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- float: left; - margin-right: 1em } - -.align-right { clear: right; - float: right; - margin-left: 1em } - -.align-center { margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto } - -div.shrinkwrap { display: table; } - -/* SECTIONS */ - -body { margin: 5% 10% 5% 10% } - -/* compact list items containing just one p */ -li p.pfirst { margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 0 } - -.first { margin-top: 0 !important; - text-indent: 0 !important } -.last { margin-bottom: 0 !important } - -span.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.1em 0 0; line-height: 1 } -img.dropcap { float: left; margin: 0 0.5em 0 0; max-width: 25% } -span.dropspan { font-variant: small-caps } - -.no-page-break { page-break-before: avoid !important } - -/* PAGINATION */ - -.pageno { position: absolute; right: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } -.pageno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } -.lineno { position: absolute; left: 95%; font: medium sans-serif; text-indent: 0 } -.lineno:after { color: gray; content: '[' attr(title) ']' } -.toc-pageref { float: right } - -@media screen { - .coverpage, .frontispiece, .titlepage, .verso, .dedication, .plainpage - { margin: 10% 0; } - - div.clearpage, div.cleardoublepage - { margin: 10% 0; border: none; border-top: 1px solid gray; } - - .vfill { margin: 5% 10% } -} - -@media print { - div.clearpage { page-break-before: always; padding-top: 10% } - div.cleardoublepage { page-break-before: right; padding-top: 10% } - - .vfill { margin-top: 20% } - h2.title { margin-top: 20% } -} - -/* DIV */ -pre { font-family: monospace; font-size: 0.9em; white-space: pre-wrap } - -</style> -<title>THE GIRLS OF SILVER SPUR RANCH</title> -<meta name="PG.Rights" content="Public Domain" /> -<meta name="PG.Title" content="The Girls of Silver Spur Ranch" /> -<meta name="PG.Producer" content="Al Haines" /> -<link rel="coverpage" href="images/img-cover.jpg" /> -<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Grace MacGowan Cooke" /> -<meta name="DC.Creator" content="Anne McQueen" /> -<meta name="DC.Created" content="1913" /> -<meta name="PG.Id" content="44576" /> -<meta name="PG.Released" content="2014-01-03" /> -<meta name="DC.Language" content="en" /> -<meta name="DC.Title" content="The Girls of Silver Spur Ranch" /> - -<link href="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" rel="schema.DCTERMS" /> -<link href="http://id.loc.gov/vocabulary/relators" rel="schema.MARCREL" /> -<meta content="The Girls of Silver Spur Ranch" name="DCTERMS.title" /> -<meta content="girls.rst" name="DCTERMS.source" /> -<meta content="en" scheme="DCTERMS.RFC4646" name="DCTERMS.language" /> -<meta content="2014-01-03T23:23:32.237738+00:00" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.modified" /> -<meta content="Project Gutenberg" name="DCTERMS.publisher" /> -<meta content="Public Domain in the USA." name="DCTERMS.rights" /> -<link href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44576" rel="DCTERMS.isFormatOf" /> -<meta content="Grace MacGowan Cooke" name="DCTERMS.creator" /> -<meta content="Anne McQueen" name="DCTERMS.creator" /> -<meta content="2014-01-03" scheme="DCTERMS.W3CDTF" name="DCTERMS.created" /> -<meta content="width=device-width" name="viewport" /> -<meta content="EpubMaker 0.3.20a7 by Marcello Perathoner <webmaster@gutenberg.org>" name="generator" /> -</head> -<body> -<div class="document" id="the-girls-of-silver-spur-ranch"> -<h1 class="center document-title level-1 pfirst title"><span class="x-large">THE GIRLS OF SILVER SPUR RANCH</span></h1> - -<!-- this is the default PG-RST stylesheet --> -<!-- figure and image styles for non-image formats --> -<!-- default transition --> -<!-- default attribution --> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="clearpage"> -</div> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="align-None container language-en pgheader" id="pg-header" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>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 </span><a class="reference internal" href="#project-gutenberg-license">Project Gutenberg License</a><span> -included with this eBook or online at -</span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/license">http://www.gutenberg.org/license</a><span>.</span></p> -<p class="noindent pnext"></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<div class="align-None container" id="pg-machine-header"> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span>Title: The Girls of Silver Spur Ranch -<br /> -<br />Author: Grace MacGowan Cooke and Anne McQueen -<br /> -<br />Release Date: January 03, 2014 [EBook #44576] -<br /> -<br />Language: English -<br /> -<br />Character set encoding: UTF-8</span></p> -</div> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-start-line"><span>*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>THE GIRLS OF SILVER SPUR RANCH</span><span> ***</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst" id="pg-produced-by"><span>Produced by Al Haines.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="noindent pfirst"><span></span></p> -</div> -<div class="align-None container titlepage"> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><em class="italics x-large">THE GIRLS</em><span class="x-large"> -<br /></span><em class="italics x-large">OF</em><span class="x-large"> -<br /></span><em class="italics x-large">SILVER SPUR RANCH</em></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">BY</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="large">GRACE MACGOWAN COOKE</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="medium">AND</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="large">ANNE MCQUEEN</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="medium">THE GOLDSMITH PUBLISHING COMPANY -<br /></span><em class="italics medium">Chicago</em></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -</div> -<div class="align-None container verso"> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="small">MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">LIST OF CHAPTERS</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<ol class="upperroman simple"> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#a-question-of-names">A Question of Names</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#roy-rides-to-silver-spur">Roy Rides to Silver Spur</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#a-package-and-a-leather-brown-phaeton">A Package and a Leather-Brown Phaeton</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#a-jewel-of-great-price">A Jewel of Great Price</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-silver-spur-bakery">The Silver Spur Bakery</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#a-shiny-black-box">A Shiny Black Box</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-wire-cutter">The Wire Cutter</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#a-partner-of-the-sun">A Partner of the Sun</a></p> -</li> -<li><p class="first noindent pfirst"><a class="reference internal" href="#the-rose-by-another-name">The Rose by Another Name</a></p> -</li> -</ol> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="a-question-of-names"><em class="bold italics x-large">THE GIRLS OF</em><span class="bold x-large"> -<br /></span><em class="bold italics x-large">SILVER SPUR RANCH</em></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER I</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">A Question of Names</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The girls of Silver Spur ranch were all -very busy helping Mary, the eldest, with -her wedding sewing. Silver Spur was rather -a pretentious name for John Spooner's little -Texas cattle-farm, but Elizabeth, the second -daughter, who had an ear attuned to sweet -sounds, had chosen it; as a further -confirmation of the fact she had covered an -old spur with silver-leaf and hung it over -the doorway. The neighboring ranchers -had laughed, at first, and old Jonah Bean, -the one cowboy left in charge of the small -Spooner herd, always sniffed scornfully when -he had occasion to mention the name of his -ranch, declaring that The Tin Spoon would -suit it much better. However, in time -everybody became used to it, and Silver -Spur the ranch remained--somehow -Elizabeth always had her own way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This young lady sat by the window in the -little living-room where they were all at work, -and carefully embroidered a big and -corpulent "B" on a sofa-pillow for Mary, who -was to marry, in a few days, a young man -from another state who owned the -euphonious name of Bellamy--a name -Elizabeth openly envied him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I do think Spooner is such a horrid, -commonplace sort of name," she declared -with emphatic disapproval. "Aren't you -glad you'll soon be rid of it, Mary?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Um-m," murmured Mary, paying scant -heed to Elizabeth's query; she was hemming -a ruffle to trim the little muslin frock which -was the last unfinished garment of her -trousseau, and she was too busy for argument.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"As if," continued Elizabeth, "the name -wasn't odious enough, father must needs go -and choose a </span><em class="italics">spoon</em><span> for his brand! And he -might so easily have made it a </span><em class="italics">fleur-de-lys</em><span>--fairly -rubbing it in, as if it was something to -be proud of!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Just then Mary, finding that the machine -needle kept jabbing in one place, looked -about for a cause, and perceived Elizabeth -tranquilly rocking upon one of the -unhemmed breadths of her ruffle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll be much obliged if you'll take your -chair off my ruffle, Saint Elizabeth," she -laughed, tugging at the crumpled cloth, -"and just don't worry over the name--try -and live up to your looks."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth blushed a little as she stooped -to disentangle the cloth from her rocker; -she was a very handsome girl, altogether -unlike her sisters, who were all rather short -and dark, and plump looking, Cousin -Hannah Pratt declared, as much alike as -biscuits cut out of the same batch of dough. -Elizabeth was about sixteen, tall and fair -and slim, with large, serious blue eyes and -long, thick blond hair, which she wore -plaited in the form of a coronet or halo about -her head--privately, she much preferred -the halo, as best befitting the character of -her favorite heroine, Saint Elizabeth, a -canonized queen whom she desired to -resemble in looks and deportment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"One would have to be a saint to bear -with the name of Spooner," she said, rather -crossly, as she tossed Mary her ruffle.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cousin Hannah Pratt, rocking in the -biggest chair, which she filled to -overflowing, lifted her eyes from her work and -regarded Elizabeth meditatively. "How'd -you like to swap it for Mudd, Libby?" she -asked tranquilly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth shuddered--she hated to be -called Libby, it was so commonplace; and -Cousin Hannah persisted in calling her that -when she knew how it annoyed her. -Elizabeth was thankful that Cousin Hannah--who -kept a boarding-house in Emerald, the -near-by village, and had kindly come over -to help with the wedding--was only -kin-in-law, which was bad enough; to have such -an uncultured person for a blood relation -would have been worse.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mudd! O, poor Elizabeth!" giggled -Ruth, the third of the Spooner sisters, a -merry-hearted girl of fifteen, who looked -on all the world with mirthful eyes. "Cousin -Hannah, what made you think of such an -</span><em class="italics">awful</em><span> name?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't be so noisy, Ruth," cautioned -Mary, with what seemed unnecessary -severity. "Mother's neuralgia is bad to day. -You can hear every sound right through in -her room. Cousin Hannah, won't you please -make her a cup of tea? I think it would -do her good; you make such nice tea."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sure and certain!" agreed Cousin -Hannah, heartily. Rising ponderously from -her chair, she moved on heavy tiptoes out -into the kitchen, the thin boards creaking -as she walked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I might also remark that a person would -have to be a saint to bear with Cousin -Hannah," said Elizabeth, "she doesn't intend -it, maybe, but she does rile me so!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't see why anybody would want -to be a saint; I'd heap rather be a knight," -spoke up little Harvie, nicknamed by her -family "the Babe." She lay curled up on -a lounge in the corner, ostensibly pulling out -bastings, but really reading a worn old copy -of Ivanhoe, which was the book of her -heart. There were no children living near -the lonely little ranch, and the Babe, who -was only ten, solaced herself with the -company of heroes and heroines of romance--much -preferring the heroes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'd rather be 'most anything than a -'mover'," declared Elizabeth, emphatically. -"And if you want to know the reason, just -look out of the window and watch this -procession coming up from the road."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth and the Babe ran to the window; -Mary, leaving her machine, slipped quietly -out of the room to see about her mother. -Also Mary desired to have a little private -talk with Cousin Hannah.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a pitifully ludicrous spectacle that -the girls beheld. Up the driveway leading -to the house came a dreary procession of -those unfortunates known in western -parlance as "movers," family tramps who -follow the harvests in hope of getting a little -work in the fields; always moving on when -the crops are gathered, or planted, as the -case may be--movers never became dwellers -in any local territory.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>These movers were, in appearance, even -more wretched than usual. In a little -covered cart drawn by a diminutive donkey, -sat a pale woman with a baby in her arms, -and two small and pallid children crouching -beside her. Behind the cart the father of -the family pushed valiantly, in a kindly -endeavor to help along the donkey, while -just ahead of that overburdened animal -walked a small boy, holding, as further -inducement, an alluring ear of corn just out -of reach of the donkey's nose. Certainly -the family justified Elizabeth's declaration -that 'most anything was preferable to being -a mover!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth and Elizabeth both laughed at the -comical procession, but the Babe's eyes -were full of pity. "The poor things are -coming up for water," she said sorrowfully. -"Father always let them get water at our -well--I'll go show them the way." And -she ran out to meet the movers and show -them the well at the back of the house, -where they filled their water-jugs and -quenched the thirst of the patient and -unsatisfied donkey.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wish to goodness Father never had -gone to Cuba," sighed Ruth, as she turned -from the window to take up her button-holes, -"it is so awfully lonesome without him."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think it was splendid," said Elizabeth, -with shining eyes, "to be among the very -first of the volunteers. And maybe he'll -do some deed of daring and be made an -officer. Think how nice it will be to say, -when the war is over, that our father figures -in history--maybe as one of the foremost -heroes of the Spanish-American war."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You're always dreaming of things that -never happen, Elizabeth," scoffed practical -Ruth. "Of course he won't be made a big -officer. If he comes back just a plain -Captain I'll be mighty glad."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, well, the world's greatest men and -women have always been dreamers," -asserted Elizabeth, cheerfully, "I can't help -being born different from the rest of you, -can I?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"H'm, I reckon not--but you can start -a fire in the stove. People must eat, no -matter how great they are. It's your time -to get supper."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, dear, it's bad to be born poor!" sighed -Elizabeth, as she arose reluctantly. -"Especially when there's a longing within you -to do perfectly fine things, and not mere -drudgery. I wish I were a princess--it -seems to me I was born to rule. I'm sure -I would be a wise and capable sovereign. -Well, even queens stoop to minister to the -lowly, like Saint Elizabeth, so </span><em class="italics">I'll</em><span> go get -supper for the Spooners!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And with her head in the clouds, the -throneless queen marched majestically -kitchenward, to engage in the humble -occupation of cooking supper for her family.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Voices from her mother's closed door -reached her ears as she passed. Elizabeth -would have scorned eavesdropping, but--the -ranch being located in the prairie region -of Texas, where lumber is so scarce that -just as little as possible is used in building, -and the walls being merely board partitions, -she could not help hearing Cousin Hannah's -voice, always strident, rising above her -mother's and Mary's lower tones.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Fiddle-diddle! What's the use of mincin' -matters anyway? She's bound to know, -sooner or later--ought to know without--tellin', -if she had a grain o' common sense. -Ain't a single, solitary thing about her -favors the rest of you all."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The words sounded very clearly in -Elizabeth's startled ears, arousing a train of -troubled thoughts in her mind, as she moved -mechanically about the kitchen. She felt -quite certain that they were talking about -her, and that Cousin Hannah wanted to -tell her something that Mrs. Spooner and -Mary didn't want known.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wonder what it can be," pondered -Elizabeth, as she slowly stirred the hominy -pot. "Whether Cousin Hannah thinks -so or not, I've always known I wasn't like -the rest."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This was quite true; Elizabeth, though -she dearly loved the parents and sisters who -had always, Cousin Hannah declared, -spoiled her, yet could not help feeling that -she was, mentally and physically superior to -them, "made of finer clay," she would have -put it. People often remarked on this lack -of resemblance to the others, and when they -did so in Mrs. Spooner's presence she always -hastily changed the subject. Elizabeth -had often wondered why. Somehow there -seemed always to have been a mystery -surrounding her--something that, if -explained, would prove very thrilling indeed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Occupied with these thoughts, she moved -from cupboard to table, and from table to -fire, preparing the evening meal with deft -skill, for anything Elizabeth Spooner did -she did a little better than other people.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Outside the window stretched a vast -brown-green plain, bounded by a horizon -line like a ring. There was monotony in the -prospect, and yet a curious sense of -adventure and romance, as there is about the -sea. Elizabeth delighted in the mystic -beauty of the prairie, yet to-day her fine -eyes studied the level unseeingly as she -glanced through the window, looking to see -if Jonah Bean was in sight; the glories of -sunset that flooded the plain passed almost -unnoticed. She was thinking too earnestly -on her own problem to observe the outside -world.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If I were by chance adopted, I certainly -have a right to know who I am," Elizabeth -pondered, as she set the table beautifully, -with certain artistic touches that the -clumsier hands of the other girls somehow could -never manage. "It won't make any -difference in my feelings for father and mother -and the girls if I should happen to be born -in a higher station of life than -theirs--though I can easily see how poor mother -could think it might; I trust I'm above -being snobbish--" Elizabeth's eyes began -to glow with a resolute purpose--"I'm -going to find out, that's what! I'll make Cousin -Hannah tell me. She's so big it's awful to -sleep with her, and she snores like thunder. -Mary knows how bad it is, and how I hate -it, that's the reason she made me sleep with -Ruth, when one of us had to give up our -place. To-night I'll make Mary take the -Babe's place with Mother, who might need -her in the night, and I'll sleep with Cousin -Hannah--and find out what she knows -about me!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Jonah Bean came stamping up the steps -just then to wash up for supper at the -water-shelf just outside the kitchen door; -informing anybody who chose to listen that he was -mighty tired--there was two men's work to -do on the Spooner ranch, anyhow, and he -was gittin' old, same's other folks. Glancing -in at the open door he observed who was -the cook.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Humph! So it's your night for gittin' -supper? Well, I hope the truck'll taste as -fancy as that air table looks."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sure, Jonah," answered Elizabeth, -critically observing the effect of her handiwork. -"If you'll just step outside and get me a -big bunch of those yellow cactus-blooms to -put in this brown pitcher it'll be perfect, -and I'll see that you get a big painted cup -full of coffee."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Never could see no use in weeds--full o' -stickers at that," grumbled Jonah, as he -turned to go out for the flowers that were -growing on the great cactus in the fence -corner. "Hope that air coffee'll be strong -and hot, though."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The coffee was strong and hot, and the -hominy was white and well-cooked; the -bacon was brown and crisp and the biscuits -light as feathers. Elizabeth dished the -supper in the flowered dishes kept for -company, because she could not bear the heavy -earthenware they used every day. She -filled the squatty brown pitcher with the -big bunch of golden blooms old Jonah bore -gingerly, careful of the thorns, and then -lighted the lamp with the red shade. Really -they didn't need a lamp, but the glow from -the red shade was so pretty that she lighted -it anyway--she so loved beautiful things.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She arranged her mother's tray daintily, -laying a cactus-bloom, freed of its thorns, -beside the plate--somehow she felt as if she -was preparing for some extra occasion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I declare Libby always cooks like she -was fixin' for company," said Cousin -Hannah, admiringly, as she sat at the gracefully -arranged table. "Oughter keep boarders, -and she wouldn't find no time for extra -kinks."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth shuddered a little as she poured -Jonah's coffee in the biggest cup, with the -painted motto on it--how she would hate -to do such a sordid thing as keep boarders!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But she smiled very affably on Cousin -Hannah, and asked if she wouldn't tell her -how to make spice cake--she always noticed -that Cousin Hannah's cake was so good. -She wished to get the recipe to write in her -scrap-book.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Shore and certain," said Cousin Hannah, -amiably, pleased at Elizabeth's praise, "I'll -be glad to write it off. You're 'bout as -good a cook as Ruth, though I always did -say she was the born cook o' the family--you -seemin' to be a master hand at managin'."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That she was indeed a master hand at the -art, Elizabeth proved that night, when with -a few energetic commands, she sent Mary -obediently to her mother's room, to take -the Babe's place, who in turn was put to -sleep with Ruth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why in the world don't you let Ruth -sleep with Cousin Hannah?" argued Mary, -"you know how you hate to--and she -doesn't mind."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Because it isn't fair that I shouldn't -have my turn as well as the others--it's -disagreeable to all of us. Now you just let -me have my way, and say nothing else about -it!" declared Elizabeth with authority, and -as usual, she was allowed to have her way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While Cousin Hannah undressed, moving -ponderously about the little room, Elizabeth -sat on the side of the bed, brushing her -long blond hair, watching with critical -admiration of the beautiful, the gleams of -red and gold the lamplight cast upon its -glittering strands, and formulating in her -mind a plan to find out the secret of her -birth--if secret there was.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She finally decided that plain speech was -better than beating about the bush, and -spoke in a carefully suppressed tone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cousin Hannah," she said, with whispering -decisiveness, "I want to know what you, -and Mother and Mary were talking about in -her room."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, Libby!" exclaimed Cousin Hannah, -plumping down upon the bed in her -astonishment, "did you go and listen to -what we was sayin'?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Indeed I didn't! But I couldn't help -hearing you--and I think it's my right to -know, if you were talking about me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But your Ma--but Jennie said she -didn't </span><em class="italics">want</em><span> you should know," argued the -bewildered Cousin Hannah, "land o' livin', -girl, ain't you got a home, and people to -care for you? Why in tunket can't you be -satisfied with </span><em class="italics">that</em><span>?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Certainty made Elizabeth calmly triumphant.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have felt, for a long time--ever since -I can remember, that I was different from -the rest of my family, though you didn't -give me credit for having sense enough to -see it. Of course, I love them all dearly -but I can't help feeling that it's my right -to know the truth, whatever it is. Cousin -Hannah, is or is not my name Spooner?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well," Cousin Hannah evaded the question, -"what would you get out of it if your -name wasn't Spooner?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth leaped up softly, she held her -hairbrush as though it were a scepter; her -long hair flowed and billowed about her as -she walked with majestic tread, up and down -the tiny room--she was seeing visions!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>If her name was not Spooner! That -would mean that her birth was, she felt sure, -indefinitely illustrious some way. Of course -she would never desert the people who loved -her, and whom she would always love, -but--might not something come of it that would -be grand for them all?</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Libby," Cousin Hannah's eyes followed -the moving figure with a distressed look in -them, "your ma--Jennie Spooner--your -true ma, if love and tenderness count for -anything, never wanted you told. Mary -knows, and she don't want you should know. -When I watch your uppity ways I tell 'em -it's high time they explained the situation -to you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The situation--" Elizabeth hung breathlessly -on her words with shining eyes, and -an eager tremble of her lips.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, the situation," repeated Cousin -Hannah heavily. "Jennie Spooner had a -tough time raisin' you--a troublesome -young'un as ever I see. You teethed so -hard that it looked like she never knew what -a night's rest was till you got 'em through -the gums. I used to come over here many -a time and help her; what with Ruth bein' -so nigh the same age, she had her hands -full. It was kept from you for fear of -hurtin' your feelin's, if you must know."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How could it hurt my feelings?" questioned -Elizabeth, a little puzzled. "I love -them all--but they should have told me. -They ought to have known they couldn't -change--" a swan to a duckling had been -on the tip of her tongue, but she stopped in -time, "me to a Spooner, even by their love -and kindness."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Change you to a Spooner?" slow wrath -mounted to Cousin Hannah's face. She -caught Elizabeth's arm as the girl passed -by. "I reckon they couldn't make a -Spooner out o' you, that's a fact. The -Spooners, bein', so far's known to me, -respectable householders--"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But not what </span><em class="italics">my</em><span> people were," suggested -Elizabeth, her whole face alight, her eyes -shining with eagerness. "You must tell -me who they were--what my rightful name is."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cousin Hannah groaned. "Looks like -I've let the cat out of the bag--don't it? -Well, what I've got to tell ain't nigh what -you think I've got to tell," she asserted -doggedly. "You'll be sorry for askin'."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Through Elizabeth's mind flashed visions -of a wonderful ancestry; to do her justice -these dream parents did not in any way -displace the father and mother she really loved -with all her young heart--they were only -that vision which comes to us all in some -shape when we feel we are misunderstood--different.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mary's step was heard approaching in the -little corridor. She had undoubtedly been -disturbed by the sound of their voices, and -was uneasy for fear Cousin Hannah would -be teased into making in judicious revelations.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Tell me--tell me quick--" whispered -Elizabeth, shaking her room-mate's arm. -"Tell me before Mary gets here."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I will," gasped Cousin Hannah. -"You ought to know it--but I warn you -it's not what you're expectin'!"</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="roy-rides-to-silver-spur"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER II</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">Roy Rides to Silver Spur</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>When Mary stepped into the little -bedroom Cousin Hannah Pratt had already -spoken.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your pa and ma was movers that come -here sixteen years ago--movers, like the -folks you seen to-day and made such fun of. -The name was Mudd."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>These whispered words sounded in Elizabeth's -ears, and the girl crumpled up on the -bed sobbing just as Mary opened the door. -Mrs. Pratt pulled the elder sister into the -room.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I've told Libby--she ought to have been -told long ago--with you marryin' and goin' -away and Ruth not havin' a bit of faculty -and her bein' the one to take your place I -think she was obliged to know it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mary came across the room with a rush, -and took slim Elizabeth in loving arms.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Go away, Cousin Hannah, please," she -said. "You can sleep with Ruth and I'll -stay with Elizabeth."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Pratt, glad enough to be relieved -from sight of the misery she had caused, -hurried away and the two sisters were alone -together. Mary knew very little of what -Cousin Hannah had seen fit to reveal, a -child herself at the time, she had but vague -remembrances of it, and indeed Elizabeth -asked no questions--she only needed to be -comforted, and this Mary did as best she -could.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The next day but one was the wedding -day, Mr. Bellamy was expected in the -morning and they would probably have no -other chance for private talk, but Mary -urged Elizabeth to go to their mother for -comfort when the wedding was over, and -some time late in the night they both fell -asleep.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>In the days that followed the wedding, -when everything was strange, and they were -settling slowly back into the usual routine -Elizabeth found no opportunity to speak -with her mother of that trouble which had -come now to haunt every waking hour, and -even pursued her into dreams.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mary and her euphoniously named -Mr. Bellamy had gone on their way to -Oklahoma, where the bridegroom owned a ranch. -Cousin Hannah Pratt, having helped with -the wedding sewing and the packing, had -gone back to Emerald and her own overflowing -boarding-house. Mrs. Spooner, the -three girls, and old Jonah were left alone, -face to face with the problem of getting -along.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Everything had settled into the usual -routine at the Silver Spur; Mrs. Spooner, -rather weak from her neuralgia and the -strain of the wedding, sat on the front porch -in a big chair which Elizabeth had -endeavored to make comfortable with rugs -and pillows.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Are you perfectly sure I can't do -anything else for you, Mother?" she asked -anxiously. "Mary always waited on you -so beautifully, while--it seems to me I've -never done one little thing for you, when -you've done so much for me!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A big tear slipped from the long lashes -and splashed on Mrs. Spooner's little hand, -fluttering among the cushions. In a minute -the mother-arms had pulled the girl's head -down to the mother-breast, the thin fingers -patting the blond braids and the mother-voice -crooning comfort into the crumpled -little ear buried upon the maternal shoulder.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't cry, daughter, Mother loves you -just the same! Haven't you been our own -since you were, O, such a </span><em class="italics">wee</em><span> baby! It -was cruel of Cousin Hannah to tell you, -but we won't let it make one bit of -difference. You're ours and we are yours. A -thing like that can't matter to people who -love each other as we do."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It--it doesn't matter, Mother," gasped -Elizabeth, as she mopped her reddened eyes, -"if I can just take Mary's place to you. I -am going to try, my very level best."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then you'll be sure to succeed," said -her mother, confidently. "You always -succeed in everything you undertake--hadn't -you noticed that, dear? Now, really, I'm -just as comfortable as hands can make me, -so you run on down to the corral and help -Ruth and the Babe with the ponies. You -ride with them to Emerald, and get the -mail--it'll do you good. And be sure you bring -me a letter from father."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cheered by her mother's words, Elizabeth -gave one more pat and pull to the pillows, -kissed her, and ran down to the corral, where -the girls were roping the ponies. She and -Ruth could each rope a little, missing about -three out of five throws, but the Babe -usually flourished so reckless a loop that she -entangled herself, and had to be helped out; -in spite of which old Jonah Bean insisted -that she was the only one who showed any -signs of learning the art.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Poor Elizabeth! Her castle of dreams had -fallen, leaving her wide awake to the fact -that she was no princess of romance but the -humble offspring of miserable movers, such -as had always been the objects of her -shuddering contempt. Even Cousin -Hannah's heart was touched with pity, and she -tried with clumsy but hearty kindness to -make amends for the grief she had caused -by her disclosure. Nothing had been said -to Ruth and the Babe, of course--they still -believed her to be their born sister. -However, deep down in her heart, Elizabeth -was walking in the Valley of Humiliation -amid the dust and ashes of dead hopes; -and, as most people know, when one enters -the Valley it is very, very hard to find the -way out again!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner, watching the girls ride -down the road, sighed softly. "Poor child," -she murmured pityingly, "I can hardly -forgive Cousin Hannah. But in the end it -may prove the best thing. I'm afraid we -were spoiling her. This may bring out the -fine nature that I know she possesses."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Texas is a land of far horizons; Mrs. Spooner -could see all the vast, brown-green -circling plain until it lost itself in the hazy -distance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Away up the trail that led to her brother's -distant ranch, twenty miles further from -Emerald, she noticed a moving cloud of dust -which resolved itself into an oscillating -speck--two--a man on a pony, with a led horse.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For some reason which she could not have -explained, Mrs. Spooner felt that the -approaching rider was going to turn in at the -Silver Spur. There was no pleasant -feeling between herself and Harvey Grannis. -John Spooner had bought the Silver Spur -ranch from his brother-in-law when he -came to this part of Texas, and there had -been trouble over the transaction, due, -Mrs. Spooner felt, to Harvey's disposition to take -too much authority. He was a bachelor, -and the rich man of the community--excepting -the English rancher, McGregor, who did -not live so far away. He would have liked -to do a good deal for the family of his only -sister, but he wanted to do it in his own way, -asserting that John Spooner couldn't take -care of them, and treating them, Elizabeth -fireily said like paupers. A hard man, with -his good qualities, yet full of the "rule or -ruin" spirit, and liable to go to great lengths -to make his point.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The approaching rider was now seen to -be a young fellow, scarcely more than a big -boy. He came up the long bare drive, -stopped at the porch edge and took off his -hat before he spoke to the woman in the -rocking-chair. She noted that the pony -he rode stumbled with weariness, while the -led horse trotted briskly, unencumbered -with saddle or rider. She saw, too, that -while the tired pony bore a brand unfamiliar -to her, the led one was marked with a G -in a horse-shoe--Harvey Grannis's brand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good morning, ma'am," the newcomer -greeted her. He was a handsome lad of -perhaps sixteen, but just now in a woeful -plight, dusty, shaking, haggard with -weariness. "I stopped to ask if you'd like to -buy a pony at a big bargain."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner leaned forward in her chair -with a little gasp. She was afraid of what -was coming.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't know," she replied evasively. -"Which one of them do you want to sell?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, mine's played out," the boy returned -never noticing the admission his words -contained. "I've ridden pretty hard, and -besides I've got to have her to carry me to -Emerald, so I can take the train there. It's -the other one. He's a mighty fine pony, -and I'll let him go for enough to buy me a -ticket back home."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Won't you come in and rest a minute?--you -look tired," said Mrs. Spooner, -sympathetically. Somehow she could not bring -herself to ask if he was from her brother's -ranch, though she felt quite sure something -was wrong about the pony that would go so cheap.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I am tired, but I've got to go on so as to -catch the six o'clock train," the boy smiled -wanly. "I guess I can stop in for a drink, anyhow."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He dropped the lines, and the two ponies -stood, cattle country fashion, as though they -had been tied.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner got up from her chair, -forgetting, in her excitement, any weakness or -weariness.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just come right in and lie down on the -lounge," she invited him. "It's cool and -shady. I'll make you a pitcher of lemonade -in a minute. You'll gain time by resting."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She smiled that reassuring mother-smile -of hers as she opened the door of the quiet -living-room. The boy followed in, his spurs -clinking on the boards, and dropped wearily -down upon the lounge. When she came -back he was sitting with his head in his -hands, but he drank the cool lemonade -thirstily, finally draining the pitcher.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's awfully good," he sighed, his eyes -speaking his gratitude. "Mother always -made us lemonade in the summer time at -home. You--you make me think of her, -someway."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As if the resemblance had been too much -for him, he turned from her with an -inarticulate sound, and buried his face in the -cushions. Mrs. Spooner sat down beside -him, and after awhile his groping hand -caught hers. She spoke to him in whispers, -though there was nobody in the house to hear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm afraid you're in trouble, my poor -boy," she said gently. "Don't you want to -tell me all about it? Maybe I can help you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After a time he found strength to face -her, and tell the poor, pitiful little story.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His name was Roy Lambert. He was, -indeed, one of Harvey Grannis's cowboys, -and had come west fascinated by the stories -of frontier life. He had made a contract -with Grannis to work for him for one year. -Then came a letter, telling him that his -mother was desperately ill, and he must -hurry to her. Grannis refused to advance -him money or to annul the contract. He -treated the matter with contempt, pretending -to believe that the boy was simply -homesick, and the letter a ruse to get away. -At last, frantic at the treatment he received, -and determined to reach his mother, Roy -got up before daylight, took his own pony -and one of Grannis's which he hoped to -sell for enough money to get home, and set -out for Emerald and the railroad.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I couldn't walk it, it would take too long -to get to Emerald that way," he said, -"besides, Grannis owes me more than the -chestnut's worth, if I sold it for full value. -I didn't expect to get only just enough to -buy my ticket."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Two wrongs won't make a right, Roy," -said Mrs. Spooner, gravely. "Mr. Grannis -was wrong--very wrong, not to advance you -the money, or let you off your contract. -But did you stop to think he could have you -arrested for horse-stealing when you took -his pony?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No!" blazed Roy, "I didn't steal it. -If I had, I don't care. He's a hard-hearted -old skinflint. I'd like to wring his neck, -but even Harvey Grannis can't say I'm a -horse thief. And I </span><em class="italics">must</em><span> get home!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Of course you must," soothed Mrs. Spooner, -well aware as she looked at his -flushed face, that Roy himself disapproved -of what he had done. "I have a little -money, and I will try and manage it, someway."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Would you?" cried the boy. "I'll pay -you--I'll send you a check as soon as I get -home."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Jonah Bean, the only cowboy I keep -now, can ride on with you to Emerald, and -bring your pony back. I'll try to sell it -for enough to repay myself, or I might keep -it--I think we could use one more gentle -animal."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You're awfully good," choked the poor -fellow. "If all the folks in the world were -like you--such a man as Grannis makes me -distrust everybody. Do you know him?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes. I think you're a little mistaken," -said gentle little Mrs. Spooner. "Harvey -Grannis isn't really a villain, he's just a -hard-headed, high-tempered man, that was -spoiled by having his own way when he was a boy."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You don't know--" Roy was beginning, -when she interrupted him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think I do. Harvey Grannis is my -only brother. My baby child is named after -him--little Harvie."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your brother?" Roy Lambert leaped to -his feet, looking about with terrified eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner divined his thought at once.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm not going to give you up to Harvey," -she said firmly. "But I'm going to make -you let me lend you the money, and leave -Harvey's pony here. The laws calls what -you've done horse-stealing, and you can't -make laws for yourself. You lie down and -try to get a little sleep, now, my child. I'll -wake you in an hour."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He thanked her with trembling lips, -turned on his side, and, secure in his trust -of her, fell at once asleep. When she saw -that he really slept, Mrs. Spooner once more -took her seat on the porch, this time to look -for her brother, being quite certain that -Harvey would follow hot-foot on the trail -of his stolen pony.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She didn't have long to wait; in less than -an hour a buckboard drawn by a pair of -good sized grade horses turned in at the -gate; in it sat Harvey Grannis and one of -his men. They were tracking the lost pony. -She saw them long before they reached the -house, recognize it, as it grazed on the bit -of sunburned pasture which Elizabeth -hopefully called a lawn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hello, Jennie," her brother called out, -ignoring any coldness there had been -between them, as Mrs. Spooner walked rapidly -out to meet him. Grannis was a loud-spoken -individual, and she did not care to -have the boy awakened. "I'm after the -thief that stole this pony of mine. Is he on -your place?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He's asleep in the house," said Mrs. Spooner, -quietly, though her voice was -shaking a little. "He's very tired, and he's -going to ride to Emerald tonight. I don't -want him disturbed."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You bet he's going to ride to Emerald!" -blustered the ranchman. "I'll have him -in jail there before supper-time! Come on, -Tom, we'll go in and wake the young -gentleman. Fetch your rope. Keep your gun -handy. You never know what a young, -dime-novel-crazy idiot like that will do."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He sprang from the buckboard, and both -men were starting for the house when -Mrs. Spooner barred their way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You can't go in there, Harvey," she -told him. And now she was trembling so -that Tom, of the rope and gun, was sorry -for her, and heartily sick of his errand. No -doubt Harvey Grannis was too, which -merely made him talk louder and more -harshly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I'd like to know why I can't?" -he demurred, pretending to laugh at her a -bit. "Who's going to stop me? Now see -here, Jennie, you always were a simple-hearted, -soft-natured little goose. Anybody -can bamboozle you. Look at the way -John Spooner--"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We won't go into that," warned Mrs. Spooner, -with a flash in her eyes that made -Grannis's cowboy chuckle inwardly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's your reason for defending this -boy?" Grannis argued. "He's a thief."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm not defending Roy Lambert alone," -said Mrs. Spooner. "I'm defending my -brother--a brother I used to be very fond -of--from doing a thing he'll be sorry for -all the days of his life."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Grannis flushed redly through the deep -tan of his sunburned skin, while Tom, -standing by and listening, enjoyed himself -thoroughly over his employer's discomfiture.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"These boys come west crazy for ranch -life," Grannis said dogmatically. "They -soon get sick of honest work, and invent any -kind of story to get away. This boy's -lying to you, and he's stolen a pony from -me. Move out of the way, Jennie, and let -me handle him."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The men had been standing with their -backs to the trail. Mrs. Spooner noted a -little figure on a gaunt pony whose gaits -were familiar to her approaching from the -direction of Emerald. Now small Harvey -rose in her stirrups and shouted, waving an -envelope above her head. Mrs. Spooner -was sorry she had not got rid of her brother -before the girls returned. Grannis looked -over his shoulder, and feeling unwilling -that his beloved namesake should see him -doing anything unkind rushed the matter -hastily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Get out of the way, Jennie," he -repeated. "Come on, Tom."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A figure appeared in the ranch-house -door, Roy Lambert, flushed and trembling -with the fever that Mrs. Spooner had been -fearing for him. He carried his belt in his -hand, and was fumbling at the holster to -get his pistol.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I won't go back alive," he said.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Rope him, Tom," prompted Grannis in -a low tone. "I don't want to shoot the -crazy kid."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Uncle Harvey--Uncle Harvey," came -the Babe's thin, sweet pipe, "I'm glad -you're here, 'cause I've got a telegram for -somebody out at your ranch. Jonah was -to take it on but now he won't have to."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The child's eyes saw nothing amiss. The -three men were warily watching each other, -Roy tugging desperately at the holster to -get his weapon which had caught, and Tom -half sullenly loosening and coiling his rope.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's for Mr. Roy Lambert," sang out -the little girl, triumphant in her ability to -read even bad handwriting.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="a-package-and-a-leather-brown-phaeton"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER III</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">A Package and a Leather-Brown Phaeton</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The men stood rigid at little Harvey's -announcement. Mrs. Spooner took the -envelope from the child's hands, opened it -and read aloud:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mother died last night. Funeral over -before you can get here. Sister."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The boy on the steps wheeled and ran -into the house. Grannis turned unwillingly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well--that looks genuine," he muttered -with the obstinacy of a high-tempered man. -"I won't prosecute him for lifting my -pony--But I want you to understand that -it's on your account Jennie. I tell you to -turn him out. He's a bad lot. If ever he -sets foot on the Circle G he'll have me to -settle with. If you insist on having him -around your place I'll--I'll--" His eye -fell on Harvie. "Take the halter there, -Tom and tie Baldy on behind. He leads -all right."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Aren't you going to pay him the money -you owe him," Mrs. Spooner asked as she -saw the men preparing to depart.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Grannis would have paid the money if -it had not been for the presence of Tom. -He could not let one of his cowboys see a -loosening of discipline.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, I'll not," he said bluntly and -whipped his team around into the drive. "He -can't collect a cent off me, and I'm done -making concessions on your account."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where are the girls?" Mrs. Spooner -asked as she and the Babe stood watching -the Circle G rig depart.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They're coming," answered the Babe. -"I rode ahead 'cause they were carrying so -many things and I could go faster. The -man at the telegraph office paid us for -bringing the message out. Are you going to -keep Roy Lambert here, like Uncle Harvey -said you ought not, mother?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner nodded as she went back -into the living-room, leaving little Harvie -to start the fire in the stove. There she -did her best to comfort the poor fellow, -facing his first big sorrow.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I won't go home now--there's no use," -he declared, when he could speak. "But -I'll never go back to Grannis! If you let -me I'll stay here and work for you. And -I'd do my best to do for you what a son -would. Outside of heaven, I've got no -mother now." And once more his grief -overwhelmed him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll be happy to treat a good boy like -you as a son," said Mrs. Spooner. "My -husband is away with the troops, and -we've had a pretty hard time to get along -without him. I'm sure my girls will be -glad to take you into our household as a -brother. Maybe providence sent you to -us, to-day. Maybe we need you as much -as you need us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With the relaxing of the terrible strain, -and the exhaustion of his grief, the boy -seemed to become really ill. She sat beside -him, trying to soothe him with tenderly -wise words, and bathing his hot forehead -hi cool water till at last he slept, and she -stole softly out to warn old Jonah, who came -stumping in with a basket of cobs for the -kitchen fire.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Make as little noise as you can, Jonah," -she whispered. "We have a boy in the -house asleep--one of Harvey's cowboys--I'm -afraid he has fever."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O Lord!" groaned Jonah, in a doleful -whisper. "Trouble comes double--never -knowed it to fail yit! 'T ain't 'nough that -you ain't right peart, and the boss gone, and -me with the rheumatiz a-ticklin' my right -foot ag'in, but we got to have a no-'count -cowboy, sweater an' shirk, of course, laid -up on us. Poor gals, I feel for 'em!--an' -you've got nothin' but gals. Ef you'd 'a' -had a right smart mess o' boys, now-- They'll -have all the work to do--like enough -have to ride and rope and brand, 'fore they -are done, besides nussin' this here boy, and -me'n you throwed in for good measure. -Whyn't Grannis tend to his own sick -cowboys? Plenty o' folks at his ranch."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He's not Harvey's cowboy any longer, -Jonah--he's ours, if we need him--and -according to that, we do. Now don't say -a word, just listen to me--" as the old man -opened his mouth to remonstrate very -forcibly on the utter folly of taking an -unknown person into her home. Then, -speaking in subdued tones, she told him the story -of the boy from the Grannis ranch.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At the end old Jonah Bean, being -tender-hearted if cantankerous, took out his -bandanna and blew his nose with hushed -vigor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If I warn't in the presence of a lady -what's his sister, Mis' Spooner," he said -with elaborate politeness, "I'd up an' -say--</span><em class="italics">Dad rat</em><span> Harvey Grannis's hide! Manners -an' behavior is all prevents me from usin' -them same cuss-words."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank you for </span><em class="italics">not</em><span> saying them, Jonah," -approved Mrs. Spooner, gravely, but with -twinkling eyes. "Now I'll go out and meet -the girls--I hear them coming, and they'll -be sure to wake him with their noise, if -I don't warn them."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The two girls were riding up the path, -and both shouted:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A letter from </span><em class="italics">Cuba Libre</em><span>!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A </span><em class="italics">fat</em><span> letter--and we want to see what's -in it so bad!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Of course the precious letter was -immediately read--that came before anything -else; the girls, dismounting, the Babe -running out, dish-towel in hand, with Jonah -hobbling in the rear, and all grouping around -Mrs. Spooner, to hear the news from Cuba.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a bravely cheerful letter, containing -the best of all news; their father was -well, the health of the army was good, there -was no prospect of a battle. Then followed -long messages to each member of the -family, loving and jolly; advice to Jonah Bean -about the ranch, winding up with impressive -charges to everybody to be "sure and -take good care of mother!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Three cheers for </span><em class="italics">Cuba Libre</em><span>--she's -taking good care of our boys!" exulted -Elizabeth, and Ruth declared fervently: "It's -such good news that it makes me right -hungry! Let's make muffins for supper -Elizabeth, and celebrate."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Maybe there won't ever be a real truly -sure-enough battle like Ivanhoe and King -Richard Sour-de-lion and Jonah Bean used -to fight," suggested the Babe, hopefully, -and Jonah added, sagely:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't know nothin' 'bout them two -folks you named over, honey, but I lay you -the war o' the sixties was some punkin's! -I misdoubt this here Cuban scrimmage is -jest a play war."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Truly, I hope so, Jonah," said -Mrs. Spooner. "Now listen, children, I have -some more news for you. We can't have -father with us, but I believe I have found -a 'real, truly sure-enough' brother--a -regular big brother, like other girls have."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Mother," put in the Babe, excitedly, -"I didn't know </span><em class="italics">that</em><span>! Is he named after -us, if he's going to be our own brother?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, his name is Roy Lambert--but -we don't care what it is," she added, hastily, -remembering how poor Elizabeth had loved -fine-sounding names, "if he is only a good -boy, and I think he is."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then she told them the story of poor Roy.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I do think Uncle Harvey is the meanest -old--" began Ruth, indignantly, but her -mother's hand was laid lightly upon her -lips, stopping further outburst.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That's enough, daughter" she said, -quietly, "they both did wrong, and I think -they're both sorry. It is all over now, and -we must try and think as kindly of Uncle -Harvey and be as good to poor Roy as -ever we can."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, and I'll lend him my own pony, if -his is too bad off for him to ride," added the -Babe generously--her own Rosinante being -the joke of the ranch. "Uncle Harvey -didn't mean to be bad, Ruth--he looked just -as </span><em class="italics">sorry</em><span> when you read the telegram--didn't -he, Mother?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think he is sorry," agreed her mother, -who wished her children to think as well of -their uncle as possible, but Jonah, with a -scornful snort, ejaculated: "Sorry--Harvey -Grannis? O, Lord, that </span><em class="italics">is</em><span> a joke!" And -muttering his opinion of Harvey Grannis -pretty audibly, went stumping away, to his -work.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth said nothing, only she slipped -her hand in that of her foster-mother and -whispered: "I think the Lord sent him to -you, Mother, because he was in trouble and -needed you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I hope he'll be a nice boy, and I -hope he won't be sick. I'll go in and make -up the muffin batter, Elizabeth, while you -set the table. I bet he didn't get any muffins -at Uncle Harvey's ranch," said Ruth, who -believed in ministering to the sick by giving -them good things to eat.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They had a very good supper, and the -muffins were really gems, but Roy could not -touch the dainty tray, saying that it looked -awfully good, but he was too tired to eat--he'd -be all right in the morning.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But next morning he was in a raging -delirium, and Jonah Bean had to ride to -Emerald and fetch the doctor, who said the boy -was in for a pretty bad spell of fever.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For two weeks the Spooner household -nursed him, then came a day of rejoicing -when the patient was able to move shakily -about, gaunt and hollow-eyed, but -cheerfully assuring them he felt dandy! -Recovery was swift after that, and it was not -long before the boy from the Circle G, the -outcast horse-thief, was a valued and almost -indispensable member of the Silver Spur -household.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't see how we ever got along -without him," declared Ruth, positively, as she -poked the clothes that were beginning to -bubble in the big wash-kettle out in the -back yard.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Particularly now that Jonah's laid up -with the rheumatism," agreed Elizabeth, -rubbing the white clothes on the wash-board -with rhythmic strokes that, somehow, -seemed to take a lot of the drudgery away -from the task.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth and Elizabeth were doing the week's -washing; it wasn't a very hard thing to do, -when one went about it with the right -spirit--the determination to try, with cheerful -energy, to get the clothes as clean as -possible in as little time as possible:</span></p> -<blockquote> -<div> -<div class="line-block outermost"> -<div class="line"><span>"To sweep a room as for God's cause</span></div> -<div class="line"><span>Makes that and the action fine."</span></div> -</div> -</div> -</blockquote> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The Spooner girls had never heard these -words of the old poet, but they practiced -the spirit of them a good deal in their work.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was astonishing how much Roy had -helped to lighten the work for them, as well -as for old Jonah Bean, who declared him -to be nothing less than a God-send. For -instance, he had filled the kettles and tubs -with water, and fetched a big basket of -cobs to make a fire under the wash-kettle, -all before he had gone to Emerald on what -he declared to be a very particular errand -of his own.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wonder what it is," mused Ruth, -curiously, "last week he went--said he had -something very particular to do, you -remember, and he came back late. He never -brought anything back, that I could see."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My private opinion is," said Elizabeth, -confidentially, "that he is fixing up some -sort of a surprise for mother's birthday, -He heard us say we were looking for a -package from father, and that we hoped it -would get here in time for her birthday. -I noticed it was right after that he went to -town on business of his own."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It would be just like him--he's always -trying to think up something to do for us. -Say, Elizabeth, I certainly appreciate this -shelter he built for us, don't you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't see how we ever got along without -it: he's certainly a handy boy," declared -Elizabeth, gratefully.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Heretofore the girls had washed with the -glaring sun beating down upon their -unprotected heads, but now Roy had built a -shelter for the tubs. Timber was scarce, -but he had managed to find enough for the -posts and cross-pieces, and there were plenty -of tin shingles left from re-shingling the -house, so that he had managed to make a -very neat job of it, and one that added greatly -to their comfort.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you all seen the Babe anywhere?" -asked Mrs. Spooner, coming out of the -kitchen. "I want her to hunt some eggs -for me; I think I'll make some tea-cakes -for supper."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She's down at Jonah's shack--I'll call -her," offered Elizabeth, but Mrs. Spooner -demurred, saying she would rather go herself.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I haven't enquired about Jonah's foot, -today, and he may think I'm neglecting -him," said the gentle mistress of the ranch, -who never was known to neglect a living -thing upon it, and was particularly solicitous -about the welfare of her ancient cowboy.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Jonah Bean was a veteran of the sixties, -much given to narrating tales of his own -marvelous exploits; he was also a bachelor, -who declared himself independent of the -whole female sex, inasmuch as he could, if -necessary, sew, cook, and "do for himself" -generally. Though inclined to be a grumbler, -he was really devoted to all the Spooner -family, particularly little Harvie, whom he -had been the first to nickname "the Babe," -and he always found her an eager listener -to the tales of adventure he delighted in -telling.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner found him sitting in the -doorway of his shack, which was near the -corral, and had originally been intended for -a bunk-house, when John Spooner's hand -was on the helm, and Silver Spur promised -to be a paying ranch. He was patching a -pair of overalls and talking animatedly to -the Babe, who was, as usual, a rapt listener. -"So Giner'l Jackson sez, sez'e: 'Send me -the pick o' your men from each company.' And, -when he looks us over, he p'ints at -me. 'What's that runty, tallow-faced little -chap named? And what's he good for?' he -asts the cap'n o' my company. And the -cap'n ups and 'lows: 'His name's Jonah -Bean, Giner'l, and he's a powerful hand at--"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Jonah!" interrupted the Babe, -sorrowfully, "Ivanhoe never ran--nor King -Richard Sour-de-lion either. Nobody but -caitiffs and paynims and folks like that ought -ever to run."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why you see, honey," explained old -Jonah patiently, "what the cap'n meant -was that I was like the Irishman's -pig--'mighty little but mighty lively', and could -git over ground faster'n common."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O," said the Babe in a relieved tone, -"I'm glad </span><em class="italics">you</em><span> weren't a paynim or a caitiff, -Jonah."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," hastily denied Jonah, "I warn't--I -ain't no kin to none o' them sort of folks; -I'm a Tennesseean, me'n all my forefathers -before me. Well, the Giner'l calls me up, -and sez, sez'e: 'Private Bean, your country -is dependin' on you to do some mighty tall -runnin' to-day. Kin I depend on you to -run so fast the Yankees can't ketch you?'</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I s'luted, and sez I'd do my levelest. -Then, as I was a-sayin' he gimme the papers -and my orders. 'Twas a long way from the -ferry, so's to save time I swum the Jeems -river--high water, and twenty-five mile -acrost, more or less, I disremember rightly, -And then, man, sir! I everlastin' burnt the -wind! Minie-balls was a-rainin' like hail, -and I jest natchully had to kick the -bombshells out'n my way. Right through the -enemy's lines till I fetched up at Giner'l -Lee's headquarters, s'luted and turned them -papers over to him dry as powder--for I'd -swum with 'em under my hat."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"King Richard would 'a' made you a -knight!" breathed the Babe, in ecstatic admiration.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They didn't have none o' them in our -army, honey, or they mighter. I shore'd -'a' been promoted to sergeant anyhow, if -Giner'l Jackson hadn't 'a' been killed before -he could send in my recommend." The Babe -murmured her regret over the General's -untimely taking off.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mornin', ma'am," Jonah greeted -Mrs. Spooner, who just then came up. "Me'n -the Babe, here, was jest a-talkin' over old -times. She was a-tellin' me the news from -Cuby and I was mentionin' of a few things -happened back yander in the sixties. I says -this here Cubian war ain't no thin' 'tall but -jest chillun's play-war."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I hope and pray so, Jonah," said Mrs. Spooner, -her voice trembling a little. "But--war -is war, I'm afraid."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And to this, Jonah, scoffer though he was, -could only agree. War, even a play war, -meant some danger.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was after dark when Roy returned from -Emerald, and--as he had done the last time, -instead of riding up the front way and -whistling a signal from the road, he came in -at the back, surprising the whole family, -who were all gathered in the kitchen.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Howdy-do, folks! Gee, that fried chicken -smells good, Ruth! Mrs. Pratt sent you a -quarter of mutton, Mother Spooner--they -had just killed a sheep. I hung it up -on the peg outside the back door to keep sweet."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He smiled affectionately on the Babe, who -was eyeing with much curiosity a big -package under his arm. "And this, I reckon, -must be that birthday bundle from Cuba; -I found it at the express office."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was a shout of joy from the Babe, -and a satisfied exclamation from her -sisters, who had about given up hope of the -package's arriving on time, the mails from -Cuba being very uncertain.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Day after to-morrow is mother's -birthday--just in the nick of time," they -exulted. "Don't you dare take one little, -little peep till then. Lock it up in your -bureau-drawer, Ruth, so she won't have -temptation before her eyes," laughed -Elizabeth, and Ruth bore off the package, in -spite of the Babe's protest that maybe -father had sent a little present to Jonah--and -he wouldn't like to wait!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Maybe there's something in it for a little -girl or so," laughed her mother, "but I -think we can wait. For I'll be forty years -old, and it needs pleasant things to make a -fortieth birthday happy, I can tell you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At this the Babe hugged herself in delight, -to think there was still another pleasant -thing in store for her mother. For -to-morrow Elizabeth and Ruth had planned to -make a wonderful cake, iced white like a -real Christmas cake, which, on the birthday -they intended to light with forty tiny -pink candles, already bought and hidden -away in Elizabeth's trunk. To console -herself, she fell to dreaming over the lovely -things shut up in the brown paper package--to -think of anything real hard was nearly -as good as seeing it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mrs. Pratt's Maudie got back from her -grandmother's last night," said Roy, as -they all sat at supper--except Jonah, who, -because of his foot, had had his supper -carried to him by the Babe.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They're planning for a big celebration -and a Harvest Home festival in Emerald -next week, and she wants the girls to go -over and spend a few days. Mrs. Pratt -particularly said both, if you can spare them."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I wonder what Handle's grandmother -gave her this time," said Ruth, rather -wistfully. "She always has so many pretty -things when she comes back from a visit -out there. It must be lovely to have a -grandmother who is well-off." She sighed -a little, thinking of the many-times -laundered cotton frocks that served Elizabeth -and herself for all dress-up occasions. -Maudie, no doubt, would have a challis, or -maybe even a summer silk.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth said nothing, but at the mention -of a well-to-do grandmother she felt a blush -of shame creeping over her face. It was -such a little while ago that she had indulged -in beautiful dreams of unknown and wealthy -relations; stately grandmothers with -high-piled white hair, gold lorgnettes and -rustling silks; and haughtily handsome -grandfathers of ancient lineage and great wealth, -who would see that she was lavishly supplied -with means to buy the beautiful clothes -necessary for a girl who would move in the -highest circles of society. Dreams that -ended in such a sordid awakening--O, poor -Elizabeth!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner's mother eyes saw what the -girl tried so hard to conceal, and she said -with quiet emphasis: "I wouldn't give -any one of my three girls with their cotton -frocks, for a dozen Maudies with a dozen -silks apiece!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was next morning that Roy explained -his mysterious trips to town.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You know your mother can't walk -much," he said, "and she can't ride a pony, -like we do. So when I saw a second-hand -phaeton for sale I made up my mind to buy -it for her birthday gift. Shasta works fine -in harness, so I rode her to town, hooked her -up to the old phaeton, and, last week, -brought it home and hid it out in the corral -shed, where I've been putting in odd minutes -painting it, while Jonah's cutting down -the harness to fit Shasta. It's just shreds -and patches now, and a mile too big. The -phaeton's pretty rickety as to looks, so I -went yesterday and got some cloth and -fringe for the top, and you girls must help -me fix up the curtains so's I'll get it done in -time for her to take a drive on her birthday."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I do think you are a wonder, Roy," -admired Elizabeth, with sparkling eyes. -"The very thing she needed most--and had -no idea she'd get till father comes home."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A package from Cuba, and a cake and -a </span><em class="italics">phantom</em><span>!" exulted the Babe, who was -present. "That's a </span><em class="italics">cossal</em><span> thing, Roy."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She means colossal," explained Elizabeth, -as Roy turned a bewildered look on -her. And Ruth added: "She gets them out -of books, those long words that she can't -pronounce. I wish Mother could send her -to school--she reads too much."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"People can't read too much, Ruth," -said the Babe severely. "Some time, when -I go to school I'm going to learn to read -well enough to read all the books in the -round world. Jonah says there ain't -nothin' like </span><em class="italics">eddication</em><span>!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sure--I agree with Jonah," laughed -Roy. "Sorry I can't have a fine 'eddication,' -I'd like it the best sort. But come on -and let's have a look at the </span><em class="italics">phantom</em><span>."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It </span><em class="italics">was</em><span> a pretty rickety phaeton--as to -cover and cushions; Roy had already made -it spruce with a good many coats of leather-brown -paint. He showed the girls the -fringe and the lining he had bought to -renovate the canopy-top.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll cover the cushions right away," -said Ruth, viewing the dilapidated affairs -that had, in the distant past, been spick and -spandy leather cushions.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There, now--I knew I'd never recollect -everything!" said Roy, ruefully. "I just -got enough brown stuff to line the top--I -clean forgot the cushions."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth, as usual, solved the difficulty.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mother has an old brown broadcloth -skirt she doesn't wear. It'll make perfect -cushion-covers, just the right shade. I'll -take the measures now and stitch up the -covers in no time."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Elizabeth always did have a head on -her shoulders!" admired Ruth. "I'm -willing enough, but I never could do anything -but just cook. Anyway, I'll make the birthday cake."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And I'll beat the eggs--I can beat eggs -go nice and soap-suddy," boasted the Babe.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That'll be a great help. We don't -want any hit-or-miss cake. Everything's -got to be properly weighed and measured -and beaten. Now let's go see how Jonah's -coming on with the harness."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Jonah, with the harness in a big cotton-basket -which could be hidden from sight by -throwing a horse-blanket over it if -Mrs. Spooner happened along, was seated -indoors, busily snipping and stitching and -patching away at the rusty-looking leather.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now don't you-all come a-frustratin' -me till I git th'ough with my job," fumed -the old man, rather crossly, "'course, you'll -'low 'tain't much to look at--which I ain't -a-denyin'--but jest wait till me'n the boy -gits done--then jedge by ree-sults."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy sighed a little bit wistfully. "I did -want to get something better, but my money -barely held out for this."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Something better?" scolded the girls, -"who wants anything better?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A lovely, low-hung, leather-brown phaeton," -added Elizabeth, alliteratively, "is -a thing of beauty. Add brown cushions, -brown harness and a perfectly-matching -brown pony and it'll be too stylish for anything."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That's sure 'seeing things', Elizabeth," -laughed Roy. "Glad you believe in us. -I'll work at the phaeton and try to have it -looking as much as possible like your fancy -picture by to-morrow. Jonah'll boss the -harness job, and you girls can transform the -cushions."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There were great preparations going on -that day, right under Mrs. Spooner's -unsuspecting eyes. The girls had ironed the -clothes the day before, insisting that they -required mending immediately, much to -their mother's surprise, for they didn't -usually bother about the mending.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was indeed plenty of it to do, and, -since Mr. Spooner's absence, very little -money to buy new clothes, so that the best -the patient mother could do was to mend and -darn and patch, till, like the Cotter's wife, -she "made old clothes look almost as well -as new."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She sat on the front porch and darned and -mended busily, while in the kitchen Ruth -and the Babe--who did beat the whites -into most wonderful soap-suds, made a -marvelous silver-cake, which they iced thick -and white--a regular Christmas-cake. And -Elizabeth ripped up the old brown skirt, -sponged and pressed the cloth, and made the -cushions as neatly as any upholsterer could -have done. Roy and Jonah Bean, at the -same time, were transforming the harness -and phaeton, to have it all done by the next -morning. Roy, having his own and Jonah's -work to do, had to snatch odd moments to -rub down the paint and re-cover the ancient top.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner was allowed to open her -package from Cuba on her birthday morning, -with the three girls crowding round to -see--the Babe quivering with eager anticipation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner unwrapped from its folds -of tissue-paper the gift they all knew to be -hers--a shawl or scarf of black, -heavily-woven silk, embroidered in most wonderfully -natural pansies; a regular Cuban -mantilla, exquisitely made.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The girls were so delighted, draping their -mother in its soft folds, and admiring the -effect, that they quite forgot a smaller -package which was still unopened--all but the -Babe, who continued to gaze upon it with -fascinated eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Mother, </span><em class="italics">please</em><span> open the little -bundle," she begged at last. "I'm--I'm just -on </span><em class="italics">ten-pins</em><span> to see what's in it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now where'd she get </span><em class="italics">that</em><span> word? What -on earth does it mean?" laughed Ruth, who -was often puzzled over her little sister's -expressions.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Tenterhooks," translated Elizabeth. -"Only she got 'hooks' mixed up with pins -and needles. Do open it, mother, and -relieve the 'ten-pins'!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll let the Babe open it herself. I'm -sure she can pick out her own present," -smiled the mother, as she gave the smaller -package to the child.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With awed delight the Babe removed the -tissue-paper slowly, as befitting a solemn -rite: three tantalizing little bundles were -disclosed, tightly wrapped. She opened the -first; it contained a painted Spanish fan.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This must be for Elizabeth," concluded -the Babe, with decision, and handed over -the fan to Elizabeth, who waved it with -languid grace, imagining herself to be a Spanish -Senorita.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The next parcel held a pretty handkerchief, -with a wide border of Mexican -drawn-work; this the Babe promptly turned over -to Ruth. "I don't want that--I can borrow -mother's," she said, with fine assurance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, but I do! I never had a real pretty -handkerchief in my life. I don't believe -even Maudie Pratt has one as pretty as -this," exclaimed Ruth, happily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>On this little ranch where things were -hard to get at best, the thrifty mother -always cut up the flour sacks into neat squares, -which she hemmed on the machine; these -when washed and ironed were piled neatly -in each girl's little handkerchief-box, for -every-day use. For Sundays and extra -occasions there was a little square of muslin, -hemstitched and bordered with narrow lace. -No Spooner ever dreamed of possessing a -better handkerchief. No wonder that Ruth -exulted over her gift.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The third was a little white box. When -the Babe removed the lid she hugged the -box to her bosom and pranced joyously -about the room.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My beads, my beads!" she crowed, -ecstatically. "My own dear, beautiful pink -necklace!" she held out a string of coral -before her family's admiring eyes. "Put it -on for me, Elizabeth, so I can run show it -to Roy and Jonah," she begged. "O, -mother--" with a sudden look of consternation, -"suppose I didn't guess right?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You guessed exactly right," reassured -her mother, "but Elizabeth, child, what are -you pinning my hat on for?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just walk out in front and behold another -birthday gift," said Elizabeth, busily -pinning on the hat. "There, now, you're -all ready--hat, shawl and everything."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Wondering, her mother obeyed, and -beheld drawn up at the door a spick and -spandy looking little low phaeton, painted a -beautiful leather brown; its fringed canopy-top -fresh and neat, its cushions upholstered -in handsome brown broadcloth, and -harnessed to a perfectly-matching brown pony, -in neatly fitting brown harness, already for -taking a drive.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, my dears!" there was consternation -in Mrs. Spooner's voice. "Did you go and -buy a </span><em class="italics">phaeton</em><span>! How in the world did you -manage? You know we simply must not -go in debt."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A chorus of protest reassured her. The -gift was none of theirs--they had not gone -in debt. Roy had bought it for her with -his own money.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For just nothing at all, Mother -Spooner," he hastened to assure her. "It was -just junk. We, Jonah, the girls and I, -fixed it up for you, so it's really a family -gift. And you'll find Shasta gentle as a -kitten. Now you and the Babe get in, and -and Jonah and I'll escort you in style--we -are going to take you over the ranch and -come back in time for the birthday dinner -Ruth and Elizabeth are going to fix up."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As the procession clattered down the -driveway and out into the trail along the -prairie, the Babe nestled close to her mother -and sighed blissfully--she had in mind -another surprise that was to help make the -fortieth birthday a pleasant one. A big, -Christmassy cake, iced white as snow and -covered with forty tiny pink candles.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="a-jewel-of-great-price"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER IV</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">A Jewel of Great Price</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Every single member of the Spooner -family with the exception of Jonah Bean, who -declared he didn't have no time to waste -a-pleasurin', were going to Emerald, to -spend the day with Cousin Hannah Pratt -and take part in the Harvest Home festival.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cousin Hannah, having heard of the new -phaeton, declared that now Mrs. Spooner -didn't have an earthly thing to prevent her -coming to town, and she had sent such -urgent entreaties by Roy, that at last the -mistress of the ranch was prevailed upon to -accept the invitation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But I can only spend the day," she -declared, "we can't all be spared at once; -Jonah is just able to be about, we mustn't -leave him too much work to do. The Babe -and I will come back in the afternoon, and -the girls can stay--and you, Roy?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was a little note of interrogation in -her voice as she laid her hand affectionately -upon the boy's shoulder. She was almost -sure that he wouldn't want to go to a party -that his grief was too recent.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy patted her hand, smiling a little sadly -as he shook his head. "I don't feel equal to -parties yet," he said.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And as to both Ruth and me staying, -that's out of the question," decided -Elizabeth. "There'll be a hundred and one -things to do, and you'll try to do them every -one. Ruth's going to stay all night because -it's her turn--Mary and I went last year. -So </span><em class="italics">that's</em><span> settled, mother."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After some argument, Ruth--who really -did want to stay very much, yielded. If -Elizabeth wouldn't stay, why she would, -and be glad to.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And you may carry my fan," said -Elizabeth generously, "nobody--not even -Maudie, will have such a beautiful one. And -you shall wear my pink girdle, too, it's -newer than your sash."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Babe sighed. She was having a mental -struggle as to whether she could practise -self-denial enough to lend her sister the -string of coral beads that were the delight -of her heart. The situation finally resulted -in a compromise.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And </span><em class="italics">I'll</em><span> lend you my beads--after I've -wore 'em all day. But you mustn't forget -to feel every now and then for the catch, to -see if it's fastened," she warned.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank you, Babe, I will," laughed -Ruth, "and I'll take good care of your fan, -too, Elizabeth. Dear me, won't I be fine! -Pink coral, and pink girdle, a Spanish fan -and my drawn-work handkerchief!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't approve of girls borrowing -things from each other," said Mrs. Spooner, -doubtfully. "I've known serious trouble to -result from such practices. There's always -danger of losing or injuring the things, you -know. But, if you sisters want to lend, I -won't object. Only be very careful, because -you couldn't replace them if they were lost."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll be careful as care, mother--don't -you worry." And Ruth ran happily away, -to pack her suit-case and get together her -simple finery.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There were various attractions to be at -the celebration. A brass band from a big -town would play in the public square, -between speeches by noted members of the -State Grange. Pony-races by cowboys from -the neighboring ranches, the inevitable -roping match, a big open-air dinner for the -public, and, to wind up with a dance at night -in the town-hall, where the various exhibits -from the farms--the grain, fruits and -vegetables--were displayed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As the Spooners desired to see all these -spectacles, they started out bright and early; -Mrs. Spooner, the Babe and Ruth's suitcase -in the phaeton, the girls and Roy riding -their ponies.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cousin Hannah, whose husband--a mild -little man, quite overshadowed by his big, -bustling wife--was a rancher without a -ranch, spending most of his time taking cattle -to the fattening ranges above, or to market in -other states, lived in a big, flimsily built -frame house in the little prairie town of -Emerald. Mrs. Pratt boarded the -station-agent, the telegraph operator, the -school-teacher, and nearly all of what might be -termed the floating population of the town.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Maudie, the Pratt's only child, was a -girl about Elizabeth's age, rather pretty -and very much spoiled by her mother and -her grandmother, who lived in another -state, and who often had Maudie come and -visit her.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Pratt, who happened to be at home -for the festival, with his wife, came out to -meet their guests, welcoming them with -much hospitality.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"The sight of you's sure good for sore -eyes, Jennie," exclaimed Cousin Hannah, -as she folded Mrs. Spooner in her ample -embrace. "I'm tickled to death to see -you! And ain't that buggy a sight. It -looks 'most as good as new, I declare!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's not a buggy, Cousin Hannah--it's -a </span><em class="italics">phantom</em><span>," said the Babe, with dignity.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Almost as good as new, indeed! Where -were Cousin Hannah's eyes? Very few -phaetons looked so new and delightful, to -the Babe's vision, anyway, as this vehicle, -in whose loving rejuvenation every one of -them had been allowed to have a hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A phantom, is it?" laughed Cousin -Hannah. "Well, you come in here to the -dining-room and find out whether these -cookies are phantoms. The big girls want -to go up to Maudie's room, I know. Run -along, honies, I'll take care of your ma and -the Babe, and Mr. Pratt'll look after Roy. -Maudie ain't come out, yet; she's feelin' -poorly, and wants to save up her strength -for to-night. Maudie's right delicate."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Come in!" called out Maudie, when -Elizabeth and Ruth, with the suit-case -between them, rapped at her door.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The young lady sat at her dresser, attired -in a much trimmed and flowered kimona, -leisurely "doing" her nails with a silver-handled -polisher from an elaborate dressing-case -spread open before her.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hello! If it ain't Elizabeth and Ruth!" -she greeted, with somewhat condescending -cordiality. "You all come in to see the -country jays celebrate? Emerald's such a -pokey little hole folks are glad to see most -anything, for a change."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you think Emerald's dull, Maudie, -what would you do out on our ranch?" -asked Elizabeth, laughingly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Maudie shuddered. "Horrors! Don't -mention it--such a fate would be too unspeakable!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yet Elizabeth and I manage to stand -it--and I reckon we're as happy as most -girls," protested Ruth, stoutly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, that's because you don't know any -better. You've never enjoyed the advantages -of city life, as I have," said Maudie -superiorly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I suppose your grandmother gave you -a heap of pretty things, as usual," said -Elizabeth, anxious to change the subject.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O yes, a good many," carelessly replied -Maudie. "How do you like this diamond -ring? She gave me this on my birthday."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She held out her hand, which was adorned -with several rings, one of them a small but -showily set diamond.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth and Ruth viewed the jewel -with admiring amazement. Neither one of -them had ever seen a diamond before, and to -their untutored eyes it represented -splendor indeed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Try it on," said Maudie affably, pleased -with their exclamations of delighted wonder. -It was much too large for Elizabeth's slender -finger, but it fitted Ruth's plumper one -pretty well.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Maudie replaced the ring on her own -finger, and lifted out the tray of her trunk. -"What are you girls going to wear to-night?" -she asked carelessly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm not going to stay, but Ruth will wear -her white dress," said Elizabeth. Somehow -Ruth felt as if she couldn't speak of her -poor little frock among all Maudie's radiant -treasures.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Oh," Maudie's eyebrows lifted slightly. -"Let me show you what I'm going to wear." And -she unfolded and shook out the shimmering -breadths of a pale blue summer silk, -lavishly trimmed with lace and ribbon.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O-o-o!" breathed Ruth, rapturously, "I -never saw such a perfectly beautiful dress, -Maudie!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And Elizabeth echoed, warmly, "A beautiful -dress--and just the color I'd like, if I -ever had a party dress."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It is rather pretty, I think," acknowledged -Maudie, with the air of a person to -whom silks are a matter of course. She -took out more dresses, dazzling the eyes of -her country cousins with the sight of so -much magnificence, and making poor Ruth -feel very shabby indeed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My pink challis or blue mull would fit -you exactly, Elizabeth--you're tall as I -am. Stay all night and I'll lend you either -one of them you want. I'd like to have -you stay, too--the girls here are so common."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth's cheeks flushed redly. -Evidently Cousin Hannah had made no further -disclosures. To Maudie, Elizabeth was still -her cousin, and a Spooner--the name that -had once seemed so commonplace and now -so beautiful compared to that of the -despised movers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, but really I can't stay, Maudie; it's -good of you to want me, and to offer to lend -me your beautiful clothes, but mother can't -spare us both very well, and Mary and I -came last year, you know!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, well, if you won't you won't. But I -should think you'd jump at the chance of -going to a party," said Maudie, who did -not bother over consideration for her own -mother.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Just then Cousin Hannah poked her head -in at the door. "Maudie, honey," she -asked, conciliatingly, "can't you just run -in and set the table when dinner's ready, -so's I can stay up town with your Cousin -Jennie and the girls? And if the telegraph -operator comes in give him his dinner? -You know he has to have it early."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why on earth can't the cook give him -his dinner?" frowned Maudie, petulantly. -"I hate that old operator, anyway. Isn't -the cook hired to set the table? I ain't -feeling well, and I don't want to overdo -so's I can't go to the hall to-night."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, well," said her mother, resignedly, -"I reckon I'll hurry back and 'tend to it -myself, if you ain't feelin' well."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But Ruth spoke up eagerly: "Let me do -it, Cousin Hannah. I don't care about -going up town--and I'd love to do it for you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bless your heart--you're a reg'lar little -help-all!" beamed Cousin Hannah, gratefully, -and with Mrs. Spooner and Elizabeth, -went on her way in great content, knowing -that everything would go on well at home.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Maudie stayed in her room and spent her -time deciding on her party finery, while -busy Ruth swept and dusted the big dining -room, that was always in a state of more or -less disorder, laid the table carefully and -had the operator's dinner ready punctually.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have a good time, little daughter," -Mrs. Spooner said to Ruth, when at the -close of a long day of sightseeing she and -the Babe were once more seated in the -phaeton. And Ruth replied happily that -she would--she was certain of having a -perfectly beautiful time.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That night she wiped the supper dishes -for the cook, and, after she had dressed, -helped to button Cousin Hannah into her -own tight and unaccustomed dress-up clothes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Maudie, who declared that she never -liked to be among the first because it was -more genteel to be late, took a long time -to dress but really looked quite pretty in her -pale blue frock; Ruth, with heartily sincere -appreciation, told her so.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Thank you," acknowledged Maudie, -languidly, eyeing Ruth's laundered white -dress and pink girdle with tolerant pity. -Then her eyes falling on Elizabeth's fan -her expression changed to eager covetousness.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where in the world did you get that -fan?" she asked. "Do you--do you really -think it matches your dress? It seems to -me a fan like that is out of place with a -wash dress. I haven't one. I lost mine -when I was at grandmother's."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This is Elizabeth's; father sent it from Cuba."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth spoke rather hesitatingly; she -would have offered to lend the ornament -at once, if it had been her own, for she was -a generous little soul, but she did not feel -like risking Elizabeth's property.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I say," spoke Maudie abruptly, "lend -me the fan, Ruth, and I'll let you wear my -diamond ring."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Maudie!" gasped Ruth, hesitation -in her heart but delight in her eyes, "I -couldn't--I oughtn't to wear your ring. -Something might happen."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not a thing'll happen," declared Maudie -impatiently. "Here, let me put it on your -finger. No it isn't too loose, either; my -finger's just as small as yours. I wish this -fan was mine. It would have cost a lot -over here, but in Cuba it's different--or -of course your father couldn't have afforded it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She had coolly appropriated Elizabeth's -fan, waving it to and fro with complacent -admiration. All Emerald had seen the -diamond, but the fan was entirely new, and -she realized that it would be greatly admired.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Poor little Ruth, dazzled by the flashing -ring, forgot her mother's disapproval of -borrowing, and went to the hall with a light -heart.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Spooner girls had gone to school in -Emerald when their father was at home, and -they could be spared from the ranch, so she -knew all the boys and girls who were -present, and was soon having a very jolly and -sociable time, while Maudie, as befitting a -person accustomed to city life, was moving -about among the crowd with a rather bored -air, displaying her finery to the admiring -eyes of her neighbors, and waving -Elizabeth's fan languidly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Still, for all her indifferent air, Maudie -felt aggrieved that Ruth, in her shabby -white lawn, should receive so much -attention, while she in her blue silk was -comparatively neglected.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As she sat beside her mother and watched -Ruth dancing merrily to the music of the -band, Maudie felt a growing rancor towards -her unoffending cousin, finally deciding that -she would put an end to the enjoyment she -could not take part in.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I want to go home, I'm tired of it -all--it is so stupid," she complained to her -mother. "Besides, I don't feel very well. -Call Ruth and let's go right away."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No use disturbing Ruth, she seems to be -enjoying herself, if you ain't," remarked -Mr. Pratt, mildly. "Any of the young -folks'll see her home safe."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But Maudie flatly refused to go without -Ruth, who was hastily summoned from her -dance by Cousin Hannah, and hustled -unceremoniously away from the hall.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, I </span><em class="italics">did</em><span> have such a good time!" said -Ruth, radiantly. "I'm so sorry we had to -come away so soon, Maudie."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It takes mighty little to give some folks -a good time," said Maudie, tartly. "I -thought the crowd was awfully coarse and -common, even for Emerald. I hope you -took good care of my ring," she continued, -sharply, for Ruth uttering an exclamation, -of fear, had stopped and was groping wildly -about in the sand at her feet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Maudie!" Ruth's voice quavered with -fear, "O, Maudie--I've </span><em class="italics">lost</em><span> it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Lost my diamond ring!" Maudie shrilled -wrathfully, "O, why was I such a goose as -to lend it to you!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What's that? Your diamond ring that -Grandma Pratt gave you? O, my me! -Was Ruth wearing it? How'd that come? -Whatever made you go and lose it, Ruth?" -groaned Cousin Hannah, not waiting for a -reply to any of her questions.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It--it was too large," faltered Ruth, -"it must have slipped off my finger. We'll -find it in a minute. I know I had it on -when we left the hail; I kept feeling of it -because it didn't fit me very well."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then you'd no business to borrow it," -scolded Cousin Hannah. "What made you -wear it, if it was too loose?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Maudie wanted Elizabeth's fan," -explained Ruth, miserably. "And--and she -lent me the ring in place of it. I told her -then it was too large."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, blame it all on me!" reproached -Maudie, bitterly. "Here--take your old -fan! I reckon it didn't cost more than a -few cents, but at least I took care of it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Think where you had it last, Ruth--think -</span><em class="italics">hard</em><span>!" implored Cousin Hannah, -distractedly, "I'd hate so for that expensive -ring to be lost--just throwed away, you -might say. I don't know what we could -say to Grandma Pratt."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I had it in the hall, I'm certain," said -Ruth, dull with woe. "Of course I don't -remember where or when it came off my -finger."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then we'll go right back to the hall and -search for it," decided Mr. Pratt. "Come -along. No use in making so much fuss, -Maudie. Wait till you're plumb certain -it's gone for good."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Back to the still crowded hall they went, -and poor Ruth, in bitter mortification, had -to listen to Maudie's shrill announcement to -all and sundry of the fact that Ruth had -borrowed her diamond, and then lost it. -Which came, she explained loudly, of -lending things to people who weren't used to -them, and couldn't understand their value.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O," thought poor Ruth, in her despairing -heart, "if I'd only listened to mother I -never would have been in all this trouble--if -I'd only listened to mother!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Pratt, going to the young men who -had charge of the hall, made known to them -the loss, and there was much searching, but -all without result--Maudie's ring was indeed -gone!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Downheartedly the party trailed along -home; Maudie in tears, sobbing wrathfully -that she would never, never lend her things -again--no matter if people did beg and pray -her to do it. No indeed, she had learned a -lesson!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And Cousin Hannah, with torturing insistence, -kept asking over and over again if -Ruth couldn't remember where she had lost -the ring. She ought to try and remember, -seeing that it was her own fault. She -oughtn't to have worn a ring she knew was -too loose for her finger.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>To these questions Ruth could only -answer, over and again, that she didn't -know--she didn't know! Indeed she was fast -becoming hysterical with fright and worry.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then mild little Mr. Pratt astonished -them all by speaking with authority that -commanded attention.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That's quite enough, Hannah," he said -sharply. "Maudie, don't let's have any -more noise from </span><em class="italics">you</em><span>! If your ring's gone -it's gone, that's all there is to it. I told -mother, when she asked me about it, that -it was foolish to give you a diamond when -you was so young. I don't know if I ain't -glad it's lost, if you want my opinion. Now -understand, I want an end to all this talk. -No use in badgerin' poor Ruth to death, -either, Hannah."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For pity's sake, Jim!" exclaimed Cousin -Hannah, "I didn't aim to badger the child. -There, honey, don't cry over it--accidents -will happen. I didn't aim to hurt your -feelin's, no mor'n </span><em class="italics">you</em><span> aimed to lose the -ring. I was jest sorter flustered-like." And -she patted Ruth's hand soothingly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Maudie, though sniffing dolefully, said no -more at the moment, being warned by a -certain unaccustomed note in her father's -voice that his commands must be obeyed. -But in the privacy of their room that night -she turned the thumbscrews on poor Ruth -with savage pressure.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Of course people who are just a little -above paupers can lose other people's -property without worrying much about it," she -remarked sarcastically.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And Ruth, in a burst of indignation at -such aspersions on her family, answered -spiritedly: "No such thing, Maudie Pratt! -I intend to pay you for your ring, of course."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Pay me?" Maudie jeered, scornfully. -"O yes, it's likely you'll ever be able to pay -me a hundred dollars for my diamond!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth gasped--the amount was so far -above her calculation. But her fighting -blood was up, for the honor of her family -was at stake.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I haven't the money on hand, but I'll -certainly pay you by next Thanksgiving," -she said, with proud resolution.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And the green cardboard box at home, -containing all the money she possessed in -the world, held just thirty-five cents!</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="the-silver-spur-bakery"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER V</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">The Silver Spur Bakery</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Elizabeth," whispered Ruth, tragically, -"I have done something too awful to -tell--and I've got to tell it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I just knew you were dreadfully -worried," whispered back Elizabeth, -sympathetically. "I knew it as soon as you came -back this morning. Mother thought you -were just plain tired, but I felt in my bones -that there was worse. What is it?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The two girls were in their room getting -ready for bed, tiptoeing and whispering to -avoid waking Mrs. Spooner, who was sleeping -in the next room.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's this, Elizabeth--" Ruth's whisper -was a wail of despair--"I've lost Maudie -Pratt's--diamond--ring: And I've -promised to pay her for it by Thanksgiving! -Elizabeth, it cost--a hundred--dollars! And -you know I've got just thirty-five cents in -all the world!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then, Elizabeth remaining dumb from -astonishment, she went on to tell the whole -story.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And, O, Elizabeth, how </span><em class="italics">will</em><span> I ever get -the money?" she ended, despairingly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You mustn't tell mother, Ruth," -warned Elizabeth, with that sweet, -elder-sister air that had grown on her since Mary -went away; "she's got worries enough -already with father away, and everybody -afraid it's going to be a dry year. I can't -think just now of any way to earn a hundred -dollars quick. I'll sleep on it--maybe -I'll dream of a way. One thing's certain; -you've got to keep your word, for the credit -of the family."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I was just sure you'd feel that way about -it, Elizabeth. What on earth would we do -without you!" sighed Ruth, gratefully.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Secure in Elizabeth's ability to find a -way, she nestled down among her pillows -and went peacefully to sleep. And indeed -she needed it sorely, after the miserably -wakeful night she had spent with Maudie Pratt.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth did not dream at all. She lay -awake so long trying to think up some -miraculous way by which Ruth and she -might earn a hundred dollars, that when -she did fall asleep her slumber was entirely -too deep for dreams to enter--so deep -indeed that it took the warning rattle of the -alarm-clock to wake her in time to get the -early breakfast necessary for Roy and Jonah.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Did you think of anything, Elizabeth?" -asked Ruth anxiously, as she, too, sprang -out of bed at the alarm-clock's warning. -And Elizabeth was obliged to confess that -she hadn't yet.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But don't you worry," she soothed, "I'll -think of a way. Let's ask Roy, as soon as -we get a chance; somehow I feel sure he -could help."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was evening before they found an -opportunity to take Roy into their confidence, -down at the milk-pen. Milking had been -one of the girls' recognized duties before he -came, since then he had forbidden them to -interfere with the chores, declaring them to -be men's work.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy set the foaming pails on the fence, -turned out the little bunch of milk-pen -calves kept to lure home the cows from the -open range, and regarded the girls with a -grave face.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I should call that a tough proposition," -he said thoughtfully, "but not impossible. -In fact it seems that 'most anything's -possible if you work hard enough for it. How -about cooking, Ruth? You're a dandy on -'pie'n things'. Every ranch round here -would buy your truck if it was properly -advertised."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"That's just it!" jubilated Elizabeth, -"advertise! Ruth, we'll put up a sign-board at -the road gate: 'Bread, Doughnuts and Pies -for Sale.' Every cowboy that passes will -see it, and every single one will buy. I -never saw a boy or man that wasn't hungry."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Elizabeth has a great head," nodded -Roy, approvingly, "that's the ticket, Ruth. -I'll paint the sign-board to-night and -to-morrow you begin baking--money!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth breathed a sigh of relief. "I just -can't thank you enough, Roy," she -declared gratefully. "I'll bake day and -night if I can just pay Maudie Pratt for -that hateful ring!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner was rather bewildered when -her young folks--the Babe excepted, begged -earnestly for permission to make some -money by going into the bakery business.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We can't tell you just now what it's for, -mother," explained Ruth. "Only that it's -for something important. You'll know all -about it when the right time comes."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It seems to me that every one of you -does as much work as possible, now," -doubted Mrs. Spooner. "But as Ruth's -heart seems to be set upon this extra labor, -I promise not to interfere. And I won't -ask any questions about it until you see -fit to tell me of your own accord."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Babe, who had listened carefully to -this conversation, beamed hopefully upon -them, seeing in the plan certain possibilities.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"</span><em class="italics">I'll</em><span> help you, Ruth," she volunteered -magnanimously. "And maybe if you make -a whole heap of money, you </span><em class="italics">might</em><span> have -enough left over to buy a new Ivanhoe. -Mine's got seven leaves lost out, right at -the most exciting part."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Done!" agreed Roy heartily, "I promise -that you shall have a new Ivanhoe if you -help. The bargain's between you and me, -Baby. We'll leave the girls out of it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Except to see that you earn your book," -laughed Elizabeth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That night when they were all gathered -around the evening lamp, Roy painted the -sign on a smooth white board, with some -of the brown paint left over from the -phaeton. Bread, he declared, was Ruth's "long -suit," but as cowboys would scarcely like -dry bread, it was cut out of the list. Pies, -however, were always acceptable. Custard -being objected to as too "squshy," they -decided on mince and apple as being best for -cooks and customers. Doughnuts, of course, -because everybody liked the little fried -cakes, and they could be conveniently -handled. Completed, the sign read:</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>"HOME-MADE DOUGHNUTS. -<br />APPLE PIES. -<br />MINCE PIES. -<br />FOR SALE AT -<br />SILVER SPUR RANCH."</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>"Now," decided Roy, after all the family -had duly admired his handiwork, "I'm -going to Emerald early in the morning, and -I'll fetch back all your necessary supplies, -down to the paper bags to hold 'em, by -noon. The McGregor ranch is shipping -cattle--they'll pass here Thursday, one of -their punchers told me; that'll be day after -to-morrow. You can spend the afternoon -baking and be ready for them, for I'm -certain they'll buy you out. Their range-cook's -quit, and Chunky Bill's cooking for the -outfit, so they're about starved for something -good to eat."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll be obliged to have the first -groceries charged to you, mother," apologized -Ruth, "but we promise to pay for them -ourselves."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Very well--only don't buy too much at a -time," warned Mrs. Spooner, who was -doubtful of the success of the enterprise, -"until you are sure of making sales."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll succeed all right, never you fear, -mumsy," asserted Roy, with cheerful -confidence. "I'll drum up trade, and Ruth's -good cooking'll do the rest."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Fuel in that woodless country was quite -an item; Roy, realizing this, brought home -the next day a load of coke along with the -other supplies, all, it was agreed, to be paid -for out of the proceeds of the sales.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Also he brought good news from Emerald, -where he had met one of the cowboys from -the McGregor ranch, who not only confirmed -the report of the cattle passing next -day, but told him that the ranch cook had -quit out there, as well as the man hired to -go with the shipping outfit. He offered to -get Ruth the job of baking for the ranch -until a new cook could be procured.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Of course I said Ruth would take the -job, so he's to bring along the order in the -morning. How's that for a beginning for -The Silver Spur Bakery?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I see land ahead!" exulted Elizabeth, -joyfully waving her big cook-apron. -"Allow me to invest you with your uniform, -Mademoiselle Chef: You will now proceed -to mix the magic potions, while the Babe -kindles the fire on the Altar of Cookery -known to mere mortals as the kitchen range, -and I complete the rites by rolling out the -crust and filling the tins. Know all men -by these greetings, the Silver Spur Bakery -is ready for business, and Roy may go tack -up the sign."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Inspired by the hope of reward, they -made a frolic of the baking working with -such zeal and enthusiasm that when -evening came and the chief cook doffed her -floury apron with a sigh of weary content, -there were shelves full of pies and pans full -of doughnuts as a result of their labors. -Delicate pies, with crisply melting covers -and toothsome "inwards," and doughnuts -that were deliciously tender and flavory.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Just for this once we'll let everybody -have a treat," decided Ruth, generously. -"We'll just make a big pot of coffee and -have doughnuts and pie for supper. I want -Roy and Jonah to have a taste; they'll -relish sweets for a change."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And I think we'd better let them fix -the price, too," suggested Elizabeth. "Men -always know more about such things than -we do."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy and Jonah were most appreciative -judges, declaring that twenty-five cents -apiece was dirt-cheap for the apple, -and--mincemeat costing so much more than dried -apples--fifty cents for the mince pies. The -doughnuts, being superlatively excellent, -were valued at five cents apiece, or fifty -cents a dozen.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Babe could not be kept off the porch -next morning, hovering there to watch for -the McGregor outfit. Soon, like Bluebeard's -sister-in-law, she reported a cloud -of dust rising--the customers were coming!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Far ahead of the herd rode a single -horseman who turned in at the gate and came -galloping up to the house. The futile -chuck-wagon, with its incompetent cook, -slid past unnoticed while the message from -Mrs. McGregor was delivered. She had -sent a tin bread-box of ample size, and she -wanted it filled with so much bread, cake -and pie, that the Silver Spur Bakery was -rather startled. She thought the amount -she specified might last them for half the -week, the messenger said, and at the end -of that time she would return the empty tin -box to be refilled. And the Spooner girls -were to put their own prices on their wares.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While these things were being settled -two other riders from the shipping herd -came up for sample orders, and hurried into -the kitchen with the Babe and Mrs. Spooner, -eager to buy something to satisfy the pangs -of hunger to which Chunky Bill's cooking -had delivered them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The stocky little Englishman who had -brought Mrs. McGregor's note, and said he -would be back from Emerald on his return -trip next morning for the box, if they would -have it ready for him, paused at the edge -of the porch and negotiated a more personal -errand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And I've a little order of my own, Miss," -grinned he cowboy genially. "You see, -I'm from the old country, myself, and I'm -fairly longing for a taste of plum-pudding -once more. Think you're equal to making -one? I'm willing to pay your own price."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was a note of wistful eagerness in -his voice that touched Ruth's sympathies, -but a plum-pudding was, she feared, beyond -her powers. Elizabeth, seeing her -hesitation, spoke promptly. "Certainly, we'll -be pleased to fill your order," she said, with -business like briskness. "And if it isn't -as good as any you ever ate in England you -needn't pay for it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm sure it'll be rippin' good pudding, -if you make it, miss," politely assured the -cowboy, and, with a sweeping bow, he -mounted his pony and galloped away to -join the approaching herd.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As the hundreds of cattle tramped slowly -by, one after another of the attending -punchers turned in at the Spooner's gate, a -purchaser to the full extent of his pocketbook.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Doughnuts and pies fairly melted away; -Mrs. Spooner and the Babe filling the bags -in the kitchen while Ruth and Elizabeth -delivered the goods and received the money.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And, when they counted up the receipts -that night, they found that, deducting all -expenses, there would be five dollars profit!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"</span><em class="italics">And</em><span> the McGregor ranch to bake for!" -crowed Elizabeth, joyously. "Ruth, I -plainly see land ahead!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm so relieved!" sighed Ruth, "But -Elizabeth, are you sure you can manage -the pudding?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'In the bright lexicon of youth there's -no such word as fail', little sister," laughed -Elizabeth. "</span><em class="italics">Of course</em><span> I can bake--or boil--or -steam a pudding as well as a born -Britisher! In fact, being an American -citizen, I don't see why I can't make even a -better one. Let me take a look at that old -cook-book of mother's."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>All the next day they baked for the -McGregor ranch, besides boiling the pudding -for the Englishman. Elizabeth declared -she wanted him to try it before he paid for -it, but after one glance and a hearty sniff, -he decided to pay in advance the two dollars -and fifty cents which Elizabeth had figured -out as a fair price.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That it was satisfactory was fully proven -when he returned for the next baking, with -orders for half-dozen more.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I poured brandy over it and set it afire, -like they do in England," he said. "And -every bloomin' puncher that tasted it is -wild for more! They call it 'The Perishin' -Martyr Pie.' O, it's made a hit, all right."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>After that there was quite a run on -puddings, and hardly a day passed that the -girls did not make a "Perishin' Martyr Pie"--a -name that tickled them immensely. -Even the Babe learned to mix the batter, -and Roy declared he was quite an expert at -boiling martyrs.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Money flowed into the little green -pasteboard box, so that now there was plenty of -company for the lonely thirty-five cents -it had originally contained, when Ruth -rashly decided she would pay Maudie Pratt -for the lost diamond ring. It must be -admitted that as the money tide rose Ruth's -spirits fell.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, it would be so lovely if we were earning -it for ourselves," she lamented. "Think -of the things we could buy: If we could -only give it to mother to help with the -living I should be perfectly satisfied--but to -go and hand it over to Maudie Pratt for a -ring she just made me put on--"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now, Ruth," Elizabeth interrupted, laying -a loving arm across her junior's shoulder, -"we're all getting lots of fun out of the -work. I think the whole family is finding -that it is really play to earn money. Maybe -we'll get into the habit and keep it up after -Maudie's ring's paid for. Don't you worry. -If we do the best we can, and do it every -day, we are going to arrive at delectable -places."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth looked at her sister fondly. What -would they do without Elizabeth's strong -heart and capable head for planning? It was -Elizabeth who hunted up a Mexican boy -sufficiently reliable to be trusted with a -lard-can full of the 'pies 'n things' which -found a good market at the round-ups. -This was not the season for them, but there -is always something of the sort taking place -in the cattle country, and Juan was willing -to drive an absurd number of miles for a -modest share in their profits. Never a -cowboy passed the Spooners' attractive sign -without galloping up for a purchase, and the -early receipts from the bakery were -astonishingly good.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But after awhile the McGregors secured -a cook, and there were no more round-ups -in reach; the cowboys had all become -surfeited with a rich excess of "Perishin' -Martyrs," so that orders declined and -finally fell off altogether on that commodity. -The grocer was paid, there was nearly a -barrel of flour on hand, and part of a large -tin of lard, but there was only seventy-nine -dollars earned. Thanksgiving was approaching, -and the hearts of the girls began to -sink, thinking of its nearness and of the -insufficient money in the green box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And then, the very day before -Thanksgiving, the unexpected happened, when -Mrs. McGregor rode over, bright and early, -from her ranch with a most unusual and -imperative order for pumpkin-pies!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It seemed that a lot of unexpected guests -had arrived from the east to spend Thanksgiving -at the ranch, and, to celebrate the -occasion properly, the McGregors had -decided to join forces with a neighboring ranch -and have a big barbecue and picnic-dinner -in the open, to which all the neighbors were -invited. The other ranch was to furnish -all the meat for the feast--fat mutton and -beef and shotes, to be barbecued deliciously -over pits of glowing coals, while Mrs. McGregor -was to provide the bread, pies and -vegetables.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Of course you should have been notified -days ago," said the pleasant little lady, with -deprecating hands outspread, "only I didn't -know myself 'till last night! Now my cook -can manage the bread and vegetables, and -you, my dears, must furnish the pumpkin-pies -or I'm a forsworn woman: I've -calculated and re-calculated, and I find that, -allowing five pieces to a pie, it will take a -hundred and six pies to give everybody -plenty--you know how men eat! Now -dears--" she put a persuasive arm around -each girl--"</span><em class="italics">can</em><span> you bake them?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth gasped. "How in the world can -we--in one day? Of course we have plenty -of pumpkins--Jonah raised a big patch of -them for cow-feed, and there's a barrel of -flour and plenty of lard and sugar and -things. But in </span><em class="italics">one</em><span> day--"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll do it, Mrs. McGregor," interrupted -Elizabeth, smilingly. "We'll fill -your order, and thank you very much. -Jonah Bean shall deliver them early in the -morning."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My dear girl, you've simply saved my -life--I can never thank you enough!" Mrs. McGregor -rose, fumbling in her pretty silver -wrist-bag. "Twenty-six dollars and fifty -cents, I believe. Here's your money--and -thank you very, very much: And don't -you forget that every single member of -your family is expected at our Thanksgiving -dinner."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why did you take her order, Elizabeth?" -wondered Ruth, when their guest was gone, -"it will work us to death!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Not a bit of it, dear child. Listen, Ruth -Spooner, there's just seventy-nine dollars -in your green box. Twenty-six added makes -a hundred and five. Five dollars is a great -plenty for expenses, seeing that we have the -pumpkins already. The odd fifty cents -will buy a little present for the Babe, and -leave you your full hundred to pay Maudie -Pratt for her ring. 'Rah, 'rah, 'rah for the -girls of the Silver Spur! Our debt's paid!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Glory!" Ruth's shouts suddenly wavered, -the apron she waved aloft was thrown over -her face as she burst into tears.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Elizabeth--shut the door--I don't -want anybody else to see me cry. I'm a -wretch--and you're a genius--but--but--I -can't help thinking about us all working -so hard and Maudie Pratt getting all our money!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I know, honey," said Elizabeth, -understandingly, "if I stop to think I feel that -way myself. Let's not stop to think."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth choked down her tears, bathed her -eyes and turned a resolute face from the -washstand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm all right," she said in a determinedly -cheerful voice.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth threw open the bedroom door -and ran out among their helpers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Kindle a fire, Babe, while we get the -pumpkins. Isn't it a mercy that Roy and -Jonah are off the range to-day and can stay. -Everybody'll have to get to work cutting -up pumpkins--even mother."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>All day they baked. The stove in the -house, the brick oven in the yard which had -scarcely been allowed to get cold since Ruth -began her enterprise, were both kept filled. -The baked pies were lifted out of their tins -as soon as cool enough and dropped into -paper plates. But even so they could not -get enough tins to keep the baking up to -the volume required for getting out the -hundred pies in that length of time. At last -Ruth announced in tones of dismay:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There isn't a single tin left. What shall we do?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"H'm, let me work my giant brain a -moment," pondered Elizabeth. "How about -tin shingles? There're a lot of new ones, -you know, nice and clean. And plenty of -lard-cans. Roy can cut rings from the cans, -and lay them on the shingles. They'll be -extra large pies, but they'll hold the dough -all right."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a good idea, and it worked out very -well, with a little care in handling the bulky -"tins," so that there was no more time lost -in waiting for cooling pies.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Jonah, who kept the fires going, became -cheerfully loquacious under the influence -of the strong coffee Mrs. Spooner insisted -on making, to keep the workers awake at -their tasks. He regaled them with -thrilling stories of the war, and Munchausen -deeds of bravery performed by himself -while in service. Tales which served the -twofold purpose of inspiring Jonah and -amusing his hearers.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The girls insisted upon their mother and -the Babe going to bed, so as to be rested for -the barbecue, which they determined to -attend, as the ranch lay only a little way -beyond Emerald. But they, with Roy and -Jonah as able assistants, kept on baking till -the last pie of the hundred and six was -cooling on the shelf, and the voice of the oldest -and most experienced rooster warned them -of the coming dawn.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>However, every Spooner was up and -dressed in time next morning, with the pies -safely packed in the wagon, which Jonah -was to drive, Roy and the girls acting as -Mrs. Spooner's escort.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When they started Ruth rode ahead. -Nobody but Elizabeth knew what was behind -her resolutely smiling face. Pinned in -the pocket of her jacket there was a roll of -bills--a hundred dollars. The thought of -Maudie's exultation over its receipt pinched -Elizabeth almost as much as giving up the -money. She lagged behind a little and -talked of it with Roy. They agreed that -the money-earning fever had got into their -blood, and that nothing less than a new -enterprise to companion this old one, which -they agreed must be carried forward, would -satisfy either of them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They had reached Emerald when Ruth, -trotting briskly along its one street, -suddenly felt her pony go lame, and quickly -dismounted to examine its hoof for a -possible pebble or ball of clay.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Suddenly, with a curious little choking -cry, she sprang into the saddle and raced -ahead, the pony now going quite easily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy and Elizabeth exchanged indignant -glances. Evidently Ruth was overcome -because she had to give up her precious money -so soon.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I guess it's got on her nerves," whispered -Elizabeth. "I feel pretty much like crying, -myself."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ruth must be going ahead to let Cousin -Hannah know we are coming," remarked -her mother, placidly. "I hope it'll be so -that they can all go. I haven't seen any of -them since the Harvest Home festival."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But Ruth had stopped a little way ahead, -waving impatiently for her family to catch -up, and hastening on they all arrived at the -Pratt home together.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Pratt and his wife came out, Maudie, -very much dressed up, followed languidly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Have you got my money, Ruth?" she -called in her high, shrill voice. "I bet -anything you haven't--and I was depending -on it to go to Chicago and study music."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," answered Ruth, with emphatic -clearness, "I'm never going to pay you for -that ring. I want to keep the money for -myself, and mother and Elizabeth, and the -Babe. O, what </span><em class="italics">lovely</em><span> things we'll have out -of a whole--hundred--dollars!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Pratts stared, mystified by this mad -speech. Elizabeth gasped--it did sound -shocking. Mrs. Spooner was so little -informed that she supposed there was a joke -on hand, and laughed with motherly -complaisance. Only Roy, pulling back close -to Elizabeth's shoulder, muttered in an -undertone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ruth's got something up her sleeve. -Hold on, don't make up your mind too -quick about it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What in time was Ruthie goin' to pay -you a hundred dollars for?" Cousin Hannah -demanded, at last.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"For my diamond ring," cried Maudie, -"my lovely diamond ring that Grandma -gave me, and that I wouldn't have lost for a -thousand dollars."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It never cost to exceed twenty-five," -snorted Mr. Pratt. "Ruthie's just right -not to pay you more'n that--or half as -much. It was partly your fault for lending -the ring."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm not going to pay her a cent," -repeated Ruth, with dancing eyes. "I've -got the money--a hundred dollars--see -here," and she flourished a sheaf of bills -that made them gasp again.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I guess I can </span><em class="italics">make</em><span> you pay," stormed -Maudie, "you </span><em class="italics">promised</em><span>, and you've got to -keep your word."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, you </span><em class="italics">did</em><span> lose Maudie's diamond, -you know. Ain't you goin' to replace it, -Ruth?" asked Cousin Hannah, a little wistfully.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You must do the right thing, daughter," -cautioned Mrs. Spooner, taking a part in -the conversation for the first time.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I will, mother," said Ruth, suddenly -sobered; and she went toward Maudie Pratt -with the sheaf of greenbacks in one hand, and -something which nobody could see clasped -tightly in the other.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="a-shiny-black-box"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VI</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">The Shiny Black Box</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The thing was like a scene in a play, -almost. Maudie stood, half abashed, half -eager, and wholly frightened. Ruth came -forward with a confident, buoyant step -that reassured her mother. A girl who was -going to do something impudently wrong -would never act that way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"There," said the plump, smiling Spooner -girl, dropping into Maudie's outstretched -palm a little lump of adobe clay that looked -considerably like a rough pebble. "I picked -that out of my pony's hoof, right in the path -where I'd lost your ring."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wha--what is it?" faltered Maudie, -afraid to look.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Turn it over," prompted Elizabeth -impatiently.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Maudie's almost a paynim, or a -caitiff," breathed the Babe, hiding a too -sympathetic countenance against her -mother's knee.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Pratt girl turned the little lump of -clay in trembling fingers. Something -glittered on one side of it; the clay parted and -a circlet with a wee, shining setting lay in -her palm.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My diamond ring!" she gasped.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then before them all she flung it from -her, so that it tinkled and skipped on the -porch floor. This done she sat down on the -step and burst into a tempest of wrathful tears.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I always hated it," she sobbed. "It's -such a miserable little diamond. I wanted -that hundred dollars to go to Chicago and -study music. How in the world am I -going to go if you don't--"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hush, Maudie," Mrs. Pratt cautioned, -and her father seconded the admonition -rather more sternly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Spooner young folks had closed in -around Mrs. Spooner's vehicle and were -helping her out and explaining all about the -earning of that hundred dollars. While -they did so the Pratts managed to get -Maudie straightened up with the assurance -that she should be permitted somehow to go -to Chicago; and by the time the two groups -came together they were ready to drop the -subject, Maudie looking self-conscious if not -hang-dog, whenever anything remotely -concerning a ring was mentioned.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They went on harmoniously enough to -the Thanksgiving dinner at the McGregor -ranch. Coming home after they had passed -Emerald and the Pratt house, the matter -was again brought up by the Spooners. -The sky was all a delightful lavender, with -the big, white stars of the plains country -beginning to blossom in it, and there was -still light enough to travel very comfortably -over the winding, level road.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm proud of the enterprise and persistance -you all showed in earning that hundred -dollars," said Mrs. Spooner fondly. "But -it hurts me to think you could keep a secret -from mother as long as that; and such a -hard secret, too. I'd have been so glad to -help you, dears."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was my fault," Elizabeth said, "that -part of it. I wouldn't let Ruth bother you -because I felt that you had worries enough. -Of course if I'd dreamed for a minute that -Maudie Pratt would tell a story about the -value of her ring, and that twenty-five -dollars was the real price of it, I should have -let Ruth tell you; but a hundred dollars--why, -Mother, until we tried, I wouldn't -have believed it was possible for us to come -anywhere near earning a hundred dollars. -Would you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," said Mrs. Spooner. "That's why -I say I'm proud of you. It's an -achievement any three young persons of your age -may well be proud of--and none of you -neglected your other duties for it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It was </span><em class="italics">lovely</em><span>," sighed Elizabeth, -reminiscently. "I think making money is almost -more fun than spending it. Ruth can -always earn with her cooking. I wish I had -a special gift. What do you think I can -do best, mother?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You do almost anything you do a little -better than other people," declared -Mrs. Spooner. "But there's one thing you can -excel at, and that nobody else around here -attempts, and that's photography. Why -not try to make a profession of it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth thought it over.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I suppose I'd have to go to some big -town and study," she ruminated.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ruth didn't go to a big town to take -cooking lessons," prompted Mrs. Spooner, -smilingly. "And you were just admiring -the fact that it was her good cooking that -made the earning of the hundred dollars possible."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wise little mother," said Elizabeth, -touching her heel to her pony and riding -ahead, blowing back a kiss as she passed, -and cantering on for some distance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think that's a splendid idea," said -Roy eagerly. "I knew a boy who worked -his way through college almost entirely by -camera work. And he was just an amateur -photographer, too."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'd help her all I could," put in Ruth, -loyally. "She helped me--you all did. I -didn't near earn that hundred dollars alone."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Here Elizabeth came dashing back to -announce to the family that there was an -insuperable obstacle. If she went into the -simplest kind of photography she would -have a new camera--and oh, quite a lot of -things.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A camera is easy," said Mrs. Spooner, -"since you've all agreed to give me the -keeping of the hundred dollars, I intend -to put it in the bank as a reserve fund to -draw on in case of an emergency. I'll -consider this case of yours as one, and buy you -a camera with some of it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And I'll fix up a dark-room all right, -Elizabeth," promised Roy, who was always -intensely interested in all the Spooners' -affairs. "I can do it easily; just board up -an end of the back porch, fix a red lantern -in it for a light, with some shelves and a -sink, same as the kitchen. I can make it. -It won't cost much, and you can do your -own developing. Say, Elizabeth, that's easy!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So it came about that, after some -persuasion, Elizabeth finally accepted the -camera--a small one, with chemicals, films -and everything necessary for a start, all of -them to be paid for out of the hundred -dollars in the bank. Roy fixed up the -darkroom with all the needed apparatus, and, -thus equipped, Elizabeth declared herself -ready for business, and let the public know -it by adding to the sign down at the road -gate another line, in smaller letters, which read:</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>"Photographs made to order. -<br />Horseback pictures and views of places a -<br />specialty."</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>Ruth still kept up her baking in a small -way. She no longer undertook such strenuous -jobs as baking for ranches or festivals, -but people passing by usually dropped in -for a bag of doughnuts or a pie, knowing -that they were always kept on hand. Some -of these customers patronized Elizabeth's -"studio," as she named the little -boarded-up corner of the porch, and had their -pictures taken. More often she was asked -to go and make a card-picture of somebody's -home, or she tried snap-shots of cattle -handling which sold well to the boys who -could identify themselves or their friends in -a chance group.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth made her charges in accordance -with her work, which, being an amateur, -could not command professional rates. She -studied hard her manual of photography, -and finally after considerable debate, took a -correspondence course in the art. Still, -living on a ranch, she could barely make -enough to pay for her materials, and indeed -was doing well to accomplish this much.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"When I get so I can earn, and have -enough money to buy a bigger camera, I -might try a place in town, or maybe I'll -put up my prices," she said. But she -resisted all suggestions that a finer camera be -purchased from the reserve fund. "If -anything happens we'll need that to live on," -was her wise conclusion.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Let nobody think that there were not -days of discouragement, when Elizabeth -spoiled her films or the simple drudgery of -the work weighed on her. Nothing worth -having is got without effort. Whatever -this girl's ancestry, she had inherited pluck -and persistance, and after a failure she -always went back to work with renewed energy.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I </span><em class="italics">will</em><span> do it!" she would say to Ruth and -Roy. "I am going to try to make myself -the very best photographer I can,--and -then maybe the next higher profession will -come along and invite me in."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Babe, being the only idle inmate of -the Silver Spur, continued to devour -unchecked her books of romance, until an -incident occurred that made Mrs. Spooner -decide that the time had come for her -reading to be a little more varied. It -happened one day in the following summer, -when old Jonah, with a worried look on his -face, sought her for a little private conversation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It's about the Babe, ma'am. Have you -noticed anything pertickler wrong with her -lately?" he asked anxiously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why no, Jonah; what makes you think -there's anything wrong? What has she -been doing?" asked Mrs. Spooner in alarm. -She arose from her seat hastily. "I must -go and find her--where is she?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Jest down at the corral, unsaddlin' of -her pony," soothed Jonah. "No need to be -skeered--at the present. You set down, -Mis' Spooner, and I'll tell ye. A while ago -I come acrost her out on the range, a-gallopin' -along on that little rat-tailed cayuse -o' her'n, and I'm blest if she didn't have a -broom-handle over her shoulder, and a old -fire-shovel helt out right straight in front! -She looked out'n her eyes like--well, like -she was </span><em class="italics">seein'</em><span> things. I calls to her: 'Babe, -whar ye gwine?' But law, she looks at -me pine-black like I was a stranger, hits -Queen Beren-jerry, as she calls that reedic'lous -cayuse, and hollers back over her -shoulder: 'Avaunt thee, villain!' and a heap -o' other lingo I couldn't make sense outer."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner's face relaxed, she dropped -back in her rocking-chair and began to -laugh. The old man seemed to resent her mirth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now Mis' Spooner, you may take it -that-a-way, but 'tain't like the Babe to be -miscallin' nobody, let alone me what's -raised her. My opinion is the child's -comin' down with fever, or got a tetch o' -the sun, and you better go to dosin' her -mighty quick!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, Jonah," laughed Mrs. Spooner, -much relieved, "it's just Ivanhoe gone to -her head--not the sun. She reads too -much, and is too much alone, I'm afraid. -She was only playing she was a knight--a -person out of that book she's always reading. -But thank you for telling me, all the same."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'd be glad to think it was no wuss; -but--" Jonah shook his head doubtfully, -"a-misscallin' me a villian don't seem -natchul. I'll go send her in to you, so's -you can look at her tongue. My notion is -she needs doctor's truck."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>As he hobbled out in quest of the Babe, -Mrs. Spooner sighed a little, feeling that -she had a problem to cope with. The -lonely child was living too much in a world -of dreams. "I'll speak to Elizabeth," the -mother mused, thankful that she had -Elizabeth's wise young head and Ruth's willing -hands to rely upon. The older pair must -take little Harvie more into their hearts. -"What on earth would I do without my -girls to help me!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Both girls were spending the day in -Emerald, with Cousin Hannah Pratt, -who--now that Maudie was away in Chicago, -studying music, and Mr. Pratt up in -Wyoming with a herd of fattening cattle--was -very lonely, and begged earnestly for some -of the Spooners to come in whenever it was -possible, and keep her company.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When the affair of the ring occurred, -Mrs. Pratt for once found it in her heart to give -her adored daughter some much needed -plain speech, declaring that she was -thoroughly ashamed of the way Maudie had -treated her cousin, and insisting upon -taking the girl out to the Silver Spur, to -apologize to Ruth--a deed that was very -ungraciously done.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Pratt went even farther, for he took -the ring into his own keeping, depositing it -in the bank with his papers, and declaring -that it should stay there until Maudie -learned to value the truth more than diamonds.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Still, from that very day Cousin Hannah -began to put by a little money every week, -with the view in end of gratifying Maudie's -wish to study music. Grandma Pratt added -to this fund till at last there was enough, -and with high hopes Maudie had gone to -Chicago, quite sure of becoming a -world-famous musician.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth and Ruth returned rather late, -as they had waited for the last mail, which -came in the afternoon. Mrs. Spooner heard -their merry young voices down at the corral -as she moved about the kitchen, getting -the early supper ready. Soon they came -hurrying in at the back door, their arms -laden with bundles, followed by the Babe, -now wide-eyed and alert; knights and -paynims had faded away before the present-day -delights of a box of candy the girls had -brought her--an extravagance for which -their mother could not find it in her heart -to scold them, knowing that, next to her -books, the Babe loved sweets.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I declare you've gone and got supper -ready--you bad mammy!" scolded Ruth, -"didn't you know your big daughters would -be back in time to save you from such extra -work?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, and you must stop right now and -go out on the porch, where there's still -light from the afterglow, and read your -letters--two of 'em, and from the folks you -love best--father and Mary." Elizabeth -fished the letters from the mail-pouch at her -side. "And we've got a heap of mail-magazines, -and a letter from home for Roy, -that pamphlet on photography that I sent -for, and the new films and developer. Ruth -had a letter from father, too. He's all -right, but make haste and let us hear from -Mary."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And here's a candied fig for you to eat -while you're readin' your letters, mother," -added the Babe, generously, as she held out -the particular dainty her heart loved best. -"Now I'll go find Jonah and Roy--I want -to give them some of my candy, too."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner looked rather grave when -she returned from reading her letters in the -afterglow of the summer twilight. "Father's -well, and sends love, and wants letters more -than anything in the world, he says he hopes -we'll all remember. But Mary--the letter's -from John--is not so well--." Mrs. Spooner's -voice trembled a little--"he sends -me a check, and begs that I'll go out and -spend a few weeks with her. But how in -the world can I leave you all?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mary not well?" Elizabeth's tones were -filled with anxiety--"O, Mother, you must -go; we'll get on somehow. If Mr. Bellamy -sent a check for you to pay your way, -there's nothing at all to prevent."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We can go in and stay with Cousin -Hannah," put in Ruth, "she needs us, -really--she hasn't got a cook, and there -are so many boarders that we'd be a great -help, I know.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, you would--and I think it would -do you both good, being in the village a -little while. But what about the Babe?" -asked Mrs. Spooner. "You and Elizabeth -could help, but she would only be in the -way. Jonah was just telling me about -seeing her out on the range, galloping along -pretending she was Ivanhoe, or somebody -else out of her books. I'm afraid the poor -little thing needs company."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Take her with you," suggested Elizabeth -promptly. "A change would do you both -a lot of good. Just take enough money -from that reserve fund in the bank to pay -her fare, and both of you hustle off just as -quick as possible. We can get you ready -by day after to-morrow, easily."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This plan, after a little consultation with -Roy and Jonah, was adopted, and -Mrs. Spooner and the delighted Babe set off for -Oklahoma, while Elizabeth and Ruth, much -to Cousin Hannah's delight, went in to -stay with her. Jonah and Roy--who -declared that he was just pining to get a taste -of Jonah's boasted cookery, were left alone -on the ranch.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Cousin Hannah, who was naturally a -very loquacious person, had become -decidedly reticent on the subject of Maudie -and her musical studies, though in the -beginning the boarders had found the repeated -and detailed information about the matter -rather wearisome. Even to Elizabeth and -Ruth she said little, though more than -once, they surprised her wiping away tears -as she went about her work.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't believe that ungrateful Maudie -Pratt writes to her mother!" said Ruth, -indignantly. "I found Cousin Hannah crying -in the parlor just now; she said it was -</span><em class="italics">toothache</em><span>--when I know she has a full set -of 'uppers and unders,' as she calls them. -You see, she'd forgotten. I believe she was -crying about Maudie."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Ruth," said Elizabeth in reply--they -had been at the Pratts three days, "do you -remember that a week from to-morrow is -Cousin Hannah's birthday?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, so it is," said Ruth, "and she -hasn't said a word about it. She always -used to have a big dinner, didn't she? I -know what the trouble is--it's Maudie. -She can't bear to have a big birthday dinner -because Maudie won't be here. Maybe -that's what made her cry."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, because Maudie isn't here, and -because she hasn't heard from her in two -weeks and is frightened to death about -her--I just chanced to find that out. Let's -make Cousin Hannah get up a big dinner, -and telegraph an invitation to Maudie. -The telegraph operator'll send it for nothing. -He always gives as much as ten dollars for -a birthday present for Cousin Hannah."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"A birthday present," repeated Ruth. "I -know what she'd like--she told me -yesterday. Say, Elizabeth, I believe we could -get one for her, too. The Revingtons are -going away, and they'd sell theirs cheap, -rather than ship it east."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What on earth are you talking about?" -demanded Elizabeth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Big secrets!" exclaimed the younger sister -exultantly. "Come on and let's run down -town to Meeker's store and see if Roy's in -from the ranch, I want to talk to him about -it. Pretty nearly everybody in town'll join -us. Hurry up!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The two girls ran down the street, stopping -in at the insurance office to speak to -little Miss Thorpe, a new boarder of Cousin -Hannah's, a stenographer who had recently -come to Emerald. They went on, cheered -by this interview, and consulted the station -agent, who agreed that Mrs. Pratt, who had -made him comfortable for many years, must -be given a birthday which would raise her -drooping spirits.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'd sure do anything that would bring -Maudie home, and </span><em class="italics">keep</em><span> her home," he said, -rather grimly, "because I know that's what -her ma wants--though I'm not so certain -that it'll make her or any of the rest of us -any happier. If we're all to throw in -together, for one present you can count on -me to double the ten dollars if it has to come."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy had joined them by this time, and -was taking down what he called -"subscriptions" with pencil and paper. As the -three young folks went out the door -Mr. Rouse called after them:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But you must give us a mighty good -dinner, Miss Elizabeth. A good dinner -always goes with a celebration of any kind, -and to my notion it's the best part of one. -So you and Ruth put on your studyin' caps, -and get out your cook-books."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll promise to give you a good dinner, -Mr. Rouse," agreed Ruth, heartily, and -Elizabeth added: "If you'll all tell us what -particular dishes you like best, we'll try -to have them, just as a little token of our -appreciation."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This was a happy thought, and it pleased -the boarders immensely to have such -consideration shown them. Ruth got her own -pencil and note-book, and gravely made -entries of each boarder's favorite dish. It -was a funny bill-of-fare that she made out: -Chicken-pie and turnip-greens, potato-pone -and apple-dumplings, cold-slaw and Waldorf -salad, and other equally incongruous dishes, -all of which were faithfully and painstakingly -prepared by the conscientious little -cooks, with certain additions of their own, -making a very palatable "company dinner."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth sent word to Jonah by Roy; he -was to come over bright and early on the -morning of the birthday, bringing along the -wagon to fetch home the gift for Cousin -Hannah.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Many hands, we know, make work easy. -The week went by swift-footed. If Cousin -Hannah had heard from Maudie she did not -mention it, and if the girls had any reply to -their telegram they were equally reticent. -The difference was that Mrs. Pratt, in spite -of the birthday preparations became more -and more doleful, while the girls went out -on errands that involved that subscription -paper of Roy's, and beamed with joyous -anticipation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The great day came. Ruth and Elizabeth -helped till the dinner was all on and -cooking beautifully, the table set, ready to -dish up the dinner when the time came, -then they both disappeared in a very -mysterious manner, leaving Cousin Hannah -bustling about her kitchen all alone.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Everything went smoothly till the kettle -became dry, and she found there was no -water in the pipes. Calling Elizabeth and -Ruth repeatedly and finding that they were -both out, Cousin Hannah decided that she -would go herself and see what was the -matter with the wind-mill, as there was -nobody else at hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I know in my mind it's caught," she -muttered, "and only needs a tap with a -hammer to start it a-goin' again. Well, I -just </span><em class="italics">got</em><span> to have water, so I reckon I might's -well go try to skin up that ladder."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Taking a hammer to loosen the refractory -sails, she climbed slowly and cautiously up -the creaking ladder, and soon had the water -flowing again, as the sails began to work; -they had needed only a slight jar to loosen -them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>On top of the ladder she paused, and -looked wonderingly over the vast plains that -surrounded Emerald.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"My me! I ain't had such a good look at -the country since I used to live in the -foothills," she exclaimed. "I feel like I was -standin' on top of one of 'em now, viewin' -the scenery. O, pity on me--</span><em class="italics">what</em><span> is that!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With a gasp of horror she clung to the -ladder, her eyes fixed on the object that had -attracted her startled attention. It was a -wagon driven by a man whom she recognized -as Jonah Bean, and containing something -long, and black and shiny--a box-like object -that made her heart grow cold to look upon. -She got a mere glimpse since a horse-blanket -had been thrown over it, evidently for the -purpose of concealment--as if </span><em class="italics">anything</em><span> -could hide that awful shiny black box:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The wagon was coming slowly--very -slowly, up the road toward her house, and -walking beside and around it was a group -of young people whom she knew for her own -household--Elizabeth and Ruth, and some -of the younger of her boarders, with Roy -and one or two other boys from the -neighborhood. They seemed excited, and had -apparently one stranger with them, since -she could see an unfamiliar dress of vivid -plaid on the other side of the wagon.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O me! O my!" moaned the poor woman, -as she started hurriedly to descend from her -high perch. "I ain't heard one blessed word -from her in a month! And I thought she -was just too careless to write to me: My -poor, poor girl!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Near the bottom, one of the rungs broke -under the weight of her foot, and she barely -saved herself from a dangerous fall by -clinging with both hands and drawing up her -foot to the rung above.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Sitting thus she waited for them to come; -her eyes shut because she did not want to -see, drawing her breath in heavy, muffled -sobs, praying for strength to bear the blow -that was coming, trying to find courage to -look upon that grewsome, shiny black box -when the time arrived.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The wagon drew up in front of the house, -but Roy and Elizabeth came creeping softly -round to the kitchen. Cousin Hannah could -hear them whispering:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let's find out exactly where she is, so's -we can get it in without her knowing--it -might frighten her." How heartless the -best of young people were!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Children," quavered poor Cousin -Hannah from the ladder, "come and help me -down--I know what you're bringing--I saw -it away off--and I knew right away--how -could I help knowing!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, </span><em class="italics">did</em><span> you!" exclaimed Roy and Elizabeth, -dejectedly. They stopped below and -stared up. "That's too bad. We're </span><em class="italics">so</em><span> -sorry, Cousin Hannah. We tried our best -to get it in before you saw what it was."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What difference does that make?" -moaned Cousin Hannah--Roy and Elizabeth -thought she must have sprained her -foot, and the pain made her groan--"take -me to her--my poor, poor child! You -shan't call her </span><em class="italics">it</em><span>!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy and Elizabeth laughed rather sheepishly, -and Mrs. Pratt glared at them. Had -they no feelings!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How on earth did you find out?" asked -the mystified young people, as they helped -her down and supported her between them -into the house.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They steered her straight for the parlor, -where a crowd stood around the black box.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Am I to break the news?" asked Mr. Rouse. -But instead of the serious mien -proper to such an occasion he was smiling -broadly.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="the-wire-cutter"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VII</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">The Wire Clipper</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The conclusion of that matter at Cousin -Hannah Pratt's, left a very warm feeling -between the two families, for when Mr. Rouse -moved aside from the black box it was -discovered to be an old-fashioned square piano, -now set proudly on its legs, and seated at -the stool in front of it, her lips parted ready -to burst into song--was Maudie Pratt.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Her mother's astonishment and rapture -pretty nearly scared the donors of the piano -to death, for they had cherished no -intentions of giving Cousin Hannah a fright with -their mysterious preparations. Maudie had -simply been ill, homesick, and afraid to come -back until she got the telegram the girls -sent. Putting her at the piano was an -afterthought, and one which some of them -regretted, since she sang all afternoon, and -had to be dragged away for the birthday -dinner. However, that being an example -of Ruth's very best skill, helped out by -Elizabeth, they had an extremely jolly -time, and went home with promises of -friendship that were astonishing.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"If you ever need anything from me, -remember my heart and my home are open -to you," Cousin Hannah kept repeating as -she waved to them from the steps.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They had little idea how soon they should -be in bitter trouble when they needed -assistance from anybody that would offer it. -Of course it was a dry year--Jonah Bean -declared that it was, taking it by and large, -the worst all-round year he had ever -witnessed in the state of Texas--and he had -seen a main of 'em!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner and the Babe after spending -a month in Oklahoma were back again, and -all that was left of the Spooner family at -home once more. The Babe had greatly -enjoyed this, her first railroad trip, and she -was kept busy for weeks relating her -experiences. Mary was well again, and had -promised to come in the winter and make -a long visit when, they all hoped and -prayed, their father would be at home with them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a thing they hardly dared own, -even to themselves, but everybody was -beginning to feel worried about Mr. Spooner's -safety, for there had come news of a battle -fought in Cuba, and though all the papers -were filled with the details, no letter had -been received from him. Day after day -some one rode to the village to bring back -the mail, and day after day the poor little -mother, watching and waiting at home, was -doomed to be disappointed when no letter came.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For the children's sakes she bore up -bravely, always saying with forced -cheerfulness that probably Father had been sent -into the interior, where there was no means -of mailing a letter--it would be sure to -come after awhile. But in her own heart -she entertained a great fear which she never -breathed to the others--a fear that he might -be among the "missing" after the battle! -The nameless missing.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then there came the day when Harvey -Grannis, riding over from his distant ranch, -let his sister know pretty plainly that the -public shared her fear.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No use mincing matters, Jennie," he -said, speaking kindly--though he could not -keep an eager note out of his voice. "We're -mighty afraid that poor John won't come -back! He never would take my advice, or -he'd not have been crazy enough to volunteer."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner sank down on the lounge -and covered her face, moaning softly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now don't take on, Jennie," her brother -said, patting her awkwardly on the shoulder. -"Just you listen to this proposition I've -come to make to you: I've got a big ranch, -and a big house, and you are all welcome to -come and live with me. Your girls are -growing up wild, anyway, without a man -to overlook 'em. Of course you know, good -and well, that I hold a mortgage on this -ranch of yours, and the interest money ain't -been paid for some time, either. But that's -neither here nor there. The question is, -now that John's gone, will you all come over -and let me take care of you?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A shiver went over the little woman on -the lounge, but she dropped her hands from -before her eyes, and faced the situation -bravely.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You're good to offer us a home, -Harvey," she said, when she could command -her voice; "but I can't bear to think of -moving till--till I feel sure John's not -coming back! I'm hoping every day to have -news from him; I'm certain that the -children wouldn't want to leave the home. -Thank you, Harvey, but we'll stay right -where we are, for the present, anyhow."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then the storm burst--so angrily loud -that Elizabeth and Ruth sitting in the back -room heard every word.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't you think for one minute," -blustered Harvey, "that you can depend -on me to support you on this ranch: You -needn't keep an old fool like Jonah Bean -and a young horse-thief like Roy Lambert -hanging round, and expect a man who -knows his business to spend one cent for -you. Such fellows as that are good for -nothing but to run you and your ranch to -rack and ruin. No, ma'am! You've got -to come to my house, or you needn't expect -me to take care of you."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I never asked you to take care of us, -Harvey," returned Mrs. Spooner with spirit, -"I never thought of such a thing!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth, in the back room, looked at -Ruth. "I just can't stand it any longer!" -she whispered indignantly, "let's go to -mother." And they marched into the -room, hand in hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I hope you've come to persuade -your mother to listen to reason," grunted -their uncle, as the two girls entered the little -parlor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We've come to tell her that we'll take -care of her, Uncle Harvey. And you've no -right to suppose that father won't come -back!" burst out Ruth impetuously.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth added in a milder tone: "We -don't need any help, really, Uncle -Harvey--we're quite able to take care of mother. -We thank you for offering us a home, but -we don't need it. We've got one--and we -mean to keep it, and support ourselves."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Harvey Grannis gave the newcomers a -long look. Elizabeth said he tried to "stare -them down."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Support yourselves, hey?" he grunted. -"Well--I wash my hands of the whole bunch!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He got as far as the door, marching very -slowly, and expecting to be called back, -when Mrs. Spooner hurried after him, her -hands held out. The girls were wrathful -and disappointed, but their mother's first -words brought them comfort.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Good-bye then, Harvey," said -Mrs. Spooner kindly. "But we won't part in -anger. The girls didn't mean to offend -you. I'm sure we'll get along all right."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Didn't </span><em class="italics">mean</em><span> to offend?" snorted the now -enraged ranchman. "Well they done so, -mighty easy! If they get along half as -well making a living as they do at being -impudent to their elders they'll have no -need of help."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now, now," soothed Mrs. Spooner, as -she took her brother's hand and raised her -small, tired face for his good-bye kiss. "My -girls are just high-spirited, Harvey--and -you ought to be the last to complain of that!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Harvey Grannis kissed his sister -grudgingly--and then was angrier than ever -because he had done this apparently gracious -act. The girls, nodded to them as a gentle -hint, made no effort towards bidding him -farewell.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let them alone," complained Harvey, -"they're fixing it up that I'm an old brute -and they're persecuted angels. Let 'em -have their way. We'll see what comes of -it--you needn't expect me to care what -happens after this!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The very explosiveness of his protest -showed how much he did care. In point of -fact his sister and her family were all he -had, and at heart he was very fond of -them--not the least of Elizabeth. Mrs. Spooner -always looked to hear him make some -allusion to her alien birth, but he never did. -He had longed to have these bright, brave -young creatures and his only sister in his -home, to feel that they belonged to him, that -they were dependent on him. It might -not have been a very pleasant life for them, -but it was what he longed for, and what he -gave up with anger and reluctance.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Down at the road gate he met the Babe, -riding on her pony, Queen Berengaria.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Uncle Harvey, I'm so glad you've -come!" chirped the child, joyously. "Ain't -you going to spend the day? It's been the -longest time since you've come, and we all -want to see you so bad."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Harvey Grannis's eyes softened; in his -own rough way he loved the child very -much; she was named for him, and, unlike -the other girls, she was not the least bit -afraid of him. How he would have loved -to have his little namesake niece to ride -about with him over his own ranch!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Glad to see your old uncle, are you -Harvie? Well, I can't say the rest of 'em -felt that way about it! You're a fine little -girl, and I'd like to have you where I could -keep an eye on you." He sighed regretfully. -"No, I ain't going to spend the day -this time--maybe some other day. And -say, Harvie, don't you let 'em talk you into -hating your old uncle," earnestly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, no Uncle Harvey, 'course not," -agreed the Babe, wonderingly. "But there -don't anybody at our house hate you. -Please come on back, and Ruth'll make a -cake for dinner."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Harvey Grannis declined to accept this -hospitable invitation, knowing better than -the child that he had made himself unwelcome.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I've got to go now, honey," he said. -"You can give a message to your mother -for me." He looked at his namesake a -long time. "Harvie," he wheedled, and -nobody would have guessed that his voice -could be so soft and pleading, "wouldn't -you like to come over to the Circle G and -live?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Little Harvie looked doubtful.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Do mother and the girls want to go? -What'll father think of it when he gets home?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Grannis had not the heart say to her, as -he had said freely to the others, that they -must give up hope of John Spooner's -return. Instead he offered a bait which he -thought would take her mind from the two -questions she had asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'd give you the prettiest little cutting-pony -you ever looked at, a pinto with blue -eyes. That old skate you're on isn't fit -for you to ride."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Babe's own blue eyes filled with tears.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Queen Berengaria isn't </span><em class="italics">very</em><span> beautiful," -she admitted, "but she's </span><em class="italics">awful</em><span> good!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Grannis, with that lack of sympathy -which his type of man shows for the tender -sensibilities of a child, burst out laughing.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You just say that because she's the best -you can get," he surmised, smilingly. "If -I had you over at the Circle G to be my -little girl, we'd shoot this old bag of bones -and give you something that could go."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Old bag of bones! </span><em class="italics">Shoot</em><span> Queen Berengaria! -Harvey Grannis never knew that -then and there he settled the question as -to his namesake's ever agreeing, so long as -she could fight the question, to set foot on -the Circle G as a home.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Did you say you wanted me to take a -message to mother?" she asked quietly, -after a somewhat lengthy pause.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes," said the ranchman. "You just -tell 'em I said that the big spring's liable -to give out--and </span><em class="italics">then</em><span> she'll maybe think -different about some things."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Small Harvie repeated the message, her -clear eyes fixed on her uncle's face.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Now I can say it just like you did," -and solemnly she parroted the big man's -words, giving quite unconsciously his -intonation, and the threat that was in his -voice. It appeared that he did not relish -this, for he put in hastily:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't say it cross--just </span><em class="italics">say</em><span> it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But, Uncle Harvey, even if the spring -does give out we always water at the big -water-hole. Nobody ever did know it to -give out, did they?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No," said Harvey Grannis, "that's why -I bought the land it's on."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And you'd always let us water at the -big tank," concluded the Babe, comfortably.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I would if 'twas only you, honey," he -told her, and his eyes glittered.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He had said that he bought the land for -that water-tank, and he might have added: -"That's why I wouldn't sell it to your -father when he wanted to buy it with Silver -Spur." He might have said this, for the -Silver Spur joined his big pastures, had once, -in fact, been part of his holding, and when -John Spooner bought from his brother-in-law, -Grannis retained the pasture containing -the tank, saying that he wanted to use -it for convenience in watering herds when -he drove them down to the railroad for -shipping, and that the Spooners could -always use it anyhow. This was a mere verbal -arrangement, it did not stand in the deed, -and when the Babe arrived with her little -speech and repeated it at the dinner-table -there was consternation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"What on earth can Uncle Harvey -mean?" asked Ruth indignantly. "Do you -suppose he thinks the use of that tank could -be taken away from us?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't think he could really be as mean -as that, Ruth," reassured Elizabeth. "He's -just trying to worry us because of the way -we spoke. The tank is on his own land, -you know."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But that the threat was real was proven -later, when Roy announced that Grannis -had come with a wagon and men from his -ranch, and was busy running a wire-fence -around the water-hole. They were putting -up a locked gate, so that only by permission -could anybody have access to it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And the big spring's just mud," said -Roy, gloomily. "I think Harvey Grannis -is the meanest man in Texas!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner, pale and worn from anxiety -about her husband, received the news -calmly. "I don't think there's anything to -worry over," she soothed the girls; "Harvey -maybe has some good reason. Remember -it's a dry year, and other people may have -been annoying him. Anyway, I'm sure -he'll not forbid us to water our cattle there. -Please put Shasta to the phaeton, Roy, the -Babe and I'll drive down and see about it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The fence was indeed going rapidly up -when Mrs. Spooner arrived; Grannis -himself was busily directing his men, urging -haste in his usual stormy manner.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well," he greeted his sister, "have you -come to your senses yet--you and those -unbroken colts you've got for daughters? You -see there's no more water-hole for you to -depend on. Cattle'll die, of course. Only -thing you can do is to drive 'em over to my -ranch and pack up and come along yourselves. -If ever a set of young ones need -discipline, those two girls do!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>His eyes snapped fiercely--discipline with -Harvey Grannis meant punishment.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Harvey," asked his sister, quietly -ignoring his attack on her girls, "aren't you -going to give us a key to that gate?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Give you a key to the gate? Yes, when -you send me word that you're packing to -move over to my ranch. I'm doing this -for your good. I think you know it, and -those stiff-necked young'uns could see it -for themselves if you'd brought 'em up -right. That's my last word, and I mean it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Turning on his heel he walked rapidly -away, leaving Mrs. Spooner to return to -her waiting children.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Never mind, mother," soothed the -Babe, as they drove slowly homeward. -"Uncle Harvey's not a bad man--he didn't -mean sure-enough that our cattle couldn't -drink at the water-hole."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But her mother knew otherwise. Harvey -Grannis intended to force them to live with -him, for, as has been said, he was really -fond of his sister and her children. Since -he had come to believe John Spooner dead, -the thought that now he would have them -all to himself, in his big, comfortable house, -grew very pleasant, so that he had determined, -in his usual violent fashion, to use force -if necessary to accomplish his purpose.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm sure, children, I don't know what -we're to do," Mrs. Spooner sighed, as she -related the ill success of her errand to the -family. "I didn't dream that Harvey -could be so hard."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They soothed her with words of cheer, and -Elizabeth sat beside her as she lay upon the -lounge, and bathed her mother's aching -temples with cool water.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Never mind, mother," she whispered, -"I promise to take care of you--always!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Soothed by the magnetic touch of the firm -young hands, Mrs. Spooner soon dropped -asleep, and Elizabeth looking on the -pitifully frail little form, beheld through -tear-blurred eyes a picture of the past--a -vision of the young mother, delicate and -burdened with many cares, unselfishly -adopting into her home and heart the -abandoned offspring of strangers--the child of -sordid birth and ignoble poverty! A wave -of passionate gratitude swept over the girl -as she looked, and again she breathed a vow -to always take care of her foster-mother.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Next day Jonah Bean came galloping up -to tell them that the wire of the dividing -fence had been cut in the night, and the -Spooner cattle had, as usual, satisfied their -thirst at the water-hole! Grannis's cowboys -had rounded them up and driven them out -at dawn, and Grannis himself had ordered -Jonah to come and mend the break, declaring -he had made it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I ain't cut that fence, neither a-mendin' -it," announced Jonah oracularly. "Stands -to reason the cattle got to drink. Providence -done it, 'cordin' to my way o' thinkin'."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Grannis yelled something over at me, -but I'm not worrying over it," declared -Roy, "it's the meanest thing I ever knew of. -I'm certainly not going to prevent the cattle -drinking when somebody else cut the wires."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The cutting of a wire-fence is in all -cattle-countries a grave misdemeanor, punishable -by law. Harvey Grannis, when his "spite-fence" -had been cut, was of course in a -towering rage, threatening to prosecute the -clipper, when caught, and vowing no less -punishment than the penitentiary if the -offence was repeated.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But the next night they were again -clipped, and the Spooner herd once more -rejoiced in abundance of water. Harvey -Grannis had trusted to the wire-cutter being -frightened away by his loud threats, and -had not set a guard over the fence. Now -indeed did he swear vengeance against the -offender--"male or female," he declared -fiercely and to further protect the fence -drove a bunch of his own cattle down and -camped in the pasture--he would see that -no more water was furnished the Spooner -cattle, or jail the clipper!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It cannot be said that this move increased -his popularity with his neighbors when they -came to know its meaning. Indeed his own -cowboys muttered indignantly as they moved -about, pitching their tents and making ready -for camp, that it was a sin and shame, and -the boss too pizen mean to live! At the -same time they could not help admitting -that it would be much wiser for the Spooner -family to move over into his comfortable -house and be taken care of by the wealthy -ranchman, than to try and struggle along -combatting poverty and drouth. This -knowledge served to keep them from open -revolt, though the means he had taken to -accomplish his purpose moved them to -scornful wrath. Brow-beating women and -children didn't agree with the cowboy -sense of honor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With the coming of Grannis's camp to the -water-hole pasture the Spooner's case -became desperate. The well at the house had -a small basin which filled slowly, and the -little water it furnished must be saved for -drinking and household purposes. Jonah -and Roy reluctantly watered their ponies -from it, but the big spring their cattle had -depended on was now only a dry mud-hole. -Roy went privately to Grannis and asked -the privilege of hauling water from the big -tank. He received for his pains an accusation -of having cut the fence-wires. This in -addition of Grannis's usual name for him -of horse thief proved so unpleasant that he -was sorry he went.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Looks to me like we was at our row's -end," remarked Jonah Bean with gloomy -philosophy. "If they's a turnin' p'int I -hain't seed it. Might's well sell out, Mis' -Spooner, if you kin find a buyer for the -bunch."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no, Jonah," objected Elizabeth -eagerly. "We'll find a way. Can't you -think of something, Roy?" she asked.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy's face was sober; he and Jonah had -discussed the question, and neither one could -see any other way than to sell the herd -before they perished of drouth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Nothing except sell," he said, shaking -his head soberly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then </span><em class="italics">I'll</em><span> find a way!" declared Elizabeth, -passionately. "They shan't be sold--and -they shan't starve, either. You and -Jonah round up the bunch and Ruth and I -will haul water from Munson's pond--it -never dries up, and I know Mr. Munson -won't care."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, that will be the very thing! Mother, -please let us," begged Ruth, eager to help.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Really there seemed nothing else to do. -Elizabeth's plan though it meant hard -work, was at least feasible--for a time, at -least; in the meantime something unforseen -might turn up.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>So, with a big hogshead in the ranch -wagon they drove five miles to get water, -which their neighbor Mr. Munson kindly -let them have.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I always knew Harvey was a cross-grained -old sinner," frankly declared -Mr. Munson. "Wants to starve you out, I -hear, so's he c'n make you all live with him. -Well, I don't think much of his plan. But -you're plumb welcome to water--long's you -hold out to haul it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For three days they hauled water, staying -but not satisfying the famishing cattle's -thirst; and on one pretext or another -Grannis kept his men in the water-hole pasture. -The morning of the third day Ruth came -upon Elizabeth with the wire clippers in her -hand and a very queer look upon her -face--a look that caused an awful thought to -flash into the younger sister's mind. Could -she--could Elizabeth be the wire-clipper that -Harvey Grannis was waiting to catch--and -jail? The thing was impossible, she argued -fiercely; Elizabeth simply couldn't do such -a thing!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Yet somehow all day she felt an uneasy -sense that more trouble was brewing, and -that night after their early supper when she -could not find Elizabeth anywhere, terror -seized her, and without letting anybody -know, she ran wildly across the pastures -by the short cut, to search for her.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was a wonderful velvet-black summer -night, the skies star-sprinkled and the -enemy's camp lighted by a great central -cook-fire that could be seen far in that flat, -plains-country. Flickering lanterns moved about -it. Ruth ran on, seeking Elizabeth where -the former cuttings had been, and praying -that she would not find her there.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Halfway across she met Roy coming back -from a secret survey of Grannis's camp. -With panting breath she gasped out her -story. Somebody must find Elizabeth!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I will," said Roy quietly, "I think I -know where she is. You go back to the -house, Ruth--I'll find her."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>He turned back in the direction of the -camp and Ruth walked slowly to the house, -meeting her mother and Jonah, who were -driving down the avenue in the phaeton.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, mother!" whispered Ruth anxiously. -"Where are you going in the dark? Who -are you looking for?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hush!" warned her mother. "I'm not -looking for any one. Why do you ask? I'm -going to your Uncle Harvey's camp. I thought -you were all in your rooms--I didn't want -Elizabeth to know, and I just can't stand -this any longer. I think, if he's made to -see things right, that he'll give us a key to -that gate, as he ought to, and leave us in -peace. You run in the house and go to -bed--and don't let Elizabeth know."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, goodness gracious! Whatever shall -I do?" moaned poor Ruth, as she watched -her mother and Jonah drive away. "Maybe -Roy won't be in time, and while Mother's -right there, begging Uncle Harvey to go -home they'll catch Elizabeth and bring her -before them all! It would just about kill -mother. I can't stay here--I just can't!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Forgetful of the Babe left alone in the -dark, Ruth darted away on the trail of Roy -and Elizabeth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Supper was over at the camp when -Mrs. Spooner and Jonah reached it. The -cowboys scattered about on the grass, smoked, -or played cards or read old newspapers by -the light of the cook-fire. Harvey Grannis -sat on a camp stool before his tent and -smoked a pipe which was anything but a pipe -of peace. He was angry with his cowboys -who took no pains to conceal their -disapproval of his high-handed proceedings -with the Spooners because they would not -yield, but most important of all, he was -angry with himself, because he knew in his -heart he was behaving in a most contemptible way.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The gate towards the road was not locked, -nor even shut. Jonah drove through it and -was in the middle of the camp before -Grannis noticed his arrival.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Can I speak to you privately, Harvey?" -asked his sister, as he arose and came -forward to greet her.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, ma'am," he answered with emphatic -loudness. "Say your say--Everybody's -welcome to hear it. I've done nothing -I'm ashamed of."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The indignant blood rushed to Mrs. Spooner's -pale face. She had no wish to -make a scene. She pushed aside the rug -and stepped quietly from her phaeton. -Jonah held the lines over Shasta, looking -straight ahead of him. The circle of -cowboys drew closer, listening curiously, -eagerly, most of them with angry distaste, yet -hopeful that the little woman would speak -up to their boss.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And she did. She told him pretty plainly -what she thought of his behavior. She -began with the sale of the ranch to John -Spooner and the verbal agreement concerning -the use of this tank or water-hole which -had never in the memory of man gone dry. -Her voice faltered when she spoke of her -husband's absence and danger, the doubt -which Harvey had expressed of his brother-in-law's -ever returning to his family. She -mentioned the conduct of her daughters as -highly creditable to them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>At this point Harvey, enraged by being -reproved when he fully expected entreaties, -broke in.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, those same high-spirited girls of -yours have been cutting wires, ma'am--and -wire-cutting is a penitentiary offense. Jake -over there, saw a girl snooping along the -fence and bending over working at it, and -when he got down there three wires were -clipped in two, and swinging. That's the -way your girls show their high-spirit!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't believe it!" exclaimed -Mrs. Spooner indignantly. "Neither Ruth nor -Elizabeth would do such a thing. They -fully understand that it's a crime before the -law--though surely what you are doing, -Harvey, is a crime before Heaven. Maybe -you think I cut the wires?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no, Jennie," began Harvey, somewhat -abashed, yet still thoroughly angry. -"You hold on and I'll catch the minx in -the act--we've got three men hidden down -by the fence now--Here they come!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was a stir off in the darkness where -the fence cutting had been. Mrs. Spooner -put her hand to her heart and gasped, praying -silently that neither of her girls had been -driven into reckless reprisals. She had -talked to them about it, again and again -as she did to Roy, begging them to remember -that two wrongs never made a right. Then -she turned away and hid her eyes against -the phaeton edge.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Sufferin' Moses!" groaned Jonah Bean.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>For Elizabeth Spooner, Ruth Spooner and -Roy Lambert were being hustled into the -circle of light by two eager cowboys.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We caught your wire-clipper, boss," -they sniggered jeeringly. "Caught 'er in -the act! We'll all stand by you when you -fix to send her off to jail!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Elizabeth--my child! How could you?" -wailed Mrs. Spooner.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You see--I told you!" broke in Grannis, -speaking loud to cover his dismay.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, I didn't cut the wires," said Elizabeth -composedly, adding in her clear tones, -"I didn't--neither did Ruth or Roy. But -we got there just as they caught the -wire-clipper, and we came along to see how Uncle -Harvey likes his work. Look, Uncle Harvey!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And she drew aside to reveal the clipper.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="a-partner-of-the-sun"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER VIII</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">A Partner of the Sun</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>It took Harvey Grannis a long time to -live down that scene by the camp fire; for -when Elizabeth drew aside there stood -revealed, clinging to her skirts, a pair of -wire-clippers clutched in her free hand--the Babe. -Harvey Grannis stared incredulously for a -full minute, and everybody stared at him. -Then he turned away with an inarticulate -exclamation that was like a groan.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Uncle Harvey!" cried the Babe, -rushing forward at the sound of his voice, -clasping his knees, bumping him with the -wire-clippers, looking up at him, her face -streaming with tears.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It wasn't this child," he declared fiercely, -catching her up in his arms and glaring -across her head at the others. "The rest -of you are puttin' it on her--of if her poor -little hands done the work, you all egged her -on and made her do it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, they didn't," declared the child, -squirming free and getting to her feet, her -real courage coming to her aid and sweeping -away the nervous fright that had possessed -her. "I cut the wire that first night--and -then I cut it the next night, because the -cows were thirsty, and I knew you wouldn't -be mad after all--you were just making -believe, weren't you, Uncle Harvey?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She turned confidentially to him, and the -big man looked exceedingly foolish. The -tension of the scene slackened a bit, and one -or two of the cowboys snickered. But -Mrs. Spooner's face was stern as she came forward -and took her little girl by the hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You see, Harvey, why I don't want to -come and live in your house," she said -clearly and distinctly. "Perhaps you -understand now why I'm not willing that you -should have a chance to discipline my girls. -Look what you drive people into!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Her glance went fleetingly to Roy, and -everybody in the cow-camp remembered -how Grannis's ideas of discipline had made a -sort of horse thief out of a very honest lad.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This child's a minor," began Grannis, -sulkily. "She's not to blame. If you have -a mind to let her come and live with me--even -part of the time--I'll give her the key -to the gate. What do you say?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner looked at her little girl's -face and read the terror and distaste in it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Please, O, </span><em class="italics">please</em><span> don't, mother!" came -the imploring whisper. The Babe had -visions of Queen Berengaria slain and herself -set to careering about on a strange pinto -that she could never love--and yet expected -to be thankful for the change!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I say that you've proved yourself as -hard as usual, Harvey," Mrs. Spooner -returned quietly. "I couldn't spare my -baby--even if she were willing to go. Why can't -you be contented with the children loving -and respecting you--and staying -independently in their own home?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The defeat was too public. Grannis -would not accept it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"All right," he growled. "That gate's -locked from this on--and you can get along -the best way you know how for all of me. -It's lucky it wasn't one of your older girls -that played this trick--or one of the men -you employ. You've got off easy."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Spooner party went home in despair. -The Babe showed unexpected spirit and -demanded that, as she had cut the wires, -the cattle be allowed to go in and water -that night. They were. Nobody interfered -with Ruth and Elizabeth when they -hauled three hogsheads of water the next -morning while Grannis's force was breaking -camp and before they had mended the fence.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But that was the end of everything. -There was no news from Cuba, and -Mrs. Spooner began to look about her for some -way to dispose of the cattle. It was the -next week, in the midst of her perplexities, -that Harvey Grannis rode up to the ranch -to warn them that he intended to foreclose -his mortgage on the place at once.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm doing it for your own good, Jennie," -he argued. "I'll still hold to my offer to -give you all a home. Common sense ought -to tell you it will be a sight better to live at -the Circle G and have a man to look after -you than to stay here and starve, depending -on a jail-bird, an old fool and a couple of -feather-headed girls. When do you think -you'll be ready to move?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I must consult my girls first, Harvey," -said Mrs. Spooner quietly. "They are -down at the corral--I'll call them at once. -I have a dreadful headache this morning, -and when I've explained the situation to -them I'll go and lie down. They can answer -your questions as well as I."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Her brother fumed a good deal at this, -vowing that he wouldn't be surprised if she -felt called upon to consult old Jonah and -the jail-bird!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I certainly do intend to consult them," -replied his sister mildly. "Only just now -they are out hauling water from Munson's -pond. But the girls'll be here in a -minute--I will do as we all think best."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth and Ruth felt their hearts sink -at sight of their uncle, certain that his -coming meant some new disaster. "He couldn't -bring anything else!" they thought indignantly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Spooner, warning Grannis to silence, -explained his proposition to the girls very -clearly and calmly; she wished them to see it -as favorably as possible, for in her heart she -could think of nothing better--there seemed -to be no other alternative; it seemed they -must live with Harvey, hard as it would be. -When she had finished she went to lie down.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Ruth looked at Elizabeth for counsel as -her mother left the room. If there was any -other way, she was sure that Elizabeth -would find it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We'll agree to give up the ranch at -once," began Elizabeth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"You'll have to," interrupted Harvey -Grannis. "Those are the terms of the -mortgage. I </span><em class="italics">could</em><span> put you out to-day, but -I'll give you time to pack."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"With the privilege of making our -payment when father comes home. Are you -willing to do that, Uncle Harvey?" -Elizabeth finished.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Grannis agreed promptly to this, certain -now that he would have his own way with -the family.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then we'll move next week," decided -Elizabeth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll send my teams over for your -things--Monday, say?" asked Grannis, in high -satisfaction.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, no," Elizabeth demurred, "there'll -be no need to bother you. Jonah and Roy -can move us without any help. Thank -you, just the same."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Jonah and Roy, is it?" snorted Grannis. -"Well, I told your mother, and I tell you, -that I won't have that young horse-thief -on my place. The teams will be here -Monday. See that you're ready when they -come."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"But we aren't going to the Circle G, -Uncle Harvey," said Elizabeth, mildly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Grannis was in the doorway, he turned, -his look of surprise and dismay was almost -comical.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Where are you going, then? Straight to -destruction, I suppose. And dragging your -poor sick mother with you. I want a word -with Jennie about this."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mother has allowed me to speak for -her," Elizabeth said. "Ruth and I are -going to take care of her. We can--you -know we can."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She spoke with assurance, but she had as -little idea how the thing was to be -accomplished as Ruth had when she offered to -pay Maudie Pratt a hundred dollars--with -only thirty-five cents at home in her -pasteboard box! Perhaps the memory of -the triumphant conclusion that matter -worked up to, put confidence in Elizabeth's -voice. Anyway, Harvey Grannis went -storming away, informing nobody in -particular that his sister's family were an -ungrateful lot, declaring that he had washed -his hands of them--all except little Harvie.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>That night when the chores were over and -supper ended, the Silver Spur household -gathered on the porch and resolved itself -into a committee of ways and means, with -Elizabeth holding the floor.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I've been thinking of a plan," she said -cheerfully. "As Ruth claims, I've a head -on my shoulders--whether there's anything -in the head, or the plan, is for the rest of -you to decide."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I have a great deal of confidence in your -ability and common-sense, daughter," said -Mrs. Spooner faintly from her rocker. Her -head was better, but it left her spent and -white.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Your scheme'll be a good one--I'll back -it," Roy followed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Of course--we'll all back what Elizabeth -says," agreed Ruth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"'Cause Elizabeth </span><em class="italics">knows</em><span>," chimed in the -Babe, loyally.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, she ain't so foolish--for a gal," -old Jonah put in last.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth was fairly overwhelmed by -their trust in her. "You see we can't -stay here, and we </span><em class="italics">won't</em><span> go to the Circle G," -she began, flushed with her family's -praise, "of course we may hear from father -any day, but we'd have had to get rid of the -cattle--anyhow that bunch Uncle Harvey -shut out from the tank. It seems to me -the best thing we can do is to go into -Emerald to live. There isn't a sign of a -photographer in the place; everybody says my -work is worth paying for, and Ruth would -have a chance of earning something. Besides, -there'd be school for the Babe, and -we'd be near Cousin Hannah."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Say, don't think you're the only worker -in this family hive!" protested Roy, "I -haven't a profession, but I </span><em class="italics">can</em><span> get a job any -day. Mr. Pell's son Joe has gone away to -school, and he needs a clerk in the grocery -the worst kind. I reckon I'll earn money -enough to pay rent, and a little bit over."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"They's jobs a-waitin' for young folks to -pick up, but 'tain't easy when you're gettin' -on in years," sighed Jonah, dolefully. -"Nothin' </span><em class="italics">I</em><span> kin do in town, I reckon. -Maybe the Old Soldiers' Home'll take keer o' me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>There was a chorus of indignant protests -from the whole family. Jonah knew they -couldn't get along without him! Wherever -they went he should go to--that was settled. -The tender-hearted Babe, with her arms -around the old man's neck, cheered him -further by adding: "Me'n you'll help mother, -Jonah--she'll need us."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Bless your heart, honey, if that ain't -the gospel truth!" agreed Jonah, now quite -cheerful. "They's a gyarden to make, an' -a cow to milk--we can't get along without -one, and wood to chop. Maybe the ole -man </span><em class="italics">will</em><span> earn his salt, after all."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Early the next morning after this -decision Elizabeth and Ruth rode into town to -see about getting a house. The only vacant -one in the place was an old adobe, rather -dilapidated, but with plenty of room, and -enough ground fenced in to keep a cow, -besides having the garden and small patches -they would be obliged to plant for -vegetables and cow-feed. It belonged to -Mr. Rouse, the station agent who boarded with -Cousin Hannah, and he was so glad of the -chance of getting it occupied that he told -the girls if they would agree to make the -necessary repairs, he would let them have -it rent-free for the first six months.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This was joyfully agreed to, and the very -next day Jonah and Roy went to town to -see about making the repairs--mending the -roof, putting in window panes, and whitewashing -the interior, so that at last it was -converted into a very respectable and -comfortable habitation--really more -comfortable than the ranch-house, for the adobe -walls were thick, and would keep out the -cold in winter and the heat in summer as well.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>During the days that the men worked on -the adobe Ruth and Elizabeth were busy -packing up, while the Babe and her mother -drove about in the phaeton, making -arrangements for the keeping of the cattle and -ponies, for Mrs. Spooner determined that -she would not sell them--it would be like -admitting her husband was dead.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mr. Munson, a man with a big ranch and -a big heart, readily agreed to graze the -cattle, scoffing at the idea of taking a third -of the increase for his share, until -Mrs. Spooner declared that, unless he did, she -could not allow him to be burdened with them.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then I hope for your sake it won't be -long, ma'am," said the rancher heartily. -"No news is good news, I've always heard -say, and there's no tellin' when John may -come."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Another neighbor agreed to graze the -ponies, and the Babe earnestly begged that -he would be very, very kind to Queen -Berengaria, who was a good pony, if she -wasn't so very pretty!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>With everybody working like beavers, it -was only a few days before the Spooners -closed the doors of the lonely little -ranch-house, striving bravely to think that it -would only be for a little while, and took up -their abode in the old adobe in Emerald.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>If there had been, just at this time, a -voting contest for the most unpopular man -in the district, Harvey Grannis would -undoubtedly have won the prize by a big -majority. Everybody was so indignant at -his treatment of the Spooners that they -vied with each other in showing their -sympathy and friendship for the family, sending -them such loads of vegetables from their -gardens and choice cuts of fresh meat when -a beef was killed, that it was a long time -before they had need of anything else; -while Cousin Hannah came over on the first -day, laden with trays of good things for the -first meal.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Everybody tried to be very cheerful as -they gathered around the brightly-lighted -supper table that evening, eating the good -things Cousin Hannah had provided with, -it must be confessed, scant appetite; their -hearts were full, but each tried bravely to -see only the bright side, and, because they -tried so hard, at last became really cheerful, -discussing their plans for the future with -some enthusiasm. Only the Babe wiped -away tears, as she thought of Queen Berengaria -out in strange pastures without a soul -to think of taking her lumps of sugar at -feeding-time!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll plow up the land and sew it down in -rye for cow-feed," said Jonah, "before I -git ready to go to gyardenin'. I got to -hustle, too, for time's a-flyin'."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I won't set into work at the store till -next week," said Roy, "for I want to fix -up that shack out in the yard for a studio--with -</span><em class="italics">two</em><span> display windows, if you please, -one for cakes and one for 'takes'. A skylight -in the roof, and a little curtained-off -dark room, and there you are, all ready -for business, Misses Spooner!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Roy, that </span><em class="italics">will</em><span> be lovely--I simply -couldn't get along without you--none of us -could, in fact. And I'm expecting my -enlarging camera any day. I reckon I'll spoil -some pictures before I get used to it; -anyway, I can experiment on the family first."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm so glad we've got a good cook-stove," -said Ruth, contentedly. "I expect -to make money on bread. Cousin Hannah -says she'll get me all the orders I can fill."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And what are me'n you going to do, -mother?" enquired the Babe, with interest.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, I'm going down town to the store -tomorrow and buy some pretty gingham for -cutting out into school dresses which you're -to stitch up on the machine, if you'll try -to run the seams straight. Then, as soon -as they're made, we'll get some school-books, -and a little girl about your size will -put on one of the new dresses, take the new -books in her new book-bag, and go right -straight to school--where she'll be a credit -to us all, I'm sure."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll learn to read so good that I'll be -able to read all the books in the whole round -world!" sighed the Babe, happy in the promised -fulfillment of her highest earthly desire.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>By the time the new studio was finished -Elizabeth had quite a display of photographs, -having 'taken' the family and all the -neighbors who were handy, finding Maudie -Pratt a willing and excellent subject, while -Ruth in her own show-window set forth a -tempting array of tarts and pies and doughnuts, -in token that the bakery was in operation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Pell, the wife of Roy's employer, -was their first customer, bringing her twin -boys of seven to be photographed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Their pa says if anybody can make 'em -stand still long enough to get a picture, -they'll sure deserve a prize," declared the -twins' mother frankly, as she arranged -Wilfred's big, smothering collar, and tied -anew the huge red bow under Wilmot's -chin. "I taken 'em to the finest picture-taker -in Houston, last summer, and the best -he could do was a proof that had three -heads apiece on it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think I can manage them, Mrs. Pell," -said Elizabeth, confidently, seeing more -orders ahead if she could succeed where the -city photographer had failed. "They are -such cute little fellows. Now, boys, if -you'll be real quiet I'll give you a doughnut -apiece, in just one minute," she promised -the squirming twins, who brightened -amazingly, keeping expectant eyes upon the -doughnuts which Elizabeth had placed at -just the proper elevation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They were muffled and choked in stiff -white pique suits, not a bit comfortable, and -their mother insisted that they should be -posed in a very stiff position, with their -arms about each other. However, in the -end Elizabeth secured a very good negative, -"at least it has only one head apiece," she -laughed. "But send them over when they -have on their everyday clothes, and let me -take a picture for my window, if you don't mind."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Mrs. Pell didn't mind--indeed she was -highly gratified, and she sent Wilfred and -Wilmot over promptly, as soon as they had -changed to their old collarless and tieless -play overalls. Then, while the Babe told -them a fairy story to excite the proper -amount of interest in their faces, and -Elizabeth bade them eat doughnuts at will, to -promote happiness that "showed through," -she snapped her camera on a most excellent -likeness--so good, in fact, that their proud -father ordered a bromide enlargement to -be made, and advised all his customers to -go by the studio and see that cute picture -in the window--the cutest thing in the shape -of a photograph he'd ever seen took.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Trade increased, and both girls soon had -all they could do--indeed Mrs. Spooner, -in her heart, often sighed to think of the -free young souls doomed to have so much -work and so little play in their busy lives.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was plain from the first that the -Spooner girls and Roy Lambert could -maintain the family, though it took every bit -of strength and every ounce of energy the -three young people could bring to bear on -it. Mrs. Spooner drew a breath of relief -when one day she saw her brother Harvey -turn in at the gate and calmly walk across -to the studio as though he were an ordinary -customer, coming on an ordinary errand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Be nice to him, dear," she cautioned -Elizabeth, when she informed her of the -unexpected customer in the studio. "I'm -proud of your independence, but it breaks -my heart to have you girls working so hard, -and getting none of the pleasure nor the -education that you ought to have."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I think we're getting lots of education, -if you ask me," laughed Elizabeth, as she -put on her business apron and prepared to -go out. "As for pleasure--I never was so -happy in my life--except for worrying a -little bit about father--and he may come -home any day of course, and stop </span><em class="italics">that</em><span>."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She ran across the yard to the little -building, where she found her uncle gravely -inspecting the photographs in the window, -having come to a decision as to the style -he preferred for a dozen cabinet portraits -of himself, which he announced to be the -errand that had brought him to Emerald.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>It was to Elizabeth like a little play to -keep up her business manner with Uncle -Harvey all through the sitting. She was -urbane and impressive. She told about it -gleefully at the supper table that evening.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"How much? And when can I have -'em?" the customer had asked as he arose -from his sitting. Elizabeth got his tone -exactly in telling of it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"One dollar down, five dollars when they -are finished, a week from to-day, I'm pretty -well rushed with orders, and can't promise -them any sooner!" reported the photographer -to her family.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then he took up his hat, and stood -twirling it 'round and 'round, as if he -intended to say something else. I suppose -he changed his mind, for he went away -without another word. I was glad; I -wonder what he really wanted. Something -more than pictures, I'll bet. Anyway, I -think I got a good picture."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>On the day appointed Harvey Grannis -put in an appearance at the little studio at -nine o'clock in the morning. He took the -filled envelope Elizabeth handed him -without a word, paid his money and lingered a -moment, never looking at the pictures.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Hadn't you better see whether you like -them?" asked Elizabeth. "We all think -them very good. I took the liberty of -giving mother one, because she liked it so -much."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, er--by the way, how is Jennie?" -asked Grannis, uneasily.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll call her if you'd like to see her," -returned Elizabeth promptly, and there was -a mischievous light in her eyes.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"No, no--not at all," stammered the -ranchman. "That is, I have a little matter -to talk over later--never mind now."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>They were crossing the side yard between -the house and the studio. Without waiting -for further Instructions Elizabeth called -blithely:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mumsy--Uncle Harvey wants to see you!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>She was sure that Mrs. Spooner was just -inside by the window, anxiously waiting -for what her brother might see fit to say or -do. The call was responded to with -unexpected, and so far as Grannis was -concerned, unwelcome promptness. -Mrs. Spooner came out on the front porch and -walked down the steps to greet her brother. -The Babe, always eager for peace, though -still shy of the man who had thought of -shooting Queen Berengaria, followed. Ruth -advanced from her bakery as the two left -the studio. Old Jonah came around the -house, wheeling a barrow, and to complete -the family picture Roy just then drove up -in a grocer's delivery wagon and stopped at -the curb.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Well, we all seem to be here," remarked -Harvey Grannis, rather feebly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>A bicycle-mounted boy wheeled up perilously -close between the delivery-wagon and -the gate, Roy turned with a little annoyance, -then he saw that the messenger held -a yellow envelope in his hand, and was -approaching Mrs. Spooner.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The little woman's breath came in gasps, -since the ceasing of her Cuban letters she -was always afraid of the sight of a telegram.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Don't let her have it--I want to say -something first," Grannis protested, getting -between the messenger and his sister.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll open it for her--she would want me -to," declared Elizabeth, snatching the -envelope from the messenger's hand.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Why, it isn't addressed to mother--it's -addressed to--to--</span><em class="italics">father</em><span>!" And she let -the yellow envelope flutter to the ground, -where the messenger regarded it with lack-luster -eyes, then picked it up and prepared -to depart with it.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Party ain't living here?" he asked, -snapping together his receipt book, which -he had opened for signature.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"This here lady's his late wife," asserted -Jonah, lugubriously, getting things rather -mixed in his excitement to see what the -telegram contained. "Give it to her--she's -the proper person to open it."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Once more Grannis put himself between -the messenger and his sister, protesting -again that he had something to say before -she read the message. And, at this second -protest, there came an unexpected interruption.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 4em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst" id="the-rose-by-another-name"><span class="bold large">CHAPTER IX</span></p> -<p class="center pnext"><span class="bold large">A Rose by Another Name</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 2em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>In at the gate walked a tall, bronzed -soldier in khaki, who reached forward an -authoritative hand, saying calmly to the -messenger, "Give it to me--it's mine."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Everything about them seemed suddenly -unreal. Mrs. Spooner, catching sight of -the newcomer, quietly crumpled down in a -dead faint at his feet!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth found herself running into the -house for a glass of water--moving like a -person in a dream, making a desperate -amount of effort without advancing an -inch. Then, all at once, she was back to -find her father kneeling on the gravel beside -his wife, resisting Harvey Grannis's efforts -to raise her.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Keep her head low, Harve--never raise -a fainting person's head," he cautioned.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The Babe was crying and snuggling in -under her father's elbow, Roy had rushed -into the house and brought back the afghan -from the couch.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"She's all right," said Captain Spooner, -confidently. "She's coming round now. -What made her faint, do you suppose?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Father! Because you came back so -suddenly," said Ruth.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We hadn't heard from you in months, -you know," Elizabeth added in a low tone. -"We've been horribly uneasy, daddy."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The captain turned and kissed his tall -girl, then he slipped a careful arm under his -wife's shoulders. Ruth and the Babe, pushing -for their share of attention, had to be -cautioned.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Quiet, girls!" he warned. "We'll lift -mother in to the couch, and then I'll count -you chickens and see how you look. Help -me, Harve."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Harvey Grannis had been edging away -with a very curious expression on his face; -now he had no other course left open but -to come forward, lift his sister's limp form -and assist in carrying her into the house. -On the way she regained consciousness -enough to protest lovingly, assuring them -that she was all right, and ashamed of being -so silly as to faint.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Father, why didn't you telegraph, -so it wouldn't have scared mother?" the -Babe voiced the general wonder.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I did," said Captain Spooner. "But -Mr. Rouse was away on his vacation, and -the new man they had in the office sent the -telegram out to the ranch, because it was -addressed to Silver Spur. You see, I'd got -no letters, and didn't know of your moving. -The boy had it along with one from Harve to -me, re-sent from Havana. I'll read it -now." And he tore open the yellow envelope.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Daddy," begged the Babe, frantically -trying to smother him. "Don't you ever, -ever go to war again--no matter if that's a -telegram from the president for you to go -back--don't you do it: And </span><em class="italics">what</em><span> did you -bring us from Cuba?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Wait and see, you little rascal," laughed -her father, lifting her in his arms, and -forgetting, for the moment, his telegram. -"My! What a big girl you are, to be sure! -And how well you are all looking--except -mother. We must try and get some roses -to grow in her cheeks. Jonah, you old -sinner--shake! We'll swap war stories to -beat the band, winter evenings out at the -ranch. And Harve," slapping Grannis -jovially on the shoulder, "glad to see you, -too. I'll read your telegram now. Why in -the world didn't you let the folks know long ago?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I--I was a little delayed," said Harvey -nervously. "In fact, I just came over -to-day to tell 'em."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"And the interest money? I suppose -you got that all right? O, yes--you say -so in this telegram. Got it right on the dot. -No chance to act the hard-hearted landlord -and turn 'em out, hey?" and he laughed -genially. The world seemed bigger and -warmer and sweeter to the children, now -that their father was at home; in the -fullness of their joy they had no thought of -Harvey Grannis and the wrongs he had -caused them to suffer.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Their uncle had been nervously turning -his hat in his hand, going to the door and -coming back during the greetings between -the re-united family. It spoke well for his -courage that he had not made his escape -unnoticed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I--I just wanted a chance to speak -about that, John," he began, clearing his -throat nervously. "Your check was all -right, of course, but I haven't banked it -yet. In fact, I just came over this morning -to tell the folks, as I said."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth realized in a flash that Harvey's -telegram announcing Captain Spooner's -approaching arrival had come just before he -came to order the photographs. He was -trying them for some decent way of -explaining his conduct. She remembered his -peculiar manner, and parted her lips to -speak when some impulse of kindness made -her close them again. Harvey Grannis had -done them all an injury, this was an -opportunity for her to forgive an enemy. -The next moment she had reason to be glad.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Then you did get the interest money all -right?" the captain persisted.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The red blood flamed in Grannis's tanned -and bearded face. His confusion was painful.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, yes--O, yes, I got that," he -admitted with an entreating glance toward -his sister. "I--there was something -connected with that that I had intended -explaining to Jennie. In fact--if you'll let -me, I'd like to make you a deed to the ranch."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Let you?" echoed Captain Spooner, his -keen blue eyes on his brother-in-law's face. -"Make a deed to the ranch? Why, I only -sent you the interest money. The last -payment remains to be met."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Yes, I know," Grannis hurried to say, -"but Jennie's my only sister, and we had a -little misunderstanding--she'll tell you all -about it later, no doubt. I feel myself to -blame--that is, I was mistaken. I'd like -to make it up to--of course, I know there's -some of your family that'll never forgive me."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Then Elizabeth did a beautiful thing, -and one which endeared her to all of them. -She marched across the room to Grannis, -put out a slim hand and said:</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I hope you don't mean me, Uncle -Harvey,"--with a very distinct emphasis--"for -if I have anything to forgive--it's -forgotten."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Harvey took the girl's hand with a fervor -that was pathetic.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"We mustn't talk about disagreeable -things when John's just got back," said -Mrs. Spooner decidedly. "Harvey, you'll stay -to dinner. Somebody ought to go for -Roy--he went right away, without giving John -a chance to meet him--he wanted us to be -uninterrupted at our first meeting. I'm -sure Mr. Pell will let him off for the rest of -the day, if we ask him."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'll go for him," offered Harvey, hastily, -and before the eyes of the astonished -Spooners, he put his hat on his head and -walked away in search of Roy--the boy he -had insisted upon regarding as a horse-thief!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>While he was gone Captain Spooner was -put in possession of all the facts. He was -inclined to be indignant over his brother-in-law's -conduct, but the girls joined their -mother in excusing Grannis's behavior, -insisting that it came from an excess of zeal -for their welfare. When Harvey and Roy -returned together, apparently on the best -of terms, Captain Spooner was ready to let -by-gones be by-gones with his brother-in-law, -and to welcome Roy to the family -circle with heart-felt cordiality.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I've heard all about you from mother," -he said as he gripped the lad's hand. "Only -she says that he never can make me know -just what you've been to them all, and how -very proud she is of her adopted son."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Roy blushed--praise was sweet, but -embarrassing. "I bet they didn't tell you a -word about their goodness to me, sir," he -returned, "I never could make that up, no -matter what I do."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Everything was satisfactorily explained -over a good dinner. When you come to -think of it, a good dinner makes many things -seem more satisfactory. Ruth and Elizabeth -cooked this one, the Babe set the table, -and all three girls kept jumping up from -their places to run around and hug the tall -soldier father, to be sure that he was real, -and not just a beautiful dream. Mrs. Spooner -sat at the head of the table, with a -color and radiance in her face that had long -been absent. Harvey Grannis talked more -than anybody had ever heard him. He -made good his promise of the blue-eyed -pinto pony to little Harvie--though he -offered no further suggestion as to the -shooting of Queen Berengaria.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Pinto's half Arab," he urged, "I broke -him myself--wouldn't let the broncho-buster -touch him--he's as gentle as a dog."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>All the elders at the table knew that -Harvey Grannis was an excellent horseman, -and kind to animals, whatever he might -be to his fellow-men. They regarded the -gift as highly as the Babe was certain to do -when she had fully made the acquaintance -of the spotted pony.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I'm awfully obliged to you, Uncle -Harvey," she said at last. "If you don't -mind I'll change his name to Prince--as -though he was Queen Berengaria's son, you -know. I expect I'll be mighty glad to have -him, because he'll be able to carry me to -school. I couldn't go when we were at the -ranch before, because it was 'most too far -for Queen Berengaria to come every day, -and she's so slow I'd have been sure to be -tardy--I don't like tardy-marks."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When Harvey Grannis said good-bye, it -was plain they were entering on a new era -of friendship with the lonely man. -Apparently he would be willing to benefit his -sister's family in the way that pleased them--not -insisting that it should be exclusively -a way that pleased him.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When Grannis was gone Roy returned to -his work at the grocery and the Babe finally -quieted down to her lessons. Mrs. Spooner -asked Ruth if she would not help her -younger sister with them, leaving Elizabeth -to have a little talk with her father. The -tall eldest girl followed her mother into the -other room, and soon found herself seated -between the two people who were so dear -to her, the only parents she had ever known. -Thus she listened to a strange story told -Captain Spooner by a soldier of his own -regiment--and who had died in Cuba.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I don't remember him much on the way -out, or in camp, except that he was a very -tall man, well set up and good-looking--a -fine type of Englishman," the Captain said. -"He kept himself to himself, the other men -said, and although I remembered afterward -that he had looked at me curiously once or -twice, I couldn't be sure that I'd ever seen -him before until he spoke to me one day. -You'd sent me a lot of little snap-shots, -Elizabeth, and I was showing them to some -of the officers and mentioned your name. -I saw him turn, and after awhile he came and -asked to look at the pictures. I noticed -then that he didn't pay much attention to -any of them but yours, and when he handed -them back he said hastily that he wanted to -have a talk with me. He had the reserved -English way, but I could see that he was -much upset. The next day we had a pretty -hot little skirmish, getting some of us for -good, and wounding a good many. After -the fight was over they sent for me to go to -the field hospital, and there he was, wounded -badly--knowing he had to die!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth was strangely shaken during -this story, and she held fast to her mother's -hand, as though to make sure they were -not giving her up. Instinct told her of -whom Captain Spooner was speaking, and -when he went on she needed no further -explanation.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He was an Englishman, sure enough, -Elizabeth, of good family, but a younger son, -of course, and without any money. It seems -he married the daughter of the rector of his -parish, and she hadn't anything either. -They came over to America--to Texas--thinking -to make a fortune, but found hard -times and bad luck instead. His young -wife died while they were on their way to -California, traveling in a wagon, and he -was so broken-hearted and helpless that he -left his baby girl with--well, he left her -with a mighty good woman, and I guess he -knew it!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Captain Spooner glanced at his wife; -Elizabeth dropped her head on her mother's -slender shoulder and cried softly.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"It makes me feel so sorry," she -whispered. "Yet I'm glad too--glad I -belong to you, even if my father did desert me!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"He didn't, Elizabeth. That is, not -knowingly," Captain Spooner explained -gently. "When he went away from here -he had promised to send money for your -keep, and he said he would come back for -you. He did send some money, then all at -once it ceased, and we never heard from -him again. It seems he got word that you -were dead. Some movers coming through -told him of a baby that had died, and they -mixed it up some way. He was sick and -down on his luck at the time, and failed to -write to us, but he never would have done -it if he'd known his daughter was living. -Philip Maude wasn't that kind of a man. -He was a gentleman, born and bred, and a -brave man always."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"O, Father--I love to hear you say that!" -said Elizabeth. "I'll always be glad to -think of him as brave and kind. But -I thought--Cousin Hannah said--wasn't -the name </span><em class="italics">Mudd</em><span>?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Mudd? No, indeed. His name was -Maude--M-a-u-d-e. A very good name, -too. What on earth made you think it -was Mudd?"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cousin Hannah told me so," sobbed -Elizabeth. "And O, now I can tell you -when it's all over--I've been so bitterly -ashamed and miserable to know that I, -who used to really fool myself into thinking -I was better than other people, was just a -miserable mover's child--and that my name -was Mudd!"</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"Cousin Hannah always did pronounce -it that way," said Mrs. Spooner, "she may -have thought it was spelled so--it's too bad -to think how you suffered for her mistake." The -motherly eyes overflowed, realizing how -sensitive Elizabeth, who adored pretty -names, must have felt at being saddled with -such a grotesquely ugly one.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"So Philip Maude thought his daughter -was dead till I showed those pictures. He -told me that when he saw the little photograph -it was like looking at a picture of his -dead wife. He saw how much I loved you, -and how proud I was of you, and he had a -struggle in his mind to know whether he -ought to claim you after all these years; -but he had decided that he must give you -up when the fight came on, and the decision -was taken out of his bands. The reason he -sent for me at the last was that he had, a -few weeks before he enlisted, got notice of -a small inheritance that had fallen to him -in England. It won't be more than -twenty-five thousand dollars--five thousand -pounds, he called it--but he made his will, -and gave me his papers so that you might -prove your right to it, and he said that you -might want to go home to your own people -in England. He sent you this ring, and -this broken watch chain--the watch itself -was shattered by the bullet that gave him -his death wound."</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Elizabeth took the ring and chain he -handed her and wept over them. They -seemed to bring the father she had never -consciously seen very close to her. It was -not as though he took this father's place, -but rather as if he were some one among -her ancestors, far back, almost in another life.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>"I hope I may go there some time," she -said at last. "But you and mother are the -only father and mother I can ever have--and -my home must be here with you."</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>* * * * *</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 1em"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst"><span>The Spooners stayed on in the old adobe -through the winter. There was little to -do at the ranch, and they were really more -comfortable where they were. The first -installment of Elizabeth's income arrived -from England about holiday time, and made -things most wonderfully joyous in the -Spooner family. It was comical to see how -the new state of affairs impressed Maudie -Pratt. Grandmother's diamond ring -became a small matter indeed compared to -the small packet of really excellent old -jewelry that was forwarded to Elizabeth. -The fact that she added Maude to her -name, simply calling herself Elizabeth -Maude Spooner, was rather a disappointment. -Maudie Pratt, under similar -circumstances, would have promptly dropped -the Spooner altogether.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The wise little mother looked on and -breathed many a sigh of thankfulness that -Elizabeth's good fortune had not come to -her before she was tried and proven. When -she saw her daughter choose wisely, and -behave modestly, and carry her new honors -with simple graciousness, she was aware -that the year of discipline which had -preceded the reward, had made it a reward -indeed.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When they all went out again to the -ranch, Elizabeth insisted on investing some -of her money in making the home beautiful -and comfortable for them all. Harvey -Grannis admired her greatly for doing so, -yet he was in some sense jealous, and being -a man of means he attempted, with a -simplicity that sometimes made them all -laugh, to match any act of generosity on -Elizabeth's part with one of his own. -There was soon a commodious, well-built -house, a beautiful and properly irrigated -lawn, with beds of brilliant flowers where -once only the cactus could be coaxed to -bloom. These out-door luxuries were made -possible by that almost unattainable thing -in such a country--plenty of water, for -Harvey Grannis made his namesake a deed -to the pasture containing the big water-hole. -More land was bought and added to the -ranch, as Captain Spooner prospered, and -with the luck of 'him that hath,' money -came in until the Spooner brand was -perhaps the best in the country, and of such -fine quality that it was the pride of old -Jonah's heart.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The question of education was one of the -first things to come up in the affairs of -these young people, and Elizabeth declared -that her income was to be used for schooling -the whole bunch--and in the bunch she -included Roy Lambert. That independent -young man, however, preferred to work -his way, as many an independent American -boy has done before him. He chose an -agricultural college, for he believed that the -cattle business would gradually diminish, -and that all of the ranches would be forced -into more or less farming as the years went -on. His ideas have proved correct, and as -he is a skilled and educated farmer, and a -natural manager, Captain Spooner has never -seen the time when he was willing to give -up the claim they had on him at the time -that Mrs. Spooner called him her adopted son.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Most laughable of all, Harvey Grannis -takes a great pride and personal satisfaction -in Roy's success. To hear him talk about -it one would think he had brought the boy -west and placed him in his sister's -home--as indeed he did, though quite unwittingly. -With the lapse of years Harvey has become -gentler in his dealings with people, and -more amenable. If he ever quarrels--and -being Harvey Grannis, of course he does -sometimes--the Babe immediately acts as -peacemaker, and he declares that his nieces -are the finest girls in the state of Texas, and -that the Babe is to inherit every acre and -hoof of his possessions!</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>These greater advantages came to the -Babe earlier than to the other girls, and she -was the only one of the three who cared to -go to an eastern college and take a degree. -She was preparing herself for her chosen -career as a writer of stories for children, -finding in that work free vent for her -exuberant fancy.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>The year Ruth was nineteen she visited -Mary in Oklahoma, and came back engaged -to her brother-in-law's brother, a young -ranchman of good looks and qualities, and -fairly prosperous. She now lives on a -ranch of her own, and, with Mary, makes -frequent visits to the home folks, where the -circle is still unbroken, even old Jonah still -being spry and happy, and delighting in -relating his wonderful war stories as of old.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>When Elizabeth finally left for England, -partly to see her people--who consisted of -somewhat distant relatives, and partly for -a course of study, Roy felt that he would -not be honorable in asking her to consent -to an engagement. He told her that he -was sure she would find her ideals changing -very much when she was among her own -people, in such surroundings as were really -befitting to her.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>But she came back to Silver Spur, a -well-trained and popular painter of miniatures, -having chosen this for her profession. She -came back to Roy, and to the dear parents -who were, after all, more her own people -than those she had left behind her in England.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>And it turned out that Elizabeth's real -profession is not art but home-making. She -and Roy are married and live still at Silver -Spur, perfectly happy with each other, and -radiating happiness about them by the love -and forethought of beautiful, unselfish -natures.</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 3em"> -</div> -<p class="center pfirst"><span>(THE END.)</span></p> -<div class="vspace" style="height: 6em"> -</div> -<!-- -*- encoding: utf-8 -*- --> -<div class="backmatter"> -</div> -<p class="pfirst" id="pg-end-line"><span>*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK </span><span>THE GIRLS OF SILVER SPUR RANCH</span><span> ***</span></p> -<div class="cleardoublepage"> -</div> -<div class="language-en level-2 pgfooter section" id="a-word-from-project-gutenberg" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> -<span id="pg-footer"></span><h2 class="level-2 pfirst section-title title"><span>A Word from Project Gutenberg</span></h2> -<p class="pfirst"><span>We will update this book if we find any errors.</span></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>This book can be found under: </span><a class="reference external" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44576"><span>http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/44576</span></a></p> -<p class="pnext"><span>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no one -owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation (and -you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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