THE END OF PETER LEVINE
The crowd scattered as the Outdoor Girls came whirling down into its
midst, but in an instant it had closed about them again. They
dismounted, leaving their excited horses to go where they would, and
pushed their way through to the group that seemed to be the center of
all this wild demonstration.
And when they saw Meggy, fairly weeping with joy, and old Dan Higgins,
holding a handful of precious golden nuggets, they nearly went mad
themselves.
They kissed and hugged Meggy till she cried aloud for mercy. They kissed
and hugged old Dan, and he took it as though he had been used to being
made much of by pretty girls all his life.
Twenty years had fallen from the old man's age. No matter that he had
wasted the best part of his life in a vain hunt for gold. His dream had
been realized at last. There was a fortune in his grasp, and he felt
again the thrill that had coursed through his veins when, as a young
man, heart high with aspirations, he had started on his quest.
He was young again! Young! It seemed as though the sight of those golden
nuggets--his own--had renewed the fires of youth.
Nimbly he sprang upon an empty powder keg and addressed his frenzied
audience.
"Friends and fellow gold hunters," he yelled, and there was a roar of
appreciation. "They is a few words I'd like to say afore we go back to
wrestlin' some more gold outen them rocks. An' these is them. Ef I'm a
happy man to-day an' a rich one, then it's all due to these four young
gals here. They set me on the trail o' this new thing when I was purty
near tuckered out. You all knows 'em an' loves 'em. Now give 'em a
cheer. Hearty, now, hearty----"
Then arose such a roar that the Outdoor Girls' hearts swelled near to
bursting and they felt the tears sting their eyes. That moment would be
something to remember all their lives.
The roar gradually subsided and the miners wandered back to their own
operations again, followed by scattered groups of curious onlookers.
They worked with redoubled energy, with redoubled hope. Gold had been
found. More gold would be found. It was a thrilling, glorious race to
see who would be the next to announce good fortune.
Left to themselves, the girls crowded around Meggy, questioning her,
congratulating her, demanding to know how it had all happened and when.
"My--my mouth is so dry I can hardly speak," said Meggy, quivering with
nervous reaction. "I--I can't jest make up my mind that it has happened
yet."
"We know," said Betty, soothingly. "You needn't tell us about it if you
don't want to."
"But I do--I've got to!" cried Meggy tensely. "Why, it seems like a
dream. But I'm so happy, so wildly happy----" A sob caught in her throat
and she paused for a moment, then went on swiftly, the words tumbling
over each other in her eagerness: "It was jest this morning that it
happened, jest a little while ago. You know we have been workin' awful
hard the last few days, an' I was getting worried over dad again. He was
gittin' that thin an' weak an' kind o' discouraged, too. Seemed like
he'd jest made up his mind that there wasn't no luck fer him nowhere's.
"Then----" she leaned forward, her eyes black as coals, her fingers
clasped convulsively in front of her. "Then we uncovered it, that first
little narrow vein o' gold runnin' through the rocks. I thought dad
would go plumb crazy when he seen it. Honest, I was skeered for a
minute, till I recollected thet joy never killed nobody.
"Then I began to be skeered fer myself. I felt so kind o' queer an'
wobbly inside o' me. Then dad came runnin' out to show the other fellers
what he'd found, an' seemed like they went crazy too.
"Then you come an'--an'--I guess thet's 'bout all."
The girls drew a long breath.
"All," repeated Grace, softly. "I should think it was about enough for
one day!"
"An' now," said Meggy, in a small little voice, "poor old dad an' me,
we're rich--rich! Think of it--Meggy an' her dad! Now I can buy a hoss
like--like--Nigger, mebbe----"
"You funny girl," cried Betty, hugging her fondly. "Of course you can
buy a horse--a dozen of them if you want to. But wouldn't you like
anything else? Pretty clothes, a beautiful house to live in----"
"Yes," agreed Meggy, but without any special enthusiasm. "I used to
think when you gals come around lookin' all pretty an' stylish in your
nice clothes thet I would like to dress thet way myself ef I wasn't as
poor as dirt. An' I would like to live in somethin' besides a shack an'
have sheets enough to your beds so's you could change 'em every day ef
you wanted to. Sure, I'd like them things.
"But a hoss----" Her voice lowered almost to a reverential pitch. "Ever
sence I grew to be a long-legged gal, seems like all I've really wanted
was a hoss. I s'pose," she turned dark, rather wistful eyes on the
girls, "it's purty hard for you gals to understand what I'm talkin'
about. You never longed fer a thing so's your heart ached till it seemed
like it was dead inside of you. So you might think I was foolish to take
on so 'bout only a hoss."
"We don't think you're foolish, Meggy," said Betty, gently. "We think
you're wonderful, and you deserve every bit of the splendid luck that
has come to you. And I expect," she finished gayly, "that you will have
the most beautiful horse in all Gold Run."
Meggy's eyes lighted with joy. Then they misted suddenly as she looked
at the girls.
"It's jest like dad said," she murmured. "We wouldn't 'a' had nothin' ef
it hadn't been fer you girls. You don't know how we feel about you,
'cause we jest never could tell you."
The days that followed seemed like a beautiful fairy tale to the happy
girls. Peter Levine had known what he was talking about when he had
asserted that "gold was running wild" about the northern end of the
ranch and its environs.
It was as though the finding of gold in the new Higgins' mine had been
the key that unlocked the door to a steady stream of it.
Every day brought glad tidings of a new find, and, as some of these were
on the ranch, Betty began to realize that the Nelson family was becoming
very wealthy. They had always been well-to-do, for her father had
prospered in his business, that of carpet manufacturer in Deepdale. But
now it seemed that they were to know what it felt like to be really
rich.
The girls realized this, and once Mollie put the new idea into words.
"This is a wonderful thing for you, Betty dear," she said soberly. "You
can have about anything in the world that you want now. I--I--hope you
won't forget your old friends." She said the last laughingly, but Betty
was deeply hurt and showed that she was.
"If--if you ever dare say such a horrid thing to me again, Mollie
Billette," she cried, half way between tears and anger, "I'll never,
never forgive you! You--you--ought to know me better."
And Mollie, heartily ashamed of herself, succeeded in placating the
Little Captain only after having apologized most abjectly.
Then one day something happened that amused them all mightily. They had
all turned out to the gold diggings, Mrs. Nelson, Mr. Nelson, the four
girls, and Allen. Mrs. Nelson and Allen were engaged in the joyful
pursuit of trying to figure out how much her profits would be, when
Betty edged up to Allen and, pulling his sleeve, pointed out a man some
distance from them. The latter was standing alone, and he seemed to be
regarding the operations rather morosely.
"Peter Levine, by all that's holy!" murmured Allen. "Just hold tight for
a minute, folks, and watch me chase him."
With an elaborately casual air, Allen sauntered over to the morose
individual. The man looked up as he approached, and the scowl on his
face deepened.
"Howdy," said Allen, loud enough to cause those near by to turn to look
at him. "How's my old friend Levine this morning?"
"None of your business," snarled the other, with a black look. "Lay off
me, do you hear?"
"Oh, yes, I hear," said Allen, loudly and cheerfully. "I'm quite
exceptionally good at hearing. Shall I tell these friends of ours what
Andy Rawlinson and I happened to hear the other night, beneath these
very trees? Why, Levine, where are you going?" he asked with feigned
surprise, as the other started to take his leave. "Don't you want to
hear----"
"Shut your mouth!" snarled Peter Levine, furiously, then turned and
slunk off, followed by the jeers and catcalls of the crowd.
"You shore hev got his number, boy," said one old timer, admiringly. "He
loves you like the fox loves a trap."
Allen grinned boyishly. "Suits me!" he said cheerfully.