THE BARBEQUE
Julie and Gerald were hilariously excited as the hour of the roast
approached. Mr. Packard had selected them as his aides, had made them a
committee on arrangement. They took wood to the pit and then went with
the ever-beaming Chinese gardener to the field where the corn grew, and
they carried back between them a heavily laden basket. Then the long
table near the lake that was sheltered by cottonwood trees was set with
the plate and dishes found on every cattle ranch in reserve for round-ups
and similar occasions when many are to be fed.
In the center Julie placed a huge bouquet of scarlet salvia and golden
glow to make the table "extra-pretty," and she put Meg's name nearest the
flowers, but, with the innocence of childhood, she put Dan's name at the
place directly opposite. When the guests were finally summoned, Julie's
big brother protested that he didn't want to sit directly behind that
huge bouquet because he couldn't "see anything." Julie looked perplexed.
"Why, yes, you can so! You can see the foothills, and just lots of
things."
Then Gerald blurted out, "Silly, he can't see Meg Heger, can he, when
you've put her right across from the bouquet?"
How they all laughed, even Meg, and Mrs. Starr, glancing at the mountain
girl, marveled at her beauty, and thought it quite natural that any lad
would rather look at her than at a scarlet and gold bouquet.
Mr. Packard settled the matter by removing the huge centerpiece to a side
table. "There, that's heaps better!" Jean said as he smiled across at
Marion. "Now I also have a better view of the foothills," he added
mischievously.
It was hard, cruelly hard for Jane, even though Bob Starr, who was seated
next to her, tried his utmost to be entertaining. Bob was indeed puzzled.
He was not at all conceited, but, up to the present, he had found even
very attractive girls seeking, rather than spurning, his companionship.
"Icebergs aren't in my line," he decided, and turned toward little Julie,
who was on his other side, and whose fresh enthusiasm was interesting,
even to a lad several years her senior.
Merry noticed that her best friend did not eat with the same zest that
was very apparent in the appetites of all the others, and, after a time,
she suggested to Bob that he change seats with her. The table had just
been cleared and Gerald had darted away with the Chinaman to bring on the
generous slices of watermelon, and so the change was made very easily.
Merry slipped a hand under the table and held Jane's in a close, loving
clasp. "Dear," she said very softly, "you aren't feeling well, are you?
Shall we go back to the ranch house? I do not mind missing the
watermelon."
"No, thank you, Marion," Jane's voice, try as she might to make it sound
natural, had in it a note of reserve that was almost cold. For the first
time in the years that they had been so intimate, Jane had used the
formal Marion. The friends who loved her always called her Merry.
Something was wrong, radically wrong. Merry ate her slice of melon,
wondering what it could possibly be, and finally decided that if Jane's
manner remained unchanged throughout the evening, she would accompany her
mother to the East on the following day.
"There is going to be a wonderful moon tonight," Mr. Packard said, "Why
don't you young people climb the foothill trail and watch it rise?"
"That's a good suggestion!" Jean Sawyer at once offered to lead the
expedition. Then, as everyone had arisen, he went to the two girls, who
were seated together, and said with a smile which included them both,
"Shall we three go ahead?"
But Jane replied, "You and Merry may go. I have one of my sick headaches.
I shall go to bed at once." Jean Sawyer looked at the girl almost sadly.
Then he said quietly, "I am sorry, Jane. May I walk back to the house
with you?"
"I thank you, no!" The girl's haughty manner was in evidence. Then going
to Mr. Packard, she asked to be excused and walked quickly around the
little lake. Merry watched her thoughtfully, then turning to her
companion, she said, "Jean, I think I understand. May I tell her our
secret now--tonight?"
The boy assented eagerly. "I shall be glad to have Jane know," he said.
Then Merry also excused herself and followed her friend.