A few minutes after Lightnin' disappeared down the trail, headed for the
local telegraph-office, John Marvin approached the hotel from the
opposite direction. He paused when some distance away and viewed the
place. It was his first visit in many weeks, and naturally his first
since the great transformation. It could be surmised, however, that this
visit was not one of idle curiosity; neither was his pause due to a mere
desire to observe the various changes recently made. He watched the
establishment closely for a minute; then came on slowly, keeping a sharp
eye on his surroundings. As he reached the steps Millie came out on the
veranda. She was engaged in what, these days, had become one of the
chief occupations of nearly every one in the Hotel Calivada--searching
for Lightnin' Bill Jones, whose persistent faculty of being absent when
most wanted was fast assuming the dimensions of a public aggravation.
"Why, hello, stranger!" Millie exclaimed, with a welcoming smile. "I
thought you had forgotten all about us! You haven't been here for ever
so long!"
Marvin came up the steps and seized both her hands, which she let him
hold for a moment.
"I haven't forgotten _you_, Millie," he said, gently, smiling down into
her brown eyes. "But--well, you know I went away last time with an idea
that you didn't care to see me."
"Silly boy!" Her tone was gaily impersonal, but her red lips puckered
into a pretty pout as she walked to a chair in the corner of the veranda
and sat down.
"I thought that maybe you had returned to Mr. Thomas's office," he
remarked, following her and standing beside her chair.
"No; I'm not going back, not now," said Millie, thoughtfully. She did
not look up at him, but fixed her gaze on her hands, folded in her lap.
"What a tremendous student you were in his office! I never saw any one
work so hard as you did."
"Except when you were in the room--then I was looking at you, most of
the time!" Marvin bent over her, but she gave no sign that she read his
attitude.
"If you'd been looking at me, I'd have seen you." She smiled and raised
her eyes. "You've not given up the study of law, have you?" There was
concern in the lift of her brow.
"Oh no! But I'm not going back into Mr. Thomas's office. Why did you
leave him, Millie? Was there any trouble?"
"Trouble? Of course not! How could any one have trouble with Mr.
Thomas?" Surprise and annoyance stood in her eyes.
Marvin did not reply at once, but drew up another chair and sat down
facing her. He leaned forward, his eyes searching hers as he questioned,
"You like Mr. Thomas--like him very much, don't you, Millie?"
"I more than like him!" An angry color suffused her cheeks as she looked
Marvin up and down. "I adore him!" she added. "You've no idea how fine
he is!"
Marvin started at this--naturally. The situation was going to be more
difficult than he had anticipated. Could it be that Millie was really in
love with Raymond Thomas? Or had he merely convinced her that his
business motives were all that they should be? Perhaps it was both!
Anyway, it was obvious that the girl had Thomas up on some sort of
pedestal; she was in a spunky mood, and Marvin saw that he was going to
have his hands full trying to convince her that the feet on the pedestal
were made of clay. Marvin flushed himself; he did not relish his
position; he shrank from seemingly disparaging another man behind his
back, especially to a girl. If there had been only himself to consider,
he would not have spoken at all. Neither was it altogether for Millie's
sake. She was young, capable, quick-witted; she would see through Thomas
of her own accord, soon enough--if she were not actually in love with
him! But Marvin was thinking of the old people, of hard-working, simple
Mrs. Jones, and of amiable, careless Bill. Millie was the young, strong
member of the Jones household, and it was Millie who must be convinced
and won over, if possible. Thus ran Marvin's thoughts--but quite
honestly he admitted to himself that his love for the girl might be
coloring his logic and his motives just a little.
"I'd like to tell you something I know about Thomas--"
"Oh, I know!" Millie interrupted, quickly. "He sold some property for
your mother, isn't that it?"
"Yes; he sold it to the railroad--for a big price."
"I know--he told me all about it. He's a splendid business man! Why,
that's exactly what he is doing for us! Hasn't daddy told you about it?"
She glanced at him quickly, but he gave no sign of having heard this
wonderful news. "I should think you'd like to see Mr. Thomas. He's
up-stairs packing, now. He's leaving this evening. He came all the way
from San Francisco just to help me--to help us all!"
"To help you?" Marvin asked.
Millie clasped her hands over her knees and went on, enthusiastically:
"Why, this hotel idea has turned out splendidly, you know. But a week or
two ago, Mr. Thomas wrote to mother, saying that he had heard that the
railroad company had got wind of our success and contemplated putting up
a rival hotel just back of us. Mother was nearly crazy at the news, and
I wrote to Mr. Thomas, asking him his advice. He telegraphed that he
would be right out to see us! Wasn't that just like him?"
"Exactly," said Marvin, dryly. "And I presume that when Mr. Thomas
arrived he suggested that you let him persuade the railroad to buy this
place and erect the new hotel here, instead of next door!"
"Why, John--aren't you clever!" Millie exclaimed. "How did you guess it?
That is exactly what he suggested, and now it's all arranged! And
they're going to pay enough to make mother and daddy comfortable for the
rest of their lives!"
With a hopeless gesture, Marvin got to his feet and took a pace or two
up and down the veranda. The girl watched him, puzzled.
"Are they going to pay cash?" Marvin asked, pausing in front of her.
"It's much better than cash! It's shares of stock that pay ten per cent.
a year! It seems almost too good to be true."
"It does--it certainly does!" came from Marvin.
The girl had risen, glowing with enthusiasm. Quite naturally she put her
hand on his arm and looked up at him happily, intimately, naively
seeking his approval.
In the midst of his perplexity Marvin's heart gave a bound. That naive
touch on his arm and the intimate light in the brown eyes told him that,
in one respect at least, all was not lost--not yet! He was about to take
her hands and break into a rush of words when the girl suddenly turned
her attention from him, remarking, eagerly: "Here comes daddy. We were
afraid he'd deserted again!"
Marvin swung around. Much as he wanted to see Lightnin' to-day, he
wished, just then, that Bill could have seen fit to delay his appearance
a few minutes longer. Bill Jones, however, came serenely up the steps
and stood with his hands in his pockets, shrewdly and humorously
inspecting the pair.
"Sorry to interrupt the billin' an' cooin'," he remarked. "But say,
John, ain't you takin' some chances round here? Did you know that
Blodgett's here? I seen him go up-stairs when I went out."
Millie had flushed and turned away at her foster-father's first words,
but now she looked curiously from one to the other.
"What on earth do you mean, daddy?" she questioned.
"He's just _helping me_, Millie," said Marvin, grinning at Bill. "Thanks
for the tip, Lightnin', but I wanted to see you particularly to-day, so
I--"
He stopped abruptly, for Bill had raised a warning hand.
Marvin recognized a familiar voice talking in the lobby. Glancing in,
he saw Raymond Thomas standing in the center of the room, holding Mrs.
Jones in conversation. Hammond and Blodgett had just come down the
stairs and were joining the other two.
"Better beat it, John!" Lightnin' whispered.
But Marvin stood there. He was thinking quickly. He had caught a word or
two of what Thomas was saying, and he gathered that matters were coming
to a climax. Suddenly his expression cleared and he grinned.
"Never mind about that, Lightnin'," he said, mechanically opening the
door for Millie, who, seeing that they were ignoring her, tripped in
with a petulant toss of her head. "I think I have a little scheme that
will fool our friend Blodgett. But first--Bill, promise me that you
won't sign that deed without consulting me!"
"All right," said Lightnin', slowly. "I promise. But you better be
careful, John, an'--"
"Come on!" Marvin interrupted, leading the way himself. "I've a great
desire to be in on these proceedings!"
Seeing that the young man was not to be stopped, Bill said no more as he
slid through the door and ambled after him into the lobby.