Both girls had to laugh outright at the unexpected confession; but Sary was in a serious frame of mind and paid no attention to their merriment. She resumed her interrupted explanation.
"It"s jest this way, in Oak Crick country, you-all see! Single men ain"t growin" on every bush, and a widder has a hard time of it, anyway, when most ranchers" dawters are waitin" to snap up a likely catch. Jeb"s a catch, Ah says. He ain"t a gallavantin" dude, ner he ain"t spendin" all his wages on gamblin" at Red Mike"s saloon. Ah"ve learned like-as-how being right on th" spot when a man"s willin" to be cotched, is more"n half the fight to hook him. Ah kin afford to snap mah fingers at all them ranch gals about Oak Crick, tryin" their bestes to make Jeb wink his eye at "em, jus" because Ah _am_ whar Ah am keepin" tabs on him, all his time."
When the laughter caused by these words had subsided, somewhat, the two girls replied: Polly to advise and Eleanor to make a giggling explanation.
Eleanor said: "You make a wonderfully accurate time-clock on Jeb"s comings and goings, Sary."
And Polly advised: "You run back to your room, Sary, and put on a sensible dress to keep Jeb from wondering how much of his earnings it would take to dress you in fine clothes like that organdy gown cost."
"Thar"s somethin" in that, too, Polly! Ah reckon you"re right, so Ah"ll throw on that striped shirt-waist your Maw gave me, and the duck skirt with the tucks in it."
Sary vanished as quickly as she had appeared, and the two girls stood laughing as they saw the bed-room door close. Then they dried the dish-pan, hung up the towels and mop, and turned to go back to the living-room where Sam Brewster and his wife were planning for the ride to Oak Creek on the next day, and the trip up to the cave, on the day following that.
But the girls had not reached the living-room door before a "hist"
halted them. They turned in the direction of the sound and saw Jeb"s small head at the kitchen door. When he saw that he had gained their attention, he beckoned furtively with a h.o.r.n.y index finger.
Both girls tip-toed over to hear what news he had to impart, for his behavior denoted some dread secret.
"Is Sary Dodd hangin" "round?" he whispered, anxiously.
"She"s in her room getting ready for company," was Eleanor"s amused reply.
"Wall, you-all kin do me a big favor ef you-all explain like-as-how Ah was too sick to come in, to-night. She tol" me Ah jus" had to call on her, to-night, but Ah ain"t got courage. Ah kin see jus" whar all this callin" and sittin" alone of evenin"s, is goin" to land me. Sary Dodd"s got a powerful way for a woman, and Ah ain"t no marryin" man--am Ah, Polly?"
Jeb"s plaintive tone and his beseeching eyes convulsed Eleanor with the desire to laugh, but Polly saw how serious he was, in his fear of being caught by a woman"s wiles, and she replied:
"No, Jeb; you are not a marrying man, I can say that much. And Sary ought to know better than to lure you on with all her past experiences of mankind."
Polly"s earnest explanation made Eleanor lose control of herself and she sat down in a kitchen chair and laughed so heartily that Sary hurried forth. Jeb instantly ducked and tried to lose himself in the dense darkness of the out-of-doors, but Sary was too quick for him.
She darted to the door, called him with an imperative voice, and brought the recreant back to his duty of calling. Then she turned to the two girls, and said calmly, but with meaning:
"Ah"se much obliged fer th" dish-washin". Ah"ll see that the kitchen is set to rights fer the evenin"."
With this dismissal, Polly and Eleanor had to go, and laughing still, they went through the living-room door to join the others who sat about the round table figuring and planning.
Sary very quietly closed the door between the two rooms, and Eleanor whispered to Polly: "Poor Jeb! We had to leave him to his fate, after all."
By six o"clock the next morning, the riders were on the way to Oak Creek. Polly and Eleanor rode side by side and discussed a good name for the claim. After suggesting and rejecting many fine sounding names, Polly finally chuckled gleefully.
"You"ve thought of one!" declared Eleanor.
"Yes, just the thing! Won"t "Choko"s Find" suit it?"
"Great! And it was little Choko that found it, too. If he hadn"t fallen over the cliff we never would have discovered the cave and the rest of it."
"We"ll call it that--"Choko"s Find!" Say, everybody! Listen to this: The mine is going to be called "Choko"s Find"--do you like it?" called Polly to the other riders.
"Very appropriate," was the answer, so "Choko"s Find" was its name.
Reaching Oak Creek, the party rode to Mr. Simm"s office and Mr.
Brewster told the story in detail. The attorney was completely silenced at the strangeness of the adventure but demanded proof in seeing the ore before he would credit the tale.
"Well, Ah declare! If this isn"t the derndest thing Ah ever heard of in my life!" exclaimed Mr. Simms as he examined the nuggets.
"Simms, do you remember Montresor"s nuggets and legacy?" asked Mr.
Brewster.
The lawyer looked quickly up at his questioner and a look of understanding crept into his eyes. "Sam, Ah reckon it is the same!"
"The ledge, the canyon, the trails _and_ the river!" added Mr.
Brewster, convincingly.
"You-all just wait here till Ah get my papers from the Bank vault!"
excitedly cried the lawyer, s.n.a.t.c.hing his cap and running out of the office.
"Simms keeps his valuable papers in the masoned safe at the bank, you know. If the town burns down during a miners" celebration some night, his papers will be safe, anyway," explained Mr. Brewster.
The lawyer soon returned with a package held closely under his arm. He sat down and opened the papers before his visitors.
"Here"s th" rough plan of the claim and here"s Montresor"s letter that was found after he was buried--you know, Sam."
"What letter is that, Father?" wondered Polly.
"We never told you about it, as it wouldn"t have helped any one then, but now you shall read it."
"Where was it found?"
"In the pocket of an old hunting coat when we tried to find some clew to his family and home address. But the top of the letter had been torn away so we never knew for whom it was meant."
Polly took the closely written sheet and read the letter penned by her old friend on the mountains.
"At last I can say to you all, that my education was not wasted as you claimed. I have made good! I am a rich, rich man, as I write these words. I have discovered a gold mine that will prove to be worth millions. I refrained from writing as you had requested, until I had _good_ news. Now I can write.
"In the years I have spent on these mountains, I felt sure I would strike gold, as every sign in rock and sand formation, of the sides of the peaks, are favorable to gold deposits. To-day I proved my mining education to be of some worth, for it helped to guide me to a ledge, where the red-gold is so rich that it seems to run deep into the rocks, yet quite easy to mine.
"I had great difficulty in reaching the place and, afterwards, when darkness fell over the place, I had to trust to the horse to find a spot to camp. I left my claims staked out and marked as we used to do in the Klondike, and to-morrow morning I shall ride directly to Oak Creek to file the papers and have an a.s.say on the ore. I am now writing by the light of the camp-fire with grizzlies prowling about and panthers howling to get at me and the horse. But my ring of fire is security for us.
"I haven"t the slightest idea of where this camp is but I will scout around in the morning and then write you again after I return from my trip to Oak Creek.
"You must understand how happy I am, to be able to pay off my obligations and take my rightful place in the world with my family. G.o.d grant that this blessing of wealth bestowed upon me after all these years of separation and disgrace, charged against me, who am innocent, will be the last of my sufferings. I have never heard from the traitorous friend who caused me this ruin, and now it matters little!"
Polly looked up at this point and said:
"He must have finished this after the land-slide, Daddy."
"Yes, daughter: read on and you will see," replied Mr. Brewster, gently.