CHAPTER VIII AT THE MINE
When they neared the foot of the lofty mountains and the end of theautomobile road, Jo Ann parked the car in front of a small thatched adobehouse. "This is the jumping-off place," she smiled. "Here's where weleave Jitters and get our horses."
Miss Prudence eyed the house curiously. "This must be where Ed told me wewere to change into our riding clothes. He said for us to be ready by thetime he and the boys got here. I don't fancy going into a strange housein a strange----" She stopped abruptly as a fat, smiling-faced Mexicanwoman appeared at the open door and began beaming her welcome andpunctuating her Spanish with gestures for them to come inside.
Summoning her limited Spanish, Jo Ann replied with a "_Gracias_," thenturned and translated the woman's welcoming words to Miss Prudence.
After a moment's hesitation Miss Prudence followed the girls into thehouse. Her keen eyes quickly took in the room, which had a neat,well-kept appearance in spite of its dirt floor and primitive furniture.
The woman disappeared into the other room, evidently the kitchen, as theycould hear her rattling dishes and beating vigorously with some utensil.
"I hope she's making us some _chocolate_," Jo Ann whispered to Peggy asthey slipped into their khaki riding trousers.
"I hope so too. I'm hungry as a bear. Mountain air always gives me aravenous appetite."
"Here, too. I could wrap myself around a substantial meal right now, andit'll probably be two hours yet till we reach the mine--and supper."
As Jo Ann's thoughts turned on the distance to the mine, she wondered howshe would be able to get back to the city and find the mystery man. Nowthat she had seen the car of those suspected smugglers in the village soclose by, she felt it was more imperative than ever for her to tell themystery man about them and their whereabouts. "I've simply got to get intouch with him some way," she told herself.
So intent was she upon these thoughts that she did not heed Peggy'snudging her till she squealed out, "Can't you put on your boots, Peg,without poking me in the side?"
"Oh, I most humbly beg your pardon," Peggy replied, her twinkling eyesshowing that her apology was anything but abject.
Catching her gesture, a nod of the head in Miss Prudence's direction, JoAnn looked over at Miss Prudence. The next moment her eyes opened inastonishment. That long, full, navy skirt Miss Prudence had on--how onearth was she ever going to ride in that thing? That must be one of thoseold-fashioned side-saddle riding skirts she'd heard her grandmother talkabout. It'd be absolutely dangerous to ride side saddle in thismountainous country. She'd often heard how easily such a saddle wastipped out of balance and the rider thrown off. The next moment sherelaxed as the thought occurred to her that there were no side saddles inthis part of the country. Perhaps she'd better tell her that.
Somewhat embarrassed, Jo Ann stammered, "Er--Miss Prudence--er--theydon't have any--side saddles down here."
Miss Prudence looked puzzled as she replied Yankee-fashion with aquestion, "Well, who wants one?" Seeing the girls' eyes fastened on herskirt, she smiled, "This isn't one of those old side-saddle ridingskirts. It's a divided skirt." There was a note of pride in her voice asshe added, "I was the first woman in my part of the country to beginriding astride. I shocked the older people dreadfully."
"I think you were a good sport, Miss Prudence, to start that style,"Peggy remarked.
Miss Prudence received this praise with a pleased smile.
Just then the Mexican woman entered with a tray of food which she set ona little table near by. Gesturing and talking rapidly to Jo Ann, sheexplained, "I think you have much hunger, and I make you some_chocolate_."
Though Jo Ann's reply was made in broken Spanish, it was straight fromher heart. "_Gracias._ You are most kind. We have hunger after the longride. And _chocolate_--I love it." She raised the cup to her lips anddrank a little of the rich, frothy liquid. "This is very delicious."
Peggy and Miss Prudence nodded a smiling approval to the woman, and herblack eyes glowed with happiness at the praise, both spoken and unspoken.
A few minutes after they had finished eating, Mr. Eldridge and the twoboys rode up.
On going outside Jo Ann saw that there were three other horses saddledand waiting for them. She noticed, too, that Jose, Pepito's father, wasstanding near by, his arms caressingly about Carlitos, whom he lovedalmost as dearly as he did his own son. Carlitos's face was aglow withhappiness at being reunited with his Mexican friends.
After she and Peggy had mounted, they watched with curious eyes to seehow Miss Prudence manipulated that queer skirt. When they saw herunbutton the front panel and fold it back and refasten it on another setof buttons, they saw that it was a divided skirt after all.
Peggy leaned over from her horse to murmur to Jo Ann, "It looks like apair of floppy-legged pajamas now."
Jo Ann nodded, then added, grinning, "I prefer to sleep in pajamas andride in trousers. It's so much more modest."
Peggy suppressed a giggle with difficulty at the thought of the properMiss Prudence's ever wearing anything but the most correct clothes.
Notwithstanding the queer skirt, they found that Miss Prudence rodeunusually well, handling her horse with the ease of an experiencedhorsewoman.
Up the steep mountain trail they began climbing in single file, Jose inthe lead. The sheer precipice at the edge looked so dangerous to Jo Annthat she tried to keep from looking over. One good thing, they had anexcellent guide in Jose. He had led her and Florence over worse placesthan this.
On nearing the mine a strange feeling of tenseness filled the girls andCarlitos; and yet that was not surprising, as the mine had been the sceneof the most thrilling adventures they had ever experienced. It was herethat they had been rescued from the treacherous mine foreman who hadstolen the mine from Carlitos's father.
On their arrival at the great stone house that this foreman had soproudly built for his own use, they found Jose's wife, Maria, the nursewho had reared Carlitos as one of her family. Though she was only a poorignorant woman of the peon class, the girls as well as Carlitos lovedher.
"Maria has a heart of gold," Jo Ann told Miss Prudence as they watchedher enfold Carlitos in her arms and kiss him on each cheek. "She loveshim as she does her own Pepito and her girls."
A few minutes later Maria proudly showed Carlitos to his room, into whichshe had put the best of everything, then took Miss Prudence and the girlsto adjoining rooms, which looked bare and forbidding with their concretefloors, scant furniture, and curtainless, iron-barred windows.
"Looks like a soldiers' barracks," Miss Prudence said crisply after aswift glance about.
Jo Ann laughed, then said, "You should have seen this house as it was thefirst time I saw it. There was a grand piano in every room with a gamerooster tied to one of the piano legs."
Miss Prudence gasped. "A rooster in every room! Heavens! You mean to saythis whole house was a chicken coop?"
"Not exactly. It was just that Mexican foreman's idea of the luxuriouslife. He loved music and cock fighting, so he wanted the pianos androosters handy."
"Heavens!" gasped Miss Prudence again. "Why, I must fumigate this wholehouse, clean it with Old Dutch Cleanser, Lysol----"
"Oh, Maria cleaned it long ago--thoroughly," broke in Jo Ann quickly,seeing that the anxious-eyed Maria was watching Miss Prudence's frown ofevident disapproval and was worried. She turned now to Maria and said inSpanish, "The house is very clean. You have worked hard."
Maria's grave eyes brightened. "Yes, the little girls and I work hard."She gestured to the window and the corners of the room. "See, I clean itgood like Carlitos's mama show me."
Though Miss Prudence had caught from these gestures that Maria wasshowing how thoroughly she had cleaned the house, she was far from beingconvinced that it was fit for human habitation. Again she broke into alist of the different kinds of cleansing materials and things that shewould need.
"We'll have to go to th
e city to get all those things," put in Peggy."They won't have them in the little store in the village."
Jo Ann's eyes suddenly began to shine. Here was her chance to get back tothe city to find the mystery man. She could stop in the village and findout what those smugglers were doing there. Maybe they were buying basketsand pottery from the villagers. She'd soon find out now.
The first moment she and Peggy were alone she told her of her plans.
Peggy laughed. "I knew that's what you were planning. You can't resist amystery, can you?"
"And you're almost as eager as I am to have a finger in my mystery pie.You know you're crazy to go to the city with me."
"Of course I am."