stay on the top step and
+I'll group the girls below."</p>
+
+<p>"That's right," cried Kitty. "Take one now and another when we get
+back, and we can label them 'Before and After Taking!'"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah, Kitty, Amanda and Debby, amid the teasing remarks of sundry
+small boys, obediently took their places as designated by the young
+artist. Then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12"></a>[<a href="images/12.png">12</a>]</span> Blue Bonnet's eyes turned in search of the other two
+girls.</p>
+
+<p>"Susy! Ruth!" she called. "Why&mdash;where are they?"</p>
+
+<p>An embarrassed hush fell on the group about the car. Blue Bonnet
+looked inquiringly at the telltale faces. It did not take her long to
+scent a mystery.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter?" she cried impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>Doctor Clark stepped forward, clearing his throat queerly. "Fact is,
+Miss Blue Bonnet," he began, "they&mdash;they can't go."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't go?" Blue Bonnet started incredulously at the stammering
+doctor.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you see,&mdash;well, in fact, they're ill," he completed lamely. Why
+didn't some one help him out, the doctor fumed inwardly, instead of
+letting him be the one to cloud that beaming face?</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Kitty leaned down from the car step and whispered: "Scarlet
+fever!"</p>
+
+<p>"Both?" exclaimed the startled Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"No, only Ruth. But Susy was exposed and Father didn't think it safe
+for her to come."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Kitty!" The tears sprang to Blue Bonnet's eyes&mdash;she fought them
+but they would come.</p>
+
+<p>"We're all broken up over it," said Kitty with her own lips trembling;
+"but it might have been worse. It's only because we've been too busy
+to go out there, that we weren't all exposed. Then it would have been
+good-bye to the ranch party."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13"></a>[<a href="images/13.png">13</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Kitty, suppose you had!" The thought of the narrow escape dried
+Blue Bonnet's tears. "I'm mighty glad you four could come. But it
+won't be complete. And you know how I love to have things complete!"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, Blue Bonnet, you still have me!" cried Alec, coming in
+with a cheerful note.</p>
+
+<p>"'The poor ye have always with you!'" chimed in Kitty, and while
+everybody was laughing over this sally, Blue Bonnet took a snap-shot
+of the group, and then all the travellers trooped aboard.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ashe looked over the heads of the chattering crowd in the car and
+met Mrs. Clyde's amused eye. "How do you like mothering a family of
+this size?" he asked jocosely.</p>
+
+<p>"I fancy I feel much like the hen that hatched duck's eggs," Mrs.
+Clyde returned.</p>
+
+<p>There was a laugh at this, in the midst of which Sarah Blake was heard
+to remark solemnly: "Yes, children are a great responsibility."</p>
+
+<p>Whereat there was more laughter, and hardly had it subsided when from
+outside came the conductor's sonorous "All aboo&mdash;ard!"</p>
+
+<p>"Girls, we're really going!" gasped Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>There was a last vigorous waving of handkerchiefs out of the window.
+Suddenly a wail burst from Blue Bonnet: "Solomon! Solomon!"</p>
+
+<p>All looked at one another aghast. In the excitement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14"></a>[<a href="images/14.png">14</a>]</span> of the last
+moments no one had thought of the dog.</p>
+
+<p>"Find Bennie Blake&mdash;he had Solomon last," cried Blue Bonnet, rushing
+to the platform.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll find him, don't you worry," exclaimed Alec, swinging down the
+steps just as the first creaks of the car gave notice of starting.</p>
+
+<p>"Alec&mdash;you'll get left!" cried Blue Bonnet. "There's Bennie,&mdash;oh,
+quick!"</p>
+
+<p>Sure enough, there on the edge of the crowd was Bennie, but alack!&mdash;no
+Solomon.</p>
+
+<p>"Stop the train, can't you, Uncle Cliff?" wailed Blue Bonnet. "Alec
+will be left&mdash;and Solomon too&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff leaped to the bottom step,&mdash;the train was still only
+crawling,&mdash;and with one hand on the rail leaned out and peered after
+Alec. Blue Bonnet gave a nervous clutch at his sleeve. What he saw
+evidently reassured Mr. Ashe, for suddenly he straightened up and held
+out both arms. A second later a brown furry object came hurtling
+through the air and was caught ignominiously by the tail. Quick as a
+flash Uncle Cliff tossed the indignant Solomon to Blue Bonnet, and
+bent down to lend a helping hand to Alec. That young gentleman
+scrambled up with more haste than elegance, just as the train ceased
+to crawl and settled down to the real business of travelling.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll never forget this, Alec Trent, as long as I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15"></a>[<a href="images/15.png">15</a>]</span> live,&mdash;I think you
+deserve a Carnegie medal!" Blue Bonnet cried fervently. "I'd never get
+over it if Solomon should be lost."</p>
+
+<p>"He wouldn't have been&mdash;lost, exactly," returned Alec in an odd tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, what do you mean? Where did you find him?" Blue Bonnet demanded.</p>
+
+<p>And Alec, bursting into a laugh in spite of his awful news, returned:
+"I found him just where that Blake boy left him&mdash;tied on to the end of
+the car!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16"></a>[<a href="images/16.png">16</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER II</h2>
+
+<h3>IN THE BLUE BONNET COUNTRY</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">If</span> one of you speaks aloud in the next five minutes," declared Blue
+Bonnet earnestly, "I'll never forgive you."</p>
+
+<p>No one being inclined to risk Blue Bonnet's undying enmity, there was
+complete silence for the space of time imposed. They were rolling
+along the smooth white road between the railway station and the ranch,
+Grandmother Clyde and the girls in a buckboard drawn by sturdy little
+mustangs, while Alec, Uncle Joe and Uncle Cliff, who had stayed behind
+to look after the luggage, were following on horseback.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet sat tense and still, her hands clasped in her lap, the
+color coming and going in her face in rapid waves of pink and white;
+her eyes very shiny, her lips quivering. This home-coming was having
+an effect she had not dreamed of. Every familiar object, every turn of
+the road that brought her nearer the beloved ranch, gave her a new and
+delicious thrill.</p>
+
+<p>As they neared the modern wire fence two dusky little greaser
+piccaninnies rose out of the chaparral, hurled themselves on the big
+gate and held it open,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17"></a>[<a href="images/17.png">17</a>]</span> standing like sentinels, bursting with
+importance, as the buckboard rolled through.</p>
+
+<p>"They're Pancho's twins!" cried Blue Bonnet. "Stop, Miguel, while I
+give them something." Hurriedly seizing a half-eaten box of candy from
+Amanda's surprised hands, Blue Bonnet leaned down and tossed it to the
+grinning youngsters.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Muchas gracias</i>, Se&ntilde;orita!" they cried in a duet, their black eyes
+wide with joy.</p>
+
+<p>"Bless the babies!" exclaimed Kitty, "&mdash;did you hear what they called
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet laughed. "I'm never called anything else here. They meant
+'Many thanks, Ma'am.' You will be 'Se&ntilde;orita' too,&mdash;better get used to
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I shall love it," cried Kitty. "It sounds like a title&mdash;'my lady'
+or 'your grace' or something grand."</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother will be 'Se&ntilde;ora'&mdash;doesn't it just suit her, girls?" asked
+Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Clyde, may we call you 'Se&ntilde;ora,' too?" asked Debby, "&mdash;just
+while we're on the ranch?"</p>
+
+<p>"Debby believes in the eternal fitness of things," put in Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, you may call me Se&ntilde;ora," said Mrs. Clyde. "When you're in
+Texas do as the Texans do," she paraphrased.</p>
+
+<p>"I intend to learn all the Spanish I can while I'm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18"></a>[<a href="images/18.png">18</a>]</span> here," remarked
+Sarah. "I brought a grammar and a dictionary&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>A chorus of indignation went up from the other girls.</p>
+
+<p>"This isn't a 'General Culture Club,' Sarah Blake," scolded Kitty. "We
+didn't come to the Blue Bonnet ranch for mutual improvement&mdash;but for
+<i>fun!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"We'll make a bonfire of those books," warned Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"All the Spanish that I can absorb through my&mdash;pores, is welcome to
+stick," said Debby, "but I'm not going to dig for it."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah tactfully changed the subject. "Your house is a good way from
+the gate, Blue Bonnet," she remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"Nearly two miles," Blue Bonnet smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"There's nothing like owning all outdoors!" commented Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandfather used to own nearly all outdoors," returned Blue Bonnet.
+"When father was a little boy nobody had fences and the cattle ranged
+through two or three counties. But now we keep a lot of fence-riders,
+who don't do a thing but mend fences, day after day. There's the
+bridge,&mdash;now as soon as we cross the river you can see the
+ranch-house."</p>
+
+<p>"Is this what you call the 'river?'" Sarah asked, as they rattled over
+the pretty little stream.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19"></a>[<a href="images/19.png">19</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"We call it a 'rio' in Texas, and you'd better not insult us by
+calling it a creek, Se&ntilde;orita Blake," Blue Bonnet warned her.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't&mdash;'rio' is such a pretty name," said Sarah, making a mental
+note of it for future use.</p>
+
+<p>"There!" cried Blue Bonnet, "behold the 'casa' of the Blue Bonnet
+ranch!"</p>
+
+<p>What they saw was a long, low, rambling house, with wide, hospitable
+verandas embowered in half-tropical vines. It had evidently started
+out as a one-roomed, Spanish 'adobe,' and, as the needs of the family
+demanded it, an ell had been added here, a room there, like cells in a
+bee-hive, until now it covered a good deal of territory, still keeping
+its one-storied, Mission-like character.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Blue Bonnet&mdash;it's just what I wanted it to be," exclaimed Kitty.
+"It looks as if a fat, Spanish monk might come out of that door this
+very minute."</p>
+
+<p>"Instead of which there is my dear old Benita, and Pancho and his wife
+and the children and&mdash;oh, everybody!" Blue Bonnet was bouncing up and
+down now with excitement.</p>
+
+<p>Alec and the other two riders came up in a cloud of dust just as
+Miguel raced the mustangs up to the veranda steps, where all the ranch
+hands were gathered to greet the young Se&ntilde;orita.</p>
+
+<p>"Se&ntilde;orita mia!" cried Benita, and Blue Bonnet<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20"></a>[<a href="images/20.png">20</a>]</span> leaped from the wheel
+straight into her old nurse's arms.</p>
+
+<p>"And this is Grandmother, Benita," said Blue Bonnet, helping Mrs.
+Clyde from her place.</p>
+
+<p>"The little Se&ntilde;ora's mother&mdash;God bless you!" cried Benita in Spanish.
+Then, in spite of her stiff joints, she made a deep, old-fashioned
+curtsy.</p>
+
+<p>Tears sprang to the eyes of the Eastern woman. "Thank you, Benita,"
+she said. "My daughter always wrote lovingly of you."</p>
+
+<p>"Blessed Se&ntilde;ora!" breathed Benita fervently.</p>
+
+<p>"This is my grandmother, everybody," said Blue Bonnet, presenting Mrs.
+Clyde to the entire circle, "and these are my friends&mdash;'amigos' from
+Massachusetts."</p>
+
+<p>"Pleased to know ye!" said Pinto Pete and Shady, the only American
+cowboys on the ranch; while the Mexicans, as one voice, gave a hearty
+chorus of greeting.</p>
+
+<p>The six "amigos" from Massachusetts were thrilled to the core,
+although at the same time a trifle embarrassed as to the correct way
+of responding to this vociferous welcome. Blue Bonnet set them all an
+example: she had a smile and a word for every man, woman and child,
+and finally sent them all off with a&mdash;"Come back when my trunks
+arrive!" And the hint brought a fresh gleam to already beaming faces.</p>
+
+<p>Later, after a bountiful supper, they all gathered<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21"></a>[<a href="images/21.png">21</a>]</span> once more on the
+broad veranda while Blue Bonnet distributed her gifts. That those days
+in New York had been profitably spent was fully attested now when the
+contents of the many trunks were displayed. There were ribbons, scarfs
+and gay beads for the women, toys and sweets for the children, and
+wonderful pocket-knives, pipes and tobacco pouches for the men.</p>
+
+<p>The Blue Bonnet ranch had been part of an original Spanish land-grant
+in the days when Texas was still part of Mexico, and had descended
+from father to son until it came into the hands of Blue Bonnet's
+grandfather. Many of the Mexican ranch-hands had been born on the
+place and looked on the Ashe family as their natural guardians and
+protectors. As yet they had not acquired a Yankee sense of
+independence, nor had they lost the soft Southern courtesy inherent in
+their race. They came up one at a time to Blue Bonnet as she stood at
+the top of the steps, her gifts in a great heap beside her; and each
+one, as he received his gift from her hand, called down a blessing on
+the head of the young Se&ntilde;orita. Then, laughing, chatting, and
+comparing gifts like a crowd of children, they trooped away, the
+single men to the "bunk-house" by the big corral, the married couples
+and their children to little cabins scattered over the place.</p>
+
+<p>"It's just like some old Spanish tale," declared Alec. "Blue Bonnet is
+a princess just returned to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22"></a>[<a href="images/22.png">22</a>]</span> her castle, and all the serfs are come to
+pay her homage."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose Don Quixote will be off soon, hunting wind-mills?"
+suggested Kitty, with a mocking glance at Alec, whose new gun was the
+pride of his heart.</p>
+
+<p>Alec deigned no reply.</p>
+
+<p>"Look!" said Mrs. Clyde, softly, "&mdash;there goes the sun."</p>
+
+<p>They followed her glance across the prairie that stretched away, green
+and softly undulating, in front of the veranda, and watched the red
+disk as it sank in a blaze of glory at the edge of the plain.</p>
+
+<p>"Now you know," said Blue Bonnet, "why I felt like pushing back the
+houses in Woodford&mdash;at first they just suffocated me."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde smiled with new understanding. "You probably agree with our
+Massachusetts writer who complained that people in cities live too
+close together and not near enough," she said, patting Blue Bonnet's
+head as the girl, sitting on the step below her, leaned against her
+knee.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you ever get lonesome here?" asked Debby, snuggling up to
+Amanda. She had been brought up among houses.</p>
+
+<p>"Lonesome?" echoed Blue Bonnet. "I never knew what lonesome
+meant&mdash;till my first day in school!"</p>
+
+<p>All too soon came bedtime.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23"></a>[<a href="images/23.png">23</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Where are we all to sleep?" Blue Bonnet asked Benita. It was like
+Blue Bonnet not to give the matter a thought until beds were actually
+in demand.</p>
+
+<p>Benita led the way proudly. "The Se&ntilde;ora will have the little Se&ntilde;ora's
+room," she said, throwing open the door of that long unused chamber.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde entered it with softened eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Se&ntilde;orita's own room is ready for her, and here is place for the
+others." Benita proceeded to the very end of a long ell to a huge airy
+room, seemingly all windows. It was Blue Bonnet's old nursery, and,
+next to the living-room, the largest room in the house. Four single
+beds, one in each corner, showed how Benita had solved the sleeping
+problem.</p>
+
+<p>The girls gave a shout of delight; visions of bedtime frolics and long
+talks after lights were out, sent them dancing about the place.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you what," announced Blue Bonnet, "&mdash;if you imagine I am going
+off by myself when there's a sleeping-party like this going on, you're
+mistaken. I say&mdash;" here she turned on Sarah, "&mdash;you've always wanted a
+bed-room all to yourself; you told me so, one day. Well, here's your
+chance&mdash;you're welcome to every inch of mine!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah, quite willing to confine her "parties" to daylight hours,
+accepted the proposition eagerly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24"></a>[<a href="images/24.png">24</a>]</span> Maybe then she could get a peek at
+those Spanish books.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure you're willing to give it up?" she asked quite honestly.</p>
+
+<p>And Blue Bonnet with an incredulous stare returned: "Are you quite
+willing to give <i>this</i> up?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perfectly!" exclaimed Sarah with such promptness that Blue Bonnet
+dismissed her lurking suspicion that Sarah was just "being polite" and
+accepted the exchange.</p>
+
+<p>It was a happy Sarah who tucked herself away in a little bed all to
+herself, in a dainty room destined to be her very own for two long
+months. Four times happy was the quartet who shared the nursery. It
+was a long time before they subsided. There were so many things to be
+observed and discussed in that delightful place. Uncle Joe Terry had
+had a hand in its arrangement, and now that worthy man would have felt
+well repaid if he could have heard the gales of merriment over his
+masterpieces of interior decoration.</p>
+
+<p>In her childhood Blue Bonnet had been blessed&mdash;or afflicted&mdash;with more
+dolls than ever fell to the lot of child before. Now the
+long-discarded nursery-folk formed a frieze around the entire room,
+the poor darlings being, like Blue-beard's wives, suspended by their
+hair. Every nationality and every degree of mutilation was there
+represented,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25"></a>[<a href="images/25.png">25</a>]</span> and the effect was funny beyond description. On the
+broad mantel-shelf over the stone fireplace reposed drums,
+merry-go-rounds, trumpets and toy horses; while on the hearth was a
+tiny kitchen range bearing a complete assortment of pots and pans of a
+most diminutive size. In every available nook of the room stood
+doll-carriages, rocking-horses, go-carts and fire-engines, each
+showing the scars of Blue Bonnet's stormy childhood.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish," cried Kitty, "that we weren't any of us a day over seven!"</p>
+
+<p>While the girls were still making merry over her childhood treasures
+Blue Bonnet slipped away. She had not had a word alone with Uncle
+Cliff for days, and had exchanged only a hurried greeting with Uncle
+Joe at the station. And there were such heaps of things to talk over!</p>
+
+<p>She found them both on the veranda, enjoying the evening breeze that
+came laden with sweet scents from off the prairie. Blue Bonnet clapped
+her hands over Uncle Joe's eyes in her old madcap fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Blue Bon&mdash;er&mdash;Elizabeth, I mean," he guessed promptly.</p>
+
+<p>"Wrong!" cried Blue Bonnet sternly. "Elizabeth Ashe was left behind in
+Massachusetts, and only Blue Bonnet has come back to the ranch."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank goodness for that!" breathed Uncle Joe devoutly. "Elizabeth
+came mighty hard. It didn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26"></a>[<a href="images/26.png">26</a>]</span> fit, somehow. I reckon you're glad to get
+<i>home</i>, Blue Bonnet?"</p>
+
+<p>"Glad? Why, there isn't a word in the whole English dictionary that
+means just what I feel, Uncle Joe," replied Blue Bonnet, perching on
+the arm of his chair. "I love every inch of the state of Texas."</p>
+
+<p>The two men exchanged a significant glance that was not lost on Blue
+Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know what you are thinking of, Uncle Cliff. You remember the
+day when I said I hated the West and all it stood for. I meant that
+too&mdash;then. But I feel different now. It isn't that I'm sorry I went
+away; I just had to go, feeling as I did. I reckon I'll always be that
+way&mdash;I have to find things out for myself."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Joe smiled humorously. "Reckon we're most of us built that way,
+eh, Cliff?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Ashe gave a rueful nod. "Yes, what the other fellow has been
+through doesn't count for much. We all have to blister our fingers
+before we'll believe that fire really burns."</p>
+
+<p>They were all silent for a moment.</p>
+
+<p>"Has any one seen Solomon?" asked Blue Bonnet suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>"I think Don is showing him over the ranch," replied Uncle Joe. "I saw
+them both headed for the stables a while ago."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad they're going to get on well," said<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27"></a>[<a href="images/27.png">27</a>]</span> Blue Bonnet in a
+relieved tone. "I was afraid Don would be jealous." She gave a clear
+loud whistle, and a moment later the two animals came racing across
+the yard, tumbling over each other in their eagerness to be first up
+the steps. Blue Bonnet stooped and picked up the smaller dog, fondling
+him and saying foolish things. Don, the big collie, gave a low whine
+and looked up at her piteously.</p>
+
+<p>"Not jealous, did you say?" laughed Uncle Joe.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet patted the collie's head. "Good dog," she said soothingly.
+"You're too big to be carried, Don." Then she put down Solomon and
+bending put a hand under Don's muzzle; his soft eyes met hers
+affectionately. "I'm going to put Solomon in your charge&mdash;understand?
+You must warn him about snakes, Don,&mdash;and don't let the coyotes get
+him." A sharp bark from Don Blue Bonnet was satisfied to take for an
+affirmative answer, and with another pat sent him off for the night.</p>
+
+<p>"Has Alec some place to sleep?" inquired Blue Bonnet, her hospitable
+instincts suddenly and rather tardily aroused.</p>
+
+<p>"Benita has put him in the ell by me. He's there now, unpacking
+to-night so that he won't have to waste any time to-morrow. I never
+saw a boy so keen about ranch-life as he is. He seems to look on
+himself as a sort of pioneer in a new country," Uncle Joe chuckled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28"></a>[<a href="images/28.png">28</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"It's all new to him," rejoined Blue Bonnet. "This is his first
+glimpse of the West. I hope he gets strong and well out here&mdash;General
+Trent worries so about him."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be the making of him," Uncle Cliff assured her. "He'll go
+back to Massachusetts as husky as Pinto Pete, if he'll just learn to
+live outdoors, and leave books alone for a while."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to hide every book he has brought with him," declared Blue
+Bonnet. "And Sarah Blake will need looking after&mdash;she has the book
+habit, too."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Joe shook his head. "It seems to be a germ disease they have
+back there in Massachusetts. Glad you didn't catch it, Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm immune!" laughed she, as she said good-night and went to seek
+Benita.</p>
+
+<p>She found her old nurse in the kitchen, resting after an arduous day.
+Gertrudis, the famous cook "loaned" for the summer by a neighboring
+ranch, was mixing something mysterious in a wooden bowl, while her
+granddaughter Juanita, a nut-brown beauty, pirouetted about the room,
+showing off her new rosettes in a Spanish dance.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "That's a pretty step, Juanita,&mdash;will
+you teach it to me some day?"</p>
+
+<p>"Si, Se&ntilde;orita," she assented eagerly, showing all her white teeth in a
+delighted smile. "It is the <i>cachucha</i>."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29"></a>[<a href="images/29.png">29</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"The girls will all want to learn it," Blue Bonnet assured her. She
+draw Benita into the dining-room and then gave her a hearty squeeze.
+"Everything's just lovely, you old dear," she cried. "The girls are
+crazy about the nursery, and they think you are the dearest ever!"</p>
+
+<p>Benita's wrinkled face beamed. "If the Se&ntilde;orita is pleased, old Benita
+is happy," she said deprecatingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Benita, I missed you dreadfully, off there in Woodford. I had to make
+my own bed and do my own mending!"</p>
+
+<p>Benita gave an odd little sound of distress. "But Benita will do it
+now," she urged anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have to get around Grandmother then, Benita,&mdash;I can't."</p>
+
+<p>"The Se&ntilde;ora is kind&mdash;" Benita began.</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;but firm," added Blue Bonnet. "I leave her to you!"</p>
+
+<p>It was so late before the girls finally settled down into their
+respective corners, that it seemed only about five minutes before they
+were awakened at daybreak by the most terrific tumult that ever smote
+the ears of slumbering innocence.</p>
+
+<p>Bang, bang! Boom, crash, bang! Shouts, yells, wild Comanche-like cries
+rent the ear, and punctuated the incessant booming that shook even the
+thick adobe walls of the nursery.</p>
+
+<p>Four terrified faces were raised simultaneously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30"></a>[<a href="images/30.png">30</a>]</span> from four white beds,
+and four voices in chorus whispered: "What is it?" No one dared stir.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly the door was burst open and in sprang a white-robed figure,
+hair flying, eyes wide with terror. Straight to Blue Bonnet's bed the
+spectre flew and leaped into the middle of it with a plump that made
+its occupant gasp.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, girls, it's Indians!" wailed the newcomer; and then they saw that
+it was Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Indians?" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "There aren't any Indians around
+here. Get off my chest and I'll go see."</p>
+
+<p>Casting off the bed-clothes and the startled Sarah at the same time,
+with one spring Blue Bonnet was at the window. What she saw there was
+hardly reassuring; the whole space between the house and the stables
+seemed to be filled with a howling, whirling mass of men. In the gray
+half-light of early dawn she could recognize no one. Suddenly a fresh
+explosion set the windows rattling; there was a hiss and a glare of
+red. In the glow she caught a glimpse of Alec; he held a revolver and
+was shooting it with sickening rapidity, not stopping to take aim.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet staggered back faint with horror, and the girls gathered
+fearfully about her. Uncle Cliff's voice giving an order came to them
+from outside. Blue Bonnet leaned out and shrieked&mdash;"Uncle,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31"></a>[<a href="images/31.png">31</a>]</span>
+Uncle&mdash;what's the matter&mdash;oh, what is it?"</p>
+
+<p>Never had voice seemed so welcome as those calm, soothing tones, when
+Uncle Cliff replied: "Reckon you've forgotten what day it is, Honey."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet turned on the girls. "What&mdash;what day is it?"</p>
+
+<p>And the light from within was suddenly greater than that from without
+as they answered in a sheepish chorus:</p>
+
+<p>"The Fourth of July!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32"></a>[<a href="images/32.png">32</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER III</h2>
+
+<h3>THE GLORIOUS FOURTH</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">To</span> think that a crowd of New England girls, of all people, should
+forget the Fourth of July!" exclaimed Alec, when they met around the
+big breakfast table, later that morning.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked positively pained. "I never forgot it before in my whole
+life," she said plaintively. "But there have been so many new things
+to think of, and travelling, you know&mdash;" she ended lamely.</p>
+
+<p>"Are New England people supposed to be more patriotic than those of
+other states?" inquired Blue Bonnet, bristling a little in defence of
+Texas.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly!" cried Alec. "New England folks are fed on Plymouth Rock
+and the Declaration of Independence from the cradle to the grave.
+That's the diet of patriots."</p>
+
+<p>"H'm!" murmured Blue Bonnet scornfully. "I'll wager that Patriot Alec
+Trent would have forgotten Independence Day, too, if Uncle Cliff
+hadn't let him into the secret. Now I know, Uncle Cliff, what was in
+that box labelled 'dangerous.' Wasn't I a goose not to think of it?
+And Uncle Joe telegraphed so as to get us here in time. Grandmother,"
+here she turned a rueful countenance on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33"></a>[<a href="images/33.png">33</a>]</span> Mrs. Clyde, "going to school
+hasn't helped my head a bit, I'm just downright <i>dull</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff gave an amused laugh. "I'm glad to have caught you napping
+for once, young lady. Now, as soon as Gertrudis stops sending in
+corncake, I propose that we adjourn to the stables and look over the
+mounts. Pinto Pete says he has a nice little bunch of ponies."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do they call him 'Pinto?'" asked Debby. "I thought that meant a
+spotted horse."</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you noticed Pete's freckles?" asked Uncle Joe. "He has more
+and bigger ones than any other human in Texas, and the boys called him
+'Pinto Pete' the first minute they clapped eyes on him. He don't
+mind&mdash;it's the way of the West."</p>
+
+<p>"And is 'Shady' a nickname, too?" Debby asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;just short for good old-fashioned Shadrach. Shadrach Stringer's
+his name, and he's the best twister in the county."</p>
+
+<p>Debby had a third question on her lips but checked it as she met
+Kitty's saucy eye. Kitty, known as "Little Miss Why," was always on
+the alert to bequeath the name to a successor. But Sarah saw none of
+the by-play and asked at once:</p>
+
+<p>"What's a 'twister?'"</p>
+
+<p>"A bronco buster," replied Uncle Joe.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's look of mystification at this definition sent Alec off into a
+fit of laughter. Blue Bonnet came to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34"></a>[<a href="images/34.png">34</a>]</span> the rescue. "A twister breaks in
+the wild horses, Sarah. Some day we'll get him to give an exhibition.
+You'd never believe how he can stick on,&mdash;it'll frighten you the first
+time you see it. The way the horse rears and bucks and runs, why&mdash;"
+Blue Bonnet suddenly choked and turned pale. Mrs. Clyde and Uncle
+Cliff read her thoughts at the same moment and both rose hurriedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Come on, everybody," exclaimed Mr. Ashe in a resolutely cheerful
+tone, "we must make the most of the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" asked Kitty before she thought, and then bit her lip. That word
+"why" was such a pitfall.</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody has to take a siesta in the afternoon," explained Blue
+Bonnet. "It's too hot to move."</p>
+
+<p>"Every afternoon?" demanded Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"Every afternoon," repeated Uncle Cliff. "Anybody caught awake between
+one and four <span class="smcap">p. m.</span> will be severely dealt with. It's a law of the
+human constitution and the penalty is imprisonment in the hospital,
+headache, and loss of appetite."</p>
+
+<p>"What a waste of time," Sarah commented, privately resolving that she
+would not spend two or three precious hours every afternoon in sleep.
+One didn't come to Texas every summer.</p>
+
+<p>"I see mutiny in Sarah's eye," said Blue Bonnet. "Wait till you've had
+a sunstroke, Sarah, then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35"></a>[<a href="images/35.png">35</a>]</span> you'll wish you hadn't possessed such oceans
+of energy." She had put all unpleasant memories from her by now and
+was leading the way to the stables. Straight to Firefly's stall she
+went and threw her arms around her old playfellow's neck. In the few
+seconds before the others came in she had whispered into his velvet
+ear something that was both a confession and an apology, while Firefly
+nosed her softly and looked as pleased as a mere horse-countenance is
+capable of looking.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't he a beauty?" she challenged as the rest entered.</p>
+
+<p>"A stunner," Alec agreed warmly, coming up to admire. "Wouldn't
+Chula's nose be out of joint if she could see you petting Firefly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Victor has a rival too. Where's Alec's horse, Uncle Joe?"</p>
+
+<p>Pinto Pete came up just then, his freckles seeming to the girls to
+loom up larger and browner than ever now that they knew the origin of
+his nickname. "Shady says the roan's too skittish for any of the young
+ladies&mdash;" he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Strawberry?&mdash;oh, she's splendid! Alec, you'll think you're in a
+cradle."</p>
+
+<p>The pretty creature, just the color of her namesake, was brought out
+and put through her paces, and the exhibition proved to the
+satisfaction of all the young ladies that Shady's verdict was quite
+just. Strawberry pranced, bared her teeth at any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36"></a>[<a href="images/36.png">36</a>]</span> approach, and in
+general did her best to live up to her reputation for skittishness.
+The fighting blood in Alec made him resolve to change that adjective
+to "kittenish" before he had ridden her many times.</p>
+
+<p>The four ponies provided for the girls were next brought out for
+inspection, and met with unqualified approval from all but Sarah.
+These slender, restless little steeds seemed not at all related to the
+fat placid beasts to which she had heretofore trusted herself. Her
+face betokened her unspoken dismay.</p>
+
+<p>"Sallikins, I know the best mount for you," exclaimed Kitty
+innocently.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, do you?" cried Sarah hopefully.</p>
+
+<p>"Um-hum,&mdash;Blue Bonnet's old rocking-horse in the nursery!" laughed
+Kitty; whereupon Pinto Pete let out a loud guffaw, changing it at once
+into an ostentatious fit of coughing when he saw that Sarah was
+inclined to resent Kitty's insult.</p>
+
+<p>Her mild blue eyes almost flashed as she returned: "You can pick out
+any one of those four horses you choose for me, Kitty Clark, and I'll
+show you if I'm afraid to ride!"</p>
+
+<p>This outburst from Sarah the placid rather startled the We are Sevens.
+But Kitty, after a surprised stare at the ruffled one, picked up the
+gauntlet. She appraised the <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'horse'">horses</ins> with a calculating glance, then
+picked out a chestnut who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37"></a>[<a href="images/37.png">37</a>]</span> showed the whites of his eyes in a most
+terrifying manner.</p>
+
+<p>"How does that one suit you, Se&ntilde;orita Blake?" she asked tauntingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well," returned Sarah with a toss of her flaxen braids. This was
+sheer bravado, but it passed muster. No one dreamed of the shivers of
+abject fear that were chasing up and down the girl's spine at sight of
+the fiery little chestnut with the awful eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, that's Comanche!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He has a heavenly
+gait."</p>
+
+<p>"Comanche!" Alec echoed, and then withdrew hastily to a convenient
+stall. The thought of the plump, blond Sarah mounted on a steed
+bearing such a wild Indian name was too much for him. He emerged a
+moment later very red in the face and unable to meet Blue Bonnet's
+eye. Their sense of humor was curiously akin, and Blue Bonnet knew,
+without being told, what mental picture filled Alec's mind.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not have a ride this morning,&mdash;there's plenty of time before
+noon," suggested Uncle Joe. "Here, Lupe, bring out the saddles," he
+called.</p>
+
+<p>Guadalupe, the "wrangler," appeared from an inner room, looking like a
+chief of the Navajo tribe, so burdened was he with the bright-hued
+Indian saddle-blankets. The girls watched him with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38"></a>[<a href="images/38.png">38</a>]</span> eager eyes, but
+when he was followed by several boys bearing huge cowboy saddles,
+there was a little murmur of dismay from the group.</p>
+
+<p>"Men's saddles for us!" exclaimed Debby in a shocked undertone.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet laughed outright. "Didn't you hear Grandmother say: 'When
+you're in Texas do as the Texans do?' Well, turn and turn about is
+fair play. Didn't I ride a side-saddle as proper as pie in Woodford?
+Now it's your turn."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah gave an approving look at the high pommels of the saddles, and
+at the strong hair-bridle that was being fitted over Comanche's wicked
+little head.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet gave the same bridle a look that was far from approving.
+"Lupe, isn't that a Spanish bit you're using?"</p>
+
+<p>"Si, Se&ntilde;orita," said Guadalupe guiltily.</p>
+
+<p>"Then take it right off!" commanded Blue Bonnet in her old imperious
+way. "They're cruel wicked things that cut a horse's mouth to pieces,
+and I won't have them used," she explained to the girls. "Lupe knows I
+hate them." She turned accusingly on the boy.</p>
+
+<p>Lupe looked at her appealingly. "It is the safer for the Se&ntilde;oritas,"
+he urged.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was inexorable. "We're not going to do any lassoing or
+branding, Lupe, and can manage very well without them. We'll have to
+organize<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39"></a>[<a href="images/39.png">39</a>]</span> a humane society, girls, and reform these cruel cowmen," she
+suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Lupe discarded the offending bits and substituted others more to the
+Se&ntilde;orita's liking, and then the girls went in to dress for the ride.</p>
+
+<p>"How can we ride across the saddle in these skirts?" demanded Debby.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet and Uncle Cliff exchanged a significant glance, the reason
+for which was explained a moment later when the girls entered the
+nursery. There on the beds lay five complete riding suits: divided
+skirts of khaki, "middy" blouses of a cooler material, and soft Panama
+hats, each wound with a blue scarf and finished with a smart bow.</p>
+
+<p>"How darling of you!" cried the girls, falling on Blue Bonnet
+rapturously.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all Uncle Cliff," exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He saw some suits like
+these in a shop window while we were in New York and went in and
+ordered seven! But Susy and Ruth won't have a chance to wear theirs,"
+she ended regretfully.</p>
+
+<p>The girls, too excited to spend time mourning the absent ones, were
+already getting into the fascinating suits. These were all of a size,
+close lines not being demanded of a middy blouse, and all were
+pronounced perfect except Sarah's, which, as Kitty remarked, "fitted
+too soon." Gauntlet gloves and natty riding whips completed the
+equipment of the riders, and when they went out ready to mount<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40"></a>[<a href="images/40.png">40</a>]</span> they
+were as neat a crowd of equestriennes as ever graced Central Park.</p>
+
+<p>Notwithstanding that they were all dressed alike, each girl's
+particular type stood out quite clearly. Kitty had more "style" than
+the other Woodford girls, and a carriage that had more of conscious
+vanity in it; her "middy" set more trimly and the little hat was set
+on her ruddy locks at a little more daring angle than that of the
+others. Amanda and Debby appeared the same unremarkable sort of
+schoolgirls that they always were. The costume was not designed for
+maidens of Sarah's build, and it looked quite as uncomfortable on her
+as she felt in it. Blue Bonnet appeared as she always did in this sort
+of attire: as though it had grown on her.</p>
+
+<p>"Whew!" exclaimed Alec, "such elegance!"</p>
+
+<p>"Strikes me you're not so slow yourself," returned Kitty. "Isn't he
+'got up regardless,' girls?"</p>
+
+<p>Alec was dressed for his part with elaborate attention to details. Mr.
+Ashe had been anxiously consulted, for the Eastern boy had no desire
+to be dubbed a tenderfoot; and now, except for its spotless newness,
+his costume was quite "Western and ranchified"&mdash;according to Blue
+Bonnet.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 274px;">
+<img src="images/gs051.jpg" width="274" height="400" alt="&quot;COMANCHE . . . LEAPED FORWARD LIKE A CAT.&quot;" title="&quot;COMANCHE . . . LEAPED FORWARD LIKE A CAT.&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;COMANCHE . . . LEAPED FORWARD LIKE A CAT.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>He was in khaki, too, with trousers that tucked into high
+"puttees"&mdash;thick pigskin leggings which gave his long limbs quite a
+substantial appearance<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41"></a>[<a href="images/41.png">41</a>]</span> and himself no end of comfort. A soft shirt
+and a carelessly knotted bandana gave the finishing touches to his
+attire. He had even turned in the neck of his shirt so as to be quite
+one of the cowmen, secretly hoping that the girls would not notice how
+white his throat was.</p>
+
+<p>It was a gay cavalcade that cantered out of the big corral, the five
+girls leading; Alec, Pinto Pete, and Uncle Joe forming a rear guard,
+with Don and Solomon capering at their heels; while a crowd of little
+"greasers" clung on to the bars, their eyes big with the wonder of it
+all.</p>
+
+<p>"Lucky we're not on the streets of Woodford," remarked Alec, looking
+with amused eyes over the well mounted company.</p>
+
+<p>"Why?" asked Blue Bonnet a trifle resentfully. "Aren't we grand enough
+for the East?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure! But I'm afraid we'd be arrested for running a circus without a
+license!"</p>
+
+<p>This piece of wit so tickled Pinto Pete that he nearly stampeded the
+bunch by bursting again into his ear-splitting laugh. Sarah grabbed
+the handy pommel with a nervous clutch that was eloquent of her state
+of mind. And that action was all that saved her. For Comanche, taking
+Pete's guffaw for a command, leaped forward like a cat, and a moment
+later the whole crowd was galloping madly across the level meadow.</p>
+
+<p>It is probable that if Sarah's hair had not already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42"></a>[<a href="images/42.png">42</a>]</span> been as light as
+hair can well be, that wild ride would have turned it several shades
+lighter. The terrors that were compressed into those two hours are
+beyond description, while the bobbing, bumping and shaking of her poor
+plump body left reminders that only time and witch hazel were able to
+eradicate.</p>
+
+<p>When they returned at noon Gertrudis had a wonderful dinner awaiting
+them, and the riders, with their appetites freshened by the air and
+exercise, fell upon it like a pack of famished wolves. All except
+Sarah. Protesting that she was not in the least hungry, she went at
+once to her room. On the little stand by her bed lay the Spanish
+grammar and dictionary, mute evidences of the way she had intended to
+spend the siesta hour. She gave them not so much as a glance, but
+stepping out of her clothes left them in a heap where they fell,&mdash;an
+action indicating a state of demoralization hardly to be believed of
+the parson's daughter,&mdash;and flung herself into bed with a groan.</p>
+
+<p>Two hours later she was awakened by the other four girls who had
+turned inquisitors, and while two were stripping off the bedclothes
+the other two applied a feather to the soles of her feet.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh&mdash;is it morning?" gasped Sarah, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
+"It doesn't seem as if I had been asleep a minute."</p>
+
+<p>"Such a waste of time!" quoted Kitty mockingly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43"></a>[<a href="images/43.png">43</a>]</span> "There's such a
+thing, Sarah, as overdoing the siesta," she taunted.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah drew up her feet and sat on them, smothering the groan that
+arose to her lips at the action. Every bone and joint had a new and
+awful kind of ache, and in that minute Sarah wished she had never
+heard of the Blue Bonnet ranch. Just then came the welcome clatter of
+dishes and at the doorway appeared Benita bearing a tray of good
+things, while back of her was Grandmother Clyde.</p>
+
+<p>"Now off with you,&mdash;you tormentors," the Se&ntilde;ora commanded gaily. "This
+poor child must be nearly famished."</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother's pet!" sang Blue Bonnet over her shoulder, as obeying
+orders, the four girls left the suffering Sarah in peace.</p>
+
+<p>Existence assumed a brighter hue to Sarah when she had eaten the
+generous repast Benita set before her; and when she had bathed and
+rubbed herself with the Pond's Extract Mrs. Clyde had secretly
+provided her with, life seemed once more worth living. But she was
+very quiet and moved with great circumspection for the rest of the
+day, quite content to leave to the others the handling of the
+fireworks in the evening.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff's "dangerous" box yielded still more wonders. The noisy
+bombs and giant crackers of the morning were followed by pyrotechnics
+that aroused unbounded admiration from the grown-ups<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44"></a>[<a href="images/44.png">44</a>]</span> and caused an
+excitement among the small greasers that threatened to end in a human
+conflagration. A small fortune went up in gigantic pin-wheels;
+flower-pots that sent up amazing blossoms in all the hues of the
+rainbow; rockets that burst in mid-air and let fall a shower of
+coiling snakes, which, in their turn, exploded into a myriad stars;
+Roman candles that sometimes went off at the wrong end and caused a
+wild scattering of the audience in their immediate vicinity; and
+"set-pieces" that were the epitome of this school of art.</p>
+
+<p>It would have been hard to say which was most tired, the hostess or
+her guests, when the last spark faded from the big "Lone Star" of
+Texas which ended the show. No bedtime frolic to-night; the four in
+the nursery undressed in a dead quiet and fell asleep before their
+heads fairly touched the pillows. In her own little room Sarah held
+another seance with the witch hazel bottle, and went to sleep only to
+dream of a wild ride across the meadows on Blue Bonnet's
+rocking-horse, with a fierce band of Comanche Indians pursuing her,
+yelling fiendishly all the while, and keeping up a mad fusillade of
+Roman candles.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45"></a>[<a href="images/45.png">45</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2>
+
+<h3>THE ROUND ROBIN</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">What's</span> the program for this morning?" asked Uncle Cliff, as the ranch
+party assembled on the veranda after a very late breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what the others are going to do," said Sarah, "but I'm
+going to write letters."</p>
+
+<p>The other girls exchanged amused glances: it was evident that Sarah
+wished to forestall suggestions of another ride. Kitty was beginning
+to show symptoms of sauciness when Mrs. Clyde interrupted kindly
+with&mdash;"I think Sarah's suggestion quite in order. Every one at home
+will be looking for letters."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Cliff telegraphed," said Blue Bonnet, loath to settle down to
+so prosaic a pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>"But a telegram isn't very satisfying to mothers and fathers, dear,"
+replied her grandmother. "And think of poor Susy and Ruth."</p>
+
+<p>"I intend to write them, too," remarked Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's all write them!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the right spirit," said Se&ntilde;ora with an approving nod. "A
+'round-robin' letter will cheer the poor girls wonderfully."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46"></a>[<a href="images/46.png">46</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"You hear the motion, are all in favor?" asked Alec.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you write a 'robin,' too?" bargained Kitty, who loved to torment
+the youth.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure!" he agreed at once, thus taking the wind out of her sails.</p>
+
+<p>"Aye, aye, then!" they all exclaimed, and the motion was declared
+carried.</p>
+
+<p>There was a scattering for paper and ink, after which every one
+settled down for an hour's scribbling, some using the broad rail of
+the veranda as a table, others repairing to desks in the house. Blue
+Bonnet doubled up jack-knife fashion on one of the front steps, using
+her knees for a pad; while Sarah, complaining that she could not think
+with so many people about her, took herself off to the window-seat in
+the nursery.</p>
+
+<p>"The idea of wanting to think!" exclaimed Kitty. "I never stop to
+think when I write letters."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't need to tell that to any one who has ever heard from you,"
+remarked Blue Bonnet. "The one letter I had from you in New York took
+me an hour to puzzle out,&mdash;it began in the middle and ended at the top
+of the first page, and there were six 'ands' and four 'ifs' in one
+sentence."</p>
+
+<p>"That's quite an accomplishment&mdash;I'll wager you couldn't get in half
+so many," retorted Kitty. And then for a while there was silence,
+broken only by the scratching of pens and the query from Blue<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47"></a>[<a href="images/47.png">47</a>]</span> Bonnet
+as to whether there were two s's or two p's in "disappoint."</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot">
+<div class="right">
+<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">To Susy and Ruth Doyle, Woodford,</span></span><br />
+<span style="margin-right: 6em;"><span class="smcap">Massachusetts.</span></span><br />
+"<span class="smcap">The Blue Bonnet Ranch</span>,<br />
+<span style="margin-right: 4em;">"July the fifth.</span><br /></div>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">You Poor Dears</span>: You'll never know if you live to be a
+thousand years old what a fearful disappointment it
+was when Doctor Clark told me the awful news. Where
+did you get it? Is it very bad? And do you have to
+gargle peroxide of hydrogen? Amanda says she just
+lived on it when her throat was bad. Are you honestly
+as red as lobsters? It's a perfect shame you should
+have to be sick&mdash;and in vacation, too. There might be
+some advantages if it should happen&mdash;say at
+examination time. Grandmother says it is very unusual
+to have scarlet fever in warm weather,&mdash;it just seems
+as if you must have gone out of your way to get it&mdash;or
+it went out of its way to get you.</p>
+
+<p>"The ranch party isn't a bit complete without you. I'm
+going to take pictures of everything and everybody so
+as to show you when we get back. That sounds as if I
+meant to go back again next fall, when really it isn't
+decided yet. I'm more in love with the ranch than ever
+and feel as if I never wanted to leave it again. It's
+so fine and big out here. There's so much air to
+breathe and such a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48"></a>[<a href="images/48.png">48</a>]</span> long way to look, and you can
+throw a stone as far as you like without 'breaking a
+window or a tradition'&mdash;as Alec says. We have our
+traditions, too, but they can stand any amount of
+stone-throwing&mdash;in fact that's part of them.</p>
+
+<p>"It's worth crossing the continent to see Sarah on
+horseback, riding across the saddle in a wild Western
+way that would shock her reverend father out of a
+whole paragraph. Kitty dared her and I must say she
+showed pluck&mdash;Comanche can go <i>some</i> when he gets
+started, and Sarah stayed with him to the finish. But
+you can imagine why she wanted to write letters to-day
+instead of riding again. You can thank her for the
+round robin. There, I've reached the bottom of the
+page before I've begun to tell you anything. But the
+others will make up for it, I reckon. No more now&mdash;I
+must save strength for a letter to Aunt Lucinda. Do
+hurry and get well and out of quarantine so that you
+can write to</p>
+
+<div class='right'>
+<span style="margin-right: 6em;">"Your devoted</span><br />
+<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">Blue Bonnet</span>."</span></div><br />
+
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Susy and Ruth</span>: We arrived on Monday evening
+after a very pleasant journey. The name of the station
+where you get off is Jonah&mdash;isn't that odd? We had to
+drive twenty miles in a very queer kind of vehicle in
+order to reach Blue Bonnet's home, and this letter
+will have to go back<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49"></a>[<a href="images/49.png">49</a>]</span> over the same road in order to
+be posted. I think I had better go back to the
+beginning and tell you all about our trip from the
+time we left Woodford.</p>
+
+<p>"The private car we came in is called The Wanderer and
+it is really a pity you could not have shared it with
+us. It is much grander than Mrs. Clyde's drawing-room
+at home,&mdash;the mahogany shone till you could see your
+face in it, and wherever there was not mahogany there
+was a mirror, and Slivers, the porter, dusted
+everything about twenty times a day. If you could see
+Slivers I should not have to explain why he is called
+by that name. I am sure he is the tallest and slimmest
+man I have ever seen. And that is odd, too, for you
+always think of them as plump and fat. He is a negro,
+you know, and doesn't seem to mind it a bit, but is as
+jolly as if he were white and as fat as you think he
+ought to be, and sang and played his banjo in the
+evenings quite like a civilized person. He waited on
+table, too, while the chief&mdash;the cook, you
+know&mdash;prepared our meals in the most cunning little
+kitchen you can imagine.</p>
+
+<p>"It was a very interesting trip. Sometimes we would
+begin our breakfast in one state and before we had
+finished we would be in another, and yet there would
+seem to be no difference. I think travelling is a very
+interesting way to learn Geography, for you forget to
+think of Kansas as yellow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50"></a>[<a href="images/50.png">50</a>]</span> and Oklahoma as purple, and
+think of them as <i>real</i> places with trees and farms
+and other things like Massachusetts. I knew already
+that Texas is as big as all the New England states put
+together, but I never really <i>grasped</i> it before. I am
+learning new things every day, some Spanish, though
+not as much as I could wish. Yesterday I learned to
+ride astride. That is, nearly learned. I don't feel
+entirely at home that way yet and it has tired me
+considerably, but I dare say it will come easier after
+a while. My horse is named Comanche, and he looks just
+that way. There is more white to his eyes than
+anything else.</p>
+
+<p>"Benita is Blue Bonnet's old nurse. She does the most
+exquisite drawn-work and is going to teach me (it
+would be as well for you not to mention this when you
+write) the spider-web stitch and the Maltese cross, so
+that I can do a waist for Blue Bonnet. She is doing so
+much for us all that I want to make some return for
+her hospitality. Blue Bonnet, I mean, not Benita.</p>
+
+<p>"I do hope you will soon be better. I felt so mean at
+leaving without even saying good-bye. But I had to
+think of all my brothers and sisters and the girls&mdash;I
+couldn't expose them to the fever, you know. I hope
+you liked the postals we sent. Amanda and I came very
+near being left once when we couldn't find the
+post-box at Kansas City,&mdash;we had to run a block, while
+Alec and Kitty stood<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51"></a>[<a href="images/51.png">51</a>]</span> on the back platform and laid
+bets on the winner. (Amanda won.)</p>
+
+<p>"We are all well and hope you are the same,&mdash;I mean I
+hope you are better and will soon be well.</p>
+
+<div class='right'>
+<span style="margin-right: 6em;">"With best love,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">Sarah Jane Blake.</span>"</span><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"Oh, girls, I am simply speechless and can't find a
+word to say when I try to describe our grand trip and
+this perfect peach of a place, and the glorious time
+we have had and are having ever since we left pokey
+old Woodford and arrived at the Blue Bonnet ranch. I
+keep pinching myself to see if I'm really me, but it
+isn't at all convincing, and I suppose I'll simply go
+on treading air and not believe in the reality of a
+thing till I come to earth in time to hear the Jolly
+Good say&mdash;'Miss Kitty, you may take problem number
+ninety-four'&mdash;and wake up to the monotonous old grind
+again&mdash;oh, if you could only see this darling old
+house and the picturesque Mexicans&mdash;rather dirty some
+of them (I suppose that's why they are called
+greasers) and the perfectly dear way they adore Blue
+Bonnet and their deference to her 'amigos'&mdash;I tell you
+I feel like a princess when they call me 'Se&ntilde;orita'
+with a musical accent that makes you downright sick
+with envy. Why anybody on earth ever left the West to
+go and settle up the East I don't see,&mdash;you may think
+I mean that the other way about but I don't, for
+anybody<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52"></a>[<a href="images/52.png">52</a>]</span> can see at half a glance that this country is
+as old as Methusalem&mdash;the live-oaks look as if they'd
+been here forever and ever and would stay as much
+longer&mdash;they're all 'hoary with moss' and all that
+sort of thing like that poem of Tennyson's&mdash;or maybe
+it is Longfellow's&mdash;it doesn't matter which in
+vacation, thank goodness. I don't like to seem to be
+rubbing it in about our good times, for it's just too
+hateful that you can't be here, too, and ride like mad
+for miles without coming to a fence and wear the
+adorable riding-suits Mr. Ashe got for us in New
+York&mdash;all seven alike and as becoming as anything&mdash;and
+have the best things to eat, wear, do, and see every
+minute of the day.</p>
+
+<p>"This won't go into the envelope with the rest if I
+run on any longer so I'll close,&mdash;with a fat hard hug
+and lots of love to you both,</p>
+
+<div class='right'>
+<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">Kitty.</span>"</span><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Girls</span>: Don't you ever go and get conditioned at
+school; take my solemn warning. That awful thing
+hanging over me is going to do its best to spoil my
+grand summer in Texas. I intended to do a lot of
+studying as soon as we arrived here, so that I might
+have a few weeks perfectly free from worry; but
+goodness me, how can anybody open a book when there's
+something going on every blessed minute of the day?
+It's a pity it wasn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53"></a>[<a href="images/53.png">53</a>]</span> Sarah who was conditioned. She
+actually likes to study and if it came to a choice
+between a horseback ride and doing ten pages of
+grammar, she'd jump at the grammar. Sometimes I think
+Sarah isn't made like other girls. Not quite normal,
+you know.</p>
+
+<p>"Now that I've seen Blue Bonnet at home, I realize
+what a hard time she must have had in Woodford, at
+first especially. She's treated like a perfect <i>queen</i>
+here, and doesn't have to mind a soul except
+Se&ntilde;ora&mdash;that's what we call Mrs. Clyde. Fancy having
+run the ranch all your life and then at fifteen having
+to start in and obey Miss Clyde, and Mr. Hunt, and the
+rest of those mighty ones! I think she's a brick to
+have done it at all, and I take back every criticism I
+ever made of her. She must be terribly rich, but
+doesn't put on any airs at all.</p>
+
+<p>"How is little old Woodford getting along without us?
+I'm almost ashamed to write Mother and Father, for I
+can't say I'm homesick and parents always expect you
+to be. Debby wants to finish my page, so no more now
+from</p>
+
+<div class='right'>
+<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"Your loving <span class="smcap">Amanda</span>."</span><br />
+</div>
+
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Susy and Ruth</span>: There's only room for me to say
+hello, and how are you? I wish I were a grand
+descriptive genius like Robert Louis Stevenson so that
+I could describe this wonderful Texas. But description
+isn't my strong point&mdash;you know<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54"></a>[<a href="images/54.png">54</a>]</span> how I just scraped
+through Eng. Comp. so I'll not try any flights.</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't half as <i>wild</i> as we used to imagine it. The
+cowboys don't go shooting up towns and hanging
+horse-thieves to all the trees the way they do in most
+of the Western stories. Even the cattle are tame, but
+Blue Bonnet says that is because they are fenced
+nowadays, and most of them de-horned. All the cowboys
+except two are Mexicans, and they are so picturesque
+and&mdash;different. Mr. Ashe says Texas is filling up with
+negroes but he won't have any on the ranch,&mdash;he sticks
+to the Mexicans, and I'm mighty glad, for they seem
+just to suit the atmosphere. Juanita, who waits on the
+table, is a beauty, with the most coquettish airs.
+Miguel is in love with her, and we all hope she won't
+keep him waiting too long, for if they are really
+going to be married, we want a grand wedding while we
+are here. Wouldn't that be thrilling?</p>
+
+<p>"I've just room to sign my name,</p>
+
+<div class='right'>
+<span style="margin-right: 4em;">"Yours, with love,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">Debby</span>."</span><br />
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">To the absent two-sevenths of the
+'We-are-Its'</span>&mdash;Greeting! Please don't imagine that I
+forced my way into this Round Robin affair. My
+masculine chirography probably looks out of place in
+this epistolary triumph&mdash;ahem!&mdash;but you can thank
+Kitty Clark for it. I don't know whether or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55"></a>[<a href="images/55.png">55</a>]</span> not this
+is intended as a letter of condolence, but it surely
+ought to be,&mdash;anybody who has to miss this
+summer-session on the Blue Bonnet ranch deserves
+flowers and slow music.</p>
+
+<p>"This letter will be postmarked 'Jonah'&mdash;but don't be
+alarmed; they say it's a harmless one. I'm going to
+ride over with the mail. Just a little matter of
+twenty miles, a trifle out here! Kitty says she
+doesn't see how we can expect any letters to reach a
+place with such a name, but I've faith in the
+collection of relatives left behind in Woodford.</p>
+
+<p>"Now I advise you both, the next time you go into the
+vicinity of anything catching, cross your fingers and
+say 'King's Ex.' for you're missing the time of your
+young lives. As a place of residence, Texas certainly
+has my vote. A fellow can breathe his lungs full here
+without robbing the next fellow of oxygen.</p>
+
+<div class='right'>
+<span style="margin-right: 4em;">"With unbounded sympathy,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-right: 6em;">"Yours,</span><br />
+<span style="margin-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">Alec Trent</span>."</span><br />
+</div></div>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet collected the literary installments from each of the
+different authors and put them in a big envelope.</p>
+
+<p>"This 'round-robin' is as plump as a partridge," she remarked. "I hope
+Susy and Ruth won't strain their eyes devouring it."</p>
+
+<p>"The Woodford postman in our part of town<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56"></a>[<a href="images/56.png">56</a>]</span> will have an unusually warm
+greeting, I fancy," said Mrs. Clyde, gathering up all the other
+letters and placing them with the round-robin in the roomy mail-bag.</p>
+
+<p>"I think Father had better have a social at the church for the
+We-are-Seven relatives and ask them to bring our letters. Reading and
+passing them around would make a very interesting evening's
+entertainment," said Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet paused long enough to shake her. "Don't you dare suggest
+such a horrible thing to your father, Sarah! My letter wasn't intended
+for&mdash;public consumption."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor mine!" exclaimed Kitty. "Father and mother know what a
+scatter-brain I am, but it's a family skeleton which they don't care
+to have aired."</p>
+
+<p>"Is the mail all in?" asked Alec in an official tone.</p>
+
+<p>"All in, postmaster," replied Mrs. Clyde, fastening the bag and
+handing it to him with a smile. "You're not going alone, are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, Shady is going along this trip, Se&ntilde;ora," he replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't we all go?" asked Blue Bonnet; "it isn't much of a ride."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked up in alarm, but met Mrs. Clyde's reassuring glance. "Not
+this time, dear," she returned to Blue Bonnet. "So far you have had
+all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57"></a>[<a href="images/57.png">57</a>]</span> play and no work. The piano hasn't been touched since we
+arrived."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet said nothing, but into her eyes there sprang a sudden
+rebellion. Out there by the stables Don and Solomon were frolicking,
+ready at a moment's notice to dash away at Firefly's heels. Away in
+front of the house stretched the road and the prairie, calling
+irresistibly to her restless, roving spirit. And vacation had been so
+long in coming! If grandmother were going to be like Aunt
+Lucinda&mdash;Again there flashed into her mind the wish so often voiced in
+Woodford: that there might be two of her, so that one might stay at
+home and be taught things while the other went wandering about as she
+liked. All at once she remembered Alec's suggestion&mdash;that she adopt
+Sarah as her "alter ego." A smile drove the cloud from her eyes.
+"Can't Sarah do my practising while I do her riding?" she asked
+coaxingly.</p>
+
+<p>Her grandmother hid a smile as she said: "I was under the impression
+that my coming to the ranch was to see that Blue Bonnet Ashe did her
+practising, mending, and had coffee only on Sundays."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet colored. She had uttered those very words, and nobody
+should say that an Ashe was not sincere. Straightening up she met the
+questioning looks of the other girls with a resolute glance.
+"Grandmother is right, as she always is, girls. I'll go and practise,
+and you&mdash;what will you do?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58"></a>[<a href="images/58.png">58</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure all the girls will be glad of a little time to themselves,"
+said the Se&ntilde;ora. "Let us all do as we like until dinner-time. I've
+been longing to sit in the shade of the big magnolia ever since I
+came. I shall take a book and spend my two hours out there, and any
+one who wishes may share my bower."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I'll be off," said Alec. "Any commissions for me in Jonah?" He
+stood like an orderly at attention, with the mail-bag slung over one
+shoulder and his whole bearing expressive of the importance of his
+mission. The sun and the wind of the prairie had already tanned his
+smooth skin to the ruddy hue of health, but Mrs. Clyde, observing him
+closely, could not fail to note how very slim and frail the erect
+young figure was.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't twenty miles a rather long ride on a hot day?" she asked
+tactfully, fearing to wound the sensitive lad.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall reach Kooch's ranch by noon, and we are to rest there until
+it is cool again," he replied, flushing a little under her solicitous
+glance.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, keep an eye on Shady!" said Blue Bonnet, waving him good-bye as
+she went to do her practising.</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen minutes later each member of the ranch party was busily
+engaged in doing "just as she liked." Mrs. Clyde, deep in a book, sat
+under the fragrant magnolia; Kitty reclined on a Navajo<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59"></a>[<a href="images/59.png">59</a>]</span> blanket near
+her, lazily watching the gay-plumaged birds that made the tree a
+rendezvous. From the open windows of the living-room came a
+conscientious rendering of a "Czerny" exercise, enlivened now and then
+by a bar or two of a rollicking dance, with which Blue Bonnet
+sugar-coated her pill. In the kitchen Debby and Amanda were deep in
+the mysteries of "pinoche" under the tutelage of Lisa and Gertrudis;
+while Sarah, safe inside her own little sanctum, sat and drew threads
+rapturously, and later, coached by the delighted Benita, wove them
+into endless spider-webs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60"></a>[<a href="images/60.png">60</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER V</h2>
+
+<h3>THE SWIMMING HOLE</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">They</span> sat up late that evening waiting for Alec to come with the mail.
+Mrs. Clyde and Blue Bonnet were somewhat uneasy, for they knew he had
+intended to be back in time for their late supper; and when ten
+o'clock came and no Alec or Shady appeared, they grew openly anxious.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff refused to share their worry. "Shady's no tenderfoot," he
+scoffed, "and holding up the mail has gone out of fashion in these
+parts."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet had no fear of hold-ups and did not care to express her
+suspicion that the ride had proved too much for Alec. She found reason
+to reproach herself: a forty-mile ride for a delicate boy like him was
+a foolish undertaking and she should have realized it. She had ridden
+that distance herself innumerable times; but she had practically been
+reared in the saddle and had lived all her life in this land of great
+distances. It was very different with Alec. The day of their picnic in
+Woodford came back to her, and again she saw the boy, worn out by a
+much shorter ride, lying white and unconscious before the fire in the
+hunter's cabin. She<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61"></a>[<a href="images/61.png">61</a>]</span> grew almost provoked with her grandmother for
+having insisted upon her practising instead of riding to Jonah as she
+had wished. If she had gone along, she at least would have known what
+to do for Alec in an emergency.</p>
+
+<p>At eleven the moon came up, and rising out of the prairie
+simultaneously with the golden disk, came Shady, riding alone. A rapid
+fire of questions greeted him as he came up with the mail.</p>
+
+<p>"Left the young fella at Kooch's," he explained briefly.</p>
+
+<p>"What was the matter?" asked Blue Bonnet anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, ye see&mdash;it was this way,&mdash;" Shady paused and then stood
+awkwardly shifting his sombrero from hand to hand. Blue Bonnet guessed
+instantly that Alec had sworn the cowboy to secrecy concerning the
+real reason for his non-appearance, and she refrained from further
+questioning. But her grandmother took alarm.</p>
+
+<p>"Is he hurt&mdash;or ill?" Mrs. Clyde asked quickly.</p>
+
+<p>For a moment Shady avoided her eyes, then resolutely squaring his
+shoulders he lied boldly: "No, Se&ntilde;ora,&mdash;the mare went lame on him.
+He'll be over in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde drew a quick breath of relief; but Blue Bonnet was not so
+easily reassured. That Kooch had a dozen horses which Alec might have
+ridden if Strawberry was really disabled, was something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62"></a>[<a href="images/62.png">62</a>]</span> her
+grandmother did not know; but the little Texan, used all her life to
+the easy give and take of ranch life, understood at once that Alec's
+real reason for staying at the Dutchman's was quite different from the
+one Shady had so glibly given. She knew better, however, than to press
+the cowboy, and let him go off to the cook-house without attempting to
+get at the truth.</p>
+
+<p>"Grammy Kooch will take good care of him," said Uncle Joe; and with
+her fears thus set at rest, Mrs. Clyde proposed an adjournment to the
+house to read their letters.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Blue Bonnet was up before any one else in the house
+was stirring, and, dressing without arousing any of the other
+occupants of the nursery, she stole out of the house and made her way
+to the stable. Some of the Mexicans were already up, feeding the stock
+and doing the "chores," and one of them saddled Firefly. None of them
+wondered at Blue Bonnet's early appearance, for since her infancy she
+had ridden whenever the fancy took her, and now as she dashed out of
+the corral with Don and Solomon racing madly after her, the men
+grinned with satisfaction that the Se&ntilde;orita had returned to the ranch
+unchanged.</p>
+
+<p>As she neared the Kooch ranch she saw a solitary horseman emerging
+from the gate. He was not looking towards her, and after a moment's
+scrutiny she began to whistle "All the Blue Bonnets."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63"></a>[<a href="images/63.png">63</a>]</span> With a start of
+surprise Alec glanced up the road and at once galloped towards her.</p>
+
+<p>"Is it really you?" he asked, hardly believing his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Nae ither!" she laughed, turning Firefly and falling in with the
+strawberry mare&mdash;whose four legs, she noted, were as sound as ever.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, you are an early bird."</p>
+
+<p>"Lucky you're not a worm,&mdash;I'm hungry enough to eat one!" she said
+gaily. Under cover of the jest she stole a quick look at him. Yes, in
+spite of the sunburn he looked worn out and ill; he needed to rest and
+be taken care of. She refrained from asking how he felt and instead
+kept up a steady fire of nonsense, describing their dull day at the
+ranch without him. If Alec had felt any resentment at her coming for
+him, it melted under her light treatment of the situation; and by the
+time they reached the little "rio" he was more like his usual,
+interested self.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I'd like to follow up this cree&mdash;er&mdash;river, I mean," he
+remarked, looking up the winding, willow-grown course.</p>
+
+<p>"Not before breakfast, thank you!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I didn't mean right this minute, but sometime," he corrected.</p>
+
+<p>"We will, surely. I want to introduce you to the lovely spots of the
+ranch, just as you showed me the charming places about Woodford. It
+will be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64"></a>[<a href="images/64.png">64</a>]</span> different from following the brook as we used to do there,
+but I think you'll like it. There are picnic places along San
+Franciscito that can't be beat."</p>
+
+<p>"San Frances<i>cheeto?</i>" he echoed; "where's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's the name of this river," she replied loftily.</p>
+
+<p>Alec threw back his head and laughed. "The name's bigger than the
+stream!" he declared.</p>
+
+<p>"It has advantages over the brook, as you'll see. One of them is the
+swimming hole. Do you swim?"</p>
+
+<p>Alec's eyes glistened. "I'm ready to learn."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, get Shady to teach you. I'm going to make the girls learn. You
+boys and we girls will have the pool on alternate days,&mdash;won't it be
+fun?"</p>
+
+<p>"The best ever. This is the first I've heard of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I wanted some things for surprises," Blue Bonnet declared. "Isn't it
+odd your being here and seeing everything I used to talk about? It was
+a novelty then, but after this I won't have anything left to describe
+to you. What do you suppose we will talk about on our first jaunt by
+the brook next spring?"</p>
+
+<p>Alec's face changed oddly. "Maybe there won't be any jaunt by the
+brook next spring&mdash;for me," he said, looking away from her startled
+eyes.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65"></a>[<a href="images/65.png">65</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, what do you mean?" she asked, and then wished she had not
+spoken, for she was suddenly afraid of his answer.</p>
+
+<p>"I may not be,&mdash;you can't always tell," he stammered, looking as if he
+wanted to take it all back. "Let's not talk about it now, please," he
+begged, and Blue Bonnet gladly let the subject drop.</p>
+
+<p>She rode on in silence the rest of the way, depressed and miserable.
+Alec's words were a revelation; she had not dreamed he felt so ill and
+doubtful of living. She had thought he would grow strong and well at
+the ranch, and already he was worse and spoke of his case as hopeless.</p>
+
+<p>They were greeted with a loud outcry from the girls, who were perched
+on the top bar of the corral gate awaiting them. They had been
+somewhat startled upon arising to find Blue Bonnet gone, but Firefly's
+absence from his stall had explained her disappearance.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurry up,&mdash;we're starving!" they cried; and Alec and Blue Bonnet,
+responding gaily, dismounted and hastened to the house with the rest,
+both glad to escape questions in the general hilarity and press of
+hunger.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother," said Blue Bonnet later in the day; "I'm worried about
+Alec." It was just after the siesta, and seeing her grandmother
+sitting alone in her chosen seat under the magnolia, she had gone out
+for a chat. They were seldom alone these days.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66"></a>[<a href="images/66.png">66</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"He does look tired," Mrs. Clyde admitted; "but it is natural he
+should after that long ride."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't that." Blue Bonnet shook her head. "I'm afraid he's&mdash;got
+something."</p>
+
+<p>"Got something?" her grandmother repeated in puzzled surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"<i>Has</i> something, if you object to 'got.' Has something the matter
+with him, I mean,&mdash;serious, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Then she repeated the conversation she had had with Alec that morning.
+Mrs. Clyde listened in silence, but her eyes were troubled when Blue
+Bonnet finished.</p>
+
+<p>"It may not be so bad as Alec imagines," she said with a forced
+hopefulness. "He has been outgrowing his strength, and being
+overtired, too, makes him despondent."</p>
+
+<p>In spite of her words, from that time on Mrs. Clyde was more observant
+of the boy, and the moment she saw the first signs of fatigue she
+would make some tactful suggestion for his benefit, relieving him of
+the necessity of saying he was tired, yet bringing about the
+possibility of rest. And often with her own hands she would concoct
+some nourishing dish, hardly so piquant as Gertrudis' red-hot
+creations, but rather more healthful for a growing boy. Neither she
+nor Blue Bonnet voiced their fears to the other girls nor to any of
+the men,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67"></a>[<a href="images/67.png">67</a>]</span> but, with a silent understanding, ministered quietly to the
+frail boy's needs.</p>
+
+<p>A few days later the girls crossed the meadow to the pool for their
+first lesson in swimming. It was an odd little bunch that sat on the
+bank dabbling their toes in the limpid water. The hastily improvised
+bathing-suits they wore were of every style and color, and they looked
+as gay as a flock of parrots in their bright-hued raiment. Blue Bonnet
+dove off the big boulder in the middle, to the great envy of the
+others, who only consented to get wet all over after much persuasion
+and the threat of a forcible ducking.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah took the whole thing as seriously as she did most things.
+"Everybody should learn to swim," she announced authoritatively as she
+sat contemplating a plunge. "Some day we might have a chance to cross
+the ocean, and then we'd wish we knew how."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to swim across the ocean?" demanded Blue Bonnet wickedly.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not," replied Sarah, unruffled. "But in case of shipwreck,
+you know, it's well to be prepared. I believe it should be studied as
+a science,&mdash;get the stroke, then do it. It's like bicycle riding, they
+say: when you once learn how to keep your balance you never forget."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet demonstrated the stroke again and again, while the other
+girls watched and imitated<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68"></a>[<a href="images/68.png">68</a>]</span> as they sat or sprawled on the grassy
+bank. Sarah bent her whole mind to the acquiring of the proper arm
+action; lay face-down and kicked scientifically; then, convinced of
+her preparation for the feat, boldly entered the water.</p>
+
+<p>"Good for you, Sallikins!" cried Blue Bonnet. "The others must be
+afraid of getting their feet wet." Then she sang tauntingly:</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Mother, may I go out to swim?">
+<tr><td align='left'>"Mother, may I go out to swim?</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Yes, my darling daughter,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Hang your clothes on a hickory limb&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">But don't go near the water!"</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>Thus challenged, Kitty stepped shrinkingly into the cold water. "If
+Sarah will swim from me to you, I'll try it after her," she bargained.
+It was perhaps a distance of three yards from where she stood,
+waist-deep, to the big rock whereon Blue Bonnet was perched, laughing
+at them; but the Hellespont could hardly have loomed wider to the
+anxious eyes of Hero, than did this narrow channel now appear to the
+four novices.</p>
+
+<p>"All right," agreed Sarah with dogged determination. She shut her
+eyes, screwed up her face, spread her arms, struck out with her feet
+and started. If a hippopotamus had suddenly slipped off the bank there
+could hardly have been a greater splash; Sarah kicked madly, puffing,
+panting, and churning the water into foam. All to no avail.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69"></a>[<a href="images/69.png">69</a>]</span> Before
+she had gone a yard she sank like a paving-stone to the bottom of the
+pool. Blue Bonnet, convulsed with laughter, went down after her, but
+it took the combined efforts of herself and Kitty to bring the
+struggling Sarah to the surface. Sputtering and choking and much
+puzzled over the failure of her scientific method, Sarah retired to
+the bank to get her breath.</p>
+
+<p>"Kitty's turn," she said inexorably as soon as she could speak.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty found the bottom no less speedily, but scrambled up by herself
+and went at it again until she was able to progress almost two feet
+before going down to "call on the fishes," as Blue Bonnet said. It
+remained for Debby to cover herself with glory. Disdaining science and
+the instructions of the teacher, she took a lesson from Nature and
+struck out like a puppy. Straight to Blue Bonnet she swam, struggled
+up on the big boulder beside her, gasping and breathless, but
+delighted at her own success.</p>
+
+<p>"Bravo!" cried the girls, quite overcome with admiration.</p>
+
+<p>Emboldened by her triumph the others tried again and again, and while
+not wildly successful were so far encouraged that they lost their
+first great fear of the water. And that, as every swimmer knows, is
+the first step towards victory.</p>
+
+<p>"After you've all learned," said Blue Bonnet a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70"></a>[<a href="images/70.png">70</a>]</span> little later, as they
+all sat on the veranda rail drying their hair, "we'll go over to the
+reservoir above Jonah some time and have a real swim. That is, if
+Grandmother's willing." She was glad she had remembered to add that
+last provision; it would have won an approving look from Aunt Lucinda.</p>
+
+<p>"Then we'll have to have real suits," remarked Kitty, beginning then
+and there to plan a fetching costume for the occasion. "I'll write
+home for one right away."</p>
+
+<p>When the plan was laid before Se&ntilde;ora she made a brilliant suggestion.
+"Why not make your own suits? We may be able to find material in
+Jonah, and Benita and I will superintend."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah beamed delightedly, but Blue Bonnet looked doubtful. "Will it be
+as hard as knitting a shawl?" she asked, ignoring the giggles her
+question provoked.</p>
+
+<p>"Lots harder, you goose," said Kitty. "But if you begin it you'll
+probably have it finished for you by the same person who did the
+shawl."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I don't mind!" Blue Bonnet agreed promptly. "We'll go to Jonah
+to-morrow&mdash;" adding before the words were fairly said, "&mdash;may we,
+Grandmother?"</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps," was all she said; but her eyes held more encouragement.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71"></a>[<a href="images/71.png">71</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2>
+
+<h3>AN ADVENTURE</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Have</span> you decided, Grandmother," asked Blue Bonnet, "whether or not we
+can go to Jonah this morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think you may as well go," said Mrs. Clyde. "If they have no
+suitable material at Jonah, we shall have to send away for it, and the
+sooner we know the better. And, besides, we need several things for
+the house."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet smiled gratefully. Grandmother was so sweetly
+reasonable&mdash;most of the time. To her surprise Sarah was the only one
+of the girls who greeted the proposal with any enthusiasm. The others
+looked listless and heavy-eyed.</p>
+
+<p>"I feel tired all over," said Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't move my arms without groaning," complained Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm as stiff as a poker," added Kitty mournfully.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked wise. "It's the swimming," she declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Trying to swim," Blue Bonnet corrected her. "I'm not tired or stiff."</p>
+
+<p>"If trying to swim has made us feel this way,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72"></a>[<a href="images/72.png">72</a>]</span> why doesn't Sarah make
+her little moan?" demanded Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked still wiser. "I was so stiff before that I think swimming
+just limbered me up," she explained delightedly. Sarah could not help
+feeling a little very human satisfaction at the consciousness that she
+had borne her sufferings with far greater courage than the others now
+displayed.</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't ride a mile," groaned Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Nor I!" declared both Debby and Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>"Then, Se&ntilde;orita Blake, do we go by our lones?" asked Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd love to," Sarah assented readily, beating down a nagging fear of
+Comanche's eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Then let's hurry and dress. We must start while it's cool."</p>
+
+<p>"I think you will have to drive, dear," said her grandmother, looking
+up from the shopping list she was making. "Lisa says we must have
+laundry soap, and I don't see how you can bring a big box unless you
+take the buckboard."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's face fell. "Lisa's always wanting soap," she grumbled.</p>
+
+<p>"I should love to drive," Sarah suggested wistfully.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet hesitated; after all a hostess should consider a guest's
+preference, and Sarah was certainly a "good sort." "Very well," she
+assented, smothering a sigh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73"></a>[<a href="images/73.png">73</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Have you all decided what color you want your bathing-suits?" asked
+the Se&ntilde;ora.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's have them all alike," suggested Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Red!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"No, thank you," returned Kitty. "Pray consider the feelings of my
+hair! I'm willing to have any color so long as&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;so long as it's green!" Blue Bonnet finished for her, recollecting
+former debates of this sort.</p>
+
+<p>"Green is lovely for swimming, anyway," Kitty contended. "It's so
+mermaidy, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"And so becoming to red&mdash;er&mdash;auburn hair," put in Blue Bonnet. "Having
+blue eyes myself, I'm not partial to green."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, if you're going to insist on harmony of colors I think we had
+better stick to black and blue&mdash;I'm one big bruise." Kitty illustrated
+her remark with a groan.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I've seen blue trimmed with black and it was very pretty," said
+Sarah, quite missing Kitty's point.</p>
+
+<p>"Here, Grandmother, please make a list. Now, everybody, decide. Red
+for me. Debby, what shall yours be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Red with white braid, please," replied Debby after a moment's
+thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Blue with white ditto," was Amanda's choice.</p>
+
+<p>"Green," came from Kitty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74"></a>[<a href="images/74.png">74</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Black and blue,"&mdash;this from the consistent Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you will have to change the name of your club from the 'We
+are Sevens' to 'The Rainbow Quintet,'" said the Se&ntilde;ora, laughing as
+she wrote down the variegated list.</p>
+
+<p>After all it was a delightful drive to Jonah. The two fleet horses
+drew the light buckboard over the smooth road with a motion that Sarah
+found far preferable to the cat-like leaps of Comanche; and Blue
+Bonnet was so proud of being trusted to drive a team that she was
+quite reconciled to the arrangement.</p>
+
+<p>"Denham would have fainted if I had even suggested driving
+Grandmother's carriage horses," she told Sarah, with a scornful sniff
+for those fat Woodford beasts.</p>
+
+<p>"You drive beautifully," was Sarah's comforting rejoinder.</p>
+
+<p>To their great satisfaction they found just what they wanted in Jonah.
+Alpaca was to be had in almost every shade, and wide white braid that
+made an excellent trimming. And to Blue Bonnet's delight she found a
+bright red sash that would add the finishing touch of elegance to her
+suit. Their shopping done and the buckboard well-heaped with their
+varied purchases, the two girls drove back as far as Kooch's ranch,
+where, according to an immemorial custom, they lunched and rested
+until the cool of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75"></a>[<a href="images/75.png">75</a>]</span> the afternoon. On the return trip they met with an
+adventure.</p>
+
+<p>The road ran for a short distance beside the little river with the big
+name&mdash;San Franciscito&mdash;which had so amused Alec. It was there that
+Sarah did something unprecedented. For several miles she had been
+envying Blue Bonnet her easy manner of handling the reins and the
+light touch that sent the mustangs right or left as she willed. It was
+a beautiful accomplishment.</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet," she asked suddenly, "may I drive for a little while?"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked up in speechless surprise; Sarah was certainly
+"coming on." "Surely you may," she said cordially, straightway handing
+over the reins. "Hold them firmly&mdash;these colts are apt to run under a
+loose rein."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah felt a curious sense of power as she grasped the leather in her
+unpracticed hands. Conscientious to a degree, she did as she was bid
+and held the mustangs firmly. In her anxiety to do the thing properly,
+she overdid it, and the next moment the horses were tossing their
+heads angrily and backing with all their might. The bank of the stream
+just here was very high and steep, though just beyond was a ford where
+the road branched. The light buckboard offered no resistance to the
+spirited mustangs, and, in a second, before Blue Bonnet could grasp
+the reins, one hind wheel had slipped an inch<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76"></a>[<a href="images/76.png">76</a>]</span> or two over the ledge.
+For a second or two the girls were in grave danger. Blue Bonnet felt a
+swift overpowering fear; the half-broken colts were as apt to plunge
+backward as to advance if they felt the whip, and that meant a plunge
+down the steep bank. She looked about her helplessly. Sarah, with a
+faint shriek, shut her eyes and prepared for the catastrophe.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment a horseman came suddenly up the bank at the ford,
+emerging as if from out the earth. At a glance he took in the
+situation, was off his horse, caught the near colt by the bit and
+brought both frightened animals to a standstill with the wheel a safe
+margin from the bank. Then without waiting to hear the faintly
+murmured thanks of the terrified girls, their rescuer turned at once
+to his own horse, which had seized the moment to make a break for
+freedom. The boy&mdash;for he was hardly more&mdash;had thrown the lines over
+the animal's head and now, with another of his incredibly swift
+movements, he caught them and in a second more had jerked the horse
+about. Then in a flash he was once more in the saddle. Blue Bonnet had
+just managed to catch her breath,&mdash;when it was taken away again. For
+before the boy had put his right foot in the stirrup, he was out of
+the saddle once more, lying all of a heap in the grass, while his
+horse with a wicked kick-up of his heels, vanished around a turn in
+the road.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77"></a>[<a href="images/77.png">77</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Not daring to trust the reins out of her hands a second time, Blue
+Bonnet almost pushed Sarah from her seat. Fearfully the girl
+approached and bent over the fallen hero; to her relief she saw that
+his eyes were open. He blinked queerly for a moment, then gave a gaspy
+little laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm all right. Don't worry. It's knocked the breath out of me&mdash;that's
+all," he managed to say at last; and then, after another pause, he
+scrambled up to a sitting posture.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm so sorry," said Sarah, finding her voice. "I hope you're not
+seriously hurt."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm&mdash;quite whole!" he assured her, and stopped with a wince of pain.
+"It's my wrist, I reckon&mdash;broken or sprained." He examined the injured
+member closely and after a vain attempt to lift it said briefly:
+"Broken. Isn't that the limit?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear," exclaimed Sarah, all sympathy. "What shall we do?" She
+approached Blue Bonnet with a very serious face. "We shall have to get
+a doctor to set his arm right away," she said in a low tone. "You know
+the bones go crooked if they're not set soon."</p>
+
+<p>"If he can get up into the buckboard we can take him to the doctor,
+that'll be quicker," replied Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah went back to the boy. He still sat, rather dazed and white,
+looking disgustedly at his injured<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78"></a>[<a href="images/78.png">78</a>]</span> arm. "Say," she began
+hesitatingly; she wished she knew his name&mdash;"say" was so plebeian;
+"&mdash;are you too badly hurt to get into the buckboard?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed," he replied cheerfully. "Be&mdash;with you&mdash;in a minute. But
+sorry&mdash;to trouble you."</p>
+
+<p>"It's no trouble," said Sarah. "We're terribly sorry about your arm."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing much,&mdash;only a bother," he maintained stoutly, setting his
+teeth as he said it and scrambling to his feet. Then he swayed and
+would have fallen if Sarah had not caught him. He clung to her for a
+moment, fighting the dizziness with all the pride of his seventeen
+years, then giving in sheepishly, let her lead him to the buckboard.
+Once there he leaned weakly against the wheel, while the two girls,
+anxious and frightened, yet too considerate of his feelings to show
+their concern, watched him in speechless sympathy. At last he
+straightened up and gave a short, embarrassed laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Reckon I've got a funny-bone in my head," he said impatiently. Then
+steadying himself with his right hand he climbed slowly into the back
+seat of the buckboard.</p>
+
+<p>"We'd better go to Jonah at once, don't you think&mdash;for the doctor?"
+Blue Bonnet asked him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79"></a>[<a href="images/79.png">79</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Is it far?" he asked. Blue Bonnet looked her surprise and he added:
+"I don't know these parts. I'm camping up at the Big Spring and was
+just riding down this way looking for a place they call Kooch's."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, we've just come from there," exclaimed Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is near?" he asked. "I'd begun to think I must have taken the
+wrong road."</p>
+
+<p>"Just a mile or two back," explained Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Then if you will kindly take me there, I'll not trouble you any
+further," the youth said eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"But you must have your arm set right away," protested Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if the man I was looking for is at Kooch's, maybe he can set
+it," he replied, adding, "He's a 'medic' from Chicago&mdash;a friend of a
+cousin of mine. Left college on account of lung trouble, and I heard
+he was camping on Kooch's ground somewhere."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe it was his tent we saw back there a ways," said Sarah. "That's
+quite near."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet turned the horses and driving very slowly, so as not to
+hurt the boy's injured arm, went back over the road they had just
+traversed. It was not long before they came in sight of the tent she
+and Sarah had noticed; a rather high fence prevented<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80"></a>[<a href="images/80.png">80</a>]</span> her approaching
+it very closely, and she stopped just opposite the camp.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon you'll have to go and see if the man's there, Sarah," said
+Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked fearfully at the high fence. "I just know I can't get
+over."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet gave her a withering glance. "You&mdash;Woodfordite!" was the
+worst epithet she dared trust herself to before a stranger. "Then
+you'll have to hold the horses. There's no river to spill into
+here&mdash;and you don't have to pull them over backwards."</p>
+
+<p>"There's no need, really," the young fellow interrupted. "I can bring
+Abbott if he's here." He raised his right hand, put the tips of two
+fingers to his lips and blew. The shrillest, most penetrating whistle
+the girls had ever heard pierced the air, causing the colts to lunge
+forward in a way that might have precipitated another catastrophe, had
+not Blue Bonnet's little steel wrist brought them up sharply.</p>
+
+<p>At the summons a tall lanky figure appeared from within the tent and
+stood peering under his hand at the occupants of the buckboard. The
+youth whistled again, this time only with his lips,&mdash;a bird-like call.
+"That's his frat whistle. Ought to bring him."</p>
+
+<p>And bring him it did. The lanky figure deserted the tent and with an
+eager stride crossed the meadow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81"></a>[<a href="images/81.png">81</a>]</span> and came up to the fence. After one
+scrutinizing glance at the girls his eye fell on the boy and he
+grinned broadly.</p>
+
+<p>"Hullo, Knight!&mdash;is it really you? Glad to see you, old chap!"</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, Doc. How am I going to get over this hospitable fence of
+yours?" returned the boy, with an abruptness born of an aching wrist.
+"My nag threw me and I've broken my left arm. Know anybody that can
+set it?" He winked impudently at the fledgling doctor.</p>
+
+<p>The latter beamed with professional delight. "Just my line, dear boy.
+I wish it had been your leg, now,&mdash;I do those beautifully!"</p>
+
+<p>"Or my neck&mdash;I don't doubt it. But this is quite enough, thank you,"
+retorted the boy. He was white with pain and yet could joke!&mdash;it was
+the sort of pluck Blue Bonnet admired.</p>
+
+<p>"If your cousin will drive down to the gate,&mdash;" the young man
+suggested.</p>
+
+<p>The boy looked a trifle embarrassed. "This isn't my cousin," he
+replied. "These gir&mdash;er&mdash;young ladies picked me up after my spill
+and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm Elizabeth Ashe," Blue Bonnet supplied, coloring slightly.</p>
+
+<p>"Of the Blue Bonnet ranch?" asked the medico, and at her affirmative
+nod he added, "I've met Mr. Ashe."</p>
+
+<p>"This is Doctor Abbott," said the boy, striving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82"></a>[<a href="images/82.png">82</a>]</span> to make the
+introduction easily, though one could see that such social amenities
+were not a matter of habit with him.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't claim that title yet," the "doctor" protested. "My friends
+bestowed it when I was a freshman. I hope to earn it yet. Now,
+Knight,&mdash;about that arm. If Miss Ashe will drive on&mdash;there's a gate a
+hundred yards down the road. It isn't big enough to drive through, but
+I'll meet you there. I've some bandages in my tent. Be with you in a
+minute."</p>
+
+<p>He appeared at the little gate bearing a most professional looking
+leather case and various packages that emitted queer odors. His
+enjoyment of the operation in store was plain.</p>
+
+<p>"Hadn't I better go over to the tent with you?" asked the patient. To
+have an arm set with two strange girls looking on was evidently not to
+his taste.</p>
+
+<p>"Too far for you to walk if you feel as shaky as you look," said
+Doctor Abbott, his keen eyes taking in young Knight's pale face and
+twitching lips. "And I may need assistance." He sprang lightly into
+the seat beside the patient and made a rapid examination. The girls
+resolutely kept their eyes away, but they could hear the boy's quick
+breathing. He made no other sound.</p>
+
+<p>"A sprain, my boy," was the verdict which the girls heard with vast
+relief.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83"></a>[<a href="images/83.png">83</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Only a sprain?" asked Knight in an injured tone. "Then what makes it
+hurt so like the mischief?"</p>
+
+<p>"A sprain hurts worse than a fracture, sometimes, but it is less
+serious and will heal quicker," said the doctor. "I've just the right
+thing here and will fix you up in no time."</p>
+
+<p>The next five minutes were bad ones for the sufferer; Sarah and Blue
+Bonnet knew it, though they still stared off over the meadow and tried
+to chat unconcernedly, while the hurried breathing of the boy
+continued.</p>
+
+<p>"There you are!" The girls turned to see the young man viewing his
+work and the neat bandage with approval, while Knight, with his lips
+still trembling, looked up at him with forced cheerfulness. "You'll
+have to keep it still for a few days,&mdash;wish we had some sort of a
+sling." Abbott knit his brow.</p>
+
+<p>Knight touched the bandanna about his neck. "How about this?"</p>
+
+<p>Abbott tried it but found it too short. Blue Bonnet had one of her
+sudden inspirations. Diving down underneath the seat she fished up one
+of the many packages. Under the interested eyes of the others she
+opened it and then held up something bright and silky.</p>
+
+<p>"Your red sash!" gasped Sarah.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84"></a>[<a href="images/84.png">84</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Will it do?" Blue Bonnet asked the doctor anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Just the thing!" he exclaimed; and in a minute had slung his
+patient's arm in the scarlet folds of the sash.</p>
+
+<p>"I say," Knight protested, "I hate like everything to take this from
+you, Miss Ashe."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet gave him a bright smile. "I'm very glad to have it prove
+so useful. Sarah called me frivolous when I bought it."</p>
+
+<p>The boy looked uncomfortable but was forced to submit, vowing inwardly
+that he would buy her the "fanciest article in the sash line" that
+Chicago could boast, to make up for the loss of her finery.</p>
+
+<p>"Now, my friend," said the young surgeon, as he gathered up his
+instrument case in a professional manner, "I must see that wrist in
+the morning. Where are you staying?"</p>
+
+<p>The youth colored; it was evident that he had expected an invitation
+to stay with his friend. Blue Bonnet spoke up at once: "You must come
+with us to the ranch. Uncle would never forgive me if I let you stay
+anywhere else."</p>
+
+<p>"Sorry I can't ask you to stay with me," Abbott said, observing the
+boy's confusion. "But I've only a cot built for one, you know. You'll
+be a heap more comfortable at the Blue Bonnet ranch than in my
+quarters. I'll ride over in the morning and take a look at you."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85"></a>[<a href="images/85.png">85</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>With the matter thus taken out of his hands, Knight had to submit.
+"It's mighty good of you," he said to Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all," she returned heartily. "I'd have to do a great deal to
+get even!"</p>
+
+<p>"That wasn't anything," he protested. Then, turning to the doctor, he
+remarked with a return of his usual humor: "So long, Doc&mdash;hope you
+haven't injured me for life. Bring over your bill in the morning!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86"></a>[<a href="images/86.png">86</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2>
+
+<h3>A FALLING OUT</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was quite late when they reached the ranch, and an anxious crowd
+was awaiting them on the veranda. Blue Bonnet wished there were rather
+fewer people there; it was tiresome to make explanations before such
+an audience. Besides, she did not know the visitor's
+name,&mdash;introductions had been of a rather sketchy sort that day.
+Suddenly she made up her mind: she would explain nothing just then,
+and trust to her grandmother's ready tact to understand her reasons.</p>
+
+<p>"This is&mdash;" Blue Bonnet looked at the youth inquiringly.</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;Knight Judson," he supplied.</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;and he's met with an accident and will stay here till his arm is
+better," she said rather breathlessly to her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>"Very glad to have you, I'm sure," said Uncle Cliff with ready,
+outstretched hand.</p>
+
+<p>Knight Judson took the proffered hand with an air of relief. "You're
+very kind, sir," he stammered.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87"></a>[<a href="images/87.png">87</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Not at all," Mr. Ashe protested cordially. "Come right in to supper."</p>
+
+<p>They all went in without further ceremony to the delayed supper which
+Juanita stood waiting to serve; and the meal progressed in the usual
+gay fashion that prevailed at the ranch. Knight Judson was placed
+between Alec and Uncle Cliff, and in that congenial company the youth
+lost his shyness and was soon chatting away like an old friend. The
+awkwardness of eating with one hand gave him occasional bad moments,
+but little services, rendered unobserved by his attentive neighbors,
+tided over even these trying times.</p>
+
+<p>The girls stole occasional glances down to that end of the table,
+which were promptly frowned upon by Blue Bonnet and Sarah. On the
+whole, they acted rather well considering the strain on their
+curiosity; it was not every day that a good-looking young chap,
+wearing a bright red sash for a sling, appeared at the ranch.</p>
+
+<p>It was not until after supper, when Alec had taken the visitor to his
+room, that the others heard the whole story of the day's adventure.
+Sarah and Blue Bonnet told it almost together, a rather incoherent but
+wholly thrilling tale, while the rest of the girls hung breathlessly
+on the recital. Mrs. Clyde look worried when Sarah dwelt on the peril
+that had threatened the two of them; Blue Bonnet wished Sarah had not
+found it necessary to enlarge<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88"></a>[<a href="images/88.png">88</a>]</span> on that part of it. She, herself,
+preferred to describe young Judson's skill and quickness, his
+wonderful daring, and heroism under pain.</p>
+
+<p>"Judson, Judson," repeated Sarah, wrinkling up her brow. "Where have I
+heard that name before?"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet thought deeply for a moment. "I know," she cried; "don't
+you remember Carita, Carita Judson,&mdash;my missionary girl!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder if they're related!" exclaimed Sarah. "She lives in Texas,
+you know."</p>
+
+<p>"We must ask him in the morning," said Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Early the next day Mr. Ashe despatched one of the Mexicans with a
+letter from Knight Judson to his uncle at the Big Spring.</p>
+
+<p>"Tell him not to expect you until he sees you," Mr. Ashe admonished
+the youth. "You must stay until that wrist is perfectly well."</p>
+
+<p>"You're very good, sir," replied Knight warmly. He was not at all
+averse to spending any length of time in this pleasant place; he and
+Alec had fraternized at once, and he welcomed the chance to know the
+bright Eastern boy better; as for the girls, there were too many of
+them, he thought.</p>
+
+<p>At breakfast Blue Bonnet opened fire on him.</p>
+
+<p>"Carita!" he exclaimed. "Am I any relation to her? Well, I guess
+yes&mdash;she's my cousin! Do you know her?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89"></a>[<a href="images/89.png">89</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"I don't exactly know her," Blue Bonnet confessed, "&mdash;but we
+have&mdash;corresponded." She stopped abruptly; it was impossible to tell
+Knight about the missionary box; he might feel sensitive about it.
+Happily Sarah came to the rescue.</p>
+
+<p>"Father knows the Reverend Mr. Judson," she remarked. "Is he your
+uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes,&mdash;and Carita's father," he explained. "You see, Uncle Bayard has
+charge of a summer camp for boys up at the Big Spring; he has had it
+for several years,&mdash;we have wonderful times there. A few days ago I
+had a letter from my cousin George in Chicago asking me to look up his
+friend Abbott, who had been ordered to Texas for his health. Abbott
+was at the Spring with us last summer, but it didn't agree with him,
+so he came to Kooch's. I was on my way there when&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"When!" exclaimed Kitty dramatically. "We've heard what happened. We
+ought to have known better than to let a tenderfoot like Blue Bonnet
+go off with no protector but Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"It wasn't Blue Bonnet's fault," protested Sarah indignantly. "I was
+driving."</p>
+
+<p>"And I suppose you drive as scientifically as you swim?" mocked Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>Knight looked up with twinkling eyes; evidently the We are Sevens were
+not all of Sarah's type. Blue Bonnet he had already put in a class by
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>"Please tell us some more about the boys' camp,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90"></a>[<a href="images/90.png">90</a>]</span> begged Blue Bonnet,
+"I've heard about the Big Spring, and Uncle has promised to take me
+there. But, somehow, he never seems to get time. Is it a camp just for
+boys?&mdash;it sounds so interesting."</p>
+
+<p>"It's one of Uncle's fads," Knight returned, showing by his tone that
+he was rather proud of "Uncle's fad." "He's tremendously interested in
+boys and has started a sort of 'get together' movement for fellows who
+live on big ranches and farms and don't get a chance to see much of
+other young people&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Like me!" Blue Bonnet nodded.</p>
+
+<p>"They club in on expenses, share the work, and, incidentally, have
+more fun than some of them ever had before," he continued. "Uncle
+isn't at all strong&mdash;that's why he came back from his mission&mdash;but he
+works hard all the time, always doing good&mdash;" he stopped abruptly. "I
+didn't mean to brag, but when I get started on Uncle Bayard, I never
+know when to stop."</p>
+
+<p>"And Carita&mdash;does she go camping, too?" asked Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Aunt Cynthy often brings the whole family for over Sunday," he
+replied. Then a thought seemed to strike him. "Why don't you all come
+up and camp&mdash;it isn't a hard trip?"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "Oh, I think it would be perfectly
+lovely. Grandmother, may we?" she asked.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91"></a>[<a href="images/91.png">91</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde looked up with her sympathetic smile. "It sounds
+attractive. Perhaps we can arrange it."</p>
+
+<p>Without seeming to do so Grandmother had heard every word of the
+conversation, and her heart had warmed to the boy who spoke so
+glowingly of his uncle's work. Knight Judson was a manly young fellow,
+she concluded, the right sort to be among girls; the best of
+companions for the frail, bookish Eastern lad.</p>
+
+<p>Alec himself was charmed with Knight. There was something fascinating
+about a boy who had spent most of his life in the open, and without
+much aid from books had yet thought more deeply than most youths of
+his age. He was tall and strong, all bone and muscle, with something
+about him that was suggestive of a restless colt; but a thoroughbred,
+every inch of him.</p>
+
+<p>After breakfast the two boys set out to hunt for Knight's horse, as
+nothing had been seen or heard of that frisky pony since he had
+vanished so unceremoniously the evening before. Alec carried a lariat,
+for learning to lasso had become the absorbing passion of his life,
+and young Judson, in spite of the hampering folds of the sling about
+his left arm, could give lessons in that art to any boy of his age in
+Texas.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet and Mrs. Clyde looked after the youthful pair with
+interested eyes. It was plain<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92"></a>[<a href="images/92.png">92</a>]</span> that Knight had brought a new element
+into Alec's life, and these two good friends rejoiced, though they
+said nothing and only smiled with new understanding.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad we nearly tipped over!" Blue Bonnet suddenly declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet!" exclaimed her grandmother in a pained tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I reckon I didn't mean that," confessed Blue Bonnet after a
+moment's reflection. "But I'm glad we've met Knight Judson. Alec has
+had too many girls around him here. He needs a spell of roughing it,"
+and then, as she saw an odd look on her grandmother's face, she asked
+quickly: "Isn't 'roughing it' in good society?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde laughed. "I believe it moves in the best circles&mdash;here."</p>
+
+<p>"That's good, for there isn't a Massachusetts word that could possibly
+take its place."</p>
+
+<p>"The dining-table is cleared, Benita says," Sarah announced from the
+doorway, "and we can begin our sewing lesson."</p>
+
+<p>They all repaired to the house, and a few minutes later the big
+dining-room was the scene of great activity; the table strewn with the
+bright-hued pieces of material, Benita smoothing and pinning the
+patterns, the Se&ntilde;ora superintending, and the girls cutting and
+snipping to their hearts' content. At the same time there went on an
+incessant chatter,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93"></a>[<a href="images/93.png">93</a>]</span> chatter, to the cheerful accompaniment of the
+sewing-machine.</p>
+
+<p>When Juanita entered to spread the cloth for their early dinner, the
+girls looked up in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"I never knew time fly so quickly before," said Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"If I'd known this kind of sewing was so easy and so fascinating,"
+Blue Bonnet declared, "I'd have taken it up before. It's much nicer
+than embroidery or mending. Just see how much I've done!" She proudly
+held up the bright red garment.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah scanned it with perplexed eyes. "It looks rather queer to me,"
+she said.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty examined it, too, then snatched the suit from Blue Bonnet's
+hands. "Look!" she bade the rest, "&mdash;there's no place to get into it.
+Blue Bonnet has sewn it up the back!"</p>
+
+<p>There was a great outcry at this, which had the unexpected effect of
+making Blue Bonnet angry.</p>
+
+<p>"There's nothing on earth gives Kitty Clark such pleasure as finding
+me out in a mistake," she declared with flashing eyes and cheeks that
+burned with mortification. Then she turned on Kitty,&mdash;"I'm sorry the
+ranch can't offer you any other enjoyment!" she said scathingly and
+then, snatching back her ridiculed work, flung herself out of the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty's cheeks turned as red as her hair and she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94"></a>[<a href="images/94.png">94</a>]</span> was just framing an
+angry reply to hurl after Blue Bonnet when she met Mrs. Clyde's eyes,
+full of a pained surprise. The girl checked the words on her lips at
+once, but a few hot tears came in spite of her efforts.</p>
+
+<p>"I was only joking," she said with a catch in her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid it was my fault," said Sarah. "I shouldn't have called
+attention to her mistake. I'll go and apologize."</p>
+
+<p>Kitty turned to Mrs. Clyde. "I apologize to <i>you</i>, Se&ntilde;ora," she said,
+adding proudly, "but I've nothing to apologize for to Blue Bonnet.
+Half the fun of being a We are Seven is being able to say just what we
+want to. If everybody is suddenly going to be thin-skinned, I'll have
+to go about muzzled."</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet was hasty," said Mrs. Clyde, "and I'm sure she'll be
+ready to apologize as soon as she has thought it over."</p>
+
+<p>The sewing lesson for that day ended in a gloomy silence. At dinner
+the two "magpies," as Uncle Joe had nicknamed them, were mute. This
+unheard of state of affairs would have aroused comment at any other
+time, but just now their attention was diverted.</p>
+
+<p>"Doctor" Abbott, who had ridden over to "take a look at Knight's
+wrist," had stayed to dinner&mdash;there being always room for one more at
+that elastic table&mdash;and his bright humorous talk had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95"></a>[<a href="images/95.png">95</a>]</span> completely
+fascinated every one. After dinner the men went off for a smoke, and
+the girls retired for their siesta in an atmosphere as hazy as if they
+too had indulged in the fragrant weed.</p>
+
+<p>They went to the swimming hole later in the day, but somehow the zest
+was all gone from the sport, with the two leading spirits distrait and
+moody, avoiding direct speech with each other, and preserving an
+attitude of injured pride. Blue Bonnet had made up her mind that Kitty
+owed her an apology, while Kitty obstinately refused even in her
+thoughts to acknowledge herself in the wrong.</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet thinks she's the king-pin of the universe," she mused
+angrily. "The others can keep on spoiling her if they want to, but I'm
+not going to kowtow all the time. They ape her every action,&mdash;<i>I'll</i>
+show her that one of us has independence."</p>
+
+<p>Keyed up by this formula, repeated mentally a great many times, Kitty
+began to indulge in heroics. Aching to excite some admiration for
+herself she did "stunts" in the water that would have terrified her
+the day before. Once she plunged her bright head under the water and
+kept it there until she was almost black in the face, in an effort to
+prove her "staying powers." It only frightened the other girls and
+went apparently unnoticed by Blue Bonnet for whose benefit the test
+had been made.</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 309px;">
+<img src="images/gs109.jpg" width="309" height="400" alt="&quot;&#39;I believe the only way to learn to swim is to dive
+in head-first.&#39;&quot;" title="&quot;&#39;I believe the only way to learn to swim is to dive in head-first.&#39;&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;&#39;<i>I</i> believe the only way to learn to swim is to dive
+in head-first.&#39;&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"I'll show her we're not all 'fraid-cats!" Kitty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96"></a>[<a href="images/96.png">96</a>]</span> resolved
+passionately. "I believe," she announced to the girls, in a tone loud
+enough to reach Blue Bonnet, who was doing an overhand stroke in the
+quiet water of the opposite bank. "<i>I</i> believe the only way to learn
+to swim is to dive in head-first&mdash;then you just <i>have to</i>. Big boys
+always toss little fellows into the middle of the pool and make 'em
+scramble back&mdash;they always do it right off. Here goes!"</p>
+
+<p>She poised only for a moment on the bank, not daring to give herself
+time to reconsider. Blue Bonnet shot a quick glance at her; she saw at
+once that Kitty had chosen too shallow a spot,&mdash;a dive at that point
+might be dangerous. At any other time she would have shouted a hasty
+warning, but now she hesitated,&mdash;and in that second Kitty shot
+head-first into the water.</p>
+
+<p>The girls gave a gasp, and kept their eyes on the spot where she had
+gone down, waiting to see the red locks reappear. But the water closed
+over Kitty,&mdash;and stayed closed.</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet!" they shouted shrilly, "she hasn't come up!"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet felt a queer tightening around her heart; she had heard of
+boys breaking their necks that way. With a few powerful strokes she
+reached the shallows and felt for Kitty. "Help me girls&mdash;quick!" she
+cried, "she's struck her head on the bottom." She had seized Kitty by
+this time and held<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97"></a>[<a href="images/97.png">97</a>]</span> the girl's head above the water, but the body
+hung limp and heavy in her arms. The girls sprang to help and among
+them they managed to lift the slight figure to the bank and lay it
+tenderly on the soft grass. Kitty's face was deathly white, and from a
+gash on the top of her head a trickling stream was dyeing her bright
+locks a deeper red.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's teeth were chattering. "Go for somebody!" she gasped,
+and then, as Debby started on the run, she called after her&mdash;"That
+young doctor&mdash;bring him!" Then she turned to Sarah: "Here, help me set
+her up&mdash;work her arms&mdash;so!"</p>
+
+<p>Dripping as she fled like a frightened water-sprite, Debby burst upon
+the others as they sat under the magnolia and screamed tragically:</p>
+
+<p>"Come quick&mdash;the doctor, everybody! Kitty dove and Blue Bonnet went
+down after her and she's drowned!"</p>
+
+<p>Then breathless, exhausted, and with her bare feet cut and bleeding
+from her run over the rough meadow, she fell headlong at Mrs. Clyde's
+feet.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff dropped his pipe and ran, followed by the two boys and
+Abbott, who paused only to catch up his medicine case from the
+veranda, and then sped like the wind after the others. Mrs. Clyde had
+turned ghastly white at Debby's cry and had sprung up to follow the
+men. But the sight of the little messenger lying in a pathetic heap by
+her chair, stopped her. Hastily summoning Benita she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98"></a>[<a href="images/98.png">98</a>]</span> helped carry
+Debby into the house and put her to bed; and not until a faint tired
+moan told of returning consciousness, did she yield to her anxiety and
+hasten to the pool.</p>
+
+<p>With her feet winged by fear she crossed the meadow, ran as she had
+not run for forty years, and burst upon the group on the bank with a
+wild cry&mdash;"My girl, my girl&mdash;where is she?"</p>
+
+<p>At the sound Blue Bonnet sprang up, and running to her grandmother
+hugged her convulsively. "She isn't dead&mdash;only stunned," the girl
+sobbed in a glad relief.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde held her off for a second. "It wasn't you then?" she
+questioned as if afraid to trust her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"No, no!" cried Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God!" breathed her grandmother. Then she folded the girl, wet
+as she was, in her arms, and held her close as if she would never let
+her go. In that moment Blue Bonnet knew and was never to forget how
+much she was loved by her mother's mother.</p>
+
+<p>A sound drew them to the group about Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"There now!" young Abbott was saying cheerfully. "She's all right.
+Now, Knight, get in some of your good work,&mdash;first aid to the injured
+as taught by the Reverend Bayard Judson. A stretcher is what we need."</p>
+
+<p>Much pleased to be called upon, Knight set about<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99"></a>[<a href="images/99.png">99</a>]</span> his task, while Alec
+supplied the place of his disabled arm. Under his directions two stout
+saplings were cut and the small twigs trimmed from them. Then
+stripping off his coat he bade Alec thrust the two poles into its
+sleeve, one in each. Uncle Cliff's coat went on at the other end; both
+coats were buttoned underneath, and there before the eyes of the
+interested group, was a stretcher ready for the patient.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty, still weak and dazed, but with the color beginning to return to
+her milk-white cheeks, was borne gently to the house by Uncle Cliff
+and the doctor, attended by a body-guard of Alec and Mrs. Clyde, and
+followed by the other dripping and subdued We are Sevens.</p>
+
+<p>There was a rather bad quarter of an hour for Kitty while the doctor
+bathed and dressed her wound. After much debating and grave
+consideration in his most profound manner, young Abbott had decided
+that the cut was not deep or wide enough to warrant his sewing it up.
+Whereat there was great rejoicing in the household,&mdash;not, however,
+shared by the medical man. A bit of stitching would have given him
+practice and no end of professional enjoyment. However, Kitty felt
+that she had had quite her share of attention and was glad to be left
+alone in the nursery tucked in between cool sheets, to sleep off the
+ache in her broken head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100"></a>[<a href="images/100.png">100</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>When she awoke it was dusk in the room. Beside her bed stood somebody,
+bearing a tray.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you awake?" asked a sepulchral voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she whispered faintly.</p>
+
+<p>The tray was hastily placed on a stand, a second pillow slipped deftly
+under Kitty's head, and then before she had recognized her servitor a
+pair of soft lips were laid on hers and a penitent voice whispered:
+"I'm so sorry, Kitty,&mdash;and ashamed!"</p>
+
+<p>"It wasn't your fault, Blue Bonnet," said Kitty, returning the kiss
+warmly. "Served me right for being such a peacock."</p>
+
+<p>"Then all's serene on the Potomac?" Blue Bonnet questioned.</p>
+
+<p>And with a reassuring, though somewhat shaky smile, Kitty returned:</p>
+
+<p>"All's serene!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101"></a>[<a href="images/101.png">101</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2>
+
+<h3>CONSEQUENCES</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Blue Bonnet</span> came in from an early morning romp with Don and Solomon
+looking even more rosy and debonair than usual. It was surprising how
+much easier it was to rise early at the ranch than it had been at
+Woodford. She liked to steal quietly out of the nursery and go
+adventuring before breakfast; she felt then like Blue Bonnet the
+fourteen-year-old, full of the joy of life, untroubled by fears of any
+sort or desires for the great unknown. She and Don in those days had
+had many a ramble before the dew was off the grass. Hat-less and
+short-skirted she had climbed fences, brushed through mesquite and
+buffalo grass; hunted nests of chaparral-birds; sat on the top bar of
+the old pasture fence and watched the little calves gambolling; or,
+earlier in the spring, had gathered great armfuls of blue bonnets from
+over in the south meadow. Now when she found herself away from the
+house, skirting San <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'Francescito'">Franciscito</ins> in an eager chase for a butterfly, she
+could have thought the past ten months all a dream,&mdash;except for a
+certain small brown dog tearing madly from one gopher-hole to another,
+while Don, in the veteran's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102"></a>[<a href="images/102.png">102</a>]</span> scorn for the novice, refused to be
+enticed from his mistress' side.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's Grandmother?" she asked as she entered the dining-room.
+Grandmother always sat at the head of the breakfast table, and her
+sweet "homey" face over the teacups, was the first thing Blue Bonnet
+looked for.</p>
+
+<p>"Benita says the Se&ntilde;ora is not well," replied Juanita.</p>
+
+<p>The brightness all went out of the morning. Grandmother breakfasting
+in bed! It was unheard of. In her impetuous rush from the room Blue
+Bonnet almost collided with Benita. "Is Grandmother awake&mdash;can I go to
+her?" she asked, impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>"It is better not. The Se&ntilde;ora prefers to rest," said Benita.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter with her, Benita? I never knew Grandmother to be
+ill before," Blue Bonnet asked miserably.</p>
+
+<p>"It is the shock, I think. The Se&ntilde;ora is not so young as she once was,
+Se&ntilde;orita."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet turned away, sick at heart. In the nursery she found
+nothing to improve her spirits. Kitty lay languid and pale among her
+pillows, saying that her head ached and she didn't care for any
+breakfast. Debby, too, had kept her bed, declaring that she couldn't
+bear shoes on her poor lacerated feet. Amanda and Sarah only appeared
+as usual,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103"></a>[<a href="images/103.png">103</a>]</span> and these two had their spirits dampened immediately by the
+sight of Blue Bonnet's gloomy countenance.</p>
+
+<p>The three of them had the table to themselves, the men having
+breakfasted earlier than usual and Alec and Knight having hurried
+through the meal and ridden off, no one knew where. Blue Bonnet was
+not conversational; everything in her world seemed topsy-turvy, and
+she felt that she must have an hour of hard thinking to sort things
+out and put them in their places.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda and Sarah, respecting Blue Bonnet's mood, were silent. During
+this period of unusual restraint, a resolution was forming in Amanda's
+mind, and at the conclusion of the meal she made an announcement that
+would have petrified the rest had it come at any other time.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to study," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked her approval of this decision. "I'll help you,&mdash;let's do
+it in my room."</p>
+
+<p>Relief on Blue Bonnet's part quite crowded out surprise. "Then you
+don't mind if I leave you to yourselves?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"We wouldn't get much done if you didn't," Amanda replied with more
+frankness than tact.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet had found solitude glorious in the half-hour before
+breakfast, but now it had lost its charm: joy in her heart had given
+place to hate. Not hatred of the old life, such as had driven her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104"></a>[<a href="images/104.png">104</a>]</span> to
+pastures new; not hatred of Texas and "all it stood for"&mdash;as she had
+once passionately declared to Uncle Cliff. This time the object of her
+deep and bitter feeling was&mdash;herself. She had been rude to a guest in
+her own house. She had seen one of her best friends risk her life and
+had made no move to prevent it. She had been the cause of her
+grandmother's receiving a shock which, at her time of life, might
+prove very serious. And all this in spite of having lived for nearly a
+year with two such perfect gentlewomen as Aunt Lucinda and Grandmother
+Clyde. In spite of her boasted loyalty to the "We are Sevens." In
+spite of her promise to her aunt to care tenderly for her grandmother
+and bring her back safely to Woodford.</p>
+
+<p>She had wandered aimlessly outdoors and now flung herself face down on
+the Navajo under the big magnolia. "It's no use,&mdash;I reckon it's the
+same old thing. I'm not an Ashe clear through." With the thought came
+swift tears.</p>
+
+<p>Her head lay against something hard and unyielding; and after her
+first grief had spent itself, she put up her hand to push away the
+object&mdash;but grasped it instead. It was a book; opening her tear-wet
+reddened eyes Blue Bonnet saw that it was a volume of her
+grandmother's favorite Thoreau. It lay just where Mrs. Clyde had
+dropped it the day before when she had sprung up at Debby's frightened
+cry.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105"></a>[<a href="images/105.png">105</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>She dried her eyes and sat up. Leaning against the low, wicker chair,
+that was her grandmother's chosen seat, she slowly turned the leaves
+of the well-worn volume, her thoughts more on the owner of the book
+than on its author. All at once her glance was caught and held by
+something that seemed an echo of the cry that kept welling up from her
+own unhappy heart. It was a prayer, only ten short lines, and she read
+them with growing wonder:</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Great God! I ask thee for no meaner pelf">
+<tr><td align='left'>"Great God! I ask thee for no meaner pelf</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Than that I may not disappoint myself;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">That in my striving I may soar as high</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">As I can now discern with this clear eye.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">That my weak hand may equal my firm faith,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And my life practise more than my tongue saith.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">That my low conduct may not show,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Nor my relenting lines,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">That I thy purpose did not know</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Or over-rated thy designs."</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>How could any one, and that a grown man and a poet, have so exactly
+voiced the thoughts of a young girl on a far-off Texas ranch?</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="I ask thee for no meaner pelf">
+<tr><td align='left'>" . . . . I ask thee for no meaner pelf</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Than that I may not disappoint myself."</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>That was just it&mdash;she had disappointed herself, grievously, bitterly.
+So absorbed was she that she did not hear a foot-fall, nor did she
+look up until Uncle Cliff exclaimed, "All alone, Honey? That<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106"></a>[<a href="images/106.png">106</a>]</span> doesn't
+often happen these days!" His cheerful voice expressed no regret for
+the absence of the others.</p>
+
+<p>She looked up, and then quickly down again; but not soon enough for
+the traces of tears to escape his watchful eye.</p>
+
+<p>"What's up, Blue Bonnet?" he asked anxiously. He was on the rug beside
+her now, and with a hand under her quivering chin tilted her face and
+scanned it closely.</p>
+
+<p>She winked fast for a moment. "Uncle Cliff, do you find it terribly
+hard to be good?"</p>
+
+<p>"Thundering hard, Honey." He thought whimsically that it was lucky no
+one else had heard that question. "So hard that my success at it
+hasn't been remarkable!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Uncle, it has!" she declared. "And it always seems so easy for
+you to 'live as you ride&mdash;straight and true.' I was so proud last
+winter when you said I'd proved I was an Ashe, clear through. But I
+reckon you spoke too soon. I've been showing what Alec calls 'a yellow
+streak.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you say that of my girl! I'll wager our best short-horn against
+a prairie-dog that if you've a yellow streak it's pure gold!" He
+caressed the brown head that nestled against his arm.</p>
+
+<p>She wriggled away and faced him firmly. "You may as well know the
+worst, Uncle Cliff. It was my fault that Kitty was hurt yesterday.
+It's my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107"></a>[<a href="images/107.png">107</a>]</span> fault Grandmother is ill and Debby's feet hurt. I was mean
+and thoughtless and selfish and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>He put his hand over her mouth. "Look here, no Ashe is going to hear
+one of his race called all those ugly names. Remember whom you're
+talking to! Things always seem to come in bunches, Honey, but you have
+to dispose of them one at a time. Why, it's hardly a year since a girl
+about your size&mdash;a bit younger she was, but she had blue eyes just
+like yours,&mdash;was saying she reckoned she'd never make a Westerner, and
+she hated the ranch and was going to sell it as soon as she came of
+age&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't!" came in a smothered tone from Blue Bonnet. Her face was
+buried again. "Don't remind me how downright horrid I was."</p>
+
+<p>"And six months later that same little girl&mdash;blue eyes same as
+yours&mdash;was telling me how she reckoned that three hundred years would
+never make an Easterner of her, and she loved the ranch and wanted to
+be a Texas Blue Bonnet as long as she lived!"</p>
+
+<p>"And so I do, Uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'm just running over a few items in order to remind you that
+most troubles aren't half as black as your feelings paint them at the
+time. It's best not to worry over spilt milk till you see it's made a
+grease-spot. Ten to one the cat will lick it up,&mdash;and it's an ill wind
+that blows nobody good.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108"></a>[<a href="images/108.png">108</a>]</span> There,&mdash;that figure of speech is as mixed as
+a plum-pudding, but it has a heap of sound philosophy!"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was smiling now. "I wish all the preachers would say the
+kind of things you do. Most of the sermons I've heard sound like that
+last piece of mine&mdash;'variations on one theme'&mdash;and the theme is Duty
+with a big D. Sarah was brought up on those. And they must be pretty
+successful, for Sarah is awfully good. Isn't she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just that&mdash;awfully good."</p>
+
+<p>She looked up quickly, struck by something odd in his tone; but he was
+perfectly sober.</p>
+
+<p>"She's the salt of the earth," he added, "and you&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And what am I?"</p>
+
+<p>He smiled down at her. "Do you remember how the south pasture looks
+when the blue bonnets bloom in March,&mdash;how fresh and sweet, a sky
+turned upside down&mdash;? It's the glory of the ranch, Honey. And what
+they are to the ranch, you are to me. Please don't be trying to be
+something you can't be, Blue Bonnet!"</p>
+
+<p>She laughed outright. "That sounds like the Duchess in 'Alice in
+Wonderland.' Don't you remember?"</p>
+
+<p>"I confess I don't. You've been neglecting my education, young lady,
+since you began your own. What does the Duchess say?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109"></a>[<a href="images/109.png">109</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"'Be what you would seem to be'&mdash;or, if you want it put more
+simply&mdash;'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might
+appear to others that what you were or might have been was not
+otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be
+otherwise.'" The face she turned to him as she finished was cloudless,
+and he breathed a sigh of relief.</p>
+
+<p>"That's quite plain," he said, "and I hope you'll take the lesson to
+heart!"</p>
+
+<p>She smiled as she rose. Glancing up he was surprised to see how tall
+she looked,&mdash;quite as tall, he thought, as her mother had been when
+she came a bride to the ranch. Well, she was almost sixteen,&mdash;the
+other Elizabeth was only eighteen.</p>
+
+<p>"You've done me a lot of good, Uncle Cliff," she was saying. "I think
+my 'indigo fit,' as Alec calls the blues, has faded to a pale azure,
+and I can go to Grandmother. She will be wondering where I am."</p>
+
+<p>"Next time I see a fit coming on, I shall quote the Duchess!" he
+warned her.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was delighted to find her grandmother awake and ready for
+a "heart to heart" talk. Snuggled cosily on the bed at her feet the
+penitent poured out all her discouragement of the morning, and
+received the balm, which like the milk in the magic pitcher, bubbled
+constantly in Grandmother's heart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110"></a>[<a href="images/110.png">110</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>In Sarah's room the two students were diligently at work, Sarah in the
+r&ocirc;le of preceptress, hearing Amanda's French verbs, or helping to
+discover the perplexing value of X in an algebraic equation. Only
+occasionally did the thoughts of either wander.</p>
+
+<p>"This is the second time," remarked Amanda, "that Blue Bonnet and
+Kitty have had a tiff. The 'third time never fails,' you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you really think that after the third falling-out they'd stay&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Out?&mdash;indeed I do think so," Amanda declared. "I've seen it come true
+too many times to doubt it. There are always three fires&mdash;the last the
+worst; three spells of illness, three shipwrecks, three&mdash;everything!"</p>
+
+<p>"It sounds rather&mdash;superstitious to me," observed Sarah, doubtfully.
+"I shouldn't like to believe it anyway, for it keeps you always
+looking out for the third time, and that is <i>so</i> uncomfortable."</p>
+
+<p>"It's true as gospel," Amanda insisted.</p>
+
+<p>From that time onward, in spite of her better judgment, Sarah lived in
+perpetual dread of Blue Bonnet's third falling-out with Kitty; and her
+attitude was continually that of the pacifier, pouring the oil of
+tactful words on troubled waters, or averting the wrath of either by a
+watchfulness that never relaxed. Just how much was due Sarah for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111"></a>[<a href="images/111.png">111</a>]</span>
+cordial spirit that prevailed for a long time following this between
+the two girls, neither realized; and Sarah asked no reward for her
+pains, save peace.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112"></a>[<a href="images/112.png">112</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2>
+
+<h3>TEXAS AND MASSACHUSETTS</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">At</span> supper-time all the invalids were up; Kitty appearing rather
+"interestingly pale," as Amanda remarked; Debby hobbling about in
+padded bedroom slippers; and Grandmother Clyde looking somewhat older
+and grayer than usual, but calm and contained once more.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are the boys?" asked the Se&ntilde;ora, noting Alec's absence with
+some anxiety.</p>
+
+<p>"They went off early this morning loaded for big game," said Uncle Joe
+with a twinkle in his eye.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean they carried guns?" Mrs. Clyde spoke with a shade of
+worry in her tone; she had missed the twinkle.</p>
+
+<p>"Shady had a shotgun, I believe, but the boys carried nothing deadlier
+than lariats. I believe young Trent takes one to bed with him. He's
+been practising on the snubbing-post in the corral for hours every
+day,&mdash;he's got so he catches it about once in so often, and he's
+tickled to death." Uncle Joe chuckled.</p>
+
+<p>"Knight Judson can beat any of the Mexicans at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113"></a>[<a href="images/113.png">113</a>]</span> lassoing," Blue Bonnet
+declared. "He must be a wonder when he has both hands free."</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't seem in any hurry to discard his sling, I notice," Uncle
+Joe remarked, winking at Blue Bonnet ostentatiously.</p>
+
+<p>"His wrist isn't well yet," she insisted, ignoring the teasing glance.</p>
+
+<p>"Here they come, now," exclaimed Kitty. "Alec looks as excited as if
+he'd killed a bear at the very least!"</p>
+
+<p>"We've had a wonderful day," Alec declared, full of enthusiasm, when
+he and Knight had greeted every one and slipped into their places.
+Both boys were ravenous; Blue Bonnet and her grandmother exchanged a
+significant glance as Alec passed his plate for a second generous
+helping. He looked already a different boy from the pale student who
+had left Woodford only a few weeks before.</p>
+
+<p>"Guess what we bagged to-day?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"A bear!" Kitty said immediately.</p>
+
+<p>"Quail!" Blue Bonnet guessed.</p>
+
+<p>"Shady got some quail, but we didn't do any shooting," replied Alec.</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe you and Knight lassoed some prairie-hens," suggested Uncle Joe,
+laughing at his own joke.</p>
+
+<p>"Alec lassoed his first steer all right&mdash;made a neat job of it too,"
+said Knight enthusiastically.</p>
+
+<p>"Very amateurish work," Alec protested, pleased<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114"></a>[<a href="images/114.png">114</a>]</span> nevertheless at
+Knight's praise. "The steer thought I looked so harmless that he took
+a big chance&mdash;that's how I came to land him."</p>
+
+<p>"But what did you 'bag?'" asked Blue Bonnet, going back to the
+original question. "Is it good to eat?"</p>
+
+<p>Knight and Alec exchanged amused glances. "Never tasted them," both
+declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Where is it?" Blue Bonnet persisted.</p>
+
+<p>"'Tisn't 'it,'&mdash;but 'they'&mdash;and they're out in the barn," said Alec,
+delighting in the mystery.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was all impatience. "Oh, do hurry, everybody, and let's go
+see," she urged.</p>
+
+<p>The rapidity with which Knight and Alec ate the rest of their supper
+should have given them indigestion, even if it did not. It was
+impossible to leave any of Gertrudis' raspberry tart; equally
+impossible to keep their hostess waiting when she was on tip-toe to be
+off; mastication therefore was the only thing they could neglect&mdash;and
+did.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet had felt all the weight of her sixteen years a few hours
+earlier, but now she seemed to drop at least six of them, as she raced
+across the yard, impelled by a curiosity that Kitty would have died
+rather than display.</p>
+
+<p>Don and Solomon were sniffing excitedly about one of the mangers,
+emitting an occasional shrill bark; Blue Bonnet went straight to it
+and peered down. It was too dark to make out anything, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115"></a>[<a href="images/115.png">115</a>]</span> she could
+hear a rustling in the hay, and a pathetic, low whine.</p>
+
+<p>"It's something alive!" she cried, and was about to put an exploring
+hand down to find the source of the whine, when she had a second
+thought. "Will it bite?"</p>
+
+<p>"Too little," Knight assured her. He bent as he spoke and lifted two
+little furry bundles and laid them in Blue Bonnet's outstretched arms.</p>
+
+<p>"Puppies!" she cried delightedly. She bore them to the light, the
+other girls crowding about for a view of the wriggling mites.</p>
+
+<p>After her first good look at them, Sarah gave an exclamation of
+surprise. "Why, they're not dogs," she cried.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, they are," said Alec, "&mdash;coyote pups!"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, the dears!" cried Blue Bonnet ecstatically. "Where did you get
+them?"</p>
+
+<p>"Shady shot the mother," Knight explained, and then wished he had
+not,&mdash;Blue Bonnet looked so grieved. "She killed a calf a few nights
+ago," he said in extenuation, "and Shady was 'laying for' her. She
+made for her hole after she was wounded and we followed,&mdash;that's how
+we came to find the pups. Lucky we did or they'd have had a hard time
+of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor babies," said Blue Bonnet. "Let's go and show them to
+Grandmother and Debby&mdash;I reckon they never saw a real live coyote
+before.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116"></a>[<a href="images/116.png">116</a>]</span> Here, Sarah, you carry one." She generously held out one of
+the bright-eyed babies, but to her surprise Sarah drew back. "Why, you
+can't be afraid, Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"N-no," Sarah replied, edging away as she spoke. "But I don't like to
+touch&mdash;live animals."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I'd much rather touch live ones than dead things!" exclaimed
+Blue Bonnet. "Here, Alec, you take the poor baby&mdash;Sarah doesn't know
+how to mother it!"</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother and Debby were rather lukewarm in their praise, Blue
+Bonnet thought, when the coyotes were brought to them on the veranda.
+Grandmother did not look in the least delighted when the two
+sharp-nosed, long-haired puppies were dropped into her lap; and
+finally Blue Bonnet gathered them both in her arms, declaring that
+nobody knew how to appreciate real Texas babies except herself.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to keep them always," she said. "And Don and Solomon will
+just have to be reconciled."</p>
+
+<p>"Have you asked your uncle if he is willing for you to keep two such
+pets?" her grandmother asked.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked over to Uncle Cliff and laughed. "Asked Uncle
+Cliff? Why, Grandmother, I brought him up and he knows better than to
+oppose me at this late day!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117"></a>[<a href="images/117.png">117</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff smiled back at her whimsically. "I hope I'm a credit to
+your training! Two new pets is quite a modest demand. I've known her
+to have a dozen or two at a time. One summer she had twin lambs, a
+magpie, a lizard, bunnies&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't forget the snakes," Blue Bonnet interrupted.</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet Ashe&mdash;you never made pets of snakes!" gasped Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"Three of them; beauties, too," Blue Bonnet replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Weren't you afraid of them?" Sarah asked wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>"These were perfectly harmless; nobody should be afraid of such pretty
+little things. But the magpie had fits over them, so they had to go,"
+Blue Bonnet remarked regretfully.</p>
+
+<p>"What became of the magpie?" asked Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Mag died of curiosity," said Mr. Ashe. "She sampled some cyanide
+of potassium I had put out for ants. We had a most impressive funeral.
+You must get Blue Bonnet to show you her grave."</p>
+
+<p>"I will some day. We chose Mag's favorite spot&mdash;under a dewberry bush.
+Now what shall we call these cherubs?"</p>
+
+<p>"You've just called them 'Texas babies,' why not call one 'Texas?'"
+Knight suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"And the other 'Massachusetts,'" said Sarah.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118"></a>[<a href="images/118.png">118</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked at her in open admiration. "Your inspirations don't
+come often, Sarah," she remarked, "but they're as apt as not to be
+positively brilliant when they get here! Texas and Massachusetts the
+babies shall be. Poor Massachusetts' name is as long as his tail, but
+maybe he can bear up under it."</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go show them to the youngsters," Alec suggested. "Pancho's
+twins are straining their eyes for a peep."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet gave him one of the pups to carry and together they
+crossed the yard to the Mexican quarters. A moment later Blue Bonnet
+was sitting in the doorway of the little adobe hut, the coyotes in her
+lap, while all of Pancho's brood, not to mention Pancho and his fat
+Marta, were hanging about her in an eager, admiring circle. Every
+little "greaser" on the ranch adored the Se&ntilde;orita, and she was
+godmother to half the babies born on the place. Alec bade fair to be
+almost as popular as she, for he was always ready for a romp and had
+an unfailing supply of nuts in his capacious pockets. The visit now
+ended in a "rough-house," Alec with his ever-handy lariat lassoing the
+fleet-footed boys and pretending to take them prisoner, while they
+dodged and ran and kept up a shrill chorus of baby Spanish that
+delighted his soul.</p>
+
+<p>Later he and Blue Bonnet walked to the stable and put the coyotes down
+for the night; choosing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119"></a>[<a href="images/119.png">119</a>]</span> the unused manger again as being secure
+against the impertinent investigations of Don and Solomon, and deep
+enough to prevent the venturesome babies from falling out. It was
+almost dark as they strolled back towards the house, lingering and
+chatting and drinking in the beauty of the night. The lovely southern
+sky was studded with stars; the breeze laden with perfumes that only a
+Texas prairie knows; and the air full of melody,&mdash;the deep laughter of
+the cowboys lounging about the bunk-house, and the sweet tone of
+Shady's fiddle as he played to the crowd on the house-veranda.</p>
+
+<p>Alec paused and drew a deep breath. "And you wanted to leave it!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder at myself sometimes," she confessed. "But I'm not sorry.
+Think how much richer I am this summer than last, with Grandmother and
+all the girls,&mdash;not to mention present company!"</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you!" Alec laughed and made his bow.</p>
+
+<p>"You like it more because it is&mdash;different, than for any other reason.
+I reckon you have to know other places before you can properly
+appreciate your own," she went on thoughtfully.</p>
+
+<p>"This doesn't seem to add to my appreciation of&mdash;Woodford," Alec
+rejoined quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"That's because you haven't been here long enough. After a few years
+you'd begin to wonder how the elms look on Adams Avenue, and yearn for
+a glimpse of the Boston Common&mdash;just as I used<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120"></a>[<a href="images/120.png">120</a>]</span> to long for a sight of
+the prairie. But I'm glad you like it here&mdash;for it is a grand old
+place!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wish Grandfather would rejoice because I like it," he remarked
+moodily. "He seems to be sorry that I didn't go abroad with Boyd. And
+Boyd's letters to him&mdash;which he always forwards&mdash;are full of ravings
+about automobiles and scenery and pictures. Pictures!" Alec pointed to
+the meadow ahead of them where a million fireflies flashed their tiny
+lanterns, "&mdash;I wish he could see this! And I wish&mdash;I wish I could make
+him understand the bigness of it all. And how tired I am of sitting
+still and letting other people <i>do</i> things. I want to live." The boy's
+voice trembled as he ended.</p>
+
+<p>Again Blue Bonnet had a sudden sinking of the heart&mdash;could Alec
+mean&mdash;? She opened her lips to speak, but he went on gloomily:</p>
+
+<p>"Grandfather doesn't seem able to understand. He has never been
+willing to admit that I am a weakling, and refuses to see that my days
+are numbered in Woodford. I've been trying to get up courage enough to
+write him about myself, but I can't do it&mdash;yet." And then, as if
+fearing he had said too much, he added: "But don't say anything to the
+others, please. It's too soon&mdash;I may feel different by the end of the
+summer. Let it be a secret between us two&mdash;three rather, for I've
+already told Knight." Then, before Blue Bonnet could gather herself
+together for a reply, he had started on a new<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121"></a>[<a href="images/121.png">121</a>]</span> tack. "I tell you, Blue
+Bonnet, there's a fellow that dwarfs every other chap I ever knew!"
+His tone was now as eager and enthusiastic as it had been doleful.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was puzzled, but deciding that Alec needed to have his
+mind turned from introspective subjects, she took him up at once. "I
+agree with you. He's a giant for his age."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mean his size," returned Alec. "He's so big&mdash;mentally, you
+know. And he's so alive, so&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Up and coming?" interpolated Blue Bonnet. "That's pure Texan, I
+believe."</p>
+
+<p>"It describes him exactly."</p>
+
+<p>"What I can't understand is how such an expert horseman came to be
+thrown," Blue Bonnet remarked wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose he was startled at seeing a blue bonnet out of season!"
+laughed Alec. "I'm so glad something happened to bring him my way. It
+seems to give me a new lease on life just to be with him."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Cliff says he is 'greased lightning' with a lariat," said Blue
+Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"I should say he is. I could find it in my heart to envy him that
+accomplishment, even if he hadn't any others."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Joe says you are getting quite expert yourself," she threw out
+comfortingly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122"></a>[<a href="images/122.png">122</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, I can lasso a snubbing-post that can't get out of the way!"
+he retorted. He still clung to his lariat and now swung it in his hand
+rather impatiently.</p>
+
+<p>"Try your skill now. There's one of the girls waiting for us&mdash;lasso
+her and see how she acts!" Blue Bonnet urged mischievously.</p>
+
+<p>"Where?"</p>
+
+<p>"There&mdash;just by the magnolia," she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>It was almost dark, but Alec could manage to make out a dark figure
+standing half within the shadow of the big tree. He crept silently a
+few steps nearer and paused, whirling the loop around his head. The
+hair rope spread into a circle, hissed and flickered for a moment in
+the air, then dropped straight over the victim. It was a good throw.
+Alec gave a twitch&mdash;not too hard&mdash;to the lariat, and the thing was
+done. Blue Bonnet clapped her hands and started forward with Alec to
+see which one of the girls he had caught. Both suddenly stopped in
+dismay. There was a struggle, a shrill scream, and a very angry
+Spanish oath.</p>
+
+<p>And as the two of them hastened up full of surprise and apologies,
+they saw&mdash;Juanita and Miguel both caught in the one noose.</p>
+
+<p>Stifling their laughter, Alec and Blue Bonnet released the embarrassed
+pair of sweethearts, and then the boy made a handsome apology. Juanita
+hung her head and was silent, but Miguel, after the first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123"></a>[<a href="images/123.png">123</a>]</span> blazing up
+of his anger, cooled down and accepted the explanation in good part.</p>
+
+<p>Still weak with suppressed laughter, the two miscreants hurried on,
+waiting to be out of ear-shot before giving way to their wild mirth.
+As they drew near to the veranda they heard the crowd there singing to
+the accompaniment of Shady's violin.</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+"Nita, Jua-a-an-ita, ask thy soul if we must part!"<br />
+</div>
+
+<div class='unindent'>came tremulously from Uncle Joe and the We are Sevens.</div>
+
+<p>It was too much. Blue Bonnet collapsed in a heap on the grass.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Alec!" she gasped. "Miguel ought to have been singing that,&mdash;only
+he ought to have said&mdash;'Jua-a-an-ita, bless my soul if we can part!'"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124"></a>[<a href="images/124.png">124</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER X</h2>
+
+<h3>ENTER CARITA</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">Two</span> days later Knight appeared at the table minus his sling, and
+announced that this must be his last day at the ranch. There were
+expressions of regret from everybody, and from Blue Bonnet vigorous
+objections. The boy quite glowed under the tribute.</p>
+
+<p>"I simply must go," he protested firmly. "Though it's a big temptation
+to stay, I tell you. But it isn't fair to Uncle Bayard for me to be
+away any longer. Those twelve boys keep things moving for him. I hope
+you will be able to come up for one of our Sundays," he said to Mrs.
+Clyde.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother has missed her church more than anything else," Blue
+Bonnet remarked. "It's been pretty warm to drive to Jonah, and none of
+the Padres has visited the ranch since we came."</p>
+
+<p>"We have an outdoor service in a beautiful grove of trees," Knight
+explained, "and that setting and the boys' voices in the open air and
+all&mdash;well, it has spoiled me for stuffy meeting-houses. Can't you all
+come up and stay over next Sunday?" His glance and the eyes of all the
+We are Sevens were fastened anxiously on Mrs. Clyde's face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125"></a>[<a href="images/125.png">125</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>She thought for a moment. "It seems a stupendous undertaking,&mdash;for so
+many of us," she said at length. Camping out in Texas was full of
+unknown and rather dreadful possibilities, she secretly opined.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll take all the responsibility, Grandmother," Blue Bonnet assured
+her gravely.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde did not meet her granddaughter's eye; that young lady's
+method of taking responsibility was not such as to inspire one with
+unlimited confidence.</p>
+
+<p>"I can send Miguel ahead with one of the cook-wagons," Uncle Cliff
+suggested. "You can have Pancho, too, if you like,&mdash;he cooked on the
+round-up this spring and didn't kill anybody. Lisa's too fat and
+Gertrudis too old for that ride."</p>
+
+<p>"And we want Lupe for wrangler," said Blue Bonnet. "A wrangler looks
+after the horses, Sarah <i>mia</i>," she explained, anticipating the
+question.</p>
+
+<p>"If we go," said Se&ntilde;ora, "let us go as simply as possible. Surely we
+don't need such an army of men."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Grandmother," Blue Bonnet protested, "there has to be a cook,
+and somebody to pitch tents, and one to look after the horses and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see the necessity. You miss half the pleasure of camping out
+if you have everything done for you. When I was a girl we used to camp
+out in the Maine woods, and we girls took turns cooking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126"></a>[<a href="images/126.png">126</a>]</span> and washing
+dishes, while the boys gathered wood for the fires, caught fish and
+looked after the horses. To take a crowd of servants along would rob
+the life of all its simplicity."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked rather blank. Cooking and washing dishes did not
+seem altogether simple to her.</p>
+
+<p>"I can make caramel cake," announced Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"That's lovely&mdash;especially for breakfast," said Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like sweet things for breakfast," said Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Beans and bacon are as good camp fare as one needs," said Knight. "It
+is pretty cool in the mornings and evenings, and one gets hungry
+enough to eat the dishes."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll agree to anything if Grandmother will only go," said Blue
+Bonnet eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother, however, withheld her decision until she had held a
+serious conversation alone with Uncle Cliff.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think you are encouraging Blue Bonnet in habits of
+extravagance?" she asked, smiling inwardly at the likeness of her
+question to some of Lucinda's.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff pondered for a moment. "That depends on what you call
+'extravagance.' According to my definition it means spending more than
+you can afford."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127"></a>[<a href="images/127.png">127</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet is certainly spending a great deal this summer. It must
+cost something to keep up a big place like this, so many servants
+besides all the guests."</p>
+
+<p>"Mexicans don't draw down princely salaries, you know," he argued.
+"And we're not used to counting noses at table. Besides, Blue Bonnet
+has enough to do just about as she likes with. Miss Clyde and I had
+some talk about it last winter&mdash;when she put the poor child on an
+allowance. Three dollars!" Mr. Ashe made a comical grimace. "Why, Mrs.
+Clyde, I've been putting by Blue Bonnet's profits every year for
+nearly sixteen years, and they've been pretty tidy sums, too. Besides,
+she's going to have every penny of mine, some day. And now she's old
+enough to enjoy spending, I don't quite see the use of making her
+skimp." He looked very much in earnest and ready to "have it out" then
+and there.</p>
+
+<p>"But the possessors of wealth should be taught the value of money,
+just the same, don't you think so?" Mrs. Clyde urged.</p>
+
+<p>"Surely!" he agreed. "And Blue Bonnet has a very fair idea of its
+value, I think. She gives more people a good time on it than any one I
+know. You never knew her to stay awake nights worrying over something
+for herself, now did you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet is not given to worrying over anything. Not that I wish
+her to. She is dear and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128"></a>[<a href="images/128.png">128</a>]</span> warm-hearted and generous like her mother,
+but a little heedless,&mdash;Lucinda thinks. She needs to be taught that
+wealth entails responsibility."</p>
+
+<p>"Lucinda!" was Mr. Ashe's mental ejaculation. He might have known the
+source of Mrs. Clyde's arguments. Miss Clyde had undoubtedly sound
+ideas on the up-bringing of the young, and any amount of New England
+thrift. He had unlimited respect for her strength of character; but
+also his opinion as to why she was still <i>Miss</i> Clyde. "Maybe I've a
+queer mental twist," he went on audibly, "but that's just what I don't
+see the need of. Poor folk have to worry about making ends meet; but
+if money is of any use at all it's to save one that kind of fretting.
+When one feels the 'responsibility of wealth,' then it's a burden. I'd
+hate to think Blue Bonnet would ever get to that pass."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde wished for Lucinda just at this moment; Miss Clyde could
+have met this argument with a worthy rejoinder, she was confident.
+"Don't you fear that thoughtless spending now may grow into future
+extravagance?" she asked rather helplessly.</p>
+
+<p>"When the little girl begins to worry about bird-of-paradise aigrettes
+and pearl pendants for herself, I'll believe she's extravagant. As
+long as she spends only what she can afford and bestows it all upon
+others, I'll not begin to fret," he said decidedly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129"></a>[<a href="images/129.png">129</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Then you don't think this camping-trip an extravagance? She is doing
+so much for the girls already that it seems rather unnecessary to me."</p>
+
+<p>"It will be a wonderful experience for the girls&mdash;and they're just the
+right age to enjoy it most. A few years later they'll fuss about dirt
+and want springs on their beds."</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother Clyde smothered a sigh; she had reached the latter stage,
+but perhaps it was not her place to "reason why." The conversation
+ended for the present, and during her stay on the ranch was not
+resumed.</p>
+
+<p>As Uncle Cliff left the veranda after the conference, he was set upon
+by Blue Bonnet and Kitty and enticed to the lair of the We are Sevens,
+which chanced this time to be the summer-house in the Se&ntilde;orita's
+little garden. This rather shaky bower, overgrown by jack-beans which
+held together the would-be rustic structure, had once been the pride
+of Blue Bonnet's heart, but now, neglected&mdash;as was the garden since
+the advent of the ranch party&mdash;had become the residence of a large and
+growing family of insects. It served, however, as a very excellent
+spot for secret sessions such as the present one. A circular bench,
+very wobbly as to legs, had the advantage of bringing all the members
+face to face in solemn conclave. It was here their captive was haled.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130"></a>[<a href="images/130.png">130</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"What says the noble Se&ntilde;ora?" demanded Blue Bonnet, and then before he
+could answer she exclaimed&mdash;"Uncle Cliff, you must help us out. Life
+without that camping trip will be stale, flat and unprofitable."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Blue Bonnet," said Sarah reproachfully, "how can you say that
+when we are having the most wonderful time that ever was?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah, don't weaken our case," Blue Bonnet admonished her. "It's your
+place to look positively <i>pining!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"If you'll allow me to speak," remarked Uncle Cliff, "I'll put an end
+to your suspense. The Queen Mother says she will sacrifice herself for
+the weal of her subjects."</p>
+
+<p>"Hooray!" cried Blue Bonnet, and the cry was echoed even by Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>Alec and Knight, hearing the uproar on their way to the house, stopped
+and begged permission to enter.</p>
+
+<p>"Come right in and sit down on the floor," said Blue Bonnet cordially.
+"Alec, Grandmother says she'll go!"</p>
+
+<p>"So that's what all the row's about?" asked Knight. "Say, but I'm
+glad!"</p>
+
+<p>Alec's eyes shone. "Don't you think I'd better go ahead with Knight? I
+could pick out a camping place and have everything ready for you." He
+had been awaiting a favorable moment to bring forth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131"></a>[<a href="images/131.png">131</a>]</span> his quietly laid
+scheme, and the present seemed auspicious.</p>
+
+<p>"I think that would be splendid," cried Blue Bonnet enthusiastically,
+reading Alec like a book. "But you'll wait and go with us, won't you,
+Uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Can't go this trip. Pete has gone up with some of the boys to cut out
+a bunch of beef-cattle. I'll have to see to shipping them."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Uncle,&mdash;we need you," remonstrated Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"And it's almost as good to be needed as it is to be wanted. Thank
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"We want you even more than we need you," she insisted.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have plenty of men creatures to tyrannize over in camp. How
+many boys did you say there were, Knight?"</p>
+
+<p>"There are twelve&mdash;and they know how to work, too."</p>
+
+<p>"They'll be worked all right," said Uncle Cliff with a wicked twinkle.</p>
+
+<p>"We must all work," said Sarah conscientiously. "I think we had better
+begin to plan things and get ready right away."</p>
+
+<p>"The first thing to do," said Blue Bonnet, "is to make a huge lot of
+pinoche."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah regarded her in astonishment. "Do you propose to live on
+pinoche?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132"></a>[<a href="images/132.png">132</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"No, goose, but with twelve boys in camp&mdash;not counting Alec and
+Knight, a pound won't go very far. And we must send to Jonah for
+marshmallows."</p>
+
+<p>"Hadn't you better include several tons of angel-cake and fifty
+gallons or so of ice-cream?" asked Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Just you wait, Kitty-Kat. When you see the use to which I put those
+marshmallows, you'll see that I'm the most practical member of the
+Club," Blue Bonnet prophesied solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother, you're such a success," she said later, as they two sat
+discussing ways and means for the camping-trip.</p>
+
+<p>"A success?" Mrs. Clyde questioned.</p>
+
+<p>"As a grandmother, you know. If I'd had you made to order I wouldn't
+have had you a mite different! I hope our trip isn't going to be too
+hard for you. I promised Aunt Lucinda to take care of you, and I
+suspect sometimes that I'm not quite living up to the contract."</p>
+
+<p>"We elderly people must guard against getting 'set in our ways.'
+Camp-life is certainly a good corrective for that." Mrs. Clyde smiled
+rather ruefully.</p>
+
+<p>"It surely is," Blue Bonnet laughed. "It would never suit Aunt
+Lucinda. But she isn't sixty-five years young!"</p>
+
+<p>"Nor fifteen years old."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133"></a>[<a href="images/133.png">133</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Was she ever? Somehow I can't imagine her different. It must give one
+a very&mdash;solid feeling, to be as sure about everything as Aunt Lucinda
+is. But she misses a lot of fun!"</p>
+
+<p>Early the next morning Alec and Knight rode away; Knight looking very
+soldierly and capable now that his arm no longer reposed in its
+scarlet sling; Alec with his blankets in a business-like roll behind
+his saddle, and both boys provided with a "snack of lunch" to eat on
+the way. Alec's eyes were shining with anticipation; even Strawberry
+pranced more joyously than usual as though she knew a good time was in
+store.</p>
+
+<p>The We are Sevens accompanied the travellers as far as Kooch's, and
+sent them off from that point weighted with injunctions and messages
+innumerable. That ride, even Sarah admitted, was a "grand and
+glorious" success; the air was fresh and sweet, Comanche very
+tractable, and everybody in the best of humors. The girls returned to
+the ranch full of plans for the camping trip, and for the rest of the
+day, and for several days following, made out exhaustive lists of
+eatables, bedding and utensils such as would have provided amply for a
+regiment of soldiers. In the midst of the preparations Sarah was
+caught red-handed packing her drawn-work among her effects.</p>
+
+<p>"She'll have to be watched, girls," said Kitty. "White linen
+drawn-work on a camping-trip!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134"></a>[<a href="images/134.png">134</a>]</span> Next she'll be slipping in white piqu&eacute;
+skirts and dancing slippers."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you'll object to my taking handkerchiefs, too?" Sarah's
+look was a mixture of irony and indignation.</p>
+
+<p>"We ought really to bar all hankies except bandanas," said Blue
+Bonnet, "but we'll stretch a point for Sarah's sake. She can't help
+having aristocratic tastes, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was secretly of the opinion that drawn-work was no more out of
+place than the many boxes of pinoche and marshmallows that Blue Bonnet
+packed away in the huge "grub-boxes," but she yielded with her usual
+good grace.</p>
+
+<p>By Wednesday all was pronounced in readiness for the start. Miguel was
+sent ahead with tents and supplies in one of the big cook-wagons used
+on the round-ups; with help from Alec and Knight he was to have a camp
+ready for the rest of the party when they should arrive on the
+following day.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish Grandmother were not so set on the 'simple life,'" remarked
+Blue Bonnet, "for I should like to take Juanita along. It's a pity to
+separate her and Miguel just now, when things are progressing so
+nicely."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know?" Kitty looked up quickly.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet bit her lip. She and Alec had agreed not to tell of the
+incident of the lasso, and she had kept the secret, though she burned
+to tell the romance-loving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135"></a>[<a href="images/135.png">135</a>]</span> We are Sevens. "Just by signs," she
+answered evasively.</p>
+
+<p>But Kitty could read signs, too, and privately longed to shake the
+mystery out of her hostess. Suspecting the trend of little Miss Why's
+thoughts, Blue Bonnet went on hurriedly: "How shall we go&mdash;in the
+buckboard or on horse-back?"</p>
+
+<p>"Horse-back!" exclaimed all four of the others.</p>
+
+<p>"Did I hear you speak, Sarah?" Kitty inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"You did if you were listening," replied Sarah calmly.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe Sarah and Comanche have formed a real attachment for each
+other," said Blue Bonnet who secretly exulted in Sarah's growing
+spirit.</p>
+
+<p>"It must be a patent attachment then," laughed Kitty, "&mdash;something
+that keeps Sarah on!"</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother will have to go in the buckboard&mdash;Uncle Joe's going to
+drive and&mdash;" Blue Bonnet did some hasty calculating, "I had better
+stay with Grandmother&mdash;it's smoother riding with two in a seat.
+Firefly will hate being led, but I reckon some disciplining won't hurt
+him."</p>
+
+<p>They were up before dawn in order to complete the first stage of the
+journey before noon. As they gathered about the lamp-lighted table for
+breakfast, yawning and rubbing their eyes, Blue Bonnet gave an amused
+laugh.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136"></a>[<a href="images/136.png">136</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="In summer">
+<tr><td align='left'>"'In <i>summer</i> I get up at night</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And dress by yellow candle-light.'"</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<div class='unindent'>she quoted.</div>
+
+<p>"I think it would have been a good plan to have had breakfast before
+we went to bed," said Sarah. "Thank you, Mrs. Clyde, I will take
+coffee, I think it will wake me up."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind," said Blue Bonnet. "You can just alter the lines a bit&mdash;</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="In camp it's quite the other way">
+<tr><td align='left'>"'In camp it's quite the other way,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">We'll all go straight to bed by day'&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<div class='unindent'>and make up for the loss of our beauty sleep. And you'll see something
+worth getting up for later. Sunrise on the prairie, Kitty, makes the
+Massachusetts article look like your pink lawn when it came back from
+the wash."</div>
+
+<p>They were several miles from the ranch when Uncle Joe raised his quirt
+and pointed to the east. "There she comes!" he warned.</p>
+
+<p>The whole crowd came to a standstill in the middle of the road in a
+hush that was almost reverent. Blue Bonnet drew a deep breath. The
+rolling prairie with the long grass stirred by the breeze; the
+peaceful herds just waking into life; the fleecy clouds glowing from
+buff to rosy pink&mdash;she loved it all.</p>
+
+<p>At eleven every one was ravenous and a halt was made for lunch. From
+that point the journey was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137"></a>[<a href="images/137.png">137</a>]</span> hardly so pleasant; the road began to
+ascend sharply into the sturdy little range of hills that Texans
+proudly call mountains, and being less frequented than the county
+road, was rough and full of surprises in the way of snakes and
+insects. Sarah was just beginning to wonder if she could survive
+Comanche's next fright, when a loud "Whoa-o-o-pe!" sounded from
+somewhere above and ahead of them. Blue Bonnet answered immediately
+with the ranch-call which she and some of the cowboys had adapted
+years ago from one of Uncle Joe's old-time songs:</p>
+
+<div class="figcenter" style="width: 100px;">
+<img src="images/gs151.jpg" width="100" height="21" alt="Music: O Ho ye ho ho!" title="Music: O Ho ye ho ho!" />
+<span class="caption">O Ho ye ho ho!</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>She had a strong, carrying voice, and the cheery summons of the
+Twickenham ferryman rang clearly on the air.</p>
+
+<p>The next minute three riders emerged from the trees in whose shade
+they had been waiting, and galloped to meet the campers.</p>
+
+<p>"It's Alec and Knight," Kitty called from the front. "And there's a
+girl with them!"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet shot a quick glance at the approaching trio, and then gave
+a bounce of delight. That erect little figure, just about her own
+size, with the two pig-tails flying out behind her as she rode, could
+be no other than&mdash;Carita Judson.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138"></a>[<a href="images/138.png">138</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Carita was not so quick at discovering her unknown friend; she gave a
+bashful, inquiring look at each one of the girls in turn. But as soon
+as she met Blue Bonnet's eye, full of an eager welcome, she rode
+straight to the side of the buckboard and held out a slim, brown hand.
+"You are&mdash;you must be&mdash;a Texas Blue Bonnet!"</p>
+
+<p>"And you're Carita,&mdash;I'm so glad!" Blue Bonnet took the outstretched
+hand in both her own and gazed with frank pleasure into the girl's
+smiling face.</p>
+
+<p>Knight came up beside them and presented his cousin to Mrs. Clyde and
+the other girls, and after a short but merry halt they prepared to
+move on. Camp was still at some distance and they must get settled
+before nightfall.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah came up to the buckboard just as the others were starting. "Do
+you mind changing places with me, Blue Bonnet?" she asked. "I'm tired
+of riding."</p>
+
+<p>The look Blue Bonnet gave her was ample reward for what Sarah feared
+was almost an untruth on her part. She scrambled out of the saddle in
+a manner that Blue Bonnet would have smiled at ordinarily, but now
+regarded with sober eyes. The other girls, without giving a thought to
+her natural wish for a few words with Carita had ridden on in a gay
+whirl of conversation; Sarah with a thoughtfulness that Blue Bonnet
+was beginning to believe unfailing,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139"></a>[<a href="images/139.png">139</a>]</span> had been the only one to read her
+unspoken wish.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't Sarah the dearest?" she whispered to her grandmother.</p>
+
+<p>And Mrs. Clyde, mindful of a former comment of Blue Bonnet's, smiled
+with amusement as she replied&mdash;"Not half bad&mdash;considering her
+bringing-up!"</p>
+
+<p>Carita had lingered behind the others and now as she saw Blue Bonnet
+mount Comanche, she rode back and joined her. They were the last of
+the procession and practically alone.</p>
+
+<p>"It's so wonderful," Carita's small dark face was alight with
+pleasure, "&mdash;to think of seeing you after&mdash;everything!"</p>
+
+<p>They smiled into each other's eyes. Carita did not in the least
+resemble the Woodford girls. She wore a queer one-piece garment of
+blue denim, not designed for riding, which pulled up in a bunch on
+either side of the saddle, showing her feet in thick boyish boots, and
+an inch or two of much-darned stocking. On her head was an old felt
+sombrero, sadly drooping as to brim and dented as to crown, secured
+under her chin by a piece of black elastic. Below it her small face,
+brown and freckled as it was, was not without a singular attraction.
+Her eyes were big and soft, her lips scarlet as holly-berries; and the
+long braids were very heavy and of a glossy chestnut. In spite of her
+clumsy costume<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140"></a>[<a href="images/140.png">140</a>]</span> she rode her wiry little pinto as Western girls
+ride&mdash;thistle-down in the saddle. She was a bit of the prairie
+herself, and Blue Bonnet saw it and loved her.</p>
+
+<p>"When did you come?" Blue Bonnet asked her.</p>
+
+<p>"Yesterday. And we're to stay over Sunday. Won't we just have to cram
+the days full?" Carita's eyes were wistful. "For fear we sha'n't have
+much time alone, I want to tell you how much it has meant to me&mdash;your
+letters, and the dress and the Christmas box and everything. I can't
+begin to tell you the&mdash;difference they have made. We've always had
+boxes you know&mdash;father has no regular salary. But nothing ever came
+that was half so wonderful. Last winter wasn't a bit like others&mdash;it
+was full of excitement!"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet smiled, but she felt nearer tears than laughter. Such a
+little thing to mean so much! For the second time she had a feeling of
+thankfulness that she was&mdash;not poor. Money was certainly worth while
+when it could give such pleasure. If Miss Lucinda could have read the
+girl's mind at this moment, she might have felt some doubts as to her
+niece's ability to profit by the last winter's lesson in New England
+thrift. Blue Bonnet's only regret was that her purse which had been
+slipped into the missionary box, had not contained several times as
+much!</p>
+
+<p>"I was sure we'd know each other, some day&mdash;I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141"></a>[<a href="images/141.png">141</a>]</span> felt it!" Carita went
+on in her eager way. "And I believe Knight's meeting you that day was
+providential!"</p>
+
+<p>"It was certainly providential for Sarah and me," Blue Bonnet laughed.
+"We'd have had a pretty spill if it hadn't been for him. But as 'all's
+well that ends well,' we can consider that everything has been for the
+best."</p>
+
+<p>"That sounds like father." It seemed to Blue Bonnet that Carita
+smothered a sigh. "Mother and I aren't always sure that <i>everything</i>
+is for the best. But father never has the least bit of doubt." Then
+with a quick return of animation&mdash;"I know you'll love the camp. Knight
+has picked out the loveliest spot for your tents. There&mdash;look! You can
+see the Spring, and that gleam of white through the trees&mdash;that's Camp
+Judson!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142"></a>[<a href="images/142.png">142</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2>
+
+<h3>CAMPING BY THE BIG SPRING</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Oh</span>, Blue Bonnet, do hurry!" cried Debby as Blue Bonnet galloped into
+camp. "It's the most wonderful place,&mdash;we can't wait for you to see
+it."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet slipped from the saddle and flung the reins to Miguel.</p>
+
+<p>"Show me everything!" she cried; and then not waiting to be shown,
+went from one tent to another in her usual whirlwind fashion.</p>
+
+<p>"Our sleeping-tent," said Kitty; they were all trooping after the
+late-comer, chattering busily and explaining the most obvious
+arrangements. "That one's for you and the Se&ntilde;ora; this one is the
+dining-room&mdash;see the table and benches Alec and Knight made! The
+kitchen is under that awning. Isn't that the darlingest stove?"</p>
+
+<p>"And the little creek right handy!"</p>
+
+<p>By the time she had completed her survey, Blue Bonnet was more
+enthusiastic than any one else. How she loved camping out!</p>
+
+<p>The spot the boys had chosen for them was a beautiful one. Under two
+giant live-oaks whose branches interlaced overhead in a leafy canopy,
+the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143"></a>[<a href="images/143.png">143</a>]</span> sleeping-tents were pitched, between them stretching an awning
+that formed both a dining-room and a lounging-place by day. The site
+had been used as a camping-ground before and still retained many
+conveniences installed by former campers; the underbrush had all been
+cut away, and the ground packed hard and level. For the kitchen, a
+canvas stretched between the camp-wagon and a convenient sycamore
+served as sufficient protection from sun and arboreal insects. The
+little sheet-iron stove, set up on a flat boulder, boasted an elbow in
+its pipe that could be adjusted to suit the direction of the wind.</p>
+
+<p>A thread of a creek, tumbling down the hillside, ran not ten yards
+from the wagon, and at one point a tiny wooden trough had been
+inserted, giving the effect of a spout where kettles could be quickly
+filled. Alec and Knight had labored diligently to have all attractive
+as well as convenient, and really deserved great praise for the
+completeness of all details.</p>
+
+<p>"Everything is perfect!" Blue Bonnet declared. "But we must have the
+buckboard seats in the&mdash;er&mdash;living-room. Uncle Cliff sent all three so
+that we could use them as easy chairs,&mdash;especially for Grandmo&mdash;why,
+where is she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Here, dear," Mrs. Clyde came up with a tin dipper in her hand. "I've
+been having a drink,&mdash;such a drink, Blue Bonnet!" She held out the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144"></a>[<a href="images/144.png">144</a>]</span>
+dripping cup and Blue Bonnet drank from it thirstily.</p>
+
+<p>As she finished she met the Se&ntilde;ora's eyes over the brim. "Oh,
+Grandmother, I ought to have done that&mdash;for you!" She shook her head.
+"I wonder if I'll ever think in time?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde smiled and pushed the hair back from the girl's hot brow.
+"Where is Carita?"</p>
+
+<p>"She rode on to tell her mother we had arrived. She'll be over later."
+Blue Bonnet glanced around the group. Every one looked warm, dusty,
+tired. And there was supper to get and beds to make! "What shall we do
+first, Grandmother?" Her manner was not exactly eager.</p>
+
+<p>"First, we must all wash and brush up, for we are invited out to
+dinner!" Mrs. Clyde departed to suit the action to the words.</p>
+
+<p>"Invited out&mdash;?" Blue Bonnet gazed at the girls incredulously.</p>
+
+<p>"The boys of Camp Judson, represented by Knight, have invited us over
+there&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And we didn't waste any time in accepting!"</p>
+
+<p>"Wasn't it thoughtful of them?" Blue Bonnet beamed on every one. "Now
+aren't you glad we brought the pinoche?"</p>
+
+<p>"Let's go and dress," Debby urged.</p>
+
+<p>"Dress?" echoed Blue Bonnet. "What are you going to wear&mdash;your pink
+panne velvet or your yellow chiffon?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145"></a>[<a href="images/145.png">145</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Why, Blue Bonnet," said Sarah, "you know we haven't any clothes with
+us but these!"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet groaned. "Then why is that worldly-minded Debby talking
+about dressing for dinner?"</p>
+
+<p>"I meant wash and comb our hair," Debby protested.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's the wash-basin, Blue Bonnet? I saw you with it when we were
+packing," said Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet clapped a hand to her brow. "I think I put it in with the
+frying-pan."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure it isn't in the bread-box?" Kitty asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't be sure it isn't." Blue Bonnet began a hasty search in the
+camp-wagon. Box after box was rummaged through, utensil after utensil
+picked up hopefully, only to disappoint when brought to the surface.</p>
+
+<p>"There's no help for it," declared Debby, "we'll have to go and wash
+in the creek."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, there may be campers below," said Sarah in a shocked tone, "and
+they wouldn't like to&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't draw a diagram, Sarah," interrupted Blue Bonnet. "A word
+to the wise, you know. I'll polish off with cold cream." And she
+vanished.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah, armed with towel and soap emerged from her tent a few minutes
+later and made her way through the willows to the creek. Blue Bonnet
+spying her called tauntingly: "Campers below!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146"></a>[<a href="images/146.png">146</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"I'm only going to wet one corner," Sarah went on calmly.</p>
+
+<p>"Which corner&mdash;northeast or southwest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of the towel, of course." Then a minute later she called, "Girls,
+come quick!"</p>
+
+<p>There was an immediate stampede to the creek.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it&mdash;lions?" asked Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah pointed without speaking. There, bending over an old tree-stump,
+admirably fashioned for a wash-stand, was the Se&ntilde;ora calmly washing
+herself&mdash;in the basin.</p>
+
+<p>"I found it here all ready for us," she explained. "And see&mdash;here's a
+nail on this little tree ready for a mirror, and branches just made to
+hang towels on."</p>
+
+<p>"Alec and Knight haven't left a thing for me to see to," remarked Blue
+Bonnet. "I'm going to stop worrying."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, you were worrying, were you?" asked Kitty. "We'll know the
+symptoms next time."</p>
+
+<p>The washing-up that ensued was very animated, if not thorough. Taking
+turns at the basin the girls, wincing under the cold water, "polished
+off" the top layer of dust; brushed ruffled locks and retied ribbons;
+dabbed talcum on noses and straightened creased middies. They were
+just putting on the finishing touches when the sound of cow-bells,
+rung lustily and long, came from the direction of the other Camp.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147"></a>[<a href="images/147.png">147</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"That must be the dinner-bell," said Blue Bonnet. "I hope they won't
+expect us to have dainty appetites just because we're girls!"</p>
+
+<p>A moment later Alec and Knight appeared to escort them in state.
+Midway they were met by Mr. and Mrs. Judson,&mdash;the latter with two
+small boys tugging at her skirts, and a third not far in the rear; a
+state of things that was later found to be invariably the case
+whenever Mrs. Judson ventured forth.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet decided that she was going to like the whole Judson
+family. She liked the Reverend Mr. Judson with his delicate face and
+kind, nearsighted eyes. She liked him particularly because he looked
+so unministerial in his soft shirt and blue overalls. She liked Mrs.
+Judson, with her sweet, tired face looking out from a cavernous
+sun-bonnet. Mrs. Clyde's discerning eye read in the patient worn face
+a history of privation and self-denial; and surmised that the
+enthusiasm of the missionary was paid for most dearly by this
+uncomplaining partner.</p>
+
+<p>It was to the tiniest toddler that Blue Bonnet was drawn most of all;
+she adored babies, and this chubby two-year-old was irresistible. She
+held out her arms to little Joe, but, to her surprise, he held off
+shyly. He scanned the row of ingratiating faces slowly, and not until
+his eyes rested on the kindly round countenance of Sarah did he show
+any response.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148"></a>[<a href="images/148.png">148</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Pitty lady!" he cried, holding out his arms and making a charge at
+her.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's face flushed pink with surprise and pleasure; and then with a
+rush she gathered Joe in a close hug. She had not realized until then
+how she had missed the little clinging arms at home.</p>
+
+<p>"He spurns you, Blue Bonnet!" gasped Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon he can tell who has had experience with babies," Blue Bonnet
+remarked. The glance she gave Sarah was almost envious. "Well, pitty
+lady," she said at length, "you might leave a few kisses for somebody
+else!"</p>
+
+<p>But Joe was chary and clung tightly to the lady of his choice; while
+the other girls secretly marvelled at any one's preferring Sarah to
+Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Carita made up for her brother's lack of appreciation; running to meet
+the girls, she drew Blue Bonnet's arm through her own and gave it an
+affectionate squeeze every few minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope the other girls won't mind if I monopolize you a little bit,"
+she whispered; "they've had you so long and I'm to have such a short
+time."</p>
+
+<p>This sort of incense no one could have been proof against; and Blue
+Bonnet was presently glowing.</p>
+
+<p>"Welcome to Camp Judson!" said Knight proudly, as they neared a second
+grove of trees.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how lovely!" Every one came to a standstill while they took in
+the pretty scene.</p>
+
+<p>A model camp was Camp Judson. On a high flat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149"></a>[<a href="images/149.png">149</a>]</span> knoll to the right was a
+long row of tiny white tents placed with military precision at regular
+spaces from each other, and each surrounded by a narrow trench. Among
+the trees gleamed other tents, and occasionally a gay quilt hung to
+air. Under one huge oak was the dining-room with a red-white-and-blue
+awning for a roof. Here were two long tables made of smooth boards
+laid on barrels, with rude benches running their entire length. They
+were guiltless of cloth and spread with tin dishes, for simplicity was
+a law as well as a necessity in this Camp. But a rustic basket of
+graceful ferns adorned one table, and the sun, hanging low in the sky,
+threw a pattern of quivering light and shade on the bare boards.</p>
+
+<p>The girls had rather dreaded having to meet a dozen boys all at once.
+But they found the ordeal not half so bad as they had expected. The
+youngest boys were already gathered about the smaller table awaiting
+the signal to be seated; while the second table was reserved for the
+Judsons and their guests. Standing beside it were three tall lads
+wearing towels pinned about them for aprons.</p>
+
+<p>"Smith, Brown and Jones&mdash;the three props of the world!" explained
+Knight, with a wave of his hand; and the girls acknowledged the
+introduction without knowing which was which. "Keep your eye on the
+waiters, ladies and gentlemen," Knight continued, "and report all
+incivilities to the management.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150"></a>[<a href="images/150.png">150</a>]</span> There's a fine for every cup of cocoa
+they spill down anybody's neck, and another for every spider they
+don't see first!"</p>
+
+<p>Everybody stood beside the benches for a moment while Dr. Judson said
+a simple grace. Blue Bonnet noticed that even the smallest boy there
+bent his head at once, without even so much as a nudge from his
+neighbor. There was a second of absolute quiet after the pleasant
+voice finished the short invocation; then a shoving of benches, a
+rattle of dishes; and the meal progressed amid peals of laughter and
+an incessant clucking as of chickens at feeding-time.</p>
+
+<p>"Talk about chattering girls!" Blue Bonnet challenged Alec with an
+amused glance. She found herself seated between him and Knight, an
+arrangement that suited all three admirably; while Carita smiled at
+her across the narrow table. Some of the older boys were beside Kitty,
+Debby and Amanda, and all three girls seemed to be well entertained.
+Sarah, with a small Judson on either side of her, was occupied chiefly
+in alternately kissing and feeding the youthful pair. Steaming
+<i>frijoles</i> in a huge earthen bowl; bass from the Spring, fried with
+slices of bacon; baked potatoes, cocoa and doughnuts formed the menu,
+which the hearty appetites of all transformed into a banquet; and no
+one felt compelled to refuse a second or third helping from motives of
+politeness.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's the Spring?" Blue Bonnet asked suddenly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151"></a>[<a href="images/151.png">151</a>]</span> "The only creek
+I've seen is about as wide as my hand."</p>
+
+<p>"Just a short walk from camp," Knight replied. "I'm saving that to
+show you in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>There fell a moment of silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Did I hear you sigh?" Alec was looking at Blue Bonnet in
+astonishment. She had never looked happier or prettier in her life;
+sun and wind had painted a rose-blush on her cheeks; the blue eyes
+were positively luminous. Yet he had distinctly heard her sigh.</p>
+
+<p>She nodded. "I had to. I'm just too full for utterance&mdash;no, no!&mdash;I'll
+take another doughnut! I didn't mean that literally. But I'm full of
+content,&mdash;I'd like to purr."</p>
+
+<p>Alec laughed. "It's the best fun I've ever had. I believe I must be
+part Indian, and this is the only time I've ever been able to obey
+'the call of the wild.' It makes me sorry for all the misguided folk
+that spend all their lives in houses."</p>
+
+<p>"Look at Grandmother," Blue Bonnet whispered. "Who would ever have
+thought that a Colonial Dame would look so natural eating beans with a
+tin spoon? I wish Uncle Cliff could have come, he's a born camper."</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't Mr. Terry come to dinner?" Knight asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Joe!" Blue Bonnet's spoon dropped with a clatter. She hadn't
+even thought of Uncle Joe!<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152"></a>[<a href="images/152.png">152</a>]</span> "Mrs. Judson," she stammered, "will you
+please excuse me? I'll be right back." Hardly waiting for Mrs.
+Judson's surprised "Certainly," she sprang lightly over the bench and
+vanished through the trees.</p>
+
+<p>The We are Sevens, used to Blue Bonnet's methods, went on
+unconcernedly with their dessert; but the Judsons looked mildly
+amazed.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet found Uncle Joe smoking contentedly before a cosy gypsy
+fire on which a coffee-pot was steaming. She burst upon him
+breathlessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Joe&mdash;I forgot,&mdash;you're invited out to dinner!"</p>
+
+<p>He smiled at her over his pipe. "I ain't got a dinner-coat, Honey."</p>
+
+<p>"But, Uncle Joe&mdash;it was horrid of me I know&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"No uncomplimentary remarks, please," he interrupted; then seeing that
+she was really distressed he went on seriously: "Don't you worry about
+Uncle Joe, Blue Bonnet. He's used to looking out for Number One. I had
+to help Miguel hobble the horses, and that's a job that won't wait for
+any man. Now I've got tortillas and bacon and coffee, and I'm that
+comfortable I wouldn't stir for a whole company of Texas Rangers!"</p>
+
+<p>As she reluctantly departed Uncle Joe looked after the slim figure
+with quiet delight. "Same old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153"></a>[<a href="images/153.png">153</a>]</span> Blue Bonnet. Boston folks can't get any
+high-toned notions into that little head!"</p>
+
+<p>As Blue Bonnet slipped back into her place, she found an animated
+discussion in progress.</p>
+
+<p>"We're trying to decide on a name for our camp," Debby explained.</p>
+
+<p>"We've run through Ashe, Clyde, Trent and the rest, but they're
+too&mdash;exclusive," said Kitty. "We want one that will include
+everybody."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not 'Camp We are Seven?'" asked Knight.</p>
+
+<p>"Too clumsy," declared Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Use initials then," urged Knight.</p>
+
+<p>"Camp W. A. S.&mdash;sounds rather like a has-been," remarked the
+bright-faced boy beside Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet flashed him an appreciative smile. "That would never do
+for a crowd as&mdash;ahem&mdash;up-to-date as we try to be!"</p>
+
+<p>"Let's have something beautiful," said Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"And romantic," added Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"If you want something typical of this country," Dr. Judson spoke up,
+"&mdash;there's an expressive phrase often used hereabouts. Those of you
+who know the habits of the 'greasers' don't need to be told why their
+country is called the 'land of <i>poco tiempo</i>.' It means literally
+'little time'&mdash;but with the Mexicans it usually means 'after a while'
+or even 'by and by.' 'Always put off till to-morrow<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154"></a>[<a href="images/154.png">154</a>]</span> what should be
+done to-day' is their version of our old motto."</p>
+
+<p>"That just suits me!" cried Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"I love Spanish names," exclaimed Kitty.</p>
+
+<p><i>Poco Tiempo</i> the camp was straightway christened; and, as they later
+proved, its inmates had no difficulty in living up to the name.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155"></a>[<a href="images/155.png">155</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2>
+
+<h3>POCO TIEMPO</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">I reckon</span> we'll all sleep without rocking," Blue Bonnet smiled
+drowsily in on the girls who were disrobing for the night. She had
+stolen from Grandmother's tent for a last word, but lingered for
+several before departing. "How's your bed, Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"A bit bumpy," the honest girl admitted.</p>
+
+<p>"Mustn't mind a little thing like that," Blue Bonnet admonished her.</p>
+
+<p>"They're not very little&mdash;just you wait and see." Sarah squirmed about
+seeking a level spot for her body.</p>
+
+<p>Alec and Knight, who had spent hours stuffing the bed-ticks with
+Spanish moss, would hardly have felt repaid could they have seen her
+discomfort at that moment.</p>
+
+<p>Observing her Blue Bonnet remarked: "I'm glad we brought the canvas
+cot for Grandmother. I don't mind bumpy beds myself&mdash;it isn't right to
+be too comfortable when you're camping out."</p>
+
+<p>Kitty stood, mirror in hand, ministering unto a blistered nose, and as
+Sarah gave a final grunt before closing her eyes, she called suddenly:
+"Sarah<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156"></a>[<a href="images/156.png">156</a>]</span> Blake, don't you dare go to sleep 'til we've drawn lots."</p>
+
+<p>"Lots?" Sarah blinked sleepily.</p>
+
+<p>"To see who's to get breakfast. After that we'll take turns, two at a
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"But there are five of us," protested Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother says to count her in. We'll give her Sarah for a
+running-mate,&mdash;she's about the only one that can keep Sallykins in
+order."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah woke up at that to give the speaker a surprised and grieved
+look, at which Blue Bonnet burst into a laugh. "I'll label my next
+joke, Old Reliable," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty looked about her for something which they could use for lots.</p>
+
+<p>Nothing seeming appropriate, she suddenly tweaked three bright hairs
+from her own curly head, arranged them in lengths and held them out
+for the others to draw.</p>
+
+<p>"Shortest gets breakfast; next lunch, longest dinner," she announced
+tersely.</p>
+
+<p>"Hooray for us!" cried Amanda, catching Blue Bonnet around the waist
+and hopping about on one foot, the other being unshod. "Lunch for us.
+Let's think up something easy."</p>
+
+<p>Kitty made a grimace at the short hair left in her hand. "Breakfast!
+Debby, I call that hard luck."</p>
+
+<p>"The others may call it harder," prophesied Blue Bonnet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157"></a>[<a href="images/157.png">157</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, the Se&ntilde;ora and Sarah will make up for it at dinner-time,"
+said Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Night-night!" said Blue Bonnet, preparing to leave. With her hand on
+the tent-flap she paused. "Shake out your shoes before you put them on
+in the morning!" she said; and with this dark warning fled.</p>
+
+<p>Camp Judson had awakened, had had a fiercely contested water-fight,
+had breakfasted, tidied up, and most of its inmates scattered in quest
+of adventures, before the tired girls of <i>Poco Tiempo</i> gathered for
+the morning meal. Kitty and Debby, enveloped in capacious gingham
+aprons, and appearing somewhat flushed and nervous, stood waiting to
+serve.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde gave the two cooks an approving smile. "Everything looks
+charming," she said as she took her place at the head of the board.</p>
+
+<p>The table here was spread with white oilcloth, and the dishes of blue
+enamelled-ware showed bright and cheerful against the immaculate
+expanse. Bowls of steaming oatmeal porridge stood at each place, and
+huge mugs of cocoa. But it was at none of these that Blue Bonnet was
+gazing; her eyes were fastened in wonder on a pitcher of real milk and
+another of real cream.</p>
+
+<p>"Where did that come from?" she demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"The Spring!" declared Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Miguel rode to the Circle Y ranch and got it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158"></a>[<a href="images/158.png">158</a>]</span> early this morning,"
+Debby confessed, "and they're going to let us have it every morning."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a jarring note," Blue Bonnet declared.</p>
+
+<p>"All right, you can have all the 'condemned milk' you want," said
+Kitty, "&mdash;we've a dozen cans of it."</p>
+
+<p>But Blue Bonnet was already helping herself generously to the "jarring
+note" and seemed to enjoy it as much as any one. Every one was
+exceedingly polite and made no mention of lumps in the porridge; and
+finally the anxious puckers in Debby's forehead began to smooth
+themselves out. There was a moment of veritable triumph for the cooks
+when they came in with the nicely browned bacon and a plate heaped
+high with golden corn-bread.</p>
+
+<p>"Who was the artist?" the Se&ntilde;ora asked in pleased surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know you knew how," Sarah commented.</p>
+
+<p>There was a moment's hesitation, and then Blue Bonnet, who had caught
+a glimpse of Uncle Joe's face, pointed an accusing finger at him.
+"Fess up, Uncle Joe!"</p>
+
+<p>Much annoyed at himself, Uncle Joe tried to deny the accusation, but
+Kitty's face confirmed the suspicion against him, and in the end he
+"fessed up" rather lamely.</p>
+
+<p>"Have to do something to earn my board and keep," he protested.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159"></a>[<a href="images/159.png">159</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Amanda and I get lunch, you know," Blue Bonnet suggested tactfully;
+and Amanda telegraphed her approval of this gentle hint.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, this camp is well-named," said Knight, appearing suddenly with
+a half-dozen boys in his train. "Is this breakfast or lunch?"</p>
+
+<p>"Breakfast, and a very good one," Mrs. Clyde remarked. "Won't you join
+us?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't tempt my merry men," Knight begged comically. "They've never
+yet been known to refuse food, and though it's only an hour since
+breakfast, I've no confidence in them."</p>
+
+<p>"Won't you please hurry?" Alec asked eagerly. "I can't wait for you
+all to see the Spring."</p>
+
+<p>"We're ready right now," said Blue Bonnet, jumping up impulsively.
+"Come on, girls, it's a glorious morning for a tramp."</p>
+
+<p>"Haven't you forgotten something, Blue Bonnet?" her grandmother asked.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked puzzled. "Do you mean hats? I'd much rather go
+without one, if you don't mind, Grandmother."</p>
+
+<p>But it was not hats that Grandmother was thinking of; gradually it
+dawned on Blue Bonnet that the other girls were not making ready for
+the excursion, but were gathering up the dishes and clearing the
+table. She flashed a reproachful look at them.</p>
+
+<p>"You might let those wait," she protested.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160"></a>[<a href="images/160.png">160</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Grandmother smiled. "You do surely belong to the 'land of <i>poco
+tiempo</i>,' Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>"But the dishes will keep&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And so will the Spring!"</p>
+
+<p>The girl gave a discouraged sigh; it was a pity Grandmother had not
+been brought up in Texas; then she would have understood what were the
+really necessary things in life. She nodded wistfully at the boys.
+"Grandmother believes in every girl's doing her duty," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll have the manager hold the performance," said Knight cheerfully.
+"We'll be back in half an hour,&mdash;Carita can go by that time, too."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet brightened visibly at this, and turned resolutely to the
+hated tasks.</p>
+
+<p>"Debby and I will wash the dishes; Sarah can 'red up,' and you and
+Amanda do the beds," Kitty suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Aunt Lucinda's training stood Blue Bonnet in good stead here. The
+going over the rather bumpy beds got in that half-hour left Amanda
+breathless with admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"You can do things beautifully when you want to, Blue Bonnet," she
+remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"When I have to, you mean," Blue Bonnet replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's the broom, do you know?" asked Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Sh!" Blue Bonnet drew her into the tent and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161"></a>[<a href="images/161.png">161</a>]</span> out of every one's
+hearing. "There isn't any broom, Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"But I put one in the wagon myself."</p>
+
+<p>"And I <i>threw it out!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet!" Something like horror was in Sarah's blue eyes.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet met her gaze defiantly. "Did you ever see a picture of the
+Witch of Salem, Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah gave a bewildered nod. "What has the Witch of Salem&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Wasn't she riding a broom?" Blue Bonnet persisted.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;but&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, in my opinion that's the only good use a broom was ever put to!
+It has no place in a respectable camping party."</p>
+
+<p>Sarah said no more; but when, a few minutes later, Amanda and Blue
+Bonnet looked out to learn the source of an odd sound, they beheld the
+indomitable Sarah, armed with an antiquated rake, gathering up the
+leaves and litter on the hard dirt "floor" of the dining-room.</p>
+
+<p>"Who would have thought to see our Sarah grown rakish?" asked Blue
+Bonnet,&mdash;and then dodged the pillow sent by Amanda's indignant hand.</p>
+
+<p>By the time the allotted half-hour was up, <i>Poco Tiempo</i> was a model
+of neatness and order. The girls, booted and hatted in spite of Blue
+Bonnet's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162"></a>[<a href="images/162.png">162</a>]</span> objections, were ready to the minute, and when the young
+scouts appeared they set out at once, exactly&mdash;as Blue Bonnet
+remarked&mdash;like the third-graders at recess.</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother had settled herself comfortably with a book,&mdash;Mrs. Judson
+was coming over later for a chat,&mdash;and so it was with a free mind and
+a soul ready for a carnival of pleasure that Blue Bonnet stepped forth
+on the joyous expedition.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon it is better," she admitted to Alec, "to have everything
+done first, instead of having them to do when you're tired."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, wise young judge!" he laughed. "We'll make a New Englander of you
+yet."</p>
+
+<p>"That reminds me of something Cousin Tracey said once. He thought I
+was developing a New England conscience, and said it was an
+exceedingly troublesome thing to have around. I believe him,&mdash;it's
+much more fun to develop Kodak films. There now!" she broke off
+impatiently, "&mdash;if I haven't left my camera in the tent. And I want
+pictures of the Spring."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, we'll be up here every day," said Alec. "There's a jolly
+little rustic bridge where you can gather the crowd for a group
+picture. Here we are!"</p>
+
+<p>He and Blue Bonnet had walked faster than the others, and so were
+first to see this most beautiful of springs. Blue Bonnet gave one
+look, and then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163"></a>[<a href="images/163.png">163</a>]</span> something rose in her throat, stifling breath and
+speech. Alec watched her appreciatively.</p>
+
+<p>"If he speaks to me now, he's not the boy I've always believed him,"
+the girl was saying to herself. She dreaded the first word that should
+break in on that moment of perfect beauty.</p>
+
+<p>Below them the giant spring surged up, a great emerald in a setting of
+woods and hills. Clear as air, the water boiled up from the bowels of
+the earth, revealing every fish and pebble in its mirror-like depths.
+Shrubs overhung it; wild cresses and ferns clustered about it; below
+the surface long tresses of pinky-coral grasses floated and waved in
+the bubbling current.</p>
+
+<p>A voice shattered the blissful moment of peace. "Isn't she a beauty?"</p>
+
+<p>It was a sandy-haired youth with Kitty who had clambered roughly into
+the picture. Blue Bonnet hated him fiercely for a few seconds. Then
+the rest came up with a babble of voices and exclamations and she
+resigned herself, with a sigh, to the fact that the gift of silence,
+being golden, is given to but few.</p>
+
+<p>Knight gave her a questioning glance and she glowed back at him. "It's
+perfect&mdash;almost too perfect."</p>
+
+<p>"There's a wee spring up higher,&mdash;the camp creek flows from it. Do you
+feel equal to the climb?" he asked her.</p>
+
+<p>She gave eager assent, and, after lingering a few<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164"></a>[<a href="images/164.png">164</a>]</span> minutes for the
+others and finding them too slow for the pace she liked, Blue Bonnet
+followed Knight up a steep winding path that circled the hill.</p>
+
+<p>He carried a "twenty-two" rifle swung across his shoulders, and in his
+belt a rather formidable looking knife.</p>
+
+<p>"For use or ornament?" she asked, indicating the weapons. "You look
+like Dick Danger."</p>
+
+<p>"Strictly for use," he assured her. "The gun has brought down many a
+toothsome 'possum, and the knife serves to cut anything from firewood
+to alpenstocks. Shall I cut you one to assist your feeble steps?"</p>
+
+<p>They halted while he selected a sapling for the purpose, trimmed and
+sharpened it at the end.</p>
+
+<p>"Alpine travellers put sharp iron points on their staffs, Uncle says,"
+he explained, "so that by thrusting them in the ice and snow they keep
+from slipping. We don't need them for just that purpose, but they are
+handy on steep paths&mdash;and to kill bugs with!"</p>
+
+<p>She accepted the "alpenstock" gratefully and soon found it useful for
+both purposes.</p>
+
+<p>"When we get back to camp I'll get Sandy to carve your initials in
+it&mdash;he's quite a genius at carving," Knight said.</p>
+
+<p>"Is Sandy the&mdash;sandy one?"</p>
+
+<p>"Precisely."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I don't think I like him."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165"></a>[<a href="images/165.png">165</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, but you will when you know him better," Knight protested. "He's
+tremendously clever,&mdash;a born orator. He won a medal last year in a
+debate."</p>
+
+<p>"That accounts for his talking so much," Blue Bonnet laughed. "He's
+always at it."</p>
+
+<p>"But unlike most incessant talkers, he says something," Knight urged
+for his friend. "We'll get him to recite some evening, then you can
+judge how talented he is."</p>
+
+<p>"Does he do 'Curfew shall not&mdash;?'" she asked mischievously.</p>
+
+<p>"Grief, no!" Knight's disgusted tone sent Blue Bonnet off in a fit of
+laughter. To her surprise the ripple of her laugh came back in a
+gleeful "ha, ha!" that had something witchlike about it. She turned a
+startled face to her companion.</p>
+
+<p>"We've reached the 'Whispering Grotto,'" he explained. "The echo is
+famous." He pushed aside a low-growing bough, and brushing by it Blue
+Bonnet found herself in a lovely little cave-like spot, in the centre
+of which was a tiny spring. It bubbled up somewhere back in the hill
+and had made a long tunnel, coming to the light just here.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, for a cup. I'm thirsty as&mdash;as Tantalus!" sighed Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"A Texas girl crying for a cup?" Knight asked teasingly.</p>
+
+<p>"That wouldn't have happened before I went to Woodford. I've been
+going through what they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166"></a>[<a href="images/166.png">166</a>]</span> call&mdash;being civilized. It's mostly learning
+not to shock the New England sense of propriety."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not a New Englander!"</p>
+
+<p>Knight's eyes were daring her; and it was fatal. What Sarah would have
+said if she could have seen Blue Bonnet's method of getting a drink is
+hard to conjecture. Hardly had she time to spring to her feet when
+voices were heard close at hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I can hear Sandy." She turned eagerly to Knight. "Let's go on&mdash;I
+don't feel ready for a crowd."</p>
+
+<p>"There's a lovely view from the top of the hill," he suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Her only answer was to push on, plying her alpenstock eagerly in her
+haste to elude the others. Pausing only when the top of the hill was
+reached, she sank at length on a fallen tree-trunk. The view was all
+Knight had promised for it, overlooking a quiet valley.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's call it 'Peaceful Valley,'" she said.</p>
+
+<p>"It may have a different name on the map, but no one can prevent our
+christening it what we like," he agreed.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was content to rest for a while here. There was no sign of
+life anywhere, except a solitary bird wheeling about far above their
+heads.</p>
+
+<p>"A swallow-tailed kite," Knight said as the bird dropped suddenly into
+clearer view. "Graceful, isn't it?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167"></a>[<a href="images/167.png">167</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>All at once the big kite alighted on the dead branch of a tree near
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"What glorious wings!" breathed Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Would you like one for your hat?" Knight asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, wouldn't I!" she cried eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>Quick as flash Knight swung his rifle about, aimed and fired. Blue
+Bonnet put her fingers in her ears with an exclamation of alarm. The
+bird toppled as if to fall, then righted itself with a lurch and
+fluttered out from the tree. Blue Bonnet gave a sigh of relief.</p>
+
+<p>"I was so afraid you had hurt him!" she cried,&mdash;and the words died
+away in a gasp of distress. The kite, pitching headlong, had fallen
+almost at her feet.</p>
+
+<p>She dropped on her knees beside it; but the bird was still. Knight,
+bending over her, was suddenly filled with surprise and dismay; she
+was crying like a child.</p>
+
+<p>"It was so mean and vain of me," she said with quivering lips, "&mdash;to
+want him just for a hat, when he was having such a beautiful time."</p>
+
+<p>Knight was pale with hatred of himself.</p>
+
+<p>She looked up at last and smiled mistily through her tears. "I reckon
+you think I am pretty much of a baby. But I can't bear to see
+things&mdash;die."</p>
+
+<p>"It's only a big hawk," he said to comfort both himself and her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168"></a>[<a href="images/168.png">168</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>She looked up hopefully. "And hawks are mean birds, aren't they,&mdash;that
+kill little chickens and other birds?"</p>
+
+<p>He hesitated, then said unwillingly: "Some hawks do. But this is a
+different kind. It lives on snakes and insects&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Then it is a good bird!&mdash;that's what Uncle Cliff calls them." Her
+face clouded again and she turned towards camp.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't want one of the wings then?"</p>
+
+<p>She shuddered. "Oh, no!" Then she paused. "I will have&mdash;I saw some
+feathers fall. Will you give me one? I want it for a reminder."</p>
+
+<p>Knight picked up one of the tiny barred wing-feathers and handed it to
+her. "A reminder?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm never going to wear things like that again&mdash;wings and birds and
+all those cruel ornaments. I never realized before&mdash;And whenever I am
+tempted I shall look at this."</p>
+
+<p>Knight bent, picked up another of the feathers and laid it away in his
+fly-book. "I need a reminder, too," he remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"But you never wear birds in your hats," Blue Bonnet said wonderingly.</p>
+
+<p>"My reminder shall be: 'Think before you shoot,'" he said quietly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169"></a>[<a href="images/169.png">169</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2>
+
+<h3>AROUND THE CAMP-FIRE</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">There</span> was no sign of the other trampers when Blue Bonnet and Knight
+reached the little grotto; and descending to the Big Spring they found
+even that charming spot deserted.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked around in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose we've missed them on the way down?" Raising her voice
+she gave her ranch-call&mdash;"Ho, ye ho, ho!"</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;ho ho!" the hill sent back; but no feminine or masculine voice
+answered the well-known notes.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet, child of the open, then looked at the sun and the shadows
+and gave an exclamation of astonishment. "It's past noon! They've gone
+back to camp. My, I'll have to hurry&mdash;it's my turn to cook lunch."</p>
+
+<p>She darted impetuously down the hillside, and Knight found himself
+compelled to move briskly in order to keep up with her. They went too
+fast for conversation, but once Blue Bonnet paused long enough to say
+over her shoulder&mdash;"You'll come to lunch, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Catch me refusing now I know who the cook is!" he replied gaily.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170"></a>[<a href="images/170.png">170</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>The path opened at last on the open space before <i>Poco Tiempo</i>. There
+was sound of voices and laughter, and yes&mdash;the clink of dishes! Blue
+Bonnet turned a rueful face to Knight&mdash;"Do you hear that? They won't
+say a thing to me!"</p>
+
+<p>"I am armed,&mdash;trust me to protect you," he declaimed theatrically.</p>
+
+<p>They had to pass through the "kitchen" first, and there the clutter of
+empty pots and pans told their own story. From the dining-room the
+others caught sight of the tardy pair and a wild hubbub at once arose.</p>
+
+<p>"Tramps!"</p>
+
+<p>"Set the dogs on them!"</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't you work for a living?"</p>
+
+<p>Knight's eyes twinkled as he looked from Blue Bonnet's amazed
+countenance to the teasing faces about the table. Lunch was evidently
+not only ready but largely consumed.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you eating so early for?" Blue Bonnet demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Early!"</p>
+
+<p>"Twenty minutes past one!"</p>
+
+<p>"No&mdash;!" Blue Bonnet gasped, subsiding on the end of the bench and
+fanning her hot face with her hat. "Now, isn't that the funniest
+thing?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad you see the point of your own joke," retorted Kitty. "We
+have decided to give you a week's notice to get a new place."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171"></a>[<a href="images/171.png">171</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"I engage her on the spot," said Knight. "It's all my fault."</p>
+
+<p>"We won't give her a reference," said Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't&mdash;if you'll just give me food," said Blue Bonnet. "Alec,
+make room for Knight beside you, will you? We're both starved. Who
+made the muffins?"</p>
+
+<p>"Guess," said Kitty, relenting and passing her the nearly empty plate.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah intercepted it. "I'll get you some hot ones." And she rose
+hastily.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet laughed. "Now I know! Grandmother, did you help Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde nodded. "The girls came back so hungry I thought we had
+better not wait for the chief cook. No one knew where you were."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to wear a cow-bell after this," Blue Bonnet declared.
+"Sarah, if I could make such muffins I'd insist upon cooking every
+meal."</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon you don't need any protection," Knight said in an undertone.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, there's safety in numbers. Wait till Amanda catches me alone! We
+two will have to get dinner now." She buttered her third muffin and
+then glanced happily around the table. "I've a lovely scheme," she
+hinted.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you ever see any one so bowed down with penitence?" asked Kitty;
+adding promptly, "What's the scheme?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172"></a>[<a href="images/172.png">172</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"It's to invite Alec and Knight to get down logs, make us a huge
+bonfire and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"That's just like Blue Bonnet," Kitty broke in, "&mdash;she'll let you do
+the work and she'll do the <i>rest!</i>"</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;and then invite them to a party," Blue Bonnet went on
+imperturbably.</p>
+
+<p>"'She'll do the grand with a lavish hand,'" quoted Alec. "We're your
+men. A Party&mdash;with a big P&mdash;is what our souls have been pining for.
+Where shall we build the festive pyre?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the open space between the two camps. There'll be no danger to the
+trees there and plenty of room to sit around it. I'll tell Miguel to
+bring up one of the wagon horses to drag logs,&mdash;I want a perfectly
+mammoth fire."</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to have been a man, Blue Bonnet," Debby remarked, "&mdash;you
+would have made such a wonderful general. Your ability to put other
+people to work amounts to positive genius."</p>
+
+<p>But Blue Bonnet had already gone in search of Miguel, with Alec and
+Knight in her train. For the rest of the afternoon the "General"
+demonstrated that she could not only put other people to work, but
+could work herself, to advantage. While the boys&mdash;whose forces had
+been augmented by the addition of Sandy, Smith, Brown and Jones&mdash;got
+down logs and built them into a miniature log cabin, Blue Bonnet made
+great preparations for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173"></a>[<a href="images/173.png">173</a>]</span> Party. She spread all her Indian blankets
+at a proper distance from the bonfire-to-be; distributed the
+buck-board seats judiciously, planning to add the dining-room benches
+as soon as supper was out of the way; whittled great quantities of
+long willow wands to a sharp point, maintaining great secrecy as to
+the use to which the latter were to be put; and stacked many boxes of
+the delectable pinoche in a convenient spot.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had these preparations been completed when Amanda announced
+that it was time to begin cooking dinner. Blue Bonnet looked at her
+aghast.</p>
+
+<p>"I think it's maddening," she declared. "We are in a continual state
+of washing up after one meal and getting ready for another. And this
+is what Grandmother calls 'simplicity'&mdash;! It would be a
+heap&mdash;much&mdash;simpler if I could just say&mdash;'Lisa, we'll have dinner at
+six.' That would end it,&mdash;and what could be simpler?"</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we have?" asked Amanda, considering that subject more to
+the point.</p>
+
+<p>"Baked potatoes, then we won't have to peel them,&mdash;I'd as soon skin a
+rabbit. And Gertrudis cooked a leg of lamb, so that we'll only have to
+warm it up."</p>
+
+<p>"Shall we try hot bread?" asked Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not! Hot bread twice to-day already&mdash;we'll all have
+indigestion. We've stacks of loaves, and bread and maple syrup is good
+enough<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174"></a>[<a href="images/174.png">174</a>]</span> camp fare for any one. If we're going in for the simple life,
+let's be simple."</p>
+
+<p>"That reminds me of something we translated in the German class," said
+Amanda. "'Man ist was er isst'&mdash;and it means 'one is what one eats.'
+And another German said 'Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what
+you are.'"</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean to tell me that if I live on angel-cake I'll grow to be
+angelic?" demanded Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Hardly!" laughed Amanda. "It would take a good deal more than that!
+No offence, Blue Bonnet,&mdash;I like you best when you're&mdash;the other
+thing. The Germans are always arguing about something or other. We
+used to take sides in class and nearly come to blows."</p>
+
+<p>"You should have taken French," said Blue Bonnet, before she thought.</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't think that last March!" Amanda teased; and the next moment
+could have bitten her tongue out for the thoughtless speech. Blue
+Bonnet did not smile; it was evident that the memory of the day when
+all the members of the French class except herself had "cut" was still
+a bitter one.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll wash the potatoes," Amanda offered in amend for having touched a
+painful chord.</p>
+
+<p>"All right!" Blue Bonnet beamed acceptance of the kind intention and
+handed over the pan without hesitation. "I'll make up a hot fire, and
+we'll get<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175"></a>[<a href="images/175.png">175</a>]</span> everything started and the table set,&mdash;then you and I are
+going to the Spring."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, are we?" asked Amanda blankly. One never knew what scheme lurked
+in the back of Blue Bonnet's head.</p>
+
+<p>"For table decorations. I saw some ferns and wild honeysuckle near the
+bank, and it won't take much time to gather enough for the table."</p>
+
+<p>"Decorating the table isn't 'simple,' is it?" Amanda asked rather
+provokingly.</p>
+
+<p>"If you know anything simpler than a wildflower, I'd like to be shown
+it," retorted Blue Bonnet. "Come on, we must do some tall hustling."</p>
+
+<p>The "tall hustling" got the table set in a rather sketchy fashion;
+hurried the potatoes into a scorching oven; placed the already cooked
+roast in the top of the same oven at the same time; and saw Blue
+Bonnet and Amanda headed for the Spring, bearing a fruit-jar and the
+camp's only carving-knife, just as Uncle Joe came up the bank with a
+fine string of speckled trout.</p>
+
+<p>"All ready to fry, Honey," he said, holding them up proudly.</p>
+
+<p>"Hide them quick!" cried Blue Bonnet in alarm, "shooing" him back
+towards the creek.</p>
+
+<p>Used as he was to Blue Bonnet's impetuosity, this move of hers filled
+him with amazement. "What's the matter,&mdash;they're perfectly good
+trout!" he urged.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176"></a>[<a href="images/176.png">176</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"They're lovely. But I wouldn't fry one for ten million dollars! Keep
+them for breakfast, Uncle Joe,&mdash;Sarah will know how to do them
+beautifully."</p>
+
+<p>With an understanding chuckle, Uncle Joe went off to cache his string
+of beauties in a cool place along the creek; and Blue Bonnet and
+Amanda continued their quest for ferns.</p>
+
+<p>As they were returning, crowned with success, they met the Se&ntilde;ora just
+back from a stroll with Mrs. Judson. The three other girls were
+already sitting suggestively about the board.</p>
+
+<p>"There," said Blue Bonnet triumphantly, as she deposited the fruit-jar
+in the centre of the table with its graceful ferns and honeysuckle
+trailing over the oil-cloth, "feast on that!"</p>
+
+<p>"I call that a pretty slim dinner," said Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet, disdaining the insinuation, departed rather hastily to
+the kitchen, drawn thither by a strong odor and a still stronger
+suspicion of disaster. The sheet-iron stove was red-hot. Catching up a
+cloth she flung open the oven door, and then backed abruptly away from
+the cloud of acrid yellow smoke that rolled thickly into her face.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Blue Bonnet!" wailed Amanda. "Everything's burned to a cinder! We
+shouldn't have gone off."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's only reply was a violent fit of coughing. The smoke
+continued to pour in dense<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177"></a>[<a href="images/177.png">177</a>]</span> billows from the oven. "Grab the pans,
+quick!" she managed to choke out.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda made a valiant dive through the smoke, and had just time to
+seize the pans from the top and bottom of the oven, when she, too, was
+overcome, and in the paroxysm of coughing that followed threatened to
+burst a blood-vessel. Finally with crimson faces and streaming eyes,
+both cooks gazed ruefully down on the black marbles that had been
+potatoes, and the charred drum-stick that had once been a leg of
+spring lamb.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep back&mdash;no trespassing!" called Blue Bonnet as the other girls,
+scenting fun as well as the odor of burning things, came running from
+the dining-room. "This is our funeral and we don't want any mourners!"
+She waved them back peremptorily, at the same time screening the ruins
+with her apron.</p>
+
+<p>The discomfited We are Sevens returned to their seats, and a moment
+later there came the sound of spoons being vigorously thumped on the
+table.</p>
+
+<p>"We want dinner!" came imperiously from the hungry girls.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda looked imploringly at her partner. "What shall we do?"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet thought hard for a moment. All at once her brow cleared.
+"Here, take the meat, go find a gopher-hole and push that bone down
+into it as far as it will go. The potatoes can't be burned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178"></a>[<a href="images/178.png">178</a>]</span> all the
+way through,&mdash;we'll scrape what's left into a bowl. And I'll tell
+Uncle Joe I've changed my mind,&mdash;we'll have the trout for dinner. And,
+Amanda, you'll hurry back, won't you, and put the fish in the pan&mdash;I
+simply can't touch 'em!"</p>
+
+<p>Each sped to fulfil her allotted task, and in an incredibly short
+space of time a family of gophers was sniffing about a strange object
+blocking their front door; and a pan of fragrant trout sputtered on
+top of the little stove. As Blue Bonnet set the great platter of
+perfectly browned fish in front of her grandmother, there was a
+flattering "ah!" of anticipation that repaid&mdash;almost repaid, her for
+the previous bad quarter of an hour. Canned pears and the cookies that
+should have been saved for future emergencies, completed a dinner
+which was voted "not half bad" by the other girls, who secretly
+marvelled at getting any dinner at all. No one noticed that neither
+Blue Bonnet nor Amanda partook of potatoes, and there proved to be
+ample for the rest.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll wash the dishes, Amanda," Blue Bonnet offered, when at last that
+night-mare of a dinner was over. "I ought to walk over red-hot
+plowshares, or wear a hair-shirt or something as a penance for my sins
+of this day. Lacking both plowshares and shirt, I'll substitute
+dish-washing. And you may bear me witness&mdash;I'd take the hair-shirt if
+I had my choice!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179"></a>[<a href="images/179.png">179</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>It was a very weary Blue Bonnet who turned the dishpan upside down and
+hung the dish-cloth on a bush to dry. The long tramp of the morning,
+the preparations for the bonfire party, and then the exhausting
+experience of getting dinner, had tired even her physique, which had
+seldom known fatigue.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish we could dis-invite the company," she said to Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>"So do I," groaned her partner. "Fancy having to sit around a bonfire
+and sing 'merrily we roll along'&mdash;! It makes me ache all over."</p>
+
+<p>Later, when the inmates of both camps were gathered in a great circle
+about the fire, singing, jesting and story-telling, both girls forgot
+their weariness and might have been heard singing the same "merrily we
+roll along" with great zest and vocal strength.</p>
+
+<p>The bonfire did its builders proud and without any preparatory sulking
+or coaxing burst almost at once into pillars of soaring flame. There
+was a backing away at first on the part of the spectators as the
+intense heat began to scorch the circle of faces; then a gradual
+drawing near again. It was not until the flames had died down and the
+logs were a mass of glowing coals that Blue Bonnet handed around her
+willow-wands. Each one was now tipped with a white ball, puffy, round
+and mysterious.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180"></a>[<a href="images/180.png">180</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>To most of the boys this was an innovation, and they had to be shown
+how to hold the white globules over the coals until they spluttered
+and swelled to bursting.</p>
+
+<p>"Now eat them!" she commanded. There was a chary tasting and then an
+ecstatic cry&mdash;"Marshmallows!"</p>
+
+<p>The rapidity with which the tin boxes were emptied might have appalled
+a less generous provider than Blue Bonnet; but she had relied upon
+Uncle Cliff to fill her order for marshmallows, and consequently felt
+no fear of "going short."</p>
+
+<p>When little Bayard had consumed his ninth "moth-ball" as he persisted
+in calling the sweets, his mother rose to take her brood home. Mr.
+Judson bent to lift Joe who had fallen asleep in Sarah's arms, and
+then turned to Blue Bonnet. "Good-night," he said, holding out his
+free hand and smiling down into the girl's tired face; "this is the
+first time I ever partook of toasted moonshine, and I've enjoyed my
+initiation."</p>
+
+<p>Carita kissed her impulsively. "It's the loveliest party I've ever
+been to," she whispered.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked wistfully after the departing group. "Aren't
+families the nicest things in all the world?" she asked Sarah, as she
+sank on the blanket beside this member of a numerous clan.</p>
+
+<p>"The very nicest." And Sarah, whose arms still<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181"></a>[<a href="images/181.png">181</a>]</span> felt the warmth of
+little Joe, stared into the fire with eyes that saw in the coals the
+picture of a family in far-off Woodford.</p>
+
+<p>There were a few more songs; an eighth or ninth rendition of</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Meet me, dearest Mandy">
+<tr><td align='left'>"Meet me, dearest Mandy,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">By the water-melion vine"&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<div class='unindent'>for the benefit of Amanda, who hated it, and then the rest rose
+reluctantly to depart.</div>
+
+<p>"It's the swellest thing in the bonfire line I've ever attended,"
+Sandy assured Mrs. Clyde; and she could excuse the phrase because of
+the undoubted enthusiasm of the speaker.</p>
+
+<p>Half a dozen of the boys tramped away in a bunch, and there floated
+back to the group about the fire the rhythmic refrain of "Good-night,
+ladies!" until it finally died away in a sleepy murmur.</p>
+
+<p>Only the older boys had lingered and they, after making arrangements
+for a horse-back ride on the morrow, slowly straggled away.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's Blue Bonnet?" asked Alec; he was one of the last, loitering
+for a final word with his hostess.</p>
+
+<p>"She was sitting by me a little while ago," said Sarah, looking
+towards the Navajo.</p>
+
+<p>The spot was in shadow, but as they looked in that direction, a log
+fell, and a slender flame sprang<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182"></a>[<a href="images/182.png">182</a>]</span> up. In the light they saw Blue
+Bonnet, curled up on the bright blanket, with her head pillowed on her
+arm.</p>
+
+<p>She was fast asleep.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183"></a>[<a href="images/183.png">183</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2>
+
+<h3>A FALLING IN</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">How's</span> the Sleeping Beauty this morning?" was Alec's salutation to
+Blue Bonnet, when he appeared early next day in advance of the other
+picnickers. Blue Bonnet asleep at her own party had been a spectacle
+he would not soon forget; it was almost as funny as being absent from
+her first tea, on that memorable day in Woodford.</p>
+
+<p>"The Sleeping Beauty could find it in her heart to envy Rip Van
+Winkle; a nap like his is just what I crave. But no,&mdash;Sarah must needs
+have breakfast at cock-crow," Blue Bonnet complained.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Blue Bonnet, it was after eight o'clock when I called you,"
+returned Sarah in a grieved tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah didn't want breakfast mistaken for lunch again," said Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>"My prophetic soul tells me that we are going to conduct ourselves
+like a model Sunday-school class to-day," Blue Bonnet remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"What makes you think so?" asked Amanda, in whom the memory of
+yesterday's trials was still undimmed.</p>
+
+<p>"'Well begun is half done,' you know. And this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184"></a>[<a href="images/184.png">184</a>]</span> beginning is
+obnoxiously perfect." Blue Bonnet was wiping off the oil-cloth as she
+spoke; dishes were already washed, beds done, and all without a hitch.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope our picnic won't prove to be of the Sunday-school variety,"
+said Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure our Sunday-school picnics at home are always very nice,"
+Sarah said reprovingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Every one to his taste!" was Kitty's airy rejoinder.</p>
+
+<p>"You can make up your mind that this picnic won't be like any other
+you ever attended," Alec assured them. "Knight has a scheme up his
+sleeve that will bear watching. I wonder, Blue Bonnet, if Mrs. Clyde
+would mind letting us take coffee?"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet reflected. "To-morrow is Sunday and we're privileged to
+have it for breakfast. If we have it to-day instead I'm sure she won't
+object. What else shall we take?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only some bread, some lump sugar and a tin of milk, please," said
+Alec modestly.</p>
+
+<p>Amanda gave a sudden exclamation of joy. "Then we won't be back to
+lunch,&mdash;oh, Blue Bonnet, that lets us out to-day!"</p>
+
+<p>They fell upon each other rapturously.</p>
+
+<p>"I think we are the ones who should rejoice," said Kitty; but her
+remark met with the silent scorn it deserved.</p>
+
+<p>They mustered a troop of twelve, all mounted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185"></a>[<a href="images/185.png">185</a>]</span> for Knight's picnic.
+Riding by twos, they cantered decorously as long as the eyes of their
+elders followed their course; but when a turn in the road freed them
+from observation, there was a spurring and an urging of the wiry
+ponies, and away they went, recking little of the grade whether up or
+down.</p>
+
+<p>It became a game of follow-my-leader, with Knight and Blue Bonnet
+heading the procession and putting their horses through a performance
+that would have lamed anything but a Western cow-pony. Knight finally
+led the way to one of the "race-paths" that abound in the hilly
+regions of Texas, and there began a tournament that for years lived in
+Sarah's memory as the most reckless exhibition of daring ever seen
+outside a circus-ring.</p>
+
+<p>"Who made this race-track?" she asked Knight in one of the infrequent
+pauses in the performance.</p>
+
+<p>"Nature!" He laughed at the look of incredulity with which Sarah met
+this assertion. In truth she had good reason to doubt his word; the
+smooth broad road encircling the hill, a full quarter of a mile long,
+edged on either side by a dense growth of cedars, seemed unmistakably
+to show the hand of man in its creation.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the solemn truth I'm telling you," Knight insisted, "&mdash;I swear
+it by the mane of my milk-white steed!"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah gave one glance at the dark yellow buckskin<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186"></a>[<a href="images/186.png">186</a>]</span> pony he rode, and
+then clucked impatiently to Comanche. She objected to having her faith
+in people imposed upon.</p>
+
+<p>Knight was still laughing when Blue Bonnet came up and challenged him
+to a race. "My reputation for truth-telling is forever lost in
+Se&ntilde;orita Blake's estimation," he told her.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of Sarah, anyway?" It would be curious to know just
+how a Western boy regarded Old Reliable.</p>
+
+<p>"She's very nice," he said, with an utter absence of enthusiasm,
+"&mdash;but not exciting."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet smiled. "And Kitty?" she continued. Perhaps it wasn't
+polite in a hostess to discuss her guests, but she just had to ask
+that.</p>
+
+<p>"She's very pretty and vivacious," he replied with an increase of
+warmth. "She lacks only one thing to make her irresistible."</p>
+
+<p>"And that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Having been brought up in Texas!"</p>
+
+<p>If Knight had expected a blush to follow his outspoken compliment he
+was disappointed. Blue Bonnet's hearty laugh showed a very healthy
+absence of self-consciousness in her make-up.</p>
+
+<p>"My Aunt Lucinda thinks that is my very worst drawback," she declared;
+and then chirping to Firefly, she was off at a break-neck pace, hat
+bobbing, brown braid flying, her eyes alight with the excitement of
+the race.</p>
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 304px;">
+<img src="images/gs201.jpg" width="304" height="400" alt="&quot;THEY ALL GATHERED GYPSY-FASHION ABOUT THE FIRE.&quot;" title="&quot;THEY ALL GATHERED GYPSY-FASHION ABOUT THE FIRE.&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;THEY ALL GATHERED GYPSY-FASHION ABOUT THE FIRE.&quot;</span>
+</div><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187"></a>[<a href="images/187.png">187</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>The climax of the day was the gypsy picnic. When Blue Bonnet beheld
+the camp-fire with the pail of coffee steaming away over the bed of
+coals, and saw the feast spread out informally on the ground, with
+wild grape leaves for plates, she gave an exclamation of delight.</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it heavenly?" she cried.</p>
+
+<p>Alec laughed. "I believe, Blue Bonnet, that your idea of heaven is to
+live in a wickiup and subsist on mustang grapes and wild berries
+indefinitely,&mdash;now isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly&mdash;except that I'd add some of the bacon Knight is preparing to
+give us. That's the way the cowboys cook it."</p>
+
+<p>Knight had cut a dozen or more twigs having a forked branch at the
+tip; on the end of each he placed a slice of bacon and then handed
+around the "forks" ceremoniously. "I'm not going to offer you anything
+so dainty as toasted moonshine," he explained, "but it's a heap more
+substantial."</p>
+
+<p>They all gathered gypsy-fashion about the fire, toasting the bacon and
+their faces impartially; then transferring the crisp curly brown
+strips to the big slices of bread, devoured them with exclamations of
+approval that were most grateful to the arranger of the feast. Even
+canned cream failed to detract from the flavor of the coffee, and they
+consumed great quantities of the fragrant beverage, even Sarah
+partaking most intemperately.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188"></a>[<a href="images/188.png">188</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Only a lot of ponies inured to the hardships of the round-up would
+have remained patient through the frolics of that day, and some of
+these wiry ponies looked rather drooping when the picnickers turned
+towards camp.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde, who had been watching the road rather anxiously as the
+shadows began to lengthen, brightened at once when Blue Bonnet's
+cheery call sounded through the trees.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Grandmother, we've had the most gorgeous time in the world!" Blue
+Bonnet cried, as she flung herself out of the saddle. "Did you ever
+see such a beautifully mussed-up crowd in all your life?"</p>
+
+<p>"If that is an evidence of a 'gorgeous time' you must certainly have
+had one," Mrs. Clyde smiled as her glance travelled from one rumpled
+and spotted We are Seven to another.</p>
+
+<p>"These are the only skirts we brought and mine is all spluttered up
+with bacon," mourned Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you will all have to go to bed while I wash them," the Se&ntilde;ora
+suggested laughingly.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother, please don't let Sarah play upon your sympathies. She
+doesn't appreciate how becoming a little dirt is to her peculiar style
+of beauty. She looks almost&mdash;human." The look of pained surprise Sarah
+turned on her sent Blue Bonnet off in a fit of merriment. "Oh, for a
+picture of that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189"></a>[<a href="images/189.png">189</a>]</span> expression!" she cried. "And that reminds me,&mdash;I told
+all the boys to be at the Spring in fifteen minutes. There is plenty
+of light for a snap-shot and I've just a few films left."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Blue Bonnet, haven't you done enough tramping to-day?" her
+grandmother exclaimed. "You ought to rest."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet shook her head. "I can't rest till I get that picture. I
+want the boys and the We are Sevens on the little rustic bridge. Now,
+Sarah, don't you dare tidy up till I get you just as you are. I want
+you to pose as Terrible Tom the Texas Terror."</p>
+
+<p>That Sarah had her own opinion as to who the Texas Terror might be was
+shown by her expression as she relinquished her design of brushing her
+hair, and followed the other girls up the hill to the Big Spring.</p>
+
+<p>The boys were already assembled and were now grouped on the bridge in
+attitudes meant to be artistic and fetching.</p>
+
+<p>The rustic bridge&mdash;rather more rustic than substantial&mdash;was suspended
+just over a pretty waterfall, which slipped down a smooth runway of
+eight or ten feet into a pool all foam and spray; a charming spot for
+a group-picture. It required both skill and patience to get every one
+posed and the camera focussed; Blue Bonnet had just completed these
+preliminaries, when Alec upset everything by insisting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190"></a>[<a href="images/190.png">190</a>]</span> that he should
+be the photographer and she a member of the group. The rest supported
+his contention that she should be in the picture, and in the argument
+that followed, the chances for any picture at all grew slim.</p>
+
+<p>Just then Uncle Joe appeared, and was at once pressed into service.
+Blue Bonnet gave explicit directions as to the precise moment at which
+the bulb was to be pressed, and then proceeded to join the rest who
+were in the agonies of trying to look pleasant.</p>
+
+<p>"Do hurry, Blue Bonnet," urged Sarah nervously, "I can hear the bridge
+creaking."</p>
+
+<p>A roar of derision followed this declaration and some of the smaller
+boys began stamping on the old timbers for the sheer joy of seeing
+poor Sarah quake. At the precise moment that Blue Bonnet stepped from
+the bank to her place by the rail, there was a loud report, followed
+by a scream.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Joe, looking up from the reflector, saw the bridge parted neatly
+in the middle, and the entire party shooting the chutes in a most
+informal manner. By the time the first boy had finished the descent,
+Uncle Joe was in the water fishing out the gasping victims. The pool
+was not deep, but the swift fall carried the smaller lads under the
+surface, and they came up too dazed to see the hands held out to seize
+them. Knight and Sandy found their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191"></a>[<a href="images/191.png">191</a>]</span> feet at once, and with Uncle Joe
+formed a dam against which the others were caught like salmon in a
+river-trap.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah was fished up by her blond braids and came up gasping, "I told
+you so!" before she opened her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"That's about as busy a spell as I've had for some time," Uncle Joe
+declared as he hauled out the last of the small boys and then
+clambered up the steep bank.</p>
+
+<p>"You showed great presence of mind, Uncle Joe&mdash;except for one thing,"
+said Blue Bonnet. "If you had just taken a snap-shot when the bridge
+broke I'd be quite happy."</p>
+
+<p>"And if a few of us had drowned while he was doing it&mdash;" Kitty began
+ironically.</p>
+
+<p>"You'd have missed being in the picture, poor souls! Well, since we're
+all alive, let's go break the news gently to the grown-ups." Blue
+Bonnet looked around the drenched, shivering group and then burst into
+peals of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>In truth they were a sorry looking lot. Soaked to the skin, with hair
+and clothes dripping and bedraggled, they all looked at each other as
+if surprised and grieved to find themselves part of so undignified a
+company.</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother's expression when the We are Sevens hove into sight, sent
+Blue Bonnet off into another gale of merriment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192"></a>[<a href="images/192.png">192</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"We've been shooting the chutes, Grandmother," she said with dancing
+eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Without a boat," added Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>It took Sarah to tell the story in all its harrowing details, and at
+its conclusion Mrs. Clyde looked sober.</p>
+
+<p>"Were you really in danger?" she asked Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Not a bit," Blue Bonnet declared. "Sarah was the only one who came
+near drowning and that was because she <i>would</i> talk under water."</p>
+
+<p>Fifteen minutes later the little sheet-iron stove was red-hot, and on
+a hastily strung clothes-line about it hung an array of dripping
+garments that almost hid it from view.</p>
+
+<p>"There's one comfort about all this," said Kitty, "our skirts and
+middies have had a much-needed bath."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid they won't be very clean,&mdash;cold water won't take grease
+out," said Sarah mournfully. "And I'd like to know&mdash;how are we going
+to iron them?"</p>
+
+<p>They were all sitting in a circle about a blazing bonfire of Uncle
+Joe's building, with their streaming hair spread out to dry.
+Dressing-gowns and bedroom slippers had made it unnecessary to go to
+bed while their wardrobe hung on the line, and now that they were warm
+and comfortable, they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193"></a>[<a href="images/193.png">193</a>]</span> disposed to look on the adventure of the
+afternoon as more of a lark than a misfortune.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you recall a prophecy you made this morning, Blue Bonnet?" asked
+Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Your 'prophetic soul' told you, if I remember rightly, that we were
+going to conduct ourselves like a model Sunday-school class to-day."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if anybody would promise me as much fun in Sunday-school as
+I've had this day, I'd never be absent or tardy!" laughed Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah looked pained. "It's Sunday to-morrow," she remarked. "I wonder
+what Dr. Judson will take as the text of his sermon."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet gave her a long, curious glance. "Do you really wonder,
+Sarah, about things like that?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah raised honest, serious eyes. "Why, of course, Blue Bonnet. Don't
+you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No," she confessed, "but I do wonder&mdash;at you!"</p>
+
+<p>As they sat silent for a moment about the blazing logs, Blue Bonnet
+had an inspiration.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother," she asked abruptly, "are you very hungry?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why&mdash;is it your turn to get dinner?" Mrs. Clyde smiled; she was
+shaking the water from her granddaughter's long hair, and spreading it
+in the warm rays of the fire.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194"></a>[<a href="images/194.png">194</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"No, Amanda and I were to get lunch. But are you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. Mrs. Judson and I had an excellent dinner at noon."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I've a splendid idea. There are heaps of hot ashes down under
+the logs. We can bury some potatoes there,&mdash;the cowboys cook them that
+way and they are delicious. Then with some devilled-ham sandwiches we
+could sit right here and eat, and have no tiresome dishes to wash up
+afterwards."</p>
+
+<p>"Hear, hear!" cried Kitty and Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"It's easy to see whose turn it is to wash dishes," laughed Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>"It's right handsome of you, Blue Bonnet," Kitty remarked gratefully,
+"&mdash;especially when it wasn't your turn to officiate. I'll make the
+sandwiches and Debby&mdash;you get the potatoes."</p>
+
+<p>That buffet supper was later pronounced the most successful meal ever
+prepared in <i>Poco Tiempo</i>.</p>
+
+<p>"This is truly Bohemian," remarked Mrs. Clyde, as with a newspaper for
+both plate and napkin, she joined the group about the fire, "&mdash;much
+more so than the studio-luncheons they call Bohemian in Boston."</p>
+
+<p>"Fancy anything trying to be Bohemian in Boston!" exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet. "They haven't a thing in common."</p>
+
+<p>"They both begin with a B," said Sarah.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195"></a>[<a href="images/195.png">195</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>The girls were too surprised to laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Is that a joke, Sarah?" asked Kitty in an awestruck tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not,&mdash;they do, don't they?" she returned.</p>
+
+<p>As the girls collapsed at this, she looked up in puzzled surprise.
+"I'd like to know what's so funny about that," she remarked
+plaintively.</p>
+
+<p>"There comes Mrs. Judson," exclaimed Debby.</p>
+
+<p>There was a hasty wiping of blackened fingers on newspaper napkins as
+the girls rose to greet this unexpected guest. The little figure
+approaching them seemed slighter than ever, and the gingham dress
+fairly trailed over the long grass. The face was hidden in the
+inevitable sunbonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Hello, everybody, are you dry yet?" called a cheerful voice.</p>
+
+<p>"Carita!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "We thought you were your mother."</p>
+
+<p>Carita looked down at her loosely fitting garment and laughed. "I had
+to wear this while my dress dried. Knight said I ought to hang out a
+sign&mdash;'room to let.' Mother made me wear the sunbonnet because my hair
+is still wet. But I said I could dry it by your fire as well as
+anywhere else." She tossed away the cavernous bonnet and the chestnut
+locks fell in a cloud about her shoulders. With her dark eyes and skin
+framed by the long straight hair she looked like a young Indian.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196"></a>[<a href="images/196.png">196</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Have a potato?" asked Blue Bonnet, spearing one with a stick and
+presenting it to the guest.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you." Carita took it as if this were the usual fashion of
+serving this vegetable, and ate it with the ease born of long
+experience. Suddenly she gave an exclamation. "Oh, I nearly forgot.
+Alec sent over something. The boys couldn't come for they've nothing
+to wear but blankets&mdash;they're rolled up like a lot of mummies around
+the fire. But Alec and Knight and Sandy have been writing
+something,&mdash;I think it's a letter."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a poem!&mdash;oh, Blue Bonnet, you read it aloud." Kitty handed over
+the verses and in the flickering light they gathered close about Blue
+Bonnet as she read:</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="The Bridge">
+<tr><td align='center'>THE BRIDGE</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"We stood on a bridge in Texas,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Near a camp far, far from town;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">We stood there in broad daylight,&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">'Cause there wasn't room to sit down.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"We posed on that bridge so rustic,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">To be snapped by Uncle Joe,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And we smiled and looked real pleasant,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Yet one heart was filled with woe.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"For a stream, both swift and deadly,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Flowed beneath the bridgelet there,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And the creaking of the timbers</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197"></a>[<a href="images/197.png">197</a>]</span><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Gave this timid maid a scare.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"As sweeping eddying 'neath us</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">The deep, dark waters rolled,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">She could seem to see our finish&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Dashed beneath the waters cold.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"Yet the bridge still held, but trembled,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">&mdash;Gleamed the torrent chilly, vast,&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And the weight of one Blue Bonnet</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Broke the camel's back at last!"</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>"Who did it?" cried Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"All three helped," said Carita. "But I think Sandy did most."</p>
+
+<p>"He must be cleverer than he looks," said Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, don't you think he looks clever?" exclaimed Kitty, "I do."</p>
+
+<p>"It wasn't clever of him to have sandy hair," Blue Bonnet declared
+perversely.</p>
+
+<p>"As if he could help it!" said Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"We must write a 'pome,' too," said Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"We?" exclaimed Debby. "I never found two words to rhyme in all my
+life. You and Kitty are the only ones who ever 'drop into poetry.'"</p>
+
+<p>"The muse must be partial to red hair," said Amanda. And though Kitty
+sniffed insultedly at this insinuation, her bright head was soon bent
+over a pad beside Blue Bonnet's, and after much chewing of their
+pencils and shrieks of laughter at impossible<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198"></a>[<a href="images/198.png">198</a>]</span> rhymes, the two of them
+finally evolved the following:</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="We are Seven">
+<tr><td align='center'>WE ARE SEVEN</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"You marvel that a simple band</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Of maidens, young and fair,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Should linger ever on the land,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Nor for the water care?</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"If you should ask in dulcet tone</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Why for the earth they sigh,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">They'll weep, they'll shriek, they'll give a groan,&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">But they will answer why.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"'Last night we were a happy bunch,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Last night about eleven&mdash;'</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Quoth you&mdash;'But why this sorry lot?</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">How many members have you got?'</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">They'll answer&mdash;'We Are Seven.'</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"'But seven are not all alive?'</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">'Yea, yea, thou trifling varlet,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Though here we number only five,&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Two caught a fever scarlet.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"'And o'er us five whose courage great</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Brought us to far-off Texas,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">There seems to brood an awful fate,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And trials sore to vex us.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"'To-day the bridge on which we stood</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And posed above the rippling wave,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Alas! was made of rotten wood</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199"></a>[<a href="images/199.png">199</a>]</span><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And plunged us in a watery grave.'</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"'Then ye are dead! All five are dead!</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Their spirits are in heaven!'</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">'Tis throwing words away, for still</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">These maidens five will have their will,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And answer&mdash;'We Are Seven!'"</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>"I wonder what Mr. Wordsworth would say to that?" said Debby, when
+this effort had been heard and elaborately praised.</p>
+
+<p>"He's dead," remarked Sarah. Then, ignoring Debby's snicker she
+continued: "It's very good, Blue Bonnet,&mdash;but you shouldn't have said
+that two had the scarlet fever. There's only one, really."</p>
+
+<p>"Poetic license!" Kitty claimed fiercely.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you are the cleverest girls I ever heard of!" Carita
+exclaimed. "I'm going to run right over with that poem&mdash;I can't wait
+for the boys to see it."</p>
+
+<p>Snatching up her bonnet Carita ran back to the other camp; while the
+girls, quite tired out by the excitement and varied adventures of the
+day, prepared to go to bed. As they neared the tents there came a
+familiar sound from the direction of Camp Judson. It was the loud
+jangle of cowbells.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you suppose those boys are going to eat at this time of night?"
+asked Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not, Sallykins," said Debby. "Don't you understand?&mdash;that's
+the boys applauding our poets!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200"></a>[<a href="images/200.png">200</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2>
+
+<h3>SUNDAY</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">For</span> once in my life," said Blue Bonnet, with a long-drawn sigh, "I'm
+ready for a day of rest."</p>
+
+<p>"Please don't begin to rest till you've done the dishes," begged
+Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet tossed her head scornfully. "I wouldn't trouble trouble
+till trouble troubles you, Kitty-Kat. If you can go to church with as
+clear a conscience as mine, I'll take off my hat to you. One lapse
+doesn't make a sinner!"</p>
+
+<p>"One?" Kitty echoed, and would have continued scathingly had not Sarah
+interrupted with&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see how we can go to church with such looking clothes."</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah's regretting the white <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'pique'">piqu&eacute;</ins> skirt you wouldn't let her bring,"
+said Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Sarah," Blue Bonnet turned a pained look on the serious young
+person, "I would never have believed you would be one to stay away
+from church for lack of an Easter bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't mention Easter&mdash;nor bonnets either," Sarah declared
+indignantly. "The idea,&mdash;to hear<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201"></a>[<a href="images/201.png">201</a>]</span> you girls talk any one would think I
+was completely wrapped up in clothes!"</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody is, you know&mdash;except savages," returned Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's expression at this caused Mrs. Clyde to rise hurriedly and
+vanish within her tent. Freed from this restraint Kitty went on
+wickedly:</p>
+
+<p>"Anyway, Dr. Judson has been a missionary in Africa and I'm sure he'd
+excuse you if&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah left the table with great dignity, leaving the other girls weak
+with laughter.</p>
+
+<p>Carita appeared a little later with her denim dress looking fresh,
+clean, and wrinkleless.</p>
+
+<p>"It looks as if it had just been ironed," Sarah silently commented.
+When Mrs. Clyde called to the girls that it was time to go over to
+Camp Judson, Miss Blake was nowhere to be found.</p>
+
+<p>The church service was held in the "Druid's Grove," a place of mingled
+shade and sunshine, where a little tumbling creek was the only
+accompaniment to the hymns, and the birds trilled an obligato. An old
+tree-stump served as pulpit, and here Dr. Judson talked rather than
+preached to his youthful congregation.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet, listening to him, unconsciously let her eyes wander, as
+they always did in the church at Woodford, in search of the memorial
+window 'Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth Clyde Ashe' that was
+inseparably linked in her mind with religious<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202"></a>[<a href="images/202.png">202</a>]</span> service. Instead of the
+figure of the Good Shepherd with the lamb in his arms, the branches of
+the live oaks here formed a Gothic arch, in the shadow of which sat
+Mrs. Judson with little Joe asleep on her lap. The look on the
+mother's face was full of the same brooding tenderness that the artist
+had given to the eyes of the Shepherd of Old.</p>
+
+<p>When they rose to sing, the young voices rang out clear and joyous,
+quite unlike the droning that too often passes for singing in a
+grown-up congregation.</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Bright youth and snow-crowned ag">
+<tr><td align='left'>"Bright youth and snow-crowned age,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Strong men and maidens meek:</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Raise high your free, exulting song!</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">God's wondrous praises speak!</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"With all the angel choirs,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">With all the saints of earth,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Pour out the strains of joy and bliss,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">True rapture, noblest mirth!"</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>The stirring verses, sung with a will by every one, seemed to soar to
+the very tree-tops, making the branches sway with the rhythm and
+spirit of the hymn.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet heaved a sigh of regret as they rose to leave the grove.
+"It's so sweet,&mdash;I wish it could last all day."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't remember ever having heard you make a remark like that about
+church before," remarked Kitty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203"></a>[<a href="images/203.png">203</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"I don't care much for anything that's held indoors," Blue Bonnet
+confessed. "And I don't like preachers who make their voices sound
+like the long-stop on an organ. Now that last hymn we sang makes me
+fairly bubble inside."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let Sarah hear you say that. She seems to think one ought to
+draw a long face on the Sabbath,&mdash;a sort of 'world-without-end'
+expression, you know. I believe she thinks it almost wicked to be
+happy on Sunday."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Sarah may be as blue as she likes,&mdash;this is the kind of a day
+that makes me feel bright pink!"</p>
+
+<p>"Where is Sarah, anyway?" asked Kitty. "I haven't seen her since
+breakfast. Surely she didn't miss the service?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I saw her sitting by a big tree 'way at the back," said Amanda.</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't like Sarah to take a back seat&mdash;at church," remarked Blue
+Bonnet. "I believe she must be cross because we teased her this
+morning."</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother and Sarah were already deep in preparations for dinner
+when the others straggled into camp. The well-cooked meal of muffins,
+fried ham, potatoes and stewed dried fruit they served met with
+visible as well as audible approval.</p>
+
+<p>"Picnic lunches are more fun, but this kind of a meal is
+more&mdash;filling," said Blue Bonnet. "Let's eat all we can now and have
+just bread and milk for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204"></a>[<a href="images/204.png">204</a>]</span> supper&mdash;we've two cans of fresh milk in the
+creek."</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet seems to have developed a sudden liking for 'jarring
+notes,' doesn't she, girls?" asked Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>When dinner was done and the dishes washed, they all sought the
+buck-board seats in the lounging room.</p>
+
+<p>"If we only had a book now, it would be fine to have Grandmother read
+aloud," remarked Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"You wouldn't let Sarah bring any books," Amanda reminded her.</p>
+
+<p>"Nevertheless, methinks Sarah looks as if she had one up her sleeve,"
+said Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"Not up my sleeve," Sarah confessed, "&mdash;but in my bag. I'll go get
+it,&mdash;it's 'Don Quixote,' in Spanish and English both."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you bring the drawn-work, too?" asked Kitty. "My, Sarah, but you
+are a first-rate smuggler!"</p>
+
+<p>"Now that suspicion has raised its snaky head, I'd like to know&mdash;why
+is Sarah, long after the dishes are done, still wearing that apron?"
+Blue Bonnet had sent a random shot, but to her surprise Sarah flushed
+to the roots of her blond hair.</p>
+
+<p>She rose hastily to go in search of "Don Quixote," but the other girls
+were too quick for her. They pitilessly tore the shielding apron from<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205"></a>[<a href="images/205.png">205</a>]</span>
+her shoulders, and the newly sponged and pressed middy jacket and
+khaki skirt stood revealed in all their guilty freshness.</p>
+
+<p>"They've been ironed!" gasped Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of that for selfishness,&mdash;not to let a soul know
+she had an iron?" demanded Debby.</p>
+
+<p>"I got it over at Mrs. Judson's. And none of you said you wanted an
+iron," said Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"And do you mean to say that our Sarah, daughter of the Reverend
+Samuel Blake, wilfully broke the Sabbath by ironing?" Concentrated
+horror appeared on Kitty's saucy countenance.</p>
+
+<p>"She probably thinks 'the better the day the better the deed,'" said
+Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"If Mrs. Judson could press Carita's dress, I don't see that it was
+any worse for me to press mine," Sarah protested. "I'm used to looking
+respectable at church."</p>
+
+<p>"It's no wonder you refused to sit by so unrespectable a crowd as the
+rest of us!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde was laughing inwardly, but she came to the aid of the
+unhappy Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"I think good nature has ceased to be a virtue, Sarah," she declared.
+"Hereafter you have my permission to resort to violence if necessary
+to protect yourself. Quiet down, girls,&mdash;remember it is Sunday."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206"></a>[<a href="images/206.png">206</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Much relieved, Sarah brought forth the contraband book and the long
+peaceful afternoon was spent in listening to the various mishaps that
+befell the valiant Don and his faithful Sancho Panza.</p>
+
+<p>"If it weren't for setting a dangerous precedent, I'd tell Sarah how
+glad we all are that she defied the authorities and did some
+smuggling," remarked Kitty. She and Debby had gone to the creek to
+bring up the milk for supper, and now made a pretty picture as they
+came up the willow-grown path, bearing the tall cans.</p>
+
+<p>"You look like somebody-or-other at the well," Blue Bonnet declared as
+Kitty came into sight.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure you don't mean thing-a-ma-bob?" laughed Kitty. "If you
+mean Rebecca, I don't agree with you. I'll wager Rebecca never wore a
+middy blouse or carried a tin milk-can!"</p>
+
+<p>That evening the inmates of both camps again sat about a big bonfire.
+But this time the frolics and rollicking airs had given way to a
+decorous singing of patriotic songs, stirring hymns and a pleasant
+"sermonette" by the pastor of this youthful flock.</p>
+
+<p>Long after this Sunday was past, Blue Bonnet remembered it as one of
+the sweetest Sabbaths she had ever spent; and she could never decide
+just what part of the day she had liked most,&mdash;the hour in the Druid's
+Grove; the afternoon when Grandmother with her pleasant voice had read
+aloud from "Don Quixote;" or the evening, when they sat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207"></a>[<a href="images/207.png">207</a>]</span> about the
+glowing logs, alternately singing, and listening to Dr. Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to ask Sandy to recite," Knight whispered to her as there
+fell a silence.</p>
+
+<p>"Get him to do 'The Bridge!'" Blue Bonnet said with dancing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure he'd rather do 'We are Seven,'" he replied, laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish he'd recite the 'Hymn of the Alamo,'" said Alec, who had
+overheard the conversation. "Ask him to, Knight,&mdash;he'll do anything
+for you, and that's a fine poem."</p>
+
+<p>"Alec wrote an essay on the Alamo," Blue Bonnet explained to Knight,
+"and it won a prize&mdash;the Sargent prize&mdash;in our school this year."</p>
+
+<p>Alec squirmed with a boyish dislike of hearing himself praised; but
+Knight slapped him on the shoulder enthusiastically.</p>
+
+<p>"Bully for you, old chap! Tell the fellows the story of the Alamo,
+will you? Uncle Bayard likes them to hear historical things like
+that&mdash;can't hear them too often."</p>
+
+<p>Alec looked horrified at the idea, but Blue Bonnet joined Knight in
+urging him. "You tell the story of the fight and maybe Sandy will
+finish with the Hymn."</p>
+
+<p>Sandy promising to do his part, Alec finally yielded. Sinking far back
+in the shadow where his face could not be seen by any of the great
+circle of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208"></a>[<a href="images/208.png">208</a>]</span> listeners, and his voice came out of the blackness with a
+decided tremor in it, the boy told, and told well, the story of the
+frontier riflemen in their struggle for the liberation of Texas from
+the yoke of the Mexican dictator.</p>
+
+<p>How the Texas lads thrilled at the recital of heroism, and thrilled at
+the mention of such names as Travis and Crockett! It was not a new
+tale; not a boy there but knew the story of that handful of men&mdash;less
+than two hundred of them&mdash;who, barricading themselves within the Alamo
+fortress, for ten days defied the Mexicans, over four thousand strong;
+only to be massacred to a man in the final heartrending fall.</p>
+
+<p>Alec's voice lost its tremor and ended with a patriotic ring that made
+Blue Bonnet glow with pride&mdash;pride in the heroes he told of, and in
+the friend who told of them.</p>
+
+<p>"It just needs Colonel Potter's poem to add the right climax to that
+bit of history," Dr. Judson declared; and Sandy stood up at once.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy was used to "talking on his feet;" and he stood in an easy
+posture, tossing his light reddish hair back from his broad forehead,
+and with one hand resting lightly on the alpenstock he had been
+carving for Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>Listening to him, Blue Bonnet lost all her early prejudice against the
+clever lad, and responding to the unbounded enthusiasm and the true
+orator's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209"></a>[<a href="images/209.png">209</a>]</span> ring in the boyish voice, thrilled warmly to the spirit of
+the lines:</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Hymn of the Alamo">
+<tr><td align='center'>HYMN OF THE ALAMO</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>"Arise! Man the wall&mdash;our clarion blast</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Now sounds its final reveille,&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">This dawning morn must be the last</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Our fated band shall ever see.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">To life, but not to hope, farewell;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Yon trumpet's clang and cannon's peal,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And storming shout and clash of steel</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Is <i>ours</i>,&mdash;but not our country's knell.</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Welcome the Spartan's death!</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">'Tis no despairing strife&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">We fall, we die&mdash;but our expiring breath</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Is freedom's breath of life!</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><br />"Here, on this new Thermopylae,</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Our monument shall tower on high,</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And 'Alamo' hereafter be</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">On bloodier fields the battle-cry!"</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Thus Travis from the rampart cried;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">And when his warriors saw the foe</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Like whelming billows surge below,&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">At once each dauntless heart replied:</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">"Welcome the Spartan's death!</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">'Tis no despairing strife&mdash;</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">We fall&mdash;but our expiring breath</span></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Is freedom's breath of life!"</span></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>As Sandy resumed his seat amid a hush that was a greater tribute than
+applause, Blue Bonnet turned to Knight with glowing eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"And to think those brave fellows did all that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210"></a>[<a href="images/210.png">210</a>]</span> for Texas! Aren't you
+proud to belong to this state?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'd better believe I am!"</p>
+
+<p>"We've had some heroes in Massachusetts," Alec reminded them.</p>
+
+<p>"And they were all <i>Americans</i>&mdash;and so are we." Knight's bigger way of
+looking at the matter settled what threatened to grow into an
+argument.</p>
+
+<p>"That Sandy boy's a wonder," Blue Bonnet exclaimed. "I take back every
+uncomplimentary remark I ever made about him. Appearances are so
+deceiving."</p>
+
+<p>"'All that glitters isn't gold,'" said Knight, looking like his uncle
+as he gravely quoted this ancient maxim.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a pity it isn't,&mdash;Sandy would be a millionaire with that hair of
+his!" Blue Bonnet laughed.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean 'handsome is as handsome does,'" said Knight, "&mdash;that isn't
+quite so dangerous a quotation. I expect to see Sandy President some
+day, or at least a senator."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you imagine the newspaper headings: 'Senator Red-top of
+Texas'&mdash;?" laughed Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"He's hoping to go East to college this fall," Knight remarked more
+seriously.</p>
+
+<p>"It's queer," said Alec, "how all the Western boys long to go East and
+all the Eastern fellows<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211"></a>[<a href="images/211.png">211</a>]</span> think they're just made if they can come
+West. I'd like to trade him my chance at Harvard for his health and
+strength."</p>
+
+<p>"Can't you arrange that trifling exchange for Alec?" Blue Bonnet asked
+Knight.</p>
+
+<p>He shook his head. "Sandy won't take anybody's chances,&mdash;he's the sort
+that makes his own."</p>
+
+<p>"Some of us aren't allowed to."</p>
+
+<p>Alec's voice had suddenly grown moody, and Blue Bonnet thought it time
+to change the subject. In a moment her clear, sweet voice was leading
+the rest in "The Flag without a Stain."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you like a Texas Sunday?" Blue Bonnet found herself beside
+Sarah as they walked back to <i>Poco Tiempo</i>, and put the question
+rather mischievously.</p>
+
+<p>"It's been very nice, most of it," Sarah returned in a stiff manner,
+very unlike her usual one.</p>
+
+<p>"What part didn't you like?"</p>
+
+<p>Sarah made sure that the others were not listening, then answered in a
+tone Blue Bonnet had never heard from her before:</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't like being made to feel that whatever I do is the wrong
+thing. I never seem to please you any more, Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Sarah!" Blue Bonnet stopped still and gazed at Sarah in
+consternation. Sarah paused, too, and in the faint rays from the fire
+the two girls looked at each other steadily for a moment<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212"></a>[<a href="images/212.png">212</a>]</span> without
+speaking. Finally Blue Bonnet blurted out:</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you'd tell me just what you mean."</p>
+
+<p>"I mean that I've come to the conclusion that I should have stayed in
+Woodford. I don't seem to fit in here." Sarah's voice shook a little.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah!" was still all Blue Bonnet could stammer. It was all so sudden
+and unexpected; a bolt from a clear sky.</p>
+
+<p>"Please don't think I'm thin-skinned and can't stand a little
+teasing," Sarah continued, "for I'm sure I can&mdash;I always have had to.
+But lately I haven't said a thing that hasn't made one or other of you
+'hoot' as Kitty says. And everything I've wanted to do you've thought
+ridiculous. Lately the boys have begun to laugh at me; even those I
+hardly know."</p>
+
+<p>This time Blue Bonnet said nothing; she was overcome by the thought
+that all Sarah had said was quite true. She hastily reviewed the past
+few weeks, and as one by one she remembered various incidents, the
+force of Sarah's complaints struck her anew.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty's dare and that wild ride; the ban put upon Sarah's Spanish
+books and the much-loved drawn-work; and, lately, the almost concerted
+effort of all of them to convert everything Sarah said and did into
+something unwarranted and absurd. By the time Blue Bonnet had reached
+her own action<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213"></a>[<a href="images/213.png">213</a>]</span> of that very morning in tearing the apron forcibly
+from Sarah's shoulders, she was dumb with shame. This was the way she
+had rewarded her friend for a loyalty that had been unswerving through
+all that dreadful week in Woodford, when the other girls had sent her
+to Coventry; for all her sweet thoughtfulness that had proved itself
+unfailing!</p>
+
+<p>She suddenly threw her arms impulsively around Sarah's shoulders and
+faced her squarely.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been downright horrid," she said earnestly. "And a rude, selfish
+hostess. I haven't any right to expect you to forgive me, Sarah, dear,
+but if you can find it in your heart to give another chance, I'll show
+you I can and will be different."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't serious enough to talk of forgiveness," Sarah said in her
+honest, straightforward way. "All I want to know is, that you're
+not&mdash;sorry&mdash;I came."</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah, don't say that! You make me hate myself!" Blue Bonnet shook
+her almost fiercely. "You mustn't think it either. I'm glad, glad,
+glad you came! I've meant you to know it, and I've wanted you to have
+a splendid time, and here all the while&mdash;" she stopped and swallowed
+hard.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's face lighted up happily and she did what was for her an
+unprecedented thing,&mdash;she drew Blue Bonnet to her and gave her a
+hearty hug.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all I wanted to know," she said. "Please don't imagine I
+haven't enjoyed myself,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214"></a>[<a href="images/214.png">214</a>]</span> Blue Bonnet. It's been the most wonderful
+visit! I'm queer, I know, but I can't help liking the things I like,
+and if only the girls would stop trying to make me over&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll make them!" Blue Bonnet declared; and at this threat they both
+laughed, and the storm was over.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215"></a>[<a href="images/215.png">215</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2>
+
+<h3>THE LOST SHEEP</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Oh</span>, Carita, do you really have to go to-day?" Genuine regret was in
+Blue Bonnet's eyes and tone.</p>
+
+<p>Carita sighed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Grandfather expects us back at the farm to-night, and Mother
+never disappoints him. He's getting old and she doesn't like to leave
+him alone much. We may come up again before the summer is
+over,&mdash;Father has to be here for several weeks yet."</p>
+
+<p>"But we'll be gone,&mdash;we're to leave on Wednesday, you know. Did ever
+days fly so before? I haven't seen half enough of you, Carita."</p>
+
+<p>"You seem to belong to so many people," Carita said rather wistfully,
+"I've been afraid to claim too much of your time. But there are other
+summers. Maybe when you come back from the East next year you can come
+to the farm,&mdash;it isn't much of a journey on the cars."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet lost herself a moment in reflection. "When she came back
+from the East"&mdash;why, she hadn't even decided that she was going East
+again&mdash;yet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216"></a>[<a href="images/216.png">216</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"And you can come to see me&mdash;at the Blue Bonnet ranch," she said.</p>
+
+<p>Carita shook her head.</p>
+
+<p>"Railroad fares are pretty high. We have to be very careful since
+Father lost his health. That's why we came back from India, you know.
+The doctors said that this climate was best for his trouble, and when
+Grandfather offered us a home on the farm we were so glad. But
+Father's not having a church&mdash;only once in a while when he fills a
+pulpit for a few weeks at a time&mdash;keeps us a little short. I reckon
+you don't know much about&mdash;being short. You have everything you want,
+don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody seems to think that; they forget that I haven't a mother or
+father&mdash;or any brothers and sisters," Blue Bonnet said very simply.</p>
+
+<p>Carita threw her arms impulsively about her friend and gave her a warm
+kiss. "How mean of me to forget! I wish you were my sister. Boys don't
+always understand. But you have so many people to love you, you can't
+ever get lonesome. And having lots of money must be so nice, and to go
+away to school, and have pretty clothes and go to parties and travel,
+why&mdash;" Carita's breath failed her.</p>
+
+<p>"I ought to be mighty thankful. And I am most of the time," Blue
+Bonnet replied. "But the people who love you always expect a great
+deal of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217"></a>[<a href="images/217.png">217</a>]</span> you, and it's very hard to live up to their expectations.
+Besides, going to school isn't all fun, I can tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't care if it weren't all fun, if I could only go. Father
+teaches me at home, but we have so many interruptions. There are
+dishes to wash, babies to mind, Grandfather to wait upon, till neither
+of us knows whether we're doing arithmetic or grammar." Carita rose.
+"I must hurry back to camp&mdash;Mother's packing."</p>
+
+<p>"You never forget what's expected of you, do you?" Blue Bonnet asked,
+with a mixture of wonder and admiration.</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't do for me to forget,&mdash;I'm the eldest, you know. Mother
+depends on me." Carita spoke as though it were the most natural thing
+in the world for a fourteen-year-old girl to be "depended upon."</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody ever depends on me&mdash;for a very good reason!" Blue Bonnet
+laughed. "Somehow it's so much easier for me to forget than to
+remember. It's the only thing I do with shining success."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll learn to be responsible when you have children of your own,"
+Carita said as sagely as if she were forty instead of fourteen.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's eyes shone.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to have a whole dozen!" she declared.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218"></a>[<a href="images/218.png">218</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't, if I were you&mdash;it would be so hard on the eldest," Carita
+reminded her.</p>
+
+<p>And Blue Bonnet, noticing the care-worn look in the eyes of her
+"missionary girl," decided that being the eldest of a big family might
+have its disadvantages.</p>
+
+<p>"Grandmother, I wish there were something I could do for Carita," she
+said later that morning, as she and Mrs. Clyde found themselves alone.</p>
+
+<p>"You have already done a great deal for her," her grandmother
+remarked. "Mrs. Judson has told me how much your letters and presents
+have meant to Carita."</p>
+
+<p>"But that was so little,&mdash;and it was just fun for me. She has all work
+and no play, and I don't think it's fair."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you can do something for her, later on. But you must be
+careful how you assume responsibilities, Blue Bonnet. You seem to have
+taken upon yourself a great many already."</p>
+
+<p>"What ones?" Blue Bonnet questioned in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"In the first place&mdash;you've me!" Grandmother smiled.</p>
+
+<p>"That's so,&mdash;I'm responsible to Aunt Lucinda for you. And what
+others?"</p>
+
+<p>"How about the We are Sevens whom you've brought so far away from
+their homes? And Alec?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219"></a>[<a href="images/219.png">219</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's eyes opened.</p>
+
+<p>"I hadn't thought of them in that way. But I reckon you're right. And
+there's Solomon, too."</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother's mouth twitched. "You must be sure you can do your full
+duty by the responsibilities you have before you assume new ones."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked very serious. "Seems to me life has a heap of
+complications. Now there's Alec,&mdash;he's worse than a complication. He's
+a downright puzzle."</p>
+
+<p>"Has he said anything more about his trouble?" Mrs. Clyde asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Just hints. But they sound as if he were hiding something pretty bad.
+Sometimes I wish he would come right out with it, and then again, I'm
+afraid. If he keeps on looking dark and broody every time the
+conversation turns on the subject of health, I'm going to write the
+General about it. I think <i>that's</i> my duty."</p>
+
+<p>"But Alec looks wonderfully well, bigger, broader and better in every
+way than when he left Woodford," Mrs. Clyde insisted.</p>
+
+<p>"I know he does. But when I remarked to Knight how well Alec looked,
+and said I thought he ought to get rid of his foolish notion about
+himself now, Knight looked queer and asked, 'Do you think it a foolish
+notion? I think he's dead right.' And Knight's a sensible boy and
+wouldn't say that unless he thought so."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220"></a>[<a href="images/220.png">220</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde's eyes reflected Blue Bonnet's look of perplexity. "Have
+you talked with your uncle about him?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. Just after I talked with you Alec asked me not to mention the
+matter to any one else. That shuts out Uncle Cliff. I'm sorry, for I'm
+sure he'd suggest the right thing. There comes Miguel with the horses.
+You don't mind our riding a little way with the Judsons do you?
+They're nearly ready to start."</p>
+
+<p>"No, so long as you are back for lunch," said her grandmother.</p>
+
+<p>The boys had all gone hunting early that morning, and only the girls
+of <i>Poco Tiempo</i> were on hand to escort the departing guests. Mrs.
+Clyde said good-bye to Mrs. Judson with genuine regret, and kissed all
+the small Judsons warmly at parting.</p>
+
+<p>The whole family was packed into the two seats of the heavy
+farm-wagon, the mother driving with one of the boys beside her; Carita
+in the back seat holding Joe and, at the same time, keeping a watchful
+eye on the two lively youngsters by her side. Bedding and camp
+equipment were heaped high in the wagon-box.</p>
+
+<p>"You look like a picture of 'Crossing the Plains,'" Blue Bonnet
+exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"Play you're the Injuns going to scalp us!" begged Carita's brother
+Harry, his big dark eyes shining with eagerness.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221"></a>[<a href="images/221.png">221</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet gave a shrill "Ho, ye ho, ho!" that passed for a
+war-whoop, and in a minute they were all off, the farm horses rather
+startled at the carryings-on; the small boys wild with excitement; and
+the We are Sevens tearing madly down the road "ki-yi-ing" at the top
+of their voices.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde turned with a smile to Dr. Judson, who stood looking rather
+amazedly after his departing family. "Blue Bonnet is alternately five
+and fifteen," she remarked.</p>
+
+<p>"She is decidedly refreshing," he returned. "I hope you will try to
+keep her a child as long as possible."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't need to try!" she replied with a laugh.</p>
+
+<p>The parting between the "emigrants" and the Indians was not such as
+history records of leave-takings between these sworn enemies. Carita
+had to wink hard to keep back the tears when she said good-bye to Blue
+Bonnet, and the little Judsons set up a loud wail when their former
+pursuers waved them farewell.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a shame Carita has to go back and slave on that old farm," Blue
+Bonnet declared, as she looked after the little figure holding on to
+the baby with one hand and waving her handkerchief in the other.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems selfish of us to be having a whole summer of fun when she's
+only had two or three days," said Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah talks as if it's downright wicked for any<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222"></a>[<a href="images/222.png">222</a>]</span> of us to be having a
+good time," Kitty retorted. "Maybe you think one of us ought to change
+places with Carita?" she challenged Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah is the only one of us that's unselfish enough to do such a
+thing!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed warmly; and Sarah sent her a grateful
+glance.</p>
+
+<p>They were in a part of the country that Blue Bonnet called "the other
+side of the hills,"&mdash;a land of sheep-ranches, for the most part;
+rather barren and level, unlike the rolling green prairie of the
+cattle-country she loved. They could see the Judson's wagon winding
+its way across the plain, until only a blur of dust marked its course
+towards the horizon.</p>
+
+<p>"Let's hurry," said Blue Bonnet, "I promised Grandmother we'd surely
+be back for lunch."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't your turn to cook, is it?" asked Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"No,&mdash;it's my turn to eat!" And Blue Bonnet, urging Firefly, was off
+at a lively clip towards camp.</p>
+
+<p>"Please stop, Blue Bonnet," panted Kitty after a few minutes of this
+sort of going. "I've a dreadful pain in my side."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet good-naturedly fell back with her, and the rest swept past
+them with a chorus of taunts for being "quitters." Both girls looked
+after Comanche and his rider with something like wonder in their eyes.
+Sarah was riding like a veteran; it<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223"></a>[<a href="images/223.png">223</a>]</span> was plain that she and Comanche
+understood each other at last.</p>
+
+<p>"Sarah's coming on, isn't she?" said Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Coming?&mdash;I think she's arrived!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed.</p>
+
+<p>"She can thank me for picking out Comanche for her," remarked Kitty;
+she preferred herself to be the object of Blue Bonnet's approbation
+and could not be roused to much enthusiasm on Sarah's account.</p>
+
+<p>"Considering your motive, Kitty-Kat, I'm not so sure Sarah owes you
+any gratitude," laughed Blue Bonnet. Suddenly she gave an exclamation.
+"Why, there's a lamb,&mdash;I wonder if it's dead."</p>
+
+<p>"Where?" asked Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet pointed to a spot some distance off the road, but Kitty's
+city-bred eyes could make out nothing. Just then there came a feeble
+bleat, and in a second Blue Bonnet had slipped from the saddle and
+handed the reins to Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Hold Firefly a minute, please. That <i>is</i> a lamb!"</p>
+
+<p>Kitty obediently held the unwilling Firefly, while Blue Bonnet hurried
+in the direction of the bleat. A moment later she stooped, and when
+she straightened up, there was a small woolly object in her arms.</p>
+
+<p>"It's too little to travel and the mean old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224"></a>[<a href="images/224.png">224</a>]</span> mother's gone off with
+the flock," Blue Bonnet said, coming up with the deserted baby.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to do with it?" demanded Kitty helplessly.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to find the flock. It's been driven along here and inside
+that fence. I'm going to let down the bars and cross the field. You
+see the little shanty over there?&mdash;I believe there must be a shepherd
+somewhere about, and I'll give him the lamb. He isn't a very good
+shepherd or he'd have been looking out for poor little lambs. Shady
+used to herd sheep and he's told me lots about it."</p>
+
+<p>"And what shall I do?" asked Kitty. "I'm afraid to hold Firefly,&mdash;he
+nearly pulls me off the saddle."</p>
+
+<p>"Then tie both horses to the bars here and help me with the lamb."</p>
+
+<p>Kitty offered no protest. This was so like Blue Bonnet. It was always
+a stray dog or a lost baby, or an old woman at the poor-house that
+enlisted her ready sympathy; Kitty ran over a long list in her mind.
+Of course it had to be a lost lamb or a calf in Texas; the wonder was
+there hadn't been more of them.</p>
+
+<p>Hastily tying both ponies to a fence-post with a scrambling knot of
+the reins that would have brought down Blue Bonnet's wrath upon her
+hapless head, Kitty hastened across the close-cropped meadow. It
+seemed to her they trudged miles,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225"></a>[<a href="images/225.png">225</a>]</span> taking turns carrying the lamb,
+before they reached the little shack. A stupid young fellow,
+half-asleep, lay sprawled in the shade.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's a lamb we found by the road," said Blue Bonnet, proffering her
+woolly burden.</p>
+
+<p>Without uttering a word the sleepy youth took the lamb from her; but
+Blue Bonnet, observing his manner of handling it, saw that he was wise
+in the ways of sheep, and she was content to leave her charge with
+him.</p>
+
+<p>"Flock's over there," he said at length, pointing vaguely with his
+thumb.</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Come on, Kitty." As they turned away she said in an
+undertone: "Shady says the herders are alone so much they almost
+forget how to talk."</p>
+
+<p>"He's evidently forgotten how to say 'thank you,'" Kitty said crossly.
+"Why, Blue Bonnet&mdash;where are the horses?"</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to know. Where did you tie them?"</p>
+
+<p>Kitty's startled eyes rested on the post beside the bars. "To that
+post there. Oh, Blue Bonnet, some one must have stolen them!"</p>
+
+<p>"Stolen? Who'd steal them, I'd like to know? This comes, Kitty Clark,
+of letting you hitch a horse!" Blue Bonnet was straining her eyes for
+a sight of the runaways.</p>
+
+<p>"This comes, Blue Bonnet Ashe, of following<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226"></a>[<a href="images/226.png">226</a>]</span> you on every wild-goose
+chase you choose to lead me!" Cross, tired and out of patience, Kitty
+flared up in one of her sudden outbursts, and Blue Bonnet took fire at
+once.</p>
+
+<p>"If you think I'm going to let a poor creature starve to death rather
+than disturb your comfort, you're much mistaken!" An angry glance
+passed between them.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah, the pacifier, was several miles away by this time; and even she
+would have felt her resources sorely taxed to meet this emergency.
+Miles from camp and no horses!</p>
+
+<p>Kitty stalked into the road and started to walk, holding her head high
+and swinging her arms as though <i>she</i> didn't mind a little matter of
+five or six miles. Blue Bonnet, with the training of a lifetime,
+stopped to put up the bars before setting out on the long tramp. It
+was already noon and the sun glared down, unbearably hot. Before she
+had gone a mile Blue Bonnet looked about for a mesquite bush, and
+finding one sank down in its shade. Kitty kept doggedly on.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Kitty!" Blue Bonnet called after her. "I've heard of people who
+hadn't sense enough to come in out of the rain, and I think it's a
+heap sillier not to have sense enough to come in out of the sun!"</p>
+
+<p>Kitty wavered; and was lost. Turning back she threw herself beside
+Blue Bonnet with a groan.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227"></a>[<a href="images/227.png">227</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"My feet are one big blister," she moaned, her anger swallowed up in
+the anguish of the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"We can't possibly walk," said Blue Bonnet. "And I've an idea. If that
+cloud of dust I saw on the road towards camp was Firefly and
+Rowdy&mdash;and it probably was&mdash;the girls will soon be after us."</p>
+
+<p>And so it proved; except that it was Alec and Knight instead of the
+girls who came riding furiously down the road in search of them. When
+Alec heard Blue Bonnet's ranch-call he threw his hat in the air with a
+whoop of relief.</p>
+
+<p>"We've been looking for your mangled remains all along the way," he
+declared, as they reached the girls. "We had the fright of our lives
+when Firefly and Rowdy came trotting into camp minus their riders."</p>
+
+<p>"You thought we'd been thrown?" Blue Bonnet asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I would have thought so if there had been only one, but it didn't
+seem likely that both of you could have come a cropper," Knight
+replied.</p>
+
+<p>"Is Grandmother worried?" Blue Bonnet asked hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"She doesn't know. The girls didn't tell her anything except that you
+and Kitty had loafed along the way. She didn't see the horses. But
+we'd better hurry back."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228"></a>[<a href="images/228.png">228</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Each boy had led one of the errant ponies, and now the girls mounted
+and lost no time in getting back to camp.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm so sorry&mdash;" Blue Bonnet began to speak as soon as she came within
+sight of her grandmother, "&mdash;I didn't mean to be so late."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't quite understand, Blue Bonnet, why you and Kitty could not
+come back with the other girls. It is long past noon." Mrs. Clyde had
+been worried, and required more of an explanation than an apology.
+Blue Bonnet's tired face and dusty, dishevelled clothes spoke
+eloquently of adventure.</p>
+
+<p>"I stopped to pick up a lamb,&mdash;its mother had gone on with the flock
+and left it to starve. Shady says lots of sheep don't care about their
+children. That's why he likes beef-critters best,&mdash;cows always make
+good mothers. And Kitty and I found the shepherd and gave him the lamb
+to take care of."</p>
+
+<p>The annoyance faded from Grandmother's face and her eyes softened.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Joe, who had been an interested listener, spoke up&mdash;"Say, Honey,
+why didn't you bring the lamb home?&mdash;fresh meat is just what we've
+been needing."</p>
+
+<p>"Uncle Joe!" Horror rang in Blue Bonnet's voice. "Do you think I'd
+have eaten that poor little darling?"</p>
+
+<p>He scratched a puzzled head. "Why seems like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229"></a>[<a href="images/229.png">229</a>]</span> I've known you to eat
+nice young roast lamb, Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>"That's different," she insisted.</p>
+
+<p>"The only acquaintances Blue Bonnet is willing to have roasted are her
+friends!" said Kitty; and Blue Bonnet generously let her have the last
+word.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230"></a>[<a href="images/230.png">230</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2>
+
+<h3>SECRETS</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">There's</span> only one thing nicer than going camping," Blue Bonnet
+declared.</p>
+
+<p>Her grandmother looked up. "And that is&mdash;?"</p>
+
+<p>"Getting home again!" Blue Bonnet laughed happily.</p>
+
+<p>They were in sight of the ranch-house now, and could see the girls and
+Alec dismounting at the veranda steps. Don and Solomon leaping
+excitedly about the group, suddenly caught sight of the approaching
+buckboard and raced madly to meet their mistress. Even the horses
+seemed glad to be home again and tired as they were with the long
+day's travel broke into a trot.</p>
+
+<p>Benita's brown face beamed at them from the doorway, and over her
+shoulder peered Juanita, with eyes only for Miguel.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty had sunk immediately into one of the deep veranda chairs.</p>
+
+<p>"I had to see how it feels to sit in a real live chair with a back
+once more," she explained. "And next I want to look at myself in a
+mirror<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231"></a>[<a href="images/231.png">231</a>]</span> that's more than three inches square; and have a drink out of
+a glass tumbler; and put on a clean white, fluffy dress!"</p>
+
+<p>They each did all these things as eagerly as if they had been marooned
+on a desert island for many months; even Grandmother Clyde wearing
+fresh white linen, and Alec, for the first time on the ranch appearing
+in a starched shirt. Whereupon the girls broke into deafening
+applause.</p>
+
+<p>"Letters, letters for everybody!" cried Blue Bonnet bursting into the
+living-room with a great bundle of mail. "Three for you and one for
+me, Grandmother,&mdash;postmarked Turino. Heaps for you, Kitty, ditto for
+Sarah, Amanda, Debby, Alec,&mdash;all Woodford must have joined in a
+round-robin. Hurry and read them and then everybody swap news!"</p>
+
+<p>A long silence ensued, as profound as it was rare, while each girl
+pored over the precious home letters. It was Kitty who looked up
+first.</p>
+
+<p>"Susy didn't catch the fever,&mdash;and Ruth's all over it. And she's had
+to have all her hair cut off, and she's dreadfully thin and doesn't
+seem to get her strength back as she should, Father says. He thinks
+she has fretted over having to miss the ranch party,&mdash;and no
+wonder!&mdash;it would simply have killed me. Susy's been a regular trump
+and hasn't complained a bit, but every one knows it's been a dreadful
+disappointment, especially when she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232"></a>[<a href="images/232.png">232</a>]</span> was perfectly well and could have
+come if it hadn't been for Ruth."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a downright shame!" Blue Bonnet declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Father says if Ruth doesn't feel better soon she'll probably have to
+stay out of school this fall," Kitty continued.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I should say she hadn't suffered in vain," exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet; Grandmother was deep in her letters.</p>
+
+<p>"But think how mean it would be to have one of the We are Sevens out
+of school. You know how you love to 'have things complete,'" Amanda
+reminded her.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but&mdash;" she began; then feeling her grandmother's eyes upon her,
+failed to finish. It was odd how the girls took it for granted that
+she was going back with them. And she was not at all sure, herself.</p>
+
+<p>The girls had not noticed her hesitation, and were already exchanging
+other bits of home news and gossip. Alec alone was silent. Blue
+Bonnet, stealing a look at him saw that he had finished his letters
+and was staring moodily out of the window, unmindful of all the gay
+chatter about him.</p>
+
+<p>"Did you get bad news, Alec?" she asked him, later that evening, as he
+accompanied her to the stable to see Texas and Massachusetts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233"></a>[<a href="images/233.png">233</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"That depends on the way you look at it. Boyd is coming back from
+Europe to take the West Point examinations&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet smothered an exclamation: she had seen that coming.</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;and Grandfather says that since the Army seems out of the question
+for me, he thinks I had better hurry home and take the Harvard exams.
+He seems set on it."</p>
+
+<p>"And you don't want to?"</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't to be thought of." Alec's mouth was very determined.</p>
+
+<p>Now why, if West Point was disposed of, could he not take the next
+best&mdash;or in her opinion the very best&mdash;thing that offered? It was on
+the point of Blue Bonnet's tongue to put the question, when Alec spoke
+again.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been putting off writing Grandfather,&mdash;what I told you a while
+ago,&mdash;thinking I might feel different after a time. But I'm more
+convinced than ever now. I had a long talk with Knight's friend 'Doc'
+Abbott, and he gave me a thorough going over, as he called it&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And what did he say?"</p>
+
+<p>"He agrees with me, absolutely. There's no Harvard or any other
+college for Alec Trent&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Alec!" Blue Bonnet was trembling. To hide it she bent and picked
+up little Texas, stroking one of his silky ears. The coyotes had been
+placed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234"></a>[<a href="images/234.png">234</a>]</span> in the empty rabbit-hutch, and were growing prodigiously.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it's better to know the truth and face it, isn't it?" Alec
+asked, as if rather resenting her tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, but&mdash;I can't see how you can speak so lightly about it. It's so
+dreadfully&mdash;serious."</p>
+
+<p>"Lightly?" echoed Alec. "You're mistaken, Blue Bonnet. I know it's a
+mighty serious business for me. Why, if I could view it lightly, I
+could sit down and write Grandfather about it this very minute&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you don't, I'm going to!" she declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you? Oh, Blue Bonnet, that's just what I've been hoping you'd
+do!" The relief in Alec's tone was unmistakable. "He's mighty fond of
+you, and I'm sure he'd consider that it came better from you than from
+me. And it will be a lot easier for you to do it, under the
+circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>Easier! Blue Bonnet bent hastily and put Texas back in the bunny-house
+so that Alec might not see her face. If he had not been absorbed in
+his own thoughts he must have seen what a shock his words had been to
+her. It was so unlike Alec to put upon a girl a task he felt too hard
+for himself,&mdash;a sort of cowardice of which she would never have
+believed him capable. It took her some seconds to steady her voice
+before she could answer:</p>
+
+<p>"I'll write to-morrow."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235"></a>[<a href="images/235.png">235</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"You're a trump, Blue Bonnet! I seem to get deeper and deeper into
+your debt," he said earnestly.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet fastened the little door of the rabbit-hutch, leaving
+Texas and Massachusetts to one of their frequent naps, and then walked
+back to the house in silence. Alec, observing her, believed her to be
+composing her letter to the General.</p>
+
+<p>"The first of August to-day, just think how our summer is flying!"
+remarked Amanda next morning.</p>
+
+<p>"Just three weeks to Blue Bonnet's birthday," said Sarah, who was
+engaged in making some mental calculations.</p>
+
+<p>"Sixteen! Just think how old I'm getting!" Blue Bonnet's smile showed
+her not at all depressed at the prospect.</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Joe cleared his throat gruffly. Why on earth did everybody keep
+harping on Blue Bonnet's growing up?</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon you'll be having some howling celebration?" he asked rather
+crossly.</p>
+
+<p>"You wager we will!" Uncle Cliff replied, all the more cheerfully
+because he guessed the reason for Uncle Joe's irritation. "A sixteenth
+birthday only comes once in a lifetime."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde, feeling an unusual sympathy with Uncle Joe, was silent.</p>
+
+<p>"We must have some sort of a party that's&mdash;different," exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236"></a>[<a href="images/236.png">236</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Everything's different in Texas," Sarah remarked, and the usual laugh
+followed.</p>
+
+<p>"We can't have a dance without any boys," Blue Bonnet reflected.</p>
+
+<p>"No boys?" exclaimed Uncle Joe, with a return of his twinkle, "Well,
+for a ranch that keeps a baker's dozen of cowboys&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"All Mexicans except Sandy and Pete!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet
+scornfully.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll agree to furnish a boy apiece for the festive occasion," said
+Uncle Cliff; and Blue Bonnet, exchanging a glance with him, knew he
+was nursing a well-laid scheme. "Now, listen," he continued. "I've
+been thinking over this thing&mdash;had time to think this last week!&mdash;and
+I've got it all figured out. My idea is to have an all-day affair, a
+real old-fashioned Spanish tournament."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "Oh, Uncle Cliff, you do think of the
+most glorious things!"</p>
+
+<p>"In the morning," Uncle Cliff went on, "we could have a steer-roping
+contest&mdash;the Mexicans adore that&mdash;and Se&ntilde;orita Ashe bestow the prizes.
+And then&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Some bronco-busting," suggested Uncle Joe. Blue Bonnet turned pale
+and Uncle Cliff kicked his foreman under the table.</p>
+
+<p>"None of that," he said briefly. "Too crude for our select company."</p>
+
+<p>"A bull-fight, then," Uncle Joe persisted,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237"></a>[<a href="images/237.png">237</a>]</span> "&mdash;that's Spanish, and the
+most seeleck ladies adore the ring."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no!" cried Blue Bonnet, before she caught the gleam of mischief
+in the speaker's eye.</p>
+
+<p>"We might have some races in the pasture," Alec suggested.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure!" exclaimed Uncle Cliff. "And end with a grand f&ecirc;te in the
+evening,&mdash;and give everybody a holiday."</p>
+
+<p>"Won't it be a great deal of work?" Mrs. Clyde inquired.</p>
+
+<p>"Heaps. But these greasers never have enough to do,&mdash;we'll make them
+work for once," Mr. Ashe replied.</p>
+
+<p>"What shall we wear?" Of course it was Kitty who asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, girls, I've the loveliest plan,&mdash;you don't mind, do you,
+Grandmother, if I get out my Spanish costume again?"</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother smiled at a sudden recollection. "No, dear. I think it
+would fit this occasion admirably."</p>
+
+<p>"But we haven't Spanish costumes!" said Debby and Amanda in a breath.</p>
+
+<p>"Get them!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed. "Any old-fashioned, bright-colored
+gown will do to begin with, and a lace scarf for mantilla&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But where are we to get the gowns,&mdash;they don't grow on bushes,"
+demanded Kitty.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238"></a>[<a href="images/238.png">238</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"There is such a thing as a post, Kitty, and an express company. And
+you know your attics at home are full of lovely old things."</p>
+
+<p>"Then we'll have to send right away to get them here in time."</p>
+
+<p>The girls rose as if there were not a moment to lose, and, later in
+the day, Shady rode to Jonah with a well-filled mail-bag.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet spent the entire morning over the composition of her
+letter to General Trent. When she sat down soberly to write Alec's
+grandfather a plain statement of facts, she found she had no facts to
+tell,&mdash;only a host of vague fears and hints that Alec had uttered from
+time to time. It was hardly to be wondered at, therefor, that her
+epistle when finished was pervaded with mystery of a veiled sort that
+made the General knit his brow, fall into a brown study, and then
+stalk off to the telegraph office.</p>
+
+<p>It was Uncle Cliff who received the message and the matter aroused no
+comment. It said simply:</p>
+
+<div class="blockquot"><p>"With your permission will come to Texas. Arrive
+August twentieth. Prefer Alec should not know." </p></div>
+
+<p>A telegram just as brief was despatched in reply; and no one was the
+wiser except Blue Bonnet and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239"></a>[<a href="images/239.png">239</a>]</span> Grandmother Clyde. Blue Bonnet was much
+elated. Telling bad news at long range was something she did not
+approve of, and it promised to be a far easier solution of the problem
+to have the General see and learn for himself. It was not easy,
+however, to keep the matter from Alec, and Blue Bonnet, who had never
+had a secret of such importance before, had trouble more than once to
+keep from blurting it out.</p>
+
+<p>The air for the next few days was full of mystery. Preparations for
+the birthday went forth apace, and the question of gifts was the
+important topic of the hour. Isolation from shops threw the girls
+largely upon their own resources; besides, it was known that Mrs.
+Clyde did not favor anything but the simplest of gifts. Sarah, whose
+drawn-work had progressed steadily in spite of all obstacles, enjoyed
+a small triumph, being the only one prepared with a suitable present.</p>
+
+<p>"Now they'll leave me in peace while I finish it," she thought with a
+sigh of relief.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not altogether peace that Sarah enjoyed, for the other
+girls took it into their heads to fashion something for Blue Bonnet
+with their own hands, and sought Sarah's room as the one spot secure
+from the eyes of the curious.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you going to give Blue Bonnet?" Debby asked Alec one day.</p>
+
+<p>He laughed mysteriously. "I'm aiming to surprise<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240"></a>[<a href="images/240.png">240</a>]</span> everybody as well as
+Blue Bonnet. It isn't much of a present, and the surprise is the only
+thing about it worth while."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was obligingly blind and deaf, in these days. Letters
+flying back and forth, packages by mail or express, she ignored
+religiously.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a real midsummer Christmas," she said to her grandmother one
+day, when all the other girls had shut themselves up in Sarah's room.
+"I thought there never could be anything so exciting and thrilly as
+getting ready for Christmas in Woodford, but this is running it
+close!"</p>
+
+<p>"The mistress of the Blue Bonnet ranch is a very important personage
+these days," said Grandmother.</p>
+
+<p>"She always has been made to feel important here. That's why it was so
+hard at first when I came to you and Aunt Lucinda." Blue Bonnet drew a
+low hassock beside her grandmother, and leaned cosily against her in
+the way they both loved. "You see, having my own way ever since I was
+old enough to have a way, didn't make it very easy to obey orders. My
+wishes didn't seem to count much with Aunt Lucinda."</p>
+
+<p>"But they do count, dear. Your aunt is very fond of you, Blue Bonnet,
+and would grant any reasonable wish if she had it in her power."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I understand her better now. It didn't take me very long to
+realize that she was running<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241"></a>[<a href="images/241.png">241</a>]</span> that ranch&mdash;that's a figure of speech,
+Grandmother,&mdash;and it was my turn <i>to be run</i>."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde stroked the brown head lovingly. "I saw the struggle, dear,
+and I know it was not easy. The things that are worth while don't come
+without effort."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet smiled understanding into her grandmother's eyes. "I know.
+And I'm so glad I wasn't what Uncle Cliff calls a 'quitter.' Sticking
+it out was pretty hard, but it's made me feel more&mdash;worthy, somehow,
+to be sixteen!"</p>
+
+<p>Mystery reached its highest point the next day when Kitty, who had
+been absorbed in a bulky letter from home, suddenly gave a shrill
+scream of excitement, and summoning the other three girls, fled to
+Sarah's room. The high-pitched chatter and ejaculations that issued
+from that quarter made even Alec curious. Going around the house he
+hung on to the window-ledge and begged to be let into the secret.</p>
+
+<p>"We want to surprise everybody!" said Debby revengefully.</p>
+
+<p>Alec dropped to the ground and walked away in high amusement. Let them
+keep their secret then; he was sure he knew a surprise worth two of
+it. Then he betook himself to the Mexican quarters to note the
+progress of his own gift for Blue Bonnet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242"></a>[<a href="images/242.png">242</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2>
+
+<h3>SOME ARRIVALS</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> birthday celebration really began on the day before the birthday.
+Uncle Cliff had driven to the railway station early in the day, and
+long before it was time for him to be back, five pairs of eyes began
+searching the road for a sight of the returning buckboard. The We are
+Sevens, observing Blue Bonnet to be as expectant as they, became
+apprehensive lest their great secret should have leaked out. For her
+part, Blue Bonnet had become so used to seeing the girls impatient for
+the arrival of the mail, that their frequent running to the veranda to
+peer down the road, occasioned her only amusement.</p>
+
+<p>How little they suspected what a valuable package that buckboard would
+contain!</p>
+
+<p>This was the twentieth of August. Every time Blue Bonnet thought of
+the great surprise in store for Alec, she grew first excited, then
+afraid. How would he take his grandfather's arrival? One minute she
+was sure he would be overwhelmingly glad, for Alec had a deep
+affection for the "grand old man." The next, she was afraid he would
+think she had shirked her bargain by throwing on him the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243"></a>[<a href="images/243.png">243</a>]</span> burden of
+telling the General his own bad news. Well, this time she had truly
+done her best, let the results be what they might.</p>
+
+<p>"Do what is right let the consequence follow!" she sagely remarked to
+Solomon, and he put up his paw as if to say: "Shake on that!"</p>
+
+<p>She was in her garden picking flowers for the table. Indoors was a
+delightful flurry of preparation: from the kitchen came a clatter of
+pans, and a variety of appetizing odors; above the cackle of Lisa and
+Gertrudis rang the merry laugh of Juanita as she waited on the busy
+cooks; while Miguel could be seen haunting the region of the back
+door.</p>
+
+<p>Out on the long-disused croquet-ground, which Uncle Joe had levelled
+and tamped for Blue Bonnet years before, Alec and several of the
+cowboys were working, converting it into a dancing ground, and hanging
+Chinese lanterns on long wires strung between the surrounding trees.</p>
+
+<p>"It's certainly worth while having a birthday on the ranch," Blue
+Bonnet thought happily. All this bustle of preparation to celebrate
+the birthday of a Texas Blue Bonnet!</p>
+
+<p>Hark! Wasn't that the rattle of wheels? Yes,&mdash;there came the buckboard
+at last. Blue Bonnet sprang up excitedly. Had Alec heard? She shot a
+look in the direction of the croquet-ground.</p>
+
+<p>Alec had heard; had glanced at the cloud of dust that marked the
+approaching team, and then&mdash;had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244"></a>[<a href="images/244.png">244</a>]</span> gone calmly on with his work. He was
+looking for travellers on horseback, and the buckboard's arrival won
+only slight notice from him. He would let the girls spring their
+surprise on Blue Bonnet and have the hubbub over before he intruded.</p>
+
+<p>"Alec!" called Blue Bonnet in a fever of excitement; but he merely
+waved to her indulgently and went on fitting a candle into a socket
+with exasperating slowness.</p>
+
+<p>With her arms full of flaming poppies, Blue Bonnet flew to the house
+and reached the veranda just as the other girls poured from the door,
+and the buckboard came to a standstill. There was the General, and
+beside him&mdash;Blue Bonnet gasped as she saw&mdash;was a boyish figure with
+close-cropped hair.</p>
+
+<p>The poppies fell to the ground in a brilliant heap, and the moment
+that Susy and Ruth alighted Blue Bonnet gathered them both in an
+ecstatic hug. But not for long was she permitted a monopoly. These
+newly arrived two-sevenths were passed from hand to hand, or, more
+literally, from arm to arm, and caressed and exclaimed over until Mrs.
+Clyde came to the rescue of the tired girls.</p>
+
+<p>The General's arrival had become of quite secondary importance. He
+stood talking to the Se&ntilde;ora until Blue Bonnet at last turned to him
+apologetically.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm very glad to see you!" she said.</p>
+
+<p>General Trent took her outstretched hand and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245"></a>[<a href="images/245.png">245</a>]</span> smiled down into the
+eager flushed face. "You are very good to say so. A mere man is
+decidedly <i>de trop</i> on such an occasion!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, you're not! Only I was expecting you and I wasn't expecting Susy
+and Ruth,&mdash;so I rather lost my head. How did you happen to bring the
+girls?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't bring them, really. Dr. Clark wanted them to have a change
+of air, and when Mrs. Doyle heard I was coming here she asked if I
+would mind playing escort to her girls,&mdash;a change of air spelt only
+Texas to them, it seems. My delight may better be imagined than
+described, and&mdash;here we are. Ah, Miss Kitty, you see me at last!" He
+paused to shake hands with the young lady, and then the others came
+shyly up with greetings.</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't know I had a surprise up my sleeve, did you?" Blue Bonnet
+challenged the girls.</p>
+
+<p>"You must wear long sleeves!" laughed Kitty, tilting her chin to look
+up at the tall military figure.</p>
+
+<p>The General laughed with the rest but Blue Bonnet could see him
+looking about with some impatience. "Where's Alec?" he asked finally.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll go find him. Take everybody indoors, will you, Grandmother?
+I'll be back in a minute." Looking particularly small and slight, Blue
+Bonnet moved off with her tall companion towards the croquet-ground,
+where Alec, all unconscious of their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246"></a>[<a href="images/246.png">246</a>]</span> approach, stood on a step-ladder
+adjusting one of the paper lanterns.</p>
+
+<p>"How is the boy by this time?" General Trent asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I don't know," Blue Bonnet stammered. It was quite true; she had
+given up trying to guess the state of Alec's health.</p>
+
+<p>The horizontal line between the General's eyes grew deeper: it was
+plain that the girl shrank from telling him the worst.</p>
+
+<p>Alec had started to descend the ladder when he caught sight of the
+approaching pair. For a second he stood transfixed with surprise; then
+with a real cowboy "whoop" of joy, took a flying leap from his perch,
+cleared various obstacles with a bound, and literally fell upon his
+grandfather.</p>
+
+<p>"How splendid of you to come, sir!" was all he could exclaim for some
+minutes.</p>
+
+<p>Finally the General took him by the shoulders and held him off,
+looking him over from head to foot. Blue Bonnet saw a look of
+incredulous wonder grow in his eyes, as he took in the increased
+breadth of the boy, the erect carriage and the red that glowed through
+the sunburn of his rounded cheeks.</p>
+
+<p>"Why, boy, how you've grown!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have I?" asked Alec eagerly. "Never felt so well before in all my
+life!"</p>
+
+<p>Well? Blue Bonnet felt her face grow hot. How<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247"></a>[<a href="images/247.png">247</a>]</span> could Alec say that
+when he had let her&mdash;even urged her&mdash;to write that letter to his
+grandfather? If it was a joke, it struck her that Alec must have
+developed rather poor taste in jokes. She could feel the General's
+eyes upon her, questioning mutely. She could not meet his glance yet,
+and said with elaborate carelessness:</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon you two would like to have a little talk, and the girls are
+waiting for me." She sped back to the house, and soon forgot her
+indignation in the joy of the We are Sevens' reunion.</p>
+
+<p>"It seems too good to be true!" she exclaimed, gazing happily from one
+girl to another, as the seven of them lounged about the living-room,
+three on the broad couch and the rest distributed impartially between
+the floor and the window-seat. Such complete informality had never
+seemed permissible in the sedate Clyde mansion; but somehow these
+surroundings seemed to invite one to be as comfortable and
+unconventional as possible.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Blue Bonnet's eyes danced. "Doesn't this remind you of my
+first tea-party?" she asked demurely.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I should say not!" Kitty exclaimed. "We all sat around your
+grandmother's drawing-room with manners as stiff as our dresses,
+waiting for our hostess&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And wondering what you would be like&mdash;" added Sarah.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248"></a>[<a href="images/248.png">248</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Were you prepared to see the wild Indian I proved to be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fishing!" sang Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>Susy looked from Blue Bonnet to Kitty and laughed. "My, this sounds
+like old times!"</p>
+
+<p>"Stop talking about old times, please," begged Ruth, "and tell us
+about the new ones. I want to be told all about the round-up, and I
+want to see the 'vast herds' and the cowboys,&mdash;and the blue bonnets!"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's laugh rang out. "Blue bonnets in August! Come in March
+and I'll show you a sea of them,&mdash;and a round-up, too. The cattle and
+the cowboys you shall see to-morrow,&mdash;and some steer-roping that will
+make your hair stand on end."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth ran her hand through her boyish, close-cut locks and made them
+stand literally on end. "It isn't much of a trick to do that!" she
+said with a grimace.</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, maybe it will come in curly," said Sarah the comforter.</p>
+
+<p>"You can trust Sarah not to see the thorns for the roses," said Blue
+Bonnet, sending the comforter an approving glance.</p>
+
+<p>"What turtle doves you all are," laughed Susy.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, it's Sarah and Blue Bonnet who do all the cooing. The rest of us
+are still just geese." Kitty's voice had a tinge of envy that did not
+escape the notice of the rest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249"></a>[<a href="images/249.png">249</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Go play us something, Blue Bonnet," suggested Ruth tactfully, "&mdash;that
+cowboy piece we all like."</p>
+
+<p>"Invalids must be humored," remarked Blue Bonnet as she went to the
+piano.</p>
+
+<p>In a minute the little rollicking air that she had played at her first
+tea-party, had set them all to dancing and humming as on that historic
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't Kitty and Blue Bonnet as chummy as they used to be?" Ruth
+asked Amanda under cover of the music.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, by spells. They had one tiff&mdash;the second since they've known
+each other,&mdash;and ever since we've lived in dread of the third, haven't
+we, Sarah?"</p>
+
+<p>"You have," Sarah returned. "And I have too, in fact, though I try not
+to be superstitious. Besides they've had the third&mdash;and it's all over
+now."</p>
+
+<p>"They have? When?" Amanda sat up in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"While we were camping. Kitty told me about it and said it was all her
+fault. The last one wasn't, you know. First it's one and then the
+other that's to blame."</p>
+
+<p>"Kitty and Blue Bonnet aren't going to stop at three tiffs, you may
+depend on it," Ruth said wisely. "They're going to have three times
+three and then some. Because Kitty is Kitty, and Blue Bonnet is&mdash;Blue
+Bonnet!"</p>
+
+<p>As the gay music ceased Grandmother Clyde<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250"></a>[<a href="images/250.png">250</a>]</span> looked in at the door. "It
+is time for the travellers to rest. They must be fresh for the great
+occasion to-morrow," she said, nodding to Susy and Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet glanced over to the couch where Ruth reclined among the
+pillows. Her face, with its crown of short dark hair, looked very thin
+and white.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon the girls had better go to your room, Grandmother,&mdash;it's
+about the only place where they can be quiet. Benita is putting two
+cots in the nursery, but it's never quiet in there till we're all
+asleep."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth rose regretfully, "I'll go rest if I must. But I hate to miss
+anything that's going on. If you only knew how deadly dull it has been
+in Woodford! I think the inhabitants have learned to appreciate the We
+are Sevens, for the place has seemed empty without them. And everybody
+wants to know when the Texas Blue Bonnet is coming back."</p>
+
+<p>They all looked towards Blue Bonnet. "I&mdash;why&mdash;there's Uncle Cliff
+looking for me," she said, and left the room precipitately.</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet's usual way of avoiding an answer," thought Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"When does the Fall term of school begin?" asked Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"The tenth of September,&mdash;and that means we must leave here about the
+third," said Susy. "Only two weeks of this for us, girls!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251"></a>[<a href="images/251.png">251</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"We'll see that they are two busy weeks," Kitty promised.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet drew Uncle Cliff into a secluded spot on the side veranda.
+"You just saved my life, Uncle Cliff."</p>
+
+<p>"Were you being talked to death, Honey?"</p>
+
+<p>"No,&mdash;but I just escaped a pitfall. People do ask the
+most&mdash;uncomfortable questions."</p>
+
+<p>"Suppose you tell me what sort?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Ruth says people want to know when the Texas Blue Bonnet is
+going back to Woodford."</p>
+
+<p>"So that's come up again, eh?" Uncle Cliff knitted his brow. "I reckon
+you're doing some thinking along that line, Blue Bonnet?" He watched
+her face anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>She nodded. "Yes, I&mdash;you see there isn't much time left. I must decide
+soon. It's not going to be easy, Uncle Cliff."</p>
+
+<p>"No,&mdash;not for either of us, Honey."</p>
+
+<p>"And there's Grandmother, too,&mdash;and Aunt Lucinda. Other people seem to
+have a lot to say about one's life, don't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"They have a lot to say, Blue Bonnet, but the person who has the final
+'say' is yourself. You're old enough now to decide what you want to do
+with your life. Sixteen to-morrow!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know what I want to do with my life, Uncle, but I don't know yet
+just how to do it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252"></a>[<a href="images/252.png">252</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Don't you think you could manage to do it on the ranch? We know now
+where to get a first-class tutor, and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, as far as 'book-learnin''&mdash;as Uncle Joe calls it,&mdash;goes, I reckon
+I could get that all right, here on the ranch with a tutor. But books,
+I've found out, aren't more than half of an education. You know,
+life's mighty simple on the ranch, and I've grown used to doing things
+the easiest way. But that isn't the big way. Aunt Lucinda says every
+woman should have a vocation."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff squirmed. Blue Bonnet seemed to have assimilated a rather
+big dose of Aunt Lucinda. "But, Honey," he protested, "a girl with
+plenty of money doesn't need a vocation."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she didn't mean that kind of a vocation. It's a sort of glorified
+way of doing your duty by your neighbor. And you know it isn't very
+easy to do your duty by your neighbor when the nearest neighbor is
+miles away! Now, Aunt Lucinda is the most all-round useful person.
+She's helping to keep up a home for cripples in Boston, and is
+secretary of the Church Aid Society, runs Grandmother's house and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Everybody in it!" added Uncle Cliff.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet slipped her hand into his with a sympathetic pressure.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon I caught it from you,&mdash;liking to paddle my own canoe, I
+mean. But, though I don't love<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253"></a>[<a href="images/253.png">253</a>]</span> discipline, I've learned to appreciate
+what it can do. Now, look at Solomon&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"&mdash;in all his glory!" laughed Uncle Cliff.</p>
+
+<p>At that moment the subject of the conversation was occupied in gnawing
+a very dirty bone on the forbidden territory of the veranda.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, he has his lapses," Blue Bonnet confessed, "&mdash;his forgettery is
+as active as mine. But he's hardly more than a puppy yet, and it's
+surprising how well he minds. He's getting pretty wild out here. The
+ranch has that effect I've observed. And that's why&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Say, Honey," Uncle Cliff interrupted, "let's allow the subject of
+going back to rest right where it is until after to-morrow, will you?
+I want to enjoy my ward's birthday, and I'd rather have a clear sky
+without any clouds on my horizon."</p>
+
+<p>"That suits me, Uncle Cliff."</p>
+
+<p>"And while we're on the subject of the birthday, there's something I
+want to tell you, Blue Bonnet. I know it's usual to keep one's gift a
+secret, but&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I hope it's just some simple thing, Uncle. Grandmother's been
+looking pretty serious lately over what she thinks is our extravagant
+way of living. The Woodford girls have to be very careful about
+expenses, you know, and she thinks it makes it harder for them to be
+satisfied when they see me have so much."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you worry, young lady. I'm only taking<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254"></a>[<a href="images/254.png">254</a>]</span> a leaf out of your
+book, and instead of giving pleasure to just one person&mdash;i. e. Blue
+Bonnet Ashe,&mdash;I'm going to distribute it over quite a crowd. The
+trouble is it won't keep till to-morrow. It's about due now. Jump on
+Firefly, will you, and ride with me to meet it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, everybody is resting, or supposed to be. Just wait till I slip
+on my riding-skirt and I'll be with you."</p>
+
+<p>A few minutes later Blue Bonnet and her uncle, after the fashion of
+the old days, cantered down the road together.</p>
+
+<p>Hardly had they disappeared when Kitty, also attired in
+riding-costume, stole quietly to the stable, and having found one of
+the Mexicans to saddle Rowdy, rode briskly out of the corral and off
+to the woods across San Franciscito.</p>
+
+<p>At the gate Uncle Cliff drew rein. "We'd better form a reception
+committee right here. I think I hear your birthday present coming."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked down the road expectantly. What could it be?</p>
+
+<p>Then, as they waited, there came the rhythmic pound of hoofs, a cloud
+of dust, and suddenly there swept into sight a company of riders with
+Knight and Carita in the lead.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Uncle Cliff, what a splendid birthday present!" And Blue Bonnet,
+with a glad "Ho ye, ho ho!" of welcome, galloped to meet the
+procession.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255"></a>[<a href="images/255.png">255</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Sandy and the three "props of the world"&mdash;Smith, Brown and Jones, with
+two of the younger boys from camp&mdash;made, as Uncle Cliff had promised,
+a "boy apiece" for the We are Sevens and Carita; and the entire party,
+dusty though they were from the long ride, were incorrigibly cheerful
+and apparently not at all tired by the trip.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I'm so happy!" cried Carita, as Blue Bonnet fell in beside her
+and led the way to the ranch. "I never dreamed I could come. But Mr.
+Ashe had made all arrangements, and Mother said she could get along
+without me for the three days,&mdash;she's going to stay at the Camp. Just
+think, if we hadn't gone up there again, I couldn't have known about
+it in time!"</p>
+
+<p>"How lucky! Carita, I think you are the nicest birthday present that
+was ever thought of."</p>
+
+<p>Carita looked up in surprise.</p>
+
+<p>"Having you and Knight and the boys here is my birthday gift from
+Uncle," Blue Bonnet explained. "Wasn't it downright grand of him to
+plan it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's sweet of you to want us," Carita returned. "And your uncle looks
+as if he loved to do nice things. He has the kindest eyes I've ever
+seen."</p>
+
+<p>"Except your father's," Blue Bonnet added. "I think they must both
+have been cut out by the same pattern."</p>
+
+<p>Alec, who was in the secret, had assembled everybody on the veranda
+awaiting the arrivals, and the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256"></a>[<a href="images/256.png">256</a>]</span> hubbub that ensued as the cavalcade
+dismounted and everybody exchanged greetings, convinced Susy, Ruth and
+the General that life in Texas was quite as exciting as it had been
+painted.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde, having been prepared by Uncle Cliff for this invasion,
+tried to view the proceedings as a matter of course, and was her usual
+cordial self.</p>
+
+<p>"Where are we going to put them all?" Blue Bonnet asked in an
+undertone.</p>
+
+<p>"Shady and Uncle Joe put up a tent as soon as you rode off," her
+grandmother explained. "The boys are used to camping out and there are
+only two nights to plan for. Carita can share Sarah's room. Lisa has
+enlarged the dining-room table, and we shall have room for all. I hope
+we can make our guests comfortable."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you worry, Grandmother. These guests will make the best of
+everything. People out here don't expect things to be&mdash;orderly, as
+they are in Woodford."</p>
+
+<p>"Evidently not!" was Grandmother's unspoken thought.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's Kitty?" asked Blue Bonnet presently, missing one saucy face
+from the group on the side veranda where they had all gathered.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't she go with you? We haven't seen her for an hour or more,"
+replied Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"Here she comes now." Alec rose and went to assist Kitty from her
+horse. "Hello, Miss Unsociable,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257"></a>[<a href="images/257.png">257</a>]</span> he said. "Fancy riding all by your
+lones! Been keeping a tryst?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing so romantic," she confessed. "I've been gathering these
+lovely wild vines to decorate the table with. See how pretty they
+are!" She tossed the big armful of glossy green stuff down to him. To
+her surprise and indignation Alec dodged her offering and let the
+vines fall in a heap on the ground. Kitty paused in the act of
+dismounting and stared at him, speechless with surprise at this act
+from well-bred Alec.</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon, Kitty," he laughed. "I didn't mean to be rude, but
+I'm deadly afraid of that stuff."</p>
+
+<p>"Stuff!" echoed Kitty. She was off her horse in a minute, and giving
+the reins to Miguel who had come up for Rowdy, she bent to pick up her
+insulted treasure.</p>
+
+<p>Alec prevented her. "I wouldn't, Kitty,&mdash;though I don't suppose it
+matters now. The mischief's done, I'm afraid,&mdash;that's poison ivy."</p>
+
+<p>"Poison ivy!" Kitty sprang back as if the vine were about to sting
+her. "I never saw any before,&mdash;and I wanted to surprise Blue
+Bonnet&mdash;it looked so pretty. Oh, Alec, are you sure?"</p>
+
+<p>"Sure?&mdash;positive. Dr. Judson pointed out lots of it around Camp, and
+we learned to give it a wide berth. But say, every one isn't
+susceptible, Kitty. Maybe you're immune."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258"></a>[<a href="images/258.png">258</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear!" wailed Kitty. "What shall I do? Can't I be vaccinated or
+something to ward it off?"</p>
+
+<p>"What's the trouble?" asked Uncle Joe, coming up in time to hear
+Kitty's despairing cry.</p>
+
+<p>"Poison ivy," said Alec, pointing to the vines.</p>
+
+<p>"Now that's bad." Uncle Joe kicked the innocent looking heap of greens
+off to one side. "I'll send up one of the boys to rake that up and get
+rid of it. Nasty stuff to have around,&mdash;'specially for folks with
+your&mdash;coloring." He eyed Kitty's milk-white freckled face
+apprehensively.</p>
+
+<p>"If I get it and have to miss the party I'll never get over it!" Kitty
+declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes, you will&mdash;it only lasts a few days, generally," said Uncle
+Joe.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>"Here&mdash;don't do that!" Alec exclaimed hastily. "That might play the
+mischief with your eyes. Go bathe your face and hands with witch
+hazel, that may help. And hurry out again, Kitty&mdash;your friend Sandy is
+on the side veranda."</p>
+
+<p>Kitty for the first time glanced towards the house and saw the latest
+arrivals. "Carita, too! Have they come to the party? Oh, what fun!
+That's what Mr. Ashe meant when he promised us a boy apiece for the
+dance. But oh, Alec&mdash;what if&mdash;?" Kitty could not finish.</p>
+
+<p>"Please don't get it, Kitty,&mdash;it would spoil the day for Sandy!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259"></a>[<a href="images/259.png">259</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2>
+
+<h3>BLUE BONNET'S BIRTHDAY</h3>
+
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">Sixteen</span> to-day!" was Blue Bonnet's first thought as she opened her
+eyes next morning.</p>
+
+<p>Could it be only a year since her last birthday? Less than a year
+since she had first seen Grandmother? Why, it seemed now as if she
+must have known Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda all her life! She tried
+to remember how she used to feel before she ever left the ranch;
+before she had ever seen Woodford, or the We are Sevens, or&mdash;but the
+list seemed interminable; she gave up trying to recall how the Blue
+Bonnet of that careless time had thought and felt and spent her days.</p>
+
+<p>Was every year to bring as many new experiences, as many new faces
+into her life? Surely not if she stayed on the ranch, and if she
+went&mdash; But Uncle Cliff had said that question was to be banished for
+this day.</p>
+
+<p>Rising and dressing noiselessly, she stole out of the nursery for one
+of her usual early morning romps. Being sixteen should not rob her of
+the right to be a child at this hour of the day!</p>
+
+<p>"Wish me many happy returns, Solomon!" she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260"></a>[<a href="images/260.png">260</a>]</span> cried as the dogs raced to
+her across the yard. "Don, this is the fifth occasion of this sort
+you've attended,&mdash;you're getting on in years, too. Come on, I'll race
+you to the fence!"</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff watched her from the pasture, a chuckle of satisfaction
+escaping him at this evidence of untamed tomboyism. He met her as she
+came up flushed and breathless.</p>
+
+<p>"Getting mighty dignified since you turned sixteen, aren't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Her laughing face peered at him over the rough old logs. "Not so you'd
+notice it!"</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon I ought to thump you sixteen times and one to grow on. But
+that would make it necessary to climb the fence. How would you like
+kisses instead?"</p>
+
+<p>"Give me the big one to grow on, anyway." She held up her lips. "And
+now I must run in to Grandmother,&mdash;she must have the next."</p>
+
+<p>She found the Se&ntilde;ora waiting for her in the living-room.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm so glad you're alone, Grandmother. I wanted you all to myself for
+a minute or two." She went straight into the arms Grandmother held out
+to her, was folded close for a moment and received a second kiss "to
+grow on."</p>
+
+<div class="figright" style="width: 250px;">
+<img src="images/gs277.jpg" width="250" height="400" alt="&quot;IT WAS AN EXQUISITE MINIATURE, PAINTED ON IVORY.&quot;" title="&quot;IT WAS AN EXQUISITE MINIATURE, PAINTED ON IVORY.&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;IT WAS AN EXQUISITE MINIATURE, PAINTED ON IVORY.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"While we're alone I want to tell you something," Blue Bonnet said
+earnestly, "&mdash;about this last year, I mean. I never have said just
+what I've<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261"></a>[<a href="images/261.png">261</a>]</span> felt. It has been the best of all years, Grandmother, and
+the best of all the good things it has brought me&mdash;is you."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, dear. And you must know, Blue Bonnet, without my telling
+you how great a comfort you are to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Truly, Grandmother,&mdash;a comfort?"</p>
+
+<p>"Beyond words, dear." And Grandmother gave her another kiss to grow
+on. "And now, Blue Bonnet, here is something for your birthday."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet took the dainty package and unwrapped it with fingers that
+trembled a little. Within the paper was a box, and inside that,
+looking out from a frame of dull Roman gold, was her mother's face. It
+was an exquisite miniature, painted on ivory. The rose-tints of the
+flesh and the deep tender blue of the eyes that smiled up at her, made
+the portrait seem a living thing. Blue Bonnet could not speak. She
+gazed and gazed at the dear features until her eyes blurred and she
+had to put up her hand to brush the tears away.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Grandmother&mdash;!" Her lip quivered and she could say no more.</p>
+
+<p>But Grandmother understood.</p>
+
+<p>"Your aunt had it done from a photograph while she was in Rome. The
+painter was a Boston woman&mdash;an old friend of ours who knew your
+mother, Blue Bonnet. That is why the coloring is so true. The eyes are
+your eyes&mdash;can't you see, dear?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262"></a>[<a href="images/262.png">262</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Am I truly like her?"</p>
+
+<p>"So like, Blue Bonnet, that sometimes it seems as if Elizabeth had
+never left me."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm glad, Grandmother. Oh, how I shall treasure this! How can I ever
+thank you and Aunt Lucinda? There come the others,&mdash;I think I won't
+show them this just now. I'd rather let them see it one at a time.
+Somehow a crowd&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I understand, Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>It was well that she and her grandmother had made the most of that
+quiet five minutes before breakfast; for it was the last peaceful
+moment that day.</p>
+
+<p>As all the gay party trooped into the dining-room with its long table
+looking like a real banquet board, a big floral decoration was the
+first thing to greet all eyes. A long low basket of closely woven
+fibres formed a centrepiece, and inside it, growing so densely that
+only a vivid mass of blue showed above the brim, were blue bonnets in
+bloom.</p>
+
+<p>"How sweet! Where did they come from?" Blue Bonnet demanded, looking
+from face to face.</p>
+
+<p>"There's a card on the handle," some one suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet bent and read: "Blue Bonnet's namesakes wish her many
+happy returns of the day." Looking up she caught Alec's eye. "You?"
+she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Guilty!" he confessed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263"></a>[<a href="images/263.png">263</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"You clever boy! You couldn't have given me anything I should love as
+much. How did you ever do it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Easy enough. Planted the seeds and took care of them,&mdash;had a bad
+scare for fear they wouldn't bloom in time. I've had them back of
+Marta's cabin and she's been sitting up nights with them!"</p>
+
+<p>They all crowded about the table for a closer view.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm so glad we can see some blue bonnets before leaving. That's been
+the one thing necessary to complete Texas!" exclaimed Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Sure you don't mean ivy?" asked Alec in an undertone.</p>
+
+<p>She wilted. "Sh! Please don't remind me of that,&mdash;I was almost happy
+again!"</p>
+
+<p>"No symptoms yet?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"None&mdash;yet. I live in hopes!"</p>
+
+<p>"Let's wait till after breakfast before we give Blue Bonnet our
+gifts," suggested Sarah. "She'll enjoy them more, I think."</p>
+
+<p>"Not to mention our enjoyment!" laughed Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>The suggestion was followed, and at the conclusion of the meal, Blue
+Bonnet kept her seat and opened the rest of her packages with the eyes
+of all the crowd upon her. Very simple were the gifts, as the Woodford
+girls had slender purses; but the love and good will that went with
+the presents made up for their lack of material value.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264"></a>[<a href="images/264.png">264</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>From Kitty there was a dainty sewing apron of muslin, with pretty blue
+bows on the pockets; from Amanda, a fancy-work bag, and from Debby a
+complicated needlecase. A silver thimble from Susy and Ruth completed
+these very feminine accessories.</p>
+
+<p>Alec's eyes twinkled as Blue Bonnet tried the thimble on her slender
+finger-tip. "If you're not a model of industry after this, Blue
+Bonnet, it will prove you're rather slow at taking a hint!"</p>
+
+<p>The girls joined heartily in the laugh against them, though they
+professed entire innocence of any such intention as Alec implied.</p>
+
+<p>Sarah's gift provoked a chorus of exclamations. From the fine
+drawn-work, the hand-made tucks, to the tiny irreproachable
+buttonholes, the waist was a triumph of the needlewoman's art.</p>
+
+<p>"It's the prettiest one I ever had!" Blue Bonnet declared. She would
+have liked to jump up and kiss Sarah, the dear old thing! But with
+eight boys looking on, such a demonstration might appear done for
+effect, she concluded; and so reserved that mark of affection for a
+future occasion.</p>
+
+<p>When the girls had presented their offerings, Knight came up and
+dropped a paper parcel into her lap. On the card tied to the blue
+ribbon that decorated it was written: "To the Good Samaritan from the
+One Who Fell by the Wayside." There was a laugh in Knight's eyes as he
+watched her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265"></a>[<a href="images/265.png">265</a>]</span> read the inscription and then unwrap the tissue-paper
+that enclosed the object.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet lifted the lid of the long narrow box, took one look, and
+met Knight's eyes with an answering laugh in her own. Inside the box
+was a shimmering red silk sash. Knight had kept his promise to himself
+to buy Blue Bonnet the "fanciest thing in the sash line that Chicago
+could boast"&mdash;even though it had taken the last penny of his pocket
+money.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a beauty!" she declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Knight must expect another spill to-day," laughed Alec.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet looked about the circle with a bright, quick glance. "I'm
+not going to try to say 'thank you' to everybody,&mdash;those two words
+would be quite worn out by the time I finished!"</p>
+
+<p>"Come along, everybody," said Uncle Cliff, "it's time for the
+festivities to begin."</p>
+
+<p>As they left the dining-room, Carita slipped her arm about Blue Bonnet
+and whispered regretfully: "I wish I had a present for you. I didn't
+know in time or I could have made something."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet gave her an impulsive squeeze. "Why, Carita, you're a
+birthday present yourself!"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's promise to Ruth in regard to the steer-roping contest,
+proved almost literally true. This was the great feature of the day to
+the Mexicans,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266"></a>[<a href="images/266.png">266</a>]</span> and their delight in the sport knew no bounds. They
+made a brilliant picture as they stood or squatted about the corral
+gate, the women in their bright yellow, red and purple calicoes; and
+the men in their tight trousers, serapes rainbow hued, gay sashes and
+enormous peaked hats. The scene was full of life, color and motion.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth's thin cheeks grew pink with excitement. "What's going to happen
+first?" she asked Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"You see those steers inside the gate? Well, Pancho will drive one out
+and while it is running like mad, Josef&mdash;he has the first turn&mdash;will
+lasso, throw it, and tie its feet together with that short rope he
+has. Then, one after another, the rest of the cowboys will do the same
+thing, and the one that does it in the shortest time will get the
+prize and be declared champion of the Blue Bonnet ranch."</p>
+
+<p>"The world's record is thirty-seven seconds," Knight added, "but it
+has to be a hustler who can do it under a minute."</p>
+
+<p>"Look&mdash;there comes one now!" screamed Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>The contest was swift, breathless and soon over. The corral gate was
+opened and through it driven a steer. Outside, mounted on a swift
+cow-pony rode Josef, awaiting the signal to start in pursuit. On came
+the steer with long frightened leaps, after him the vaquero with
+lariat whirling around his head.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267"></a>[<a href="images/267.png">267</a>]</span> Suddenly the rope whistled, hissed
+through the air, dropped and coiled about the steer's front feet. A
+quick movement on the part of both rider and horse; the lariat
+tightened, and the steer pitched on to its side. Josef leaped from his
+pony, bent over his victim, and, in far less time than it takes to
+tell it, had tied three of the kicking hoofs together. The cowboy
+rose, grinning, amid the cheers of the delighted audience; and
+remounting his horse, coolly rolled a cigarette.</p>
+
+<p>"Sixty-three seconds," said Knight, who was time-keeper.</p>
+
+<p>One after another the cowboys took their turns, and every fraction of
+a second shaved from Josef's record, sent the Mexicans wild with
+excitement. It was Lupe who was finally declared champion, and
+received from Blue Bonnet's hands the silver-braided Mexican sombrero
+that was the prize.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder why Miguel didn't try," Blue Bonnet remarked, as Lupe walked
+proudly away with his trophy. "He's always been able to beat Lupe."</p>
+
+<p>"I asked Pancho where Miguel was," said Alec, "and he said no one had
+seen him to-day. Maybe Juanita objects to steer-roping!" They smiled
+with a secret understanding.</p>
+
+<p>"How do you like the sport?" Blue Bonnet asked, turning to Ruth.</p>
+
+<p>"It's exciting,&mdash;but isn't it cruel, Blue Bonnet?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268"></a>[<a href="images/268.png">268</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"I reckon the steer thinks so," Blue Bonnet confessed. "But the
+cowboys have to practise, you know, for at the round-up that's the way
+they have to throw the calves to brand them."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I don't want to see a round-up!" Ruth declared.</p>
+
+<p>Next came races in the pasture, and in these the girls and boys were
+the contestants. Blue ribbons were the awards pinned on the winners by
+Blue Bonnet herself, and the rivalry for them was intense. Leaning
+against the pasture fence which formed the "grandstand" General Trent,
+Uncle Cliff, Uncle Joe, Mrs. Clyde, Susy, Ruth and Blue Bonnet watched
+and applauded; while the Mexicans, squatting about in characteristic
+attitudes, chattered and laughed like a lot of children.</p>
+
+<p>As Sarah swept by on Comanche to take her place at the starting-line,
+Ruth and Susy turned amazed and questioning eyes on Blue Bonnet. She
+laughed at their expressions of wonder.</p>
+
+<p>"Keep your eye on Sarah!" she bade them. "Comanche is one of the
+swiftest horses on the ranch, and he and our Sallykins are on the best
+of terms."</p>
+
+<p>To Blue Bonnet's secret delight Sarah won the first race. As she
+pinned the blue ribbon to the winner's middy blouse, her own face
+beamed the triumph that Sarah was too modest to betray.</p>
+
+<p>"Aren't you going in for any others?" Ruth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269"></a>[<a href="images/269.png">269</a>]</span> asked, as Sarah returned
+on foot and dropped on the blanket beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I only rode in that race to keep the girls from calling me
+'fraid-cat.' I'm sure Father wouldn't approve of horse-racing."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth laughed. "You are the same old Sarah! I was beginning to believe
+that the Blue Bonnet ranch had bewitched you."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say 'bewitched,'" Blue Bonnet interrupted, "locoed is the word
+we use in Texas."</p>
+
+<p>The birthday dinner, served early as was the custom at the ranch, was
+the most animated of feasts, of which the birthday-cake with its
+sixteen blazing candles was the grand climax. It was fat Lisa herself
+who waddled in and deposited her masterpiece in front of the Se&ntilde;orita,
+and then lingered to see how it looked after cutting.</p>
+
+<p>"It's divine, Lisa,&mdash;a complete success!" Blue Bonnet cried, and the
+cook grinned delightedly. As Lisa turned to leave the room, Blue
+Bonnet detained her to whisper&mdash;"Why is Benita waiting on table
+alone?&mdash;where's Juanita?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who knows?" returned Lisa with a shrug of her massive shoulders.
+"That <i>ni&ntilde;a</i> is run off and Gertrudis means to thrash her."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Lisa, she mustn't!" Blue Bonnet said in genuine distress. "Tell
+Gertrudis I'll come out and see her after dinner."</p>
+
+<p>She found Gertrudis slamming about the dishes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270"></a>[<a href="images/270.png">270</a>]</span> in a most reckless
+fashion and muttering to herself angrily. To Blue Bonnet's plea in
+behalf of the absent Juanita she returned only stormy answers.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Se&ntilde;orita, she is spoiled for lack of thrashing. Run off on the
+Se&ntilde;orita's birthday! With a horde to wait on! And enough work for
+fifty lazy things like herself!"</p>
+
+<p>No, Juanita should be thrashed if ever she could lay hands on her.
+Blue Bonnet could not sway her from her purpose, and finally gave up
+arguing and left the kitchen, vowing mentally to prevent the angry old
+woman from carrying out her threat. But in the excitement of the
+evening's festivities, she forgot all about it.</p>
+
+<p>What an evening it was! Not one of the boys and girls lucky enough to
+be there would ever forget the scene. The broad verandas on which half
+the furniture of the house had been brought to form cosy-corners and
+lounging places; the soft gleam of Chinese lanterns strung among the
+trees; the music of Shady's violin, augmented by a flute and cello
+from Jonah, to which they danced on the croquet-ground; and everywhere
+the We are Sevens, stately in trains and hair dressed high, tripping
+and laughing and flirting their fans in the manner fondly believed to
+be that of high-born Spanish dames.</p>
+
+<p>Susy and Ruth had obligingly crammed their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271"></a>[<a href="images/271.png">271</a>]</span> trunks with the attic
+treasures of the various Woodford families, and the costumes, while
+not strictly Spanish, were quite gorgeous and "partified" enough to
+satisfy these finery-loving young folk. Among them they had managed to
+fit out Carita too, and she, in a yellow gown with velvety
+gold-of-Ophir roses in the dusky coils of her hair, looked like a real
+maid of Andalusia. Blue Bonnet, in her red satin gown, which had not
+seen the light since the night it had been worn for the benefit of the
+Boston relatives, was a picture.</p>
+
+<p>Alec came up to her in the middle of the evening and made a low bow.
+"Se&ntilde;orita Blue Bonnetta, you look charming to-night, but it strikes me
+you're carrying things with a high hand. Why, among all your humble
+subjects, am I not favored with a dance or promenade? You've been
+engaged three deep every time I've asked you."</p>
+
+<p>For a minute Blue Bonnet toyed with her fan without speaking. She had
+purposely avoided Alec for a reason she considered good and
+sufficient. There was an explanation due her from him, and that also,
+she was resolved, should be "good and sufficient" or she would not
+accept it. And it seemed best, if there was to be any clash between
+them, that it should not come on her birthday. She would not easily
+forgive him for urging her to write that letter to the General.</p>
+
+<p>As she hesitated and a surprised look crept into<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272"></a>[<a href="images/272.png">272</a>]</span> Alec's eyes, there
+came a great outcry from the direction of Marta's cabin,&mdash;shouts,
+cheers and bursts of laughter.</p>
+
+<p>"The Mexicans must be doing stunts,&mdash;let's go and see," Alec
+suggested.</p>
+
+<p>Gathering up her train Blue Bonnet hurried with him to the Mexican
+quarters, where the noisy crowd had assembled. Half way there they met
+Gertrudis, also headed for the scene of merriment.</p>
+
+<p>"It's that Juanita, they say," she cried, "come back after all the
+work's done!" Her swarthy face was dark with anger; in her hand was a
+willow switch.</p>
+
+<p>"Hurry!" cried Blue Bonnet. "Let's get there first, Alec,&mdash;she means
+to thrash Juanita!"</p>
+
+<p>Running and tripping on her long dress Blue Bonnet reached the group
+and at her appearance the Mexicans burst into renewed cheering.</p>
+
+<p>"The Se&ntilde;orita!" they cried and parted to make room for her.</p>
+
+<p>"What is it&mdash;what's all the noise about?" asked Alec.</p>
+
+<p>But, as the circle parted, revealing a tableau in the centre, he and
+Blue Bonnet needed no explanation. Standing hand in hand, in attitudes
+expressing both embarrassment and triumph, were&mdash;Miguel and Juanita.</p>
+
+<p>"Ran off to Jonah and got married!" chuckled Pinto Pete.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273"></a>[<a href="images/273.png">273</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet and Alec gazed at each other in stupefaction for a second,
+then Blue Bonnet glanced hastily about for Gertrudis. The change in
+the old woman was instantaneous. She turned to Blue Bonnet with a
+grin.</p>
+
+<p>"That Miguel makes good wages!" she cried. The anger had faded from
+her face, and instead of the switch, Juanita received her blessing.</p>
+
+<p>"What a mercenary old thing Gertrudis is!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet, as,
+after congratulating the happy pair, she and Alec walked back to the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>"She's a sensible woman," Alec remarked provokingly. "Most of the
+Mexicans are lazy old loafers,&mdash;but Miguel has a streak of real
+American industry."</p>
+
+<p>"Well," said Blue Bonnet, "I little expected my birthday party to be
+turned into a wedding!"</p>
+
+<p>When the last candle had been blown out and all was quiet except for
+the echo of music and laughter from the Mexican quarters, where the
+wedding festivities were continued almost till dawn, Blue Bonnet
+slipped into her grandmother's room for a last word before retiring.</p>
+
+<p>"The sixteenth has been the best birthday of all," she said happily.
+"Are you quite tired out, Grandmother?"</p>
+
+<p>And Mrs. Clyde, bending to kiss the glowing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274"></a>[<a href="images/274.png">274</a>]</span> face upturned to her,
+replied: "No, dear. It has been a beautiful party. But I'm glad for
+all our sakes that Blue Bonnet Ashe has but one birthday a year!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275"></a>[<a href="images/275.png">275</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2>
+
+<h3>CONFERENCES</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">It</span> was well on towards noon before any one in either the house or tent
+was stirring. Blue Bonnet and Ruth were the first to open their eyes,
+and they carried on a conversation in whispers for some time before
+waking the others.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth looked around the six beds in the nursery and smiled. "It looks
+like a ward in a hospital, doesn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Pretty healthy looking invalids in them," Blue Bonnet replied. "Look
+what red cheeks Kitty has."</p>
+
+<p>Ruth raised herself and leaned on one elbow, peering at the
+unconscious Kitty. "Red as fire. Doesn't she look funny?"</p>
+
+<p>"Makes her hair look pale!" laughed Blue Bonnet. All at once, as she
+studied the face that looked a brilliant scarlet against the white
+pillow, the smile faded from her face. "Ruth, come here," she said in
+a queer tone.</p>
+
+<p>Ruth obediently stole from her bed and tiptoed to Blue Bonnet's side.</p>
+
+<p>"Look at Kitty <i>hard</i>."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276"></a>[<a href="images/276.png">276</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Doesn't she look strange?" Ruth whispered.</p>
+
+<p>A sudden thought made Blue Bonnet start. "Ruth, were you fumigated
+before you left Woodford?"</p>
+
+<p>"Fumigated? Goodness no! They fumigate houses, not people."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, disinfected is what I mean, I reckon. Kitty's got a rash&mdash;and
+it's scarlet!"</p>
+
+<p>They gazed at each other in dismay. Kitty stirred, moaned, and sat up.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you all talking about?&mdash;oh, girls,&mdash;I can't open my eyes!"</p>
+
+<p>At her cry all the other occupants of the nursery woke up, and crowded
+about the anguished Kitty.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Susy, look at her," cried Blue Bonnet. "Did Ruth look like that?
+Do you think it's scarlet fever?"</p>
+
+<p>"Scarlet fever nothing!" wailed Kitty. "It's poison ivy, that's what
+it is!"</p>
+
+<p>"How can it be? What makes you think so?" Blue Bonnet demanded.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty's tale was soon told, and to her indignation it provoked a
+laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"It's no laughing matter, I tell you," she exclaimed miserably.</p>
+
+<p>"You wouldn't say that if you could see yourself!" Blue Bonnet
+returned.</p>
+
+<p>"You wouldn't think it so funny if both your eyes were swollen shut
+and your face burned like<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277"></a>[<a href="images/277.png">277</a>]</span> fire." Kitty tried to look pathetic, but
+only succeeded in looking funnier than ever.</p>
+
+<p>Stifling their laughter, but exchanging glances of amusement every
+time they caught sight of Kitty's blotched and swollen countenance,
+the girls dressed and went to seek advice for the sufferer. Everything
+in the shape of a remedy from soap-suds to raw beefsteak was proposed
+by somebody or other, and nearly every one of them tried before the
+day was over. Kitty kept her bed and Sarah constituting herself nurse,
+ministered unto the afflicted one.</p>
+
+<p>It was hard for fun-loving Kitty to be shut up in a darkened room with
+her eyes and face bandaged, while the sounds of merriment and laughter
+floated tantalizingly in. Sarah was kept busy bearing the numerous
+messages of sympathy, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, that
+Sandy and some of the other boys spent their time in composing.</p>
+
+<p>It was decided that the party from Camp Judson should remain over
+until the next day, since all had risen too late for the desired early
+start. Carita looked supremely happy when Knight yielded to Blue
+Bonnet's arguments and reached this decision. She had so wanted to
+stay, and yet&mdash;there were so many reasons why she should go; and it
+was a great relief to her conscience to have Knight assume all
+responsibility for their prolonged visit.</p>
+
+<p>"Now maybe we can have another nice talk," she said, sinking down
+beside Blue Bonnet in the hammock<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278"></a>[<a href="images/278.png">278</a>]</span> on the side veranda. "We've had
+only snatches, so far. And it will be so long before I see you again."</p>
+
+<p>"What makes you think so?" Blue Bonnet asked rather abruptly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why,&mdash;you will be leaving in two weeks, the girls said."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, they did." Blue Bonnet was thoughtful for a moment, then burst
+out&mdash;"Carita, what would you do, if you were in my place,&mdash;about going
+back East again?"</p>
+
+<p>"What would I do?" Carita repeated wonderingly. "Why, Blue Bonnet, do
+you mean that you're not sure about going?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do mean&mdash;just that. The girls have taken it for granted all along
+that I was going back with them, but somehow I can't make up my mind.
+Every day the ranch grows dearer. And being shut up in a stuffy
+schoolroom, and having to get up and go to bed by the clock, and
+having a place for everything and everything in its place&mdash;Carita, it
+goes against the grain!"</p>
+
+<p>Carita gave a comical little sigh. "It's queer how things seem to
+be&mdash;cut on the bias, isn't it? Now to go to school, and see and know
+lots of people, and have libraries and hear music&mdash;why, I seem
+sometimes to <i>ache</i> for it all."</p>
+
+<p>"It's a pity you're not Aunt Lucinda's niece. You'd do her credit. Now
+the only person I seem<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279"></a>[<a href="images/279.png">279</a>]</span> to suit through and through, is Uncle Cliff.
+He's been father and mother both to me, and I think that I owe him
+something in return. I can't bear to leave him all alone again."</p>
+
+<p>"I know. I should feel just that way about Mother. She needs me, but,
+if we could afford it, she'd be the first to send me away to school.
+If I could get enough education to teach, I could help her more in the
+end."</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon it's the end that makes everything endurable. It was the
+thought of getting back to the ranch that got me through last year.
+But I haven't let myself think what the end of this summer would
+bring. Every day on the ranch is complete in itself."</p>
+
+<p>"But think how it will seem after this&mdash;when the girls are all gone,
+and your grandmother&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"It's Grandmother who counts more than any one, except Uncle Cliff. I
+reckon I'll just have to be blindfolded and then choose!"</p>
+
+<p>"There come Knight and Alec," said Carita. "I shouldn't wonder if
+they'd been having the same sort of a conversation. They'd like to
+change places with each other. Knight is wild to go East to college,
+and Alec would give anything for&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Knight's health and strength,&mdash;I know," Blue Bonnet interrupted.
+"It's another case of the mixed-upness of things. I'm disappointed in
+Alec."</p>
+
+<p>Carita opened her eyes wide. "Disappointed?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280"></a>[<a href="images/280.png">280</a>]</span> Why, I should think you,
+of all people, feeling as you do, would sympathize with him."</p>
+
+<p>"I do sympathize with him, and always have. That's why I was so glad
+Uncle Cliff asked him out here. I was sure it would do him the world
+of good&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And so it has," said Carita. "It has done wonders for him, Knight
+says, and that's why&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"And that's why I don't understand how he could possibly&mdash;" Blue
+Bonnet broke off as the subject of their conversation took the three
+veranda steps in one leap and settled himself comfortably on the
+railing for a chat. Knight threw himself into a chair near the
+hammock.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you two plotting?" asked Alec. "You've had your heads
+together like a pair of Russian conspirators."</p>
+
+<p>"We're only trying to make the most of every minute we're together. At
+least that's what I'm doing," said Carita. "I believe you two are
+doing very much the same thing."</p>
+
+<p>The boys smiled at each other: that was a girl's way of putting it,
+but it came very near the truth.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon you two girls will have lots to write about this winter,"
+said Knight. "Carita used to wonder, all last year, how you looked,
+and what the We are Sevens were like, and what you all wore and did
+and ate and&mdash;" He broke off with a laugh at Carita's indignant denial.
+"I expect her<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281"></a>[<a href="images/281.png">281</a>]</span> mind will be in Woodford more than ever, after this."</p>
+
+<p>"But Blue Bonnet may not go back," Carita began, when a look from Blue
+Bonnet checked her.</p>
+
+<p>"Not go back?" In his surprise Alec nearly fell off the railing.
+"Here's news for the We are Sevens! Well, Blue Bonnet, I can't say I'm
+sorry." So far from being depressed at the prospect, Alec looked
+highly elated.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was strangely still. Alec had said that very much as if he
+meant it. And it hurt. After almost a year of close friendship it was,
+to say the least, hardly good taste to pretend he was glad she was no
+longer going to live next door to him. She did not intend, however, to
+let him see how she felt, and rose without glancing in his direction.</p>
+
+<p>"I must go see Kitty," she said briefly.</p>
+
+<p>Alec looked after her with a perplexed expression in his eyes. "Isn't
+Blue Bonnet a bit offish lately, Carita? She doesn't seem at all like
+herself."</p>
+
+<p>"I think she's worried," said Carita. "It is hard trying to please
+both her uncle and her grandmother, when one wants her in
+Massachusetts, and the other urges her to stay on the ranch."</p>
+
+<p>"So that's the trouble?" Alec looked somewhat relieved.</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Blue Bonnet must feel rather like the rag<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282"></a>[<a href="images/282.png">282</a>]</span> we saw Texas and
+Massachusetts worrying this morning," laughed Knight, "each took a
+corner and pulled!"</p>
+
+<p>"She ought to appreciate one fact," added Alec, "and that is, she at
+least can decide for herself. She isn't compelled to do what somebody
+else decides for her."</p>
+
+<p>"Just the same, I believe she would prefer having some one else do
+it," said Carita.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of Carita's explanation, Alec was not wholly at ease in his
+mind about Blue Bonnet. He imagined that her manner to him for the
+last few days had conveyed a vague reproach. But he had no chance that
+day to talk with her alone.</p>
+
+<p>Early the next morning Carita and Knight and the other boys prepared
+for the long ride back to Camp Judson.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll write me soon, Blue Bonnet, won't you, and tell me what you
+decide to do?" Carita asked as she leaned down from her pinto for a
+last word with Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed I will," Blue Bonnet assured her. "I wish I knew now."</p>
+
+<p>"And you'll write often if you go back&mdash;all about school and the girls
+and&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll write about everything, if&mdash;!"</p>
+
+<p>And this was the word on which they parted.</p>
+
+<p>Sandy lingered behind the others long enough to slip an envelope into
+Blue Bonnet's hand. "For<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283"></a>[<a href="images/283.png">283</a>]</span> Kitty," he explained. "Tell her I'm mighty
+sorry I couldn't see her to say good-bye."</p>
+
+<p>"Maybe it is only '<i>hasta la vista</i>,' as the Spanish say,&mdash;'good-bye
+till we meet again,'" said Blue Bonnet. "You must surely come to
+Woodford and see us if you go to Harvard."</p>
+
+<p>"'Neither foes nor loving friends'&mdash;shall hinder me from doing that
+same, if&mdash;!"</p>
+
+<p>And with this word, Sandy, too, galloped after the others.</p>
+
+<p>Alec was to accompany the boys as far as the ford. As he rode away on
+Strawberry, looking very straight and manly in the saddle, General
+Trent gazed after him with an expression of pride in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"The change in the boy is hardly short of marvellous, Miss Blue
+Bonnet," he said at last, turning to her. "I should never have
+believed it if I had not seen him. I'm very grateful to you for
+writing me that letter, though I confess you had me badly puzzled."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet had stood looking regretfully after Carita, but at the
+General's words she turned with a brightened face. If he was grateful,
+then he must have forgiven her for bringing him to Texas on what was
+evidently an unnecessary errand.</p>
+
+<p>"I was afraid you might think I had&mdash;rushed in," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all!" he replied. "Though I did not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284"></a>[<a href="images/284.png">284</a>]</span> quite understand&mdash;you
+weren't entirely clear, you know."</p>
+
+<p>Indeed she did know!</p>
+
+<p>"But Alec has explained the situation," the General continued, "and I
+understand everything now."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet drew a quick breath of relief. "Then it's all right?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes,&mdash;and he need not have hesitated. I sympathize with him wholly."</p>
+
+<p>Sympathize? How queerly he said it. Again Blue Bonnet was swept out to
+sea.</p>
+
+<p>"I am going to talk with Mr. Ashe about the matter now. We must do
+what is best for the boy." As General Trent walked to meet Uncle
+Cliff, Blue Bonnet stood staring after him, her thoughts in a whirl.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter? You look as if you had just been through an
+earthquake," laughed Ruth, coming up and slipping her thin hand into
+Blue Bonnet's.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I have,&mdash;and everything is upside down." Blue Bonnet still
+looked dazed as she turned to go into the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Come in and see Kitty. The poor child is pretty blue."</p>
+
+<p>"She was pretty red when I last saw her!" laughed Blue Bonnet. "I've
+something here to cheer her&mdash;a message from Sandy. She snubs him
+dreadfully, but he seems to enjoy it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285"></a>[<a href="images/285.png">285</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>They found all the girls gathered about Kitty's bed, evidently in the
+midst of a serious discussion. Silence fell as Blue Bonnet entered.</p>
+
+<p>"I can see out of one eye!" Kitty announced with forced gaiety.</p>
+
+<p>"Praise be!" said Blue Bonnet. "Now you can see what Sandy sent for a
+farewell message." She held out the envelope.</p>
+
+<p>"Open it please," said Kitty. "That boy is always up to mischief and I
+can't take any more risks. I cut one of his dances the other evening
+and he vowed vengeance."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet obeyed while the other girls looked on with unconcealed
+interest. The envelope appeared to be empty, but when it was
+vigorously shaken upside down, something fell on to the counterpane.
+They all dove for it, but it was Debby who finally caught and held it
+up. It was a tiny square of note-paper, in the centre of which a knot
+of ribbon secured something bright and shining. It was a lock of
+Sandy's silky red hair. Under it was written: "A coal of fire. I
+forgive you."</p>
+
+<p>Kitty laughed for the first time since her affliction had come upon
+her; and the girls blessed Sandy for his nonsense.</p>
+
+<p>"May I borrow my granddaughter for a few minutes?" asked the Se&ntilde;ora,
+looking in at the door. "Blue Bonnet, I've a letter here from your
+Aunt Lucinda."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286"></a>[<a href="images/286.png">286</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>An odd look came into Blue Bonnet's face,&mdash;Grandmother's voice held a
+hint of something important. She handed Sandy's memento to Kitty and
+forced a smile. "Put this in your memory-book, Kitty. When Sandy is
+president, you can point with pride to that coal of fire&mdash;they're
+likely, by then, to call it 'the fire of genius!'"</p>
+
+<p>When she had left the room, Kitty looked out of her one good eye with
+a glance intended to be solemn. "Girls, I've a presentiment."</p>
+
+<p>"What about,&mdash;Sandy?" asked Sarah.</p>
+
+<p>"No, you silly,&mdash;except that he'll never be president! I'm thinking
+about Blue Bonnet,&mdash;I was just going to tell you when she came in. I
+don't believe she intends to go back with us."</p>
+
+<p>Kitty's words produced even more of an effect than she had expected.
+For several minutes no one spoke, then Ruth said half irritably:</p>
+
+<p>"If you can't have pleasanter presentiments than that, Kitty, I wish
+you wouldn't have them."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help it," Kitty declared. "She won't say a word about it. And
+every time we get on to the subject, she either begins to talk about
+something else, or leaves the room."</p>
+
+<p>"I've noticed it, too," said Sarah, quietly.</p>
+
+<p>The gloom on every countenance bore silent witness to the hold Blue
+Bonnet had on the affections of the We are Sevens.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287"></a>[<a href="images/287.png">287</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Woodford will be a stupid old hole without her," Kitty declared.</p>
+
+<p>"Passing over your implied compliment to us," said Debby, "I agree
+with you."</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother handed Blue Bonnet Aunt Lucinda's letter without comment;
+but watched the girl's face closely as she read. A characteristic
+letter it was, showing the fine mind and cultivation of the writer,
+yet like her, too, precise and rather formal in its wording. She was
+in Munich, enjoying the summer music festival. Nothing very important
+so far, Blue Bonnet concluded, and began to breathe more easily. But
+over the closing pages she sobered again.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a rather remarkable pianist staying at this same pension,"
+she wrote; "and she plays for us very often. Something in the charm
+and delicacy of her touch makes me think of Blue Bonnet's, when she
+plays her little 'Ave Maria.' I have talked with her about Blue Bonnet
+and she thinks with me that the child must have real talent for the
+piano. Fr&auml;ulein Schirmer is to teach music in a school for girls in
+Boston, this coming winter, and I think it would be an excellent plan
+to place Blue Bonnet right in the school. She is old enough now to
+appreciate the atmosphere of culture and refinement in such a
+place,&mdash;I am told that the first families of Boston send their
+daughters there&mdash;and she could have the advantage of attending the
+Symphony concerts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288"></a>[<a href="images/288.png">288</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Woodford has nothing much to offer in the way of musical advantages,
+and I think Blue Bonnet should develop her talent in this line. She
+could come to us for the week-end always, and in that way we should
+not have to part with her altogether. But we can settle the matter
+when we are all in Woodford once more."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet sighed as she finished and let the letter drop into her
+lap. "When they were all in Woodford once more." So Aunt Lucinda, too,
+took it for granted! She stirred a trifle resentfully.</p>
+
+<p>"One would think I had signed a life-contract!" she thought.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde sought her granddaughter's eye anxiously. "Well, Blue
+Bonnet, what are you thinking?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm thinking&mdash;not for the first time either,&mdash;of something I once
+said to Alec. I wished, and keep on wishing&mdash;that there were two of
+me,&mdash;so that one might stay here on the ranch with Uncle Cliff, while
+the other was with you and Aunt Lucinda in Woodford, being educated."</p>
+
+<p>Grandmother smiled and sighed in the same breath. "Suppose you leave
+me and Uncle Clifford and Aunt Lucinda out of the matter entirely.
+Just think how it would have appealed to&mdash;your mother."</p>
+
+<p>The blue eyes turned swiftly from her grandmother's face to gaze out
+across the wide sweep of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289"></a>[<a href="images/289.png">289</a>]</span> prairie. There was a long silence. When Blue
+Bonnet faced her grandmother again, her eyes were misty.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish she were here to tell me. Somehow I can't make it seem right,
+either way. Will you wait and let me sleep on it, Grandmother? I'll
+tell you, as the Mexicans say&mdash;<i>ma&ntilde;ana</i>."</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, <i>ma&ntilde;ana</i> with the Mexicans means almost any time in the future,
+but I'll make it&mdash;to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Clyde was silent, but the glance that followed Blue Bonnet as she
+left the room, was very wistful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290"></a>[<a href="images/290.png">290</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2>
+
+<h3>BLUE BONNET DECIDES</h3>
+
+
+<div class="figleft" style="width: 271px;">
+<img src="images/gs309.jpg" width="271" height="400" alt="&quot;ALEC SURVEYED HER PROUD LITTLE PROFILE.&quot;" title="&quot;ALEC SURVEYED HER PROUD LITTLE PROFILE.&quot;" />
+<span class="caption">&quot;ALEC SURVEYED HER PROUD LITTLE PROFILE.&quot;</span>
+</div>
+
+<p>"<span class="smcap">I say</span>, Blue Bonnet, wait for a fellow, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet waited, none too eagerly, while Alec caught up with her,
+and then, whistling to Don and Solomon, turned to resume her walk
+along the grassy bank of San Franciscito.</p>
+
+<p>Alec surveyed her proud little profile for a few minutes in a sort of
+puzzled wonder, and finally as she kept on in the same unsociable
+manner, he began with determined friendliness:</p>
+
+<p>"We've never yet taken the walk we planned, along the <i>rio</i>. Feel
+equal to it this morning?"</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't time to go far. I told Grandmother I'd not be gone long,"
+she returned carelessly.</p>
+
+<p>"Another tea-party on?" This time he succeeded in bringing the old
+sparkle of laughter to her eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"Not this time," she answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Your parties have been a sort of continuous performance this summer,
+haven't they?" he persisted, hoping to win her to a more
+conversational mood.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_291" id="Page_291"></a>[<a href="images/291.png">291</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"And the summer is almost over,&mdash;did you ever know such a short
+vacation?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's been the jolliest one I've ever had. And it is going to mean a
+lot to me all my life, Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Then Alec asked&mdash;"Do you
+remember the morning we first spoke of following this stream?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes,&mdash;and do you remember how we wondered what we would talk about on
+our next jaunt by the Woodford brook?"</p>
+
+<p>He nodded. "I remember everything; that was the first day I told you I
+wasn't likely to be in Woodford next spring. It was only a day-dream
+then,&mdash;isn't it funny how things have come out?"</p>
+
+<p>"Funny? Alec, you are the queerest boy. You've taken to talking in
+riddles lately, and I&mdash;I reckon I'm pretty slow at guessing riddles.
+We may as well have it out right now. I've been wanting to have a talk
+with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Same here," returned Alec. "What's the matter, anyway? You've not
+been a bit like yourself the last few days."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you really know, Alec?" Blue Bonnet met his puzzled eyes very
+soberly.</p>
+
+<p>"I honestly don't, Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>"And haven't you felt the least little bit guilty about letting me
+write that letter to your grandfather?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_292" id="Page_292"></a>[<a href="images/292.png">292</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Guilty?" Alec's tone expressed unaffected amazement. "Do you mean I
+ought to have written it myself? I'd have done it if you had hinted
+that you'd rather have me. Why didn't you say so?"</p>
+
+<p>"You seemed so anxious to have me do it."</p>
+
+<p>"And so I was. It seemed only right and proper that you should be the
+first to suggest the proposition. You're the owner of the Blue Bonnet
+ranch."</p>
+
+<p>"What has that to do with it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, I should think it had everything to do with it. I couldn't very
+well invite myself, could I?"</p>
+
+<p>"Invite yourself? Oh, dear, now you're talking in riddles again."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Blue Bonnet, after you had invited me to spend two months on
+the ranch, it certainly took more courage than I possessed to suggest
+extending my visit for a year or two. You can see how much better it
+was for the suggestion to come from you. Grandfather has fallen right
+in with it and is making all arrangements with Mr. Ashe right now."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's eyes grew round with astonishment. "Do you mean to tell
+me that you are going to stay on the ranch a year or two?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you and Mr. Ashe will stand for it. I want to stay till I outgrow
+being a weakling and grow into a real man. Till I'm as broad as a
+fellow my age should be and have a muscle bigger than a girl's.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_293" id="Page_293"></a>[<a href="images/293.png">293</a>]</span> The
+two months here have already shown what two years is likely to do for
+me." Alec squared his shoulders and drew himself up as if already the
+example of brawn he longed to be.</p>
+
+<p>"And do you mean to tell me that when you said you might not go back
+to Woodford, and that there was no college in store for Alec Trent you
+only meant&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Till I had the strength to go through with it, yes. I've had enough
+breakdowns. Why, what&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you were a girl so that I could shake you!" Blue Bonnet's look
+was a queer mixture of relief and indignation. "Why couldn't you say
+so in the first place? When you kept making all those mysterious
+hints, I was wasting good, honest pity on you because I thought you
+were preparing for an early grave!"</p>
+
+<p>Alec's peal of laughter showed how far from pitiable his state was.
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet, I wish I could tell that to Knight!"</p>
+
+<p>"But didn't you hint?" she demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I did. I was fishing for an invitation to make a good long
+visit to the Blue Bonnet ranch. Hardly likely, was it, that I was
+going to demand it boldly as a right?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, it would have saved me a heap of worry if you had. Why, Alec!"
+Blue Bonnet sank down on the bank to think it over. "What are you
+going to do on the ranch all winter?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_294" id="Page_294"></a>[<a href="images/294.png">294</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>He threw himself on the grass beside her.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to live, as far as possible, like Pinto Pete and Shady. I'm
+going to ride the range, go on the round-up this fall and next
+spring,&mdash;spend about fifteen hours a day in the open. And if I'm not
+as husky as a Texas cowboy by next summer, it won't be my fault. You
+know it's been my one wish, Blue Bonnet, and this, I'm convinced is
+the way to get it."</p>
+
+<p>"And college?"</p>
+
+<p>"College can wait. I'd rather have biceps like Knight's than be a
+walking encyclop&aelig;dia!"</p>
+
+<p>"Think of all the sympathy I've wasted!" Blue Bonnet laughed at
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know that it's all been wasted. I've deserved a good
+deal. I've been afraid Grandfather would be against the scheme&mdash;he's
+never been willing to admit that I wasn't as strong as I ought to be.
+I've only just begun myself to realize how good-for-nothing I used to
+feel most of the time. There's nothing like feeling able to shake your
+fist at all out-doors!"</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet smiled. "Then I needn't regret my letter?"</p>
+
+<p>"Regret?&mdash;well, I should say not! You builded better than you knew.
+Getting Grandfather worried was just the right thing, though it sounds
+rather heartless to say it. Being worried, he came and saw and&mdash;I
+conquered!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_295" id="Page_295"></a>[<a href="images/295.png">295</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Now I won't have to ask for an explanation of a very rude speech of
+yours."</p>
+
+<p>"Was I rude&mdash;to you?" Alec looked up hastily.</p>
+
+<p>"It sounded&mdash;rather queer, for you to rejoice over my not going back
+to Woodford," she answered.</p>
+
+<p>"Meant purely as a compliment," he assured her. "It would be mighty
+jolly to have you here, Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>She rose hurriedly. "Let's not go into that, please. Every time I get
+pretty near a decision, some new argument bobs up on the other side.
+I'm dreadfully worried, Alec. But, thank goodness, you're off my
+mind!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'll try to stay off, Blue Bonnet," he laughed as he followed her
+along the narrow path. "If you go back you'll write often, won't you?
+I shall depend on you&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>She made a movement of impatience. "I'm not going to cross bridges,
+Alec, till I come to them."</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon. I forgot that bridges are a touchy subject with
+you!"</p>
+
+<p>They found Uncle Cliff and the General still absorbed in what appeared
+to be an interminable conversation. The General rose with
+old-fashioned courtesy as Blue Bonnet came up the veranda steps.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you think of your new cowboy?" he asked, laying his hand
+affectionately on Alec's shoulder.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_296" id="Page_296"></a>[<a href="images/296.png">296</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"We've just been exchanging opinions with each other," she said, with
+a sidelong glance at Alec.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm going to miss the boy," General Trent continued. "The old house
+will be very dull and empty,&mdash;unless you make up your mind to be
+particularly neighborly, Miss Blue Bonnet."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet colored and looked way. "I&mdash;I'll do my best if&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Will you walk down to the stable with me, Grandfather?" Alec asked
+quickly. "I've not shown you the little coyotes yet."</p>
+
+<p>As the General walked away with his hand still on Alec's shoulder,
+Blue Bonnet turned to her uncle.</p>
+
+<p>"Read this, will you please, Uncle? It came to-day."</p>
+
+<p>He took Aunt Lucinda's letter, an odd expression growing around his
+mouth. But he opened it without speaking. Blue Bonnet sank into the
+hammock and watched him narrowly,&mdash;much as Grandmother had watched her
+as she read the same pages. She saw his lower teeth close on his
+mustache when he came to the significant part.</p>
+
+<p>He lifted his eyes at last. "Well, Honey?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>He sighed deeply. "Are you putting this up to me?"</p>
+
+<p>She raised her shoulders in an expressive shrug. "I reckon you ought
+to have the deciding vote. I'm on the fence."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_297" id="Page_297"></a>[<a href="images/297.png">297</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"Do you want to be a musician, Blue Bonnet?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'd love to&mdash;if it weren't for all the practising!"</p>
+
+<p>"Seems to me you play mighty well now."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm very careless in my methods, Aunt Lucinda says."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Cliff winced. "None of the girls play as well as you do, Honey."</p>
+
+<p>"I&mdash;I don't believe they do. But maybe, Uncle Cliff, that is a very
+good reason why I should go on with it. Maybe I really have talent."</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't it be very lonesome off there in Boston? And won't it be
+mostly work and very little play?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid it will. But, somehow, it's chiefly because it will be so
+much easier to stay on the ranch and be&mdash;desultory, as Aunt Lucinda
+says,&mdash;that I think I ought to go."</p>
+
+<p>"I see, Honey. You <i>are</i> developing a New England conscience!"</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder?" she pondered.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want you to do anything just because it's easier, Blue
+Bonnet," Uncle Cliff continued. "That wasn't your father's way."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor your way, Uncle Cliff."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope not, Blue Bonnet. That's why I'm going to stop arguing right
+here. It's my natural inclination to say 'stay with me, Honey, I need
+you.' But I know I don't,&mdash;I just want you. But what I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_298" id="Page_298"></a>[<a href="images/298.png">298</a>]</span> want more is
+to have you do the thing that's best for Blue Bonnet Ashe,&mdash;the thing
+that will make you say in the end, 'I'm glad I did it!'" More moved
+than he cared to show, Clifford Ashe rose, and running down the
+veranda steps, strode off in the direction of the stable.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, dear!" thought Blue Bonnet, gazing after him. "In the language of
+the cowboys,&mdash;it's certainly up to me!"</p>
+
+<p>When she went into her grandmother's room that night&mdash;the room that
+had been her mother's&mdash;Blue Bonnet found Benita acting as lady's maid,
+brushing Mrs. Clyde's long hair. The old nurse enjoyed nothing so much
+as waiting on the little Se&ntilde;ora's mother,&mdash;unless it was babying the
+little Se&ntilde;ora's daughter. As she stood in the doorway silently
+watching the two, the sight of the rippling gray locks, fast whitening
+into snow, did more to sway Blue Bonnet than all the other array of
+arguments. Uncle Cliff wanted her; it was Grandmother who really
+needed her.</p>
+
+<p>She tiptoed up back of Benita, but her grandmother had caught sight of
+her in the mirror and turned at her approach. Something in the
+expression of Blue Bonnet's eyes as she bent for the good-night kiss
+made Mrs. Clyde say hastily&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, dear?"</p>
+
+<p>And Blue Bonnet, her tone reflecting the happiness her words gave,
+replied: "It isn't <i>ma&ntilde;ana</i> yet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_299" id="Page_299"></a>[<a href="images/299.png">299</a>]</span> but I can't wait to tell you&mdash;I'm
+going when you go, Grandmother."</p>
+
+<p>When they looked up, Benita stood with her apron thrown over her
+face.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_300" id="Page_300"></a>[<a href="images/300.png">300</a>]</span></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2>
+
+<h3>HASTA LA VISTA</h3>
+
+
+<p><span class="smcap">The</span> We are Sevens were packing. An open trunk blocked each aisle
+between the six beds in the nursery; in Sarah's room two more were
+standing, half-filled, one reflecting the neatness and order of its
+owner, the other bearing silent witness to the fact that it belonged
+to Blue Bonnet Ashe.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing with that old stick, Blue Bonnet?" asked Sarah, as
+she carefully folded her riding-skirt and laid tissue paper between
+the folds.</p>
+
+<p>"Old stick, indeed! That's the alpenstock Knight cut for me and Sandy
+carved,&mdash;I've sawed off about six inches of it, though it broke my
+heart to do it. It's one of my dearest treasures and I'm going to take
+it to Woodford if I have to carry it all the way!" Blue Bonnet
+declared vigorously.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see anything so wonderful about it," Sarah returned. "There
+are plenty of old sticks just like it to be had around Woodford."</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet lifted indignant eyes. "As if any old Woodford stick could
+mean as much as this one.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_301" id="Page_301"></a>[<a href="images/301.png">301</a>]</span> Why, this has the initials of every one in
+both camps carved on it, and every inch of it represents a good time.
+You've no sentiment, Sarah."</p>
+
+<p>"I certainly haven't enough sentiment to make me rumple my best white
+dress with a clumsy old stick," Sarah replied.</p>
+
+<p>"I reckon it ought to have gone in with my shoes, but it's too late
+now. How you do fuss over that riding-skirt, Sarah!"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, if you want to know it, I've a lot of sentiment about that
+skirt. I wish I could take Comanche along, too."</p>
+
+<p>Here Blue Bonnet amazed Sarah by jumping up and giving her a hug. "Oh,
+Sarah, I do love you for saying that! If you had been reconciled to
+riding that same old poke you had last year I'd have been
+so&mdash;disgusted. Won't the livery-man in Woodford open his eyes when
+Miss Blake demands a 'horse with some go in him'&mdash;! The inhabitants of
+the town will get a few thrills too, I reckon."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you think it will be proper for us to ride there the way we ride
+here?" Sarah asked eagerly.</p>
+
+<p>"Astride? We'll make it proper! It's the only humane way, Uncle
+says&mdash;a side-saddle is a downright cruelty. And I don't see why a
+parson's daughter shouldn't set the fashion."</p>
+
+<p>"Then Ruth will get a chance to wear her riding-skirt after all&mdash;her
+heart will be stronger after a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_302" id="Page_302"></a>[<a href="images/302.png">302</a>]</span> while. I've hated to ride when she
+couldn't, but she has insisted upon our going."</p>
+
+<p>"That's just like you, you unselfish old dear! But Ruth told me that
+it was the next best thing to riding herself, to see you on Comanche."</p>
+
+<p>"Did she?" asked Sarah; and then hid her face in the trunk so that
+Blue Bonnet should not see how pleased she was.</p>
+
+<p>They were to leave in the morning, and trunks were to be sent to the
+station this very afternoon. Already Uncle Joe was hovering about,
+rope in hand, waiting to give the final touch to the baggage. He had
+found it necessary to keep very busy these last few days.</p>
+
+<p>"We might have seen this coming," he said disconsolately to Mr. Ashe,
+as the latter sat smoking a solitary pipe on the front veranda. "Let
+young folks get runnin' with young folks, and they're never again
+contented alone."</p>
+
+<p>"It isn't <i>young</i> folks that's taking Blue Bonnet this time, Joe." Mr.
+Ashe glanced in to where a silver head showed just inside the window.
+"<i>Her</i> girl never went back to her from Texas, and I reckon it's only
+right she should have her share of Elizabeth's daughter."</p>
+
+<p>Uncle Joe looked sober. "You're right, Cliff." Then, as if determined
+to look on the bright side of things, "We'll have the boy for
+company."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and there'll be more letters. She'll tell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_303" id="Page_303"></a>[<a href="images/303.png">303</a>]</span> him things she
+wouldn't be likely to write to two old fellows." And with this crumb
+of comfort the "two old fellows" were forced to content themselves.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet was up at daybreak next morning, and, sitting on the top
+rail of the pasture fence, watched the sun rise out of the prairie.
+Don and Solomon eyed her expectantly.</p>
+
+<p>"Our last sunrise on the ranch, Solomon, for ever and ever so
+long,&mdash;we're off to Massachusetts this very morning. And it's a
+Pullman for me and a baggage-car for you&mdash;no private car this time!
+But I'll come and see you at every station and see that you have
+exercise. Poor dog, I wonder how you'll like the 'resumption of
+discipline'&mdash;as Alec calls it? We're going back to Aunt Lucinda, you
+know, Solomon, and Aunt Lucinda's strong for discipline."</p>
+
+<p>Her eyes wandered off toward the distant hills and then away across
+the wind-swept, rolling prairie. How would it seem to be back again
+among houses, tall houses with trim door-yards and clipped
+hedges,&mdash;houses so close one couldn't throw a stone without "breaking
+a window or a tradition"&mdash;?</p>
+
+<p>Some one was whistling "All the Blue Bonnets are over the Border." She
+looked up as Alec came towards her.</p>
+
+<p>"Do I intrude upon a solemn hour?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"The solemn hour has ticked its last second. I've<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_304" id="Page_304"></a>[<a href="images/304.png">304</a>]</span> said good-bye to
+everything and everybody,&mdash;except Texas and Massachusetts. Come with
+me to see those infants."</p>
+
+<p>Hardly infants any longer, however. Long-tailed, with erect silky ears
+and coats that stood out shaggily from their fattening sides, the
+coyotes were fast growing into big, clumsy dogs.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll look after them, won't you, Alec?" Blue Bonnet asked
+anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"That I will," he promised.</p>
+
+<p>"And you'll write me often about&mdash;everything? And see that Uncle Cliff
+doesn't smoke too much, and that Uncle Joe takes his rheumatism
+medicine&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Trust me!" Alec knew better than to smile at such a moment. "And in
+turn, Blue Bonnet, you'll give an eye to Grandfather, won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>They shook hands on it solemnly, and went in to breakfast.</p>
+
+<p>Kitty, her face restored to its usual milky-whiteness, and looking
+very pretty in her jaunty travelling-suit, met them at the door.
+Peering over her shoulder stood Ruth&mdash;a sunburned Ruth with bright
+eyes and a rounder curve to her cheek than it had worn two weeks
+before.</p>
+
+<p>"We were afraid you had decided to run off and hide at the last
+minute," said Kitty, slipping her arm around Blue Bonnet as if
+determined not to risk losing her a second time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_305" id="Page_305"></a>[<a href="images/305.png">305</a>]</span></p>
+
+<p>"I was only&mdash;saying good-bye," said Blue Bonnet soberly.</p>
+
+<p>"Blue Bonnet is like more than one famous prima donna," said Alec,
+"she has made half a dozen 'positively last' farewell tours!"</p>
+
+<p>They were off at last. Distributed equally between the buckboard and
+one of the farm-wagons, the We are Sevens, Grandmother Clyde, General
+Trent and Uncle Joe went ahead. Blue Bonnet, Alec, and Uncle Cliff
+followed on horseback.</p>
+
+<p>As they neared the bridge Blue Bonnet drew rein, and, turning in the
+saddle, glanced back for a last look at the weather-stained old
+ranch-house. The cowboys and most of the Mexicans, who had gathered to
+say good-bye to the Se&ntilde;orita and her "amigos" from Massachusetts, were
+already scattering about the work of the day. But in the doorway the
+faithful Benita still stood, waving her apron.</p>
+
+<p>Blue Bonnet's eyes filled.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-bye, old house, good-bye, Benita," she said, and then added
+softly: "<i>Hasta la vista!</i>"</p>
+
+
+<h2>THE END.</h2>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>Selections from<br />The Page Company's<br />Books for Young People</h2>
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+
+<h2>The Blue Bonnet Series</h2>
+<div class='center'><i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; $1.75</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>A TEXAS BLUE BONNET</b></div>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">Caroline E. Jacobs</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"The book's heroine, Blue Bonnet, has the very finest kind of
+wholesome, honest, lively girlishness."&mdash;<i>Chicago Inter-Ocean.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY</b></div>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">Caroline E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."&mdash;<i>Boston
+Transcript.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON</b></div>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">Caroline E. Jacobs and Lela Horn Richards</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"It is bound to become popular because of its wholesomeness and its
+many human touches."&mdash;<i>Boston Globe.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE</b></div>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">Caroline E. Jacobs and Lela Horn Richards</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"It cannot fail to prove fascinating to girls in their teens."&mdash;<i>New
+York Sun.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>BLUE BONNET&mdash;D&Eacute;BUTANTE</b></div>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">Lela Horn Richards</span>.</p>
+
+<p>An interesting picture of the unfolding of life for Blue Bonnet.</p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>BLUE BONNET OF THE SEVEN STARS</b></div>
+
+<p>By <span class="smcap">Lela Horn Richards</span>.</p>
+
+<p>"The author's intimate detail and charm of narration gives the reader
+an interesting story of the heroine's war activities."&mdash;<i>Pittsburgh
+Leader.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES</h2>
+
+<h3>By <span class="smcap">Harrison Adams</span></h3>
+
+<div class='center'><i>Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.65</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO; <span class="smcap">Or</span>,</b> <span class="smcap">Clearing the Wilderness</span>.</div>
+
+<p>"Such books as this are an admirable means of stimulating among the
+young Americans of to-day interest in the story of their pioneer
+ancestors and the early days of the Republic."&mdash;<i>Boston Globe.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES;</b> <span class="smcap">Or, On the Trail of the Iroquois</span>.</div>
+
+<p>"The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not only
+interesting but instructive as well and shows the sterling type of
+character which these days of self-reliance and trial
+produced."&mdash;<i>American Tourist, Chicago.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI;</b> <span class="smcap">Or, The Homestead in the
+Wilderness</span>.</div>
+
+<p>"The story is told with spirit, and is full of adventure."&mdash;<i>New York
+Sun.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI;</b> <span class="smcap">Or, In the Country of the Sioux</span>.</div>
+
+<p>"Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic situations,
+true to historic perspective, this story is a capital one for
+boys."&mdash;<i>Watchman Examiner, New York City.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE;</b> <span class="smcap">Or, Lost in the Land of Wonders</span>.</div>
+
+<p>"There is plenty of lively adventure and action and the story is well
+told."&mdash;<i>Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA;</b> <span class="smcap">Or, In the Wilderness of the Great
+Northwest</span>.</div>
+
+<p>"The story is full of spirited action and contains much valuable
+historical information."&mdash;<i>Boston Herald.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><b>THE HADLEY HALL SERIES</b></h2>
+
+<h3>By <span class="smcap">Louise M. Breitenbach</span></h3>
+
+<div class='center'><i>Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.65</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>ALMA AT HADLEY HALL</b></div>
+
+<p>"The author is to be congratulated on having written such an appealing
+book for girls."&mdash;<i>Detroit Free Press.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>ALMA'S SOPHOMORE YEAR</b></div>
+
+<p>"It cannot fail to appeal to the lovers of good things in girls'
+books."&mdash;<i>Boston Herald.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>ALMA'S JUNIOR YEAR</b></div>
+
+<p>"The diverse characters in the boarding-school are strongly drawn, the
+incidents are well developed and the action is never dull."&mdash;<i>The
+Boston Herald.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>ALMA'S SENIOR YEAR</b></div>
+
+<p>"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."&mdash;<i>Boston
+Transcript.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE SERIES</h2>
+
+<h3>By <span class="smcap">Harriet Lummis Smith</span></h3>
+
+<div class='center'><i>Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$1.65</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE</b></div>
+
+<p>"A book sure to please girl readers, for the author seems to
+understand perfectly the girl character."&mdash;<i>Boston Globe.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>PEGGY RAYMOND'S VACATION</b></div>
+
+<p>"It is a wholesome, hearty story."&mdash;<i>Utica Observer.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>PEGGY RAYMOND'S SCHOOL DAYS</b></div>
+
+<p>The book is delightfully written, and contains lots of exciting
+incidents.</p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>THE FRIENDLY TERRACE QUARTETTE</b></div>
+
+<p>These four lively girls found their opportunities to serve their
+country. The story of their adventures will bring anew to every girl
+who reads about them the realization of what she owes to her country.</p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES</h2>
+
+<h3>By <span class="smcap">Charles H. L. Johnston</span></h3>
+<div class='center'><i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i> &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$2.00</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS</b></div>
+
+<p>"More of such books should be written, books that acquaint young
+readers with historical personages in a pleasant, informal way."&mdash;<i>New
+York Sun.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS</b></div>
+
+<p>"Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, and his relation
+of battles, sieges and struggles of these famous Indians with the
+whites for the possession of America is a worthy addition to United
+States History."&mdash;<i>New York Marine Journal.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>FAMOUS SCOUTS</b></div>
+
+<p>"It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascination for boys
+and young men."&mdash;<i>New London Day.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVENTURERS OF THE SEA</b></div>
+
+<p>"The tales are more than merely interesting; they are entrancing,
+stirring the blood with thrilling force."&mdash;<i>Pittsburgh Post.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF THE BORDER</b></div>
+
+<p>"The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly readable, making
+a book of wide appeal to all who love the history of actual
+adventure."&mdash;<i>Cleveland Leader.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>FAMOUS DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS OF AMERICA</b></div>
+
+<p>"The book is an epitome of some of the wildest and bravest adventures
+of which the world has known."&mdash;<i>Brooklyn Daily Eagle.</i></p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE GREAT WAR</b></div>
+
+<p>Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glorious Victory.</p>
+
+<p>"The pages of this book have the charm of romance without its
+unreality. The book illuminates, with life-like portraits, the history
+of the World War."&mdash;<i>Rochester Post Express.</i></p>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2>HILDEGARDE-MARGARET SERIES</h2>
+
+<h3>By <span class="smcap">Laura E. Richards</span></h3>
+
+<div class='center'>Eleven Volumes</div>
+
+<p>The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with "Queen Hildegarde" and
+ending with "The Merryweathers," make one of the best and most popular
+series of books for girls ever written.</p>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Hildegarde Prices">
+<tr><td align='left'><i>Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='right'>$1.75</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><i>The eleven volumes boxed as a set</i></td><td align='right'>$19.25</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="LIST OF TITLES OF HILDEGARDE BOOKS">
+<tr><td align='center'><b>LIST OF TITLES</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>QUEEN HILDEGARDE</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>HILDEGARDE'S HOME</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>THREE MARGARETS</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>MARGARET MONTFORT</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>PEGGY</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>RITA</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>FERNLEY HOUSE</b></td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'><b>THE MERRYWEATHERS</b></td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+
+
+<hr style="width: 65%;" />
+<h2><b>THE CAPTAIN JANUARY SERIES</b></h2>
+
+<h3>By <span class="smcap">Laura E. Richards</span></h3>
+
+<div class='center'>
+<i>Each one volume, 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume</i>  &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 90 cents<br />
+</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>CAPTAIN JANUARY</b></div>
+
+<p>A charming idyl of New England coast life, whose success has been very
+remarkable.</p>
+
+<div class='center'>
+SAME. <i>Illustrated Holiday Edition</i>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;                      $1.35<br />
+</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>MELODY:</b> <span class="smcap">The Story of a Child</span>.</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>MARIE</b></div>
+
+<p>A companion to "Melody" and "Captain January."</p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>ROSIN THE BEAU</b></div>
+
+<p>A sequel to "Melody" and "Marie."</p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>SNOW-WHITE;</b> <span class="smcap">Or, The House in the Wood</span>.</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>JIM OF HELLAS;</b> <span class="smcap">Or, In Durance Vile</span>, and a companion story, <span class="smcap">Bethesda
+Pool</span>.</div>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>NARCISSA</b></div>
+
+<p>And a companion story, <span class="smcap">In Verona</span>, being two delightful short stories
+of New England life.</p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>"SOME SAY"</b></div>
+
+<p>And a companion story, <span class="smcap">Neighbors in Cyrus</span>.</p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>NAUTILUS</b></div>
+
+<p>"'Nautilus' is by far the best product of the author's powers, and is
+certain to achieve the wide success it so richly merits."</p>
+
+
+<div class='unindent'><br /><b>ISLA HERON</b></div>
+
+<p>This interesting story is written in the author's usual charming
+manner.</p>
+
+<hr style='width: 65%;' />
+<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Notes:</h3>
+<p>Obvious punctuation errors repaired.</p>
+
+
+<div class='center'>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Hyphenation idiosyncrasies">
+<tr><td align='center' colspan='2'>Varied hyphenation was retained in the following:</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>horseback</td><td align='left'>horse-back</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>bedroom</td><td align='left'>bed-room</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>bedclothes</td><td align='left'>bed-clothes</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>buckboard</td><td align='left'>buck-board</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>cowbells</td><td align='left'>cow-bells</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>oilcloth</td><td align='left'>oil-cloth</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>outdoors</td><td align='left'>out-doors</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>sunbonnet</td><td align='left'>sun-bonnet</td></tr>
+<tr><td align='left'>We are Seven&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align='left'>We-are-Seven</td></tr>
+</table></div>
+
+<p>Varied spelling of bandana/bandanna was retained.</p>
+
+<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p></div>
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+<pre>
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party, by 
+C. E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 21960-h.htm or 21960-h.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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@@ -0,0 +1,9414 @@
+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party, by
+C. E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+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: Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party
+
+Author: C. E. Jacobs
+        Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+Illustrator: John Goss
+
+Release Date: June 28, 2007 [EBook #21960]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Suzanne Lybarger, Brian Janes and the Online
+Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY
+
+
+
+
+ The
+ Blue Bonnet Series
+
+ _By_
+ _Lela Horn Richards_
+ _and_
+ _Caroline E. Jacobs_
+
+[Illustration]
+
+Each, one vol., large 12mo, illustrated $1.75
+
+        A TEXAS BLUE BONNET
+        BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY
+        BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON
+        BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE
+        BLUE BONNET--DEBUTANTE
+        BLUE BONNET OF THE SEVEN STARS
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+ THE COSY CORNER SERIES
+
+ _By Caroline E. Jacobs_
+
+  Each, one vol., small 12mo, illustrated                        $0.75
+
+        BAB'S CHRISTMAS AT STANHOPE
+        THE CHRISTMAS SURPRISE PARTY
+        A CHRISTMAS PROMISE
+
+[Illustration]
+
+THE PAGE COMPANY
+
+53 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass.
+
+[Illustration: "BLUE BONNET . . . WATCHED THE SUN RISE OUT OF THE
+PRAIRIE." (_See page 303._)]
+
+
+
+
+BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY
+
+BY
+C. E. JACOBS
+AND
+EDYTH ELLERBECK READ
+
+A SEQUEL TO
+A TEXAS BLUE BONNET
+
+BY
+C. E. JACOBS
+
+_Illustrated by_
+JOHN GOSS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+        THE PAGE COMPANY
+        BOSTON - - PUBLISHERS
+
+        _Copyright, 1912_
+        BY THE PAGE COMPANY
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+_All rights reserved_
+
+
+
+Made in U. S. A.
+
+        First Impression, July, 1912
+        Second Impression, October, 1912
+        Third Impression, May, 1913
+        Fourth Impression, January, 1914
+        Fifth Impression, April, 1914
+        Sixth Impression, February, 1915
+        Seventh Impression, June, 1915
+        Eighth Impression, July, 1916
+        Ninth Impression, April, 1917
+        Tenth Impression, March, 1918
+        Eleventh Impression, July, 1919
+        Twelfth Impression, May, 1920
+        Thirteenth Impression, December, 1921
+
+
+
+        PRINTED BY C. H. SIMONDS COMPANY
+        BOSTON, MASS., U. S. A.
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+        CHAPTER                            PAGE
+            I. THE WANDERER                  1
+           II. IN THE BLUE BONNET COUNTRY   16
+          III. THE GLORIOUS FOURTH          32
+           IV. THE ROUND ROBIN              45
+            V. THE SWIMMING HOLE            60
+           VI. AN ADVENTURE                 71
+          VII. A FALLING OUT                86
+         VIII. CONSEQUENCES                101
+           IX. TEXAS AND MASSACHUSETTS     112
+            X. ENTER CARITA                124
+           XI. CAMPING BY THE BIG SPRING   142
+          XII. POCO TIEMPO                 155
+         XIII. AROUND THE CAMP-FIRE        169
+          XIV. A FALLING IN                183
+           XV. SUNDAY                      200
+          XVI. THE LOST SHEEP              215
+         XVII. SECRETS                     230
+        XVIII. SOME ARRIVALS               242
+          XIX. BLUE BONNET'S BIRTHDAY      259
+           XX. CONFERENCES                 275
+          XXI. BLUE BONNET DECIDES         290
+         XXII. HASTA LA VISTA              300
+
+
+
+
+LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+                                                              PAGE
+  "BLUE BONNET . . . WATCHED THE SUN RISE OUT OF THE PRAIRIE"
+     (_See page 303_)                                 _Frontispiece_
+
+  "COMANCHE . . . LEAPED FORWARD LIKE A CAT"                   41
+
+  "'_I_ BELIEVE THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN TO SWIM IS TO DIVE IN
+     HEAD-FIRST'"                                              96
+
+  "THEY ALL GATHERED GYPSY-FASHION ABOUT THE FIRE"            187
+
+  "IT WAS AN EXQUISITE MINIATURE, PAINTED ON IVORY"           261
+
+  "ALEC SURVEYED HER PROUD LITTLE PROFILE"                    290
+
+
+
+
+Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I
+
+THE WANDERER
+
+
+BLUE BONNET put her head out of the car window for the hundredth time
+that hour, and drew it back with a sigh of utter exasperation.
+
+"Uncle Cliff," she declared impatiently, "if The Wanderer doesn't move
+a little faster I'll simply have to get out and push!"
+
+"Better blame the engine, Honey," said Uncle Cliff in his slow,
+soothing way. "The Wanderer is doing her best. Might as well blame the
+wagon for not making the horses gallop!"
+
+"I know," she confessed. "But it seems as if we'd never get to
+Woodford. This is the longest-seeming journey I ever took--even if it
+is in a private car." Then, fearing to appear inappreciative, she
+added quickly: "But I do think it is mighty good of Mr. Maldon to let
+us take his very own car. I can just see the We are Sevens' eyes pop
+right out when they see this style of travelling." Blue Bonnet's own
+eyes roamed over the luxurious interior of The Wanderer, dwelling with
+approval on the big, swinging easy chairs, the book-case cunningly
+set in just over a writing-desk, the buffet shining with cut glass and
+silver, and the thousand and one details that made the car a veritable
+palace on wheels.
+
+Blue Bonnet had been spending a few days in New York with her uncle,
+who had insisted that she should have a little "lark" after her long
+months in school. Now, in a private car belonging to one of Uncle
+Cliff's friends, they were on their way back to Woodford, there to
+gather up Grandmother Clyde, Alec Trent, and the other six of Blue
+Bonnet's "We are Seven" Club, and bear them off to Texas for the
+summer.
+
+"I reckon Sarah Blake and Kitty Clark aren't very used to travelling?"
+suggested Uncle Cliff, more to draw out Blue Bonnet than with any
+consuming desire for information.
+
+"Used to travelling! Why, Uncle Cliff--" Blue Bonnet shook her head
+emphatically--"not one of the other We are Sevens has ever so much as
+seen the inside of a Pullman in all her life!"
+
+Mr. Ashe hid a smile under his moustache. The fact that Blue Bonnet's
+own introduction to a Pullman car had occurred just nine months
+before, seemed to have escaped the young lady's mind.
+
+"Well, well," ejaculated Blue Bonnet's uncle, "they've some
+experiences ahead of them, to be sure!"
+
+"Oh, Uncle,"--Blue Bonnet was struck with a sudden fear,--"do you
+suppose they will all be ready to go? We're two whole days earlier
+than we said we'd be--"
+
+"They'll be ready, don't you worry. Your grandmother is not one of the
+unprepared sort, and the girls don't need much of a wardrobe for the
+ranch. Besides, I wired them explicit directions--to meet The Wanderer
+and be ready to come aboard immediately. We shall have only a few
+minutes in Woodford."
+
+Blue Bonnet settled back in her red velvet reclining chair and shut
+her eyes. Slowly a smile wreathed her lips.
+
+"What's the joke, Honey?"
+
+Blue Bonnet looked up with dancing eyes. "Benita!" she laughed. "Won't
+she be just--petrified, when she sees seven girls instead of one? And
+can't you imagine the boys--"
+
+"Benita had better not get petrified this summer," interrupted Uncle
+Cliff. "She has to do some tall hustling. I've wired Uncle Joe to get
+extra help while the ranch party is in session. If they can get old
+Gertrudis from the Lone Star Ranch--she's the finest cook in the state
+of Texas. And her granddaughter might wait on table."
+
+"Oh, I do think a ranch party is the grandest thing in the world,"
+cried Blue Bonnet. "I've read of house parties, but they must be
+downright tame compared with this kind of a party. And it's not to
+last just over a week-end either, but _two whole months_! Why, Uncle
+Cliff, any ordinary man would be scared to pieces at the prospect."
+
+"But I'm not an ordinary man, eh?" Mr. Ashe looked pleased as a boy as
+he put the question.
+
+"Well, I reckon not! You're a fairy godfather. You grant my wishes
+before they're fairly out of my mouth. And I seem to have plenty of
+wishes. Just think, Uncle, how many things I've wished for since my
+last birthday!"
+
+"First," said Uncle Cliff, "you wished to go away from the ranch."
+
+Blue Bonnet nodded assent. "Because I was--afraid--to ride. Doesn't it
+seem ridiculous, now I'm over that silliness? But oh, how I did wish I
+could get over being afraid! That was about the only wish you couldn't
+grant, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"That wish was never expressed, Honey--don't forget that. Maybe I
+could have helped even there," Mr. Ashe suggested gently.
+
+"I know, it was my own fault. But I was--ashamed, Uncle Cliff. You
+don't suppose--" Blue Bonnet's face clouded, "you don't think, do you,
+that the fear will come again when I get back where I saw
+Jose--dragged?" She shut her eyes and shuddered.
+
+"Nonsense, Honey. That fear died and was buried the day you rode
+Alec's horse, Victor. A good canter on Firefly over the Blue Bonnet
+country will make you wonder that such a feeling was ever born."
+
+"Dear old Firefly! Won't I make it up to him though! Isn't
+it queer how many of my wishes have come true? It makes me feel
+almost--breathless. I no sooner got through wishing I could leave the
+ranch and go East and be with Grandmother--than I woke up in Woodford.
+And I wanted--thought I wanted--to be called Elizabeth. Blue Bonnet
+became Elizabeth!"
+
+"A real lightning change artist," murmured Uncle Cliff.
+
+"And I wanted to go to school. Granted. I wanted to know a lot of
+girls, and behold the We are Sevens!"
+
+"And when was it you changed names again?" Uncle Cliff asked slyly.
+
+"When I got tired of being Elizabethed. Everybody thinks Blue Bonnet
+suits me better, except Aunt Lucinda--on occasions."
+
+"And the next wish? They're stacking up."
+
+"I reckon it was about the Sargent prize in school. I wanted Alec
+Trent to win it--and he did. And next I wished to pass my school
+examinations--"
+
+"And even that miracle was achieved!" said Uncle Cliff, pinching her
+cheek.
+
+"And, finally, I wanted to go back to Texas, and, at the same time, I
+wished I didn't have to leave Grandmother and Alec and the girls. That
+might seem a contrary pair of wishes, but it doesn't daunt Godfather
+Ashe. He straightway makes a private car arise from--from what, Uncle
+Cliff?"
+
+"Tobacco smoke," promptly supplied Mr. Ashe, with a reminiscent smile
+on his lips.
+
+"Why tobacco smoke?" asked Blue Bonnet wonderingly.
+
+"I taught Maldon to smoke when he was a young chap visiting out our
+way, and we've been friends ever since. The private car seems to have
+grown out of that," replied her uncle.
+
+"I see," Blue Bonnet nodded. "But don't tell Aunt Lucinda,--I fancy
+she doesn't approve of smoking."
+
+"So I've noticed," rather grimly rejoined Mr. Ashe. Blue Bonnet's prim
+New England aunt had not suffered him to remain long in ignorance of
+her disapproval of tobacco in any form.
+
+"There's one thing I don't understand at all," Blue Bonnet knitted her
+pretty brows. "And that is what was in Uncle Joe Terry's telegram the
+other day. Won't you tell me, Uncle?"
+
+"Nothing much,--only that I must be back at the ranch Monday evening
+without fail," answered Uncle Cliff with an air of evasion.
+
+"There's some deep reason, I can just feel it. You mean well, Uncle,
+but I just hate secrets." Blue Bonnet laid a coaxing hand on her
+uncle's arm.
+
+"Secret indeed!" scoffed Uncle Cliff, avoiding his niece's eye.
+
+"You can't pretend a bit well," Blue Bonnet assured him gravely. "You
+look just the way my dog Solomon does when he's pretending to be
+asleep--and can't keep his tail from wagging!"
+
+"Thank you!" said Uncle Cliff with well-assumed indignation.
+
+"You're quite welcome. He's a mighty wise dog, Uncle Cliff--that's why
+I named him Solomon. You know I think--" Blue Bonnet went on sagely,
+"I think there is some trouble at the ranch,--because I saw the big
+box you sent with our trunks and it was labelled 'dangerous.' Now, be
+nice, and tell me what was in it."
+
+"I understood that Miss Kitty was the inquisitive member of your
+Club," Uncle Cliff parried provokingly.
+
+Blue Bonnet sighed. "Well, I can thank Uncle Joe for cutting us out of
+two whole days in New York. I'm sure Aunt Lucinda will be
+disappointed."
+
+"Aunt Lucinda--?" echoed Mr. Ashe.
+
+"Yes, you see it was this way: Aunt Lucinda gave me a list of things I
+ought to see in New York. Every day when you asked me 'what next?'--as
+you did, you nice fairy godfather--I chose the things I'd rather see
+and left the--the educational things for the last. You see the shops,
+the Hippodrome, Coney Island, Peter Pan and the Goddess of Liberty
+were so fascinating, and I'd wanted so long to see them, that-- Well,
+to face the bitter truth, Uncle Cliff, we left New York without one
+weenty peek in at the Metropolitan Museum!"
+
+"Horrors!" Uncle Cliff looked properly stunned. Then he said craftily,
+"Keep it dark, Honey. Maybe we can bluff."
+
+Blue Bonnet shook her head. "Nobody can bluff Aunt Lucinda--I ought to
+know! Why--Uncle Cliff--I believe we're there!"
+
+And "there" they certainly were. While Blue Bonnet had been busily
+chattering, The Wanderer had drawn in to the Woodford station.
+
+Half the population of the village was assembled on the platform, it
+seemed to Blue Bonnet as she sprang from the car steps. Grandmother
+and Aunt Lucinda she saw first, and back of them Denham, the coachman,
+bearing suitcases, umbrellas, magazines and wraps, besides holding on
+by main force to a leash at which Solomon was straining frantically.
+Beside him were Katie and Delia, on hand for a final farewell to Blue
+Bonnet and Mrs. Clyde. Then came Kitty and Doctor Clark; Amanda and
+the Parkers; Sarah and the whole crowd of Blakes, big and little; Alec
+and the General; Debby, and a collection of sisters, cousins, uncles
+and aunts that overflowed the platform and straggled clear out to the
+line of hitching-posts, where all of Woodford's family conveyances
+seemed drawn up at once.
+
+The report of Blue Bonnet's ranch party had spread like wildfire
+through the town, and the going away of so many of its most prominent
+citizens to far-off Texas, had aroused quiet Woodford to a pitch of
+excitement equalled only by that of a prohibition election, or a visit
+from the President.
+
+Blue Bonnet was swallowed up by the crowd the moment she alighted, and
+it was a full five minutes before she emerged, flushed and minus her
+hat, to ask breathlessly, "Oh, is everybody here?--I can't see anybody
+for the crowd!"
+
+"No time to lose," warned Mr. Ashe. "We must pull out in ten minutes
+in order to reach Boston in time for the 5.17 to-night."
+
+Even as he spoke, The Wanderer began to move.
+
+"Uncle Cliff," cried Blue Bonnet in a panic, "they're going without
+us!"
+
+"Just switching," soothed her uncle. "The Wanderer has to be on the
+other track so as to hook on to the train for Boston. That's due in
+five minutes. Get your good-byes said so that everybody can go aboard
+when she comes alongside."
+
+During that five minutes while each girl was occupied with her own
+family, Blue Bonnet had a moment alone with her aunt. "It's a good
+thing we said our real good-bye before I went to New York, isn't it,
+Aunt Lucinda?" she asked, slipping her hand shyly into that of her
+tall, prim aunt. Somehow Aunt Lucinda had never seemed so dear as in
+this moment of parting. Perhaps it was the look as of unshed tears in
+her eyes, or the flush on her usually pale face that made her seem
+more approachable. Blue Bonnet could not tell exactly what it was, but
+there was a vague something about Aunt Lucinda that made her appear
+almost--yes, almost, pathetic. Suddenly Blue Bonnet remembered--they
+were leaving Aunt Lucinda all alone. Her heart reproached her. "Aunt
+Lucinda," she whispered hurriedly, "won't you come, too?"
+
+One of her rare sweet smiles lit Miss Clyde's face. "Thank you,
+dear--it is sweet of you to want me. But not this time, for I have
+promised friends to go abroad with them. I shall miss you, Blue
+Bonnet,--you won't forget to write often?"
+
+"No, indeed!" Blue Bonnet assured her, at the same moment registering
+a solemn vow that she would write every week without fail. "And you'll
+write too, Aunt Lucinda? It'll be so exciting getting letters from
+funny, foreign places. And now it's good-bye. You--you are sure you've
+no--a--advice to give me?"
+
+Miss Clyde restrained an odd smile at the significant question. "No,
+dear. Only this: be considerate of your grandmother, and bring her
+back safely to me."
+
+"I will! I will!" cried Blue Bonnet, and with another kiss was gone.
+
+There was only a moment for a handshake with Katie and Delia, who
+openly mopped their eyes at parting; a word with General Trent, a
+chorus of good-byes to a score of We are Seven relations, and then
+everybody crowded about the steps of The Wanderer.
+
+"Grandmother first," said Blue Bonnet. "Denham, you'd better go aboard
+and get her settled. Here, Bennie Blake--you hold Solomon till I'm
+ready to take him. Now then, We are Sevens--forward!"
+
+Suddenly Blue Bonnet gave a queer little exclamation and clapped her
+hand on a leather case which hung from her shoulder. "Stop, everybody,
+till I get a picture--I nearly forgot! And I want pictures of every
+stage of the ranch party. Grandmother, please stay on the top step and
+I'll group the girls below."
+
+"That's right," cried Kitty. "Take one now and another when we get
+back, and we can label them 'Before and After Taking!'"
+
+Sarah, Kitty, Amanda and Debby, amid the teasing remarks of sundry
+small boys, obediently took their places as designated by the young
+artist. Then Blue Bonnet's eyes turned in search of the other two
+girls.
+
+"Susy! Ruth!" she called. "Why--where are they?"
+
+An embarrassed hush fell on the group about the car. Blue Bonnet
+looked inquiringly at the telltale faces. It did not take her long to
+scent a mystery.
+
+"What's the matter?" she cried impatiently.
+
+Doctor Clark stepped forward, clearing his throat queerly. "Fact is,
+Miss Blue Bonnet," he began, "they--they can't go."
+
+"Can't go?" Blue Bonnet started incredulously at the stammering
+doctor.
+
+"No, you see,--well, in fact, they're ill," he completed lamely. Why
+didn't some one help him out, the doctor fumed inwardly, instead of
+letting him be the one to cloud that beaming face?
+
+Suddenly Kitty leaned down from the car step and whispered: "Scarlet
+fever!"
+
+"Both?" exclaimed the startled Blue Bonnet.
+
+"No, only Ruth. But Susy was exposed and Father didn't think it safe
+for her to come."
+
+"Oh, Kitty!" The tears sprang to Blue Bonnet's eyes--she fought them
+but they would come.
+
+"We're all broken up over it," said Kitty with her own lips trembling;
+"but it might have been worse. It's only because we've been too busy
+to go out there, that we weren't all exposed. Then it would have been
+good-bye to the ranch party."
+
+"Oh, Kitty, suppose you had!" The thought of the narrow escape dried
+Blue Bonnet's tears. "I'm mighty glad you four could come. But it
+won't be complete. And you know how I love to have things complete!"
+
+"Never mind, Blue Bonnet, you still have me!" cried Alec, coming in
+with a cheerful note.
+
+"'The poor ye have always with you!'" chimed in Kitty, and while
+everybody was laughing over this sally, Blue Bonnet took a snap-shot
+of the group, and then all the travellers trooped aboard.
+
+Mr. Ashe looked over the heads of the chattering crowd in the car and
+met Mrs. Clyde's amused eye. "How do you like mothering a family of
+this size?" he asked jocosely.
+
+"I fancy I feel much like the hen that hatched duck's eggs," Mrs.
+Clyde returned.
+
+There was a laugh at this, in the midst of which Sarah Blake was heard
+to remark solemnly: "Yes, children are a great responsibility."
+
+Whereat there was more laughter, and hardly had it subsided when from
+outside came the conductor's sonorous "All aboo--ard!"
+
+"Girls, we're really going!" gasped Kitty.
+
+There was a last vigorous waving of handkerchiefs out of the window.
+Suddenly a wail burst from Blue Bonnet: "Solomon! Solomon!"
+
+All looked at one another aghast. In the excitement of the last
+moments no one had thought of the dog.
+
+"Find Bennie Blake--he had Solomon last," cried Blue Bonnet, rushing
+to the platform.
+
+"I'll find him, don't you worry," exclaimed Alec, swinging down the
+steps just as the first creaks of the car gave notice of starting.
+
+"Alec--you'll get left!" cried Blue Bonnet. "There's Bennie,--oh,
+quick!"
+
+Sure enough, there on the edge of the crowd was Bennie, but alack!--no
+Solomon.
+
+"Stop the train, can't you, Uncle Cliff?" wailed Blue Bonnet. "Alec
+will be left--and Solomon too--"
+
+Uncle Cliff leaped to the bottom step,--the train was still only
+crawling,--and with one hand on the rail leaned out and peered after
+Alec. Blue Bonnet gave a nervous clutch at his sleeve. What he saw
+evidently reassured Mr. Ashe, for suddenly he straightened up and held
+out both arms. A second later a brown furry object came hurtling
+through the air and was caught ignominiously by the tail. Quick as a
+flash Uncle Cliff tossed the indignant Solomon to Blue Bonnet, and
+bent down to lend a helping hand to Alec. That young gentleman
+scrambled up with more haste than elegance, just as the train ceased
+to crawl and settled down to the real business of travelling.
+
+"I'll never forget this, Alec Trent, as long as I live,--I think you
+deserve a Carnegie medal!" Blue Bonnet cried fervently. "I'd never get
+over it if Solomon should be lost."
+
+"He wouldn't have been--lost, exactly," returned Alec in an odd tone.
+
+"Why, what do you mean? Where did you find him?" Blue Bonnet demanded.
+
+And Alec, bursting into a laugh in spite of his awful news, returned:
+"I found him just where that Blake boy left him--tied on to the end of
+the car!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II
+
+IN THE BLUE BONNET COUNTRY
+
+
+"IF one of you speaks aloud in the next five minutes," declared Blue
+Bonnet earnestly, "I'll never forgive you."
+
+No one being inclined to risk Blue Bonnet's undying enmity, there was
+complete silence for the space of time imposed. They were rolling
+along the smooth white road between the railway station and the ranch,
+Grandmother Clyde and the girls in a buckboard drawn by sturdy little
+mustangs, while Alec, Uncle Joe and Uncle Cliff, who had stayed behind
+to look after the luggage, were following on horseback.
+
+Blue Bonnet sat tense and still, her hands clasped in her lap, the
+color coming and going in her face in rapid waves of pink and white;
+her eyes very shiny, her lips quivering. This home-coming was having
+an effect she had not dreamed of. Every familiar object, every turn of
+the road that brought her nearer the beloved ranch, gave her a new and
+delicious thrill.
+
+As they neared the modern wire fence two dusky little greaser
+piccaninnies rose out of the chaparral, hurled themselves on the big
+gate and held it open, standing like sentinels, bursting with
+importance, as the buckboard rolled through.
+
+"They're Pancho's twins!" cried Blue Bonnet. "Stop, Miguel, while I
+give them something." Hurriedly seizing a half-eaten box of candy from
+Amanda's surprised hands, Blue Bonnet leaned down and tossed it to the
+grinning youngsters.
+
+"_Muchas gracias_, Senorita!" they cried in a duet, their black eyes
+wide with joy.
+
+"Bless the babies!" exclaimed Kitty, "--did you hear what they called
+you?"
+
+Blue Bonnet laughed. "I'm never called anything else here. They meant
+'Many thanks, Ma'am.' You will be 'Senorita' too,--better get used to
+it."
+
+"Oh, I shall love it," cried Kitty. "It sounds like a title--'my lady'
+or 'your grace' or something grand."
+
+"Grandmother will be 'Senora'--doesn't it just suit her, girls?" asked
+Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Mrs. Clyde, may we call you 'Senora,' too?" asked Debby, "--just
+while we're on the ranch?"
+
+"Debby believes in the eternal fitness of things," put in Kitty.
+
+"Certainly, you may call me Senora," said Mrs. Clyde. "When you're in
+Texas do as the Texans do," she paraphrased.
+
+"I intend to learn all the Spanish I can while I'm here," remarked
+Sarah. "I brought a grammar and a dictionary--"
+
+A chorus of indignation went up from the other girls.
+
+"This isn't a 'General Culture Club,' Sarah Blake," scolded Kitty. "We
+didn't come to the Blue Bonnet ranch for mutual improvement--but for
+_fun_!"
+
+"We'll make a bonfire of those books," warned Blue Bonnet.
+
+"All the Spanish that I can absorb through my--pores, is welcome to
+stick," said Debby, "but I'm not going to dig for it."
+
+Sarah tactfully changed the subject. "Your house is a good way from
+the gate, Blue Bonnet," she remarked.
+
+"Nearly two miles," Blue Bonnet smiled.
+
+"There's nothing like owning all outdoors!" commented Kitty.
+
+"Grandfather used to own nearly all outdoors," returned Blue Bonnet.
+"When father was a little boy nobody had fences and the cattle ranged
+through two or three counties. But now we keep a lot of fence-riders,
+who don't do a thing but mend fences, day after day. There's the
+bridge,--now as soon as we cross the river you can see the
+ranch-house."
+
+"Is this what you call the 'river?'" Sarah asked, as they rattled over
+the pretty little stream.
+
+"We call it a 'rio' in Texas, and you'd better not insult us by
+calling it a creek, Senorita Blake," Blue Bonnet warned her.
+
+"I won't--'rio' is such a pretty name," said Sarah, making a mental
+note of it for future use.
+
+"There!" cried Blue Bonnet, "behold the 'casa' of the Blue Bonnet
+ranch!"
+
+What they saw was a long, low, rambling house, with wide, hospitable
+verandas embowered in half-tropical vines. It had evidently started
+out as a one-roomed, Spanish 'adobe,' and, as the needs of the family
+demanded it, an ell had been added here, a room there, like cells in a
+bee-hive, until now it covered a good deal of territory, still keeping
+its one-storied, Mission-like character.
+
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet--it's just what I wanted it to be," exclaimed Kitty.
+"It looks as if a fat, Spanish monk might come out of that door this
+very minute."
+
+"Instead of which there is my dear old Benita, and Pancho and his wife
+and the children and--oh, everybody!" Blue Bonnet was bouncing up and
+down now with excitement.
+
+Alec and the other two riders came up in a cloud of dust just as
+Miguel raced the mustangs up to the veranda steps, where all the ranch
+hands were gathered to greet the young Senorita.
+
+"Senorita mia!" cried Benita, and Blue Bonnet leaped from the wheel
+straight into her old nurse's arms.
+
+"And this is Grandmother, Benita," said Blue Bonnet, helping Mrs.
+Clyde from her place.
+
+"The little Senora's mother--God bless you!" cried Benita in Spanish.
+Then, in spite of her stiff joints, she made a deep, old-fashioned
+curtsy.
+
+Tears sprang to the eyes of the Eastern woman. "Thank you, Benita,"
+she said. "My daughter always wrote lovingly of you."
+
+"Blessed Senora!" breathed Benita fervently.
+
+"This is my grandmother, everybody," said Blue Bonnet, presenting Mrs.
+Clyde to the entire circle, "and these are my friends--'amigos' from
+Massachusetts."
+
+"Pleased to know ye!" said Pinto Pete and Shady, the only American
+cowboys on the ranch; while the Mexicans, as one voice, gave a hearty
+chorus of greeting.
+
+The six "amigos" from Massachusetts were thrilled to the core,
+although at the same time a trifle embarrassed as to the correct way
+of responding to this vociferous welcome. Blue Bonnet set them all an
+example: she had a smile and a word for every man, woman and child,
+and finally sent them all off with a--"Come back when my trunks
+arrive!" And the hint brought a fresh gleam to already beaming faces.
+
+Later, after a bountiful supper, they all gathered once more on the
+broad veranda while Blue Bonnet distributed her gifts. That those days
+in New York had been profitably spent was fully attested now when the
+contents of the many trunks were displayed. There were ribbons, scarfs
+and gay beads for the women, toys and sweets for the children, and
+wonderful pocket-knives, pipes and tobacco pouches for the men.
+
+The Blue Bonnet ranch had been part of an original Spanish land-grant
+in the days when Texas was still part of Mexico, and had descended
+from father to son until it came into the hands of Blue Bonnet's
+grandfather. Many of the Mexican ranch-hands had been born on the
+place and looked on the Ashe family as their natural guardians and
+protectors. As yet they had not acquired a Yankee sense of
+independence, nor had they lost the soft Southern courtesy inherent in
+their race. They came up one at a time to Blue Bonnet as she stood at
+the top of the steps, her gifts in a great heap beside her; and each
+one, as he received his gift from her hand, called down a blessing on
+the head of the young Senorita. Then, laughing, chatting, and
+comparing gifts like a crowd of children, they trooped away, the
+single men to the "bunk-house" by the big corral, the married couples
+and their children to little cabins scattered over the place.
+
+"It's just like some old Spanish tale," declared Alec. "Blue Bonnet is
+a princess just returned to her castle, and all the serfs are come to
+pay her homage."
+
+"I suppose Don Quixote will be off soon, hunting wind-mills?"
+suggested Kitty, with a mocking glance at Alec, whose new gun was the
+pride of his heart.
+
+Alec deigned no reply.
+
+"Look!" said Mrs. Clyde, softly, "--there goes the sun."
+
+They followed her glance across the prairie that stretched away, green
+and softly undulating, in front of the veranda, and watched the red
+disk as it sank in a blaze of glory at the edge of the plain.
+
+"Now you know," said Blue Bonnet, "why I felt like pushing back the
+houses in Woodford--at first they just suffocated me."
+
+Mrs. Clyde smiled with new understanding. "You probably agree with our
+Massachusetts writer who complained that people in cities live too
+close together and not near enough," she said, patting Blue Bonnet's
+head as the girl, sitting on the step below her, leaned against her
+knee.
+
+"Didn't you ever get lonesome here?" asked Debby, snuggling up to
+Amanda. She had been brought up among houses.
+
+"Lonesome?" echoed Blue Bonnet. "I never knew what lonesome
+meant--till my first day in school!"
+
+All too soon came bedtime.
+
+"Where are we all to sleep?" Blue Bonnet asked Benita. It was like
+Blue Bonnet not to give the matter a thought until beds were actually
+in demand.
+
+Benita led the way proudly. "The Senora will have the little Senora's
+room," she said, throwing open the door of that long unused chamber.
+
+Mrs. Clyde entered it with softened eyes.
+
+"Senorita's own room is ready for her, and here is place for the
+others." Benita proceeded to the very end of a long ell to a huge airy
+room, seemingly all windows. It was Blue Bonnet's old nursery, and,
+next to the living-room, the largest room in the house. Four single
+beds, one in each corner, showed how Benita had solved the sleeping
+problem.
+
+The girls gave a shout of delight; visions of bedtime frolics and long
+talks after lights were out, sent them dancing about the place.
+
+"I tell you what," announced Blue Bonnet, "--if you imagine I am going
+off by myself when there's a sleeping-party like this going on, you're
+mistaken. I say--" here she turned on Sarah, "--you've always wanted a
+bed-room all to yourself; you told me so, one day. Well, here's your
+chance--you're welcome to every inch of mine!"
+
+Sarah, quite willing to confine her "parties" to daylight hours,
+accepted the proposition eagerly. Maybe then she could get a peek at
+those Spanish books.
+
+"Are you sure you're willing to give it up?" she asked quite honestly.
+
+And Blue Bonnet with an incredulous stare returned: "Are you quite
+willing to give _this_ up?"
+
+"Perfectly!" exclaimed Sarah with such promptness that Blue Bonnet
+dismissed her lurking suspicion that Sarah was just "being polite" and
+accepted the exchange.
+
+It was a happy Sarah who tucked herself away in a little bed all to
+herself, in a dainty room destined to be her very own for two long
+months. Four times happy was the quartet who shared the nursery. It
+was a long time before they subsided. There were so many things to be
+observed and discussed in that delightful place. Uncle Joe Terry had
+had a hand in its arrangement, and now that worthy man would have felt
+well repaid if he could have heard the gales of merriment over his
+masterpieces of interior decoration.
+
+In her childhood Blue Bonnet had been blessed--or afflicted--with more
+dolls than ever fell to the lot of child before. Now the
+long-discarded nursery-folk formed a frieze around the entire room,
+the poor darlings being, like Blue-beard's wives, suspended by their
+hair. Every nationality and every degree of mutilation was there
+represented, and the effect was funny beyond description. On the
+broad mantel-shelf over the stone fireplace reposed drums,
+merry-go-rounds, trumpets and toy horses; while on the hearth was a
+tiny kitchen range bearing a complete assortment of pots and pans of a
+most diminutive size. In every available nook of the room stood
+doll-carriages, rocking-horses, go-carts and fire-engines, each
+showing the scars of Blue Bonnet's stormy childhood.
+
+"I wish," cried Kitty, "that we weren't any of us a day over seven!"
+
+While the girls were still making merry over her childhood treasures
+Blue Bonnet slipped away. She had not had a word alone with Uncle
+Cliff for days, and had exchanged only a hurried greeting with Uncle
+Joe at the station. And there were such heaps of things to talk over!
+
+She found them both on the veranda, enjoying the evening breeze that
+came laden with sweet scents from off the prairie. Blue Bonnet clapped
+her hands over Uncle Joe's eyes in her old madcap fashion.
+
+"It's Blue Bon--er--Elizabeth, I mean," he guessed promptly.
+
+"Wrong!" cried Blue Bonnet sternly. "Elizabeth Ashe was left behind in
+Massachusetts, and only Blue Bonnet has come back to the ranch."
+
+"Thank goodness for that!" breathed Uncle Joe devoutly. "Elizabeth
+came mighty hard. It didn't fit, somehow. I reckon you're glad to get
+_home_, Blue Bonnet?"
+
+"Glad? Why, there isn't a word in the whole English dictionary that
+means just what I feel, Uncle Joe," replied Blue Bonnet, perching on
+the arm of his chair. "I love every inch of the state of Texas."
+
+The two men exchanged a significant glance that was not lost on Blue
+Bonnet.
+
+"Oh, I know what you are thinking of, Uncle Cliff. You remember the
+day when I said I hated the West and all it stood for. I meant that
+too--then. But I feel different now. It isn't that I'm sorry I went
+away; I just had to go, feeling as I did. I reckon I'll always be that
+way--I have to find things out for myself."
+
+Uncle Joe smiled humorously. "Reckon we're most of us built that way,
+eh, Cliff?"
+
+Mr. Ashe gave a rueful nod. "Yes, what the other fellow has been
+through doesn't count for much. We all have to blister our fingers
+before we'll believe that fire really burns."
+
+They were all silent for a moment.
+
+"Has any one seen Solomon?" asked Blue Bonnet suddenly.
+
+"I think Don is showing him over the ranch," replied Uncle Joe. "I saw
+them both headed for the stables a while ago."
+
+"I'm glad they're going to get on well," said Blue Bonnet in a
+relieved tone. "I was afraid Don would be jealous." She gave a clear
+loud whistle, and a moment later the two animals came racing across
+the yard, tumbling over each other in their eagerness to be first up
+the steps. Blue Bonnet stooped and picked up the smaller dog, fondling
+him and saying foolish things. Don, the big collie, gave a low whine
+and looked up at her piteously.
+
+"Not jealous, did you say?" laughed Uncle Joe.
+
+Blue Bonnet patted the collie's head. "Good dog," she said soothingly.
+"You're too big to be carried, Don." Then she put down Solomon and
+bending put a hand under Don's muzzle; his soft eyes met hers
+affectionately. "I'm going to put Solomon in your charge--understand?
+You must warn him about snakes, Don,--and don't let the coyotes get
+him." A sharp bark from Don Blue Bonnet was satisfied to take for an
+affirmative answer, and with another pat sent him off for the night.
+
+"Has Alec some place to sleep?" inquired Blue Bonnet, her hospitable
+instincts suddenly and rather tardily aroused.
+
+"Benita has put him in the ell by me. He's there now, unpacking
+to-night so that he won't have to waste any time to-morrow. I never
+saw a boy so keen about ranch-life as he is. He seems to look on
+himself as a sort of pioneer in a new country," Uncle Joe chuckled.
+
+"It's all new to him," rejoined Blue Bonnet. "This is his first
+glimpse of the West. I hope he gets strong and well out here--General
+Trent worries so about him."
+
+"It will be the making of him," Uncle Cliff assured her. "He'll go
+back to Massachusetts as husky as Pinto Pete, if he'll just learn to
+live outdoors, and leave books alone for a while."
+
+"I'm going to hide every book he has brought with him," declared Blue
+Bonnet. "And Sarah Blake will need looking after--she has the book
+habit, too."
+
+Uncle Joe shook his head. "It seems to be a germ disease they have
+back there in Massachusetts. Glad you didn't catch it, Blue Bonnet."
+
+"Oh, I'm immune!" laughed she, as she said good-night and went to seek
+Benita.
+
+She found her old nurse in the kitchen, resting after an arduous day.
+Gertrudis, the famous cook "loaned" for the summer by a neighboring
+ranch, was mixing something mysterious in a wooden bowl, while her
+granddaughter Juanita, a nut-brown beauty, pirouetted about the room,
+showing off her new rosettes in a Spanish dance.
+
+Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "That's a pretty step, Juanita,--will
+you teach it to me some day?"
+
+"Si, Senorita," she assented eagerly, showing all her white teeth in a
+delighted smile. "It is the _cachucha_."
+
+"The girls will all want to learn it," Blue Bonnet assured her. She
+draw Benita into the dining-room and then gave her a hearty squeeze.
+"Everything's just lovely, you old dear," she cried. "The girls are
+crazy about the nursery, and they think you are the dearest ever!"
+
+Benita's wrinkled face beamed. "If the Senorita is pleased, old Benita
+is happy," she said deprecatingly.
+
+"Benita, I missed you dreadfully, off there in Woodford. I had to make
+my own bed and do my own mending!"
+
+Benita gave an odd little sound of distress. "But Benita will do it
+now," she urged anxiously.
+
+"You'll have to get around Grandmother then, Benita,--I can't."
+
+"The Senora is kind--" Benita began.
+
+"--but firm," added Blue Bonnet. "I leave her to you!"
+
+It was so late before the girls finally settled down into their
+respective corners, that it seemed only about five minutes before they
+were awakened at daybreak by the most terrific tumult that ever smote
+the ears of slumbering innocence.
+
+Bang, bang! Boom, crash, bang! Shouts, yells, wild Comanche-like cries
+rent the ear, and punctuated the incessant booming that shook even the
+thick adobe walls of the nursery.
+
+Four terrified faces were raised simultaneously from four white beds,
+and four voices in chorus whispered: "What is it?" No one dared stir.
+
+Suddenly the door was burst open and in sprang a white-robed figure,
+hair flying, eyes wide with terror. Straight to Blue Bonnet's bed the
+spectre flew and leaped into the middle of it with a plump that made
+its occupant gasp.
+
+"Oh, girls, it's Indians!" wailed the newcomer; and then they saw that
+it was Sarah.
+
+"Indians?" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "There aren't any Indians around
+here. Get off my chest and I'll go see."
+
+Casting off the bed-clothes and the startled Sarah at the same time,
+with one spring Blue Bonnet was at the window. What she saw there was
+hardly reassuring; the whole space between the house and the stables
+seemed to be filled with a howling, whirling mass of men. In the gray
+half-light of early dawn she could recognize no one. Suddenly a fresh
+explosion set the windows rattling; there was a hiss and a glare of
+red. In the glow she caught a glimpse of Alec; he held a revolver and
+was shooting it with sickening rapidity, not stopping to take aim.
+
+Blue Bonnet staggered back faint with horror, and the girls gathered
+fearfully about her. Uncle Cliff's voice giving an order came to them
+from outside. Blue Bonnet leaned out and shrieked--"Uncle,
+Uncle--what's the matter--oh, what is it?"
+
+Never had voice seemed so welcome as those calm, soothing tones, when
+Uncle Cliff replied: "Reckon you've forgotten what day it is, Honey."
+
+Blue Bonnet turned on the girls. "What--what day is it?"
+
+And the light from within was suddenly greater than that from without
+as they answered in a sheepish chorus:
+
+"The Fourth of July!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III
+
+THE GLORIOUS FOURTH
+
+
+"TO think that a crowd of New England girls, of all people, should
+forget the Fourth of July!" exclaimed Alec, when they met around the
+big breakfast table, later that morning.
+
+Sarah looked positively pained. "I never forgot it before in my whole
+life," she said plaintively. "But there have been so many new things
+to think of, and travelling, you know--" she ended lamely.
+
+"Are New England people supposed to be more patriotic than those of
+other states?" inquired Blue Bonnet, bristling a little in defence of
+Texas.
+
+"Certainly!" cried Alec. "New England folks are fed on Plymouth Rock
+and the Declaration of Independence from the cradle to the grave.
+That's the diet of patriots."
+
+"H'm!" murmured Blue Bonnet scornfully. "I'll wager that Patriot Alec
+Trent would have forgotten Independence Day, too, if Uncle Cliff
+hadn't let him into the secret. Now I know, Uncle Cliff, what was in
+that box labelled 'dangerous.' Wasn't I a goose not to think of it?
+And Uncle Joe telegraphed so as to get us here in time. Grandmother,"
+here she turned a rueful countenance on Mrs. Clyde, "going to school
+hasn't helped my head a bit, I'm just downright _dull_."
+
+Uncle Cliff gave an amused laugh. "I'm glad to have caught you napping
+for once, young lady. Now, as soon as Gertrudis stops sending in
+corncake, I propose that we adjourn to the stables and look over the
+mounts. Pinto Pete says he has a nice little bunch of ponies."
+
+"Why do they call him 'Pinto?'" asked Debby. "I thought that meant a
+spotted horse."
+
+"Haven't you noticed Pete's freckles?" asked Uncle Joe. "He has more
+and bigger ones than any other human in Texas, and the boys called him
+'Pinto Pete' the first minute they clapped eyes on him. He don't
+mind--it's the way of the West."
+
+"And is 'Shady' a nickname, too?" Debby asked.
+
+"No--just short for good old-fashioned Shadrach. Shadrach Stringer's
+his name, and he's the best twister in the county."
+
+Debby had a third question on her lips but checked it as she met
+Kitty's saucy eye. Kitty, known as "Little Miss Why," was always on
+the alert to bequeath the name to a successor. But Sarah saw none of
+the by-play and asked at once:
+
+"What's a 'twister?'"
+
+"A bronco buster," replied Uncle Joe.
+
+Sarah's look of mystification at this definition sent Alec off into a
+fit of laughter. Blue Bonnet came to the rescue. "A twister breaks in
+the wild horses, Sarah. Some day we'll get him to give an exhibition.
+You'd never believe how he can stick on,--it'll frighten you the first
+time you see it. The way the horse rears and bucks and runs, why--"
+Blue Bonnet suddenly choked and turned pale. Mrs. Clyde and Uncle
+Cliff read her thoughts at the same moment and both rose hurriedly.
+
+"Come on, everybody," exclaimed Mr. Ashe in a resolutely cheerful
+tone, "we must make the most of the morning."
+
+"Why?" asked Kitty before she thought, and then bit her lip. That word
+"why" was such a pitfall.
+
+"Everybody has to take a siesta in the afternoon," explained Blue
+Bonnet. "It's too hot to move."
+
+"Every afternoon?" demanded Debby.
+
+"Every afternoon," repeated Uncle Cliff. "Anybody caught awake between
+one and four P. M. will be severely dealt with. It's a law of the
+human constitution and the penalty is imprisonment in the hospital,
+headache, and loss of appetite."
+
+"What a waste of time," Sarah commented, privately resolving that she
+would not spend two or three precious hours every afternoon in sleep.
+One didn't come to Texas every summer.
+
+"I see mutiny in Sarah's eye," said Blue Bonnet. "Wait till you've had
+a sunstroke, Sarah, then you'll wish you hadn't possessed such oceans
+of energy." She had put all unpleasant memories from her by now and
+was leading the way to the stables. Straight to Firefly's stall she
+went and threw her arms around her old playfellow's neck. In the few
+seconds before the others came in she had whispered into his velvet
+ear something that was both a confession and an apology, while Firefly
+nosed her softly and looked as pleased as a mere horse-countenance is
+capable of looking.
+
+"Isn't he a beauty?" she challenged as the rest entered.
+
+"A stunner," Alec agreed warmly, coming up to admire. "Wouldn't
+Chula's nose be out of joint if she could see you petting Firefly?"
+
+"Victor has a rival too. Where's Alec's horse, Uncle Joe?"
+
+Pinto Pete came up just then, his freckles seeming to the girls to
+loom up larger and browner than ever now that they knew the origin of
+his nickname. "Shady says the roan's too skittish for any of the young
+ladies--" he suggested.
+
+"Strawberry?--oh, she's splendid! Alec, you'll think you're in a
+cradle."
+
+The pretty creature, just the color of her namesake, was brought out
+and put through her paces, and the exhibition proved to the
+satisfaction of all the young ladies that Shady's verdict was quite
+just. Strawberry pranced, bared her teeth at any approach, and in
+general did her best to live up to her reputation for skittishness.
+The fighting blood in Alec made him resolve to change that adjective
+to "kittenish" before he had ridden her many times.
+
+The four ponies provided for the girls were next brought out for
+inspection, and met with unqualified approval from all but Sarah.
+These slender, restless little steeds seemed not at all related to the
+fat placid beasts to which she had heretofore trusted herself. Her
+face betokened her unspoken dismay.
+
+"Sallikins, I know the best mount for you," exclaimed Kitty
+innocently.
+
+"Oh, do you?" cried Sarah hopefully.
+
+"Um-hum,--Blue Bonnet's old rocking-horse in the nursery!" laughed
+Kitty; whereupon Pinto Pete let out a loud guffaw, changing it at once
+into an ostentatious fit of coughing when he saw that Sarah was
+inclined to resent Kitty's insult.
+
+Her mild blue eyes almost flashed as she returned: "You can pick out
+any one of those four horses you choose for me, Kitty Clark, and I'll
+show you if I'm afraid to ride!"
+
+This outburst from Sarah the placid rather startled the We are Sevens.
+But Kitty, after a surprised stare at the ruffled one, picked up the
+gauntlet. She appraised the horses with a calculating glance, then
+picked out a chestnut who showed the whites of his eyes in a most
+terrifying manner.
+
+"How does that one suit you, Senorita Blake?" she asked tauntingly.
+
+"Very well," returned Sarah with a toss of her flaxen braids. This was
+sheer bravado, but it passed muster. No one dreamed of the shivers of
+abject fear that were chasing up and down the girl's spine at sight of
+the fiery little chestnut with the awful eyes.
+
+"Why, that's Comanche!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He has a heavenly
+gait."
+
+"Comanche!" Alec echoed, and then withdrew hastily to a convenient
+stall. The thought of the plump, blond Sarah mounted on a steed
+bearing such a wild Indian name was too much for him. He emerged a
+moment later very red in the face and unable to meet Blue Bonnet's
+eye. Their sense of humor was curiously akin, and Blue Bonnet knew,
+without being told, what mental picture filled Alec's mind.
+
+"Why not have a ride this morning,--there's plenty of time before
+noon," suggested Uncle Joe. "Here, Lupe, bring out the saddles," he
+called.
+
+Guadalupe, the "wrangler," appeared from an inner room, looking like a
+chief of the Navajo tribe, so burdened was he with the bright-hued
+Indian saddle-blankets. The girls watched him with eager eyes, but
+when he was followed by several boys bearing huge cowboy saddles,
+there was a little murmur of dismay from the group.
+
+"Men's saddles for us!" exclaimed Debby in a shocked undertone.
+
+Blue Bonnet laughed outright. "Didn't you hear Grandmother say: 'When
+you're in Texas do as the Texans do?' Well, turn and turn about is
+fair play. Didn't I ride a side-saddle as proper as pie in Woodford?
+Now it's your turn."
+
+Sarah gave an approving look at the high pommels of the saddles, and
+at the strong hair-bridle that was being fitted over Comanche's wicked
+little head.
+
+Blue Bonnet gave the same bridle a look that was far from approving.
+"Lupe, isn't that a Spanish bit you're using?"
+
+"Si, Senorita," said Guadalupe guiltily.
+
+"Then take it right off!" commanded Blue Bonnet in her old imperious
+way. "They're cruel wicked things that cut a horse's mouth to pieces,
+and I won't have them used," she explained to the girls. "Lupe knows I
+hate them." She turned accusingly on the boy.
+
+Lupe looked at her appealingly. "It is the safer for the Senoritas,"
+he urged.
+
+Blue Bonnet was inexorable. "We're not going to do any lassoing or
+branding, Lupe, and can manage very well without them. We'll have to
+organize a humane society, girls, and reform these cruel cowmen," she
+suggested.
+
+Lupe discarded the offending bits and substituted others more to the
+Senorita's liking, and then the girls went in to dress for the ride.
+
+"How can we ride across the saddle in these skirts?" demanded Debby.
+
+Blue Bonnet and Uncle Cliff exchanged a significant glance, the reason
+for which was explained a moment later when the girls entered the
+nursery. There on the beds lay five complete riding suits: divided
+skirts of khaki, "middy" blouses of a cooler material, and soft Panama
+hats, each wound with a blue scarf and finished with a smart bow.
+
+"How darling of you!" cried the girls, falling on Blue Bonnet
+rapturously.
+
+"It's all Uncle Cliff," exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "He saw some suits like
+these in a shop window while we were in New York and went in and
+ordered seven! But Susy and Ruth won't have a chance to wear theirs,"
+she ended regretfully.
+
+The girls, too excited to spend time mourning the absent ones, were
+already getting into the fascinating suits. These were all of a size,
+close lines not being demanded of a middy blouse, and all were
+pronounced perfect except Sarah's, which, as Kitty remarked, "fitted
+too soon." Gauntlet gloves and natty riding whips completed the
+equipment of the riders, and when they went out ready to mount they
+were as neat a crowd of equestriennes as ever graced Central Park.
+
+Notwithstanding that they were all dressed alike, each girl's
+particular type stood out quite clearly. Kitty had more "style" than
+the other Woodford girls, and a carriage that had more of conscious
+vanity in it; her "middy" set more trimly and the little hat was set
+on her ruddy locks at a little more daring angle than that of the
+others. Amanda and Debby appeared the same unremarkable sort of
+schoolgirls that they always were. The costume was not designed for
+maidens of Sarah's build, and it looked quite as uncomfortable on her
+as she felt in it. Blue Bonnet appeared as she always did in this sort
+of attire: as though it had grown on her.
+
+"Whew!" exclaimed Alec, "such elegance!"
+
+"Strikes me you're not so slow yourself," returned Kitty. "Isn't he
+'got up regardless,' girls?"
+
+Alec was dressed for his part with elaborate attention to details. Mr.
+Ashe had been anxiously consulted, for the Eastern boy had no desire
+to be dubbed a tenderfoot; and now, except for its spotless newness,
+his costume was quite "Western and ranchified"--according to Blue
+Bonnet.
+
+[Illustration: "COMANCHE . . . LEAPED FORWARD LIKE A CAT."]
+
+He was in khaki, too, with trousers that tucked into high
+"puttees"--thick pigskin leggings which gave his long limbs quite a
+substantial appearance and himself no end of comfort. A soft shirt
+and a carelessly knotted bandana gave the finishing touches to his
+attire. He had even turned in the neck of his shirt so as to be quite
+one of the cowmen, secretly hoping that the girls would not notice how
+white his throat was.
+
+It was a gay cavalcade that cantered out of the big corral, the five
+girls leading; Alec, Pinto Pete, and Uncle Joe forming a rear guard,
+with Don and Solomon capering at their heels; while a crowd of little
+"greasers" clung on to the bars, their eyes big with the wonder of it
+all.
+
+"Lucky we're not on the streets of Woodford," remarked Alec, looking
+with amused eyes over the well mounted company.
+
+"Why?" asked Blue Bonnet a trifle resentfully. "Aren't we grand enough
+for the East?"
+
+"Sure! But I'm afraid we'd be arrested for running a circus without a
+license!"
+
+This piece of wit so tickled Pinto Pete that he nearly stampeded the
+bunch by bursting again into his ear-splitting laugh. Sarah grabbed
+the handy pommel with a nervous clutch that was eloquent of her state
+of mind. And that action was all that saved her. For Comanche, taking
+Pete's guffaw for a command, leaped forward like a cat, and a moment
+later the whole crowd was galloping madly across the level meadow.
+
+It is probable that if Sarah's hair had not already been as light as
+hair can well be, that wild ride would have turned it several shades
+lighter. The terrors that were compressed into those two hours are
+beyond description, while the bobbing, bumping and shaking of her poor
+plump body left reminders that only time and witch hazel were able to
+eradicate.
+
+When they returned at noon Gertrudis had a wonderful dinner awaiting
+them, and the riders, with their appetites freshened by the air and
+exercise, fell upon it like a pack of famished wolves. All except
+Sarah. Protesting that she was not in the least hungry, she went at
+once to her room. On the little stand by her bed lay the Spanish
+grammar and dictionary, mute evidences of the way she had intended to
+spend the siesta hour. She gave them not so much as a glance, but
+stepping out of her clothes left them in a heap where they fell,--an
+action indicating a state of demoralization hardly to be believed of
+the parson's daughter,--and flung herself into bed with a groan.
+
+Two hours later she was awakened by the other four girls who had
+turned inquisitors, and while two were stripping off the bedclothes
+the other two applied a feather to the soles of her feet.
+
+"Oh--is it morning?" gasped Sarah, sitting up and rubbing her eyes.
+"It doesn't seem as if I had been asleep a minute."
+
+"Such a waste of time!" quoted Kitty mockingly. "There's such a
+thing, Sarah, as overdoing the siesta," she taunted.
+
+Sarah drew up her feet and sat on them, smothering the groan that
+arose to her lips at the action. Every bone and joint had a new and
+awful kind of ache, and in that minute Sarah wished she had never
+heard of the Blue Bonnet ranch. Just then came the welcome clatter of
+dishes and at the doorway appeared Benita bearing a tray of good
+things, while back of her was Grandmother Clyde.
+
+"Now off with you,--you tormentors," the Senora commanded gaily. "This
+poor child must be nearly famished."
+
+"Grandmother's pet!" sang Blue Bonnet over her shoulder, as obeying
+orders, the four girls left the suffering Sarah in peace.
+
+Existence assumed a brighter hue to Sarah when she had eaten the
+generous repast Benita set before her; and when she had bathed and
+rubbed herself with the Pond's Extract Mrs. Clyde had secretly
+provided her with, life seemed once more worth living. But she was
+very quiet and moved with great circumspection for the rest of the
+day, quite content to leave to the others the handling of the
+fireworks in the evening.
+
+Uncle Cliff's "dangerous" box yielded still more wonders. The noisy
+bombs and giant crackers of the morning were followed by pyrotechnics
+that aroused unbounded admiration from the grown-ups and caused an
+excitement among the small greasers that threatened to end in a human
+conflagration. A small fortune went up in gigantic pin-wheels;
+flower-pots that sent up amazing blossoms in all the hues of the
+rainbow; rockets that burst in mid-air and let fall a shower of
+coiling snakes, which, in their turn, exploded into a myriad stars;
+Roman candles that sometimes went off at the wrong end and caused a
+wild scattering of the audience in their immediate vicinity; and
+"set-pieces" that were the epitome of this school of art.
+
+It would have been hard to say which was most tired, the hostess or
+her guests, when the last spark faded from the big "Lone Star" of
+Texas which ended the show. No bedtime frolic to-night; the four in
+the nursery undressed in a dead quiet and fell asleep before their
+heads fairly touched the pillows. In her own little room Sarah held
+another seance with the witch hazel bottle, and went to sleep only to
+dream of a wild ride across the meadows on Blue Bonnet's
+rocking-horse, with a fierce band of Comanche Indians pursuing her,
+yelling fiendishly all the while, and keeping up a mad fusillade of
+Roman candles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV
+
+THE ROUND ROBIN
+
+
+"WHAT'S the program for this morning?" asked Uncle Cliff, as the ranch
+party assembled on the veranda after a very late breakfast.
+
+"I don't know what the others are going to do," said Sarah, "but I'm
+going to write letters."
+
+The other girls exchanged amused glances: it was evident that Sarah
+wished to forestall suggestions of another ride. Kitty was beginning
+to show symptoms of sauciness when Mrs. Clyde interrupted kindly
+with--"I think Sarah's suggestion quite in order. Every one at home
+will be looking for letters."
+
+"Uncle Cliff telegraphed," said Blue Bonnet, loath to settle down to
+so prosaic a pursuit.
+
+"But a telegram isn't very satisfying to mothers and fathers, dear,"
+replied her grandmother. "And think of poor Susy and Ruth."
+
+"I intend to write them, too," remarked Sarah.
+
+"Let's all write them!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"That's the right spirit," said Senora with an approving nod. "A
+'round-robin' letter will cheer the poor girls wonderfully."
+
+"You hear the motion, are all in favor?" asked Alec.
+
+"Will you write a 'robin,' too?" bargained Kitty, who loved to torment
+the youth.
+
+"Sure!" he agreed at once, thus taking the wind out of her sails.
+
+"Aye, aye, then!" they all exclaimed, and the motion was declared
+carried.
+
+There was a scattering for paper and ink, after which every one
+settled down for an hour's scribbling, some using the broad rail of
+the veranda as a table, others repairing to desks in the house. Blue
+Bonnet doubled up jack-knife fashion on one of the front steps, using
+her knees for a pad; while Sarah, complaining that she could not think
+with so many people about her, took herself off to the window-seat in
+the nursery.
+
+"The idea of wanting to think!" exclaimed Kitty. "I never stop to
+think when I write letters."
+
+"You don't need to tell that to any one who has ever heard from you,"
+remarked Blue Bonnet. "The one letter I had from you in New York took
+me an hour to puzzle out,--it began in the middle and ended at the top
+of the first page, and there were six 'ands' and four 'ifs' in one
+sentence."
+
+"That's quite an accomplishment--I'll wager you couldn't get in half
+so many," retorted Kitty. And then for a while there was silence,
+broken only by the scratching of pens and the query from Blue Bonnet
+as to whether there were two s's or two p's in "disappoint."
+
+                 "TO SUSY AND RUTH DOYLE, WOODFORD,
+                                 MASSACHUSETTS.
+                                      "THE BLUE BONNET RANCH,
+                                          "July the fifth.
+
+        "YOU POOR DEARS: You'll never know if you live to be a
+        thousand years old what a fearful disappointment it
+        was when Doctor Clark told me the awful news. Where
+        did you get it? Is it very bad? And do you have to
+        gargle peroxide of hydrogen? Amanda says she just
+        lived on it when her throat was bad. Are you honestly
+        as red as lobsters? It's a perfect shame you should
+        have to be sick--and in vacation, too. There might be
+        some advantages if it should happen--say at
+        examination time. Grandmother says it is very unusual
+        to have scarlet fever in warm weather,--it just seems
+        as if you must have gone out of your way to get it--or
+        it went out of its way to get you.
+
+        "The ranch party isn't a bit complete without you. I'm
+        going to take pictures of everything and everybody so
+        as to show you when we get back. That sounds as if I
+        meant to go back again next fall, when really it isn't
+        decided yet. I'm more in love with the ranch than ever
+        and feel as if I never wanted to leave it again. It's
+        so fine and big out here. There's so much air to
+        breathe and such a long way to look, and you can
+        throw a stone as far as you like without 'breaking a
+        window or a tradition'--as Alec says. We have our
+        traditions, too, but they can stand any amount of
+        stone-throwing--in fact that's part of them.
+
+        "It's worth crossing the continent to see Sarah on
+        horseback, riding across the saddle in a wild Western
+        way that would shock her reverend father out of a
+        whole paragraph. Kitty dared her and I must say she
+        showed pluck--Comanche can go _some_ when he gets
+        started, and Sarah stayed with him to the finish. But
+        you can imagine why she wanted to write letters to-day
+        instead of riding again. You can thank her for the
+        round robin. There, I've reached the bottom of the
+        page before I've begun to tell you anything. But the
+        others will make up for it, I reckon. No more now--I
+        must save strength for a letter to Aunt Lucinda. Do
+        hurry and get well and out of quarantine so that you
+        can write to
+
+                                    "Your devoted
+                                              "BLUE BONNET."
+
+
+        "DEAR SUSY AND RUTH: We arrived on Monday evening
+        after a very pleasant journey. The name of the station
+        where you get off is Jonah--isn't that odd? We had to
+        drive twenty miles in a very queer kind of vehicle in
+        order to reach Blue Bonnet's home, and this letter
+        will have to go back over the same road in order to
+        be posted. I think I had better go back to the
+        beginning and tell you all about our trip from the
+        time we left Woodford.
+
+        "The private car we came in is called The Wanderer and
+        it is really a pity you could not have shared it with
+        us. It is much grander than Mrs. Clyde's drawing-room
+        at home,--the mahogany shone till you could see your
+        face in it, and wherever there was not mahogany there
+        was a mirror, and Slivers, the porter, dusted
+        everything about twenty times a day. If you could see
+        Slivers I should not have to explain why he is called
+        by that name. I am sure he is the tallest and slimmest
+        man I have ever seen. And that is odd, too, for you
+        always think of them as plump and fat. He is a negro,
+        you know, and doesn't seem to mind it a bit, but is as
+        jolly as if he were white and as fat as you think he
+        ought to be, and sang and played his banjo in the
+        evenings quite like a civilized person. He waited on
+        table, too, while the chief--the cook, you
+        know--prepared our meals in the most cunning little
+        kitchen you can imagine.
+
+        "It was a very interesting trip. Sometimes we would
+        begin our breakfast in one state and before we had
+        finished we would be in another, and yet there would
+        seem to be no difference. I think travelling is a very
+        interesting way to learn Geography, for you forget to
+        think of Kansas as yellow and Oklahoma as purple, and
+        think of them as _real_ places with trees and farms
+        and other things like Massachusetts. I knew already
+        that Texas is as big as all the New England states put
+        together, but I never really _grasped_ it before. I am
+        learning new things every day, some Spanish, though
+        not as much as I could wish. Yesterday I learned to
+        ride astride. That is, nearly learned. I don't feel
+        entirely at home that way yet and it has tired me
+        considerably, but I dare say it will come easier after
+        a while. My horse is named Comanche, and he looks just
+        that way. There is more white to his eyes than
+        anything else.
+
+        "Benita is Blue Bonnet's old nurse. She does the most
+        exquisite drawn-work and is going to teach me (it
+        would be as well for you not to mention this when you
+        write) the spider-web stitch and the Maltese cross, so
+        that I can do a waist for Blue Bonnet. She is doing so
+        much for us all that I want to make some return for
+        her hospitality. Blue Bonnet, I mean, not Benita.
+
+        "I do hope you will soon be better. I felt so mean at
+        leaving without even saying good-bye. But I had to
+        think of all my brothers and sisters and the girls--I
+        couldn't expose them to the fever, you know. I hope
+        you liked the postals we sent. Amanda and I came very
+        near being left once when we couldn't find the
+        post-box at Kansas City,--we had to run a block, while
+        Alec and Kitty stood on the back platform and laid
+        bets on the winner. (Amanda won.)
+
+        "We are all well and hope you are the same,--I mean I
+        hope you are better and will soon be well.
+
+                                 "With best love,
+                                         "SARAH JANE BLAKE."
+
+
+        "Oh, girls, I am simply speechless and can't find a
+        word to say when I try to describe our grand trip and
+        this perfect peach of a place, and the glorious time
+        we have had and are having ever since we left pokey
+        old Woodford and arrived at the Blue Bonnet ranch. I
+        keep pinching myself to see if I'm really me, but it
+        isn't at all convincing, and I suppose I'll simply go
+        on treading air and not believe in the reality of a
+        thing till I come to earth in time to hear the Jolly
+        Good say--'Miss Kitty, you may take problem number
+        ninety-four'--and wake up to the monotonous old grind
+        again--oh, if you could only see this darling old
+        house and the picturesque Mexicans--rather dirty some
+        of them (I suppose that's why they are called
+        greasers) and the perfectly dear way they adore Blue
+        Bonnet and their deference to her 'amigos'--I tell you
+        I feel like a princess when they call me 'Senorita'
+        with a musical accent that makes you downright sick
+        with envy. Why anybody on earth ever left the West to
+        go and settle up the East I don't see,--you may think
+        I mean that the other way about but I don't, for
+        anybody can see at half a glance that this country is
+        as old as Methusalem--the live-oaks look as if they'd
+        been here forever and ever and would stay as much
+        longer--they're all 'hoary with moss' and all that
+        sort of thing like that poem of Tennyson's--or maybe
+        it is Longfellow's--it doesn't matter which in
+        vacation, thank goodness. I don't like to seem to be
+        rubbing it in about our good times, for it's just too
+        hateful that you can't be here, too, and ride like mad
+        for miles without coming to a fence and wear the
+        adorable riding-suits Mr. Ashe got for us in New
+        York--all seven alike and as becoming as anything--and
+        have the best things to eat, wear, do, and see every
+        minute of the day.
+
+        "This won't go into the envelope with the rest if I
+        run on any longer so I'll close,--with a fat hard hug
+        and lots of love to you both,
+
+                                                    "KITTY."
+
+
+        "DEAR GIRLS: Don't you ever go and get conditioned at
+        school; take my solemn warning. That awful thing
+        hanging over me is going to do its best to spoil my
+        grand summer in Texas. I intended to do a lot of
+        studying as soon as we arrived here, so that I might
+        have a few weeks perfectly free from worry; but
+        goodness me, how can anybody open a book when there's
+        something going on every blessed minute of the day?
+        It's a pity it wasn't Sarah who was conditioned. She
+        actually likes to study and if it came to a choice
+        between a horseback ride and doing ten pages of
+        grammar, she'd jump at the grammar. Sometimes I think
+        Sarah isn't made like other girls. Not quite normal,
+        you know.
+
+        "Now that I've seen Blue Bonnet at home, I realize
+        what a hard time she must have had in Woodford, at
+        first especially. She's treated like a perfect _queen_
+        here, and doesn't have to mind a soul except
+        Senora--that's what we call Mrs. Clyde. Fancy having
+        run the ranch all your life and then at fifteen having
+        to start in and obey Miss Clyde, and Mr. Hunt, and the
+        rest of those mighty ones! I think she's a brick to
+        have done it at all, and I take back every criticism I
+        ever made of her. She must be terribly rich, but
+        doesn't put on any airs at all.
+
+        "How is little old Woodford getting along without us?
+        I'm almost ashamed to write Mother and Father, for I
+        can't say I'm homesick and parents always expect you
+        to be. Debby wants to finish my page, so no more now
+        from
+
+                                       "Your loving AMANDA."
+
+
+
+        "DEAR SUSY AND RUTH: There's only room for me to say
+        hello, and how are you? I wish I were a grand
+        descriptive genius like Robert Louis Stevenson so that
+        I could describe this wonderful Texas. But description
+        isn't my strong point--you know how I just scraped
+        through Eng. Comp. so I'll not try any flights.
+
+        "It isn't half as _wild_ as we used to imagine it. The
+        cowboys don't go shooting up towns and hanging
+        horse-thieves to all the trees the way they do in most
+        of the Western stories. Even the cattle are tame, but
+        Blue Bonnet says that is because they are fenced
+        nowadays, and most of them de-horned. All the cowboys
+        except two are Mexicans, and they are so picturesque
+        and--different. Mr. Ashe says Texas is filling up with
+        negroes but he won't have any on the ranch,--he sticks
+        to the Mexicans, and I'm mighty glad, for they seem
+        just to suit the atmosphere. Juanita, who waits on the
+        table, is a beauty, with the most coquettish airs.
+        Miguel is in love with her, and we all hope she won't
+        keep him waiting too long, for if they are really
+        going to be married, we want a grand wedding while we
+        are here. Wouldn't that be thrilling?
+
+        "I've just room to sign my name,
+
+                                    "Yours, with love,
+                                                    "DEBBY."
+
+
+       "TO THE ABSENT TWO-SEVENTHS OF THE 'WE-ARE-ITS'--Greeting!
+       Please don't imagine that I forced my way into this
+       Round Robin affair. My masculine chirography probably
+       looks out of place in this epistolary triumph--ahem!--but
+       you can thank Kitty Clark for it. I don't know whether
+       or not this is intended as a letter of condolence, but
+       it surely ought to be,--anybody who has to miss this
+       summer-session on the Blue Bonnet ranch deserves
+       flowers and slow music.
+
+        "This letter will be postmarked 'Jonah'--but don't be
+        alarmed; they say it's a harmless one. I'm going to
+        ride over with the mail. Just a little matter of
+        twenty miles, a trifle out here! Kitty says she
+        doesn't see how we can expect any letters to reach a
+        place with such a name, but I've faith in the
+        collection of relatives left behind in Woodford.
+
+        "Now I advise you both, the next time you go into the
+        vicinity of anything catching, cross your fingers and
+        say 'King's Ex.' for you're missing the time of your
+        young lives. As a place of residence, Texas certainly
+        has my vote. A fellow can breathe his lungs full here
+        without robbing the next fellow of oxygen.
+
+                            "With unbounded sympathy,
+                                           "Yours,
+                                               "ALEC TRENT."
+
+Blue Bonnet collected the literary installments from each of the
+different authors and put them in a big envelope.
+
+"This 'round-robin' is as plump as a partridge," she remarked. "I hope
+Susy and Ruth won't strain their eyes devouring it."
+
+"The Woodford postman in our part of town will have an unusually warm
+greeting, I fancy," said Mrs. Clyde, gathering up all the other
+letters and placing them with the round-robin in the roomy mail-bag.
+
+"I think Father had better have a social at the church for the
+We-are-Seven relatives and ask them to bring our letters. Reading and
+passing them around would make a very interesting evening's
+entertainment," said Sarah.
+
+Blue Bonnet paused long enough to shake her. "Don't you dare suggest
+such a horrible thing to your father, Sarah! My letter wasn't intended
+for--public consumption."
+
+"Nor mine!" exclaimed Kitty. "Father and mother know what a
+scatter-brain I am, but it's a family skeleton which they don't care
+to have aired."
+
+"Is the mail all in?" asked Alec in an official tone.
+
+"All in, postmaster," replied Mrs. Clyde, fastening the bag and
+handing it to him with a smile. "You're not going alone, are you?"
+
+"No, Shady is going along this trip, Senora," he replied.
+
+"Why don't we all go?" asked Blue Bonnet; "it isn't much of a ride."
+
+Sarah looked up in alarm, but met Mrs. Clyde's reassuring glance. "Not
+this time, dear," she returned to Blue Bonnet. "So far you have had
+all play and no work. The piano hasn't been touched since we
+arrived."
+
+Blue Bonnet said nothing, but into her eyes there sprang a sudden
+rebellion. Out there by the stables Don and Solomon were frolicking,
+ready at a moment's notice to dash away at Firefly's heels. Away in
+front of the house stretched the road and the prairie, calling
+irresistibly to her restless, roving spirit. And vacation had been so
+long in coming! If grandmother were going to be like Aunt Lucinda--
+Again there flashed into her mind the wish so often voiced in
+Woodford: that there might be two of her, so that one might stay at
+home and be taught things while the other went wandering about as she
+liked. All at once she remembered Alec's suggestion--that she adopt
+Sarah as her "alter ego." A smile drove the cloud from her eyes.
+"Can't Sarah do my practising while I do her riding?" she asked
+coaxingly.
+
+Her grandmother hid a smile as she said: "I was under the impression
+that my coming to the ranch was to see that Blue Bonnet Ashe did her
+practising, mending, and had coffee only on Sundays."
+
+Blue Bonnet colored. She had uttered those very words, and nobody
+should say that an Ashe was not sincere. Straightening up she met the
+questioning looks of the other girls with a resolute glance.
+"Grandmother is right, as she always is, girls. I'll go and practise,
+and you--what will you do?"
+
+"I'm sure all the girls will be glad of a little time to themselves,"
+said the Senora. "Let us all do as we like until dinner-time. I've
+been longing to sit in the shade of the big magnolia ever since I
+came. I shall take a book and spend my two hours out there, and any
+one who wishes may share my bower."
+
+"Then I'll be off," said Alec. "Any commissions for me in Jonah?" He
+stood like an orderly at attention, with the mail-bag slung over one
+shoulder and his whole bearing expressive of the importance of his
+mission. The sun and the wind of the prairie had already tanned his
+smooth skin to the ruddy hue of health, but Mrs. Clyde, observing him
+closely, could not fail to note how very slim and frail the erect
+young figure was.
+
+"Isn't twenty miles a rather long ride on a hot day?" she asked
+tactfully, fearing to wound the sensitive lad.
+
+"We shall reach Kooch's ranch by noon, and we are to rest there until
+it is cool again," he replied, flushing a little under her solicitous
+glance.
+
+"Well, keep an eye on Shady!" said Blue Bonnet, waving him good-bye as
+she went to do her practising.
+
+Fifteen minutes later each member of the ranch party was busily
+engaged in doing "just as she liked." Mrs. Clyde, deep in a book, sat
+under the fragrant magnolia; Kitty reclined on a Navajo blanket near
+her, lazily watching the gay-plumaged birds that made the tree a
+rendezvous. From the open windows of the living-room came a
+conscientious rendering of a "Czerny" exercise, enlivened now and then
+by a bar or two of a rollicking dance, with which Blue Bonnet
+sugar-coated her pill. In the kitchen Debby and Amanda were deep in
+the mysteries of "pinoche" under the tutelage of Lisa and Gertrudis;
+while Sarah, safe inside her own little sanctum, sat and drew threads
+rapturously, and later, coached by the delighted Benita, wove them
+into endless spider-webs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V
+
+THE SWIMMING HOLE
+
+
+THEY sat up late that evening waiting for Alec to come with the mail.
+Mrs. Clyde and Blue Bonnet were somewhat uneasy, for they knew he had
+intended to be back in time for their late supper; and when ten
+o'clock came and no Alec or Shady appeared, they grew openly anxious.
+
+Uncle Cliff refused to share their worry. "Shady's no tenderfoot," he
+scoffed, "and holding up the mail has gone out of fashion in these
+parts."
+
+Blue Bonnet had no fear of hold-ups and did not care to express her
+suspicion that the ride had proved too much for Alec. She found reason
+to reproach herself: a forty-mile ride for a delicate boy like him was
+a foolish undertaking and she should have realized it. She had ridden
+that distance herself innumerable times; but she had practically been
+reared in the saddle and had lived all her life in this land of great
+distances. It was very different with Alec. The day of their picnic in
+Woodford came back to her, and again she saw the boy, worn out by a
+much shorter ride, lying white and unconscious before the fire in the
+hunter's cabin. She grew almost provoked with her grandmother for
+having insisted upon her practising instead of riding to Jonah as she
+had wished. If she had gone along, she at least would have known what
+to do for Alec in an emergency.
+
+At eleven the moon came up, and rising out of the prairie
+simultaneously with the golden disk, came Shady, riding alone. A rapid
+fire of questions greeted him as he came up with the mail.
+
+"Left the young fella at Kooch's," he explained briefly.
+
+"What was the matter?" asked Blue Bonnet anxiously.
+
+"Well, ye see--it was this way,--" Shady paused and then stood
+awkwardly shifting his sombrero from hand to hand. Blue Bonnet guessed
+instantly that Alec had sworn the cowboy to secrecy concerning the
+real reason for his non-appearance, and she refrained from further
+questioning. But her grandmother took alarm.
+
+"Is he hurt--or ill?" Mrs. Clyde asked quickly.
+
+For a moment Shady avoided her eyes, then resolutely squaring his
+shoulders he lied boldly: "No, Senora,--the mare went lame on him.
+He'll be over in the morning."
+
+Mrs. Clyde drew a quick breath of relief; but Blue Bonnet was not so
+easily reassured. That Kooch had a dozen horses which Alec might have
+ridden if Strawberry was really disabled, was something her
+grandmother did not know; but the little Texan, used all her life to
+the easy give and take of ranch life, understood at once that Alec's
+real reason for staying at the Dutchman's was quite different from the
+one Shady had so glibly given. She knew better, however, than to press
+the cowboy, and let him go off to the cook-house without attempting to
+get at the truth.
+
+"Grammy Kooch will take good care of him," said Uncle Joe; and with
+her fears thus set at rest, Mrs. Clyde proposed an adjournment to the
+house to read their letters.
+
+The next morning Blue Bonnet was up before any one else in the house
+was stirring, and, dressing without arousing any of the other
+occupants of the nursery, she stole out of the house and made her way
+to the stable. Some of the Mexicans were already up, feeding the stock
+and doing the "chores," and one of them saddled Firefly. None of them
+wondered at Blue Bonnet's early appearance, for since her infancy she
+had ridden whenever the fancy took her, and now as she dashed out of
+the corral with Don and Solomon racing madly after her, the men
+grinned with satisfaction that the Senorita had returned to the ranch
+unchanged.
+
+As she neared the Kooch ranch she saw a solitary horseman emerging
+from the gate. He was not looking towards her, and after a moment's
+scrutiny she began to whistle "All the Blue Bonnets." With a start of
+surprise Alec glanced up the road and at once galloped towards her.
+
+"Is it really you?" he asked, hardly believing his eyes.
+
+"Nae ither!" she laughed, turning Firefly and falling in with the
+strawberry mare--whose four legs, she noted, were as sound as ever.
+
+"Well, you are an early bird."
+
+"Lucky you're not a worm,--I'm hungry enough to eat one!" she said
+gaily. Under cover of the jest she stole a quick look at him. Yes, in
+spite of the sunburn he looked worn out and ill; he needed to rest and
+be taken care of. She refrained from asking how he felt and instead
+kept up a steady fire of nonsense, describing their dull day at the
+ranch without him. If Alec had felt any resentment at her coming for
+him, it melted under her light treatment of the situation; and by the
+time they reached the little "rio" he was more like his usual,
+interested self.
+
+"I think I'd like to follow up this cree--er--river, I mean," he
+remarked, looking up the winding, willow-grown course.
+
+"Not before breakfast, thank you!"
+
+"Well, I didn't mean right this minute, but sometime," he corrected.
+
+"We will, surely. I want to introduce you to the lovely spots of the
+ranch, just as you showed me the charming places about Woodford. It
+will be different from following the brook as we used to do there,
+but I think you'll like it. There are picnic places along San
+Franciscito that can't be beat."
+
+"San Frances_cheeto_?" he echoed; "where's that?"
+
+"That's the name of this river," she replied loftily.
+
+Alec threw back his head and laughed. "The name's bigger than the
+stream!" he declared.
+
+"It has advantages over the brook, as you'll see. One of them is the
+swimming hole. Do you swim?"
+
+Alec's eyes glistened. "I'm ready to learn."
+
+"Well, get Shady to teach you. I'm going to make the girls learn. You
+boys and we girls will have the pool on alternate days,--won't it be
+fun?"
+
+"The best ever. This is the first I've heard of it."
+
+"I wanted some things for surprises," Blue Bonnet declared. "Isn't it
+odd your being here and seeing everything I used to talk about? It was
+a novelty then, but after this I won't have anything left to describe
+to you. What do you suppose we will talk about on our first jaunt by
+the brook next spring?"
+
+Alec's face changed oddly. "Maybe there won't be any jaunt by the
+brook next spring--for me," he said, looking away from her startled
+eyes.
+
+"Why, what do you mean?" she asked, and then wished she had not
+spoken, for she was suddenly afraid of his answer.
+
+"I may not be,--you can't always tell," he stammered, looking as if he
+wanted to take it all back. "Let's not talk about it now, please," he
+begged, and Blue Bonnet gladly let the subject drop.
+
+She rode on in silence the rest of the way, depressed and miserable.
+Alec's words were a revelation; she had not dreamed he felt so ill and
+doubtful of living. She had thought he would grow strong and well at
+the ranch, and already he was worse and spoke of his case as hopeless.
+
+They were greeted with a loud outcry from the girls, who were perched
+on the top bar of the corral gate awaiting them. They had been
+somewhat startled upon arising to find Blue Bonnet gone, but Firefly's
+absence from his stall had explained her disappearance.
+
+"Hurry up,--we're starving!" they cried; and Alec and Blue Bonnet,
+responding gaily, dismounted and hastened to the house with the rest,
+both glad to escape questions in the general hilarity and press of
+hunger.
+
+"Grandmother," said Blue Bonnet later in the day; "I'm worried about
+Alec." It was just after the siesta, and seeing her grandmother
+sitting alone in her chosen seat under the magnolia, she had gone out
+for a chat. They were seldom alone these days.
+
+"He does look tired," Mrs. Clyde admitted; "but it is natural he
+should after that long ride."
+
+"It isn't that." Blue Bonnet shook her head. "I'm afraid he's--got
+something."
+
+"Got something?" her grandmother repeated in puzzled surprise.
+
+"_Has_ something, if you object to 'got.' Has something the matter
+with him, I mean,--serious, you know."
+
+Then she repeated the conversation she had had with Alec that morning.
+Mrs. Clyde listened in silence, but her eyes were troubled when Blue
+Bonnet finished.
+
+"It may not be so bad as Alec imagines," she said with a forced
+hopefulness. "He has been outgrowing his strength, and being
+overtired, too, makes him despondent."
+
+In spite of her words, from that time on Mrs. Clyde was more observant
+of the boy, and the moment she saw the first signs of fatigue she
+would make some tactful suggestion for his benefit, relieving him of
+the necessity of saying he was tired, yet bringing about the
+possibility of rest. And often with her own hands she would concoct
+some nourishing dish, hardly so piquant as Gertrudis' red-hot
+creations, but rather more healthful for a growing boy. Neither she
+nor Blue Bonnet voiced their fears to the other girls nor to any of
+the men, but, with a silent understanding, ministered quietly to the
+frail boy's needs.
+
+A few days later the girls crossed the meadow to the pool for their
+first lesson in swimming. It was an odd little bunch that sat on the
+bank dabbling their toes in the limpid water. The hastily improvised
+bathing-suits they wore were of every style and color, and they looked
+as gay as a flock of parrots in their bright-hued raiment. Blue Bonnet
+dove off the big boulder in the middle, to the great envy of the
+others, who only consented to get wet all over after much persuasion
+and the threat of a forcible ducking.
+
+Sarah took the whole thing as seriously as she did most things.
+"Everybody should learn to swim," she announced authoritatively as she
+sat contemplating a plunge. "Some day we might have a chance to cross
+the ocean, and then we'd wish we knew how."
+
+"Do you mean to swim across the ocean?" demanded Blue Bonnet wickedly.
+
+"Of course not," replied Sarah, unruffled. "But in case of shipwreck,
+you know, it's well to be prepared. I believe it should be studied as
+a science,--get the stroke, then do it. It's like bicycle riding, they
+say: when you once learn how to keep your balance you never forget."
+
+Blue Bonnet demonstrated the stroke again and again, while the other
+girls watched and imitated as they sat or sprawled on the grassy
+bank. Sarah bent her whole mind to the acquiring of the proper arm
+action; lay face-down and kicked scientifically; then, convinced of
+her preparation for the feat, boldly entered the water.
+
+"Good for you, Sallikins!" cried Blue Bonnet. "The others must be
+afraid of getting their feet wet." Then she sang tauntingly:
+
+        "Mother, may I go out to swim?
+         Yes, my darling daughter,
+         Hang your clothes on a hickory limb--
+         But don't go near the water!"
+
+Thus challenged, Kitty stepped shrinkingly into the cold water. "If
+Sarah will swim from me to you, I'll try it after her," she bargained.
+It was perhaps a distance of three yards from where she stood,
+waist-deep, to the big rock whereon Blue Bonnet was perched, laughing
+at them; but the Hellespont could hardly have loomed wider to the
+anxious eyes of Hero, than did this narrow channel now appear to the
+four novices.
+
+"All right," agreed Sarah with dogged determination. She shut her
+eyes, screwed up her face, spread her arms, struck out with her feet
+and started. If a hippopotamus had suddenly slipped off the bank there
+could hardly have been a greater splash; Sarah kicked madly, puffing,
+panting, and churning the water into foam. All to no avail. Before
+she had gone a yard she sank like a paving-stone to the bottom of the
+pool. Blue Bonnet, convulsed with laughter, went down after her, but
+it took the combined efforts of herself and Kitty to bring the
+struggling Sarah to the surface. Sputtering and choking and much
+puzzled over the failure of her scientific method, Sarah retired to
+the bank to get her breath.
+
+"Kitty's turn," she said inexorably as soon as she could speak.
+
+Kitty found the bottom no less speedily, but scrambled up by herself
+and went at it again until she was able to progress almost two feet
+before going down to "call on the fishes," as Blue Bonnet said. It
+remained for Debby to cover herself with glory. Disdaining science and
+the instructions of the teacher, she took a lesson from Nature and
+struck out like a puppy. Straight to Blue Bonnet she swam, struggled
+up on the big boulder beside her, gasping and breathless, but
+delighted at her own success.
+
+"Bravo!" cried the girls, quite overcome with admiration.
+
+Emboldened by her triumph the others tried again and again, and while
+not wildly successful were so far encouraged that they lost their
+first great fear of the water. And that, as every swimmer knows, is
+the first step towards victory.
+
+"After you've all learned," said Blue Bonnet a little later, as they
+all sat on the veranda rail drying their hair, "we'll go over to the
+reservoir above Jonah some time and have a real swim. That is, if
+Grandmother's willing." She was glad she had remembered to add that
+last provision; it would have won an approving look from Aunt Lucinda.
+
+"Then we'll have to have real suits," remarked Kitty, beginning then
+and there to plan a fetching costume for the occasion. "I'll write
+home for one right away."
+
+When the plan was laid before Senora she made a brilliant suggestion.
+"Why not make your own suits? We may be able to find material in
+Jonah, and Benita and I will superintend."
+
+Sarah beamed delightedly, but Blue Bonnet looked doubtful. "Will it be
+as hard as knitting a shawl?" she asked, ignoring the giggles her
+question provoked.
+
+"Lots harder, you goose," said Kitty. "But if you begin it you'll
+probably have it finished for you by the same person who did the
+shawl."
+
+"Then I don't mind!" Blue Bonnet agreed promptly. "We'll go to Jonah
+to-morrow--" adding before the words were fairly said, "--may we,
+Grandmother?"
+
+"Perhaps," was all she said; but her eyes held more encouragement.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI
+
+AN ADVENTURE
+
+
+"HAVE you decided, Grandmother," asked Blue Bonnet, "whether or not we
+can go to Jonah this morning?"
+
+"I think you may as well go," said Mrs. Clyde. "If they have no
+suitable material at Jonah, we shall have to send away for it, and the
+sooner we know the better. And, besides, we need several things for
+the house."
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled gratefully. Grandmother was so sweetly
+reasonable--most of the time. To her surprise Sarah was the only one
+of the girls who greeted the proposal with any enthusiasm. The others
+looked listless and heavy-eyed.
+
+"I feel tired all over," said Debby.
+
+"I can't move my arms without groaning," complained Amanda.
+
+"I'm as stiff as a poker," added Kitty mournfully.
+
+Sarah looked wise. "It's the swimming," she declared.
+
+"Trying to swim," Blue Bonnet corrected her. "I'm not tired or stiff."
+
+"If trying to swim has made us feel this way, why doesn't Sarah make
+her little moan?" demanded Kitty.
+
+Sarah looked still wiser. "I was so stiff before that I think swimming
+just limbered me up," she explained delightedly. Sarah could not help
+feeling a little very human satisfaction at the consciousness that she
+had borne her sufferings with far greater courage than the others now
+displayed.
+
+"I couldn't ride a mile," groaned Kitty.
+
+"Nor I!" declared both Debby and Amanda.
+
+"Then, Senorita Blake, do we go by our lones?" asked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"I'd love to," Sarah assented readily, beating down a nagging fear of
+Comanche's eyes.
+
+"Then let's hurry and dress. We must start while it's cool."
+
+"I think you will have to drive, dear," said her grandmother, looking
+up from the shopping list she was making. "Lisa says we must have
+laundry soap, and I don't see how you can bring a big box unless you
+take the buckboard."
+
+Blue Bonnet's face fell. "Lisa's always wanting soap," she grumbled.
+
+"I should love to drive," Sarah suggested wistfully.
+
+Blue Bonnet hesitated; after all a hostess should consider a guest's
+preference, and Sarah was certainly a "good sort." "Very well," she
+assented, smothering a sigh.
+
+"Have you all decided what color you want your bathing-suits?" asked
+the Senora.
+
+"Let's have them all alike," suggested Sarah.
+
+"Red!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"No, thank you," returned Kitty. "Pray consider the feelings of my
+hair! I'm willing to have any color so long as--"
+
+"--so long as it's green!" Blue Bonnet finished for her, recollecting
+former debates of this sort.
+
+"Green is lovely for swimming, anyway," Kitty contended. "It's so
+mermaidy, you know."
+
+"And so becoming to red--er--auburn hair," put in Blue Bonnet. "Having
+blue eyes myself, I'm not partial to green."
+
+"Oh, if you're going to insist on harmony of colors I think we had
+better stick to black and blue--I'm one big bruise." Kitty illustrated
+her remark with a groan.
+
+"Yes, I've seen blue trimmed with black and it was very pretty," said
+Sarah, quite missing Kitty's point.
+
+"Here, Grandmother, please make a list. Now, everybody, decide. Red
+for me. Debby, what shall yours be?"
+
+"Red with white braid, please," replied Debby after a moment's
+thought.
+
+"Blue with white ditto," was Amanda's choice.
+
+"Green," came from Kitty.
+
+"Black and blue,"--this from the consistent Sarah.
+
+"I think you will have to change the name of your club from the 'We
+are Sevens' to 'The Rainbow Quintet,'" said the Senora, laughing as
+she wrote down the variegated list.
+
+After all it was a delightful drive to Jonah. The two fleet horses
+drew the light buckboard over the smooth road with a motion that Sarah
+found far preferable to the cat-like leaps of Comanche; and Blue
+Bonnet was so proud of being trusted to drive a team that she was
+quite reconciled to the arrangement.
+
+"Denham would have fainted if I had even suggested driving
+Grandmother's carriage horses," she told Sarah, with a scornful sniff
+for those fat Woodford beasts.
+
+"You drive beautifully," was Sarah's comforting rejoinder.
+
+To their great satisfaction they found just what they wanted in Jonah.
+Alpaca was to be had in almost every shade, and wide white braid that
+made an excellent trimming. And to Blue Bonnet's delight she found a
+bright red sash that would add the finishing touch of elegance to her
+suit. Their shopping done and the buckboard well-heaped with their
+varied purchases, the two girls drove back as far as Kooch's ranch,
+where, according to an immemorial custom, they lunched and rested
+until the cool of the afternoon. On the return trip they met with an
+adventure.
+
+The road ran for a short distance beside the little river with the big
+name--San Franciscito--which had so amused Alec. It was there that
+Sarah did something unprecedented. For several miles she had been
+envying Blue Bonnet her easy manner of handling the reins and the
+light touch that sent the mustangs right or left as she willed. It was
+a beautiful accomplishment.
+
+"Blue Bonnet," she asked suddenly, "may I drive for a little while?"
+
+Blue Bonnet looked up in speechless surprise; Sarah was certainly
+"coming on." "Surely you may," she said cordially, straightway handing
+over the reins. "Hold them firmly--these colts are apt to run under a
+loose rein."
+
+Sarah felt a curious sense of power as she grasped the leather in her
+unpracticed hands. Conscientious to a degree, she did as she was bid
+and held the mustangs firmly. In her anxiety to do the thing properly,
+she overdid it, and the next moment the horses were tossing their
+heads angrily and backing with all their might. The bank of the stream
+just here was very high and steep, though just beyond was a ford where
+the road branched. The light buckboard offered no resistance to the
+spirited mustangs, and, in a second, before Blue Bonnet could grasp
+the reins, one hind wheel had slipped an inch or two over the ledge.
+For a second or two the girls were in grave danger. Blue Bonnet felt a
+swift overpowering fear; the half-broken colts were as apt to plunge
+backward as to advance if they felt the whip, and that meant a plunge
+down the steep bank. She looked about her helplessly. Sarah, with a
+faint shriek, shut her eyes and prepared for the catastrophe.
+
+At that moment a horseman came suddenly up the bank at the ford,
+emerging as if from out the earth. At a glance he took in the
+situation, was off his horse, caught the near colt by the bit and
+brought both frightened animals to a standstill with the wheel a safe
+margin from the bank. Then without waiting to hear the faintly
+murmured thanks of the terrified girls, their rescuer turned at once
+to his own horse, which had seized the moment to make a break for
+freedom. The boy--for he was hardly more--had thrown the lines over
+the animal's head and now, with another of his incredibly swift
+movements, he caught them and in a second more had jerked the horse
+about. Then in a flash he was once more in the saddle. Blue Bonnet had
+just managed to catch her breath,--when it was taken away again. For
+before the boy had put his right foot in the stirrup, he was out of
+the saddle once more, lying all of a heap in the grass, while his
+horse with a wicked kick-up of his heels, vanished around a turn in
+the road.
+
+Not daring to trust the reins out of her hands a second time, Blue
+Bonnet almost pushed Sarah from her seat. Fearfully the girl
+approached and bent over the fallen hero; to her relief she saw that
+his eyes were open. He blinked queerly for a moment, then gave a gaspy
+little laugh.
+
+"I'm all right. Don't worry. It's knocked the breath out of me--that's
+all," he managed to say at last; and then, after another pause, he
+scrambled up to a sitting posture.
+
+"I'm so sorry," said Sarah, finding her voice. "I hope you're not
+seriously hurt."
+
+"I'm--quite whole!" he assured her, and stopped with a wince of pain.
+"It's my wrist, I reckon--broken or sprained." He examined the injured
+member closely and after a vain attempt to lift it said briefly:
+"Broken. Isn't that the limit?"
+
+"Oh, dear," exclaimed Sarah, all sympathy. "What shall we do?" She
+approached Blue Bonnet with a very serious face. "We shall have to get
+a doctor to set his arm right away," she said in a low tone. "You know
+the bones go crooked if they're not set soon."
+
+"If he can get up into the buckboard we can take him to the doctor,
+that'll be quicker," replied Blue Bonnet.
+
+Sarah went back to the boy. He still sat, rather dazed and white,
+looking disgustedly at his injured arm. "Say," she began
+hesitatingly; she wished she knew his name--"say" was so plebeian;
+"--are you too badly hurt to get into the buckboard?"
+
+"No, indeed," he replied cheerfully. "Be--with you--in a minute. But
+sorry--to trouble you."
+
+"It's no trouble," said Sarah. "We're terribly sorry about your arm."
+
+"Nothing much,--only a bother," he maintained stoutly, setting his
+teeth as he said it and scrambling to his feet. Then he swayed and
+would have fallen if Sarah had not caught him. He clung to her for a
+moment, fighting the dizziness with all the pride of his seventeen
+years, then giving in sheepishly, let her lead him to the buckboard.
+Once there he leaned weakly against the wheel, while the two girls,
+anxious and frightened, yet too considerate of his feelings to show
+their concern, watched him in speechless sympathy. At last he
+straightened up and gave a short, embarrassed laugh.
+
+"Reckon I've got a funny-bone in my head," he said impatiently. Then
+steadying himself with his right hand he climbed slowly into the back
+seat of the buckboard.
+
+"We'd better go to Jonah at once, don't you think--for the doctor?"
+Blue Bonnet asked him.
+
+"Is it far?" he asked. Blue Bonnet looked her surprise and he added:
+"I don't know these parts. I'm camping up at the Big Spring and was
+just riding down this way looking for a place they call Kooch's."
+
+"Why, we've just come from there," exclaimed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Then it is near?" he asked. "I'd begun to think I must have taken the
+wrong road."
+
+"Just a mile or two back," explained Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Then if you will kindly take me there, I'll not trouble you any
+further," the youth said eagerly.
+
+"But you must have your arm set right away," protested Sarah.
+
+"Well, if the man I was looking for is at Kooch's, maybe he can set
+it," he replied, adding, "He's a 'medic' from Chicago--a friend of a
+cousin of mine. Left college on account of lung trouble, and I heard
+he was camping on Kooch's ground somewhere."
+
+"Maybe it was his tent we saw back there a ways," said Sarah. "That's
+quite near."
+
+Blue Bonnet turned the horses and driving very slowly, so as not to
+hurt the boy's injured arm, went back over the road they had just
+traversed. It was not long before they came in sight of the tent she
+and Sarah had noticed; a rather high fence prevented her approaching
+it very closely, and she stopped just opposite the camp.
+
+"I reckon you'll have to go and see if the man's there, Sarah," said
+Blue Bonnet.
+
+Sarah looked fearfully at the high fence. "I just know I can't get
+over."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave her a withering glance. "You--Woodfordite!" was the
+worst epithet she dared trust herself to before a stranger. "Then
+you'll have to hold the horses. There's no river to spill into
+here--and you don't have to pull them over backwards."
+
+"There's no need, really," the young fellow interrupted. "I can bring
+Abbott if he's here." He raised his right hand, put the tips of two
+fingers to his lips and blew. The shrillest, most penetrating whistle
+the girls had ever heard pierced the air, causing the colts to lunge
+forward in a way that might have precipitated another catastrophe, had
+not Blue Bonnet's little steel wrist brought them up sharply.
+
+At the summons a tall lanky figure appeared from within the tent and
+stood peering under his hand at the occupants of the buckboard. The
+youth whistled again, this time only with his lips,--a bird-like call.
+"That's his frat whistle. Ought to bring him."
+
+And bring him it did. The lanky figure deserted the tent and with an
+eager stride crossed the meadow and came up to the fence. After one
+scrutinizing glance at the girls his eye fell on the boy and he
+grinned broadly.
+
+"Hullo, Knight!--is it really you? Glad to see you, old chap!"
+
+"Hello, Doc. How am I going to get over this hospitable fence of
+yours?" returned the boy, with an abruptness born of an aching wrist.
+"My nag threw me and I've broken my left arm. Know anybody that can
+set it?" He winked impudently at the fledgling doctor.
+
+The latter beamed with professional delight. "Just my line, dear boy.
+I wish it had been your leg, now,--I do those beautifully!"
+
+"Or my neck--I don't doubt it. But this is quite enough, thank you,"
+retorted the boy. He was white with pain and yet could joke!--it was
+the sort of pluck Blue Bonnet admired.
+
+"If your cousin will drive down to the gate,--" the young man
+suggested.
+
+The boy looked a trifle embarrassed. "This isn't my cousin," he
+replied. "These gir--er--young ladies picked me up after my spill
+and--"
+
+"I'm Elizabeth Ashe," Blue Bonnet supplied, coloring slightly.
+
+"Of the Blue Bonnet ranch?" asked the medico, and at her affirmative
+nod he added, "I've met Mr. Ashe."
+
+"This is Doctor Abbott," said the boy, striving to make the
+introduction easily, though one could see that such social amenities
+were not a matter of habit with him.
+
+"I can't claim that title yet," the "doctor" protested. "My friends
+bestowed it when I was a freshman. I hope to earn it yet. Now,
+Knight,--about that arm. If Miss Ashe will drive on--there's a gate a
+hundred yards down the road. It isn't big enough to drive through, but
+I'll meet you there. I've some bandages in my tent. Be with you in a
+minute."
+
+He appeared at the little gate bearing a most professional looking
+leather case and various packages that emitted queer odors. His
+enjoyment of the operation in store was plain.
+
+"Hadn't I better go over to the tent with you?" asked the patient. To
+have an arm set with two strange girls looking on was evidently not to
+his taste.
+
+"Too far for you to walk if you feel as shaky as you look," said
+Doctor Abbott, his keen eyes taking in young Knight's pale face and
+twitching lips. "And I may need assistance." He sprang lightly into
+the seat beside the patient and made a rapid examination. The girls
+resolutely kept their eyes away, but they could hear the boy's quick
+breathing. He made no other sound.
+
+"A sprain, my boy," was the verdict which the girls heard with vast
+relief.
+
+"Only a sprain?" asked Knight in an injured tone. "Then what makes it
+hurt so like the mischief?"
+
+"A sprain hurts worse than a fracture, sometimes, but it is less
+serious and will heal quicker," said the doctor. "I've just the right
+thing here and will fix you up in no time."
+
+The next five minutes were bad ones for the sufferer; Sarah and Blue
+Bonnet knew it, though they still stared off over the meadow and tried
+to chat unconcernedly, while the hurried breathing of the boy
+continued.
+
+"There you are!" The girls turned to see the young man viewing his
+work and the neat bandage with approval, while Knight, with his lips
+still trembling, looked up at him with forced cheerfulness. "You'll
+have to keep it still for a few days,--wish we had some sort of a
+sling." Abbott knit his brow.
+
+Knight touched the bandanna about his neck. "How about this?"
+
+Abbott tried it but found it too short. Blue Bonnet had one of her
+sudden inspirations. Diving down underneath the seat she fished up one
+of the many packages. Under the interested eyes of the others she
+opened it and then held up something bright and silky.
+
+"Your red sash!" gasped Sarah.
+
+"Will it do?" Blue Bonnet asked the doctor anxiously.
+
+"Just the thing!" he exclaimed; and in a minute had slung his
+patient's arm in the scarlet folds of the sash.
+
+"I say," Knight protested, "I hate like everything to take this from
+you, Miss Ashe."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave him a bright smile. "I'm very glad to have it prove
+so useful. Sarah called me frivolous when I bought it."
+
+The boy looked uncomfortable but was forced to submit, vowing inwardly
+that he would buy her the "fanciest article in the sash line" that
+Chicago could boast, to make up for the loss of her finery.
+
+"Now, my friend," said the young surgeon, as he gathered up his
+instrument case in a professional manner, "I must see that wrist in
+the morning. Where are you staying?"
+
+The youth colored; it was evident that he had expected an invitation
+to stay with his friend. Blue Bonnet spoke up at once: "You must come
+with us to the ranch. Uncle would never forgive me if I let you stay
+anywhere else."
+
+"Sorry I can't ask you to stay with me," Abbott said, observing the
+boy's confusion. "But I've only a cot built for one, you know. You'll
+be a heap more comfortable at the Blue Bonnet ranch than in my
+quarters. I'll ride over in the morning and take a look at you."
+
+With the matter thus taken out of his hands, Knight had to submit.
+"It's mighty good of you," he said to Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Not at all," she returned heartily. "I'd have to do a great deal to
+get even!"
+
+"That wasn't anything," he protested. Then, turning to the doctor, he
+remarked with a return of his usual humor: "So long, Doc--hope you
+haven't injured me for life. Bring over your bill in the morning!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII
+
+A FALLING OUT
+
+
+IT was quite late when they reached the ranch, and an anxious crowd
+was awaiting them on the veranda. Blue Bonnet wished there were rather
+fewer people there; it was tiresome to make explanations before such
+an audience. Besides, she did not know the visitor's name,--introductions
+had been of a rather sketchy sort that day. Suddenly she made up her
+mind: she would explain nothing just then, and trust to her grandmother's
+ready tact to understand her reasons.
+
+"This is--" Blue Bonnet looked at the youth inquiringly.
+
+"--Knight Judson," he supplied.
+
+"--and he's met with an accident and will stay here till his arm is
+better," she said rather breathlessly to her uncle.
+
+"Very glad to have you, I'm sure," said Uncle Cliff with ready,
+outstretched hand.
+
+Knight Judson took the proffered hand with an air of relief. "You're
+very kind, sir," he stammered.
+
+"Not at all," Mr. Ashe protested cordially. "Come right in to supper."
+
+They all went in without further ceremony to the delayed supper which
+Juanita stood waiting to serve; and the meal progressed in the usual
+gay fashion that prevailed at the ranch. Knight Judson was placed
+between Alec and Uncle Cliff, and in that congenial company the youth
+lost his shyness and was soon chatting away like an old friend. The
+awkwardness of eating with one hand gave him occasional bad moments,
+but little services, rendered unobserved by his attentive neighbors,
+tided over even these trying times.
+
+The girls stole occasional glances down to that end of the table,
+which were promptly frowned upon by Blue Bonnet and Sarah. On the
+whole, they acted rather well considering the strain on their
+curiosity; it was not every day that a good-looking young chap,
+wearing a bright red sash for a sling, appeared at the ranch.
+
+It was not until after supper, when Alec had taken the visitor to his
+room, that the others heard the whole story of the day's adventure.
+Sarah and Blue Bonnet told it almost together, a rather incoherent but
+wholly thrilling tale, while the rest of the girls hung breathlessly
+on the recital. Mrs. Clyde look worried when Sarah dwelt on the peril
+that had threatened the two of them; Blue Bonnet wished Sarah had not
+found it necessary to enlarge on that part of it. She, herself,
+preferred to describe young Judson's skill and quickness, his
+wonderful daring, and heroism under pain.
+
+"Judson, Judson," repeated Sarah, wrinkling up her brow. "Where have I
+heard that name before?"
+
+Blue Bonnet thought deeply for a moment. "I know," she cried; "don't
+you remember Carita, Carita Judson,--my missionary girl!"
+
+"I wonder if they're related!" exclaimed Sarah. "She lives in Texas,
+you know."
+
+"We must ask him in the morning," said Blue Bonnet.
+
+Early the next day Mr. Ashe despatched one of the Mexicans with a
+letter from Knight Judson to his uncle at the Big Spring.
+
+"Tell him not to expect you until he sees you," Mr. Ashe admonished
+the youth. "You must stay until that wrist is perfectly well."
+
+"You're very good, sir," replied Knight warmly. He was not at all
+averse to spending any length of time in this pleasant place; he and
+Alec had fraternized at once, and he welcomed the chance to know the
+bright Eastern boy better; as for the girls, there were too many of
+them, he thought.
+
+At breakfast Blue Bonnet opened fire on him.
+
+"Carita!" he exclaimed. "Am I any relation to her? Well, I guess
+yes--she's my cousin! Do you know her?"
+
+"I don't exactly know her," Blue Bonnet confessed, "--but we
+have--corresponded." She stopped abruptly; it was impossible to tell
+Knight about the missionary box; he might feel sensitive about it.
+Happily Sarah came to the rescue.
+
+"Father knows the Reverend Mr. Judson," she remarked. "Is he your
+uncle?"
+
+"Yes,--and Carita's father," he explained. "You see, Uncle Bayard has
+charge of a summer camp for boys up at the Big Spring; he has had it
+for several years,--we have wonderful times there. A few days ago I
+had a letter from my cousin George in Chicago asking me to look up his
+friend Abbott, who had been ordered to Texas for his health. Abbott
+was at the Spring with us last summer, but it didn't agree with him,
+so he came to Kooch's. I was on my way there when--"
+
+"When!" exclaimed Kitty dramatically. "We've heard what happened. We
+ought to have known better than to let a tenderfoot like Blue Bonnet
+go off with no protector but Sarah."
+
+"It wasn't Blue Bonnet's fault," protested Sarah indignantly. "I was
+driving."
+
+"And I suppose you drive as scientifically as you swim?" mocked Kitty.
+
+Knight looked up with twinkling eyes; evidently the We are Sevens were
+not all of Sarah's type. Blue Bonnet he had already put in a class by
+herself.
+
+"Please tell us some more about the boys' camp," begged Blue Bonnet,
+"I've heard about the Big Spring, and Uncle has promised to take me
+there. But, somehow, he never seems to get time. Is it a camp just for
+boys?--it sounds so interesting."
+
+"It's one of Uncle's fads," Knight returned, showing by his tone that
+he was rather proud of "Uncle's fad." "He's tremendously interested in
+boys and has started a sort of 'get together' movement for fellows who
+live on big ranches and farms and don't get a chance to see much of
+other young people--"
+
+"Like me!" Blue Bonnet nodded.
+
+"They club in on expenses, share the work, and, incidentally, have
+more fun than some of them ever had before," he continued. "Uncle
+isn't at all strong--that's why he came back from his mission--but he
+works hard all the time, always doing good--" he stopped abruptly. "I
+didn't mean to brag, but when I get started on Uncle Bayard, I never
+know when to stop."
+
+"And Carita--does she go camping, too?" asked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Aunt Cynthy often brings the whole family for over Sunday," he
+replied. Then a thought seemed to strike him. "Why don't you all come
+up and camp--it isn't a hard trip?"
+
+Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "Oh, I think it would be perfectly
+lovely. Grandmother, may we?" she asked.
+
+Mrs. Clyde looked up with her sympathetic smile. "It sounds
+attractive. Perhaps we can arrange it."
+
+Without seeming to do so Grandmother had heard every word of the
+conversation, and her heart had warmed to the boy who spoke so
+glowingly of his uncle's work. Knight Judson was a manly young fellow,
+she concluded, the right sort to be among girls; the best of
+companions for the frail, bookish Eastern lad.
+
+Alec himself was charmed with Knight. There was something fascinating
+about a boy who had spent most of his life in the open, and without
+much aid from books had yet thought more deeply than most youths of
+his age. He was tall and strong, all bone and muscle, with something
+about him that was suggestive of a restless colt; but a thoroughbred,
+every inch of him.
+
+After breakfast the two boys set out to hunt for Knight's horse, as
+nothing had been seen or heard of that frisky pony since he had
+vanished so unceremoniously the evening before. Alec carried a lariat,
+for learning to lasso had become the absorbing passion of his life,
+and young Judson, in spite of the hampering folds of the sling about
+his left arm, could give lessons in that art to any boy of his age in
+Texas.
+
+Blue Bonnet and Mrs. Clyde looked after the youthful pair with
+interested eyes. It was plain that Knight had brought a new element
+into Alec's life, and these two good friends rejoiced, though they
+said nothing and only smiled with new understanding.
+
+"I'm glad we nearly tipped over!" Blue Bonnet suddenly declared.
+
+"Blue Bonnet!" exclaimed her grandmother in a pained tone.
+
+"Well, I reckon I didn't mean that," confessed Blue Bonnet after a
+moment's reflection. "But I'm glad we've met Knight Judson. Alec has
+had too many girls around him here. He needs a spell of roughing it,"
+and then, as she saw an odd look on her grandmother's face, she asked
+quickly: "Isn't 'roughing it' in good society?"
+
+Mrs. Clyde laughed. "I believe it moves in the best circles--here."
+
+"That's good, for there isn't a Massachusetts word that could possibly
+take its place."
+
+"The dining-table is cleared, Benita says," Sarah announced from the
+doorway, "and we can begin our sewing lesson."
+
+They all repaired to the house, and a few minutes later the big
+dining-room was the scene of great activity; the table strewn with the
+bright-hued pieces of material, Benita smoothing and pinning the
+patterns, the Senora superintending, and the girls cutting and
+snipping to their hearts' content. At the same time there went on an
+incessant chatter, chatter, to the cheerful accompaniment of the
+sewing-machine.
+
+When Juanita entered to spread the cloth for their early dinner, the
+girls looked up in surprise.
+
+"I never knew time fly so quickly before," said Debby.
+
+"If I'd known this kind of sewing was so easy and so fascinating,"
+Blue Bonnet declared, "I'd have taken it up before. It's much nicer
+than embroidery or mending. Just see how much I've done!" She proudly
+held up the bright red garment.
+
+Sarah scanned it with perplexed eyes. "It looks rather queer to me,"
+she said.
+
+Kitty examined it, too, then snatched the suit from Blue Bonnet's
+hands. "Look!" she bade the rest, "--there's no place to get into it.
+Blue Bonnet has sewn it up the back!"
+
+There was a great outcry at this, which had the unexpected effect of
+making Blue Bonnet angry.
+
+"There's nothing on earth gives Kitty Clark such pleasure as finding
+me out in a mistake," she declared with flashing eyes and cheeks that
+burned with mortification. Then she turned on Kitty,--"I'm sorry the
+ranch can't offer you any other enjoyment!" she said scathingly and
+then, snatching back her ridiculed work, flung herself out of the
+room.
+
+Kitty's cheeks turned as red as her hair and she was just framing an
+angry reply to hurl after Blue Bonnet when she met Mrs. Clyde's eyes,
+full of a pained surprise. The girl checked the words on her lips at
+once, but a few hot tears came in spite of her efforts.
+
+"I was only joking," she said with a catch in her voice.
+
+"I'm afraid it was my fault," said Sarah. "I shouldn't have called
+attention to her mistake. I'll go and apologize."
+
+Kitty turned to Mrs. Clyde. "I apologize to _you_, Senora," she said,
+adding proudly, "but I've nothing to apologize for to Blue Bonnet.
+Half the fun of being a We are Seven is being able to say just what we
+want to. If everybody is suddenly going to be thin-skinned, I'll have
+to go about muzzled."
+
+"Blue Bonnet was hasty," said Mrs. Clyde, "and I'm sure she'll be
+ready to apologize as soon as she has thought it over."
+
+The sewing lesson for that day ended in a gloomy silence. At dinner
+the two "magpies," as Uncle Joe had nicknamed them, were mute. This
+unheard of state of affairs would have aroused comment at any other
+time, but just now their attention was diverted.
+
+"Doctor" Abbott, who had ridden over to "take a look at Knight's
+wrist," had stayed to dinner--there being always room for one more at
+that elastic table--and his bright humorous talk had completely
+fascinated every one. After dinner the men went off for a smoke, and
+the girls retired for their siesta in an atmosphere as hazy as if they
+too had indulged in the fragrant weed.
+
+They went to the swimming hole later in the day, but somehow the zest
+was all gone from the sport, with the two leading spirits distrait and
+moody, avoiding direct speech with each other, and preserving an
+attitude of injured pride. Blue Bonnet had made up her mind that Kitty
+owed her an apology, while Kitty obstinately refused even in her
+thoughts to acknowledge herself in the wrong.
+
+"Blue Bonnet thinks she's the king-pin of the universe," she mused
+angrily. "The others can keep on spoiling her if they want to, but I'm
+not going to kowtow all the time. They ape her every action,--_I'll_
+show her that one of us has independence."
+
+Keyed up by this formula, repeated mentally a great many times, Kitty
+began to indulge in heroics. Aching to excite some admiration for
+herself she did "stunts" in the water that would have terrified her
+the day before. Once she plunged her bright head under the water and
+kept it there until she was almost black in the face, in an effort to
+prove her "staying powers." It only frightened the other girls and
+went apparently unnoticed by Blue Bonnet for whose benefit the test
+had been made.
+
+[Illustration: "'_I_ BELIEVE THE ONLY WAY TO LEARN TO SWIM IS TO DIVE IN
+HEAD-FIRST.'"]
+
+"I'll show her we're not all 'fraid-cats!" Kitty resolved
+passionately. "I believe," she announced to the girls, in a tone loud
+enough to reach Blue Bonnet, who was doing an overhand stroke in the
+quiet water of the opposite bank. "_I_ believe the only way to learn
+to swim is to dive in head-first--then you just _have to_. Big boys
+always toss little fellows into the middle of the pool and make 'em
+scramble back--they always do it right off. Here goes!"
+
+She poised only for a moment on the bank, not daring to give herself
+time to reconsider. Blue Bonnet shot a quick glance at her; she saw at
+once that Kitty had chosen too shallow a spot,--a dive at that point
+might be dangerous. At any other time she would have shouted a hasty
+warning, but now she hesitated,--and in that second Kitty shot
+head-first into the water.
+
+The girls gave a gasp, and kept their eyes on the spot where she had
+gone down, waiting to see the red locks reappear. But the water closed
+over Kitty,--and stayed closed.
+
+"Blue Bonnet!" they shouted shrilly, "she hasn't come up!"
+
+Blue Bonnet felt a queer tightening around her heart; she had heard of
+boys breaking their necks that way. With a few powerful strokes she
+reached the shallows and felt for Kitty. "Help me girls--quick!" she
+cried, "she's struck her head on the bottom." She had seized Kitty by
+this time and held the girl's head above the water, but the body
+hung limp and heavy in her arms. The girls sprang to help and among
+them they managed to lift the slight figure to the bank and lay it
+tenderly on the soft grass. Kitty's face was deathly white, and from a
+gash on the top of her head a trickling stream was dyeing her bright
+locks a deeper red.
+
+Blue Bonnet's teeth were chattering. "Go for somebody!" she gasped,
+and then, as Debby started on the run, she called after her--"That
+young doctor--bring him!" Then she turned to Sarah: "Here, help me set
+her up--work her arms--so!"
+
+Dripping as she fled like a frightened water-sprite, Debby burst upon
+the others as they sat under the magnolia and screamed tragically:
+
+"Come quick--the doctor, everybody! Kitty dove and Blue Bonnet went
+down after her and she's drowned!"
+
+Then breathless, exhausted, and with her bare feet cut and bleeding
+from her run over the rough meadow, she fell headlong at Mrs. Clyde's
+feet.
+
+Uncle Cliff dropped his pipe and ran, followed by the two boys and
+Abbott, who paused only to catch up his medicine case from the
+veranda, and then sped like the wind after the others. Mrs. Clyde had
+turned ghastly white at Debby's cry and had sprung up to follow the
+men. But the sight of the little messenger lying in a pathetic heap by
+her chair, stopped her. Hastily summoning Benita she helped carry
+Debby into the house and put her to bed; and not until a faint tired
+moan told of returning consciousness, did she yield to her anxiety and
+hasten to the pool.
+
+With her feet winged by fear she crossed the meadow, ran as she had
+not run for forty years, and burst upon the group on the bank with a
+wild cry--"My girl, my girl--where is she?"
+
+At the sound Blue Bonnet sprang up, and running to her grandmother
+hugged her convulsively. "She isn't dead--only stunned," the girl
+sobbed in a glad relief.
+
+Mrs. Clyde held her off for a second. "It wasn't you then?" she
+questioned as if afraid to trust her eyes.
+
+"No, no!" cried Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Thank God!" breathed her grandmother. Then she folded the girl, wet
+as she was, in her arms, and held her close as if she would never let
+her go. In that moment Blue Bonnet knew and was never to forget how
+much she was loved by her mother's mother.
+
+A sound drew them to the group about Kitty.
+
+"There now!" young Abbott was saying cheerfully. "She's all right.
+Now, Knight, get in some of your good work,--first aid to the injured
+as taught by the Reverend Bayard Judson. A stretcher is what we need."
+
+Much pleased to be called upon, Knight set about his task, while Alec
+supplied the place of his disabled arm. Under his directions two stout
+saplings were cut and the small twigs trimmed from them. Then
+stripping off his coat he bade Alec thrust the two poles into its
+sleeve, one in each. Uncle Cliff's coat went on at the other end; both
+coats were buttoned underneath, and there before the eyes of the
+interested group, was a stretcher ready for the patient.
+
+Kitty, still weak and dazed, but with the color beginning to return to
+her milk-white cheeks, was borne gently to the house by Uncle Cliff
+and the doctor, attended by a body-guard of Alec and Mrs. Clyde, and
+followed by the other dripping and subdued We are Sevens.
+
+There was a rather bad quarter of an hour for Kitty while the doctor
+bathed and dressed her wound. After much debating and grave
+consideration in his most profound manner, young Abbott had decided
+that the cut was not deep or wide enough to warrant his sewing it up.
+Whereat there was great rejoicing in the household,--not, however,
+shared by the medical man. A bit of stitching would have given him
+practice and no end of professional enjoyment. However, Kitty felt
+that she had had quite her share of attention and was glad to be left
+alone in the nursery tucked in between cool sheets, to sleep off the
+ache in her broken head.
+
+When she awoke it was dusk in the room. Beside her bed stood somebody,
+bearing a tray.
+
+"Are you awake?" asked a sepulchral voice.
+
+"Yes," she whispered faintly.
+
+The tray was hastily placed on a stand, a second pillow slipped deftly
+under Kitty's head, and then before she had recognized her servitor a
+pair of soft lips were laid on hers and a penitent voice whispered:
+"I'm so sorry, Kitty,--and ashamed!"
+
+"It wasn't your fault, Blue Bonnet," said Kitty, returning the kiss
+warmly. "Served me right for being such a peacock."
+
+"Then all's serene on the Potomac?" Blue Bonnet questioned.
+
+And with a reassuring, though somewhat shaky smile, Kitty returned:
+
+"All's serene!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII
+
+CONSEQUENCES
+
+
+BLUE BONNET came in from an early morning romp with Don and Solomon
+looking even more rosy and debonair than usual. It was surprising how
+much easier it was to rise early at the ranch than it had been at
+Woodford. She liked to steal quietly out of the nursery and go
+adventuring before breakfast; she felt then like Blue Bonnet the
+fourteen-year-old, full of the joy of life, untroubled by fears of any
+sort or desires for the great unknown. She and Don in those days had
+had many a ramble before the dew was off the grass. Hat-less and
+short-skirted she had climbed fences, brushed through mesquite and
+buffalo grass; hunted nests of chaparral-birds; sat on the top bar of
+the old pasture fence and watched the little calves gambolling; or,
+earlier in the spring, had gathered great armfuls of blue bonnets from
+over in the south meadow. Now when she found herself away from the
+house, skirting San Franciscito in an eager chase for a butterfly, she
+could have thought the past ten months all a dream,--except for a
+certain small brown dog tearing madly from one gopher-hole to another,
+while Don, in the veteran's scorn for the novice, refused to be
+enticed from his mistress' side.
+
+"Where's Grandmother?" she asked as she entered the dining-room.
+Grandmother always sat at the head of the breakfast table, and her
+sweet "homey" face over the teacups, was the first thing Blue Bonnet
+looked for.
+
+"Benita says the Senora is not well," replied Juanita.
+
+The brightness all went out of the morning. Grandmother breakfasting
+in bed! It was unheard of. In her impetuous rush from the room Blue
+Bonnet almost collided with Benita. "Is Grandmother awake--can I go to
+her?" she asked, impatiently.
+
+"It is better not. The Senora prefers to rest," said Benita.
+
+"What's the matter with her, Benita? I never knew Grandmother to be
+ill before," Blue Bonnet asked miserably.
+
+"It is the shock, I think. The Senora is not so young as she once was,
+Senorita."
+
+Blue Bonnet turned away, sick at heart. In the nursery she found
+nothing to improve her spirits. Kitty lay languid and pale among her
+pillows, saying that her head ached and she didn't care for any
+breakfast. Debby, too, had kept her bed, declaring that she couldn't
+bear shoes on her poor lacerated feet. Amanda and Sarah only appeared
+as usual, and these two had their spirits dampened immediately by the
+sight of Blue Bonnet's gloomy countenance.
+
+The three of them had the table to themselves, the men having
+breakfasted earlier than usual and Alec and Knight having hurried
+through the meal and ridden off, no one knew where. Blue Bonnet was
+not conversational; everything in her world seemed topsy-turvy, and
+she felt that she must have an hour of hard thinking to sort things
+out and put them in their places.
+
+Amanda and Sarah, respecting Blue Bonnet's mood, were silent. During
+this period of unusual restraint, a resolution was forming in Amanda's
+mind, and at the conclusion of the meal she made an announcement that
+would have petrified the rest had it come at any other time.
+
+"I'm going to study," she said.
+
+Sarah looked her approval of this decision. "I'll help you,--let's do
+it in my room."
+
+Relief on Blue Bonnet's part quite crowded out surprise. "Then you
+don't mind if I leave you to yourselves?" she asked.
+
+"We wouldn't get much done if you didn't," Amanda replied with more
+frankness than tact.
+
+Blue Bonnet had found solitude glorious in the half-hour before
+breakfast, but now it had lost its charm: joy in her heart had given
+place to hate. Not hatred of the old life, such as had driven her to
+pastures new; not hatred of Texas and "all it stood for"--as she had
+once passionately declared to Uncle Cliff. This time the object of her
+deep and bitter feeling was--herself. She had been rude to a guest in
+her own house. She had seen one of her best friends risk her life and
+had made no move to prevent it. She had been the cause of her
+grandmother's receiving a shock which, at her time of life, might
+prove very serious. And all this in spite of having lived for nearly a
+year with two such perfect gentlewomen as Aunt Lucinda and Grandmother
+Clyde. In spite of her boasted loyalty to the "We are Sevens." In
+spite of her promise to her aunt to care tenderly for her grandmother
+and bring her back safely to Woodford.
+
+She had wandered aimlessly outdoors and now flung herself face down on
+the Navajo under the big magnolia. "It's no use,--I reckon it's the
+same old thing. I'm not an Ashe clear through." With the thought came
+swift tears.
+
+Her head lay against something hard and unyielding; and after her
+first grief had spent itself, she put up her hand to push away the
+object--but grasped it instead. It was a book; opening her tear-wet
+reddened eyes Blue Bonnet saw that it was a volume of her
+grandmother's favorite Thoreau. It lay just where Mrs. Clyde had
+dropped it the day before when she had sprung up at Debby's frightened
+cry.
+
+She dried her eyes and sat up. Leaning against the low, wicker chair,
+that was her grandmother's chosen seat, she slowly turned the leaves
+of the well-worn volume, her thoughts more on the owner of the book
+than on its author. All at once her glance was caught and held by
+something that seemed an echo of the cry that kept welling up from her
+own unhappy heart. It was a prayer, only ten short lines, and she read
+them with growing wonder:
+
+        "Great God! I ask thee for no meaner pelf
+         Than that I may not disappoint myself;
+         That in my striving I may soar as high
+         As I can now discern with this clear eye.
+         That my weak hand may equal my firm faith,
+         And my life practise more than my tongue saith.
+         That my low conduct may not show,
+         Nor my relenting lines,
+         That I thy purpose did not know
+         Or over-rated thy designs."
+
+How could any one, and that a grown man and a poet, have so exactly
+voiced the thoughts of a young girl on a far-off Texas ranch?
+
+        " . . . . I ask thee for no meaner pelf
+         Than that I may not disappoint myself."
+
+That was just it--she had disappointed herself, grievously, bitterly.
+So absorbed was she that she did not hear a foot-fall, nor did she
+look up until Uncle Cliff exclaimed, "All alone, Honey? That doesn't
+often happen these days!" His cheerful voice expressed no regret for
+the absence of the others.
+
+She looked up, and then quickly down again; but not soon enough for
+the traces of tears to escape his watchful eye.
+
+"What's up, Blue Bonnet?" he asked anxiously. He was on the rug beside
+her now, and with a hand under her quivering chin tilted her face and
+scanned it closely.
+
+She winked fast for a moment. "Uncle Cliff, do you find it terribly
+hard to be good?"
+
+"Thundering hard, Honey." He thought whimsically that it was lucky no
+one else had heard that question. "So hard that my success at it
+hasn't been remarkable!"
+
+"Oh, Uncle, it has!" she declared. "And it always seems so easy for
+you to 'live as you ride--straight and true.' I was so proud last
+winter when you said I'd proved I was an Ashe, clear through. But I
+reckon you spoke too soon. I've been showing what Alec calls 'a yellow
+streak.'"
+
+"Don't you say that of my girl! I'll wager our best short-horn against
+a prairie-dog that if you've a yellow streak it's pure gold!" He
+caressed the brown head that nestled against his arm.
+
+She wriggled away and faced him firmly. "You may as well know the
+worst, Uncle Cliff. It was my fault that Kitty was hurt yesterday.
+It's my fault Grandmother is ill and Debby's feet hurt. I was mean
+and thoughtless and selfish and--"
+
+He put his hand over her mouth. "Look here, no Ashe is going to hear
+one of his race called all those ugly names. Remember whom you're
+talking to! Things always seem to come in bunches, Honey, but you have
+to dispose of them one at a time. Why, it's hardly a year since a girl
+about your size--a bit younger she was, but she had blue eyes just
+like yours,--was saying she reckoned she'd never make a Westerner, and
+she hated the ranch and was going to sell it as soon as she came of
+age--"
+
+"Don't!" came in a smothered tone from Blue Bonnet. Her face was
+buried again. "Don't remind me how downright horrid I was."
+
+"And six months later that same little girl--blue eyes same as
+yours--was telling me how she reckoned that three hundred years would
+never make an Easterner of her, and she loved the ranch and wanted to
+be a Texas Blue Bonnet as long as she lived!"
+
+"And so I do, Uncle."
+
+"Well, I'm just running over a few items in order to remind you that
+most troubles aren't half as black as your feelings paint them at the
+time. It's best not to worry over spilt milk till you see it's made a
+grease-spot. Ten to one the cat will lick it up,--and it's an ill wind
+that blows nobody good. There,--that figure of speech is as mixed as
+a plum-pudding, but it has a heap of sound philosophy!"
+
+Blue Bonnet was smiling now. "I wish all the preachers would say the
+kind of things you do. Most of the sermons I've heard sound like that
+last piece of mine--'variations on one theme'--and the theme is Duty
+with a big D. Sarah was brought up on those. And they must be pretty
+successful, for Sarah is awfully good. Isn't she?"
+
+"Just that--awfully good."
+
+She looked up quickly, struck by something odd in his tone; but he was
+perfectly sober.
+
+"She's the salt of the earth," he added, "and you--"
+
+"And what am I?"
+
+He smiled down at her. "Do you remember how the south pasture looks
+when the blue bonnets bloom in March,--how fresh and sweet, a sky
+turned upside down--? It's the glory of the ranch, Honey. And what
+they are to the ranch, you are to me. Please don't be trying to be
+something you can't be, Blue Bonnet!"
+
+She laughed outright. "That sounds like the Duchess in 'Alice in
+Wonderland.' Don't you remember?"
+
+"I confess I don't. You've been neglecting my education, young lady,
+since you began your own. What does the Duchess say?"
+
+"'Be what you would seem to be'--or, if you want it put more
+simply--'Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might
+appear to others that what you were or might have been was not
+otherwise than what you had been would have appeared to them to be
+otherwise.'" The face she turned to him as she finished was cloudless,
+and he breathed a sigh of relief.
+
+"That's quite plain," he said, "and I hope you'll take the lesson to
+heart!"
+
+She smiled as she rose. Glancing up he was surprised to see how tall
+she looked,--quite as tall, he thought, as her mother had been when
+she came a bride to the ranch. Well, she was almost sixteen,--the
+other Elizabeth was only eighteen.
+
+"You've done me a lot of good, Uncle Cliff," she was saying. "I think
+my 'indigo fit,' as Alec calls the blues, has faded to a pale azure,
+and I can go to Grandmother. She will be wondering where I am."
+
+"Next time I see a fit coming on, I shall quote the Duchess!" he
+warned her.
+
+Blue Bonnet was delighted to find her grandmother awake and ready for
+a "heart to heart" talk. Snuggled cosily on the bed at her feet the
+penitent poured out all her discouragement of the morning, and
+received the balm, which like the milk in the magic pitcher, bubbled
+constantly in Grandmother's heart.
+
+In Sarah's room the two students were diligently at work, Sarah in the
+role of preceptress, hearing Amanda's French verbs, or helping to
+discover the perplexing value of X in an algebraic equation. Only
+occasionally did the thoughts of either wander.
+
+"This is the second time," remarked Amanda, "that Blue Bonnet and
+Kitty have had a tiff. The 'third time never fails,' you know."
+
+"Do you really think that after the third falling-out they'd stay--"
+
+"Out?--indeed I do think so," Amanda declared. "I've seen it come true
+too many times to doubt it. There are always three fires--the last the
+worst; three spells of illness, three shipwrecks, three--everything!"
+
+"It sounds rather--superstitious to me," observed Sarah, doubtfully.
+"I shouldn't like to believe it anyway, for it keeps you always
+looking out for the third time, and that is _so_ uncomfortable."
+
+"It's true as gospel," Amanda insisted.
+
+From that time onward, in spite of her better judgment, Sarah lived in
+perpetual dread of Blue Bonnet's third falling-out with Kitty; and her
+attitude was continually that of the pacifier, pouring the oil of
+tactful words on troubled waters, or averting the wrath of either by a
+watchfulness that never relaxed. Just how much was due Sarah for the
+cordial spirit that prevailed for a long time following this between
+the two girls, neither realized; and Sarah asked no reward for her
+pains, save peace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX
+
+TEXAS AND MASSACHUSETTS
+
+
+AT supper-time all the invalids were up; Kitty appearing rather
+"interestingly pale," as Amanda remarked; Debby hobbling about in
+padded bedroom slippers; and Grandmother Clyde looking somewhat older
+and grayer than usual, but calm and contained once more.
+
+"Where are the boys?" asked the Senora, noting Alec's absence with
+some anxiety.
+
+"They went off early this morning loaded for big game," said Uncle Joe
+with a twinkle in his eye.
+
+"Do you mean they carried guns?" Mrs. Clyde spoke with a shade of
+worry in her tone; she had missed the twinkle.
+
+"Shady had a shotgun, I believe, but the boys carried nothing deadlier
+than lariats. I believe young Trent takes one to bed with him. He's
+been practising on the snubbing-post in the corral for hours every
+day,--he's got so he catches it about once in so often, and he's
+tickled to death." Uncle Joe chuckled.
+
+"Knight Judson can beat any of the Mexicans at lassoing," Blue Bonnet
+declared. "He must be a wonder when he has both hands free."
+
+"He doesn't seem in any hurry to discard his sling, I notice," Uncle
+Joe remarked, winking at Blue Bonnet ostentatiously.
+
+"His wrist isn't well yet," she insisted, ignoring the teasing glance.
+
+"Here they come, now," exclaimed Kitty. "Alec looks as excited as if
+he'd killed a bear at the very least!"
+
+"We've had a wonderful day," Alec declared, full of enthusiasm, when
+he and Knight had greeted every one and slipped into their places.
+Both boys were ravenous; Blue Bonnet and her grandmother exchanged a
+significant glance as Alec passed his plate for a second generous
+helping. He looked already a different boy from the pale student who
+had left Woodford only a few weeks before.
+
+"Guess what we bagged to-day?" he asked.
+
+"A bear!" Kitty said immediately.
+
+"Quail!" Blue Bonnet guessed.
+
+"Shady got some quail, but we didn't do any shooting," replied Alec.
+
+"Maybe you and Knight lassoed some prairie-hens," suggested Uncle Joe,
+laughing at his own joke.
+
+"Alec lassoed his first steer all right--made a neat job of it too,"
+said Knight enthusiastically.
+
+"Very amateurish work," Alec protested, pleased nevertheless at
+Knight's praise. "The steer thought I looked so harmless that he took
+a big chance--that's how I came to land him."
+
+"But what did you 'bag?'" asked Blue Bonnet, going back to the
+original question. "Is it good to eat?"
+
+Knight and Alec exchanged amused glances. "Never tasted them," both
+declared.
+
+"Where is it?" Blue Bonnet persisted.
+
+"'Tisn't 'it,'--but 'they'--and they're out in the barn," said Alec,
+delighting in the mystery.
+
+Blue Bonnet was all impatience. "Oh, do hurry, everybody, and let's go
+see," she urged.
+
+The rapidity with which Knight and Alec ate the rest of their supper
+should have given them indigestion, even if it did not. It was
+impossible to leave any of Gertrudis' raspberry tart; equally
+impossible to keep their hostess waiting when she was on tip-toe to be
+off; mastication therefore was the only thing they could neglect--and
+did.
+
+Blue Bonnet had felt all the weight of her sixteen years a few hours
+earlier, but now she seemed to drop at least six of them, as she raced
+across the yard, impelled by a curiosity that Kitty would have died
+rather than display.
+
+Don and Solomon were sniffing excitedly about one of the mangers,
+emitting an occasional shrill bark; Blue Bonnet went straight to it
+and peered down. It was too dark to make out anything, but she could
+hear a rustling in the hay, and a pathetic, low whine.
+
+"It's something alive!" she cried, and was about to put an exploring
+hand down to find the source of the whine, when she had a second
+thought. "Will it bite?"
+
+"Too little," Knight assured her. He bent as he spoke and lifted two
+little furry bundles and laid them in Blue Bonnet's outstretched arms.
+
+"Puppies!" she cried delightedly. She bore them to the light, the
+other girls crowding about for a view of the wriggling mites.
+
+After her first good look at them, Sarah gave an exclamation of
+surprise. "Why, they're not dogs," she cried.
+
+"Yes, they are," said Alec, "--coyote pups!"
+
+"Oh, the dears!" cried Blue Bonnet ecstatically. "Where did you get
+them?"
+
+"Shady shot the mother," Knight explained, and then wished he had
+not,--Blue Bonnet looked so grieved. "She killed a calf a few nights
+ago," he said in extenuation, "and Shady was 'laying for' her. She
+made for her hole after she was wounded and we followed,--that's how
+we came to find the pups. Lucky we did or they'd have had a hard time
+of it."
+
+"Poor babies," said Blue Bonnet. "Let's go and show them to
+Grandmother and Debby--I reckon they never saw a real live coyote
+before. Here, Sarah, you carry one." She generously held out one of
+the bright-eyed babies, but to her surprise Sarah drew back. "Why, you
+can't be afraid, Sarah?"
+
+"N-no," Sarah replied, edging away as she spoke. "But I don't like to
+touch--live animals."
+
+"Well, I'd much rather touch live ones than dead things!" exclaimed
+Blue Bonnet. "Here, Alec, you take the poor baby--Sarah doesn't know
+how to mother it!"
+
+Grandmother and Debby were rather lukewarm in their praise, Blue
+Bonnet thought, when the coyotes were brought to them on the veranda.
+Grandmother did not look in the least delighted when the two
+sharp-nosed, long-haired puppies were dropped into her lap; and
+finally Blue Bonnet gathered them both in her arms, declaring that
+nobody knew how to appreciate real Texas babies except herself.
+
+"I'm going to keep them always," she said. "And Don and Solomon will
+just have to be reconciled."
+
+"Have you asked your uncle if he is willing for you to keep two such
+pets?" her grandmother asked.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked over to Uncle Cliff and laughed. "Asked Uncle
+Cliff? Why, Grandmother, I brought him up and he knows better than to
+oppose me at this late day!"
+
+Uncle Cliff smiled back at her whimsically. "I hope I'm a credit to
+your training! Two new pets is quite a modest demand. I've known her
+to have a dozen or two at a time. One summer she had twin lambs, a
+magpie, a lizard, bunnies--"
+
+"Don't forget the snakes," Blue Bonnet interrupted.
+
+"Blue Bonnet Ashe--you never made pets of snakes!" gasped Debby.
+
+"Three of them; beauties, too," Blue Bonnet replied.
+
+"Weren't you afraid of them?" Sarah asked wonderingly.
+
+"These were perfectly harmless; nobody should be afraid of such pretty
+little things. But the magpie had fits over them, so they had to go,"
+Blue Bonnet remarked regretfully.
+
+"What became of the magpie?" asked Kitty.
+
+"Poor Mag died of curiosity," said Mr. Ashe. "She sampled some cyanide
+of potassium I had put out for ants. We had a most impressive funeral.
+You must get Blue Bonnet to show you her grave."
+
+"I will some day. We chose Mag's favorite spot--under a dewberry bush.
+Now what shall we call these cherubs?"
+
+"You've just called them 'Texas babies,' why not call one 'Texas?'"
+Knight suggested.
+
+"And the other 'Massachusetts,'" said Sarah.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked at her in open admiration. "Your inspirations don't
+come often, Sarah," she remarked, "but they're as apt as not to be
+positively brilliant when they get here! Texas and Massachusetts the
+babies shall be. Poor Massachusetts' name is as long as his tail, but
+maybe he can bear up under it."
+
+"Let's go show them to the youngsters," Alec suggested. "Pancho's
+twins are straining their eyes for a peep."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave him one of the pups to carry and together they
+crossed the yard to the Mexican quarters. A moment later Blue Bonnet
+was sitting in the doorway of the little adobe hut, the coyotes in her
+lap, while all of Pancho's brood, not to mention Pancho and his fat
+Marta, were hanging about her in an eager, admiring circle. Every
+little "greaser" on the ranch adored the Senorita, and she was
+godmother to half the babies born on the place. Alec bade fair to be
+almost as popular as she, for he was always ready for a romp and had
+an unfailing supply of nuts in his capacious pockets. The visit now
+ended in a "rough-house," Alec with his ever-handy lariat lassoing the
+fleet-footed boys and pretending to take them prisoner, while they
+dodged and ran and kept up a shrill chorus of baby Spanish that
+delighted his soul.
+
+Later he and Blue Bonnet walked to the stable and put the coyotes down
+for the night; choosing the unused manger again as being secure
+against the impertinent investigations of Don and Solomon, and deep
+enough to prevent the venturesome babies from falling out. It was
+almost dark as they strolled back towards the house, lingering and
+chatting and drinking in the beauty of the night. The lovely southern
+sky was studded with stars; the breeze laden with perfumes that only a
+Texas prairie knows; and the air full of melody,--the deep laughter of
+the cowboys lounging about the bunk-house, and the sweet tone of
+Shady's fiddle as he played to the crowd on the house-veranda.
+
+Alec paused and drew a deep breath. "And you wanted to leave it!"
+
+"I wonder at myself sometimes," she confessed. "But I'm not sorry.
+Think how much richer I am this summer than last, with Grandmother and
+all the girls,--not to mention present company!"
+
+"Thank you!" Alec laughed and made his bow.
+
+"You like it more because it is--different, than for any other reason.
+I reckon you have to know other places before you can properly
+appreciate your own," she went on thoughtfully.
+
+"This doesn't seem to add to my appreciation of--Woodford," Alec
+rejoined quickly.
+
+"That's because you haven't been here long enough. After a few years
+you'd begin to wonder how the elms look on Adams Avenue, and yearn for
+a glimpse of the Boston Common--just as I used to long for a sight of
+the prairie. But I'm glad you like it here--for it is a grand old
+place!"
+
+"I wish Grandfather would rejoice because I like it," he remarked
+moodily. "He seems to be sorry that I didn't go abroad with Boyd. And
+Boyd's letters to him--which he always forwards--are full of ravings
+about automobiles and scenery and pictures. Pictures!" Alec pointed to
+the meadow ahead of them where a million fireflies flashed their tiny
+lanterns, "--I wish he could see this! And I wish--I wish I could make
+him understand the bigness of it all. And how tired I am of sitting
+still and letting other people _do_ things. I want to live." The boy's
+voice trembled as he ended.
+
+Again Blue Bonnet had a sudden sinking of the heart--could Alec
+mean--? She opened her lips to speak, but he went on gloomily:
+
+"Grandfather doesn't seem able to understand. He has never been
+willing to admit that I am a weakling, and refuses to see that my days
+are numbered in Woodford. I've been trying to get up courage enough to
+write him about myself, but I can't do it--yet." And then, as if
+fearing he had said too much, he added: "But don't say anything to the
+others, please. It's too soon--I may feel different by the end of the
+summer. Let it be a secret between us two--three rather, for I've
+already told Knight." Then, before Blue Bonnet could gather herself
+together for a reply, he had started on a new tack. "I tell you, Blue
+Bonnet, there's a fellow that dwarfs every other chap I ever knew!"
+His tone was now as eager and enthusiastic as it had been doleful.
+
+Blue Bonnet was puzzled, but deciding that Alec needed to have his
+mind turned from introspective subjects, she took him up at once. "I
+agree with you. He's a giant for his age."
+
+"I don't mean his size," returned Alec. "He's so big--mentally, you
+know. And he's so alive, so--"
+
+"Up and coming?" interpolated Blue Bonnet. "That's pure Texan, I
+believe."
+
+"It describes him exactly."
+
+"What I can't understand is how such an expert horseman came to be
+thrown," Blue Bonnet remarked wonderingly.
+
+"I suppose he was startled at seeing a blue bonnet out of season!"
+laughed Alec. "I'm so glad something happened to bring him my way. It
+seems to give me a new lease on life just to be with him."
+
+"Uncle Cliff says he is 'greased lightning' with a lariat," said Blue
+Bonnet.
+
+"I should say he is. I could find it in my heart to envy him that
+accomplishment, even if he hadn't any others."
+
+"Uncle Joe says you are getting quite expert yourself," she threw out
+comfortingly.
+
+"Oh, yes, I can lasso a snubbing-post that can't get out of the way!"
+he retorted. He still clung to his lariat and now swung it in his hand
+rather impatiently.
+
+"Try your skill now. There's one of the girls waiting for us--lasso
+her and see how she acts!" Blue Bonnet urged mischievously.
+
+"Where?"
+
+"There--just by the magnolia," she whispered.
+
+It was almost dark, but Alec could manage to make out a dark figure
+standing half within the shadow of the big tree. He crept silently a
+few steps nearer and paused, whirling the loop around his head. The
+hair rope spread into a circle, hissed and flickered for a moment in
+the air, then dropped straight over the victim. It was a good throw.
+Alec gave a twitch--not too hard--to the lariat, and the thing was
+done. Blue Bonnet clapped her hands and started forward with Alec to
+see which one of the girls he had caught. Both suddenly stopped in
+dismay. There was a struggle, a shrill scream, and a very angry
+Spanish oath.
+
+And as the two of them hastened up full of surprise and apologies,
+they saw--Juanita and Miguel both caught in the one noose.
+
+Stifling their laughter, Alec and Blue Bonnet released the embarrassed
+pair of sweethearts, and then the boy made a handsome apology. Juanita
+hung her head and was silent, but Miguel, after the first blazing up
+of his anger, cooled down and accepted the explanation in good part.
+
+Still weak with suppressed laughter, the two miscreants hurried on,
+waiting to be out of ear-shot before giving way to their wild mirth.
+As they drew near to the veranda they heard the crowd there singing to
+the accompaniment of Shady's violin.
+
+        "Nita, Jua-a-an-ita, ask thy soul if we must part!"
+
+came tremulously from Uncle Joe and the We are Sevens.
+
+It was too much. Blue Bonnet collapsed in a heap on the grass.
+
+"Oh, Alec!" she gasped. "Miguel ought to have been singing that,--only
+he ought to have said--'Jua-a-an-ita, bless my soul if we can part!'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X
+
+ENTER CARITA
+
+
+TWO days later Knight appeared at the table minus his sling, and
+announced that this must be his last day at the ranch. There were
+expressions of regret from everybody, and from Blue Bonnet vigorous
+objections. The boy quite glowed under the tribute.
+
+"I simply must go," he protested firmly. "Though it's a big temptation
+to stay, I tell you. But it isn't fair to Uncle Bayard for me to be
+away any longer. Those twelve boys keep things moving for him. I hope
+you will be able to come up for one of our Sundays," he said to Mrs.
+Clyde.
+
+"Grandmother has missed her church more than anything else," Blue
+Bonnet remarked. "It's been pretty warm to drive to Jonah, and none of
+the Padres has visited the ranch since we came."
+
+"We have an outdoor service in a beautiful grove of trees," Knight
+explained, "and that setting and the boys' voices in the open air and
+all--well, it has spoiled me for stuffy meeting-houses. Can't you all
+come up and stay over next Sunday?" His glance and the eyes of all the
+We are Sevens were fastened anxiously on Mrs. Clyde's face.
+
+She thought for a moment. "It seems a stupendous undertaking,--for so
+many of us," she said at length. Camping out in Texas was full of
+unknown and rather dreadful possibilities, she secretly opined.
+
+"We'll take all the responsibility, Grandmother," Blue Bonnet assured
+her gravely.
+
+Mrs. Clyde did not meet her granddaughter's eye; that young lady's
+method of taking responsibility was not such as to inspire one with
+unlimited confidence.
+
+"I can send Miguel ahead with one of the cook-wagons," Uncle Cliff
+suggested. "You can have Pancho, too, if you like,--he cooked on the
+round-up this spring and didn't kill anybody. Lisa's too fat and
+Gertrudis too old for that ride."
+
+"And we want Lupe for wrangler," said Blue Bonnet. "A wrangler looks
+after the horses, Sarah _mia_," she explained, anticipating the
+question.
+
+"If we go," said Senora, "let us go as simply as possible. Surely we
+don't need such an army of men."
+
+"But, Grandmother," Blue Bonnet protested, "there has to be a cook,
+and somebody to pitch tents, and one to look after the horses and--"
+
+"I don't see the necessity. You miss half the pleasure of camping out
+if you have everything done for you. When I was a girl we used to camp
+out in the Maine woods, and we girls took turns cooking and washing
+dishes, while the boys gathered wood for the fires, caught fish and
+looked after the horses. To take a crowd of servants along would rob
+the life of all its simplicity."
+
+Blue Bonnet looked rather blank. Cooking and washing dishes did not
+seem altogether simple to her.
+
+"I can make caramel cake," announced Kitty.
+
+"That's lovely--especially for breakfast," said Blue Bonnet.
+
+"I don't like sweet things for breakfast," said Sarah.
+
+"Beans and bacon are as good camp fare as one needs," said Knight. "It
+is pretty cool in the mornings and evenings, and one gets hungry
+enough to eat the dishes."
+
+"We'll agree to anything if Grandmother will only go," said Blue
+Bonnet eagerly.
+
+Grandmother, however, withheld her decision until she had held a
+serious conversation alone with Uncle Cliff.
+
+"Don't you think you are encouraging Blue Bonnet in habits of
+extravagance?" she asked, smiling inwardly at the likeness of her
+question to some of Lucinda's.
+
+Uncle Cliff pondered for a moment. "That depends on what you call
+'extravagance.' According to my definition it means spending more than
+you can afford."
+
+"Blue Bonnet is certainly spending a great deal this summer. It must
+cost something to keep up a big place like this, so many servants
+besides all the guests."
+
+"Mexicans don't draw down princely salaries, you know," he argued.
+"And we're not used to counting noses at table. Besides, Blue Bonnet
+has enough to do just about as she likes with. Miss Clyde and I had
+some talk about it last winter--when she put the poor child on an
+allowance. Three dollars!" Mr. Ashe made a comical grimace. "Why, Mrs.
+Clyde, I've been putting by Blue Bonnet's profits every year for
+nearly sixteen years, and they've been pretty tidy sums, too. Besides,
+she's going to have every penny of mine, some day. And now she's old
+enough to enjoy spending, I don't quite see the use of making her
+skimp." He looked very much in earnest and ready to "have it out" then
+and there.
+
+"But the possessors of wealth should be taught the value of money,
+just the same, don't you think so?" Mrs. Clyde urged.
+
+"Surely!" he agreed. "And Blue Bonnet has a very fair idea of its
+value, I think. She gives more people a good time on it than any one I
+know. You never knew her to stay awake nights worrying over something
+for herself, now did you?"
+
+"Blue Bonnet is not given to worrying over anything. Not that I wish
+her to. She is dear and warm-hearted and generous like her mother,
+but a little heedless,--Lucinda thinks. She needs to be taught that
+wealth entails responsibility."
+
+"Lucinda!" was Mr. Ashe's mental ejaculation. He might have known the
+source of Mrs. Clyde's arguments. Miss Clyde had undoubtedly sound
+ideas on the up-bringing of the young, and any amount of New England
+thrift. He had unlimited respect for her strength of character; but
+also his opinion as to why she was still _Miss_ Clyde. "Maybe I've a
+queer mental twist," he went on audibly, "but that's just what I don't
+see the need of. Poor folk have to worry about making ends meet; but
+if money is of any use at all it's to save one that kind of fretting.
+When one feels the 'responsibility of wealth,' then it's a burden. I'd
+hate to think Blue Bonnet would ever get to that pass."
+
+Mrs. Clyde wished for Lucinda just at this moment; Miss Clyde could
+have met this argument with a worthy rejoinder, she was confident.
+"Don't you fear that thoughtless spending now may grow into future
+extravagance?" she asked rather helplessly.
+
+"When the little girl begins to worry about bird-of-paradise aigrettes
+and pearl pendants for herself, I'll believe she's extravagant. As
+long as she spends only what she can afford and bestows it all upon
+others, I'll not begin to fret," he said decidedly.
+
+"Then you don't think this camping-trip an extravagance? She is doing
+so much for the girls already that it seems rather unnecessary to me."
+
+"It will be a wonderful experience for the girls--and they're just the
+right age to enjoy it most. A few years later they'll fuss about dirt
+and want springs on their beds."
+
+Grandmother Clyde smothered a sigh; she had reached the latter stage,
+but perhaps it was not her place to "reason why." The conversation
+ended for the present, and during her stay on the ranch was not
+resumed.
+
+As Uncle Cliff left the veranda after the conference, he was set upon
+by Blue Bonnet and Kitty and enticed to the lair of the We are Sevens,
+which chanced this time to be the summer-house in the Senorita's
+little garden. This rather shaky bower, overgrown by jack-beans which
+held together the would-be rustic structure, had once been the pride
+of Blue Bonnet's heart, but now, neglected--as was the garden since
+the advent of the ranch party--had become the residence of a large and
+growing family of insects. It served, however, as a very excellent
+spot for secret sessions such as the present one. A circular bench,
+very wobbly as to legs, had the advantage of bringing all the members
+face to face in solemn conclave. It was here their captive was haled.
+
+"What says the noble Senora?" demanded Blue Bonnet, and then before he
+could answer she exclaimed--"Uncle Cliff, you must help us out. Life
+without that camping trip will be stale, flat and unprofitable."
+
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet," said Sarah reproachfully, "how can you say that
+when we are having the most wonderful time that ever was?"
+
+"Sarah, don't weaken our case," Blue Bonnet admonished her. "It's your
+place to look positively _pining_!"
+
+"If you'll allow me to speak," remarked Uncle Cliff, "I'll put an end
+to your suspense. The Queen Mother says she will sacrifice herself for
+the weal of her subjects."
+
+"Hooray!" cried Blue Bonnet, and the cry was echoed even by Sarah.
+
+Alec and Knight, hearing the uproar on their way to the house, stopped
+and begged permission to enter.
+
+"Come right in and sit down on the floor," said Blue Bonnet cordially.
+"Alec, Grandmother says she'll go!"
+
+"So that's what all the row's about?" asked Knight. "Say, but I'm
+glad!"
+
+Alec's eyes shone. "Don't you think I'd better go ahead with Knight? I
+could pick out a camping place and have everything ready for you." He
+had been awaiting a favorable moment to bring forth his quietly laid
+scheme, and the present seemed auspicious.
+
+"I think that would be splendid," cried Blue Bonnet enthusiastically,
+reading Alec like a book. "But you'll wait and go with us, won't you,
+Uncle?"
+
+"Can't go this trip. Pete has gone up with some of the boys to cut out
+a bunch of beef-cattle. I'll have to see to shipping them."
+
+"Oh, Uncle,--we need you," remonstrated Blue Bonnet.
+
+"And it's almost as good to be needed as it is to be wanted. Thank
+you."
+
+"We want you even more than we need you," she insisted.
+
+"You'll have plenty of men creatures to tyrannize over in camp. How
+many boys did you say there were, Knight?"
+
+"There are twelve--and they know how to work, too."
+
+"They'll be worked all right," said Uncle Cliff with a wicked twinkle.
+
+"We must all work," said Sarah conscientiously. "I think we had better
+begin to plan things and get ready right away."
+
+"The first thing to do," said Blue Bonnet, "is to make a huge lot of
+pinoche."
+
+Sarah regarded her in astonishment. "Do you propose to live on
+pinoche?"
+
+"No, goose, but with twelve boys in camp--not counting Alec and
+Knight, a pound won't go very far. And we must send to Jonah for
+marshmallows."
+
+"Hadn't you better include several tons of angel-cake and fifty
+gallons or so of ice-cream?" asked Kitty.
+
+"Just you wait, Kitty-Kat. When you see the use to which I put those
+marshmallows, you'll see that I'm the most practical member of the
+Club," Blue Bonnet prophesied solemnly.
+
+"Grandmother, you're such a success," she said later, as they two sat
+discussing ways and means for the camping-trip.
+
+"A success?" Mrs. Clyde questioned.
+
+"As a grandmother, you know. If I'd had you made to order I wouldn't
+have had you a mite different! I hope our trip isn't going to be too
+hard for you. I promised Aunt Lucinda to take care of you, and I
+suspect sometimes that I'm not quite living up to the contract."
+
+"We elderly people must guard against getting 'set in our ways.'
+Camp-life is certainly a good corrective for that." Mrs. Clyde smiled
+rather ruefully.
+
+"It surely is," Blue Bonnet laughed. "It would never suit Aunt
+Lucinda. But she isn't sixty-five years young!"
+
+"Nor fifteen years old."
+
+"Was she ever? Somehow I can't imagine her different. It must give one
+a very--solid feeling, to be as sure about everything as Aunt Lucinda
+is. But she misses a lot of fun!"
+
+Early the next morning Alec and Knight rode away; Knight looking very
+soldierly and capable now that his arm no longer reposed in its
+scarlet sling; Alec with his blankets in a business-like roll behind
+his saddle, and both boys provided with a "snack of lunch" to eat on
+the way. Alec's eyes were shining with anticipation; even Strawberry
+pranced more joyously than usual as though she knew a good time was in
+store.
+
+The We are Sevens accompanied the travellers as far as Kooch's, and
+sent them off from that point weighted with injunctions and messages
+innumerable. That ride, even Sarah admitted, was a "grand and
+glorious" success; the air was fresh and sweet, Comanche very
+tractable, and everybody in the best of humors. The girls returned to
+the ranch full of plans for the camping trip, and for the rest of the
+day, and for several days following, made out exhaustive lists of
+eatables, bedding and utensils such as would have provided amply for a
+regiment of soldiers. In the midst of the preparations Sarah was
+caught red-handed packing her drawn-work among her effects.
+
+"She'll have to be watched, girls," said Kitty. "White linen
+drawn-work on a camping-trip! Next she'll be slipping in white pique
+skirts and dancing slippers."
+
+"I suppose you'll object to my taking handkerchiefs, too?" Sarah's
+look was a mixture of irony and indignation.
+
+"We ought really to bar all hankies except bandanas," said Blue
+Bonnet, "but we'll stretch a point for Sarah's sake. She can't help
+having aristocratic tastes, you know."
+
+Sarah was secretly of the opinion that drawn-work was no more out of
+place than the many boxes of pinoche and marshmallows that Blue Bonnet
+packed away in the huge "grub-boxes," but she yielded with her usual
+good grace.
+
+By Wednesday all was pronounced in readiness for the start. Miguel was
+sent ahead with tents and supplies in one of the big cook-wagons used
+on the round-ups; with help from Alec and Knight he was to have a camp
+ready for the rest of the party when they should arrive on the
+following day.
+
+"I wish Grandmother were not so set on the 'simple life,'" remarked
+Blue Bonnet, "for I should like to take Juanita along. It's a pity to
+separate her and Miguel just now, when things are progressing so
+nicely."
+
+"How do you know?" Kitty looked up quickly.
+
+Blue Bonnet bit her lip. She and Alec had agreed not to tell of the
+incident of the lasso, and she had kept the secret, though she burned
+to tell the romance-loving We are Sevens. "Just by signs," she
+answered evasively.
+
+But Kitty could read signs, too, and privately longed to shake the
+mystery out of her hostess. Suspecting the trend of little Miss Why's
+thoughts, Blue Bonnet went on hurriedly: "How shall we go--in the
+buckboard or on horse-back?"
+
+"Horse-back!" exclaimed all four of the others.
+
+"Did I hear you speak, Sarah?" Kitty inquired.
+
+"You did if you were listening," replied Sarah calmly.
+
+"I believe Sarah and Comanche have formed a real attachment for each
+other," said Blue Bonnet who secretly exulted in Sarah's growing
+spirit.
+
+"It must be a patent attachment then," laughed Kitty, "--something
+that keeps Sarah on!"
+
+"Grandmother will have to go in the buckboard--Uncle Joe's going to
+drive and--" Blue Bonnet did some hasty calculating, "I had better
+stay with Grandmother--it's smoother riding with two in a seat.
+Firefly will hate being led, but I reckon some disciplining won't hurt
+him."
+
+They were up before dawn in order to complete the first stage of the
+journey before noon. As they gathered about the lamp-lighted table for
+breakfast, yawning and rubbing their eyes, Blue Bonnet gave an amused
+laugh.
+
+        "'In _summer_ I get up at night
+         And dress by yellow candle-light.'"
+
+she quoted.
+
+"I think it would have been a good plan to have had breakfast before
+we went to bed," said Sarah. "Thank you, Mrs. Clyde, I will take
+coffee, I think it will wake me up."
+
+"Never mind," said Blue Bonnet. "You can just alter the lines a bit--
+
+        "'In camp it's quite the other way,
+         We'll all go straight to bed by day'--
+
+and make up for the loss of our beauty sleep. And you'll see something
+worth getting up for later. Sunrise on the prairie, Kitty, makes the
+Massachusetts article look like your pink lawn when it came back from
+the wash."
+
+They were several miles from the ranch when Uncle Joe raised his quirt
+and pointed to the east. "There she comes!" he warned.
+
+The whole crowd came to a standstill in the middle of the road in a
+hush that was almost reverent. Blue Bonnet drew a deep breath. The
+rolling prairie with the long grass stirred by the breeze; the
+peaceful herds just waking into life; the fleecy clouds glowing from
+buff to rosy pink--she loved it all.
+
+At eleven every one was ravenous and a halt was made for lunch. From
+that point the journey was hardly so pleasant; the road began to
+ascend sharply into the sturdy little range of hills that Texans
+proudly call mountains, and being less frequented than the county
+road, was rough and full of surprises in the way of snakes and
+insects. Sarah was just beginning to wonder if she could survive
+Comanche's next fright, when a loud "Whoa-o-o-pe!" sounded from
+somewhere above and ahead of them. Blue Bonnet answered immediately
+with the ranch-call which she and some of the cowboys had adapted
+years ago from one of Uncle Joe's old-time songs:
+
+[Illustration: O Ho ye ho ho!]
+
+She had a strong, carrying voice, and the cheery summons of the
+Twickenham ferryman rang clearly on the air.
+
+The next minute three riders emerged from the trees in whose shade
+they had been waiting, and galloped to meet the campers.
+
+"It's Alec and Knight," Kitty called from the front. "And there's a
+girl with them!"
+
+Blue Bonnet shot a quick glance at the approaching trio, and then gave
+a bounce of delight. That erect little figure, just about her own
+size, with the two pig-tails flying out behind her as she rode, could
+be no other than--Carita Judson.
+
+Carita was not so quick at discovering her unknown friend; she gave a
+bashful, inquiring look at each one of the girls in turn. But as soon
+as she met Blue Bonnet's eye, full of an eager welcome, she rode
+straight to the side of the buckboard and held out a slim, brown hand.
+"You are--you must be--a Texas Blue Bonnet!"
+
+"And you're Carita,--I'm so glad!" Blue Bonnet took the outstretched
+hand in both her own and gazed with frank pleasure into the girl's
+smiling face.
+
+Knight came up beside them and presented his cousin to Mrs. Clyde and
+the other girls, and after a short but merry halt they prepared to
+move on. Camp was still at some distance and they must get settled
+before nightfall.
+
+Sarah came up to the buckboard just as the others were starting. "Do
+you mind changing places with me, Blue Bonnet?" she asked. "I'm tired
+of riding."
+
+The look Blue Bonnet gave her was ample reward for what Sarah feared
+was almost an untruth on her part. She scrambled out of the saddle in
+a manner that Blue Bonnet would have smiled at ordinarily, but now
+regarded with sober eyes. The other girls, without giving a thought to
+her natural wish for a few words with Carita had ridden on in a gay
+whirl of conversation; Sarah with a thoughtfulness that Blue Bonnet
+was beginning to believe unfailing, had been the only one to read her
+unspoken wish.
+
+"Isn't Sarah the dearest?" she whispered to her grandmother.
+
+And Mrs. Clyde, mindful of a former comment of Blue Bonnet's, smiled
+with amusement as she replied--"Not half bad--considering her
+bringing-up!"
+
+Carita had lingered behind the others and now as she saw Blue Bonnet
+mount Comanche, she rode back and joined her. They were the last of
+the procession and practically alone.
+
+"It's so wonderful," Carita's small dark face was alight with
+pleasure, "--to think of seeing you after--everything!"
+
+They smiled into each other's eyes. Carita did not in the least
+resemble the Woodford girls. She wore a queer one-piece garment of
+blue denim, not designed for riding, which pulled up in a bunch on
+either side of the saddle, showing her feet in thick boyish boots, and
+an inch or two of much-darned stocking. On her head was an old felt
+sombrero, sadly drooping as to brim and dented as to crown, secured
+under her chin by a piece of black elastic. Below it her small face,
+brown and freckled as it was, was not without a singular attraction.
+Her eyes were big and soft, her lips scarlet as holly-berries; and the
+long braids were very heavy and of a glossy chestnut. In spite of her
+clumsy costume she rode her wiry little pinto as Western girls
+ride--thistle-down in the saddle. She was a bit of the prairie
+herself, and Blue Bonnet saw it and loved her.
+
+"When did you come?" Blue Bonnet asked her.
+
+"Yesterday. And we're to stay over Sunday. Won't we just have to cram
+the days full?" Carita's eyes were wistful. "For fear we sha'n't have
+much time alone, I want to tell you how much it has meant to me--your
+letters, and the dress and the Christmas box and everything. I can't
+begin to tell you the--difference they have made. We've always had
+boxes you know--father has no regular salary. But nothing ever came
+that was half so wonderful. Last winter wasn't a bit like others--it
+was full of excitement!"
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled, but she felt nearer tears than laughter. Such a
+little thing to mean so much! For the second time she had a feeling of
+thankfulness that she was--not poor. Money was certainly worth while
+when it could give such pleasure. If Miss Lucinda could have read the
+girl's mind at this moment, she might have felt some doubts as to her
+niece's ability to profit by the last winter's lesson in New England
+thrift. Blue Bonnet's only regret was that her purse which had been
+slipped into the missionary box, had not contained several times as
+much!
+
+"I was sure we'd know each other, some day--I felt it!" Carita went
+on in her eager way. "And I believe Knight's meeting you that day was
+providential!"
+
+"It was certainly providential for Sarah and me," Blue Bonnet laughed.
+"We'd have had a pretty spill if it hadn't been for him. But as 'all's
+well that ends well,' we can consider that everything has been for the
+best."
+
+"That sounds like father." It seemed to Blue Bonnet that Carita
+smothered a sigh. "Mother and I aren't always sure that _everything_
+is for the best. But father never has the least bit of doubt." Then
+with a quick return of animation--"I know you'll love the camp. Knight
+has picked out the loveliest spot for your tents. There--look! You can
+see the Spring, and that gleam of white through the trees--that's Camp
+Judson!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI
+
+CAMPING BY THE BIG SPRING
+
+
+"OH, Blue Bonnet, do hurry!" cried Debby as Blue Bonnet galloped into
+camp. "It's the most wonderful place,--we can't wait for you to see
+it."
+
+Blue Bonnet slipped from the saddle and flung the reins to Miguel.
+
+"Show me everything!" she cried; and then not waiting to be shown,
+went from one tent to another in her usual whirlwind fashion.
+
+"Our sleeping-tent," said Kitty; they were all trooping after the
+late-comer, chattering busily and explaining the most obvious
+arrangements. "That one's for you and the Senora; this one is the
+dining-room--see the table and benches Alec and Knight made! The
+kitchen is under that awning. Isn't that the darlingest stove?"
+
+"And the little creek right handy!"
+
+By the time she had completed her survey, Blue Bonnet was more
+enthusiastic than any one else. How she loved camping out!
+
+The spot the boys had chosen for them was a beautiful one. Under two
+giant live-oaks whose branches interlaced overhead in a leafy canopy,
+the sleeping-tents were pitched, between them stretching an awning
+that formed both a dining-room and a lounging-place by day. The site
+had been used as a camping-ground before and still retained many
+conveniences installed by former campers; the underbrush had all been
+cut away, and the ground packed hard and level. For the kitchen, a
+canvas stretched between the camp-wagon and a convenient sycamore
+served as sufficient protection from sun and arboreal insects. The
+little sheet-iron stove, set up on a flat boulder, boasted an elbow in
+its pipe that could be adjusted to suit the direction of the wind.
+
+A thread of a creek, tumbling down the hillside, ran not ten yards
+from the wagon, and at one point a tiny wooden trough had been
+inserted, giving the effect of a spout where kettles could be quickly
+filled. Alec and Knight had labored diligently to have all attractive
+as well as convenient, and really deserved great praise for the
+completeness of all details.
+
+"Everything is perfect!" Blue Bonnet declared. "But we must have the
+buckboard seats in the--er--living-room. Uncle Cliff sent all three so
+that we could use them as easy chairs,--especially for Grandmo--why,
+where is she?"
+
+"Here, dear," Mrs. Clyde came up with a tin dipper in her hand. "I've
+been having a drink,--such a drink, Blue Bonnet!" She held out the
+dripping cup and Blue Bonnet drank from it thirstily.
+
+As she finished she met the Senora's eyes over the brim. "Oh,
+Grandmother, I ought to have done that--for you!" She shook her head.
+"I wonder if I'll ever think in time?"
+
+Mrs. Clyde smiled and pushed the hair back from the girl's hot brow.
+"Where is Carita?"
+
+"She rode on to tell her mother we had arrived. She'll be over later."
+Blue Bonnet glanced around the group. Every one looked warm, dusty,
+tired. And there was supper to get and beds to make! "What shall we do
+first, Grandmother?" Her manner was not exactly eager.
+
+"First, we must all wash and brush up, for we are invited out to
+dinner!" Mrs. Clyde departed to suit the action to the words.
+
+"Invited out--?" Blue Bonnet gazed at the girls incredulously.
+
+"The boys of Camp Judson, represented by Knight, have invited us over
+there--"
+
+"And we didn't waste any time in accepting!"
+
+"Wasn't it thoughtful of them?" Blue Bonnet beamed on every one. "Now
+aren't you glad we brought the pinoche?"
+
+"Let's go and dress," Debby urged.
+
+"Dress?" echoed Blue Bonnet. "What are you going to wear--your pink
+panne velvet or your yellow chiffon?"
+
+"Why, Blue Bonnet," said Sarah, "you know we haven't any clothes with
+us but these!"
+
+Blue Bonnet groaned. "Then why is that worldly-minded Debby talking
+about dressing for dinner?"
+
+"I meant wash and comb our hair," Debby protested.
+
+"Where's the wash-basin, Blue Bonnet? I saw you with it when we were
+packing," said Sarah.
+
+Blue Bonnet clapped a hand to her brow. "I think I put it in with the
+frying-pan."
+
+"Are you sure it isn't in the bread-box?" Kitty asked.
+
+"I wouldn't be sure it isn't." Blue Bonnet began a hasty search in the
+camp-wagon. Box after box was rummaged through, utensil after utensil
+picked up hopefully, only to disappoint when brought to the surface.
+
+"There's no help for it," declared Debby, "we'll have to go and wash
+in the creek."
+
+"Why, there may be campers below," said Sarah in a shocked tone, "and
+they wouldn't like to--"
+
+"You needn't draw a diagram, Sarah," interrupted Blue Bonnet. "A word
+to the wise, you know. I'll polish off with cold cream." And she
+vanished.
+
+Sarah, armed with towel and soap emerged from her tent a few minutes
+later and made her way through the willows to the creek. Blue Bonnet
+spying her called tauntingly: "Campers below!"
+
+"I'm only going to wet one corner," Sarah went on calmly.
+
+"Which corner--northeast or southwest?"
+
+"Of the towel, of course." Then a minute later she called, "Girls,
+come quick!"
+
+There was an immediate stampede to the creek.
+
+"What is it--lions?" asked Amanda.
+
+Sarah pointed without speaking. There, bending over an old tree-stump,
+admirably fashioned for a wash-stand, was the Senora calmly washing
+herself--in the basin.
+
+"I found it here all ready for us," she explained. "And see--here's a
+nail on this little tree ready for a mirror, and branches just made to
+hang towels on."
+
+"Alec and Knight haven't left a thing for me to see to," remarked Blue
+Bonnet. "I'm going to stop worrying."
+
+"Oh, you were worrying, were you?" asked Kitty. "We'll know the
+symptoms next time."
+
+The washing-up that ensued was very animated, if not thorough. Taking
+turns at the basin the girls, wincing under the cold water, "polished
+off" the top layer of dust; brushed ruffled locks and retied ribbons;
+dabbed talcum on noses and straightened creased middies. They were
+just putting on the finishing touches when the sound of cow-bells,
+rung lustily and long, came from the direction of the other Camp.
+
+"That must be the dinner-bell," said Blue Bonnet. "I hope they won't
+expect us to have dainty appetites just because we're girls!"
+
+A moment later Alec and Knight appeared to escort them in state.
+Midway they were met by Mr. and Mrs. Judson,--the latter with two
+small boys tugging at her skirts, and a third not far in the rear; a
+state of things that was later found to be invariably the case
+whenever Mrs. Judson ventured forth.
+
+Blue Bonnet decided that she was going to like the whole Judson
+family. She liked the Reverend Mr. Judson with his delicate face and
+kind, nearsighted eyes. She liked him particularly because he looked
+so unministerial in his soft shirt and blue overalls. She liked Mrs.
+Judson, with her sweet, tired face looking out from a cavernous
+sun-bonnet. Mrs. Clyde's discerning eye read in the patient worn face
+a history of privation and self-denial; and surmised that the
+enthusiasm of the missionary was paid for most dearly by this
+uncomplaining partner.
+
+It was to the tiniest toddler that Blue Bonnet was drawn most of all;
+she adored babies, and this chubby two-year-old was irresistible. She
+held out her arms to little Joe, but, to her surprise, he held off
+shyly. He scanned the row of ingratiating faces slowly, and not until
+his eyes rested on the kindly round countenance of Sarah did he show
+any response.
+
+"Pitty lady!" he cried, holding out his arms and making a charge at
+her.
+
+Sarah's face flushed pink with surprise and pleasure; and then with a
+rush she gathered Joe in a close hug. She had not realized until then
+how she had missed the little clinging arms at home.
+
+"He spurns you, Blue Bonnet!" gasped Kitty.
+
+"I reckon he can tell who has had experience with babies," Blue Bonnet
+remarked. The glance she gave Sarah was almost envious. "Well, pitty
+lady," she said at length, "you might leave a few kisses for somebody
+else!"
+
+But Joe was chary and clung tightly to the lady of his choice; while
+the other girls secretly marvelled at any one's preferring Sarah to
+Blue Bonnet.
+
+Carita made up for her brother's lack of appreciation; running to meet
+the girls, she drew Blue Bonnet's arm through her own and gave it an
+affectionate squeeze every few minutes.
+
+"I hope the other girls won't mind if I monopolize you a little bit,"
+she whispered; "they've had you so long and I'm to have such a short
+time."
+
+This sort of incense no one could have been proof against; and Blue
+Bonnet was presently glowing.
+
+"Welcome to Camp Judson!" said Knight proudly, as they neared a second
+grove of trees.
+
+"Oh, how lovely!" Every one came to a standstill while they took in
+the pretty scene.
+
+A model camp was Camp Judson. On a high flat knoll to the right was a
+long row of tiny white tents placed with military precision at regular
+spaces from each other, and each surrounded by a narrow trench. Among
+the trees gleamed other tents, and occasionally a gay quilt hung to
+air. Under one huge oak was the dining-room with a red-white-and-blue
+awning for a roof. Here were two long tables made of smooth boards
+laid on barrels, with rude benches running their entire length. They
+were guiltless of cloth and spread with tin dishes, for simplicity was
+a law as well as a necessity in this Camp. But a rustic basket of
+graceful ferns adorned one table, and the sun, hanging low in the sky,
+threw a pattern of quivering light and shade on the bare boards.
+
+The girls had rather dreaded having to meet a dozen boys all at once.
+But they found the ordeal not half so bad as they had expected. The
+youngest boys were already gathered about the smaller table awaiting
+the signal to be seated; while the second table was reserved for the
+Judsons and their guests. Standing beside it were three tall lads
+wearing towels pinned about them for aprons.
+
+"Smith, Brown and Jones--the three props of the world!" explained
+Knight, with a wave of his hand; and the girls acknowledged the
+introduction without knowing which was which. "Keep your eye on the
+waiters, ladies and gentlemen," Knight continued, "and report all
+incivilities to the management. There's a fine for every cup of cocoa
+they spill down anybody's neck, and another for every spider they
+don't see first!"
+
+Everybody stood beside the benches for a moment while Dr. Judson said
+a simple grace. Blue Bonnet noticed that even the smallest boy there
+bent his head at once, without even so much as a nudge from his
+neighbor. There was a second of absolute quiet after the pleasant
+voice finished the short invocation; then a shoving of benches, a
+rattle of dishes; and the meal progressed amid peals of laughter and
+an incessant clucking as of chickens at feeding-time.
+
+"Talk about chattering girls!" Blue Bonnet challenged Alec with an
+amused glance. She found herself seated between him and Knight, an
+arrangement that suited all three admirably; while Carita smiled at
+her across the narrow table. Some of the older boys were beside Kitty,
+Debby and Amanda, and all three girls seemed to be well entertained.
+Sarah, with a small Judson on either side of her, was occupied chiefly
+in alternately kissing and feeding the youthful pair. Steaming
+_frijoles_ in a huge earthen bowl; bass from the Spring, fried with
+slices of bacon; baked potatoes, cocoa and doughnuts formed the menu,
+which the hearty appetites of all transformed into a banquet; and no
+one felt compelled to refuse a second or third helping from motives of
+politeness.
+
+"Where's the Spring?" Blue Bonnet asked suddenly. "The only creek
+I've seen is about as wide as my hand."
+
+"Just a short walk from camp," Knight replied. "I'm saving that to
+show you in the morning."
+
+There fell a moment of silence.
+
+"Did I hear you sigh?" Alec was looking at Blue Bonnet in
+astonishment. She had never looked happier or prettier in her life;
+sun and wind had painted a rose-blush on her cheeks; the blue eyes
+were positively luminous. Yet he had distinctly heard her sigh.
+
+She nodded. "I had to. I'm just too full for utterance--no, no!--I'll
+take another doughnut! I didn't mean that literally. But I'm full of
+content,--I'd like to purr."
+
+Alec laughed. "It's the best fun I've ever had. I believe I must be
+part Indian, and this is the only time I've ever been able to obey
+'the call of the wild.' It makes me sorry for all the misguided folk
+that spend all their lives in houses."
+
+"Look at Grandmother," Blue Bonnet whispered. "Who would ever have
+thought that a Colonial Dame would look so natural eating beans with a
+tin spoon? I wish Uncle Cliff could have come, he's a born camper."
+
+"Why didn't Mr. Terry come to dinner?" Knight asked.
+
+"Uncle Joe!" Blue Bonnet's spoon dropped with a clatter. She hadn't
+even thought of Uncle Joe! "Mrs. Judson," she stammered, "will you
+please excuse me? I'll be right back." Hardly waiting for Mrs.
+Judson's surprised "Certainly," she sprang lightly over the bench and
+vanished through the trees.
+
+The We are Sevens, used to Blue Bonnet's methods, went on
+unconcernedly with their dessert; but the Judsons looked mildly
+amazed.
+
+Blue Bonnet found Uncle Joe smoking contentedly before a cosy gypsy
+fire on which a coffee-pot was steaming. She burst upon him
+breathlessly.
+
+"Uncle Joe--I forgot,--you're invited out to dinner!"
+
+He smiled at her over his pipe. "I ain't got a dinner-coat, Honey."
+
+"But, Uncle Joe--it was horrid of me I know--"
+
+"No uncomplimentary remarks, please," he interrupted; then seeing that
+she was really distressed he went on seriously: "Don't you worry about
+Uncle Joe, Blue Bonnet. He's used to looking out for Number One. I had
+to help Miguel hobble the horses, and that's a job that won't wait for
+any man. Now I've got tortillas and bacon and coffee, and I'm that
+comfortable I wouldn't stir for a whole company of Texas Rangers!"
+
+As she reluctantly departed Uncle Joe looked after the slim figure
+with quiet delight. "Same old Blue Bonnet. Boston folks can't get any
+high-toned notions into that little head!"
+
+As Blue Bonnet slipped back into her place, she found an animated
+discussion in progress.
+
+"We're trying to decide on a name for our camp," Debby explained.
+
+"We've run through Ashe, Clyde, Trent and the rest, but they're
+too--exclusive," said Kitty. "We want one that will include
+everybody."
+
+"Why not 'Camp We are Seven?'" asked Knight.
+
+"Too clumsy," declared Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Use initials then," urged Knight.
+
+"Camp W. A. S.--sounds rather like a has-been," remarked the
+bright-faced boy beside Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet flashed him an appreciative smile. "That would never do
+for a crowd as--ahem--up-to-date as we try to be!"
+
+"Let's have something beautiful," said Kitty.
+
+"And romantic," added Debby.
+
+"If you want something typical of this country," Dr. Judson spoke up,
+"--there's an expressive phrase often used hereabouts. Those of you
+who know the habits of the 'greasers' don't need to be told why their
+country is called the 'land of _poco tiempo_.' It means literally
+'little time'--but with the Mexicans it usually means 'after a while'
+or even 'by and by.' 'Always put off till to-morrow what should be
+done to-day' is their version of our old motto."
+
+"That just suits me!" cried Blue Bonnet.
+
+"I love Spanish names," exclaimed Kitty.
+
+_Poco Tiempo_ the camp was straightway christened; and, as they later
+proved, its inmates had no difficulty in living up to the name.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII
+
+POCO TIEMPO
+
+
+"I RECKON we'll all sleep without rocking," Blue Bonnet smiled
+drowsily in on the girls who were disrobing for the night. She had
+stolen from Grandmother's tent for a last word, but lingered for
+several before departing. "How's your bed, Sarah?"
+
+"A bit bumpy," the honest girl admitted.
+
+"Mustn't mind a little thing like that," Blue Bonnet admonished her.
+
+"They're not very little--just you wait and see." Sarah squirmed about
+seeking a level spot for her body.
+
+Alec and Knight, who had spent hours stuffing the bed-ticks with
+Spanish moss, would hardly have felt repaid could they have seen her
+discomfort at that moment.
+
+Observing her Blue Bonnet remarked: "I'm glad we brought the canvas
+cot for Grandmother. I don't mind bumpy beds myself--it isn't right to
+be too comfortable when you're camping out."
+
+Kitty stood, mirror in hand, ministering unto a blistered nose, and as
+Sarah gave a final grunt before closing her eyes, she called suddenly:
+"Sarah Blake, don't you dare go to sleep 'til we've drawn lots."
+
+"Lots?" Sarah blinked sleepily.
+
+"To see who's to get breakfast. After that we'll take turns, two at a
+time."
+
+"But there are five of us," protested Debby.
+
+"Grandmother says to count her in. We'll give her Sarah for a
+running-mate,--she's about the only one that can keep Sallykins in
+order."
+
+Sarah woke up at that to give the speaker a surprised and grieved
+look, at which Blue Bonnet burst into a laugh. "I'll label my next
+joke, Old Reliable," she said.
+
+Kitty looked about her for something which they could use for lots.
+
+Nothing seeming appropriate, she suddenly tweaked three bright hairs
+from her own curly head, arranged them in lengths and held them out
+for the others to draw.
+
+"Shortest gets breakfast; next lunch, longest dinner," she announced
+tersely.
+
+"Hooray for us!" cried Amanda, catching Blue Bonnet around the waist
+and hopping about on one foot, the other being unshod. "Lunch for us.
+Let's think up something easy."
+
+Kitty made a grimace at the short hair left in her hand. "Breakfast!
+Debby, I call that hard luck."
+
+"The others may call it harder," prophesied Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Never mind, the Senora and Sarah will make up for it at dinner-time,"
+said Kitty.
+
+"Night-night!" said Blue Bonnet, preparing to leave. With her hand on
+the tent-flap she paused. "Shake out your shoes before you put them on
+in the morning!" she said; and with this dark warning fled.
+
+Camp Judson had awakened, had had a fiercely contested water-fight,
+had breakfasted, tidied up, and most of its inmates scattered in quest
+of adventures, before the tired girls of _Poco Tiempo_ gathered for
+the morning meal. Kitty and Debby, enveloped in capacious gingham
+aprons, and appearing somewhat flushed and nervous, stood waiting to
+serve.
+
+Mrs. Clyde gave the two cooks an approving smile. "Everything looks
+charming," she said as she took her place at the head of the board.
+
+The table here was spread with white oilcloth, and the dishes of blue
+enamelled-ware showed bright and cheerful against the immaculate
+expanse. Bowls of steaming oatmeal porridge stood at each place, and
+huge mugs of cocoa. But it was at none of these that Blue Bonnet was
+gazing; her eyes were fastened in wonder on a pitcher of real milk and
+another of real cream.
+
+"Where did that come from?" she demanded.
+
+"The Spring!" declared Kitty.
+
+"Miguel rode to the Circle Y ranch and got it early this morning,"
+Debby confessed, "and they're going to let us have it every morning."
+
+"It's a jarring note," Blue Bonnet declared.
+
+"All right, you can have all the 'condemned milk' you want," said
+Kitty, "--we've a dozen cans of it."
+
+But Blue Bonnet was already helping herself generously to the "jarring
+note" and seemed to enjoy it as much as any one. Every one was
+exceedingly polite and made no mention of lumps in the porridge; and
+finally the anxious puckers in Debby's forehead began to smooth
+themselves out. There was a moment of veritable triumph for the cooks
+when they came in with the nicely browned bacon and a plate heaped
+high with golden corn-bread.
+
+"Who was the artist?" the Senora asked in pleased surprise.
+
+"I didn't know you knew how," Sarah commented.
+
+There was a moment's hesitation, and then Blue Bonnet, who had caught
+a glimpse of Uncle Joe's face, pointed an accusing finger at him.
+"Fess up, Uncle Joe!"
+
+Much annoyed at himself, Uncle Joe tried to deny the accusation, but
+Kitty's face confirmed the suspicion against him, and in the end he
+"fessed up" rather lamely.
+
+"Have to do something to earn my board and keep," he protested.
+
+"Amanda and I get lunch, you know," Blue Bonnet suggested tactfully;
+and Amanda telegraphed her approval of this gentle hint.
+
+"Well, this camp is well-named," said Knight, appearing suddenly with
+a half-dozen boys in his train. "Is this breakfast or lunch?"
+
+"Breakfast, and a very good one," Mrs. Clyde remarked. "Won't you join
+us?"
+
+"Don't tempt my merry men," Knight begged comically. "They've never
+yet been known to refuse food, and though it's only an hour since
+breakfast, I've no confidence in them."
+
+"Won't you please hurry?" Alec asked eagerly. "I can't wait for you
+all to see the Spring."
+
+"We're ready right now," said Blue Bonnet, jumping up impulsively.
+"Come on, girls, it's a glorious morning for a tramp."
+
+"Haven't you forgotten something, Blue Bonnet?" her grandmother asked.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked puzzled. "Do you mean hats? I'd much rather go
+without one, if you don't mind, Grandmother."
+
+But it was not hats that Grandmother was thinking of; gradually it
+dawned on Blue Bonnet that the other girls were not making ready for
+the excursion, but were gathering up the dishes and clearing the
+table. She flashed a reproachful look at them.
+
+"You might let those wait," she protested.
+
+Grandmother smiled. "You do surely belong to the 'land of _poco
+tiempo_,' Blue Bonnet."
+
+"But the dishes will keep--"
+
+"And so will the Spring!"
+
+The girl gave a discouraged sigh; it was a pity Grandmother had not
+been brought up in Texas; then she would have understood what were the
+really necessary things in life. She nodded wistfully at the boys.
+"Grandmother believes in every girl's doing her duty," she said.
+
+"We'll have the manager hold the performance," said Knight cheerfully.
+"We'll be back in half an hour,--Carita can go by that time, too."
+
+Blue Bonnet brightened visibly at this, and turned resolutely to the
+hated tasks.
+
+"Debby and I will wash the dishes; Sarah can 'red up,' and you and
+Amanda do the beds," Kitty suggested.
+
+Aunt Lucinda's training stood Blue Bonnet in good stead here. The
+going over the rather bumpy beds got in that half-hour left Amanda
+breathless with admiration.
+
+"You can do things beautifully when you want to, Blue Bonnet," she
+remarked.
+
+"When I have to, you mean," Blue Bonnet replied.
+
+"Where's the broom, do you know?" asked Sarah.
+
+"Sh!" Blue Bonnet drew her into the tent and out of every one's
+hearing. "There isn't any broom, Sarah."
+
+"But I put one in the wagon myself."
+
+"And I _threw it out_!"
+
+"Blue Bonnet!" Something like horror was in Sarah's blue eyes.
+
+Blue Bonnet met her gaze defiantly. "Did you ever see a picture of the
+Witch of Salem, Sarah?"
+
+Sarah gave a bewildered nod. "What has the Witch of Salem--"
+
+"Wasn't she riding a broom?" Blue Bonnet persisted.
+
+"Yes--but--"
+
+"Well, in my opinion that's the only good use a broom was ever put to!
+It has no place in a respectable camping party."
+
+Sarah said no more; but when, a few minutes later, Amanda and Blue
+Bonnet looked out to learn the source of an odd sound, they beheld the
+indomitable Sarah, armed with an antiquated rake, gathering up the
+leaves and litter on the hard dirt "floor" of the dining-room.
+
+"Who would have thought to see our Sarah grown rakish?" asked Blue
+Bonnet,--and then dodged the pillow sent by Amanda's indignant hand.
+
+By the time the allotted half-hour was up, _Poco Tiempo_ was a model
+of neatness and order. The girls, booted and hatted in spite of Blue
+Bonnet's objections, were ready to the minute, and when the young
+scouts appeared they set out at once, exactly--as Blue Bonnet
+remarked--like the third-graders at recess.
+
+Grandmother had settled herself comfortably with a book,--Mrs. Judson
+was coming over later for a chat,--and so it was with a free mind and
+a soul ready for a carnival of pleasure that Blue Bonnet stepped forth
+on the joyous expedition.
+
+"I reckon it is better," she admitted to Alec, "to have everything
+done first, instead of having them to do when you're tired."
+
+"Oh, wise young judge!" he laughed. "We'll make a New Englander of you
+yet."
+
+"That reminds me of something Cousin Tracey said once. He thought I
+was developing a New England conscience, and said it was an
+exceedingly troublesome thing to have around. I believe him,--it's
+much more fun to develop Kodak films. There now!" she broke off
+impatiently, "--if I haven't left my camera in the tent. And I want
+pictures of the Spring."
+
+"Never mind, we'll be up here every day," said Alec. "There's a jolly
+little rustic bridge where you can gather the crowd for a group
+picture. Here we are!"
+
+He and Blue Bonnet had walked faster than the others, and so were
+first to see this most beautiful of springs. Blue Bonnet gave one
+look, and then something rose in her throat, stifling breath and
+speech. Alec watched her appreciatively.
+
+"If he speaks to me now, he's not the boy I've always believed him,"
+the girl was saying to herself. She dreaded the first word that should
+break in on that moment of perfect beauty.
+
+Below them the giant spring surged up, a great emerald in a setting of
+woods and hills. Clear as air, the water boiled up from the bowels of
+the earth, revealing every fish and pebble in its mirror-like depths.
+Shrubs overhung it; wild cresses and ferns clustered about it; below
+the surface long tresses of pinky-coral grasses floated and waved in
+the bubbling current.
+
+A voice shattered the blissful moment of peace. "Isn't she a beauty?"
+
+It was a sandy-haired youth with Kitty who had clambered roughly into
+the picture. Blue Bonnet hated him fiercely for a few seconds. Then
+the rest came up with a babble of voices and exclamations and she
+resigned herself, with a sigh, to the fact that the gift of silence,
+being golden, is given to but few.
+
+Knight gave her a questioning glance and she glowed back at him. "It's
+perfect--almost too perfect."
+
+"There's a wee spring up higher,--the camp creek flows from it. Do you
+feel equal to the climb?" he asked her.
+
+She gave eager assent, and, after lingering a few minutes for the
+others and finding them too slow for the pace she liked, Blue Bonnet
+followed Knight up a steep winding path that circled the hill.
+
+He carried a "twenty-two" rifle swung across his shoulders, and in his
+belt a rather formidable looking knife.
+
+"For use or ornament?" she asked, indicating the weapons. "You look
+like Dick Danger."
+
+"Strictly for use," he assured her. "The gun has brought down many a
+toothsome 'possum, and the knife serves to cut anything from firewood
+to alpenstocks. Shall I cut you one to assist your feeble steps?"
+
+They halted while he selected a sapling for the purpose, trimmed and
+sharpened it at the end.
+
+"Alpine travellers put sharp iron points on their staffs, Uncle says,"
+he explained, "so that by thrusting them in the ice and snow they keep
+from slipping. We don't need them for just that purpose, but they are
+handy on steep paths--and to kill bugs with!"
+
+She accepted the "alpenstock" gratefully and soon found it useful for
+both purposes.
+
+"When we get back to camp I'll get Sandy to carve your initials in
+it--he's quite a genius at carving," Knight said.
+
+"Is Sandy the--sandy one?"
+
+"Precisely."
+
+"Then I don't think I like him."
+
+"Oh, but you will when you know him better," Knight protested. "He's
+tremendously clever,--a born orator. He won a medal last year in a
+debate."
+
+"That accounts for his talking so much," Blue Bonnet laughed. "He's
+always at it."
+
+"But unlike most incessant talkers, he says something," Knight urged
+for his friend. "We'll get him to recite some evening, then you can
+judge how talented he is."
+
+"Does he do 'Curfew shall not--?'" she asked mischievously.
+
+"Grief, no!" Knight's disgusted tone sent Blue Bonnet off in a fit of
+laughter. To her surprise the ripple of her laugh came back in a
+gleeful "ha, ha!" that had something witchlike about it. She turned a
+startled face to her companion.
+
+"We've reached the 'Whispering Grotto,'" he explained. "The echo is
+famous." He pushed aside a low-growing bough, and brushing by it Blue
+Bonnet found herself in a lovely little cave-like spot, in the centre
+of which was a tiny spring. It bubbled up somewhere back in the hill
+and had made a long tunnel, coming to the light just here.
+
+"Oh, for a cup. I'm thirsty as--as Tantalus!" sighed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"A Texas girl crying for a cup?" Knight asked teasingly.
+
+"That wouldn't have happened before I went to Woodford. I've been
+going through what they call--being civilized. It's mostly learning
+not to shock the New England sense of propriety."
+
+"I'm not a New Englander!"
+
+Knight's eyes were daring her; and it was fatal. What Sarah would have
+said if she could have seen Blue Bonnet's method of getting a drink is
+hard to conjecture. Hardly had she time to spring to her feet when
+voices were heard close at hand.
+
+"I can hear Sandy." She turned eagerly to Knight. "Let's go on--I
+don't feel ready for a crowd."
+
+"There's a lovely view from the top of the hill," he suggested.
+
+Her only answer was to push on, plying her alpenstock eagerly in her
+haste to elude the others. Pausing only when the top of the hill was
+reached, she sank at length on a fallen tree-trunk. The view was all
+Knight had promised for it, overlooking a quiet valley.
+
+"Let's call it 'Peaceful Valley,'" she said.
+
+"It may have a different name on the map, but no one can prevent our
+christening it what we like," he agreed.
+
+Blue Bonnet was content to rest for a while here. There was no sign of
+life anywhere, except a solitary bird wheeling about far above their
+heads.
+
+"A swallow-tailed kite," Knight said as the bird dropped suddenly into
+clearer view. "Graceful, isn't it?"
+
+All at once the big kite alighted on the dead branch of a tree near
+them.
+
+"What glorious wings!" breathed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Would you like one for your hat?" Knight asked.
+
+"Oh, wouldn't I!" she cried eagerly.
+
+Quick as flash Knight swung his rifle about, aimed and fired. Blue
+Bonnet put her fingers in her ears with an exclamation of alarm. The
+bird toppled as if to fall, then righted itself with a lurch and
+fluttered out from the tree. Blue Bonnet gave a sigh of relief.
+
+"I was so afraid you had hurt him!" she cried,--and the words died
+away in a gasp of distress. The kite, pitching headlong, had fallen
+almost at her feet.
+
+She dropped on her knees beside it; but the bird was still. Knight,
+bending over her, was suddenly filled with surprise and dismay; she
+was crying like a child.
+
+"It was so mean and vain of me," she said with quivering lips, "--to
+want him just for a hat, when he was having such a beautiful time."
+
+Knight was pale with hatred of himself.
+
+She looked up at last and smiled mistily through her tears. "I reckon
+you think I am pretty much of a baby. But I can't bear to see
+things--die."
+
+"It's only a big hawk," he said to comfort both himself and her.
+
+She looked up hopefully. "And hawks are mean birds, aren't they,--that
+kill little chickens and other birds?"
+
+He hesitated, then said unwillingly: "Some hawks do. But this is a
+different kind. It lives on snakes and insects--"
+
+"Then it is a good bird!--that's what Uncle Cliff calls them." Her
+face clouded again and she turned towards camp.
+
+"You don't want one of the wings then?"
+
+She shuddered. "Oh, no!" Then she paused. "I will have--I saw some
+feathers fall. Will you give me one? I want it for a reminder."
+
+Knight picked up one of the tiny barred wing-feathers and handed it to
+her. "A reminder?"
+
+"I'm never going to wear things like that again--wings and birds and
+all those cruel ornaments. I never realized before--And whenever I am
+tempted I shall look at this."
+
+Knight bent, picked up another of the feathers and laid it away in his
+fly-book. "I need a reminder, too," he remarked.
+
+"But you never wear birds in your hats," Blue Bonnet said wonderingly.
+
+"My reminder shall be: 'Think before you shoot,'" he said quietly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+AROUND THE CAMP-FIRE
+
+
+THERE was no sign of the other trampers when Blue Bonnet and Knight
+reached the little grotto; and descending to the Big Spring they found
+even that charming spot deserted.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked around in surprise.
+
+"Do you suppose we've missed them on the way down?" Raising her voice
+she gave her ranch-call--"Ho, ye ho, ho!"
+
+"--ho ho!" the hill sent back; but no feminine or masculine voice
+answered the well-known notes.
+
+Blue Bonnet, child of the open, then looked at the sun and the shadows
+and gave an exclamation of astonishment. "It's past noon! They've gone
+back to camp. My, I'll have to hurry--it's my turn to cook lunch."
+
+She darted impetuously down the hillside, and Knight found himself
+compelled to move briskly in order to keep up with her. They went too
+fast for conversation, but once Blue Bonnet paused long enough to say
+over her shoulder--"You'll come to lunch, won't you?"
+
+"Catch me refusing now I know who the cook is!" he replied gaily.
+
+The path opened at last on the open space before _Poco Tiempo_. There
+was sound of voices and laughter, and yes--the clink of dishes! Blue
+Bonnet turned a rueful face to Knight--"Do you hear that? They won't
+say a thing to me!"
+
+"I am armed,--trust me to protect you," he declaimed theatrically.
+
+They had to pass through the "kitchen" first, and there the clutter of
+empty pots and pans told their own story. From the dining-room the
+others caught sight of the tardy pair and a wild hubbub at once arose.
+
+"Tramps!"
+
+"Set the dogs on them!"
+
+"Why don't you work for a living?"
+
+Knight's eyes twinkled as he looked from Blue Bonnet's amazed
+countenance to the teasing faces about the table. Lunch was evidently
+not only ready but largely consumed.
+
+"What are you eating so early for?" Blue Bonnet demanded.
+
+"Early!"
+
+"Twenty minutes past one!"
+
+"No--!" Blue Bonnet gasped, subsiding on the end of the bench and
+fanning her hot face with her hat. "Now, isn't that the funniest
+thing?"
+
+"I'm glad you see the point of your own joke," retorted Kitty. "We
+have decided to give you a week's notice to get a new place."
+
+"I engage her on the spot," said Knight. "It's all my fault."
+
+"We won't give her a reference," said Kitty.
+
+"You needn't--if you'll just give me food," said Blue Bonnet. "Alec,
+make room for Knight beside you, will you? We're both starved. Who
+made the muffins?"
+
+"Guess," said Kitty, relenting and passing her the nearly empty plate.
+
+Sarah intercepted it. "I'll get you some hot ones." And she rose
+hastily.
+
+Blue Bonnet laughed. "Now I know! Grandmother, did you help Sarah?"
+
+Mrs. Clyde nodded. "The girls came back so hungry I thought we had
+better not wait for the chief cook. No one knew where you were."
+
+"I'm going to wear a cow-bell after this," Blue Bonnet declared.
+"Sarah, if I could make such muffins I'd insist upon cooking every
+meal."
+
+"I reckon you don't need any protection," Knight said in an undertone.
+
+"Oh, there's safety in numbers. Wait till Amanda catches me alone! We
+two will have to get dinner now." She buttered her third muffin and
+then glanced happily around the table. "I've a lovely scheme," she
+hinted.
+
+"Did you ever see any one so bowed down with penitence?" asked Kitty;
+adding promptly, "What's the scheme?"
+
+"It's to invite Alec and Knight to get down logs, make us a huge
+bonfire and--"
+
+"That's just like Blue Bonnet," Kitty broke in, "--she'll let you do
+the work and she'll do the _rest_!"
+
+"--and then invite them to a party," Blue Bonnet went on
+imperturbably.
+
+"'She'll do the grand with a lavish hand,'" quoted Alec. "We're your
+men. A Party--with a big P--is what our souls have been pining for.
+Where shall we build the festive pyre?"
+
+"In the open space between the two camps. There'll be no danger to the
+trees there and plenty of room to sit around it. I'll tell Miguel to
+bring up one of the wagon horses to drag logs,--I want a perfectly
+mammoth fire."
+
+"You ought to have been a man, Blue Bonnet," Debby remarked, "--you
+would have made such a wonderful general. Your ability to put other
+people to work amounts to positive genius."
+
+But Blue Bonnet had already gone in search of Miguel, with Alec and
+Knight in her train. For the rest of the afternoon the "General"
+demonstrated that she could not only put other people to work, but
+could work herself, to advantage. While the boys--whose forces had
+been augmented by the addition of Sandy, Smith, Brown and Jones--got
+down logs and built them into a miniature log cabin, Blue Bonnet made
+great preparations for the Party. She spread all her Indian blankets
+at a proper distance from the bonfire-to-be; distributed the
+buck-board seats judiciously, planning to add the dining-room benches
+as soon as supper was out of the way; whittled great quantities of
+long willow wands to a sharp point, maintaining great secrecy as to
+the use to which the latter were to be put; and stacked many boxes of
+the delectable pinoche in a convenient spot.
+
+Hardly had these preparations been completed when Amanda announced
+that it was time to begin cooking dinner. Blue Bonnet looked at her
+aghast.
+
+"I think it's maddening," she declared. "We are in a continual state
+of washing up after one meal and getting ready for another. And this
+is what Grandmother calls 'simplicity'--! It would be a
+heap--much--simpler if I could just say--'Lisa, we'll have dinner at
+six.' That would end it,--and what could be simpler?"
+
+"What shall we have?" asked Amanda, considering that subject more to
+the point.
+
+"Baked potatoes, then we won't have to peel them,--I'd as soon skin a
+rabbit. And Gertrudis cooked a leg of lamb, so that we'll only have to
+warm it up."
+
+"Shall we try hot bread?" asked Amanda.
+
+"Certainly not! Hot bread twice to-day already--we'll all have
+indigestion. We've stacks of loaves, and bread and maple syrup is good
+enough camp fare for any one. If we're going in for the simple life,
+let's be simple."
+
+"That reminds me of something we translated in the German class," said
+Amanda. "'Man ist was er isst'--and it means 'one is what one eats.'
+And another German said 'Tell me what you eat and I'll tell you what
+you are.'"
+
+"Do you mean to tell me that if I live on angel-cake I'll grow to be
+angelic?" demanded Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Hardly!" laughed Amanda. "It would take a good deal more than that!
+No offence, Blue Bonnet,--I like you best when you're--the other
+thing. The Germans are always arguing about something or other. We
+used to take sides in class and nearly come to blows."
+
+"You should have taken French," said Blue Bonnet, before she thought.
+
+"You didn't think that last March!" Amanda teased; and the next moment
+could have bitten her tongue out for the thoughtless speech. Blue
+Bonnet did not smile; it was evident that the memory of the day when
+all the members of the French class except herself had "cut" was still
+a bitter one.
+
+"I'll wash the potatoes," Amanda offered in amend for having touched a
+painful chord.
+
+"All right!" Blue Bonnet beamed acceptance of the kind intention and
+handed over the pan without hesitation. "I'll make up a hot fire, and
+we'll get everything started and the table set,--then you and I are
+going to the Spring."
+
+"Oh, are we?" asked Amanda blankly. One never knew what scheme lurked
+in the back of Blue Bonnet's head.
+
+"For table decorations. I saw some ferns and wild honeysuckle near the
+bank, and it won't take much time to gather enough for the table."
+
+"Decorating the table isn't 'simple,' is it?" Amanda asked rather
+provokingly.
+
+"If you know anything simpler than a wildflower, I'd like to be shown
+it," retorted Blue Bonnet. "Come on, we must do some tall hustling."
+
+The "tall hustling" got the table set in a rather sketchy fashion;
+hurried the potatoes into a scorching oven; placed the already cooked
+roast in the top of the same oven at the same time; and saw Blue
+Bonnet and Amanda headed for the Spring, bearing a fruit-jar and the
+camp's only carving-knife, just as Uncle Joe came up the bank with a
+fine string of speckled trout.
+
+"All ready to fry, Honey," he said, holding them up proudly.
+
+"Hide them quick!" cried Blue Bonnet in alarm, "shooing" him back
+towards the creek.
+
+Used as he was to Blue Bonnet's impetuosity, this move of hers filled
+him with amazement. "What's the matter,--they're perfectly good
+trout!" he urged.
+
+"They're lovely. But I wouldn't fry one for ten million dollars! Keep
+them for breakfast, Uncle Joe,--Sarah will know how to do them
+beautifully."
+
+With an understanding chuckle, Uncle Joe went off to cache his string
+of beauties in a cool place along the creek; and Blue Bonnet and
+Amanda continued their quest for ferns.
+
+As they were returning, crowned with success, they met the Senora just
+back from a stroll with Mrs. Judson. The three other girls were
+already sitting suggestively about the board.
+
+"There," said Blue Bonnet triumphantly, as she deposited the fruit-jar
+in the centre of the table with its graceful ferns and honeysuckle
+trailing over the oil-cloth, "feast on that!"
+
+"I call that a pretty slim dinner," said Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet, disdaining the insinuation, departed rather hastily to
+the kitchen, drawn thither by a strong odor and a still stronger
+suspicion of disaster. The sheet-iron stove was red-hot. Catching up a
+cloth she flung open the oven door, and then backed abruptly away from
+the cloud of acrid yellow smoke that rolled thickly into her face.
+
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet!" wailed Amanda. "Everything's burned to a cinder! We
+shouldn't have gone off."
+
+Blue Bonnet's only reply was a violent fit of coughing. The smoke
+continued to pour in dense billows from the oven. "Grab the pans,
+quick!" she managed to choke out.
+
+Amanda made a valiant dive through the smoke, and had just time to
+seize the pans from the top and bottom of the oven, when she, too, was
+overcome, and in the paroxysm of coughing that followed threatened to
+burst a blood-vessel. Finally with crimson faces and streaming eyes,
+both cooks gazed ruefully down on the black marbles that had been
+potatoes, and the charred drum-stick that had once been a leg of
+spring lamb.
+
+"Keep back--no trespassing!" called Blue Bonnet as the other girls,
+scenting fun as well as the odor of burning things, came running from
+the dining-room. "This is our funeral and we don't want any mourners!"
+She waved them back peremptorily, at the same time screening the ruins
+with her apron.
+
+The discomfited We are Sevens returned to their seats, and a moment
+later there came the sound of spoons being vigorously thumped on the
+table.
+
+"We want dinner!" came imperiously from the hungry girls.
+
+Amanda looked imploringly at her partner. "What shall we do?"
+
+Blue Bonnet thought hard for a moment. All at once her brow cleared.
+"Here, take the meat, go find a gopher-hole and push that bone down
+into it as far as it will go. The potatoes can't be burned all the
+way through,--we'll scrape what's left into a bowl. And I'll tell
+Uncle Joe I've changed my mind,--we'll have the trout for dinner. And,
+Amanda, you'll hurry back, won't you, and put the fish in the pan--I
+simply can't touch 'em!"
+
+Each sped to fulfil her allotted task, and in an incredibly short
+space of time a family of gophers was sniffing about a strange object
+blocking their front door; and a pan of fragrant trout sputtered on
+top of the little stove. As Blue Bonnet set the great platter of
+perfectly browned fish in front of her grandmother, there was a
+flattering "ah!" of anticipation that repaid--almost repaid, her for
+the previous bad quarter of an hour. Canned pears and the cookies that
+should have been saved for future emergencies, completed a dinner
+which was voted "not half bad" by the other girls, who secretly
+marvelled at getting any dinner at all. No one noticed that neither
+Blue Bonnet nor Amanda partook of potatoes, and there proved to be
+ample for the rest.
+
+"I'll wash the dishes, Amanda," Blue Bonnet offered, when at last that
+night-mare of a dinner was over. "I ought to walk over red-hot
+plowshares, or wear a hair-shirt or something as a penance for my sins
+of this day. Lacking both plowshares and shirt, I'll substitute
+dish-washing. And you may bear me witness--I'd take the hair-shirt if
+I had my choice!"
+
+It was a very weary Blue Bonnet who turned the dishpan upside down and
+hung the dish-cloth on a bush to dry. The long tramp of the morning,
+the preparations for the bonfire party, and then the exhausting
+experience of getting dinner, had tired even her physique, which had
+seldom known fatigue.
+
+"I wish we could dis-invite the company," she said to Amanda.
+
+"So do I," groaned her partner. "Fancy having to sit around a bonfire
+and sing 'merrily we roll along'--! It makes me ache all over."
+
+Later, when the inmates of both camps were gathered in a great circle
+about the fire, singing, jesting and story-telling, both girls forgot
+their weariness and might have been heard singing the same "merrily we
+roll along" with great zest and vocal strength.
+
+The bonfire did its builders proud and without any preparatory sulking
+or coaxing burst almost at once into pillars of soaring flame. There
+was a backing away at first on the part of the spectators as the
+intense heat began to scorch the circle of faces; then a gradual
+drawing near again. It was not until the flames had died down and the
+logs were a mass of glowing coals that Blue Bonnet handed around her
+willow-wands. Each one was now tipped with a white ball, puffy, round
+and mysterious.
+
+To most of the boys this was an innovation, and they had to be shown
+how to hold the white globules over the coals until they spluttered
+and swelled to bursting.
+
+"Now eat them!" she commanded. There was a chary tasting and then an
+ecstatic cry--"Marshmallows!"
+
+The rapidity with which the tin boxes were emptied might have appalled
+a less generous provider than Blue Bonnet; but she had relied upon
+Uncle Cliff to fill her order for marshmallows, and consequently felt
+no fear of "going short."
+
+When little Bayard had consumed his ninth "moth-ball" as he persisted
+in calling the sweets, his mother rose to take her brood home. Mr.
+Judson bent to lift Joe who had fallen asleep in Sarah's arms, and
+then turned to Blue Bonnet. "Good-night," he said, holding out his
+free hand and smiling down into the girl's tired face; "this is the
+first time I ever partook of toasted moonshine, and I've enjoyed my
+initiation."
+
+Carita kissed her impulsively. "It's the loveliest party I've ever
+been to," she whispered.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked wistfully after the departing group. "Aren't
+families the nicest things in all the world?" she asked Sarah, as she
+sank on the blanket beside this member of a numerous clan.
+
+"The very nicest." And Sarah, whose arms still felt the warmth of
+little Joe, stared into the fire with eyes that saw in the coals the
+picture of a family in far-off Woodford.
+
+There were a few more songs; an eighth or ninth rendition of
+
+        "Meet me, dearest Mandy,
+         By the water-melion vine"--
+
+for the benefit of Amanda, who hated it, and then the rest rose
+reluctantly to depart.
+
+"It's the swellest thing in the bonfire line I've ever attended,"
+Sandy assured Mrs. Clyde; and she could excuse the phrase because of
+the undoubted enthusiasm of the speaker.
+
+Half a dozen of the boys tramped away in a bunch, and there floated
+back to the group about the fire the rhythmic refrain of "Good-night,
+ladies!" until it finally died away in a sleepy murmur.
+
+Only the older boys had lingered and they, after making arrangements
+for a horse-back ride on the morrow, slowly straggled away.
+
+"Where's Blue Bonnet?" asked Alec; he was one of the last, loitering
+for a final word with his hostess.
+
+"She was sitting by me a little while ago," said Sarah, looking
+towards the Navajo.
+
+The spot was in shadow, but as they looked in that direction, a log
+fell, and a slender flame sprang up. In the light they saw Blue
+Bonnet, curled up on the bright blanket, with her head pillowed on her
+arm.
+
+She was fast asleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV
+
+A FALLING IN
+
+
+"HOW'S the Sleeping Beauty this morning?" was Alec's salutation to
+Blue Bonnet, when he appeared early next day in advance of the other
+picnickers. Blue Bonnet asleep at her own party had been a spectacle
+he would not soon forget; it was almost as funny as being absent from
+her first tea, on that memorable day in Woodford.
+
+"The Sleeping Beauty could find it in her heart to envy Rip Van
+Winkle; a nap like his is just what I crave. But no,--Sarah must needs
+have breakfast at cock-crow," Blue Bonnet complained.
+
+"Why, Blue Bonnet, it was after eight o'clock when I called you,"
+returned Sarah in a grieved tone.
+
+"Sarah didn't want breakfast mistaken for lunch again," said Amanda.
+
+"My prophetic soul tells me that we are going to conduct ourselves
+like a model Sunday-school class to-day," Blue Bonnet remarked.
+
+"What makes you think so?" asked Amanda, in whom the memory of
+yesterday's trials was still undimmed.
+
+"'Well begun is half done,' you know. And this beginning is
+obnoxiously perfect." Blue Bonnet was wiping off the oil-cloth as she
+spoke; dishes were already washed, beds done, and all without a hitch.
+
+"I hope our picnic won't prove to be of the Sunday-school variety,"
+said Kitty.
+
+"I'm sure our Sunday-school picnics at home are always very nice,"
+Sarah said reprovingly.
+
+"Every one to his taste!" was Kitty's airy rejoinder.
+
+"You can make up your mind that this picnic won't be like any other
+you ever attended," Alec assured them. "Knight has a scheme up his
+sleeve that will bear watching. I wonder, Blue Bonnet, if Mrs. Clyde
+would mind letting us take coffee?"
+
+Blue Bonnet reflected. "To-morrow is Sunday and we're privileged to
+have it for breakfast. If we have it to-day instead I'm sure she won't
+object. What else shall we take?"
+
+"Only some bread, some lump sugar and a tin of milk, please," said
+Alec modestly.
+
+Amanda gave a sudden exclamation of joy. "Then we won't be back to
+lunch,--oh, Blue Bonnet, that lets us out to-day!"
+
+They fell upon each other rapturously.
+
+"I think we are the ones who should rejoice," said Kitty; but her
+remark met with the silent scorn it deserved.
+
+They mustered a troop of twelve, all mounted, for Knight's picnic.
+Riding by twos, they cantered decorously as long as the eyes of their
+elders followed their course; but when a turn in the road freed them
+from observation, there was a spurring and an urging of the wiry
+ponies, and away they went, recking little of the grade whether up or
+down.
+
+It became a game of follow-my-leader, with Knight and Blue Bonnet
+heading the procession and putting their horses through a performance
+that would have lamed anything but a Western cow-pony. Knight finally
+led the way to one of the "race-paths" that abound in the hilly
+regions of Texas, and there began a tournament that for years lived in
+Sarah's memory as the most reckless exhibition of daring ever seen
+outside a circus-ring.
+
+"Who made this race-track?" she asked Knight in one of the infrequent
+pauses in the performance.
+
+"Nature!" He laughed at the look of incredulity with which Sarah met
+this assertion. In truth she had good reason to doubt his word; the
+smooth broad road encircling the hill, a full quarter of a mile long,
+edged on either side by a dense growth of cedars, seemed unmistakably
+to show the hand of man in its creation.
+
+"It's the solemn truth I'm telling you," Knight insisted, "--I swear
+it by the mane of my milk-white steed!"
+
+Sarah gave one glance at the dark yellow buckskin pony he rode, and
+then clucked impatiently to Comanche. She objected to having her faith
+in people imposed upon.
+
+Knight was still laughing when Blue Bonnet came up and challenged him
+to a race. "My reputation for truth-telling is forever lost in
+Senorita Blake's estimation," he told her.
+
+"What do you think of Sarah, anyway?" It would be curious to know just
+how a Western boy regarded Old Reliable.
+
+"She's very nice," he said, with an utter absence of enthusiasm,
+"--but not exciting."
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled. "And Kitty?" she continued. Perhaps it wasn't
+polite in a hostess to discuss her guests, but she just had to ask
+that.
+
+"She's very pretty and vivacious," he replied with an increase of
+warmth. "She lacks only one thing to make her irresistible."
+
+"And that?"
+
+"Having been brought up in Texas!"
+
+If Knight had expected a blush to follow his outspoken compliment he
+was disappointed. Blue Bonnet's hearty laugh showed a very healthy
+absence of self-consciousness in her make-up.
+
+"My Aunt Lucinda thinks that is my very worst drawback," she declared;
+and then chirping to Firefly, she was off at a break-neck pace, hat
+bobbing, brown braid flying, her eyes alight with the excitement of
+the race.
+
+[Illustration: "THEY ALL GATHERED GYPSY-FASHION ABOUT THE FIRE."]
+
+The climax of the day was the gypsy picnic. When Blue Bonnet beheld
+the camp-fire with the pail of coffee steaming away over the bed of
+coals, and saw the feast spread out informally on the ground, with
+wild grape leaves for plates, she gave an exclamation of delight.
+
+"Isn't it heavenly?" she cried.
+
+Alec laughed. "I believe, Blue Bonnet, that your idea of heaven is to
+live in a wickiup and subsist on mustang grapes and wild berries
+indefinitely,--now isn't it?"
+
+"Exactly--except that I'd add some of the bacon Knight is preparing to
+give us. That's the way the cowboys cook it."
+
+Knight had cut a dozen or more twigs having a forked branch at the
+tip; on the end of each he placed a slice of bacon and then handed
+around the "forks" ceremoniously. "I'm not going to offer you anything
+so dainty as toasted moonshine," he explained, "but it's a heap more
+substantial."
+
+They all gathered gypsy-fashion about the fire, toasting the bacon and
+their faces impartially; then transferring the crisp curly brown
+strips to the big slices of bread, devoured them with exclamations of
+approval that were most grateful to the arranger of the feast. Even
+canned cream failed to detract from the flavor of the coffee, and they
+consumed great quantities of the fragrant beverage, even Sarah
+partaking most intemperately.
+
+Only a lot of ponies inured to the hardships of the round-up would
+have remained patient through the frolics of that day, and some of
+these wiry ponies looked rather drooping when the picnickers turned
+towards camp.
+
+Mrs. Clyde, who had been watching the road rather anxiously as the
+shadows began to lengthen, brightened at once when Blue Bonnet's
+cheery call sounded through the trees.
+
+"Oh, Grandmother, we've had the most gorgeous time in the world!" Blue
+Bonnet cried, as she flung herself out of the saddle. "Did you ever
+see such a beautifully mussed-up crowd in all your life?"
+
+"If that is an evidence of a 'gorgeous time' you must certainly have
+had one," Mrs. Clyde smiled as her glance travelled from one rumpled
+and spotted We are Seven to another.
+
+"These are the only skirts we brought and mine is all spluttered up
+with bacon," mourned Sarah.
+
+"I think you will all have to go to bed while I wash them," the Senora
+suggested laughingly.
+
+"Grandmother, please don't let Sarah play upon your sympathies. She
+doesn't appreciate how becoming a little dirt is to her peculiar style
+of beauty. She looks almost--human." The look of pained surprise Sarah
+turned on her sent Blue Bonnet off in a fit of merriment. "Oh, for a
+picture of that expression!" she cried. "And that reminds me,--I told
+all the boys to be at the Spring in fifteen minutes. There is plenty
+of light for a snap-shot and I've just a few films left."
+
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet, haven't you done enough tramping to-day?" her
+grandmother exclaimed. "You ought to rest."
+
+Blue Bonnet shook her head. "I can't rest till I get that picture. I
+want the boys and the We are Sevens on the little rustic bridge. Now,
+Sarah, don't you dare tidy up till I get you just as you are. I want
+you to pose as Terrible Tom the Texas Terror."
+
+That Sarah had her own opinion as to who the Texas Terror might be was
+shown by her expression as she relinquished her design of brushing her
+hair, and followed the other girls up the hill to the Big Spring.
+
+The boys were already assembled and were now grouped on the bridge in
+attitudes meant to be artistic and fetching.
+
+The rustic bridge--rather more rustic than substantial--was suspended
+just over a pretty waterfall, which slipped down a smooth runway of
+eight or ten feet into a pool all foam and spray; a charming spot for
+a group-picture. It required both skill and patience to get every one
+posed and the camera focussed; Blue Bonnet had just completed these
+preliminaries, when Alec upset everything by insisting that he should
+be the photographer and she a member of the group. The rest supported
+his contention that she should be in the picture, and in the argument
+that followed, the chances for any picture at all grew slim.
+
+Just then Uncle Joe appeared, and was at once pressed into service.
+Blue Bonnet gave explicit directions as to the precise moment at which
+the bulb was to be pressed, and then proceeded to join the rest who
+were in the agonies of trying to look pleasant.
+
+"Do hurry, Blue Bonnet," urged Sarah nervously, "I can hear the bridge
+creaking."
+
+A roar of derision followed this declaration and some of the smaller
+boys began stamping on the old timbers for the sheer joy of seeing
+poor Sarah quake. At the precise moment that Blue Bonnet stepped from
+the bank to her place by the rail, there was a loud report, followed
+by a scream.
+
+Uncle Joe, looking up from the reflector, saw the bridge parted neatly
+in the middle, and the entire party shooting the chutes in a most
+informal manner. By the time the first boy had finished the descent,
+Uncle Joe was in the water fishing out the gasping victims. The pool
+was not deep, but the swift fall carried the smaller lads under the
+surface, and they came up too dazed to see the hands held out to seize
+them. Knight and Sandy found their feet at once, and with Uncle Joe
+formed a dam against which the others were caught like salmon in a
+river-trap.
+
+Sarah was fished up by her blond braids and came up gasping, "I told
+you so!" before she opened her eyes.
+
+"That's about as busy a spell as I've had for some time," Uncle Joe
+declared as he hauled out the last of the small boys and then
+clambered up the steep bank.
+
+"You showed great presence of mind, Uncle Joe--except for one thing,"
+said Blue Bonnet. "If you had just taken a snap-shot when the bridge
+broke I'd be quite happy."
+
+"And if a few of us had drowned while he was doing it--" Kitty began
+ironically.
+
+"You'd have missed being in the picture, poor souls! Well, since we're
+all alive, let's go break the news gently to the grown-ups." Blue
+Bonnet looked around the drenched, shivering group and then burst into
+peals of laughter.
+
+In truth they were a sorry looking lot. Soaked to the skin, with hair
+and clothes dripping and bedraggled, they all looked at each other as
+if surprised and grieved to find themselves part of so undignified a
+company.
+
+Grandmother's expression when the We are Sevens hove into sight, sent
+Blue Bonnet off into another gale of merriment.
+
+"We've been shooting the chutes, Grandmother," she said with dancing
+eyes.
+
+"Without a boat," added Kitty.
+
+It took Sarah to tell the story in all its harrowing details, and at
+its conclusion Mrs. Clyde looked sober.
+
+"Were you really in danger?" she asked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Not a bit," Blue Bonnet declared. "Sarah was the only one who came
+near drowning and that was because she _would_ talk under water."
+
+Fifteen minutes later the little sheet-iron stove was red-hot, and on
+a hastily strung clothes-line about it hung an array of dripping
+garments that almost hid it from view.
+
+"There's one comfort about all this," said Kitty, "our skirts and
+middies have had a much-needed bath."
+
+"I'm afraid they won't be very clean,--cold water won't take grease
+out," said Sarah mournfully. "And I'd like to know--how are we going
+to iron them?"
+
+They were all sitting in a circle about a blazing bonfire of Uncle
+Joe's building, with their streaming hair spread out to dry.
+Dressing-gowns and bedroom slippers had made it unnecessary to go to
+bed while their wardrobe hung on the line, and now that they were warm
+and comfortable, they were disposed to look on the adventure of the
+afternoon as more of a lark than a misfortune.
+
+"Do you recall a prophecy you made this morning, Blue Bonnet?" asked
+Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet shook her head.
+
+"Your 'prophetic soul' told you, if I remember rightly, that we were
+going to conduct ourselves like a model Sunday-school class to-day."
+
+"Well, if anybody would promise me as much fun in Sunday-school as
+I've had this day, I'd never be absent or tardy!" laughed Blue Bonnet.
+
+Sarah looked pained. "It's Sunday to-morrow," she remarked. "I wonder
+what Dr. Judson will take as the text of his sermon."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave her a long, curious glance. "Do you really wonder,
+Sarah, about things like that?"
+
+Sarah raised honest, serious eyes. "Why, of course, Blue Bonnet. Don't
+you?"
+
+"No," she confessed, "but I do wonder--at you!"
+
+As they sat silent for a moment about the blazing logs, Blue Bonnet
+had an inspiration.
+
+"Grandmother," she asked abruptly, "are you very hungry?"
+
+"Why--is it your turn to get dinner?" Mrs. Clyde smiled; she was
+shaking the water from her granddaughter's long hair, and spreading it
+in the warm rays of the fire.
+
+"No, Amanda and I were to get lunch. But are you?"
+
+"Not at all. Mrs. Judson and I had an excellent dinner at noon."
+
+"Well, I've a splendid idea. There are heaps of hot ashes down under
+the logs. We can bury some potatoes there,--the cowboys cook them that
+way and they are delicious. Then with some devilled-ham sandwiches we
+could sit right here and eat, and have no tiresome dishes to wash up
+afterwards."
+
+"Hear, hear!" cried Kitty and Debby.
+
+"It's easy to see whose turn it is to wash dishes," laughed Amanda.
+
+"It's right handsome of you, Blue Bonnet," Kitty remarked gratefully,
+"--especially when it wasn't your turn to officiate. I'll make the
+sandwiches and Debby--you get the potatoes."
+
+That buffet supper was later pronounced the most successful meal ever
+prepared in _Poco Tiempo_.
+
+"This is truly Bohemian," remarked Mrs. Clyde, as with a newspaper for
+both plate and napkin, she joined the group about the fire, "--much
+more so than the studio-luncheons they call Bohemian in Boston."
+
+"Fancy anything trying to be Bohemian in Boston!" exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet. "They haven't a thing in common."
+
+"They both begin with a B," said Sarah.
+
+The girls were too surprised to laugh.
+
+"Is that a joke, Sarah?" asked Kitty in an awestruck tone.
+
+"Of course not,--they do, don't they?" she returned.
+
+As the girls collapsed at this, she looked up in puzzled surprise.
+"I'd like to know what's so funny about that," she remarked
+plaintively.
+
+"There comes Mrs. Judson," exclaimed Debby.
+
+There was a hasty wiping of blackened fingers on newspaper napkins as
+the girls rose to greet this unexpected guest. The little figure
+approaching them seemed slighter than ever, and the gingham dress
+fairly trailed over the long grass. The face was hidden in the
+inevitable sunbonnet.
+
+"Hello, everybody, are you dry yet?" called a cheerful voice.
+
+"Carita!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet. "We thought you were your mother."
+
+Carita looked down at her loosely fitting garment and laughed. "I had
+to wear this while my dress dried. Knight said I ought to hang out a
+sign--'room to let.' Mother made me wear the sunbonnet because my hair
+is still wet. But I said I could dry it by your fire as well as
+anywhere else." She tossed away the cavernous bonnet and the chestnut
+locks fell in a cloud about her shoulders. With her dark eyes and skin
+framed by the long straight hair she looked like a young Indian.
+
+"Have a potato?" asked Blue Bonnet, spearing one with a stick and
+presenting it to the guest.
+
+"Thank you." Carita took it as if this were the usual fashion of
+serving this vegetable, and ate it with the ease born of long
+experience. Suddenly she gave an exclamation. "Oh, I nearly forgot.
+Alec sent over something. The boys couldn't come for they've nothing
+to wear but blankets--they're rolled up like a lot of mummies around
+the fire. But Alec and Knight and Sandy have been writing
+something,--I think it's a letter."
+
+"It's a poem!--oh, Blue Bonnet, you read it aloud." Kitty handed over
+the verses and in the flickering light they gathered close about Blue
+Bonnet as she read:
+
+        THE BRIDGE
+
+        "We stood on a bridge in Texas,
+         Near a camp far, far from town;
+         We stood there in broad daylight,--
+         'Cause there wasn't room to sit down.
+
+        "We posed on that bridge so rustic,
+         To be snapped by Uncle Joe,
+         And we smiled and looked real pleasant,
+         Yet one heart was filled with woe.
+
+        "For a stream, both swift and deadly,
+         Flowed beneath the bridgelet there,
+         And the creaking of the timbers
+         Gave this timid maid a scare.
+
+        "As sweeping eddying 'neath us
+         The deep, dark waters rolled,
+         She could seem to see our finish--
+         Dashed beneath the waters cold.
+
+        "Yet the bridge still held, but trembled,
+         --Gleamed the torrent chilly, vast,--
+         And the weight of one Blue Bonnet
+         Broke the camel's back at last!"
+
+"Who did it?" cried Blue Bonnet.
+
+"All three helped," said Carita. "But I think Sandy did most."
+
+"He must be cleverer than he looks," said Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Why, don't you think he looks clever?" exclaimed Kitty, "I do."
+
+"It wasn't clever of him to have sandy hair," Blue Bonnet declared
+perversely.
+
+"As if he could help it!" said Sarah.
+
+"We must write a 'pome,' too," said Blue Bonnet.
+
+"We?" exclaimed Debby. "I never found two words to rhyme in all my
+life. You and Kitty are the only ones who ever 'drop into poetry.'"
+
+"The muse must be partial to red hair," said Amanda. And though Kitty
+sniffed insultedly at this insinuation, her bright head was soon bent
+over a pad beside Blue Bonnet's, and after much chewing of their
+pencils and shrieks of laughter at impossible rhymes, the two of them
+finally evolved the following:
+
+        WE ARE SEVEN
+
+        "You marvel that a simple band
+         Of maidens, young and fair,
+         Should linger ever on the land,
+         Nor for the water care?
+
+        "If you should ask in dulcet tone
+         Why for the earth they sigh,
+         They'll weep, they'll shriek, they'll give a groan,--
+         But they will answer why.
+
+        "'Last night we were a happy bunch,
+         Last night about eleven--'
+         Quoth you--'But why this sorry lot?
+         How many members have you got?'
+         They'll answer--'We Are Seven.'
+
+        "'But seven are not all alive?'
+         'Yea, yea, thou trifling varlet,
+         Though here we number only five,--
+         Two caught a fever scarlet.
+
+        "'And o'er us five whose courage great
+         Brought us to far-off Texas,
+         There seems to brood an awful fate,
+         And trials sore to vex us.
+
+        "'To-day the bridge on which we stood
+         And posed above the rippling wave,
+         Alas! was made of rotten wood
+         And plunged us in a watery grave.'
+
+        "'Then ye are dead! All five are dead!
+         Their spirits are in heaven!'
+         'Tis throwing words away, for still
+         These maidens five will have their will,
+         And answer--'We Are Seven!'"
+
+"I wonder what Mr. Wordsworth would say to that?" said Debby, when
+this effort had been heard and elaborately praised.
+
+"He's dead," remarked Sarah. Then, ignoring Debby's snicker she
+continued: "It's very good, Blue Bonnet,--but you shouldn't have said
+that two had the scarlet fever. There's only one, really."
+
+"Poetic license!" Kitty claimed fiercely.
+
+"I think you are the cleverest girls I ever heard of!" Carita
+exclaimed. "I'm going to run right over with that poem--I can't wait
+for the boys to see it."
+
+Snatching up her bonnet Carita ran back to the other camp; while the
+girls, quite tired out by the excitement and varied adventures of the
+day, prepared to go to bed. As they neared the tents there came a
+familiar sound from the direction of Camp Judson. It was the loud
+jangle of cowbells.
+
+"Do you suppose those boys are going to eat at this time of night?"
+asked Sarah.
+
+"Of course not, Sallykins," said Debby. "Don't you understand?--that's
+the boys applauding our poets!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV
+
+SUNDAY
+
+
+"FOR once in my life," said Blue Bonnet, with a long-drawn sigh, "I'm
+ready for a day of rest."
+
+"Please don't begin to rest till you've done the dishes," begged
+Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet tossed her head scornfully. "I wouldn't trouble trouble
+till trouble troubles you, Kitty-Kat. If you can go to church with as
+clear a conscience as mine, I'll take off my hat to you. One lapse
+doesn't make a sinner!"
+
+"One?" Kitty echoed, and would have continued scathingly had not Sarah
+interrupted with--
+
+"I don't see how we can go to church with such looking clothes."
+
+"Sarah's regretting the white pique skirt you wouldn't let her bring,"
+said Kitty.
+
+"Why, Sarah," Blue Bonnet turned a pained look on the serious young
+person, "I would never have believed you would be one to stay away
+from church for lack of an Easter bonnet."
+
+"I didn't mention Easter--nor bonnets either," Sarah declared
+indignantly. "The idea,--to hear you girls talk any one would think I
+was completely wrapped up in clothes!"
+
+"Everybody is, you know--except savages," returned Blue Bonnet.
+
+Sarah's expression at this caused Mrs. Clyde to rise hurriedly and
+vanish within her tent. Freed from this restraint Kitty went on
+wickedly:
+
+"Anyway, Dr. Judson has been a missionary in Africa and I'm sure he'd
+excuse you if--"
+
+Sarah left the table with great dignity, leaving the other girls weak
+with laughter.
+
+Carita appeared a little later with her denim dress looking fresh,
+clean, and wrinkleless.
+
+"It looks as if it had just been ironed," Sarah silently commented.
+When Mrs. Clyde called to the girls that it was time to go over to
+Camp Judson, Miss Blake was nowhere to be found.
+
+The church service was held in the "Druid's Grove," a place of mingled
+shade and sunshine, where a little tumbling creek was the only
+accompaniment to the hymns, and the birds trilled an obligato. An old
+tree-stump served as pulpit, and here Dr. Judson talked rather than
+preached to his youthful congregation.
+
+Blue Bonnet, listening to him, unconsciously let her eyes wander, as
+they always did in the church at Woodford, in search of the memorial
+window 'Sacred to the memory of Elizabeth Clyde Ashe' that was
+inseparably linked in her mind with religious service. Instead of the
+figure of the Good Shepherd with the lamb in his arms, the branches of
+the live oaks here formed a Gothic arch, in the shadow of which sat
+Mrs. Judson with little Joe asleep on her lap. The look on the
+mother's face was full of the same brooding tenderness that the artist
+had given to the eyes of the Shepherd of Old.
+
+When they rose to sing, the young voices rang out clear and joyous,
+quite unlike the droning that too often passes for singing in a
+grown-up congregation.
+
+        "Bright youth and snow-crowned age,
+         Strong men and maidens meek:
+         Raise high your free, exulting song!
+         God's wondrous praises speak!
+
+        "With all the angel choirs,
+         With all the saints of earth,
+         Pour out the strains of joy and bliss,
+         True rapture, noblest mirth!"
+
+The stirring verses, sung with a will by every one, seemed to soar to
+the very tree-tops, making the branches sway with the rhythm and
+spirit of the hymn.
+
+Blue Bonnet heaved a sigh of regret as they rose to leave the grove.
+"It's so sweet,--I wish it could last all day."
+
+"I don't remember ever having heard you make a remark like that about
+church before," remarked Kitty.
+
+"I don't care much for anything that's held indoors," Blue Bonnet
+confessed. "And I don't like preachers who make their voices sound
+like the long-stop on an organ. Now that last hymn we sang makes me
+fairly bubble inside."
+
+"Don't let Sarah hear you say that. She seems to think one ought to
+draw a long face on the Sabbath,--a sort of 'world-without-end'
+expression, you know. I believe she thinks it almost wicked to be
+happy on Sunday."
+
+"Well, Sarah may be as blue as she likes,--this is the kind of a day
+that makes me feel bright pink!"
+
+"Where is Sarah, anyway?" asked Kitty. "I haven't seen her since
+breakfast. Surely she didn't miss the service?"
+
+"No, I saw her sitting by a big tree 'way at the back," said Amanda.
+
+"It isn't like Sarah to take a back seat--at church," remarked Blue
+Bonnet. "I believe she must be cross because we teased her this
+morning."
+
+Grandmother and Sarah were already deep in preparations for dinner
+when the others straggled into camp. The well-cooked meal of muffins,
+fried ham, potatoes and stewed dried fruit they served met with
+visible as well as audible approval.
+
+"Picnic lunches are more fun, but this kind of a meal is
+more--filling," said Blue Bonnet. "Let's eat all we can now and have
+just bread and milk for supper--we've two cans of fresh milk in the
+creek."
+
+"Blue Bonnet seems to have developed a sudden liking for 'jarring
+notes,' doesn't she, girls?" asked Kitty.
+
+When dinner was done and the dishes washed, they all sought the
+buck-board seats in the lounging room.
+
+"If we only had a book now, it would be fine to have Grandmother read
+aloud," remarked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"You wouldn't let Sarah bring any books," Amanda reminded her.
+
+"Nevertheless, methinks Sarah looks as if she had one up her sleeve,"
+said Debby.
+
+"Not up my sleeve," Sarah confessed, "--but in my bag. I'll go get
+it,--it's 'Don Quixote,' in Spanish and English both."
+
+"Did you bring the drawn-work, too?" asked Kitty. "My, Sarah, but you
+are a first-rate smuggler!"
+
+"Now that suspicion has raised its snaky head, I'd like to know--why
+is Sarah, long after the dishes are done, still wearing that apron?"
+Blue Bonnet had sent a random shot, but to her surprise Sarah flushed
+to the roots of her blond hair.
+
+She rose hastily to go in search of "Don Quixote," but the other girls
+were too quick for her. They pitilessly tore the shielding apron from
+her shoulders, and the newly sponged and pressed middy jacket and
+khaki skirt stood revealed in all their guilty freshness.
+
+"They've been ironed!" gasped Kitty.
+
+"What do you think of that for selfishness,--not to let a soul know
+she had an iron?" demanded Debby.
+
+"I got it over at Mrs. Judson's. And none of you said you wanted an
+iron," said Sarah.
+
+"And do you mean to say that our Sarah, daughter of the Reverend
+Samuel Blake, wilfully broke the Sabbath by ironing?" Concentrated
+horror appeared on Kitty's saucy countenance.
+
+"She probably thinks 'the better the day the better the deed,'" said
+Blue Bonnet.
+
+"If Mrs. Judson could press Carita's dress, I don't see that it was
+any worse for me to press mine," Sarah protested. "I'm used to looking
+respectable at church."
+
+"It's no wonder you refused to sit by so unrespectable a crowd as the
+rest of us!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet.
+
+Mrs. Clyde was laughing inwardly, but she came to the aid of the
+unhappy Sarah.
+
+"I think good nature has ceased to be a virtue, Sarah," she declared.
+"Hereafter you have my permission to resort to violence if necessary
+to protect yourself. Quiet down, girls,--remember it is Sunday."
+
+Much relieved, Sarah brought forth the contraband book and the long
+peaceful afternoon was spent in listening to the various mishaps that
+befell the valiant Don and his faithful Sancho Panza.
+
+"If it weren't for setting a dangerous precedent, I'd tell Sarah how
+glad we all are that she defied the authorities and did some
+smuggling," remarked Kitty. She and Debby had gone to the creek to
+bring up the milk for supper, and now made a pretty picture as they
+came up the willow-grown path, bearing the tall cans.
+
+"You look like somebody-or-other at the well," Blue Bonnet declared as
+Kitty came into sight.
+
+"Are you sure you don't mean thing-a-ma-bob?" laughed Kitty. "If you
+mean Rebecca, I don't agree with you. I'll wager Rebecca never wore a
+middy blouse or carried a tin milk-can!"
+
+That evening the inmates of both camps again sat about a big bonfire.
+But this time the frolics and rollicking airs had given way to a
+decorous singing of patriotic songs, stirring hymns and a pleasant
+"sermonette" by the pastor of this youthful flock.
+
+Long after this Sunday was past, Blue Bonnet remembered it as one of
+the sweetest Sabbaths she had ever spent; and she could never decide
+just what part of the day she had liked most,--the hour in the Druid's
+Grove; the afternoon when Grandmother with her pleasant voice had read
+aloud from "Don Quixote;" or the evening, when they sat about the
+glowing logs, alternately singing, and listening to Dr. Judson.
+
+"I'm going to ask Sandy to recite," Knight whispered to her as there
+fell a silence.
+
+"Get him to do 'The Bridge!'" Blue Bonnet said with dancing eyes.
+
+"I'm sure he'd rather do 'We are Seven,'" he replied, laughing.
+
+"I wish he'd recite the 'Hymn of the Alamo,'" said Alec, who had
+overheard the conversation. "Ask him to, Knight,--he'll do anything
+for you, and that's a fine poem."
+
+"Alec wrote an essay on the Alamo," Blue Bonnet explained to Knight,
+"and it won a prize--the Sargent prize--in our school this year."
+
+Alec squirmed with a boyish dislike of hearing himself praised; but
+Knight slapped him on the shoulder enthusiastically.
+
+"Bully for you, old chap! Tell the fellows the story of the Alamo,
+will you? Uncle Bayard likes them to hear historical things like
+that--can't hear them too often."
+
+Alec looked horrified at the idea, but Blue Bonnet joined Knight in
+urging him. "You tell the story of the fight and maybe Sandy will
+finish with the Hymn."
+
+Sandy promising to do his part, Alec finally yielded. Sinking far back
+in the shadow where his face could not be seen by any of the great
+circle of listeners, and his voice came out of the blackness with a
+decided tremor in it, the boy told, and told well, the story of the
+frontier riflemen in their struggle for the liberation of Texas from
+the yoke of the Mexican dictator.
+
+How the Texas lads thrilled at the recital of heroism, and thrilled at
+the mention of such names as Travis and Crockett! It was not a new
+tale; not a boy there but knew the story of that handful of men--less
+than two hundred of them--who, barricading themselves within the Alamo
+fortress, for ten days defied the Mexicans, over four thousand strong;
+only to be massacred to a man in the final heartrending fall.
+
+Alec's voice lost its tremor and ended with a patriotic ring that made
+Blue Bonnet glow with pride--pride in the heroes he told of, and in
+the friend who told of them.
+
+"It just needs Colonel Potter's poem to add the right climax to that
+bit of history," Dr. Judson declared; and Sandy stood up at once.
+
+Sandy was used to "talking on his feet;" and he stood in an easy
+posture, tossing his light reddish hair back from his broad forehead,
+and with one hand resting lightly on the alpenstock he had been
+carving for Blue Bonnet.
+
+Listening to him, Blue Bonnet lost all her early prejudice against the
+clever lad, and responding to the unbounded enthusiasm and the true
+orator's ring in the boyish voice, thrilled warmly to the spirit of
+the lines:
+
+        HYMN OF THE ALAMO
+
+        "Arise! Man the wall--our clarion blast
+         Now sounds its final reveille,--
+         This dawning morn must be the last
+         Our fated band shall ever see.
+         To life, but not to hope, farewell;
+         Yon trumpet's clang and cannon's peal,
+         And storming shout and clash of steel
+         Is _ours_,--but not our country's knell.
+         Welcome the Spartan's death!
+         'Tis no despairing strife--
+         We fall, we die--but our expiring breath
+         Is freedom's breath of life!
+
+        "Here, on this new Thermopylae,
+         Our monument shall tower on high,
+         And 'Alamo' hereafter be
+         On bloodier fields the battle-cry!"
+         Thus Travis from the rampart cried;
+         And when his warriors saw the foe
+         Like whelming billows surge below,--
+         At once each dauntless heart replied:
+         "Welcome the Spartan's death!
+         'Tis no despairing strife--
+         We fall--but our expiring breath
+         Is freedom's breath of life!"
+
+As Sandy resumed his seat amid a hush that was a greater tribute than
+applause, Blue Bonnet turned to Knight with glowing eyes.
+
+"And to think those brave fellows did all that for Texas! Aren't you
+proud to belong to this state?"
+
+"You'd better believe I am!"
+
+"We've had some heroes in Massachusetts," Alec reminded them.
+
+"And they were all _Americans_--and so are we." Knight's bigger way of
+looking at the matter settled what threatened to grow into an
+argument.
+
+"That Sandy boy's a wonder," Blue Bonnet exclaimed. "I take back every
+uncomplimentary remark I ever made about him. Appearances are so
+deceiving."
+
+"'All that glitters isn't gold,'" said Knight, looking like his uncle
+as he gravely quoted this ancient maxim.
+
+"It's a pity it isn't,--Sandy would be a millionaire with that hair of
+his!" Blue Bonnet laughed.
+
+"I mean 'handsome is as handsome does,'" said Knight, "--that isn't
+quite so dangerous a quotation. I expect to see Sandy President some
+day, or at least a senator."
+
+"Can't you imagine the newspaper headings: 'Senator Red-top of
+Texas'--?" laughed Blue Bonnet.
+
+"He's hoping to go East to college this fall," Knight remarked more
+seriously.
+
+"It's queer," said Alec, "how all the Western boys long to go East and
+all the Eastern fellows think they're just made if they can come
+West. I'd like to trade him my chance at Harvard for his health and
+strength."
+
+"Can't you arrange that trifling exchange for Alec?" Blue Bonnet asked
+Knight.
+
+He shook his head. "Sandy won't take anybody's chances,--he's the sort
+that makes his own."
+
+"Some of us aren't allowed to."
+
+Alec's voice had suddenly grown moody, and Blue Bonnet thought it time
+to change the subject. In a moment her clear, sweet voice was leading
+the rest in "The Flag without a Stain."
+
+"How do you like a Texas Sunday?" Blue Bonnet found herself beside
+Sarah as they walked back to _Poco Tiempo_, and put the question
+rather mischievously.
+
+"It's been very nice, most of it," Sarah returned in a stiff manner,
+very unlike her usual one.
+
+"What part didn't you like?"
+
+Sarah made sure that the others were not listening, then answered in a
+tone Blue Bonnet had never heard from her before:
+
+"I didn't like being made to feel that whatever I do is the wrong
+thing. I never seem to please you any more, Blue Bonnet."
+
+"Why, Sarah!" Blue Bonnet stopped still and gazed at Sarah in
+consternation. Sarah paused, too, and in the faint rays from the fire
+the two girls looked at each other steadily for a moment without
+speaking. Finally Blue Bonnet blurted out:
+
+"I wish you'd tell me just what you mean."
+
+"I mean that I've come to the conclusion that I should have stayed in
+Woodford. I don't seem to fit in here." Sarah's voice shook a little.
+
+"Sarah!" was still all Blue Bonnet could stammer. It was all so sudden
+and unexpected; a bolt from a clear sky.
+
+"Please don't think I'm thin-skinned and can't stand a little
+teasing," Sarah continued, "for I'm sure I can--I always have had to.
+But lately I haven't said a thing that hasn't made one or other of you
+'hoot' as Kitty says. And everything I've wanted to do you've thought
+ridiculous. Lately the boys have begun to laugh at me; even those I
+hardly know."
+
+This time Blue Bonnet said nothing; she was overcome by the thought
+that all Sarah had said was quite true. She hastily reviewed the past
+few weeks, and as one by one she remembered various incidents, the
+force of Sarah's complaints struck her anew.
+
+Kitty's dare and that wild ride; the ban put upon Sarah's Spanish
+books and the much-loved drawn-work; and, lately, the almost concerted
+effort of all of them to convert everything Sarah said and did into
+something unwarranted and absurd. By the time Blue Bonnet had reached
+her own action of that very morning in tearing the apron forcibly
+from Sarah's shoulders, she was dumb with shame. This was the way she
+had rewarded her friend for a loyalty that had been unswerving through
+all that dreadful week in Woodford, when the other girls had sent her
+to Coventry; for all her sweet thoughtfulness that had proved itself
+unfailing!
+
+She suddenly threw her arms impulsively around Sarah's shoulders and
+faced her squarely.
+
+"I've been downright horrid," she said earnestly. "And a rude, selfish
+hostess. I haven't any right to expect you to forgive me, Sarah, dear,
+but if you can find it in your heart to give another chance, I'll show
+you I can and will be different."
+
+"It isn't serious enough to talk of forgiveness," Sarah said in her
+honest, straightforward way. "All I want to know is, that you're
+not--sorry--I came."
+
+"Sarah, don't say that! You make me hate myself!" Blue Bonnet shook
+her almost fiercely. "You mustn't think it either. I'm glad, glad,
+glad you came! I've meant you to know it, and I've wanted you to have
+a splendid time, and here all the while--" she stopped and swallowed
+hard.
+
+Sarah's face lighted up happily and she did what was for her an
+unprecedented thing,--she drew Blue Bonnet to her and gave her a
+hearty hug.
+
+"That's all I wanted to know," she said. "Please don't imagine I
+haven't enjoyed myself, Blue Bonnet. It's been the most wonderful
+visit! I'm queer, I know, but I can't help liking the things I like,
+and if only the girls would stop trying to make me over--"
+
+"I'll make them!" Blue Bonnet declared; and at this threat they both
+laughed, and the storm was over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI
+
+THE LOST SHEEP
+
+
+"OH, Carita, do you really have to go to-day?" Genuine regret was in
+Blue Bonnet's eyes and tone.
+
+Carita sighed.
+
+"Yes, Grandfather expects us back at the farm to-night, and Mother
+never disappoints him. He's getting old and she doesn't like to leave
+him alone much. We may come up again before the summer is
+over,--Father has to be here for several weeks yet."
+
+"But we'll be gone,--we're to leave on Wednesday, you know. Did ever
+days fly so before? I haven't seen half enough of you, Carita."
+
+"You seem to belong to so many people," Carita said rather wistfully,
+"I've been afraid to claim too much of your time. But there are other
+summers. Maybe when you come back from the East next year you can come
+to the farm,--it isn't much of a journey on the cars."
+
+Blue Bonnet lost herself a moment in reflection. "When she came back
+from the East"--why, she hadn't even decided that she was going East
+again--yet.
+
+"And you can come to see me--at the Blue Bonnet ranch," she said.
+
+Carita shook her head.
+
+"Railroad fares are pretty high. We have to be very careful since
+Father lost his health. That's why we came back from India, you know.
+The doctors said that this climate was best for his trouble, and when
+Grandfather offered us a home on the farm we were so glad. But
+Father's not having a church--only once in a while when he fills a
+pulpit for a few weeks at a time--keeps us a little short. I reckon
+you don't know much about--being short. You have everything you want,
+don't you?"
+
+"Everybody seems to think that; they forget that I haven't a mother or
+father--or any brothers and sisters," Blue Bonnet said very simply.
+
+Carita threw her arms impulsively about her friend and gave her a warm
+kiss. "How mean of me to forget! I wish you were my sister. Boys don't
+always understand. But you have so many people to love you, you can't
+ever get lonesome. And having lots of money must be so nice, and to go
+away to school, and have pretty clothes and go to parties and travel,
+why--" Carita's breath failed her.
+
+"I ought to be mighty thankful. And I am most of the time," Blue
+Bonnet replied. "But the people who love you always expect a great
+deal of you, and it's very hard to live up to their expectations.
+Besides, going to school isn't all fun, I can tell you."
+
+"I wouldn't care if it weren't all fun, if I could only go. Father
+teaches me at home, but we have so many interruptions. There are
+dishes to wash, babies to mind, Grandfather to wait upon, till neither
+of us knows whether we're doing arithmetic or grammar." Carita rose.
+"I must hurry back to camp--Mother's packing."
+
+"You never forget what's expected of you, do you?" Blue Bonnet asked,
+with a mixture of wonder and admiration.
+
+"It wouldn't do for me to forget,--I'm the eldest, you know. Mother
+depends on me." Carita spoke as though it were the most natural thing
+in the world for a fourteen-year-old girl to be "depended upon."
+
+"Nobody ever depends on me--for a very good reason!" Blue Bonnet
+laughed. "Somehow it's so much easier for me to forget than to
+remember. It's the only thing I do with shining success."
+
+"You'll learn to be responsible when you have children of your own,"
+Carita said as sagely as if she were forty instead of fourteen.
+
+Blue Bonnet's eyes shone.
+
+"I'm going to have a whole dozen!" she declared.
+
+"I wouldn't, if I were you--it would be so hard on the eldest," Carita
+reminded her.
+
+And Blue Bonnet, noticing the care-worn look in the eyes of her
+"missionary girl," decided that being the eldest of a big family might
+have its disadvantages.
+
+"Grandmother, I wish there were something I could do for Carita," she
+said later that morning, as she and Mrs. Clyde found themselves alone.
+
+"You have already done a great deal for her," her grandmother
+remarked. "Mrs. Judson has told me how much your letters and presents
+have meant to Carita."
+
+"But that was so little,--and it was just fun for me. She has all work
+and no play, and I don't think it's fair."
+
+"Perhaps you can do something for her, later on. But you must be
+careful how you assume responsibilities, Blue Bonnet. You seem to have
+taken upon yourself a great many already."
+
+"What ones?" Blue Bonnet questioned in surprise.
+
+"In the first place--you've me!" Grandmother smiled.
+
+"That's so,--I'm responsible to Aunt Lucinda for you. And what
+others?"
+
+"How about the We are Sevens whom you've brought so far away from
+their homes? And Alec?"
+
+Blue Bonnet's eyes opened.
+
+"I hadn't thought of them in that way. But I reckon you're right. And
+there's Solomon, too."
+
+Grandmother's mouth twitched. "You must be sure you can do your full
+duty by the responsibilities you have before you assume new ones."
+
+Blue Bonnet looked very serious. "Seems to me life has a heap of
+complications. Now there's Alec,--he's worse than a complication. He's
+a downright puzzle."
+
+"Has he said anything more about his trouble?" Mrs. Clyde asked.
+
+"Just hints. But they sound as if he were hiding something pretty bad.
+Sometimes I wish he would come right out with it, and then again, I'm
+afraid. If he keeps on looking dark and broody every time the
+conversation turns on the subject of health, I'm going to write the
+General about it. I think _that's_ my duty."
+
+"But Alec looks wonderfully well, bigger, broader and better in every
+way than when he left Woodford," Mrs. Clyde insisted.
+
+"I know he does. But when I remarked to Knight how well Alec looked,
+and said I thought he ought to get rid of his foolish notion about
+himself now, Knight looked queer and asked, 'Do you think it a foolish
+notion? I think he's dead right.' And Knight's a sensible boy and
+wouldn't say that unless he thought so."
+
+Mrs. Clyde's eyes reflected Blue Bonnet's look of perplexity. "Have
+you talked with your uncle about him?"
+
+"No. Just after I talked with you Alec asked me not to mention the
+matter to any one else. That shuts out Uncle Cliff. I'm sorry, for I'm
+sure he'd suggest the right thing. There comes Miguel with the horses.
+You don't mind our riding a little way with the Judsons do you?
+They're nearly ready to start."
+
+"No, so long as you are back for lunch," said her grandmother.
+
+The boys had all gone hunting early that morning, and only the girls
+of _Poco Tiempo_ were on hand to escort the departing guests. Mrs.
+Clyde said good-bye to Mrs. Judson with genuine regret, and kissed all
+the small Judsons warmly at parting.
+
+The whole family was packed into the two seats of the heavy
+farm-wagon, the mother driving with one of the boys beside her; Carita
+in the back seat holding Joe and, at the same time, keeping a watchful
+eye on the two lively youngsters by her side. Bedding and camp
+equipment were heaped high in the wagon-box.
+
+"You look like a picture of 'Crossing the Plains,'" Blue Bonnet
+exclaimed.
+
+"Play you're the Injuns going to scalp us!" begged Carita's brother
+Harry, his big dark eyes shining with eagerness.
+
+Blue Bonnet gave a shrill "Ho, ye ho, ho!" that passed for a
+war-whoop, and in a minute they were all off, the farm horses rather
+startled at the carryings-on; the small boys wild with excitement; and
+the We are Sevens tearing madly down the road "ki-yi-ing" at the top
+of their voices.
+
+Mrs. Clyde turned with a smile to Dr. Judson, who stood looking rather
+amazedly after his departing family. "Blue Bonnet is alternately five
+and fifteen," she remarked.
+
+"She is decidedly refreshing," he returned. "I hope you will try to
+keep her a child as long as possible."
+
+"I don't need to try!" she replied with a laugh.
+
+The parting between the "emigrants" and the Indians was not such as
+history records of leave-takings between these sworn enemies. Carita
+had to wink hard to keep back the tears when she said good-bye to Blue
+Bonnet, and the little Judsons set up a loud wail when their former
+pursuers waved them farewell.
+
+"It's a shame Carita has to go back and slave on that old farm," Blue
+Bonnet declared, as she looked after the little figure holding on to
+the baby with one hand and waving her handkerchief in the other.
+
+"It seems selfish of us to be having a whole summer of fun when she's
+only had two or three days," said Sarah.
+
+"Sarah talks as if it's downright wicked for any of us to be having a
+good time," Kitty retorted. "Maybe you think one of us ought to change
+places with Carita?" she challenged Sarah.
+
+"Sarah is the only one of us that's unselfish enough to do such a
+thing!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed warmly; and Sarah sent her a grateful
+glance.
+
+They were in a part of the country that Blue Bonnet called "the other
+side of the hills,"--a land of sheep-ranches, for the most part;
+rather barren and level, unlike the rolling green prairie of the
+cattle-country she loved. They could see the Judson's wagon winding
+its way across the plain, until only a blur of dust marked its course
+towards the horizon.
+
+"Let's hurry," said Blue Bonnet, "I promised Grandmother we'd surely
+be back for lunch."
+
+"It isn't your turn to cook, is it?" asked Kitty.
+
+"No,--it's my turn to eat!" And Blue Bonnet, urging Firefly, was off
+at a lively clip towards camp.
+
+"Please stop, Blue Bonnet," panted Kitty after a few minutes of this
+sort of going. "I've a dreadful pain in my side."
+
+Blue Bonnet good-naturedly fell back with her, and the rest swept past
+them with a chorus of taunts for being "quitters." Both girls looked
+after Comanche and his rider with something like wonder in their eyes.
+Sarah was riding like a veteran; it was plain that she and Comanche
+understood each other at last.
+
+"Sarah's coming on, isn't she?" said Kitty.
+
+"Coming?--I think she's arrived!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed.
+
+"She can thank me for picking out Comanche for her," remarked Kitty;
+she preferred herself to be the object of Blue Bonnet's approbation
+and could not be roused to much enthusiasm on Sarah's account.
+
+"Considering your motive, Kitty-Kat, I'm not so sure Sarah owes you
+any gratitude," laughed Blue Bonnet. Suddenly she gave an exclamation.
+"Why, there's a lamb,--I wonder if it's dead."
+
+"Where?" asked Kitty.
+
+Blue Bonnet pointed to a spot some distance off the road, but Kitty's
+city-bred eyes could make out nothing. Just then there came a feeble
+bleat, and in a second Blue Bonnet had slipped from the saddle and
+handed the reins to Kitty.
+
+"Hold Firefly a minute, please. That _is_ a lamb!"
+
+Kitty obediently held the unwilling Firefly, while Blue Bonnet hurried
+in the direction of the bleat. A moment later she stooped, and when
+she straightened up, there was a small woolly object in her arms.
+
+"It's too little to travel and the mean old mother's gone off with
+the flock," Blue Bonnet said, coming up with the deserted baby.
+
+"What are you going to do with it?" demanded Kitty helplessly.
+
+"I'm going to find the flock. It's been driven along here and inside
+that fence. I'm going to let down the bars and cross the field. You
+see the little shanty over there?--I believe there must be a shepherd
+somewhere about, and I'll give him the lamb. He isn't a very good
+shepherd or he'd have been looking out for poor little lambs. Shady
+used to herd sheep and he's told me lots about it."
+
+"And what shall I do?" asked Kitty. "I'm afraid to hold Firefly,--he
+nearly pulls me off the saddle."
+
+"Then tie both horses to the bars here and help me with the lamb."
+
+Kitty offered no protest. This was so like Blue Bonnet. It was always
+a stray dog or a lost baby, or an old woman at the poor-house that
+enlisted her ready sympathy; Kitty ran over a long list in her mind.
+Of course it had to be a lost lamb or a calf in Texas; the wonder was
+there hadn't been more of them.
+
+Hastily tying both ponies to a fence-post with a scrambling knot of
+the reins that would have brought down Blue Bonnet's wrath upon her
+hapless head, Kitty hastened across the close-cropped meadow. It
+seemed to her they trudged miles, taking turns carrying the lamb,
+before they reached the little shack. A stupid young fellow,
+half-asleep, lay sprawled in the shade.
+
+"Here's a lamb we found by the road," said Blue Bonnet, proffering her
+woolly burden.
+
+Without uttering a word the sleepy youth took the lamb from her; but
+Blue Bonnet, observing his manner of handling it, saw that he was wise
+in the ways of sheep, and she was content to leave her charge with
+him.
+
+"Flock's over there," he said at length, pointing vaguely with his
+thumb.
+
+"All right. Come on, Kitty." As they turned away she said in an
+undertone: "Shady says the herders are alone so much they almost
+forget how to talk."
+
+"He's evidently forgotten how to say 'thank you,'" Kitty said crossly.
+"Why, Blue Bonnet--where are the horses?"
+
+"You ought to know. Where did you tie them?"
+
+Kitty's startled eyes rested on the post beside the bars. "To that
+post there. Oh, Blue Bonnet, some one must have stolen them!"
+
+"Stolen? Who'd steal them, I'd like to know? This comes, Kitty Clark,
+of letting you hitch a horse!" Blue Bonnet was straining her eyes for
+a sight of the runaways.
+
+"This comes, Blue Bonnet Ashe, of following you on every wild-goose
+chase you choose to lead me!" Cross, tired and out of patience, Kitty
+flared up in one of her sudden outbursts, and Blue Bonnet took fire at
+once.
+
+"If you think I'm going to let a poor creature starve to death rather
+than disturb your comfort, you're much mistaken!" An angry glance
+passed between them.
+
+Sarah, the pacifier, was several miles away by this time; and even she
+would have felt her resources sorely taxed to meet this emergency.
+Miles from camp and no horses!
+
+Kitty stalked into the road and started to walk, holding her head high
+and swinging her arms as though _she_ didn't mind a little matter of
+five or six miles. Blue Bonnet, with the training of a lifetime,
+stopped to put up the bars before setting out on the long tramp. It
+was already noon and the sun glared down, unbearably hot. Before she
+had gone a mile Blue Bonnet looked about for a mesquite bush, and
+finding one sank down in its shade. Kitty kept doggedly on.
+
+"Oh, Kitty!" Blue Bonnet called after her. "I've heard of people who
+hadn't sense enough to come in out of the rain, and I think it's a
+heap sillier not to have sense enough to come in out of the sun!"
+
+Kitty wavered; and was lost. Turning back she threw herself beside
+Blue Bonnet with a groan.
+
+"My feet are one big blister," she moaned, her anger swallowed up in
+the anguish of the moment.
+
+"We can't possibly walk," said Blue Bonnet. "And I've an idea. If that
+cloud of dust I saw on the road towards camp was Firefly and
+Rowdy--and it probably was--the girls will soon be after us."
+
+And so it proved; except that it was Alec and Knight instead of the
+girls who came riding furiously down the road in search of them. When
+Alec heard Blue Bonnet's ranch-call he threw his hat in the air with a
+whoop of relief.
+
+"We've been looking for your mangled remains all along the way," he
+declared, as they reached the girls. "We had the fright of our lives
+when Firefly and Rowdy came trotting into camp minus their riders."
+
+"You thought we'd been thrown?" Blue Bonnet asked.
+
+"I would have thought so if there had been only one, but it didn't
+seem likely that both of you could have come a cropper," Knight
+replied.
+
+"Is Grandmother worried?" Blue Bonnet asked hastily.
+
+"She doesn't know. The girls didn't tell her anything except that you
+and Kitty had loafed along the way. She didn't see the horses. But
+we'd better hurry back."
+
+Each boy had led one of the errant ponies, and now the girls mounted
+and lost no time in getting back to camp.
+
+"I'm so sorry--" Blue Bonnet began to speak as soon as she came within
+sight of her grandmother, "--I didn't mean to be so late."
+
+"I can't quite understand, Blue Bonnet, why you and Kitty could not
+come back with the other girls. It is long past noon." Mrs. Clyde had
+been worried, and required more of an explanation than an apology.
+Blue Bonnet's tired face and dusty, dishevelled clothes spoke
+eloquently of adventure.
+
+"I stopped to pick up a lamb,--its mother had gone on with the flock
+and left it to starve. Shady says lots of sheep don't care about their
+children. That's why he likes beef-critters best,--cows always make
+good mothers. And Kitty and I found the shepherd and gave him the lamb
+to take care of."
+
+The annoyance faded from Grandmother's face and her eyes softened.
+
+Uncle Joe, who had been an interested listener, spoke up--"Say, Honey,
+why didn't you bring the lamb home?--fresh meat is just what we've
+been needing."
+
+"Uncle Joe!" Horror rang in Blue Bonnet's voice. "Do you think I'd
+have eaten that poor little darling?"
+
+He scratched a puzzled head. "Why seems like I've known you to eat
+nice young roast lamb, Blue Bonnet."
+
+"That's different," she insisted.
+
+"The only acquaintances Blue Bonnet is willing to have roasted are her
+friends!" said Kitty; and Blue Bonnet generously let her have the last
+word.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII
+
+SECRETS
+
+
+"THERE'S only one thing nicer than going camping," Blue Bonnet
+declared.
+
+Her grandmother looked up. "And that is--?"
+
+"Getting home again!" Blue Bonnet laughed happily.
+
+They were in sight of the ranch-house now, and could see the girls and
+Alec dismounting at the veranda steps. Don and Solomon leaping
+excitedly about the group, suddenly caught sight of the approaching
+buckboard and raced madly to meet their mistress. Even the horses
+seemed glad to be home again and tired as they were with the long
+day's travel broke into a trot.
+
+Benita's brown face beamed at them from the doorway, and over her
+shoulder peered Juanita, with eyes only for Miguel.
+
+Kitty had sunk immediately into one of the deep veranda chairs.
+
+"I had to see how it feels to sit in a real live chair with a back
+once more," she explained. "And next I want to look at myself in a
+mirror that's more than three inches square; and have a drink out of
+a glass tumbler; and put on a clean white, fluffy dress!"
+
+They each did all these things as eagerly as if they had been marooned
+on a desert island for many months; even Grandmother Clyde wearing
+fresh white linen, and Alec, for the first time on the ranch appearing
+in a starched shirt. Whereupon the girls broke into deafening
+applause.
+
+"Letters, letters for everybody!" cried Blue Bonnet bursting into the
+living-room with a great bundle of mail. "Three for you and one for
+me, Grandmother,--postmarked Turino. Heaps for you, Kitty, ditto for
+Sarah, Amanda, Debby, Alec,--all Woodford must have joined in a
+round-robin. Hurry and read them and then everybody swap news!"
+
+A long silence ensued, as profound as it was rare, while each girl
+pored over the precious home letters. It was Kitty who looked up
+first.
+
+"Susy didn't catch the fever,--and Ruth's all over it. And she's had
+to have all her hair cut off, and she's dreadfully thin and doesn't
+seem to get her strength back as she should, Father says. He thinks
+she has fretted over having to miss the ranch party,--and no
+wonder!--it would simply have killed me. Susy's been a regular trump
+and hasn't complained a bit, but every one knows it's been a dreadful
+disappointment, especially when she was perfectly well and could have
+come if it hadn't been for Ruth."
+
+"It's a downright shame!" Blue Bonnet declared.
+
+"Father says if Ruth doesn't feel better soon she'll probably have to
+stay out of school this fall," Kitty continued.
+
+"Then I should say she hadn't suffered in vain," exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet; Grandmother was deep in her letters.
+
+"But think how mean it would be to have one of the We are Sevens out
+of school. You know how you love to 'have things complete,'" Amanda
+reminded her.
+
+"Yes, but--" she began; then feeling her grandmother's eyes upon her,
+failed to finish. It was odd how the girls took it for granted that
+she was going back with them. And she was not at all sure, herself.
+
+The girls had not noticed her hesitation, and were already exchanging
+other bits of home news and gossip. Alec alone was silent. Blue
+Bonnet, stealing a look at him saw that he had finished his letters
+and was staring moodily out of the window, unmindful of all the gay
+chatter about him.
+
+"Did you get bad news, Alec?" she asked him, later that evening, as he
+accompanied her to the stable to see Texas and Massachusetts.
+
+"That depends on the way you look at it. Boyd is coming back from
+Europe to take the West Point examinations--"
+
+Blue Bonnet smothered an exclamation: she had seen that coming.
+
+"--and Grandfather says that since the Army seems out of the question
+for me, he thinks I had better hurry home and take the Harvard exams.
+He seems set on it."
+
+"And you don't want to?"
+
+"It isn't to be thought of." Alec's mouth was very determined.
+
+Now why, if West Point was disposed of, could he not take the next
+best--or in her opinion the very best--thing that offered? It was on
+the point of Blue Bonnet's tongue to put the question, when Alec spoke
+again.
+
+"I've been putting off writing Grandfather,--what I told you a while
+ago,--thinking I might feel different after a time. But I'm more
+convinced than ever now. I had a long talk with Knight's friend 'Doc'
+Abbott, and he gave me a thorough going over, as he called it--"
+
+"And what did he say?"
+
+"He agrees with me, absolutely. There's no Harvard or any other
+college for Alec Trent--"
+
+"Oh, Alec!" Blue Bonnet was trembling. To hide it she bent and picked
+up little Texas, stroking one of his silky ears. The coyotes had been
+placed in the empty rabbit-hutch, and were growing prodigiously.
+
+"Well, it's better to know the truth and face it, isn't it?" Alec
+asked, as if rather resenting her tone.
+
+"Yes, but--I can't see how you can speak so lightly about it. It's so
+dreadfully--serious."
+
+"Lightly?" echoed Alec. "You're mistaken, Blue Bonnet. I know it's a
+mighty serious business for me. Why, if I could view it lightly, I
+could sit down and write Grandfather about it this very minute--"
+
+"Well, if you don't, I'm going to!" she declared.
+
+"Will you? Oh, Blue Bonnet, that's just what I've been hoping you'd
+do!" The relief in Alec's tone was unmistakable. "He's mighty fond of
+you, and I'm sure he'd consider that it came better from you than from
+me. And it will be a lot easier for you to do it, under the
+circumstances."
+
+Easier! Blue Bonnet bent hastily and put Texas back in the bunny-house
+so that Alec might not see her face. If he had not been absorbed in
+his own thoughts he must have seen what a shock his words had been to
+her. It was so unlike Alec to put upon a girl a task he felt too hard
+for himself,--a sort of cowardice of which she would never have
+believed him capable. It took her some seconds to steady her voice
+before she could answer:
+
+"I'll write to-morrow."
+
+"You're a trump, Blue Bonnet! I seem to get deeper and deeper into
+your debt," he said earnestly.
+
+Blue Bonnet fastened the little door of the rabbit-hutch, leaving
+Texas and Massachusetts to one of their frequent naps, and then walked
+back to the house in silence. Alec, observing her, believed her to be
+composing her letter to the General.
+
+"The first of August to-day, just think how our summer is flying!"
+remarked Amanda next morning.
+
+"Just three weeks to Blue Bonnet's birthday," said Sarah, who was
+engaged in making some mental calculations.
+
+"Sixteen! Just think how old I'm getting!" Blue Bonnet's smile showed
+her not at all depressed at the prospect.
+
+Uncle Joe cleared his throat gruffly. Why on earth did everybody keep
+harping on Blue Bonnet's growing up?
+
+"I reckon you'll be having some howling celebration?" he asked rather
+crossly.
+
+"You wager we will!" Uncle Cliff replied, all the more cheerfully
+because he guessed the reason for Uncle Joe's irritation. "A sixteenth
+birthday only comes once in a lifetime."
+
+Mrs. Clyde, feeling an unusual sympathy with Uncle Joe, was silent.
+
+"We must have some sort of a party that's--different," exclaimed Blue
+Bonnet.
+
+"Everything's different in Texas," Sarah remarked, and the usual laugh
+followed.
+
+"We can't have a dance without any boys," Blue Bonnet reflected.
+
+"No boys?" exclaimed Uncle Joe, with a return of his twinkle, "Well,
+for a ranch that keeps a baker's dozen of cowboys--"
+
+"All Mexicans except Sandy and Pete!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet
+scornfully.
+
+"I'll agree to furnish a boy apiece for the festive occasion," said
+Uncle Cliff; and Blue Bonnet, exchanging a glance with him, knew he
+was nursing a well-laid scheme. "Now, listen," he continued. "I've
+been thinking over this thing--had time to think this last week!--and
+I've got it all figured out. My idea is to have an all-day affair, a
+real old-fashioned Spanish tournament."
+
+Blue Bonnet clapped her hands. "Oh, Uncle Cliff, you do think of the
+most glorious things!"
+
+"In the morning," Uncle Cliff went on, "we could have a steer-roping
+contest--the Mexicans adore that--and Senorita Ashe bestow the prizes.
+And then--"
+
+"Some bronco-busting," suggested Uncle Joe. Blue Bonnet turned pale
+and Uncle Cliff kicked his foreman under the table.
+
+"None of that," he said briefly. "Too crude for our select company."
+
+"A bull-fight, then," Uncle Joe persisted, "--that's Spanish, and the
+most seeleck ladies adore the ring."
+
+"Oh, no!" cried Blue Bonnet, before she caught the gleam of mischief
+in the speaker's eye.
+
+"We might have some races in the pasture," Alec suggested.
+
+"Sure!" exclaimed Uncle Cliff. "And end with a grand fete in the
+evening,--and give everybody a holiday."
+
+"Won't it be a great deal of work?" Mrs. Clyde inquired.
+
+"Heaps. But these greasers never have enough to do,--we'll make them
+work for once," Mr. Ashe replied.
+
+"What shall we wear?" Of course it was Kitty who asked.
+
+"Oh, girls, I've the loveliest plan,--you don't mind, do you,
+Grandmother, if I get out my Spanish costume again?"
+
+Grandmother smiled at a sudden recollection. "No, dear. I think it
+would fit this occasion admirably."
+
+"But we haven't Spanish costumes!" said Debby and Amanda in a breath.
+
+"Get them!" Blue Bonnet exclaimed. "Any old-fashioned, bright-colored
+gown will do to begin with, and a lace scarf for mantilla--"
+
+"But where are we to get the gowns,--they don't grow on bushes,"
+demanded Kitty.
+
+"There is such a thing as a post, Kitty, and an express company. And
+you know your attics at home are full of lovely old things."
+
+"Then we'll have to send right away to get them here in time."
+
+The girls rose as if there were not a moment to lose, and, later in
+the day, Shady rode to Jonah with a well-filled mail-bag.
+
+Blue Bonnet spent the entire morning over the composition of her
+letter to General Trent. When she sat down soberly to write Alec's
+grandfather a plain statement of facts, she found she had no facts to
+tell,--only a host of vague fears and hints that Alec had uttered from
+time to time. It was hardly to be wondered at, therefor, that her
+epistle when finished was pervaded with mystery of a veiled sort that
+made the General knit his brow, fall into a brown study, and then
+stalk off to the telegraph office.
+
+It was Uncle Cliff who received the message and the matter aroused no
+comment. It said simply:
+
+        "With your permission will come to Texas. Arrive
+        August twentieth. Prefer Alec should not know."
+
+A telegram just as brief was despatched in reply; and no one was the
+wiser except Blue Bonnet and Grandmother Clyde. Blue Bonnet was much
+elated. Telling bad news at long range was something she did not
+approve of, and it promised to be a far easier solution of the problem
+to have the General see and learn for himself. It was not easy,
+however, to keep the matter from Alec, and Blue Bonnet, who had never
+had a secret of such importance before, had trouble more than once to
+keep from blurting it out.
+
+The air for the next few days was full of mystery. Preparations for
+the birthday went forth apace, and the question of gifts was the
+important topic of the hour. Isolation from shops threw the girls
+largely upon their own resources; besides, it was known that Mrs.
+Clyde did not favor anything but the simplest of gifts. Sarah, whose
+drawn-work had progressed steadily in spite of all obstacles, enjoyed
+a small triumph, being the only one prepared with a suitable present.
+
+"Now they'll leave me in peace while I finish it," she thought with a
+sigh of relief.
+
+But it was not altogether peace that Sarah enjoyed, for the other
+girls took it into their heads to fashion something for Blue Bonnet
+with their own hands, and sought Sarah's room as the one spot secure
+from the eyes of the curious.
+
+"What are you going to give Blue Bonnet?" Debby asked Alec one day.
+
+He laughed mysteriously. "I'm aiming to surprise everybody as well as
+Blue Bonnet. It isn't much of a present, and the surprise is the only
+thing about it worth while."
+
+Blue Bonnet was obligingly blind and deaf, in these days. Letters
+flying back and forth, packages by mail or express, she ignored
+religiously.
+
+"It's a real midsummer Christmas," she said to her grandmother one
+day, when all the other girls had shut themselves up in Sarah's room.
+"I thought there never could be anything so exciting and thrilly as
+getting ready for Christmas in Woodford, but this is running it
+close!"
+
+"The mistress of the Blue Bonnet ranch is a very important personage
+these days," said Grandmother.
+
+"She always has been made to feel important here. That's why it was so
+hard at first when I came to you and Aunt Lucinda." Blue Bonnet drew a
+low hassock beside her grandmother, and leaned cosily against her in
+the way they both loved. "You see, having my own way ever since I was
+old enough to have a way, didn't make it very easy to obey orders. My
+wishes didn't seem to count much with Aunt Lucinda."
+
+"But they do count, dear. Your aunt is very fond of you, Blue Bonnet,
+and would grant any reasonable wish if she had it in her power."
+
+"Oh, I understand her better now. It didn't take me very long to
+realize that she was running that ranch--that's a figure of speech,
+Grandmother,--and it was my turn _to be run_."
+
+Mrs. Clyde stroked the brown head lovingly. "I saw the struggle, dear,
+and I know it was not easy. The things that are worth while don't come
+without effort."
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled understanding into her grandmother's eyes. "I know.
+And I'm so glad I wasn't what Uncle Cliff calls a 'quitter.' Sticking
+it out was pretty hard, but it's made me feel more--worthy, somehow,
+to be sixteen!"
+
+Mystery reached its highest point the next day when Kitty, who had
+been absorbed in a bulky letter from home, suddenly gave a shrill
+scream of excitement, and summoning the other three girls, fled to
+Sarah's room. The high-pitched chatter and ejaculations that issued
+from that quarter made even Alec curious. Going around the house he
+hung on to the window-ledge and begged to be let into the secret.
+
+"We want to surprise everybody!" said Debby revengefully.
+
+Alec dropped to the ground and walked away in high amusement. Let them
+keep their secret then; he was sure he knew a surprise worth two of
+it. Then he betook himself to the Mexican quarters to note the
+progress of his own gift for Blue Bonnet.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII
+
+SOME ARRIVALS
+
+
+THE birthday celebration really began on the day before the birthday.
+Uncle Cliff had driven to the railway station early in the day, and
+long before it was time for him to be back, five pairs of eyes began
+searching the road for a sight of the returning buckboard. The We are
+Sevens, observing Blue Bonnet to be as expectant as they, became
+apprehensive lest their great secret should have leaked out. For her
+part, Blue Bonnet had become so used to seeing the girls impatient for
+the arrival of the mail, that their frequent running to the veranda to
+peer down the road, occasioned her only amusement.
+
+How little they suspected what a valuable package that buckboard would
+contain!
+
+This was the twentieth of August. Every time Blue Bonnet thought of
+the great surprise in store for Alec, she grew first excited, then
+afraid. How would he take his grandfather's arrival? One minute she
+was sure he would be overwhelmingly glad, for Alec had a deep
+affection for the "grand old man." The next, she was afraid he would
+think she had shirked her bargain by throwing on him the burden of
+telling the General his own bad news. Well, this time she had truly
+done her best, let the results be what they might.
+
+"Do what is right let the consequence follow!" she sagely remarked to
+Solomon, and he put up his paw as if to say: "Shake on that!"
+
+She was in her garden picking flowers for the table. Indoors was a
+delightful flurry of preparation: from the kitchen came a clatter of
+pans, and a variety of appetizing odors; above the cackle of Lisa and
+Gertrudis rang the merry laugh of Juanita as she waited on the busy
+cooks; while Miguel could be seen haunting the region of the back
+door.
+
+Out on the long-disused croquet-ground, which Uncle Joe had levelled
+and tamped for Blue Bonnet years before, Alec and several of the
+cowboys were working, converting it into a dancing ground, and hanging
+Chinese lanterns on long wires strung between the surrounding trees.
+
+"It's certainly worth while having a birthday on the ranch," Blue
+Bonnet thought happily. All this bustle of preparation to celebrate
+the birthday of a Texas Blue Bonnet!
+
+Hark! Wasn't that the rattle of wheels? Yes,--there came the buckboard
+at last. Blue Bonnet sprang up excitedly. Had Alec heard? She shot a
+look in the direction of the croquet-ground.
+
+Alec had heard; had glanced at the cloud of dust that marked the
+approaching team, and then--had gone calmly on with his work. He was
+looking for travellers on horseback, and the buckboard's arrival won
+only slight notice from him. He would let the girls spring their
+surprise on Blue Bonnet and have the hubbub over before he intruded.
+
+"Alec!" called Blue Bonnet in a fever of excitement; but he merely
+waved to her indulgently and went on fitting a candle into a socket
+with exasperating slowness.
+
+With her arms full of flaming poppies, Blue Bonnet flew to the house
+and reached the veranda just as the other girls poured from the door,
+and the buckboard came to a standstill. There was the General, and
+beside him--Blue Bonnet gasped as she saw--was a boyish figure with
+close-cropped hair.
+
+The poppies fell to the ground in a brilliant heap, and the moment
+that Susy and Ruth alighted Blue Bonnet gathered them both in an
+ecstatic hug. But not for long was she permitted a monopoly. These
+newly arrived two-sevenths were passed from hand to hand, or, more
+literally, from arm to arm, and caressed and exclaimed over until Mrs.
+Clyde came to the rescue of the tired girls.
+
+The General's arrival had become of quite secondary importance. He
+stood talking to the Senora until Blue Bonnet at last turned to him
+apologetically.
+
+"I'm very glad to see you!" she said.
+
+General Trent took her outstretched hand and smiled down into the
+eager flushed face. "You are very good to say so. A mere man is
+decidedly _de trop_ on such an occasion!"
+
+"No, you're not! Only I was expecting you and I wasn't expecting Susy
+and Ruth,--so I rather lost my head. How did you happen to bring the
+girls?"
+
+"I didn't bring them, really. Dr. Clark wanted them to have a change
+of air, and when Mrs. Doyle heard I was coming here she asked if I
+would mind playing escort to her girls,--a change of air spelt only
+Texas to them, it seems. My delight may better be imagined than
+described, and--here we are. Ah, Miss Kitty, you see me at last!" He
+paused to shake hands with the young lady, and then the others came
+shyly up with greetings.
+
+"You didn't know I had a surprise up my sleeve, did you?" Blue Bonnet
+challenged the girls.
+
+"You must wear long sleeves!" laughed Kitty, tilting her chin to look
+up at the tall military figure.
+
+The General laughed with the rest but Blue Bonnet could see him
+looking about with some impatience. "Where's Alec?" he asked finally.
+
+"We'll go find him. Take everybody indoors, will you, Grandmother?
+I'll be back in a minute." Looking particularly small and slight, Blue
+Bonnet moved off with her tall companion towards the croquet-ground,
+where Alec, all unconscious of their approach, stood on a step-ladder
+adjusting one of the paper lanterns.
+
+"How is the boy by this time?" General Trent asked.
+
+"I--I don't know," Blue Bonnet stammered. It was quite true; she had
+given up trying to guess the state of Alec's health.
+
+The horizontal line between the General's eyes grew deeper: it was
+plain that the girl shrank from telling him the worst.
+
+Alec had started to descend the ladder when he caught sight of the
+approaching pair. For a second he stood transfixed with surprise; then
+with a real cowboy "whoop" of joy, took a flying leap from his perch,
+cleared various obstacles with a bound, and literally fell upon his
+grandfather.
+
+"How splendid of you to come, sir!" was all he could exclaim for some
+minutes.
+
+Finally the General took him by the shoulders and held him off,
+looking him over from head to foot. Blue Bonnet saw a look of
+incredulous wonder grow in his eyes, as he took in the increased
+breadth of the boy, the erect carriage and the red that glowed through
+the sunburn of his rounded cheeks.
+
+"Why, boy, how you've grown!"
+
+"Have I?" asked Alec eagerly. "Never felt so well before in all my
+life!"
+
+Well? Blue Bonnet felt her face grow hot. How could Alec say that
+when he had let her--even urged her--to write that letter to his
+grandfather? If it was a joke, it struck her that Alec must have
+developed rather poor taste in jokes. She could feel the General's
+eyes upon her, questioning mutely. She could not meet his glance yet,
+and said with elaborate carelessness:
+
+"I reckon you two would like to have a little talk, and the girls are
+waiting for me." She sped back to the house, and soon forgot her
+indignation in the joy of the We are Sevens' reunion.
+
+"It seems too good to be true!" she exclaimed, gazing happily from one
+girl to another, as the seven of them lounged about the living-room,
+three on the broad couch and the rest distributed impartially between
+the floor and the window-seat. Such complete informality had never
+seemed permissible in the sedate Clyde mansion; but somehow these
+surroundings seemed to invite one to be as comfortable and
+unconventional as possible.
+
+Suddenly Blue Bonnet's eyes danced. "Doesn't this remind you of my
+first tea-party?" she asked demurely.
+
+"Well, I should say not!" Kitty exclaimed. "We all sat around your
+grandmother's drawing-room with manners as stiff as our dresses,
+waiting for our hostess--"
+
+"And wondering what you would be like--" added Sarah.
+
+"Were you prepared to see the wild Indian I proved to be?"
+
+"Fishing!" sang Kitty.
+
+Susy looked from Blue Bonnet to Kitty and laughed. "My, this sounds
+like old times!"
+
+"Stop talking about old times, please," begged Ruth, "and tell us
+about the new ones. I want to be told all about the round-up, and I
+want to see the 'vast herds' and the cowboys,--and the blue bonnets!"
+
+Blue Bonnet's laugh rang out. "Blue bonnets in August! Come in March
+and I'll show you a sea of them,--and a round-up, too. The cattle and
+the cowboys you shall see to-morrow,--and some steer-roping that will
+make your hair stand on end."
+
+Ruth ran her hand through her boyish, close-cut locks and made them
+stand literally on end. "It isn't much of a trick to do that!" she
+said with a grimace.
+
+"Never mind, maybe it will come in curly," said Sarah the comforter.
+
+"You can trust Sarah not to see the thorns for the roses," said Blue
+Bonnet, sending the comforter an approving glance.
+
+"What turtle doves you all are," laughed Susy.
+
+"Oh, it's Sarah and Blue Bonnet who do all the cooing. The rest of us
+are still just geese." Kitty's voice had a tinge of envy that did not
+escape the notice of the rest.
+
+"Go play us something, Blue Bonnet," suggested Ruth tactfully, "--that
+cowboy piece we all like."
+
+"Invalids must be humored," remarked Blue Bonnet as she went to the
+piano.
+
+In a minute the little rollicking air that she had played at her first
+tea-party, had set them all to dancing and humming as on that historic
+occasion.
+
+"Aren't Kitty and Blue Bonnet as chummy as they used to be?" Ruth
+asked Amanda under cover of the music.
+
+"Yes, by spells. They had one tiff--the second since they've known
+each other,--and ever since we've lived in dread of the third, haven't
+we, Sarah?"
+
+"You have," Sarah returned. "And I have too, in fact, though I try not
+to be superstitious. Besides they've had the third--and it's all over
+now."
+
+"They have? When?" Amanda sat up in surprise.
+
+"While we were camping. Kitty told me about it and said it was all her
+fault. The last one wasn't, you know. First it's one and then the
+other that's to blame."
+
+"Kitty and Blue Bonnet aren't going to stop at three tiffs, you may
+depend on it," Ruth said wisely. "They're going to have three times
+three and then some. Because Kitty is Kitty, and Blue Bonnet is--Blue
+Bonnet!"
+
+As the gay music ceased Grandmother Clyde looked in at the door. "It
+is time for the travellers to rest. They must be fresh for the great
+occasion to-morrow," she said, nodding to Susy and Ruth.
+
+Blue Bonnet glanced over to the couch where Ruth reclined among the
+pillows. Her face, with its crown of short dark hair, looked very thin
+and white.
+
+"I reckon the girls had better go to your room, Grandmother,--it's
+about the only place where they can be quiet. Benita is putting two
+cots in the nursery, but it's never quiet in there till we're all
+asleep."
+
+Ruth rose regretfully, "I'll go rest if I must. But I hate to miss
+anything that's going on. If you only knew how deadly dull it has been
+in Woodford! I think the inhabitants have learned to appreciate the We
+are Sevens, for the place has seemed empty without them. And everybody
+wants to know when the Texas Blue Bonnet is coming back."
+
+They all looked towards Blue Bonnet. "I--why--there's Uncle Cliff
+looking for me," she said, and left the room precipitately.
+
+"Blue Bonnet's usual way of avoiding an answer," thought Kitty.
+
+"When does the Fall term of school begin?" asked Sarah.
+
+"The tenth of September,--and that means we must leave here about the
+third," said Susy. "Only two weeks of this for us, girls!"
+
+"We'll see that they are two busy weeks," Kitty promised.
+
+Blue Bonnet drew Uncle Cliff into a secluded spot on the side veranda.
+"You just saved my life, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"Were you being talked to death, Honey?"
+
+"No,--but I just escaped a pitfall. People do ask the
+most--uncomfortable questions."
+
+"Suppose you tell me what sort?"
+
+"Well, Ruth says people want to know when the Texas Blue Bonnet is
+going back to Woodford."
+
+"So that's come up again, eh?" Uncle Cliff knitted his brow. "I reckon
+you're doing some thinking along that line, Blue Bonnet?" He watched
+her face anxiously.
+
+She nodded. "Yes, I--you see there isn't much time left. I must decide
+soon. It's not going to be easy, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"No,--not for either of us, Honey."
+
+"And there's Grandmother, too,--and Aunt Lucinda. Other people seem to
+have a lot to say about one's life, don't they?"
+
+"They have a lot to say, Blue Bonnet, but the person who has the final
+'say' is yourself. You're old enough now to decide what you want to do
+with your life. Sixteen to-morrow!"
+
+"I know what I want to do with my life, Uncle, but I don't know yet
+just how to do it."
+
+"Don't you think you could manage to do it on the ranch? We know now
+where to get a first-class tutor, and--"
+
+"Oh, as far as 'book-learnin''--as Uncle Joe calls it,--goes, I reckon
+I could get that all right, here on the ranch with a tutor. But books,
+I've found out, aren't more than half of an education. You know,
+life's mighty simple on the ranch, and I've grown used to doing things
+the easiest way. But that isn't the big way. Aunt Lucinda says every
+woman should have a vocation."
+
+Uncle Cliff squirmed. Blue Bonnet seemed to have assimilated a rather
+big dose of Aunt Lucinda. "But, Honey," he protested, "a girl with
+plenty of money doesn't need a vocation."
+
+"Oh, she didn't mean that kind of a vocation. It's a sort of glorified
+way of doing your duty by your neighbor. And you know it isn't very
+easy to do your duty by your neighbor when the nearest neighbor is
+miles away! Now, Aunt Lucinda is the most all-round useful person.
+She's helping to keep up a home for cripples in Boston, and is
+secretary of the Church Aid Society, runs Grandmother's house and--"
+
+"Everybody in it!" added Uncle Cliff.
+
+Blue Bonnet slipped her hand into his with a sympathetic pressure.
+
+"I reckon I caught it from you,--liking to paddle my own canoe, I
+mean. But, though I don't love discipline, I've learned to appreciate
+what it can do. Now, look at Solomon--"
+
+"--in all his glory!" laughed Uncle Cliff.
+
+At that moment the subject of the conversation was occupied in gnawing
+a very dirty bone on the forbidden territory of the veranda.
+
+"Oh, he has his lapses," Blue Bonnet confessed, "--his forgettery is
+as active as mine. But he's hardly more than a puppy yet, and it's
+surprising how well he minds. He's getting pretty wild out here. The
+ranch has that effect I've observed. And that's why--"
+
+"Say, Honey," Uncle Cliff interrupted, "let's allow the subject of
+going back to rest right where it is until after to-morrow, will you?
+I want to enjoy my ward's birthday, and I'd rather have a clear sky
+without any clouds on my horizon."
+
+"That suits me, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"And while we're on the subject of the birthday, there's something I
+want to tell you, Blue Bonnet. I know it's usual to keep one's gift a
+secret, but--"
+
+"Oh, I hope it's just some simple thing, Uncle. Grandmother's been
+looking pretty serious lately over what she thinks is our extravagant
+way of living. The Woodford girls have to be very careful about
+expenses, you know, and she thinks it makes it harder for them to be
+satisfied when they see me have so much."
+
+"Don't you worry, young lady. I'm only taking a leaf out of your
+book, and instead of giving pleasure to just one person--i. e. Blue
+Bonnet Ashe,--I'm going to distribute it over quite a crowd. The
+trouble is it won't keep till to-morrow. It's about due now. Jump on
+Firefly, will you, and ride with me to meet it?"
+
+"Yes, everybody is resting, or supposed to be. Just wait till I slip
+on my riding-skirt and I'll be with you."
+
+A few minutes later Blue Bonnet and her uncle, after the fashion of
+the old days, cantered down the road together.
+
+Hardly had they disappeared when Kitty, also attired in
+riding-costume, stole quietly to the stable, and having found one of
+the Mexicans to saddle Rowdy, rode briskly out of the corral and off
+to the woods across San Franciscito.
+
+At the gate Uncle Cliff drew rein. "We'd better form a reception
+committee right here. I think I hear your birthday present coming."
+
+Blue Bonnet looked down the road expectantly. What could it be?
+
+Then, as they waited, there came the rhythmic pound of hoofs, a cloud
+of dust, and suddenly there swept into sight a company of riders with
+Knight and Carita in the lead.
+
+"Oh, Uncle Cliff, what a splendid birthday present!" And Blue Bonnet,
+with a glad "Ho ye, ho ho!" of welcome, galloped to meet the
+procession.
+
+Sandy and the three "props of the world"--Smith, Brown and Jones, with
+two of the younger boys from camp--made, as Uncle Cliff had promised,
+a "boy apiece" for the We are Sevens and Carita; and the entire party,
+dusty though they were from the long ride, were incorrigibly cheerful
+and apparently not at all tired by the trip.
+
+"Oh, I'm so happy!" cried Carita, as Blue Bonnet fell in beside her
+and led the way to the ranch. "I never dreamed I could come. But Mr.
+Ashe had made all arrangements, and Mother said she could get along
+without me for the three days,--she's going to stay at the Camp. Just
+think, if we hadn't gone up there again, I couldn't have known about
+it in time!"
+
+"How lucky! Carita, I think you are the nicest birthday present that
+was ever thought of."
+
+Carita looked up in surprise.
+
+"Having you and Knight and the boys here is my birthday gift from
+Uncle," Blue Bonnet explained. "Wasn't it downright grand of him to
+plan it?"
+
+"It's sweet of you to want us," Carita returned. "And your uncle looks
+as if he loved to do nice things. He has the kindest eyes I've ever
+seen."
+
+"Except your father's," Blue Bonnet added. "I think they must both
+have been cut out by the same pattern."
+
+Alec, who was in the secret, had assembled everybody on the veranda
+awaiting the arrivals, and the hubbub that ensued as the cavalcade
+dismounted and everybody exchanged greetings, convinced Susy, Ruth and
+the General that life in Texas was quite as exciting as it had been
+painted.
+
+Mrs. Clyde, having been prepared by Uncle Cliff for this invasion,
+tried to view the proceedings as a matter of course, and was her usual
+cordial self.
+
+"Where are we going to put them all?" Blue Bonnet asked in an
+undertone.
+
+"Shady and Uncle Joe put up a tent as soon as you rode off," her
+grandmother explained. "The boys are used to camping out and there are
+only two nights to plan for. Carita can share Sarah's room. Lisa has
+enlarged the dining-room table, and we shall have room for all. I hope
+we can make our guests comfortable."
+
+"Don't you worry, Grandmother. These guests will make the best of
+everything. People out here don't expect things to be--orderly, as
+they are in Woodford."
+
+"Evidently not!" was Grandmother's unspoken thought.
+
+"Where's Kitty?" asked Blue Bonnet presently, missing one saucy face
+from the group on the side veranda where they had all gathered.
+
+"Didn't she go with you? We haven't seen her for an hour or more,"
+replied Sarah.
+
+"Here she comes now." Alec rose and went to assist Kitty from her
+horse. "Hello, Miss Unsociable," he said. "Fancy riding all by your
+lones! Been keeping a tryst?"
+
+"Nothing so romantic," she confessed. "I've been gathering these
+lovely wild vines to decorate the table with. See how pretty they
+are!" She tossed the big armful of glossy green stuff down to him. To
+her surprise and indignation Alec dodged her offering and let the
+vines fall in a heap on the ground. Kitty paused in the act of
+dismounting and stared at him, speechless with surprise at this act
+from well-bred Alec.
+
+"I beg your pardon, Kitty," he laughed. "I didn't mean to be rude, but
+I'm deadly afraid of that stuff."
+
+"Stuff!" echoed Kitty. She was off her horse in a minute, and giving
+the reins to Miguel who had come up for Rowdy, she bent to pick up her
+insulted treasure.
+
+Alec prevented her. "I wouldn't, Kitty,--though I don't suppose it
+matters now. The mischief's done, I'm afraid,--that's poison ivy."
+
+"Poison ivy!" Kitty sprang back as if the vine were about to sting
+her. "I never saw any before,--and I wanted to surprise Blue
+Bonnet--it looked so pretty. Oh, Alec, are you sure?"
+
+"Sure?--positive. Dr. Judson pointed out lots of it around Camp, and
+we learned to give it a wide berth. But say, every one isn't
+susceptible, Kitty. Maybe you're immune."
+
+"Oh, dear!" wailed Kitty. "What shall I do? Can't I be vaccinated or
+something to ward it off?"
+
+"What's the trouble?" asked Uncle Joe, coming up in time to hear
+Kitty's despairing cry.
+
+"Poison ivy," said Alec, pointing to the vines.
+
+"Now that's bad." Uncle Joe kicked the innocent looking heap of greens
+off to one side. "I'll send up one of the boys to rake that up and get
+rid of it. Nasty stuff to have around,--'specially for folks with
+your--coloring." He eyed Kitty's milk-white freckled face
+apprehensively.
+
+"If I get it and have to miss the party I'll never get over it!" Kitty
+declared.
+
+"Oh, yes, you will--it only lasts a few days, generally," said Uncle
+Joe.
+
+Kitty dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief.
+
+"Here--don't do that!" Alec exclaimed hastily. "That might play the
+mischief with your eyes. Go bathe your face and hands with witch
+hazel, that may help. And hurry out again, Kitty--your friend Sandy is
+on the side veranda."
+
+Kitty for the first time glanced towards the house and saw the latest
+arrivals. "Carita, too! Have they come to the party? Oh, what fun!
+That's what Mr. Ashe meant when he promised us a boy apiece for the
+dance. But oh, Alec--what if--?" Kitty could not finish.
+
+"Please don't get it, Kitty,--it would spoil the day for Sandy!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX
+
+BLUE BONNET'S BIRTHDAY
+
+
+"SIXTEEN to-day!" was Blue Bonnet's first thought as she opened her
+eyes next morning.
+
+Could it be only a year since her last birthday? Less than a year
+since she had first seen Grandmother? Why, it seemed now as if she
+must have known Grandmother and Aunt Lucinda all her life! She tried
+to remember how she used to feel before she ever left the ranch;
+before she had ever seen Woodford, or the We are Sevens, or--but the
+list seemed interminable; she gave up trying to recall how the Blue
+Bonnet of that careless time had thought and felt and spent her days.
+
+Was every year to bring as many new experiences, as many new faces
+into her life? Surely not if she stayed on the ranch, and if she
+went-- But Uncle Cliff had said that question was to be banished for
+this day.
+
+Rising and dressing noiselessly, she stole out of the nursery for one
+of her usual early morning romps. Being sixteen should not rob her of
+the right to be a child at this hour of the day!
+
+"Wish me many happy returns, Solomon!" she cried as the dogs raced to
+her across the yard. "Don, this is the fifth occasion of this sort
+you've attended,--you're getting on in years, too. Come on, I'll race
+you to the fence!"
+
+Uncle Cliff watched her from the pasture, a chuckle of satisfaction
+escaping him at this evidence of untamed tomboyism. He met her as she
+came up flushed and breathless.
+
+"Getting mighty dignified since you turned sixteen, aren't you?"
+
+Her laughing face peered at him over the rough old logs. "Not so you'd
+notice it!"
+
+"I reckon I ought to thump you sixteen times and one to grow on. But
+that would make it necessary to climb the fence. How would you like
+kisses instead?"
+
+"Give me the big one to grow on, anyway." She held up her lips. "And
+now I must run in to Grandmother,--she must have the next."
+
+She found the Senora waiting for her in the living-room.
+
+"I'm so glad you're alone, Grandmother. I wanted you all to myself for
+a minute or two." She went straight into the arms Grandmother held out
+to her, was folded close for a moment and received a second kiss "to
+grow on."
+
+[Illustration: "IT WAS AN EXQUISITE MINIATURE, PAINTED ON IVORY."]
+
+"While we're alone I want to tell you something," Blue Bonnet said
+earnestly, "--about this last year, I mean. I never have said just
+what I've felt. It has been the best of all years, Grandmother, and
+the best of all the good things it has brought me--is you."
+
+"Thank you, dear. And you must know, Blue Bonnet, without my telling
+you how great a comfort you are to me."
+
+"Truly, Grandmother,--a comfort?"
+
+"Beyond words, dear." And Grandmother gave her another kiss to grow
+on. "And now, Blue Bonnet, here is something for your birthday."
+
+Blue Bonnet took the dainty package and unwrapped it with fingers that
+trembled a little. Within the paper was a box, and inside that,
+looking out from a frame of dull Roman gold, was her mother's face. It
+was an exquisite miniature, painted on ivory. The rose-tints of the
+flesh and the deep tender blue of the eyes that smiled up at her, made
+the portrait seem a living thing. Blue Bonnet could not speak. She
+gazed and gazed at the dear features until her eyes blurred and she
+had to put up her hand to brush the tears away.
+
+"Oh, Grandmother--!" Her lip quivered and she could say no more.
+
+But Grandmother understood.
+
+"Your aunt had it done from a photograph while she was in Rome. The
+painter was a Boston woman--an old friend of ours who knew your
+mother, Blue Bonnet. That is why the coloring is so true. The eyes are
+your eyes--can't you see, dear?"
+
+"Am I truly like her?"
+
+"So like, Blue Bonnet, that sometimes it seems as if Elizabeth had
+never left me."
+
+"I'm glad, Grandmother. Oh, how I shall treasure this! How can I ever
+thank you and Aunt Lucinda? There come the others,--I think I won't
+show them this just now. I'd rather let them see it one at a time.
+Somehow a crowd--"
+
+"I understand, Blue Bonnet."
+
+It was well that she and her grandmother had made the most of that
+quiet five minutes before breakfast; for it was the last peaceful
+moment that day.
+
+As all the gay party trooped into the dining-room with its long table
+looking like a real banquet board, a big floral decoration was the
+first thing to greet all eyes. A long low basket of closely woven
+fibres formed a centrepiece, and inside it, growing so densely that
+only a vivid mass of blue showed above the brim, were blue bonnets in
+bloom.
+
+"How sweet! Where did they come from?" Blue Bonnet demanded, looking
+from face to face.
+
+"There's a card on the handle," some one suggested.
+
+Blue Bonnet bent and read: "Blue Bonnet's namesakes wish her many
+happy returns of the day." Looking up she caught Alec's eye. "You?"
+she asked.
+
+"Guilty!" he confessed.
+
+"You clever boy! You couldn't have given me anything I should love as
+much. How did you ever do it?"
+
+"Easy enough. Planted the seeds and took care of them,--had a bad
+scare for fear they wouldn't bloom in time. I've had them back of
+Marta's cabin and she's been sitting up nights with them!"
+
+They all crowded about the table for a closer view.
+
+"I'm so glad we can see some blue bonnets before leaving. That's been
+the one thing necessary to complete Texas!" exclaimed Kitty.
+
+"Sure you don't mean ivy?" asked Alec in an undertone.
+
+She wilted. "Sh! Please don't remind me of that,--I was almost happy
+again!"
+
+"No symptoms yet?" he asked.
+
+"None--yet. I live in hopes!"
+
+"Let's wait till after breakfast before we give Blue Bonnet our
+gifts," suggested Sarah. "She'll enjoy them more, I think."
+
+"Not to mention our enjoyment!" laughed Kitty.
+
+The suggestion was followed, and at the conclusion of the meal, Blue
+Bonnet kept her seat and opened the rest of her packages with the eyes
+of all the crowd upon her. Very simple were the gifts, as the Woodford
+girls had slender purses; but the love and good will that went with
+the presents made up for their lack of material value.
+
+From Kitty there was a dainty sewing apron of muslin, with pretty blue
+bows on the pockets; from Amanda, a fancy-work bag, and from Debby a
+complicated needlecase. A silver thimble from Susy and Ruth completed
+these very feminine accessories.
+
+Alec's eyes twinkled as Blue Bonnet tried the thimble on her slender
+finger-tip. "If you're not a model of industry after this, Blue
+Bonnet, it will prove you're rather slow at taking a hint!"
+
+The girls joined heartily in the laugh against them, though they
+professed entire innocence of any such intention as Alec implied.
+
+Sarah's gift provoked a chorus of exclamations. From the fine
+drawn-work, the hand-made tucks, to the tiny irreproachable
+buttonholes, the waist was a triumph of the needlewoman's art.
+
+"It's the prettiest one I ever had!" Blue Bonnet declared. She would
+have liked to jump up and kiss Sarah, the dear old thing! But with
+eight boys looking on, such a demonstration might appear done for
+effect, she concluded; and so reserved that mark of affection for a
+future occasion.
+
+When the girls had presented their offerings, Knight came up and
+dropped a paper parcel into her lap. On the card tied to the blue
+ribbon that decorated it was written: "To the Good Samaritan from the
+One Who Fell by the Wayside." There was a laugh in Knight's eyes as he
+watched her read the inscription and then unwrap the tissue-paper
+that enclosed the object.
+
+Blue Bonnet lifted the lid of the long narrow box, took one look, and
+met Knight's eyes with an answering laugh in her own. Inside the box
+was a shimmering red silk sash. Knight had kept his promise to himself
+to buy Blue Bonnet the "fanciest thing in the sash line that Chicago
+could boast"--even though it had taken the last penny of his pocket
+money.
+
+"It's a beauty!" she declared.
+
+"Knight must expect another spill to-day," laughed Alec.
+
+Blue Bonnet looked about the circle with a bright, quick glance. "I'm
+not going to try to say 'thank you' to everybody,--those two words
+would be quite worn out by the time I finished!"
+
+"Come along, everybody," said Uncle Cliff, "it's time for the
+festivities to begin."
+
+As they left the dining-room, Carita slipped her arm about Blue Bonnet
+and whispered regretfully: "I wish I had a present for you. I didn't
+know in time or I could have made something."
+
+Blue Bonnet gave her an impulsive squeeze. "Why, Carita, you're a
+birthday present yourself!"
+
+Blue Bonnet's promise to Ruth in regard to the steer-roping contest,
+proved almost literally true. This was the great feature of the day to
+the Mexicans, and their delight in the sport knew no bounds. They
+made a brilliant picture as they stood or squatted about the corral
+gate, the women in their bright yellow, red and purple calicoes; and
+the men in their tight trousers, serapes rainbow hued, gay sashes and
+enormous peaked hats. The scene was full of life, color and motion.
+
+Ruth's thin cheeks grew pink with excitement. "What's going to happen
+first?" she asked Blue Bonnet.
+
+"You see those steers inside the gate? Well, Pancho will drive one out
+and while it is running like mad, Josef--he has the first turn--will
+lasso, throw it, and tie its feet together with that short rope he
+has. Then, one after another, the rest of the cowboys will do the same
+thing, and the one that does it in the shortest time will get the
+prize and be declared champion of the Blue Bonnet ranch."
+
+"The world's record is thirty-seven seconds," Knight added, "but it
+has to be a hustler who can do it under a minute."
+
+"Look--there comes one now!" screamed Kitty.
+
+The contest was swift, breathless and soon over. The corral gate was
+opened and through it driven a steer. Outside, mounted on a swift
+cow-pony rode Josef, awaiting the signal to start in pursuit. On came
+the steer with long frightened leaps, after him the vaquero with
+lariat whirling around his head. Suddenly the rope whistled, hissed
+through the air, dropped and coiled about the steer's front feet. A
+quick movement on the part of both rider and horse; the lariat
+tightened, and the steer pitched on to its side. Josef leaped from his
+pony, bent over his victim, and, in far less time than it takes to
+tell it, had tied three of the kicking hoofs together. The cowboy
+rose, grinning, amid the cheers of the delighted audience; and
+remounting his horse, coolly rolled a cigarette.
+
+"Sixty-three seconds," said Knight, who was time-keeper.
+
+One after another the cowboys took their turns, and every fraction of
+a second shaved from Josef's record, sent the Mexicans wild with
+excitement. It was Lupe who was finally declared champion, and
+received from Blue Bonnet's hands the silver-braided Mexican sombrero
+that was the prize.
+
+"I wonder why Miguel didn't try," Blue Bonnet remarked, as Lupe walked
+proudly away with his trophy. "He's always been able to beat Lupe."
+
+"I asked Pancho where Miguel was," said Alec, "and he said no one had
+seen him to-day. Maybe Juanita objects to steer-roping!" They smiled
+with a secret understanding.
+
+"How do you like the sport?" Blue Bonnet asked, turning to Ruth.
+
+"It's exciting,--but isn't it cruel, Blue Bonnet?"
+
+"I reckon the steer thinks so," Blue Bonnet confessed. "But the
+cowboys have to practise, you know, for at the round-up that's the way
+they have to throw the calves to brand them."
+
+"Then I don't want to see a round-up!" Ruth declared.
+
+Next came races in the pasture, and in these the girls and boys were
+the contestants. Blue ribbons were the awards pinned on the winners by
+Blue Bonnet herself, and the rivalry for them was intense. Leaning
+against the pasture fence which formed the "grandstand" General Trent,
+Uncle Cliff, Uncle Joe, Mrs. Clyde, Susy, Ruth and Blue Bonnet watched
+and applauded; while the Mexicans, squatting about in characteristic
+attitudes, chattered and laughed like a lot of children.
+
+As Sarah swept by on Comanche to take her place at the starting-line,
+Ruth and Susy turned amazed and questioning eyes on Blue Bonnet. She
+laughed at their expressions of wonder.
+
+"Keep your eye on Sarah!" she bade them. "Comanche is one of the
+swiftest horses on the ranch, and he and our Sallykins are on the best
+of terms."
+
+To Blue Bonnet's secret delight Sarah won the first race. As she
+pinned the blue ribbon to the winner's middy blouse, her own face
+beamed the triumph that Sarah was too modest to betray.
+
+"Aren't you going in for any others?" Ruth asked, as Sarah returned
+on foot and dropped on the blanket beside her.
+
+"No, I only rode in that race to keep the girls from calling me
+'fraid-cat.' I'm sure Father wouldn't approve of horse-racing."
+
+Ruth laughed. "You are the same old Sarah! I was beginning to believe
+that the Blue Bonnet ranch had bewitched you."
+
+"Don't say 'bewitched,'" Blue Bonnet interrupted, "locoed is the word
+we use in Texas."
+
+The birthday dinner, served early as was the custom at the ranch, was
+the most animated of feasts, of which the birthday-cake with its
+sixteen blazing candles was the grand climax. It was fat Lisa herself
+who waddled in and deposited her masterpiece in front of the Senorita,
+and then lingered to see how it looked after cutting.
+
+"It's divine, Lisa,--a complete success!" Blue Bonnet cried, and the
+cook grinned delightedly. As Lisa turned to leave the room, Blue
+Bonnet detained her to whisper--"Why is Benita waiting on table
+alone?--where's Juanita?"
+
+"Who knows?" returned Lisa with a shrug of her massive shoulders.
+"That _nina_ is run off and Gertrudis means to thrash her."
+
+"Oh, Lisa, she mustn't!" Blue Bonnet said in genuine distress. "Tell
+Gertrudis I'll come out and see her after dinner."
+
+She found Gertrudis slamming about the dishes in a most reckless
+fashion and muttering to herself angrily. To Blue Bonnet's plea in
+behalf of the absent Juanita she returned only stormy answers.
+
+"No, Senorita, she is spoiled for lack of thrashing. Run off on the
+Senorita's birthday! With a horde to wait on! And enough work for
+fifty lazy things like herself!"
+
+No, Juanita should be thrashed if ever she could lay hands on her.
+Blue Bonnet could not sway her from her purpose, and finally gave up
+arguing and left the kitchen, vowing mentally to prevent the angry old
+woman from carrying out her threat. But in the excitement of the
+evening's festivities, she forgot all about it.
+
+What an evening it was! Not one of the boys and girls lucky enough to
+be there would ever forget the scene. The broad verandas on which half
+the furniture of the house had been brought to form cosy-corners and
+lounging places; the soft gleam of Chinese lanterns strung among the
+trees; the music of Shady's violin, augmented by a flute and cello
+from Jonah, to which they danced on the croquet-ground; and everywhere
+the We are Sevens, stately in trains and hair dressed high, tripping
+and laughing and flirting their fans in the manner fondly believed to
+be that of high-born Spanish dames.
+
+Susy and Ruth had obligingly crammed their trunks with the attic
+treasures of the various Woodford families, and the costumes, while
+not strictly Spanish, were quite gorgeous and "partified" enough to
+satisfy these finery-loving young folk. Among them they had managed to
+fit out Carita too, and she, in a yellow gown with velvety
+gold-of-Ophir roses in the dusky coils of her hair, looked like a real
+maid of Andalusia. Blue Bonnet, in her red satin gown, which had not
+seen the light since the night it had been worn for the benefit of the
+Boston relatives, was a picture.
+
+Alec came up to her in the middle of the evening and made a low bow.
+"Senorita Blue Bonnetta, you look charming to-night, but it strikes me
+you're carrying things with a high hand. Why, among all your humble
+subjects, am I not favored with a dance or promenade? You've been
+engaged three deep every time I've asked you."
+
+For a minute Blue Bonnet toyed with her fan without speaking. She had
+purposely avoided Alec for a reason she considered good and
+sufficient. There was an explanation due her from him, and that also,
+she was resolved, should be "good and sufficient" or she would not
+accept it. And it seemed best, if there was to be any clash between
+them, that it should not come on her birthday. She would not easily
+forgive him for urging her to write that letter to the General.
+
+As she hesitated and a surprised look crept into Alec's eyes, there
+came a great outcry from the direction of Marta's cabin,--shouts,
+cheers and bursts of laughter.
+
+"The Mexicans must be doing stunts,--let's go and see," Alec
+suggested.
+
+Gathering up her train Blue Bonnet hurried with him to the Mexican
+quarters, where the noisy crowd had assembled. Half way there they met
+Gertrudis, also headed for the scene of merriment.
+
+"It's that Juanita, they say," she cried, "come back after all the
+work's done!" Her swarthy face was dark with anger; in her hand was a
+willow switch.
+
+"Hurry!" cried Blue Bonnet. "Let's get there first, Alec,--she means
+to thrash Juanita!"
+
+Running and tripping on her long dress Blue Bonnet reached the group
+and at her appearance the Mexicans burst into renewed cheering.
+
+"The Senorita!" they cried and parted to make room for her.
+
+"What is it--what's all the noise about?" asked Alec.
+
+But, as the circle parted, revealing a tableau in the centre, he and
+Blue Bonnet needed no explanation. Standing hand in hand, in attitudes
+expressing both embarrassment and triumph, were--Miguel and Juanita.
+
+"Ran off to Jonah and got married!" chuckled Pinto Pete.
+
+Blue Bonnet and Alec gazed at each other in stupefaction for a second,
+then Blue Bonnet glanced hastily about for Gertrudis. The change in
+the old woman was instantaneous. She turned to Blue Bonnet with a
+grin.
+
+"That Miguel makes good wages!" she cried. The anger had faded from
+her face, and instead of the switch, Juanita received her blessing.
+
+"What a mercenary old thing Gertrudis is!" exclaimed Blue Bonnet, as,
+after congratulating the happy pair, she and Alec walked back to the
+house.
+
+"She's a sensible woman," Alec remarked provokingly. "Most of the
+Mexicans are lazy old loafers,--but Miguel has a streak of real
+American industry."
+
+"Well," said Blue Bonnet, "I little expected my birthday party to be
+turned into a wedding!"
+
+When the last candle had been blown out and all was quiet except for
+the echo of music and laughter from the Mexican quarters, where the
+wedding festivities were continued almost till dawn, Blue Bonnet
+slipped into her grandmother's room for a last word before retiring.
+
+"The sixteenth has been the best birthday of all," she said happily.
+"Are you quite tired out, Grandmother?"
+
+And Mrs. Clyde, bending to kiss the glowing face upturned to her,
+replied: "No, dear. It has been a beautiful party. But I'm glad for
+all our sakes that Blue Bonnet Ashe has but one birthday a year!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX
+
+CONFERENCES
+
+
+IT was well on towards noon before any one in either the house or tent
+was stirring. Blue Bonnet and Ruth were the first to open their eyes,
+and they carried on a conversation in whispers for some time before
+waking the others.
+
+Ruth looked around the six beds in the nursery and smiled. "It looks
+like a ward in a hospital, doesn't it?"
+
+"Pretty healthy looking invalids in them," Blue Bonnet replied. "Look
+what red cheeks Kitty has."
+
+Ruth raised herself and leaned on one elbow, peering at the
+unconscious Kitty. "Red as fire. Doesn't she look funny?"
+
+"Makes her hair look pale!" laughed Blue Bonnet. All at once, as she
+studied the face that looked a brilliant scarlet against the white
+pillow, the smile faded from her face. "Ruth, come here," she said in
+a queer tone.
+
+Ruth obediently stole from her bed and tiptoed to Blue Bonnet's side.
+
+"Look at Kitty _hard_."
+
+"Doesn't she look strange?" Ruth whispered.
+
+A sudden thought made Blue Bonnet start. "Ruth, were you fumigated
+before you left Woodford?"
+
+"Fumigated? Goodness no! They fumigate houses, not people."
+
+"Well, disinfected is what I mean, I reckon. Kitty's got a rash--and
+it's scarlet!"
+
+They gazed at each other in dismay. Kitty stirred, moaned, and sat up.
+
+"What are you all talking about?--oh, girls,--I can't open my eyes!"
+
+At her cry all the other occupants of the nursery woke up, and crowded
+about the anguished Kitty.
+
+"Oh, Susy, look at her," cried Blue Bonnet. "Did Ruth look like that?
+Do you think it's scarlet fever?"
+
+"Scarlet fever nothing!" wailed Kitty. "It's poison ivy, that's what
+it is!"
+
+"How can it be? What makes you think so?" Blue Bonnet demanded.
+
+Kitty's tale was soon told, and to her indignation it provoked a
+laugh.
+
+"It's no laughing matter, I tell you," she exclaimed miserably.
+
+"You wouldn't say that if you could see yourself!" Blue Bonnet
+returned.
+
+"You wouldn't think it so funny if both your eyes were swollen shut
+and your face burned like fire." Kitty tried to look pathetic, but
+only succeeded in looking funnier than ever.
+
+Stifling their laughter, but exchanging glances of amusement every
+time they caught sight of Kitty's blotched and swollen countenance,
+the girls dressed and went to seek advice for the sufferer. Everything
+in the shape of a remedy from soap-suds to raw beefsteak was proposed
+by somebody or other, and nearly every one of them tried before the
+day was over. Kitty kept her bed and Sarah constituting herself nurse,
+ministered unto the afflicted one.
+
+It was hard for fun-loving Kitty to be shut up in a darkened room with
+her eyes and face bandaged, while the sounds of merriment and laughter
+floated tantalizingly in. Sarah was kept busy bearing the numerous
+messages of sympathy, ranging from the sublime to the ridiculous, that
+Sandy and some of the other boys spent their time in composing.
+
+It was decided that the party from Camp Judson should remain over
+until the next day, since all had risen too late for the desired early
+start. Carita looked supremely happy when Knight yielded to Blue
+Bonnet's arguments and reached this decision. She had so wanted to
+stay, and yet--there were so many reasons why she should go; and it
+was a great relief to her conscience to have Knight assume all
+responsibility for their prolonged visit.
+
+"Now maybe we can have another nice talk," she said, sinking down
+beside Blue Bonnet in the hammock on the side veranda. "We've had
+only snatches, so far. And it will be so long before I see you again."
+
+"What makes you think so?" Blue Bonnet asked rather abruptly.
+
+"Why,--you will be leaving in two weeks, the girls said."
+
+"Oh, they did." Blue Bonnet was thoughtful for a moment, then burst
+out--"Carita, what would you do, if you were in my place,--about going
+back East again?"
+
+"What would I do?" Carita repeated wonderingly. "Why, Blue Bonnet, do
+you mean that you're not sure about going?"
+
+"I do mean--just that. The girls have taken it for granted all along
+that I was going back with them, but somehow I can't make up my mind.
+Every day the ranch grows dearer. And being shut up in a stuffy
+schoolroom, and having to get up and go to bed by the clock, and
+having a place for everything and everything in its place--Carita, it
+goes against the grain!"
+
+Carita gave a comical little sigh. "It's queer how things seem to
+be--cut on the bias, isn't it? Now to go to school, and see and know
+lots of people, and have libraries and hear music--why, I seem
+sometimes to _ache_ for it all."
+
+"It's a pity you're not Aunt Lucinda's niece. You'd do her credit. Now
+the only person I seem to suit through and through, is Uncle Cliff.
+He's been father and mother both to me, and I think that I owe him
+something in return. I can't bear to leave him all alone again."
+
+"I know. I should feel just that way about Mother. She needs me, but,
+if we could afford it, she'd be the first to send me away to school.
+If I could get enough education to teach, I could help her more in the
+end."
+
+"I reckon it's the end that makes everything endurable. It was the
+thought of getting back to the ranch that got me through last year.
+But I haven't let myself think what the end of this summer would
+bring. Every day on the ranch is complete in itself."
+
+"But think how it will seem after this--when the girls are all gone,
+and your grandmother--"
+
+"It's Grandmother who counts more than any one, except Uncle Cliff. I
+reckon I'll just have to be blindfolded and then choose!"
+
+"There come Knight and Alec," said Carita. "I shouldn't wonder if
+they'd been having the same sort of a conversation. They'd like to
+change places with each other. Knight is wild to go East to college,
+and Alec would give anything for--"
+
+"Knight's health and strength,--I know," Blue Bonnet interrupted.
+"It's another case of the mixed-upness of things. I'm disappointed in
+Alec."
+
+Carita opened her eyes wide. "Disappointed? Why, I should think you,
+of all people, feeling as you do, would sympathize with him."
+
+"I do sympathize with him, and always have. That's why I was so glad
+Uncle Cliff asked him out here. I was sure it would do him the world
+of good--"
+
+"And so it has," said Carita. "It has done wonders for him, Knight
+says, and that's why--"
+
+"And that's why I don't understand how he could possibly--" Blue
+Bonnet broke off as the subject of their conversation took the three
+veranda steps in one leap and settled himself comfortably on the
+railing for a chat. Knight threw himself into a chair near the
+hammock.
+
+"What are you two plotting?" asked Alec. "You've had your heads
+together like a pair of Russian conspirators."
+
+"We're only trying to make the most of every minute we're together. At
+least that's what I'm doing," said Carita. "I believe you two are
+doing very much the same thing."
+
+The boys smiled at each other: that was a girl's way of putting it,
+but it came very near the truth.
+
+"I reckon you two girls will have lots to write about this winter,"
+said Knight. "Carita used to wonder, all last year, how you looked,
+and what the We are Sevens were like, and what you all wore and did
+and ate and--" He broke off with a laugh at Carita's indignant denial.
+"I expect her mind will be in Woodford more than ever, after this."
+
+"But Blue Bonnet may not go back," Carita began, when a look from Blue
+Bonnet checked her.
+
+"Not go back?" In his surprise Alec nearly fell off the railing.
+"Here's news for the We are Sevens! Well, Blue Bonnet, I can't say I'm
+sorry." So far from being depressed at the prospect, Alec looked
+highly elated.
+
+Blue Bonnet was strangely still. Alec had said that very much as if he
+meant it. And it hurt. After almost a year of close friendship it was,
+to say the least, hardly good taste to pretend he was glad she was no
+longer going to live next door to him. She did not intend, however, to
+let him see how she felt, and rose without glancing in his direction.
+
+"I must go see Kitty," she said briefly.
+
+Alec looked after her with a perplexed expression in his eyes. "Isn't
+Blue Bonnet a bit offish lately, Carita? She doesn't seem at all like
+herself."
+
+"I think she's worried," said Carita. "It is hard trying to please
+both her uncle and her grandmother, when one wants her in
+Massachusetts, and the other urges her to stay on the ranch."
+
+"So that's the trouble?" Alec looked somewhat relieved.
+
+"Poor Blue Bonnet must feel rather like the rag we saw Texas and
+Massachusetts worrying this morning," laughed Knight, "each took a
+corner and pulled!"
+
+"She ought to appreciate one fact," added Alec, "and that is, she at
+least can decide for herself. She isn't compelled to do what somebody
+else decides for her."
+
+"Just the same, I believe she would prefer having some one else do
+it," said Carita.
+
+In spite of Carita's explanation, Alec was not wholly at ease in his
+mind about Blue Bonnet. He imagined that her manner to him for the
+last few days had conveyed a vague reproach. But he had no chance that
+day to talk with her alone.
+
+Early the next morning Carita and Knight and the other boys prepared
+for the long ride back to Camp Judson.
+
+"You'll write me soon, Blue Bonnet, won't you, and tell me what you
+decide to do?" Carita asked as she leaned down from her pinto for a
+last word with Blue Bonnet.
+
+"Indeed I will," Blue Bonnet assured her. "I wish I knew now."
+
+"And you'll write often if you go back--all about school and the girls
+and--"
+
+"I'll write about everything, if--!"
+
+And this was the word on which they parted.
+
+Sandy lingered behind the others long enough to slip an envelope into
+Blue Bonnet's hand. "For Kitty," he explained. "Tell her I'm mighty
+sorry I couldn't see her to say good-bye."
+
+"Maybe it is only '_hasta la vista_,' as the Spanish say,--'good-bye
+till we meet again,'" said Blue Bonnet. "You must surely come to
+Woodford and see us if you go to Harvard."
+
+"'Neither foes nor loving friends'--shall hinder me from doing that
+same, if--!"
+
+And with this word, Sandy, too, galloped after the others.
+
+Alec was to accompany the boys as far as the ford. As he rode away on
+Strawberry, looking very straight and manly in the saddle, General
+Trent gazed after him with an expression of pride in his eyes.
+
+"The change in the boy is hardly short of marvellous, Miss Blue
+Bonnet," he said at last, turning to her. "I should never have
+believed it if I had not seen him. I'm very grateful to you for
+writing me that letter, though I confess you had me badly puzzled."
+
+Blue Bonnet had stood looking regretfully after Carita, but at the
+General's words she turned with a brightened face. If he was grateful,
+then he must have forgiven her for bringing him to Texas on what was
+evidently an unnecessary errand.
+
+"I was afraid you might think I had--rushed in," she said.
+
+"Not at all!" he replied. "Though I did not quite understand--you
+weren't entirely clear, you know."
+
+Indeed she did know!
+
+"But Alec has explained the situation," the General continued, "and I
+understand everything now."
+
+Blue Bonnet drew a quick breath of relief. "Then it's all right?"
+
+"Yes,--and he need not have hesitated. I sympathize with him wholly."
+
+Sympathize? How queerly he said it. Again Blue Bonnet was swept out to
+sea.
+
+"I am going to talk with Mr. Ashe about the matter now. We must do
+what is best for the boy." As General Trent walked to meet Uncle
+Cliff, Blue Bonnet stood staring after him, her thoughts in a whirl.
+
+"What's the matter? You look as if you had just been through an
+earthquake," laughed Ruth, coming up and slipping her thin hand into
+Blue Bonnet's.
+
+"I think I have,--and everything is upside down." Blue Bonnet still
+looked dazed as she turned to go into the house.
+
+"Come in and see Kitty. The poor child is pretty blue."
+
+"She was pretty red when I last saw her!" laughed Blue Bonnet. "I've
+something here to cheer her--a message from Sandy. She snubs him
+dreadfully, but he seems to enjoy it."
+
+They found all the girls gathered about Kitty's bed, evidently in the
+midst of a serious discussion. Silence fell as Blue Bonnet entered.
+
+"I can see out of one eye!" Kitty announced with forced gaiety.
+
+"Praise be!" said Blue Bonnet. "Now you can see what Sandy sent for a
+farewell message." She held out the envelope.
+
+"Open it please," said Kitty. "That boy is always up to mischief and I
+can't take any more risks. I cut one of his dances the other evening
+and he vowed vengeance."
+
+Blue Bonnet obeyed while the other girls looked on with unconcealed
+interest. The envelope appeared to be empty, but when it was
+vigorously shaken upside down, something fell on to the counterpane.
+They all dove for it, but it was Debby who finally caught and held it
+up. It was a tiny square of note-paper, in the centre of which a knot
+of ribbon secured something bright and shining. It was a lock of
+Sandy's silky red hair. Under it was written: "A coal of fire. I
+forgive you."
+
+Kitty laughed for the first time since her affliction had come upon
+her; and the girls blessed Sandy for his nonsense.
+
+"May I borrow my granddaughter for a few minutes?" asked the Senora,
+looking in at the door. "Blue Bonnet, I've a letter here from your
+Aunt Lucinda."
+
+An odd look came into Blue Bonnet's face,--Grandmother's voice held a
+hint of something important. She handed Sandy's memento to Kitty and
+forced a smile. "Put this in your memory-book, Kitty. When Sandy is
+president, you can point with pride to that coal of fire--they're
+likely, by then, to call it 'the fire of genius!'"
+
+When she had left the room, Kitty looked out of her one good eye with
+a glance intended to be solemn. "Girls, I've a presentiment."
+
+"What about,--Sandy?" asked Sarah.
+
+"No, you silly,--except that he'll never be president! I'm thinking
+about Blue Bonnet,--I was just going to tell you when she came in. I
+don't believe she intends to go back with us."
+
+Kitty's words produced even more of an effect than she had expected.
+For several minutes no one spoke, then Ruth said half irritably:
+
+"If you can't have pleasanter presentiments than that, Kitty, I wish
+you wouldn't have them."
+
+"I can't help it," Kitty declared. "She won't say a word about it. And
+every time we get on to the subject, she either begins to talk about
+something else, or leaves the room."
+
+"I've noticed it, too," said Sarah, quietly.
+
+The gloom on every countenance bore silent witness to the hold Blue
+Bonnet had on the affections of the We are Sevens.
+
+"Woodford will be a stupid old hole without her," Kitty declared.
+
+"Passing over your implied compliment to us," said Debby, "I agree
+with you."
+
+Grandmother handed Blue Bonnet Aunt Lucinda's letter without comment;
+but watched the girl's face closely as she read. A characteristic
+letter it was, showing the fine mind and cultivation of the writer,
+yet like her, too, precise and rather formal in its wording. She was
+in Munich, enjoying the summer music festival. Nothing very important
+so far, Blue Bonnet concluded, and began to breathe more easily. But
+over the closing pages she sobered again.
+
+"There is a rather remarkable pianist staying at this same pension,"
+she wrote; "and she plays for us very often. Something in the charm
+and delicacy of her touch makes me think of Blue Bonnet's, when she
+plays her little 'Ave Maria.' I have talked with her about Blue Bonnet
+and she thinks with me that the child must have real talent for the
+piano. Fraeulein Schirmer is to teach music in a school for girls in
+Boston, this coming winter, and I think it would be an excellent plan
+to place Blue Bonnet right in the school. She is old enough now to
+appreciate the atmosphere of culture and refinement in such a
+place,--I am told that the first families of Boston send their
+daughters there--and she could have the advantage of attending the
+Symphony concerts.
+
+"Woodford has nothing much to offer in the way of musical advantages,
+and I think Blue Bonnet should develop her talent in this line. She
+could come to us for the week-end always, and in that way we should
+not have to part with her altogether. But we can settle the matter
+when we are all in Woodford once more."
+
+Blue Bonnet sighed as she finished and let the letter drop into her
+lap. "When they were all in Woodford once more." So Aunt Lucinda, too,
+took it for granted! She stirred a trifle resentfully.
+
+"One would think I had signed a life-contract!" she thought.
+
+Mrs. Clyde sought her granddaughter's eye anxiously. "Well, Blue
+Bonnet, what are you thinking?"
+
+"I'm thinking--not for the first time either,--of something I once
+said to Alec. I wished, and keep on wishing--that there were two of
+me,--so that one might stay here on the ranch with Uncle Cliff, while
+the other was with you and Aunt Lucinda in Woodford, being educated."
+
+Grandmother smiled and sighed in the same breath. "Suppose you leave
+me and Uncle Clifford and Aunt Lucinda out of the matter entirely.
+Just think how it would have appealed to--your mother."
+
+The blue eyes turned swiftly from her grandmother's face to gaze out
+across the wide sweep of prairie. There was a long silence. When Blue
+Bonnet faced her grandmother again, her eyes were misty.
+
+"I wish she were here to tell me. Somehow I can't make it seem right,
+either way. Will you wait and let me sleep on it, Grandmother? I'll
+tell you, as the Mexicans say--_manana_."
+
+"To-morrow?"
+
+"Well, _manana_ with the Mexicans means almost any time in the future,
+but I'll make it--to-morrow."
+
+Mrs. Clyde was silent, but the glance that followed Blue Bonnet as she
+left the room, was very wistful.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI
+
+BLUE BONNET DECIDES
+
+
+[Illustration: "ALEC SURVEYED HER PROUD LITTLE PROFILE."]
+
+"I SAY, Blue Bonnet, wait for a fellow, won't you?"
+
+Blue Bonnet waited, none too eagerly, while Alec caught up with her,
+and then, whistling to Don and Solomon, turned to resume her walk
+along the grassy bank of San Franciscito.
+
+Alec surveyed her proud little profile for a few minutes in a sort of
+puzzled wonder, and finally as she kept on in the same unsociable
+manner, he began with determined friendliness:
+
+"We've never yet taken the walk we planned, along the _rio_. Feel
+equal to it this morning?"
+
+"There isn't time to go far. I told Grandmother I'd not be gone long,"
+she returned carelessly.
+
+"Another tea-party on?" This time he succeeded in bringing the old
+sparkle of laughter to her eyes.
+
+"Not this time," she answered.
+
+"Your parties have been a sort of continuous performance this summer,
+haven't they?" he persisted, hoping to win her to a more
+conversational mood.
+
+"And the summer is almost over,--did you ever know such a short
+vacation?"
+
+"It's been the jolliest one I've ever had. And it is going to mean a
+lot to me all my life, Blue Bonnet."
+
+They walked on in silence for a few minutes. Then Alec asked--"Do you
+remember the morning we first spoke of following this stream?"
+
+"Yes,--and do you remember how we wondered what we would talk about on
+our next jaunt by the Woodford brook?"
+
+He nodded. "I remember everything; that was the first day I told you I
+wasn't likely to be in Woodford next spring. It was only a day-dream
+then,--isn't it funny how things have come out?"
+
+"Funny? Alec, you are the queerest boy. You've taken to talking in
+riddles lately, and I--I reckon I'm pretty slow at guessing riddles.
+We may as well have it out right now. I've been wanting to have a talk
+with you."
+
+"Same here," returned Alec. "What's the matter, anyway? You've not
+been a bit like yourself the last few days."
+
+"Don't you really know, Alec?" Blue Bonnet met his puzzled eyes very
+soberly.
+
+"I honestly don't, Blue Bonnet."
+
+"And haven't you felt the least little bit guilty about letting me
+write that letter to your grandfather?"
+
+"Guilty?" Alec's tone expressed unaffected amazement. "Do you mean I
+ought to have written it myself? I'd have done it if you had hinted
+that you'd rather have me. Why didn't you say so?"
+
+"You seemed so anxious to have me do it."
+
+"And so I was. It seemed only right and proper that you should be the
+first to suggest the proposition. You're the owner of the Blue Bonnet
+ranch."
+
+"What has that to do with it?"
+
+"Well, I should think it had everything to do with it. I couldn't very
+well invite myself, could I?"
+
+"Invite yourself? Oh, dear, now you're talking in riddles again."
+
+"Well, Blue Bonnet, after you had invited me to spend two months on
+the ranch, it certainly took more courage than I possessed to suggest
+extending my visit for a year or two. You can see how much better it
+was for the suggestion to come from you. Grandfather has fallen right
+in with it and is making all arrangements with Mr. Ashe right now."
+
+Blue Bonnet's eyes grew round with astonishment. "Do you mean to tell
+me that you are going to stay on the ranch a year or two?"
+
+"If you and Mr. Ashe will stand for it. I want to stay till I outgrow
+being a weakling and grow into a real man. Till I'm as broad as a
+fellow my age should be and have a muscle bigger than a girl's. The
+two months here have already shown what two years is likely to do for
+me." Alec squared his shoulders and drew himself up as if already the
+example of brawn he longed to be.
+
+"And do you mean to tell me that when you said you might not go back
+to Woodford, and that there was no college in store for Alec Trent you
+only meant--"
+
+"Till I had the strength to go through with it, yes. I've had enough
+breakdowns. Why, what--"
+
+"I wish you were a girl so that I could shake you!" Blue Bonnet's look
+was a queer mixture of relief and indignation. "Why couldn't you say
+so in the first place? When you kept making all those mysterious
+hints, I was wasting good, honest pity on you because I thought you
+were preparing for an early grave!"
+
+Alec's peal of laughter showed how far from pitiable his state was.
+"Oh, Blue Bonnet, I wish I could tell that to Knight!"
+
+"But didn't you hint?" she demanded.
+
+"Of course I did. I was fishing for an invitation to make a good long
+visit to the Blue Bonnet ranch. Hardly likely, was it, that I was
+going to demand it boldly as a right?"
+
+"Well, it would have saved me a heap of worry if you had. Why, Alec!"
+Blue Bonnet sank down on the bank to think it over. "What are you
+going to do on the ranch all winter?"
+
+He threw himself on the grass beside her.
+
+"I'm going to live, as far as possible, like Pinto Pete and Shady. I'm
+going to ride the range, go on the round-up this fall and next
+spring,--spend about fifteen hours a day in the open. And if I'm not
+as husky as a Texas cowboy by next summer, it won't be my fault. You
+know it's been my one wish, Blue Bonnet, and this, I'm convinced is
+the way to get it."
+
+"And college?"
+
+"College can wait. I'd rather have biceps like Knight's than be a
+walking encyclopaedia!"
+
+"Think of all the sympathy I've wasted!" Blue Bonnet laughed at
+herself.
+
+"Oh, I don't know that it's all been wasted. I've deserved a good
+deal. I've been afraid Grandfather would be against the scheme--he's
+never been willing to admit that I wasn't as strong as I ought to be.
+I've only just begun myself to realize how good-for-nothing I used to
+feel most of the time. There's nothing like feeling able to shake your
+fist at all out-doors!"
+
+Blue Bonnet smiled. "Then I needn't regret my letter?"
+
+"Regret?--well, I should say not! You builded better than you knew.
+Getting Grandfather worried was just the right thing, though it sounds
+rather heartless to say it. Being worried, he came and saw and--I
+conquered!"
+
+"Now I won't have to ask for an explanation of a very rude speech of
+yours."
+
+"Was I rude--to you?" Alec looked up hastily.
+
+"It sounded--rather queer, for you to rejoice over my not going back
+to Woodford," she answered.
+
+"Meant purely as a compliment," he assured her. "It would be mighty
+jolly to have you here, Blue Bonnet."
+
+She rose hurriedly. "Let's not go into that, please. Every time I get
+pretty near a decision, some new argument bobs up on the other side.
+I'm dreadfully worried, Alec. But, thank goodness, you're off my
+mind!"
+
+"I'll try to stay off, Blue Bonnet," he laughed as he followed her
+along the narrow path. "If you go back you'll write often, won't you?
+I shall depend on you--"
+
+She made a movement of impatience. "I'm not going to cross bridges,
+Alec, till I come to them."
+
+"I beg your pardon. I forgot that bridges are a touchy subject with
+you!"
+
+They found Uncle Cliff and the General still absorbed in what appeared
+to be an interminable conversation. The General rose with
+old-fashioned courtesy as Blue Bonnet came up the veranda steps.
+
+"What do you think of your new cowboy?" he asked, laying his hand
+affectionately on Alec's shoulder.
+
+"We've just been exchanging opinions with each other," she said, with
+a sidelong glance at Alec.
+
+"I'm going to miss the boy," General Trent continued. "The old house
+will be very dull and empty,--unless you make up your mind to be
+particularly neighborly, Miss Blue Bonnet."
+
+Blue Bonnet colored and looked way. "I--I'll do my best if--"
+
+"Will you walk down to the stable with me, Grandfather?" Alec asked
+quickly. "I've not shown you the little coyotes yet."
+
+As the General walked away with his hand still on Alec's shoulder,
+Blue Bonnet turned to her uncle.
+
+"Read this, will you please, Uncle? It came to-day."
+
+He took Aunt Lucinda's letter, an odd expression growing around his
+mouth. But he opened it without speaking. Blue Bonnet sank into the
+hammock and watched him narrowly,--much as Grandmother had watched her
+as she read the same pages. She saw his lower teeth close on his
+mustache when he came to the significant part.
+
+He lifted his eyes at last. "Well, Honey?"
+
+"Well, Uncle?"
+
+He sighed deeply. "Are you putting this up to me?"
+
+She raised her shoulders in an expressive shrug. "I reckon you ought
+to have the deciding vote. I'm on the fence."
+
+"Do you want to be a musician, Blue Bonnet?"
+
+"I'd love to--if it weren't for all the practising!"
+
+"Seems to me you play mighty well now."
+
+"I'm very careless in my methods, Aunt Lucinda says."
+
+Uncle Cliff winced. "None of the girls play as well as you do, Honey."
+
+"I--I don't believe they do. But maybe, Uncle Cliff, that is a very
+good reason why I should go on with it. Maybe I really have talent."
+
+"Wouldn't it be very lonesome off there in Boston? And won't it be
+mostly work and very little play?"
+
+"I'm afraid it will. But, somehow, it's chiefly because it will be so
+much easier to stay on the ranch and be--desultory, as Aunt Lucinda
+says,--that I think I ought to go."
+
+"I see, Honey. You _are_ developing a New England conscience!"
+
+"I wonder?" she pondered.
+
+"I don't want you to do anything just because it's easier, Blue
+Bonnet," Uncle Cliff continued. "That wasn't your father's way."
+
+"Nor your way, Uncle Cliff."
+
+"I hope not, Blue Bonnet. That's why I'm going to stop arguing right
+here. It's my natural inclination to say 'stay with me, Honey, I need
+you.' But I know I don't,--I just want you. But what I want more is
+to have you do the thing that's best for Blue Bonnet Ashe,--the thing
+that will make you say in the end, 'I'm glad I did it!'" More moved
+than he cared to show, Clifford Ashe rose, and running down the
+veranda steps, strode off in the direction of the stable.
+
+"Oh, dear!" thought Blue Bonnet, gazing after him. "In the language of
+the cowboys,--it's certainly up to me!"
+
+When she went into her grandmother's room that night--the room that
+had been her mother's--Blue Bonnet found Benita acting as lady's maid,
+brushing Mrs. Clyde's long hair. The old nurse enjoyed nothing so much
+as waiting on the little Senora's mother,--unless it was babying the
+little Senora's daughter. As she stood in the doorway silently
+watching the two, the sight of the rippling gray locks, fast whitening
+into snow, did more to sway Blue Bonnet than all the other array of
+arguments. Uncle Cliff wanted her; it was Grandmother who really
+needed her.
+
+She tiptoed up back of Benita, but her grandmother had caught sight of
+her in the mirror and turned at her approach. Something in the
+expression of Blue Bonnet's eyes as she bent for the good-night kiss
+made Mrs. Clyde say hastily--
+
+"What is it, dear?"
+
+And Blue Bonnet, her tone reflecting the happiness her words gave,
+replied: "It isn't _manana_ yet, but I can't wait to tell you--I'm
+going when you go, Grandmother."
+
+When they looked up, Benita stood with her apron thrown over her
+face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII
+
+HASTA LA VISTA
+
+
+THE We are Sevens were packing. An open trunk blocked each aisle
+between the six beds in the nursery; in Sarah's room two more were
+standing, half-filled, one reflecting the neatness and order of its
+owner, the other bearing silent witness to the fact that it belonged
+to Blue Bonnet Ashe.
+
+"What are you doing with that old stick, Blue Bonnet?" asked Sarah, as
+she carefully folded her riding-skirt and laid tissue paper between
+the folds.
+
+"Old stick, indeed! That's the alpenstock Knight cut for me and Sandy
+carved,--I've sawed off about six inches of it, though it broke my
+heart to do it. It's one of my dearest treasures and I'm going to take
+it to Woodford if I have to carry it all the way!" Blue Bonnet
+declared vigorously.
+
+"I don't see anything so wonderful about it," Sarah returned. "There
+are plenty of old sticks just like it to be had around Woodford."
+
+Blue Bonnet lifted indignant eyes. "As if any old Woodford stick could
+mean as much as this one. Why, this has the initials of every one in
+both camps carved on it, and every inch of it represents a good time.
+You've no sentiment, Sarah."
+
+"I certainly haven't enough sentiment to make me rumple my best white
+dress with a clumsy old stick," Sarah replied.
+
+"I reckon it ought to have gone in with my shoes, but it's too late
+now. How you do fuss over that riding-skirt, Sarah!"
+
+"Well, if you want to know it, I've a lot of sentiment about that
+skirt. I wish I could take Comanche along, too."
+
+Here Blue Bonnet amazed Sarah by jumping up and giving her a hug. "Oh,
+Sarah, I do love you for saying that! If you had been reconciled to
+riding that same old poke you had last year I'd have been
+so--disgusted. Won't the livery-man in Woodford open his eyes when
+Miss Blake demands a 'horse with some go in him'--! The inhabitants of
+the town will get a few thrills too, I reckon."
+
+"Do you think it will be proper for us to ride there the way we ride
+here?" Sarah asked eagerly.
+
+"Astride? We'll make it proper! It's the only humane way, Uncle
+says--a side-saddle is a downright cruelty. And I don't see why a
+parson's daughter shouldn't set the fashion."
+
+"Then Ruth will get a chance to wear her riding-skirt after all--her
+heart will be stronger after a while. I've hated to ride when she
+couldn't, but she has insisted upon our going."
+
+"That's just like you, you unselfish old dear! But Ruth told me that
+it was the next best thing to riding herself, to see you on Comanche."
+
+"Did she?" asked Sarah; and then hid her face in the trunk so that
+Blue Bonnet should not see how pleased she was.
+
+They were to leave in the morning, and trunks were to be sent to the
+station this very afternoon. Already Uncle Joe was hovering about,
+rope in hand, waiting to give the final touch to the baggage. He had
+found it necessary to keep very busy these last few days.
+
+"We might have seen this coming," he said disconsolately to Mr. Ashe,
+as the latter sat smoking a solitary pipe on the front veranda. "Let
+young folks get runnin' with young folks, and they're never again
+contented alone."
+
+"It isn't _young_ folks that's taking Blue Bonnet this time, Joe." Mr.
+Ashe glanced in to where a silver head showed just inside the window.
+"_Her_ girl never went back to her from Texas, and I reckon it's only
+right she should have her share of Elizabeth's daughter."
+
+Uncle Joe looked sober. "You're right, Cliff." Then, as if determined
+to look on the bright side of things, "We'll have the boy for
+company."
+
+"Yes, and there'll be more letters. She'll tell him things she
+wouldn't be likely to write to two old fellows." And with this crumb
+of comfort the "two old fellows" were forced to content themselves.
+
+Blue Bonnet was up at daybreak next morning, and, sitting on the top
+rail of the pasture fence, watched the sun rise out of the prairie.
+Don and Solomon eyed her expectantly.
+
+"Our last sunrise on the ranch, Solomon, for ever and ever so
+long,--we're off to Massachusetts this very morning. And it's a
+Pullman for me and a baggage-car for you--no private car this time!
+But I'll come and see you at every station and see that you have
+exercise. Poor dog, I wonder how you'll like the 'resumption of
+discipline'--as Alec calls it? We're going back to Aunt Lucinda, you
+know, Solomon, and Aunt Lucinda's strong for discipline."
+
+Her eyes wandered off toward the distant hills and then away across
+the wind-swept, rolling prairie. How would it seem to be back again
+among houses, tall houses with trim door-yards and clipped
+hedges,--houses so close one couldn't throw a stone without "breaking
+a window or a tradition"--?
+
+Some one was whistling "All the Blue Bonnets are over the Border." She
+looked up as Alec came towards her.
+
+"Do I intrude upon a solemn hour?" he asked.
+
+"The solemn hour has ticked its last second. I've said good-bye to
+everything and everybody,--except Texas and Massachusetts. Come with
+me to see those infants."
+
+Hardly infants any longer, however. Long-tailed, with erect silky ears
+and coats that stood out shaggily from their fattening sides, the
+coyotes were fast growing into big, clumsy dogs.
+
+"You'll look after them, won't you, Alec?" Blue Bonnet asked
+anxiously.
+
+"That I will," he promised.
+
+"And you'll write me often about--everything? And see that Uncle Cliff
+doesn't smoke too much, and that Uncle Joe takes his rheumatism
+medicine--"
+
+"Trust me!" Alec knew better than to smile at such a moment. "And in
+turn, Blue Bonnet, you'll give an eye to Grandfather, won't you?"
+
+They shook hands on it solemnly, and went in to breakfast.
+
+Kitty, her face restored to its usual milky-whiteness, and looking
+very pretty in her jaunty travelling-suit, met them at the door.
+Peering over her shoulder stood Ruth--a sunburned Ruth with bright
+eyes and a rounder curve to her cheek than it had worn two weeks
+before.
+
+"We were afraid you had decided to run off and hide at the last
+minute," said Kitty, slipping her arm around Blue Bonnet as if
+determined not to risk losing her a second time.
+
+"I was only--saying good-bye," said Blue Bonnet soberly.
+
+"Blue Bonnet is like more than one famous prima donna," said Alec,
+"she has made half a dozen 'positively last' farewell tours!"
+
+They were off at last. Distributed equally between the buckboard and
+one of the farm-wagons, the We are Sevens, Grandmother Clyde, General
+Trent and Uncle Joe went ahead. Blue Bonnet, Alec, and Uncle Cliff
+followed on horseback.
+
+As they neared the bridge Blue Bonnet drew rein, and, turning in the
+saddle, glanced back for a last look at the weather-stained old
+ranch-house. The cowboys and most of the Mexicans, who had gathered to
+say good-bye to the Senorita and her "amigos" from Massachusetts, were
+already scattering about the work of the day. But in the doorway the
+faithful Benita still stood, waving her apron.
+
+Blue Bonnet's eyes filled.
+
+"Good-bye, old house, good-bye, Benita," she said, and then added
+softly: "_Hasta la vista!_"
+
+
+=THE END.=
+
+
+
+
+  Selections from
+  The Page Company's
+  Books for Young People
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+=THE BLUE BONNET SERIES=
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $1.75
+
+
+=A TEXAS BLUE BONNET=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS.
+
+"The book's heroine, Blue Bonnet, has the very finest kind of
+wholesome, honest, lively girlishness."--_Chicago Inter-Ocean._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND EDYTH ELLERBECK READ.
+
+"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston
+Transcript._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET IN BOSTON=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"It is bound to become popular because of its wholesomeness and its
+many human touches."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET KEEPS HOUSE=
+
+By CAROLINE E. JACOBS AND LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"It cannot fail to prove fascinating to girls in their teens."--_New
+York Sun._
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET--DEBUTANTE=
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+An interesting picture of the unfolding of life for Blue Bonnet.
+
+
+=BLUE BONNET OF THE SEVEN STARS=
+
+By LELA HORN RICHARDS.
+
+"The author's intimate detail and charm of narration gives the reader
+an interesting story of the heroine's war activities."--_Pittsburgh
+Leader._
+
+
+
+
+=THE YOUNG PIONEER SERIES=
+
+By HARRISON ADAMS
+
+  _Each 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_         $1.65
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE OHIO; OR,= CLEARING THE WILDERNESS.
+
+"Such books as this are an admirable means of stimulating among the
+young Americans of to-day interest in the story of their pioneer
+ancestors and the early days of the Republic."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS ON THE GREAT LAKES;= OR, ON THE TRAIL OF THE
+IROQUOIS.
+
+"The recital of the daring deeds of the frontier is not only
+interesting but instructive as well and shows the sterling type
+of character which these days of self-reliance and trial
+produced."--_American Tourist, Chicago._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSISSIPPI;= OR, THE HOMESTEAD IN THE
+WILDERNESS.
+
+"The story is told with spirit, and is full of adventure."--_New York
+Sun._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE MISSOURI;= OR, IN THE COUNTRY OF THE SIOUX.
+
+"Vivid in style, vigorous in movement, full of dramatic situations,
+true to historic perspective, this story is a capital one for
+boys."--_Watchman Examiner, New York City._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE YELLOWSTONE;= OR, LOST IN THE LAND OF
+WONDERS.
+
+"There is plenty of lively adventure and action and the story is well
+told."--_Duluth Herald, Duluth, Minn._
+
+
+=THE PIONEER BOYS OF THE COLUMBIA;= OR, IN THE WILDERNESS OF THE GREAT
+NORTHWEST.
+
+"The story is full of spirited action and contains much valuable
+historical information."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+
+
+=THE HADLEY HALL SERIES=
+
+By LOUISE M. BREITENBACH
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $1.65
+
+
+=ALMA AT HADLEY HALL=
+
+"The author is to be congratulated on having written such an appealing
+book for girls."--_Detroit Free Press._
+
+
+=ALMA'S SOPHOMORE YEAR=
+
+"It cannot fail to appeal to the lovers of good things in girls'
+books."--_Boston Herald._
+
+
+=ALMA'S JUNIOR YEAR=
+
+"The diverse characters in the boarding-school are strongly drawn, the
+incidents are well developed and the action is never dull."--_The
+Boston Herald._
+
+
+=ALMA'S SENIOR YEAR=
+
+"A healthy, natural atmosphere breathes from every chapter."--_Boston
+Transcript._
+
+
+
+
+=THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE SERIES=
+
+By HARRIET LUMMIS SMITH
+
+_Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_ $1.65
+
+
+=THE GIRLS OF FRIENDLY TERRACE=
+
+"A book sure to please girl readers, for the author seems to
+understand perfectly the girl character."--_Boston Globe._
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S VACATION=
+
+"It is a wholesome, hearty story."--_Utica Observer._
+
+
+=PEGGY RAYMOND'S SCHOOL DAYS=
+
+The book is delightfully written, and contains lots of exciting
+incidents.
+
+
+=THE FRIENDLY TERRACE QUARTETTE=
+
+These four lively girls found their opportunities to serve their
+country. The story of their adventures will bring anew to every girl
+who reads about them the realization of what she owes to her country.
+
+
+
+
+=FAMOUS LEADERS SERIES=
+
+By CHARLES H. L. JOHNSTON
+
+  _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_   $2.00
+
+
+=FAMOUS CAVALRY LEADERS=
+
+"More of such books should be written, books that acquaint young
+readers with historical personages in a pleasant, informal way."--_New
+York Sun._
+
+
+=FAMOUS INDIAN CHIEFS=
+
+"Mr. Johnston has done faithful work in this volume, and his relation
+of battles, sieges and struggles of these famous Indians with the
+whites for the possession of America is a worthy addition to United
+States History."--_New York Marine Journal._
+
+
+=FAMOUS SCOUTS=
+
+"It is the kind of a book that will have a great fascination for boys
+and young men."--_New London Day._
+
+
+=FAMOUS PRIVATEERSMEN AND ADVENTURERS OF THE SEA=
+
+"The tales are more than merely interesting; they are entrancing,
+stirring the blood with thrilling force."--_Pittsburgh Post._
+
+
+=FAMOUS FRONTIERSMEN AND HEROES OF THE BORDER=
+
+"The accounts are not only authentic, but distinctly readable, making
+a book of wide appeal to all who love the history of actual
+adventure."--_Cleveland Leader._
+
+
+=FAMOUS DISCOVERERS AND EXPLORERS OF AMERICA=
+
+"The book is an epitome of some of the wildest and bravest adventures
+of which the world has known."--_Brooklyn Daily Eagle._
+
+
+=FAMOUS GENERALS OF THE GREAT WAR=
+
+Who Led the United States and Her Allies to a Glorious Victory.
+
+"The pages of this book have the charm of romance without its
+unreality. The book illuminates, with life-like portraits, the history
+of the World War."--_Rochester Post Express._
+
+
+
+
+=HILDEGARDE-MARGARET SERIES=
+
+By LAURA E. RICHARDS
+
+Eleven Volumes
+
+The Hildegarde-Margaret Series, beginning with "Queen Hildegarde" and
+ending with "The Merryweathers," make one of the best and most popular
+series of books for girls ever written.
+
+   _Each large 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per volume_  $1.75
+  _The eleven volumes boxed as a set_                           $19.25
+
+
+=LIST OF TITLES=
+
+        =QUEEN HILDEGARDE=
+
+        =HILDEGARDE'S HOLIDAY=
+
+        =HILDEGARDE'S HOME=
+
+        =HILDEGARDE'S NEIGHBORS=
+
+        =HILDEGARDE'S HARVEST=
+
+        =THREE MARGARETS=
+
+        =MARGARET MONTFORT=
+
+        =PEGGY=
+
+        =RITA=
+
+        =FERNLEY HOUSE=
+
+        =THE MERRYWEATHERS=
+
+
+
+
+=THE CAPTAIN JANUARY SERIES=
+
+By LAURA E. RICHARDS
+
+  _Each one volume, 12mo, cloth decorative, illustrated, per
+    volume_                                                   90 cents
+
+
+=CAPTAIN JANUARY=
+
+A charming idyl of New England coast life, whose success has been very
+remarkable.
+
+  SAME. _Illustrated Holiday Edition_                            $1.35
+
+
+=MELODY:= THE STORY OF A CHILD.
+
+
+=MARIE=
+
+A companion to "Melody" and "Captain January."
+
+
+=ROSIN THE BEAU=
+
+A sequel to "Melody" and "Marie."
+
+
+=SNOW-WHITE;= OR, THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD.
+
+
+=JIM OF HELLAS;= OR, IN DURANCE VILE, and a companion story, BETHESDA
+POOL.
+
+
+=NARCISSA=
+
+And a companion story, IN VERONA, being two delightful short stories
+of New England life.
+
+
+="SOME SAY"=
+
+And a companion story, NEIGHBORS IN CYRUS.
+
+
+=NAUTILUS=
+
+"'Nautilus' is by far the best product of the author's powers, and is
+certain to achieve the wide success it so richly merits."
+
+
+=ISLA HERON=
+
+This interesting story is written in the author's usual charming
+manner.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
+
+Italics are denoted by _tags_ and bold text by =tags=.
+
+Varied hyphenation was retained in horseback/horse-back;
+bedroom/bed-room; bedclothes/bed-clothes; buckboard/buck-board;
+cowbells/cow-bells; oilcloth/oil-cloth; outdoors/out-doors;
+sunbonnet/sun-bonnet; We are Seven/We-are-Seven.
+
+Varied spelling of bandana/bandanna was retained.
+
+Page 36, "horse" changed to "horses" (appraised the horses)
+
+Page 101, "Francescito" changed to "Franciscito" (skirting San
+Franciscito)
+
+Page 200, "pique" changed to "pique" (white pique skirt)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party, by
+C. E. Jacobs and Edyth Ellerbeck Read
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BLUE BONNET'S RANCH PARTY ***
+
+***** This file should be named 21960.txt or 21960.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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