cried Sary, sympathetically, while Barbara struggled vainly to wrench herself free from the ill-smelling wrap that generally hung in Halsey"s kitchen.
"Ah hev it! Polly, git the box Nolla gave me. Ah"ll let Miss Bob wear my scarf!"
This meant supreme sacrifice for Sary, but she willingly offered the one and only treasure to serve a betrayed friend. Still she was at a loss to understand where that basque could be!
Finally Barbara squirmed free and Mrs. Brewster managed to say:
"Sary, Bob has on one of her most modern evening gowns. They are made without tops, you know!"
Sary gasped and suddenly collapsed upon the chair. Her strained expression, as she took a covert look at the dress, spoke volumes.
"Glory be, Miss Brewster," whispered Sary, hoa.r.s.ely. "You-all don" mean it fer trut", do yuh?"
"Yes, Sary, it is a very expensive and stylish robe."
"An" kin you-all let her march brazen-like, like that, in front of the men!" shrilled Sary, holding both wide hands over her heart.
"I never heard or dreamed there was such ignorance in the world, as I have found in Colorado!" now flared Barbara, turning and leaving the cloak-room.
Sary waited but a second, then she cried, "Ah cain"t "low Jeb t" see sech sights--an" he a good bachelor-man!"
Sary rushed out to spare her prey any shocks, and the other members of the party gazed at each other doubtfully.
"Oh, well, it"s not our funeral, Potty!" said Eleanor.
"Shall we join the dancers?" asked Anne.
"Yes, but I fear Bob will be ostracized," said Mrs. Brewster.
"Serve her right! Anne and I told her not to dress like that, but she _would_, you know. She wanted to show folks the style," explained Eleanor, taking silent Polly by the arm and leading her out to the main hall.
As they left the cloak-room, the girls heard the fiddler shout: "Git yer pardners fer the Grand March!"
And from that time on to midnight, the three girls had the best fun ever. But poor Barbara stood near the cloak-room as isolated as the plague, for the ranchers dared not even look at a gown without a top, let alone dance with the doubtful thing.
CHAPTER XI
IN THE WILDERNESS
Each day the four girls rode along various trails until, in the judgment of Jeb, they were practiced enough to take a longer ride in the mountains.
Polly had been urging Jeb to give a favorable opinion on their ability to stand a prolonged ride to the Flat Tops, but he was careful and practical and persisted in making them try a greater distance daily to finally harden them to a rough trail.
Then Jeb said he reckoned the girls could start for a real outing.
Immediately, they planned where to go and what to see.
Polly outlined a trip that might take a whole day, so they would have to take food and kit for cooking purposes. Each girl would ride her favorite horse or burro and the extra burro, Choko, could carry the outfit.
Of course, Polly decided to ride Noddy, as the burro was well acquainted with her mistress"s ways and the mountains. Eleanor preferred a burro also, because, as she said comically, "if one falls from a burro"s back it is not far to Mother Earth." The two other girls selected horses, sure-footed and trained for climbing.
On the morning chosen for the trip, Mrs. Brewster and Sary were up at day-break preparing the kit and packing the panniers. At breakfast, four eager girls, with wide sombreros on their heads, heavy mountain-shoes and leather puttees covering feet and limbs, talked of the great adventures they were about to meet with.
Sam Brewster laughed at their wild imaginings and said: "Ah shouldn"t wonder but what you-all will find a second "Aladdin"s Lamp" hiding place. Just think of the fun to be had by rubbing the Lamp and wishing for things!"
Then Jeb brought the mounts from the barn and Sary helped him strap the panniers and kit to Choko. Just as they were ready to start, Sary flew out with a paper package carefully held.
"Polly, Ah made a s"prise fer you-all, but don"t let Choko roll in it er run away, er my work will go fer nuthin"."
"Don"t worry about Choko, Sary, he"s too trustworthy to serve us such a trick," bragged Polly, petting the burro on the head.
"Wall, then, see thet it hain"t shooken up too much er gittin" mashed under the ax," were the parting words from Sary, as she shifted the short ax, which is an important item in every outfit.
It was a wonderful summer day--the kind that makes one feel happy in mere living, and the antic.i.p.ation of wonders to come added a zest to the outing for the girls.
They left the trail leading from Pebbly Pit and picked up the rough mountain trail at the Forks, Barbara and Eleanor exclaiming constantly at the gorgeous wild flowers growing wherever the roots could find lodgment.
"I never saw such columbines! Four times the size of ours in the East,"
cried Eleanor.
"And those marvelous orange-colored blossoms! They look like a rare exotic, with their huge cl.u.s.ters and flaunting colors!" exclaimed Barbara.
"If you girls think these are so beautiful, just wait till we reach the "bottoms"--there you will see size and color enough to make you wonder if you accidentally struck Paradise," said Anne.
"And our ferns and mosses, girls! You never saw such specimen, elsewhere," added Polly, churking to Choko to hurry on.
"Polly, why did Jeb over-load that poor little burro?" now asked Barbara, having lost her momentary interest in flora.
"Choko isn"t over-loaded at all. Of course it looks as if he had a great load to carry, but pans and woolen blankets look more than they weigh, you see. The heaviest thing he carries is my ax, I reckon."
"Ax! What do you want of an ax?" wondered Barbara.
"Can"t tell how cold it may be up on the mountain-top, so I brought the sheath-knife, ax, rifle, and other things in case we get the tail-end of a blizzard."
"And the blankets in case we get lost and need to camp out all night,"
added Anne, teasingly, seeing the city girls" fears.
"You can"t really mean it, Anne! Surely we won"t lose our way, and as for a blizzard! Well, it is July," laughed Barbara.
"It wouldn"t be the first time we ran into a blizzard in July,"
commented Polly.
"But how is it possible, girl alive!" cried Barbara.
"Possible enough on the Flat Tops. The merest rag of a cloud finds an excuse to carry snow from the peaks. The wonder will be if we come away without seeing snow fall."