"_COMPLIMENTS OF KIE WICKS_"
The last week in the hills was a busy one for The Merriweather Girls
and their friends.
Professor Gillette worked from early morning until late at night. The
few excavations he made proved beyond doubt that he had found the
ancient village that so many men had tried to locate.
His job was secure. And with his share of the treasure he would be
able to realize his hopes in regard to the invalid daughter. There was
no happier man in the world these days than the old professor.
His time was spent in making a careful map of the village. The ruins
were photographed from every angle by Shirley Williams. Everyone had a
hand in helping their old friend in the realization of his undertaking.
Bet was quiet. Something seemed to be troubling here these days.
"What is it, Bet?" asked Colonel Baxter one morning after his daughter
had been following him around for an hour, with a question in her eyes.
"There is just one thing I want to do more than I anything else in all
the world," she answered.
"Speak, child!" smiled the Colonel indulgently. "What is it that your
heart desires?" he added playfully.
"Let me fly back with you to New York! I've never been up in an
airplane."
"I'm sorry, Bet. I can't do it this time. Not yet," he answered.
Bet looked disappointed. "Oh it's all right, Dad, I won't whimper.
I've had a wonderful time this summer."
"And what's more, you will have your chance this year."
"Oh, what do you mean, Dad?"
"Up at Rockhill School, where you are going this winter, they have a
class in aviation for the girls," said her father.
"Do you mean it? Is it really true? Will you let me learn to fly?"
"Yes daughter, I want you to. I believe in modern sports for young
people. It's a great game and the earlier you get into it, the more
chance you have of becoming an expert."
"Dad, you're wonderful!" exclaimed Bet.
With this promise Bet was satisfied and not unhappy when her father and
the boys left the next day for Benito, where the airplane was guarded
in a barn.
In fact Bet was too busy during the next few days to be unhappy. The
girls were sorting over all the collections they had made in the hills.
It would have needed a special train if Bet had taken all the things
she had brought to the ranch so it was necessary for her to go over the
lot and take only the treasures that she could not give up.
"You'd better get an old trunk that's out in the garage and fill it up.
Then we can send it by express," suggested Judge Breckenridge.
But Bet objected. "Some of my things are too precious to put in that
trunk," she said.
"For instance, what?" asked Kit.
"My arrowheads and my turquoise specimens. I'll carry them in my small
suitcase. The ore samples, from those copper claims are heavy. They
can go in the trunk. And what say we put our hiking and riding shoes
in that."
"Sure, that's an idea! All the heavy things that we don't care for can
go into the old trunk."
Judge Breckenridge took the small casket of treasure in his car. He
started out a full hour before the others, as he still felt the
necessity of driving slowly with his invalid wife. The genial little
professor entertained her on the way with details of his village.
Bet sighed as the last good-bye was said and she settled down in the
car.
"We've had a marvelous time! We never dreamed we'd have such an
adventure."
"Maybe it's just as well we couldn't forsee the struggle with Kie Wicks
over that treasure," Shirley said with a happy smile. "Isn't it good
to win out, no matter what you are doing?"
"Yes, we have the treasure and had the fun of the contest, but what did
Kie Wicks get out of it?" demanded Bet.
"Nothing at all!" chirruped Joy. "He's just out of luck. And he
deserves it for kidnapping our professor."
"Atta boy, Joy! Dad says to be generous to your enemies, but I'm
afraid I haven't one little generous thought for Kie Wicks. Isn't it
good that he didn't hear about us finding the treasure? He knows about
the chest but not a word about the other."
But Kie Wicks knew more than the girls realized. He had heard more and
seen more than they had any idea of. He suspected that treasure had
been found and at that moment he was giving instructions to his hired
men.
He had formed a gang of ruffians from the hills and they were collected
now in a ravine through which the automobiles must pass. Without any
suspicion that the treasure was safely stowed away in a car that had
passed fully half an hour before, the storekeeper huddled his men
behind the rock and waited.
As the car driven by Matt Larkin came out on the main road, Kie ordered
his men and his voice was hard:
"There's the chest of treasure. Go get it! Don't fail!"
A shot rang out! Matt Larkin tried to put on speed and get away from
the small car that had suddenly sprung into the road, and having a
higher-powered engine he succeeded for a while. But the pursuing
machine had only two men in it and the five girls and their luggage was
a drag on the big car.
Joy became hysterical with fright. She crouched low in the car, but
Bet was excited. Her head bobbed up every minute to see what was
taking place.
Matt caught her as she peered through the back window and spoke
angrily. "Get down there! Are you crazy? You'll be shot if you don't
look out."
Bet sighed as she obeyed. "Just my luck! To miss all the fun! Now if
I were a boy...." The sentence was jerked out as Matt Larkin took a
bump without easing it.
"Ouch!" screamed Joy. "My head!"
"Keep quiet, Joy Evans! It serves you right for being such a
cry-baby," snapped Bet.
But Shirley comforted her. Joy was trembling as her friend clasped her
in her arms.
"I wish the boys were here," sobbed Joy.
"Well, I don't!" said Kit. "They'd think it was their duty to put up a
fight, and it doesn't pay."
Another shot!
Another burst of speed that shook the car.
Then Matt slowed down. There was nothing else to do. The men were
gaining and it was foolish to try to out-speed them.
Matt turned. "Keep perfectly quiet," said the man. "They won't hurt
you. They're only after the treasure."
"But that's in the car ahead," protested Bet.
"You'd better yell it loud enough for them to hear," suggested Enid
from the depths of the tonneau.
Matt once more warned them to be quiet. "Put up your hands if they
tell you to. Don't take any chances. Don't speak unless they ask you
a question. I'll do the talking."
With a gun pointed in their direction, they lost no time in putting up
their hands. Bet hesitated, her defiant nature rebelled at the idea of
such surrender. But a second command from Matt, brought the girl's
hands toward her head.
"The chest! Off with it!" commanded Ramon Salazar to the man by his
side. "And here, Jake, you hold the gun on them!"
"Not that chest, Ramon," cried Bet. "You can't have that chest!"
"What's to stop us," sneered the Mexican with an ugly scowl.
"My ore samples! My birds' nests. They're in that chest."
"Ha, ha, that's a good joke. Birds' nests!"
"Keep quiet, Bet, not another word!" Matt Larkin spoke with decision.
And Bet slumped down in the seat, her arms still extended above her
head.
Ramon did not wait to untie the rope that held the huge trunk. He
slashed the strings with his knife. Then bringing his gun once more
toward the car, he ordered:
"Now get along out of here as fast as you can. You are covered until
you are out of sight." As Matt started his car the Mexican called.
"Kie Wicks sends his compliments!"
As the car got under way, Bet suddenly began to scream. It was
something between a laugh and a cry. The girls looked at her in
astonishment. Bet hysterical! They could hardly believe it.
When a safe distance was reached Bet tried to speak. "That old trunk!
They think it's the treasure chest! And they've stolen my riding shoes
and my birds nests and some copper ore. Oh, girls, isn't it funny?"
And Bet was once more convulsed with laughter.
"To think of Bet getting hysterical!" exclaimed Enid.
"I wasn't hysterical. I just had to laugh, and I thought they'd catch
on so I screamed."
"That explains everything, Bet," came Joy's voice from the floor of the
car. "I'll remember that excuse myself and use it sometime."
Bet glared but said nothing. Then she started to laugh once more:
"What wouldn't I give to see Kie Wicks' face when he opens that chest?"
Back in the ravine, the men had carried the trunk to a cave and Kie
grabbed it.
"Fine!" he said. "Those folks will learn who's boss here."
"You're clever, Kie. You let those greenies do the hard work while you
watched and then you grab the treasure. I call that smart!"
Kie beamed with satisfaction.
"Here, lend a hand, Ramon, and help me pry open this chest. I know a
man who says he'll give me a fancy price for this treasure. This is my
lucky day."
The cover of the trunk was thrown back and the men stared down into the
greatest array of old clothes and camping equipment they had ever seen.
"Ain't this wonderful!" said Ramon picking up a huge chunk of copper
ore. "That's a valuable specimen. It will bring a fancy price."
Kie Wicks tried to speak, but a choking sound came in his throat.
The rough men beside him knew that for once they had Kie Wicks at their
mercy. They roared with laughter.
"Compliments of Kie Wicks!" shouted Ramon.
Kie made as if to draw his gun, but instead he turned to his horse,
mounted it and rode away.
"They've out-smarted me this time!" he muttered. "But they'd better
watch out!"
As Kie Wicks spurred his horse along the canyon road, he knew that his
days at Saugus were over. He had gone too far. The sheriff would
never stand for a hold-up. Prison threatened him. What was more he
would be the laughing stock of the whole country. Kie Wicks, the man
who had boasted of his cleverness had been outdone by a bunch of girls.
"This place ain't healthy for me, no more," muttered the man. "Me and
Maude will get away, to-night. We'll never stop till we get clear out
of the state. Then we'll be safe."
And on Judge Breckenridge's private train that was taking The
Merriweather Girls and their friend toward their home, Bet would burst
into a peal of laughter from time to time.
"What now, Bet?" asked Enid.
"Oh, I'm thinking of all the fun we've had--and I'm wondering if Kie
Wicks will keep my birds' nests and start a collection," she giggled.
Even the old professor, who had been invited to join the party, had to
chuckle at the thought.
Shirley Williams was gazing from the car window. "Look at that sunset,
girls. Did you ever see anything so beautiful?"
"I'd love to paint it," enthused Bet.
"Then why don't you?" Shirley reproached her. "You brought your color
box and some canvases with you to Arizona and you haven't made a single
picture. I'm ashamed of you!"
"Oh, I'll make up for it this winter at Rockhill School. I'll work
hard. See if I don't."
"No, you won't, Bet Baxter. You get so interested in the sports, the
motoring, the flying and all that outdoor science course, that you'll
never take a brush in your hand. And you won't study either!" declared
Joy.
"I'll have to," protested Bet. "Dad wouldn't like it if I failed to
come up to the high standard of the school. Dr. Dale's idea is that
modern sports develop the brain and make us wide awake and keen."
"Sounds fishy to me," returned Joy slangily. "I may be wrong but I
have my doubt that it works. If I had to go up in an airplane I'd be
so frightened I couldn't think straight for a year at least."
Suddenly Joy sprang up, her face white. "Say, Bet, does everyone at
Rockhill _have_ to fly?"
"Of course not, Joy. There probably won't be more than six in the
whole school who will go in for aviation."
"Thank goodness! I wish The Merriweather Girls wouldn't go in for
flying."
"Why, Joy Evans, I've already signed up for the aviation course. I
wouldn't miss it for worlds."
"Personally, I'd be content to stay on the ground," spoke Shirley.
No one else spoke. Joy was staring at Kit.
Then Bet turned to Kit and the western girl replied to her unspoken
question: Kit's bright eyes and daring smile told that she was game to
ride anything that could run or fly. "I'm with you, Bet," she said
heartily.
"We're all with you, Bet. We'll not be left behind. If you girls are
going to fly, we will, too," Enid drew Shirley toward the two girls.
"I was just thinking," exclaimed Shirley Williams, "that I can make
some wonderful photographs from the air."
"Well, since you're all going in for aviation, I suppose that includes
me. But I'll not do a thing unless I can wear one of those lovely
white leather costumes. I'm sure I'd look well in one!" This from
Joy, the butterfly girl.
"Then The Merriweather Girls stand together!" laughed Enid Breckenridge.
"Of course, 'One for all and all for one!'" said Bet, with a happy
smile on her face.
"And this year it will be THE MERRIWEATHER GIRLS--AT GOOD OLD
ROCKHILL." Kit waved an imaginary hat in the air. "I wonder what
adventures are in store for us there?"
"We've had so many wonderful experiences this summer that it seems as
if there couldn't be any more adventures left," mused Enid.
But Bet Baxter's face was glowing with the promise of future joys.
"Don't worry about that, girls! At Good Old Rockhill, we'll find lots
of fun, new thrills, and something tells me that adventure is waiting
for us there!"
"If we follow close on your heels, Bet, we're sure to find it!" laughed
Kit.
"Three cheers for Good Old Rockhill!" Bet shouted as the train carried
them nearer and nearer to the exciting experiences that were before
them.
THE END