"She may be weetch. You don' know for sure."
Cindy raised her hand. Alec went into action. The bull-roarer gave out
with a moaning "Owoo-ooo-ooo!"
The startled men leaped up and peered into the moon-sprayed arroyo.
Cindy rose to her feet and cupped a hand on each side of her mouth. She
tuned her voice to the bull-roarer.
"I'm-m-m-m the spir-r-r-i-i-t!" she sobbed. "Gi-i-i-v-ve me my
bod-d-d-y-y!"
All three men saw her at the same instant.
In the cave, Mindy heard and understood at once. She began to dance.
"Come, spirit!" she cried. "Come and get me! Come, spirit!"
"She here! She there too!" Tom LaMott yelled. "Weetch girl sure!
Aaaaa-hhhh!"
[Illustration]
With a shriek of mortal terror, Tom LaMott raced out of the cave and
started scrambling up the far side of the arroyo. The other two men
were only a split second behind him, and if there were horses waiting on
the far side, there was no sound of galloping hoofs. Probably, after a
fright such as this, horses were much too slow. Mindy came to the mouth
of the cave and called, "Hi there!"
[Illustration]
"H-h-hi," Cindy gasped.
Weak and trembling, she sank down and buried her face in her hands. Then
Alec was beside her, and Alec's strong arm was comforting her.
"We're here, Mindy," Alec called. "Come right across and up."
"I'm coming."
Three minutes later she climbed out of the arroyo, sat down beside her
twin, and hugged Cindy tightly.
"I wasn't afraid!" she said happily. "I _like_ being a tomboy!"
"G-g-gosh!" Cindy shivered.
"What's the matter, Cindy darling?"
"I was just th-thinking that, from now on, I'll never be anything but a
l-l-lady."
"Let's rest awhile," said Alec, wise beyond his years. "Then we'll go
back."