"Did your crew move to a new line, as you thought they would?" asked Eleanor.
"Yes, we are now at Silver Creek, but we only have another week"s work to do there. Then we move on to the next section which will be near Buffalo Park. Isn"t that the place where you said Old Montresor had a cabin?" said Jim.
"Yes, and it is a lovely spot. I"ve been there, and I promised Nolla I"d ride there with her some day," returned Polly.
"Oh, I say, girls! Wouldn"t it be great to have you-all ride up while we camped there? You could make up a party of it, couldn"t you?" asked Kenneth, eagerly.
"And we"d get Old Carew to give you a _regular_ party! The men in our crowd are gentlemen from different parts of the States, and they would help us entertain," added Jim.
"I think it would be a treat, Mrs. Brewster, for all of us. John and I would join the picnickers," now said Tom Latimer.
"Say, would you really, Tom?" cried Jim, delightedly.
"Sure thing. If Mr. and Mrs. Brewster approve."
John looked at his mother. "It will be dandy, Mother, if you and Dad will go, too."
"Father and I wouldn"t go, John, if Tom and you will escort the girls,"
returned Mrs. Brewster.
"Oh, but we couldn"t think of going, Mrs. Brewster, unless you chaperoned us among so many men!" exclaimed Barbara. Then when she saw Tom Latimer looking at her she modestly drooped her head.
Tom was thinking: "Of all the empty-headed vain creatures it ever was my misfortune to meet, she takes the cake!"
"That needn"t trouble you, girls. If you will come on a Sat.u.r.day and spend Sunday at camp with us, we will have the Boss"s wife there to act as hostess. Mrs. Carew always spends Sundays at camp--unless the Boss rides down to town to visit her. Sometimes she brings the school teacher from Oak Creek, or other ladies who enjoy the novel life in a survey camp," explained Jim, enthusiastically.
"Do let"s go, Anne! Can"t we say yes?" said Eleanor, eagerly.
"How long will both of you boys be here?" Anne asked of John.
"We planned to wait until we hear, one way or the other, regarding the stones we sent to New York, and about the financing of Choko"s Find.
Perhaps Dad and Dr. Evans might even come out and look the ground over for themselves, before answering my letter," said John.
"Then we could safely arrange to go next Sunday, or the Sunday after?"
"Oh, yes, we will be home for a month, most likely."
John"s voice betrayed his satisfaction that such was to be the case, and Anne smiled faintly, because she could not control her own pleasure in hearing him say so. Mrs. Brewster and Tom Latimer exchanged glances of understanding but no one else saw them.
So it was decided that if Mrs. Carew was to visit her husband over the following week-end, and the weather permitted, the young folks would form a party to ride up to Buffalo Park on Sat.u.r.day. With this pleasure in view, the two boys went back to camp in the early afternoon, the distance being so far from Pebbly Pit, that it would be quite dark before they reached camp.
After they had gone, Polly and Eleanor wandered around at a loss for something to do. Being Sunday, their sports were limited to a quiet time. So they decided to visit the corrals and see Noddy and Choko, as the burros had been neglected by their riders during the past few days of the excitement over gold.
They were pa.s.sing the wagon-house, when Polly caught hold of Eleanor"s arm for silence. Both girls listened and distinctly heard a man speaking in dramatic tones. The voice was not recognizable, although Polly had not heard of any new hand having been hired.
"Ef Ah wasn"t sh.o.r.e we-all"d be happy, Ah never would be h"ar askin" fur yor hand an" heart." Then there was a pause.
A low mumbling followed, and then the voice again cried:
"Ef you-all w"arn"t my match, Ah"d go away and nary trouble this ranch agin. But folkses kin see we-all w"ar made fer each other. Even John says so!" Then sounded another jumble of incoherent words.
"Who under the sun is it? A couple who are in love with each other?"
wondered Eleanor, aloud, as she turned to Polly.
"Whoever it is, they are behind the wagon-shed. Let"s creep up to the harness loft and see who it is. There isn"t another woman on the farm beside Sary, and I"m sure I saw her in the house, when we left there."
Polly led the way up the ladder to the loft, and then they crept carefully across the floor until she reached the wide loft-window. This she opened quietly and tilted the slats so they could look down in the yard behind the barn.
There sat Jeb with a few loose pages from a pamphlet in his hands. He was memorizing the words, and as he did so he mumbled them.
Every time he had mastered a certain paragraph, he would stand up, strike a pose, and declaim in an unnatural voice, to the pig-sty that was not more than twenty feet away from the sheds.
Suddenly Polly clapped a hand over her mouth and rocked back and forth.
Instantly Eleanor wanted to know what the joke was.
"Oh, oh! I know now where Jeb got that paper book. It was advertised in our Farm Journal as being the most complete education on how to propose gracefully to a woman that man ever could find. I just bet Jeb sent for it, one day, when he asked me to address an envelope for him. He must be practicing to ask some Oak Creek girl to marry him."
Both girls now smothered their laughter, for the idea of simple little Jeb in love with some one was too funny for words. He seemed terribly in earnest, however, as he stood up again and declared his love, and beat his breast and pretended to tear at his hair:
""Ef you-all refuse me Ah shall end mah wretched existence! What is life widdout love? Oh, beuchus maiden--" no, no, Ah musen"t call her "_maiden_" er she"ll knock me down," murmured Jeb, scratching his head in perplexity.
His audience almost choked with laughter, but he suddenly brightened up again and said to himself: "Yeh, that"s it! She"ll like thet." Then he began again with one hand over his heart and the other tearing at the thin covering of hair on his head, ""Ef you-all refuse me Ah shall end this wretched life--" no, _no_! Ah shall end this wretched EXISTENCE!
What is life widdout love? Oh, beau-chus _widder_, will you-all be mine?"
As Jeb spoke his last lines, he smirked to himself and said: "Thar now, Jeb! That"ll fetch her, er John"s all wrong."
Polly and Eleanor looked at each other in consternation. Who was the widow--and what had John to do with this proposal?
Jeb was placing the little paper book in his breast pocket when the girls looked out again. Then he picked up the bucket of swill and ran over to feed the pigs. His audience, up in the loft, heard him still reciting various love-thrilling lines to himself, as the pigs grunted and snorted and ate their supper. But Eleanor said they"d better get away before Jeb found them.
[Ill.u.s.tration: JEB WAS PRACTICING LOVE-MAKING FROM A BOOK.
_Polly and Eleanor._ _Page 169_]
Polly studied her brother"s face keenly, during supper, but John seemed as free from guile as any babe. So after the table was cleared, she went up to him and whispered: "Did you tell Jeb to propose to any widow you know?"
"Why?" John"s eyes twinkled with fun.
"Because he was behind the shed all afternoon, reciting impa.s.sioned lines he had learned in a paper book. We heard him say that that would fetch the widow or you wasn"t as wise as you seemed to be."
John laughed loudly, and merely murmured: "We ought to be on guard to-night, lest Jeb commit some folly. Better watch him, Polly, and see where he goes, eh?"
"He never goes anywhere on Sunday nights. He sits on the terrace by the crater and smokes his pipe."
"Well, he is safe there, but if you see him come by, all togged out in his church clothes, let me know and I"ll see that he comes to no harm.
He may be a bit off, you know," John lightly tapped his head as he spoke.
"Oh, I hope not. Jeb is such a _good_ hand. Father would never know what to do without him. Perhaps we"d best tell father of your suspicions,"
cried Polly, deeply concerned.