"W-h-y--Polly Brewster! You are positively unladylike in your manner of speaking of marriage and a future husband!" objected Barbara, shocked.
Polly turned on her, as the proverbial worm turned:
"Pooh! What do _you_ know about real life! You--a silly selfish moth!
All you can think of is money, clothes, beaus!
"You can"t see a spider without fainting, and you mince about the moment you hear John or Tom are near. You"re not a woman of _to-day_! You"re a manufactured specimen of the past generation. Thank goodness, such as _you_ are on the wane; and even modern men who are looking for mates--not helpless weights upon their backs--select them from the business world where girls are climbing to the top of the ladder as fast as conditions will permit them to.
"Don"t _you_ sit there with your powdered face and crimped-up hair and tell me I am unladylike! You never thought of being the lady your sister is, and certainly I wouldn"t say that you can hold a candle to _me_! I was brought up by a lady, and I call myself as thorough a one as any of your society friends!"
"Oh, Polly--dearest!" Eleanor squealed, running over and squeezing her friend in her arms so that she gasped. Then releasing her, said: "I never heard anything so glorious in my life! Not even the suffrage leader in Chicago, when she was stumping for "Votes for Women," was ever as thrilling as you!"
"Polly, you are right! A girl has as good a right to her individual expression in life as any man has. I will champion your cause, henceforth, and even try to convince your father that he is narrow-minded in his selfishness about tying you to his heels," declared Anne Stewart, bravely throwing down the "glove" to every one.
Eleanor now transferred her hugs and admiration to Anne, and Mrs.
Brewster lifted her face from the screen of a handkerchief to look at John.
Tom Latimer and John exchanged looks, then turned to Mrs. Brewster. John was the first to speak.
"Mother, it looks as if "Polly-Eleanor Company" are going to incorporate themselves in spite of all we can do to claim their shares of stock."
"I haven"t a doubt but that the "Polly-Eleanor Company," is bound to succeed in any venture of life," replied Mrs. Brewster.
"Mother, you don"t blame me for wanting to get away from you?" cried Polly, running over to her mother.
"Dearest, I would be a poor mother if I expected to have my children hang about my neck to remind me that I ought to be petted and worked for, just because I claimed the right of being their parent! Every n.o.ble parent is only too willing to judiciously a.s.sist a child in finding his or her own niche in life.
"I have known for a long time that you would realize how stunting this ranch-life is to your unfolding aspirations. For me, it embraces all that I love and have, but for you two ambitious children of my younger days, it would be a veritable grave.
"I feel exactly as Anne does about this step--try your own wings, dear child, and wisely select your own walk in life. No father or mother can live your life for you, but they can guide and warn you away from snares and pitfalls. When a child has cast aside its "swaddling clothes," as you said, it must stand alone.
"I have argued this out with your father, many times this past year, but he clings fondly to the belief that you are too young to leave home; and he has persisted in holding you in the material concept, instead of realizing that you are purely mental and must feed your mental hunger with proper nourishment.
"I had another argument with him this evening, after his return from the Slide. He expected to convince me that everything would go to ruin if the Cliffs were worked and you were allowed to go away to school. But I turned the tables: I convinced _him_ that he was standing in your light of a future glory by keeping you limited in your realization of an ideal. That only a family disaster and your unhappiness, must result from such old-fashioned views.
"He finally agreed that if you and the others, here, said that a higher education was what his girl craved and needed, he would withdraw all objections--once for all. That is why he left us--to discuss and settle this momentous question. Polly, you have won!"
Polly flung her arms about her mother"s neck and wept softly: "But poor father! At what costs have I won?"
"S-sh! Don"t let any one hear you weaken now. This is the moment of your triumph, and you must not look back lest you be turned to a "pillar of salt,"" whispered her mother.
"Then father _did_ agree to have Polly go to school?" asked John, curiously.
"Yes, if you-all agreed that it was for the best."
"And are we to have the Cliffs if the stone proves valuable?" eagerly added Tom Latimer.
"Having waived his right to keep Polly at home, he says we can turn the whole crater upside-down if we like," said Mrs. Brewster, smilingly.
"But I wouldn"t goad him, too far, just now. We have won such a mighty victory, that you haven"t the faintest idea of what it means to the vanquished. It is doubtful if we can know anything definite about the Cliffs for the next two or three weeks, so let us not speak of it until then."
"But, Mrs. Brewster, if Anne goes to New York to teach, and takes her mother, where will Polly stay? I"ve been thinking how fine it will be to have her live with me in Chicago," said Eleanor, eagerly.
"Why--Eleanor Maynard! You can"t invite strangers to your mother"s home!
It may not be convenient to have any one there this winter," objected Barbara.
"Well, don"t borrow trouble, Bob! It"s father"s home as well as mother"s, and I can ask a friend to stay with me if I like."
"I wouldn"t think of ever going to your home, Nolla dear. I"d love to know your father from all you tell me, but I never would stay in that house," declared Polly, quickly.
"We have several weeks to discuss a school for Polly," remarked Mrs.
Brewster, rising to go out and seek her husband.
"I"d love to be with Anne," ventured Polly, wistfully.
"Maybe you will, dear. Don"t say any more about it, now, but trust to your dear mother"s wisdom and ways. Whatever is best for you, she will see that it is brought about," replied Anne, thus winning a grateful smile from John.
Barbara now went to her room, as she felt the company was not appreciative of her presence, and was too attentive on Polly. Polly and Eleanor went over to incidentally ask Tom Latimer about certain details in Evans" patent, and more especially what did he know about Kenneth Evans. As both girls were acquainted with Jim Latimer, they had not the same curiosity to hear any one talk about him.
But John took advantage of this trio tete-a-tete to hurry Anne out of the room. Quite naturally, they took the path that ran about the side of the house, where the rose-climbers cast heavy shadows in the moonlight.
Thence they walked, arm in arm, along the crater-trail where it led to the Cliffs.
CHAPTER IX
JEB"S SUNDAY NIGHT OFF
Jim Latimer and Kenneth Evans made their appearance much earlier on Sunday morning, than they had on the previous one. When greetings with his brother, and the family at Pebbly Pit were over, Jim explained: "The Boss lifted his ban on using the horses, when he found his men grumbling all week over their wretched Sunday."
Of course, the two new arrivals were interested in hearing all about the gold mine and its present condition, not only because there might be a possibility that Kenneth"s uncle was the Montresor who first discovered the vein of ore, but also because Polly and Eleanor were such good pals, and they deserved something big like a gold mine! Which goes to show that youth needs no time or preparation to discover and appreciate any desirable qualities of mind and soul.
Barbara was in her element that Sunday, as John escorted Anne wherever they went, and the two younger girls had Jim and Kenneth for companions. So, quite naturally, Tom Latimer fell to her lot. As she had been carefully trained to make the most of any opportunity offered, especially with a rich and desirable young man for the prize, she used every art to captivate Tom. But the young man was sensibly educated and wondered why really good-looking girls should act as silly as Barbara did on this occasion.
He felt embarra.s.sed at having to look at her from time to time, as she was powdered and rouged as she would have been for a ballroom in the city, and poor Tom thought that, perhaps, she had some loathsome irruption on her face that necessitated this covering of the natural skin. Consequently he managed to keep his eyes turned away that the girl might not feel too unhappy over her trouble.
But Barbara thought her cavalier was so effected that he could not look at her without feeling her powers of beauty and attraction; so she posed and minced her way as she fondly believed into Tom"s plastic heart. Had she but known the truth!
A merry family group sat down, at noon, to the delicious dinner served under the giant oak-tree. And Mr. Brewster, as affable as if he had not been tried by a family-court the night previous, asked the younger boys how their survey-work was progressing.
"Oh fine! We have lots of fun in camp, and when we go out on a section the work is so interesting!" exclaimed Kenneth.
"With such a large crowd of men, I suppose you two boys are considered more as kids who are to be teased and imposed upon, eh?" asked Tom Latimer, having read his brother"s letters about the crew.
"That"s the best part of the crowd--they seem to forget that we both are tenderfeet and years younger than they are. Ken and I are treated exactly like any of the older men in the crew," replied Jim.
"Yes, we are paired off with certain groups to rain-proof the canvas tents, to act as commissary agents, and to share in all the ch.o.r.es the others do. Just because Jim has a rich father and because I have to work for a living, makes no difference to them. Caste and wealth counts as nothing out in these wilds. It is what a fellow stands for and can prove that is his introduction and guarantee of manliness," added Kenneth.