Part 3 (1/2)
”No. She knows some people here in Denver and they met her at the station and carried her off to dine with them. I wish she'd get belated and left behind. She was a regular kill-joy all the way out.”
”Poor, meek, timid woman! She used to have so little snap that Herbert nicknamed her 'The Worm.' It was horrid--”
”Well, she's 'turned,' then. Of course, we were pretty full of fun and scared her with some of our pranks. But--Ah! there she is now! You can't lose that woman! Mrs. Montaigne told her that 'the lives of her precious children were entrusted to her hands,' and the governess feels her responsibility to the full, I tell you. Even Helena--”
”Dinner for the newcomers!” called Mr. Ford, interrupting, as a fresh meal was placed upon the table and they were invited to their seats. The zeal with which they accepted and the fine appet.i.tes they displayed sent a satisfied smile to their host's lips, and he nodded merrily to his wife:
”No invalids among them! Glad of that! But youngsters, eat first, chatter afterwards! The wagons will be at the door very soon and I want to get in a good thirty miles before bedtime!”
They tried to check their eager talk but they were all too excited for quiet, and presently rose from the table, ready for the ride, while Mr.
Ford said:
”Now, Erminie, wife, you do the pairing off of the youngsters, and arrange how we shall divide. First, count noses! Eight youngsters, three oldsters, two 'boys'--thirteen pa.s.sengers in all! Miss Milliken, did you ever 'cross the plains' before?”
The prim little lady, who had been standing beside Mrs. Ford, appeared not to hear the gentleman's question, but turned with an air of anxiety to ask in turn:
”Madam, did I hear there were 'thirteen,' THIRTEEN?”
”Yes, Miss Milliken. Why?”
”Then I think you'll have to excuse me. I might follow you later if there were some way but I positively decline to make the thirteenth of any party.”
There certainly was nothing wormlike, or undecided, about the governess, whose lips had closed in such a thin line of obstinacy as changed her whole appearance, while her would-be hostess inquired with amus.e.m.e.nt:
”Are you superst.i.tious, Miss Milliken? Surely, with your culture and--”
Helena advanced with an air of authority:
”Milliken, this is absurd! Please get back your common sense. Remember we are guests and have no right to object to anything.”
The chaperon bridled, but kept silence, till Mr. Ford explained:
”Thirteen doesn't mean the whole party. There'll be three drivers, besides. Possibly more men picked up along the road. Moreover, thirteen is my 'lucky number,' if 'luck' is anything. Well, Mrs. Ford, have you arranged the company?”
”No, I cannot. I know them so slightly, as yet, and the best way is to draw lots. How many will the first buckboard carry?”
”Eight, all told. A dozen, if need be. Well, time's precious! Here's a lot of matches. The whole ones go in number one, the next lengths in wagon two, and the little ones in the last. See, I've snapped them off, and Miss Milliken, as head of the expedition, please draw first!”
The lady flushed and drew. Her lot was in the last and smallest buckboard which would carry but two more beside the driver; and it fell out that her companions would be Alfaretta and Monty Stark. The driver was known as Silent Pete, and it certainly was an odd combination which had resulted from the first ”drawing.”
To the leading wagon the ”lots” a.s.signed the three Fords and Jedediah, their colored ”boy,” with Molly, Helena and Herbert--their driver, Lem Hunt, the most talkative man at San Leon but, also, the crack whip of the ranch.
The driver of the second team was ”Tenderfoot Sorrel,” so called because of his red hair and his comparatively recent arrival from the east. He was less familiar with the country than the other two teamsters and had been a.s.signed to the place in the middle of the little cavalcade, so that ”he can't lose hisself afore or ahind, ary way,” as Lemuel explained it.
Naturally, everybody was disappointed at the result of the lots, Mrs.
Ford protesting that it was inhospitable to put all her family in one vehicle, and that the best, but that ”a Ford should have been in each.”
”Let's change, then,” begged Monty, ”and let one of the girls settle it as she knows we'd like it.”