"Oh, Nolla! Isn't this great after old New York?" cried Polly, as they
were all jostled in the big ranch-wagon driven by Mr. Brewster, as it
rumbled over the trail to Pebbly Pit.
"We-all think it's great, Poll; but wait till you see what your going to
New York did to the old Pit! No one to blame for it but yourself,"
laughed her father.
"We heard there was a row of buildings down behind the Imps, and that a
fine roadway was constructed through the Devil's Causeway," said Polly,
eagerly.
"But no one told you how John and Tom came here as soon as college
closed, and brought a railroad man with them to see about building a
spur from Bear Forks to the valley at the foot of Grizzly Slide. It's
twenty miles nearer Denver than Oak Creek, so the company agreed to risk
the work if Pebbly Pit would guarantee a certain amount of travel and
freight over the road."
"Well--did you, Daddy?" asked Polly, eagerly.
"Tom Latimer did. Agreed to put up bonds for same."
"Tom? Why Tom Latimer?" asked Eleanor.
"Oh, Tom is mighty ambitious, you know, and seems as if he liked this
section better than the East. However, it is Tom we-all can thank for
that new railroad. When you-all come home next year, you-all will be
riding over your own tracks." Mr. Brewster chuckled.
"Is Tom going to join that crew of engineers that John and he were with
last year?" now asked Eleanor.
"No, indeed! Tom and John will be right here with us this summer. We-all
need their help in working out the problems of the mine and Rainbow
Cliffs," responded Sam Brewster.
"I don't suppose we'll see a bit of John as long as Anne and her mother
remain in Denver, visiting their old friends," pouted Polly, jealously.
Her father glanced slyly at her, and smiled. He felt sorry for his
little girl who had always felt that her brother John was her own
personal property. Now that someone claimed first love and attention
from him it was mighty hard for her, as well as for Mrs. Brewster.
"Ah should wonder at John if he failed in gallantry to his sweetheart,"
was all Sam Brewster said aloud.
"Oh! Everyone makes me tired! Anyone'd think Anne Stewart was a saint.
She's only a girl the same as Nolla, or me. And no one is found going
mad over either one of _us_!" cried Polly, pettishly.
Eleanor laughed. "Give us a few years and then see!"
Polly curled her lip impatiently. "A few years from now and I'll be in
Europe with dear old Fabian, studying art. I won't want attention from
anyone, then."
"Seems to me," ventured Mr. Brewster, gently, "my little girl is
hankering for homage or a beau--which is it?"
Polly stared aghast. "Neither one! How dare you say so."
"You-all were speaking of attention."
"But I was only thinking of _John_. He'll have Anne for a wife all his
life long--after next year. But he won't have _me_ after I finish
school."
In spite of the tearful tone, Mr. Brewster had to laugh. "Don't waste
your time on John, Polly girl. Let me make up for him and be your
devoted attendant. Ah'll always be at your beck and call!"
"Oh, Dad! That reminds me!" exclaimed Polly, turning square around to
face her father, and forgetting her recent misery over John. "_How_ did
you ever manage about that rose valentine you sent me?"
Sam Brewster let the reins dangle recklessly as he, in turn, stared at
his daughter. "What valentine?"
Polly winked roguishly and laughed. "You can't pull the wool over my
eyes, Daddy. I've spent a whole year in New York to some advantage, you
see. I have seen lots of such feigned innocence as yours."
"But honest, Poll, Ah don't even know what you-all are talking about; Ah
got your sweet valentine, and so did maw."
Polly frowned at her father. "Didn't you wire to a florist in New York
and order a dozen great roses for my valentine? And tie the two hearts
pierced by a golden arrow, about the center of the flower-stems?"
"Positively, this is the first word Ah've heard of it!" declared Sam
Brewster so emphatically, that the girls believed him.
"Now, Polly, the hunt is narrowing down," laughed Eleanor. "We know it
was no one in New York, and it wasn't Jim or Ken. Your father says he
didn't do it, so it leaves only a few more to ask."
Suddenly Polly clasped her hands. Her face was radiant. "Why, of course!
How could I forget? It was dear old John! He, too, always remembered me
on Valentine Day." Then turning to her father, and shaking a finger at
him, she added: "But you didn't remember me, this year, bad man."
"Tell truth, Polly, there was so much to think about and so much to do,
over the buildings and mines, that Ah clean forgot there ever was such a
day, until I got your card. Then I felt sorry."
"Well, thank goodness, John remembered!" sighed Polly. And Eleanor
noticed that she smiled again in forgiveness of her brother's
shortcomings.
When the wagon stopped at the porch of the ranch-house, Eleanor laughed:
"Just as we drove up last year--but oh, how different this year!"
Mrs. Brewster hurried out to welcome her dear girls, and laughed at
Eleanor's remark. "Still making Irish bulls, Nolla!"
They all laughed merrily, and then Sary rushed from her kitchen, and
clasped Polly to her ample bosom. Eleanor came in for her share of the
maid's embrace before she had to hurry back to the dinner.
"Ah'se cookin' cabbige soup, Miss Nolla," she explained.
"Why, Sary, that first night we were here last summer, you had
'cabbidge' soup, too!"
"We-all has to hev it once a week reg'ler now, 'cause Jeb loves it, an'
he is a foreman, you know." Sary's pride in her spouse's promotion was
most evident.
While Polly and her mother cozily sat together on the porch and smiled
happily to be in each other's company, once more, Eleanor walked to the
barns with Mr. Brewster. She had an object in view, and she never
delayed in finding out what she wanted to know, should the opportunity
come and offer itself to her.
"Mr. Brewster, do tell me honestly--_did_ you send the roses, or do you
know who did send them to Polly?"
"Nolla, Ah never heard of them until to-day. Ah'm as curious as you, to
know who sent them. What were they like, anyway?"
"Well, you must know, Mr. Brewster, that American Beauty roses like they
were, cost a small fortune in New York, at that time of the year. Each
one of those roses cost not less than five or six dollars. And the
trinket that was bound to the stems was not a cheap thing, either. In
fact, the chain was of fine, gold-plated links, and the arrows were
gold-plated, too. It was an imported curio."
"By the Great Horned Spoon! Roses that cost like that! Why, they wilted,
didn't they?" gasped Sam Brewster.
Eleanor laughed merrily. "Sure thing! But we kept them as long as
possible. That is just where the joy comes in of getting costly
roses--they wilt. And anyone, who will spend that much money on one,
must think a heap of her first--see?"
Mr. Brewster stood stock-still. He caught at Eleanor's arm. "Ah've got
it!"
"What--who?" Eleanor was breathless in her eagerness.
"Find the silly swain that's making eyes at my Polly, and you've caught
the rascal who sent the roses."
Eleanor screamed with laughter. "Oh, you're funny! But isn't that
exactly what everyone's been doing?"
"Oh--have they?"
"Sure! I learned that Mr. Fabian tried to find out who the fellow was.
And then Mr. Dalken wanted to know. The Latimers and Evans put Jim and
Ken through the third degree, but no one confessed to it. Now do _you_
believe John sent them?"
"I do not!" was the positive reply.
"Neither do I! Because John sent Anne a bunch of roses for _her_
valentine but they were only seven dollars. She got a dozen, the usual
short-stemmed Bride Roses. He wouldn't dare send his sister such
gorgeous ones and only give his fiancée cheaper ones."
Sam Brewster smiled at his companion. "Nolla, you're a wise little owl."
"Anyone would be, after having had the social training that was fed to
me from the bottle up!"
Mr. Brewster laughed at this, and Eleanor then said: "Guess I'll be
going back, now, Mr. Brewster. I wanted to know your opinion about John
and the roses."
"Wait, Nolla. Have you any answer to it yourself?"
"U--m, yes--I have a sort of a suspicion. But it isn't fair to anyone to
even hint at it. So don't ask me."
"This much you might answer, however, seeing that Ah'm Polly's father
and the most concerned in the beaux she has. Do you fancy it might have
been your brother Pete?"
"_Pete!_" The very tone made Mr. Brewster smile as he saw that Eleanor
had never thought of him. "Anyway, Pete and Poll hardly know each
other."
"Ah wonder if it could have been Paul Stewart--he seemed dreadfully
attentive to her that time when we-all were visiting you-all in New
York." Mr. Brewster watched Eleanor shrewdly.
"I just guess it _wasn't_ Paul! He sent me a lovely card for a
valentine; and while we were home in Chicago, I asked him about flowers.
He never thought to wire a florist about sending me any flowers, he
said. So I know Paul hadn't anything to do with it."
"Ah! Well, Nolla, now we know who he was, eh?" laughed Sam Brewster,
tweaking Eleanor's ear and hastening away to the barns.
Eleanor stood watching him. Then she laughed softly: "He sure did put
one over on me, that time!"
As she walked slowly back to the ranch-house she soliloquized to
herself. "That's just who it was. Gee! It's almost as fine as having a
romance of my very own. But Polly doesn't want it so.
"All the same, when John and Tom come down here, I'm going to tease Tom
about the wonderful roses Polly's brother sent her. Then we'll see what
we'll see!"
Eleanor could keep her own counsel as well as Sam Brewster, but the two
exchanged wise looks, now and then, when no one was watching. Still,
never a word was said again on the rose subject.
A week after the two girls got home, the others in the party came down
from Denver. Mrs. Stewart was to be Mrs. Brewster's guest that Summer,
Eleanor was Polly's, and Anne said she was John's visitor. Then Tom
Latimer laughed and said: "I'll have to be Mr. Brewster's pal."
"I can promise you that you won't have your head turned by any pretty
school-girl, Tom, if you are _my_ guest," chuckled Sam Brewster.
Eleanor tittered, Tom flushed, but the others laughed at such a speech.
Plans had been made to take a three-day trip up over Top Notch Trail,
and inspect the progress on the mine, but Mrs. Brewster and her guest
would remain at home, by preference.
The merry cavalcade started out, Polly on her beloved Noddy as usual,
and Eleanor on Choko. The others rode their horses, and Jeb led an extra
horse with the packs.
There was no planned order in riding; first one girl would have one of
the escort, and then another would ride up and "cut in" to urge the
other onward. Thus everyone was laughing and teasing and talking merrily
until they reached the falls on top of the mountains. Here, where Polly
had caught the trout, the year before, they all had dinner.
"My goodness! Folks in New York never know what they miss by never
coming to the Rockies," declared Polly, her eyes wandering to the
far-off line of mountain-ranges.
"And folks who live near these mountains are never happy until they get
to New York," remarked Mr. Brewster.
Polly laughed. "Oh, that is when one needs education. I have always had
too _much_ mountain and not enough of other good things. But now that I
am tasting a little of everything, I like my mountains as well as
anything I've seen."
"D'ye think you-all will stay at home after this?" eagerly asked her
father.
"Double no!" affirmed Polly, emphatically.
Everyone laughed at the expressive slang, and Polly added: "At least,
not until I have seen Europe, year after next, and tried a hand in my
profession. Maybe--if I fall in love, some day--I'll come back to Pebbly
Pit to raise my family."
John Brewster thought this so funny that he ha-ha-haed loudly, but the
others smiled doubtfully. Eleanor could not help sending a swift look at
Tom Latimer to see how he received the information. But Tom was
scrambling to his feet, so his face could not be observed. Eleanor
glanced away from him to Sam Brewster, and saw the latter with a twinkle
cornering his eyes as he noticed Tom's awkward movement.
"U--m!" muttered Eleanor. "I've got your number, Tom Latimer!" But no
one overheard her whispered thought.
As the riders proceeded on their way, Paul Stewart said: "I don't see
why you folks should think this such a tough trail. I consider it rather
broad and good."
"Humph! It's a highway these days, what with all the riding up and down.
But last year you wouldn't have been able to see any thing but trees and
rocks," Polly returned.
It was as Polly said: almost as clear a trail as any woodland road. At
Four-Mile-Blaze where the girls were well-nigh lost on their first ride
over the trail, there now was a good but narrow bridle-path. Thence it
was easy going up the steep side to Grizzly Slide.
"W-ell! See the crowd of men working up there? And hear the sound of
tools and machinery!" exclaimed Polly, as she rode out of the screening
forest, and came to a man-made clearing.
"Of all things! Trees chopped down and turned into huts; an army of
workmen living here as if they belonged," added Eleanor.
"We are blasting and clearing away the rubble that hides your mine. We
had both ends working a few weeks ago, but now we are trying to drop a
shaft from the top," said Mr. Brewster.
The visitors camped at the miners' settlement, that night, and the next
day the girls were taken about to see the great progress made according
to the plans to mine the ore.
A cable-road was being built from Choko's Cave down the steep
mountain-side, to the valley, and this was to be used to carry the
ore-cars up and down. As the girls stood on top of the ledge that
overhung the cave, they could look straight down the awesome
mountain-side, where the forest had been cleared for the cable-line.
"It looks as if it all cost a heap of money," said Polly.
She had been so engaged in looking at the change wrought in her beloved
mountain, that she failed to see that the others had wandered away. But
someone stood behind her. She felt it. As no reply came to her
statement, she turned and found Tom Latimer waiting for her.
"Oh, where are the others?"
"Gone over to the other side where the underground river comes out, you
know."
"I was saying, Tom, that this must have taken a lot of money."
"More than we figured on, but once we begin to get out the ore, it will
roll back four-fold."
Polly was impressed, but still wondered "Where did all the money come
from, Tom?"
"Stocks. We wanted to keep most of the Capital for you and the first
owners, you know; but investors wouldn't put up so much money without a
vote. So we had to sell out some of the voting shares. That's where Mr.
Dalken came in--he bought a big block of your stock, and it is his money
that's doing this."
"I think he is the nicest man! I used to think he sent me a wonderful
bunch of American Beauty roses for a valentine, but I only learned the
other day that it was John! Wasn't it funny?"
Tom laughed with Polly, and said: "What made you think Mr. Dalken sent
them?"
"Oh, something happened once to Nolla and me, in New York that nobody
knows--so don't you go and tell on us, Tom!" Polly waited anxiously to
get Tom's promise, then she proceeded.
"And Mr. Dalken happened along in time to save us from the beasts. After
that he made us use his small automobile when we went to night-school.
We were awfully grateful to him for it.
"Then when Valentine Day came along, I suggested to Nolla that we send
him a lovely card telling him how good he was to us. I sent it, and late
that night the roses came. I felt sure, all the time, that he sent them;
I thought he had forgotten it was Valentine Day until after my card
reached him. I always wondered why he didn't put Nolla's name on the
card, too, as well as mine. But now I know he never sent them."
"Does John know you've found him out?" asked Tom.
"No, not yet; but some day I'll tease him about it."
"Don't! let him think you are still trying to guess who sent the roses.
It will tickle him to pieces to believe you think it is an ardent
admirer of yours." Tom laughed merrily with Polly at the very idea.
"That's just what I will! And you and I will sometimes pretend _you_
sent the roses to me, and then we will watch John's face. Maybe he will
up and tell the truth!" added Polly.
"No, I doubt it. You see, Polly, John is a wonderful actor, and one
never knows just what he thinks. If he managed to keep a close mouth to
me, his best friend, all this time, it must be because he didn't want
Anne to find out he sent you such roses."
Then the two conspirators walked back to join the others, but Polly and
Tom felt that they had a good joke between them, thereafter.