CHAPTER XXIII
GREAT DAYS
That very afternoon Allen composed a letter to Paul Loup's concertmanager--advised and censored by the girls, of course--and they all rodeoff to town to mail it in time to catch the four o'clock outgoing mail.
"Now," said Mollie, as, this duty well performed, they started back tothe ranch, "I feel better. We've started something, anyway."
"Let's hope that we can finish it," added Grace, dubiously.
They did not expect an answer to this epistle within ten days, and inthe meantime they found plenty to keep them busy around the ranch.
Progress at the mines was swift, and almost any minute now they mightexpect to hear the glorious tidings that some one had "struck it rich."
Nothing had been seen of Peter Levine since that memorable night whenthe map had been taken from him, and it was rumored that the rascallylawyer had left town.
"And the longer he keeps away the healthier it will be for him, Ireckon," Allen said, adding with a laugh: "Gee, but it makes me happyevery time I think of how sore that chap may be."
Betty had dimpled sympathetically.
"You have an awfully mean disposition, Allen," she chided him.
Meggy and Dan Higgins were working furiously at their mine, but after afew days Betty was quick to see that they were not progressing as wellas some of the others. After all Meggy, though unusually strong androbust for her age, was only a girl and her father was an old man whohad just about worn out his energies in a fruitless search for fortune.
Betty had besought her father to send help to these good friends ofhers, and Mr. Nelson had immediately complied.
There had been some trouble with Dan at first--with Meggy too, for thatmatter.
"We can't take nothin' thet we can't pay fer, sir," the old fellowassured Mr. Nelson positively. But the latter reminded him that he andMeggy had saved his daughter's life, as well as those of the othergirls, and that this put him, Mr. Nelson, deeply in the others' debt.In view of this the old fellow finally surrendered. In his heart he wasdeeply, fervently thankful for the help of the young, able-bodied manwhom Mr. Nelson provided and for whose services he paid.
"But ef I strike thet thar gold vein, sir," Dan assured Mr. Nelsonearnestly, "I'm goin' to make it up to you, sir, every cent of it."
"All right, we can talk about that later," Mr. Nelson said, and laughedand walked on to view his own operations, feeling that he had done avery good day's work.
One morning, as the girls mounted their horses and turned their heads inthe direction of the gold diggings, they heard what seemed to be wildcheering and shouting in the distance and with one impulse they urgedtheir horses to a gallop.
"Somebody's found something!" shouted Mollie, as the cheering andshouting became more distinct. "Oh, girls, I wonder who it is."
"Maybe a mine has caved in, or something," Grace called back,pessimistically. "You'd better not get too happy, all at once."
"You old wet-blanket!" cried Betty, as she leaned forward and whisperedin Nigger's ear, urging him to greater speed. "That kind of mine doesn'tcave in very often. Oh, Nigger, hurry, old boy! Don't you know we'vegot to get there quickly?"
As they approached the noise became tumultuous, and as they topped asmall hill that brought them in full view of the new diggings they saw asight that they would never forget as long as they lived.
They gazed on what seemed to be a mob gone wild. Men grasped each otheraround the waists, performing some kind of crazy dance that looked likean Indian cakewalk. Others tossed their hats in the air and shot holesthrough them as they fell to the ground. And all were laughing, crying,shouting, waving arms and head gear in a sort of wild, feverish, primaljubilation.
The girls caught the thrill of it and they tingled to their finger tips.Putting spurs to their horses, they galloped down into the thick of it.