CHAPTER XXIV
THE END OF PETER LEVINE
The crowd scattered as the Outdoor Girls came whirling down into itsmidst, but in an instant it had closed about them again. Theydismounted, leaving their excited horses to go where they would, andpushed their way through to the group that seemed to be the center ofall 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 madthemselves.
They kissed and hugged Meggy till she cried aloud for mercy. They kissedand hugged old Dan, and he took it as though he had been used to beingmade much of by pretty girls all his life.
Twenty years had fallen from the old man's age. No matter that he hadwasted the best part of his life in a vain hunt for gold. His dream hadbeen realized at last. There was a fortune in his grasp, and he feltagain the thrill that had coursed through his veins when, as a youngman, heart high with aspirations, he had started on his quest.
He was young again! Young! It seemed as though the sight of those goldennuggets--his own--had renewed the fires of youth.
Nimbly he sprang upon an empty powder keg and addressed his frenziedaudience.
"Friends and fellow gold hunters," he yelled, and there was a roar ofappreciation. "They is a few words I'd like to say afore we go back towrestlin' some more gold outen them rocks. An' these is them. Ef I'm ahappy man to-day an' a rich one, then it's all due to these four younggals here. They set me on the trail o' this new thing when I was purtynear tuckered out. You all knows 'em an' loves 'em. Now give 'em acheer. Hearty, now, hearty----"
Then arose such a roar that the Outdoor Girls' hearts swelled near tobursting and they felt the tears sting their eyes. That moment would besomething to remember all their lives.
The roar gradually subsided and the miners wandered back to their ownoperations again, followed by scattered groups of curious onlookers.They worked with redoubled energy, with redoubled hope. Gold had beenfound. More gold would be found. It was a thrilling, glorious race tosee 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 withnervous reaction. "I--I can't jest make up my mind that it has happenedyet."
"We know," said Betty, soothingly. "You needn't tell us about it if youdon't want to."
"But I do--I've got to!" cried Meggy tensely. "Why, it seems like adream. But I'm so happy, so wildly happy----" A sob caught in her throatand she paused for a moment, then went on swiftly, the words tumblingover each other in her eagerness: "It was jest this morning that ithappened, jest a little while ago. You know we have been workin' awfulhard the last few days, an' I was getting worried over dad again. He wasgittin' that thin an' weak an' kind o' discouraged, too. Seemed likehe'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 fingersclasped convulsively in front of her. "Then we uncovered it, that firstlittle narrow vein o' gold runnin' through the rocks. I thought dadwould go plumb crazy when he seen it. Honest, I was skeered for aminute, 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 fellerswhat 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 forone 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 hosslike--like--Nigger, mebbe----"
"You funny girl," cried Betty, hugging her fondly. "Of course you canbuy a horse--a dozen of them if you want to. But wouldn't you likeanything else? Pretty clothes, a beautiful house to live in----"
"Yes," agreed Meggy, but without any special enthusiasm. "I used tothink when you gals come around lookin' all pretty an' stylish in yournice clothes thet I would like to dress thet way myself ef I wasn't aspoor 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 efyou wanted to. Sure, I'd like them things.
"But a hoss----" Her voice lowered almost to a reverential pitch. "Eversence I grew to be a long-legged gal, seems like all I've really wantedwas a hoss. I s'pose," she turned dark, rather wistful eyes on thegirls, "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 seemedlike it was dead inside of you. So you might think I was foolish to takeon so 'bout only a hoss."
"We don't think you're foolish, Meggy," said Betty, gently. "We thinkyou're wonderful, and you deserve every bit of the splendid luck thathas come to you. And I expect," she finished gayly, "that you will havethe most beautiful horse in all Gold Run."
Meggy's eyes lighted with joy. Then they misted suddenly as she lookedat the girls.
"It's jest like dad said," she murmured. "We wouldn't 'a' had nothin' efit 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 happygirls. Peter Levine had known what he was talking about when he hadasserted that "gold was running wild" about the northern end of theranch and its environs.
It was as though the finding of gold in the new Higgins' mine had beenthe 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 wereon the ranch, Betty began to realize that the Nelson family was becomingvery wealthy. They had always been well-to-do, for her father hadprospered in his business, that of carpet manufacturer in Deepdale. Butnow it seemed that they were to know what it felt like to be reallyrich.
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. "Youcan have about anything in the world that you want now. I--I--hope youwon't forget your old friends." She said the last laughingly, but Bettywas deeply hurt and showed that she was.
"If--if you ever dare say such a horrid thing to me again, MollieBillette," 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 theLittle Captain only after having apologized most abjectly.
Then one day something happened that amused them all mightily. They hadall turned out to the gold diggings, Mrs. Nelson, Mr. Nelson, the fourgirls, and Allen. Mrs. Nelson and Allen were engaged in the joyfulpursuit of trying to figure out how much her profits would be, whenBetty edged up to Allen and, pulling his sleeve, pointed out a man somedistance from them. The latter was standing alone, and he seemed to beregarding the operations rather morosely.
"Peter Levine, by all that's holy!" murmured Allen. "Just hold tight fora minute, folks, and watch me chase him."
With an elaborately casual air, Allen sauntered over to the moroseindividual. The man looked up as he approached, and the scowl on hisface deepened.
"Howdy," said Allen, loud enough to cause those near by to turn to lookat him. "How's my old friend Levine this morning?"
"None of your business," snarled the other, with a black look. "Lay offme, do you hear?"
"Oh, yes, I hear," said Allen, loudly and cheerfully. "I'm quiteexceptionally good at hearing. Shall I tell these friends of ours whatAndy Rawlinson and I happened to hear the other night, beneath thesevery trees? Why, Levine, where are you going?" he asked with feignedsurprise, as the other started to take his leave. "Don't you want tohear----"
"Shut your mouth!" snarled Peter Levine, furiously, then turned andslunk off, followed by the jeers and ca
tcalls of the crowd.
"You shore hev got his number, boy," said one old timer, admiringly. "Heloves you like the fox loves a trap."
Allen grinned boyishly. "Suits me!" he said cheerfully.