A LAWN PARTY
There were many persons in the neighborhood of the Rainbow Ranch who
were friends of Mr. and Mrs. Colter.
After many years in the community Mr. Colter, who originally had taken
slight interest in matters outside his own ranch, had become one of the
most influential men in the western part of the state.
From her girlhood Jacqueline Ralston had excited keen attention. The
oldest of the former Ranch Girls, she had been famous for her daring
and independence. A serious illness, after which it was thought she
would never ride or walk again, stirred pity and affection. Then
followed her recovery and marriage to the young Englishman, Frank Kent,
who afterwards inherited the title.
On the death of her husband, still a young woman, Lady Kent had
returned to the old ranch. Here she had laid aside her title and
devoted herself to politics. Running for Congress, she had failed to
be elected and a few months later married her former guardian.
Two weeks following their honeymoon it was Mr. Colter's idea, not his
wife's or daughters', that they give a large, informal reception to
their friends.
One evening on the wide circular veranda at the left of the house and
opening out of the dining-room, the family was seated at dinner.
"Don't you think we should give an entertainment of some kind to our
neighbors?" Mr. Colter remarked unexpectedly.
Jack looked quickly at her husband, astonished and amused.
Lina's glance at her father, if not enthusiastic over the proposal (she
was a little shy of strangers), expressed approval.
The two younger girls revealed no interest one way or the other.
Jeanette alone appeared annoyed.
Not that she objected to a party; she was fonder of society than any
one of her sisters. She knew, however, that her father disliked every
possible form of social entertainment and in her own mother's day
rarely ever went anywhere outside their own home.
Why this present change?
She was not long to remain in doubt.
"I don't wonder at your surprise, Jack. I never have been a society man
in the past, have I? I shall be out of place at present beside my wife
and daughters. Still I don't wish our friends to believe that I shut
you up here away from them. I have no right to be so selfish. I happen
to remember that you were a very popular character in Wyoming before
our marriage."
"So popular a person, Jim, that I was defeated in my election to
Congress. I always have been glad Peter Stevens was chosen in my place.
I am anxious to see him again and glad he is at home for the summer. He
must recently have bought a ranch near ours."
Mr. Colter nodded.
"When Stevens resigned from his law practice he decided to spend the
time he was not in Washington in the country. A cranky old bachelor, he
is pretty sure to have his hands full making a Westerner out of the boy
Jeanette introduced to us."
He was not enthusiastic over their neighbor, Peter Stevens, who had
been one of his wife's admirers before their marriage.
"Oh, Cecil is all right if the girls will help him. He is in the wrong
environment and I have learned to be sympathetic with people living
under new conditions. I was uncomfortable when I first went to live in
England.
"About our party? Girls, you must do all you can to assist me. I never
have been the successful hostess of our family. Aunt Jean and Aunt
Frieda were both more gifted, Olive was shy. I was always supposed to
be too frank, a graceful fashion of saying I said and did the wrong
thing."
Jack had finished dinner, which was a simple, early meal that the
family shared.
The sun had gone down, but the afterglow was coloring the landscape.
The radiance spread over the big veranda filled with graceful wicker
furniture. A rose glow lay upon the table and the faces surrounding it.
There had been no special friction during the past two weeks, so that
the new stepmother was beginning to feel her task might not be so
difficult as she anticipated.
If the four girls still displayed no active liking for her, they did
not seem to dislike her. Jeanette's manner showed a good deal of
repression.
"Surely one of you new Ranch Girls must possess the social gift. Whom
must I depend upon? In a few years you will be grown and entering more
formal society, but before then I hope I shall learn to be a proper
chaperon."
Jeanette arose.
"You need not trouble about me. I cannot understand father's sudden
change of attitude. Never has he agreed that we give a party before,
although I have often asked for the privilege.
"I hope, father, you will allow me to go East to school as soon as
school opens. I have been thinking a good deal of this lately. If you
ever have time for me again I should like to talk it over with you.
I have an idea I want to study something to make my own living. You
already have a large family and our share of the Rainbow Ranch is not a
large one."
"Jeanette, this is not the time or place for such a discussion." In
her father's voice there was a tone Jeanette had never heard before,
which frightened and startled her. She had desired to vex him, not to
make him seriously angry. Actually this had not occurred to her as a
possibility. It was true, however, that they had not spent an hour
together alone since his return from Canada.
Two or three times her father had invited her to ride to some distant
point of the ranch with him, when he was on a tour of inspection.
However, as her stepmother rode with him nearly every day Jeanette had
preferred to decline on the few occasions when she was asked to play
the part of a substitute.
At this moment Jeanette turned to leave the veranda. She was conscious
of the unpleasant atmosphere one member of a family can always
precipitate upon the other innocent members.
Her father was white with anger.
Lina appeared shocked and annoyed, disliking scenes at all times.
Olivia's lips were trembling and her blue eyes filling with tears.
Eda, not understanding, was nevertheless aware that no one near her was
happy.
Jeanette could not know that the only person who had any real sympathy
with her at present was the stepmother she disliked.
In times past when she was a girl Jack recalled having excited her
husband's anger just as his daughter was doing at this time. She did
not enjoy the reminiscence.
"I think I am still able to support my family, Jeanette. If you care
to go East to school in the fall, possibly you may do as you wish.
In the last two weeks you scarcely have made your presence at home so
agreeable we cannot live without you."
These were the final words Jeanette heard as she vanished.
She had been ruder than an outsider could appreciate. A portion of
the Rainbow Ranch belonged to her new stepmother. The house in which
they were living had been built and paid for by the money discovered
in Rainbow Creek. The house had been the property of the four original
Ranch Girls.
Her father and mother had lived in it, because the former Ranch Girls
had married and moved away.
The new Ranch Girls understood that their present home was too large
and too handsome for their father's income and position. He accepted
its use as a portion of the salary he received as manager of the large
estate, which was now partly his own.
Jeanette understood that her stepmother's additional income from her
former husband made her a wealthy woman. Concerning this fact her own
father was sensitive. Now and then it was his impression that he had
accepted more from his wife than he was able to give.
Upstairs in her room with the door locked Jeanette's cheeks burned.
Like other persons in anger, she had said more than she intended and
hurt the person she had not meant to injure. Her desire had been to
arouse her stepmother's, not her father's resentment. But not once
since her arrival had Jeanette been able to accomplish this.
All her girlhood Jacqueline Ralston had been famous for her sweet
temper; now that she was older and had passed through many trying
experiences, her sweetness and generosity of nature had deepened. If
Jeanette Colter were to succeed in seriously annoying her, she must
reveal some worse fault than a childish impulse to make scenes.
Now, as Jeanette sat curled up in her favorite position on a window
seat, the fact that her stepmother had given her no cause for disliking
her made her resentment keener.
One afternoon a week later the informal reception at the Rainbow Ranch
took place.
Indoors Mr. and Mrs. Colter stood receiving their guests.
Outside on the front lawn Lina and Jeanette were entertaining their
younger friends.
Apparently Jeanette was enjoying herself more than any one else. Lina
was presiding at a heavily loaded tea table with Olivia assisting,
while Jeanette was doing the greater part of the talking.
"Yes, it was curious, was it not, our finding a silver arrow in such
an odd fashion. Actually it might have been shot from the sky from a
winged chariot or whatever fanciful thing one may choose to imagine.
"The little lake at the bottom of the ravine is like an enchanted spot.
I feel as if Lina, Via, Eda and I had taken part in a fairy story,"
Jeanette narrated.
A few feet from the tea table she was seated on the grass of the
carefully tended front lawn before the big house. Grouped about her
were half a dozen boys and girls near her age.
"May we see the famous arrow? It is hard to believe such a thing could
have occurred," Eric Lawton asked. Living on an adjoining ranch, he and
Jeanette Colter were especial friends.
"Would you really like to see it? I have always wanted to show the
arrow to people outside the family and ask their theory from whence it
could have come. We have our own pet ideas, none very sensible."
Slipping a small key from a chain she wore, Jeanette extended it toward
her sister.
"You know where the arrow is securely hidden away, Via. Won't you be
good enough to find it and bring it to us here? Lina, come and tell us
the legend of the 'Silver Arrow' that you read the other day."
The oldest of the new quartette of Rainbow Ranch Girls arose and
dropped down on the ground beside the others.
Cecil Perry, who had been Jeanette's original discovery, crossed over
and took a seat beside her.
He and Lina had become intimate friends, while with Jeanette there was
only an armed truce breaking into frequent warfare.
Lina laughed.
"Jeanette talks as if I casually picked up a book and there ran across
a legend of a 'Silver Arrow.' The truth is I searched diligently for
days. Whether or not it is true we cannot be certain, but the arrow we
discovered seems to be an ancient one, which makes it more than ever a
mystery."
"Well, do go on with your story, Lina; we are most impatient to hear,"
Martha Putnam, one of Lina's girl friends, expostulated.
Lina, who was accustomed to speaking slowly and deliberately, refused
to be hurried.
The little circle gathered more closely about her.
"Please don't think I associate this story with our arrow. I only
tell it to you for what it is worth. In any case it is an interesting
tale, for one reason because the arrowheads of the American Indians
were sometimes tipped with bronze or brass, never with silver. We know
they had learned the uses of the first two metals before they were
acquainted with the third."
Eda, who had been wandering around on the outskirts of the company,
too shy to associate with them, at her sister's words came and slipped
her hand inside a young man's. He was John Marshall, a number of years
older than his present companions.
He appeared deeply interested in Lina's story.
"Long ago," Lina began in the approved story-telling fashion, "we know
there was a race living in our western country who were possessed of
far greater knowledge than our American Indians. They are supposed to
have dwelt in ancient cities long since buried beneath the earth, to
have learned the arts of weaving and dyeing, the use of bronze and
copper and gold and silver.
"I am talking as if I were an extract from a page of American history.
This is my background for the legend of the 'Silver Arrow.'
"Once upon a time an Indian boy, known to his companions as 'White
Heart,' because of his gentleness and kindness, which they believed
cowardice, went down into one of the deepest of the canyons to pray
until the coming of dawn.
"At dawn he was to come forth from the canyon and join a group of
Indian lads. Before the old chief, who lay dying, they were to appear
and from the number the new chief would be chosen.
"During his long vigil White Heart prayed that the honor should not
fall upon him. He had little reason to believe this possible, only
a great fear. To be chief of his tribe meant that he must lead the
warriors to battle. He must kill and urge others to destroy. If needs
be he must lay waste other Indian villages and bear off the women
and girls into captivity. And White Heart knew that for him to kill
was impossible. The thought of suffering filled him with pity and
tenderness. He grew faint and ill before the sight of blood. What
availed him that he could run more swiftly, swim more strongly, shoot
straighter to the center of a target, if he remained a coward both in
war and peace?
"Many times he had been called a woman by his boy companions, but this
a number of the Indian maidens resented. They felt no such weakness as
White Heart revealed.
"'Better that I should never come forth from the depth of the canyon,
rather than face the future,' White Heart murmured aloud more than
once during the long night. He could not pray to be delivered from his
weakness of character, as he had no desire to change, to grow hard of
heart, to shed blood and create sorrow.
"The canyon was filled with a heavy mist. Dim figures of long-dead
warriors floated past his view. They were clothed with light, but not
one of them held a sword, an arrow or a spear.
"Before dawn White Heart wearied and fell asleep."
The story-teller paused.
"Perhaps I am boring you? I never would have agreed to tell the tale of
the 'Silver Arrow' had I realized I would take so long."
"You must not stop at the instant of suspense," John Marshall urged
above the heads of the others.
The ejaculations from the rest of the audience proved that they were
in accord with him.
"The story is nearly finished," Lina continued.
"At daylight White Heart awakened. His resolve was steadfast. He would
return to his people and confess that he had no wish to follow the law
of his tribe. If, in the drawing of lots, the choice fell to him, he
would not be chief. In any case he must become an outcast, following
on the outskirts of his brother warriors as they went forth to battle,
striving to heal their wounds.
"Rested and at peace, White Heart started to ascend the narrow trail
that led from the heart of the canyon. He had gone but a few steps when
a girl appeared before him. She was fairer than the girls of his own
race, her long, light-brown hair fell to her shoulders and in her hand
she carried an arrow, which she offered to White Heart.
"Gazing upon the arrow, he found it to be made of a shining metal with
which he was unfamiliar.
"'The Silver Arrow represents wisdom and love. They are the true
courage. Thy enemies shall not prevail against them.'
"The figure vanished. White Heart, the Silver Arrow in his clasp,
climbed the hill and made his way to the tents of his people.
"There when the young warriors assembled after their long vigils White
Heart was chosen chief.
"He kept the Arrow of Silver and afterwards became renowned for his
wisdom and kindness. Other tribes sought alliance with his tribe until
a great valley became filled with an industrious and peace-loving
community. The Silver Arrow passed from one generation to the other."
Lina gave a little sigh.
"There is so much of the story I cannot tell you all. Strange that
our silver arrow should have come into our possession in almost as
mysterious a fashion!"
"Who knows but that I shot the silver arrow down into the canyon, or
some other equally uninteresting person," Cecil Perry exclaimed. "We
had a target on our place in Long Island and mother and her friends
used to amuse themselves with bows and arrows. You did not know,
Jeanette, that I can occasionally hit a target, if I am no good at
other sports."
Jeanette paid no attention. She did not like the young fellow, and was
apt to be slightly disdainful of persons whom she did not admire.
"Lina has not told you what I think is especially interesting
concerning our silver arrow. The four of us saw it falling through the
air. As it neared the ground instinctively we held our breath. I don't
believe any one of us dreamed of being hurt. The arrow plunged into the
water at the very edge near where I was seated, so that I drew it forth
without difficulty. Afterwards the other girls were generous enough to
say I had the right to own it. A moment later we made another decision.
I cannot remember who suggested the idea, but at the end of a year
our silver arrow is to be bestowed on the one of us who does the most
courageous act."
Jeanette's glance challenged the little group.
"I don't see why we should think only of ourselves! Lina, if all of you
agree, suppose we form a society, or a Club of the Silver Arrow. Do any
of you wish to join? We could ask a number of older persons to judge to
whom the arrow should be awarded.
"Cecil, perhaps you are like the young Indian, White Heart. You believe
in wisdom and kindness, rather than in physical courage."
There was a little barbed arrow, not of silver, but of cruelty,
in Jeanette Colter's speech. An instant later she regretted the
unkindness. From the night of her stepmother's arrival at the Rainbow
Ranch, Jeanette had felt an unaccustomed hardness and irritability.
A number of times since his arrival in the neighborhood Cecil Perry
had showed himself lacking in ordinary physical courage. He was afraid
of horses, of a sudden rush of cattle across the open country, of an
unfriendly dog, and of half a dozen other small timidities he made no
secret.
He flushed at Jeanette's speech, but offered no reply.
No one else spoke at this moment because Via was seen approaching,
walking down the avenue from the house and holding the Silver Arrow in
her outstretched hand.