Part 6 (1/2)
”Oh, Laura, you old meany,” Nan laughed. ”You know she isn't half as bad as you make her out to be.”
”No, she isn't,” Laura agreed. ”Lakeview Hall certainly wouldn't be complete without her. Why, down here in Mexico--well, on the border of Mexico--when I'm going farther and farther away from her all the time, I can almost believe that I'm fond of her. But don't let me talk about it,” she pretended to sniff as though she was going to cry, ”or I'll be getting homesick for her.”
”Small chance of your ever getting homesick for anyone,” Bess remarked, ”but let's hear what it is Amelia wants to tell us about and then go downstairs, I'm almost starved.”
”Oh, I'm sorry, Amelia,” Nan handed over the book, ”I didn't mean to monopolize it.” These Lakeview Hall girls, together for so many years under all sorts of circ.u.mstances, were still polite to one another and thoughtful about little things. They teased one another, laughed at one another's faults, and quarreled sometimes among themselves, but they were always eager to forgive and more than anxious to please. This was why they had been friends for so long. They were never really jealous of one another and were always ready to praise anyone in the group who did anything outstanding.
”It's all right, Nan,” Amelia answered as she reached for the book. ”I merely thought that this story of the founding of Mexico City might be fun to read. It's short, Bess, so we'll be downstairs in just a few minutes. Here it is.
”'When the Aztecs, a people that inhabited this part of Mexico long before the coming of the white man from across the water, were wandering from place to place in search of a spot on which to establish themselves, their head priest had a vision.
”'In it, he saw their War G.o.d and heard him telling them to go on and on until they found an eagle on a cactus growing from the rock. The cactus, the War G.o.d said, was the heart of his treacherous nephew who had waged war against him and lost. As punishment, he had been put to death and his heart was torn from him and thrown into the lake. It fell upon a rock among the reeds, and from it grew a cactus so big and strong that an eagle, seeking a place to build his nest, had made his home upon it.
”'The Aztecs heeded the words of their War G.o.d as told them by the priest. For years they wandered, until finally, one morning very early, their long search was rewarded. They came upon the eagle on the cactus!
His wings were extended to the rays of the sun and in his claws he held a snake.
”'So it was here that they built their city and even to this day, the cactus and the eagle, holding a snake in his beak, is Mexico's emblem.'”
With this, Amelia closed the book.
”So that's why I've been seeing that symbol on so many Mexican things all these years,” Nan commented. ”I've wondered what it meant, but was always too lazy to look it up. How strange the history of this country is that we are going into! I wonder what will happen.”
”Probably everything,” Laura said, ”so, now I think we'd better go downstairs and eat, fortify ourselves so to speak for any emergency.”
”Guess you're right,” Nan laughed. And with this, Nan and her friends all hurried down to breakfast and to the beginning of another day in their Mexican adventure.
CHAPTER VII
BESS SMELLS A ROMANCE
”Well, how are the charming senoritas this morning?” Walker Jamieson dropped his feet from the chair next to him and rose as Nan and her friends entered the lounge of the hotel.
”Let's see, one, two, three, four, five, yes, there are six of you still. There was no victory for the mosquitoes last night I can see. I had an idea,” he nodded his head slowly as though he had been seriously considering the subject, ”that all would go well after my joust with the man-sized monster that forced its way into my room. Boy, was it a big one! It had a million legs like tentacles that wound themselves around me so that if it hadn't been for my trusty Excalibur, none of us would have been here this morning. It was a fight.” He shook his head as though the recollection was more than he could bear.
”Yes, we can see it was.” Alice, too, had been waiting for the girls to appear. ”We can see the marks of the b.l.o.o.d.y battle all over your face.”
”Can you really?” Walker Jamieson grinned down at the girl who was just a foot shorter than himself. ”Well, they are all for you ladies,” he pretended now to doff a big sombrero and sweep it across in front of him in the most approved style.
”What's all this nonsense?” Adair MacKenzie joined the party. ”Can't stand silliness any time, and least of all before breakfast. Now, get out into that dining room and eat.”
At this, the whole party moved. ”Don't intend to spend the summer in Laredo,” Adair muttered as he followed them.
Breakfast was a silent meal--silent that is, save for Adair's sputtering into his coffee. At its finish, he pushed his plate back, called the waiter and gave him an extraordinarily large tip, and turned to his young cousin.
”Well, Nancy,” he said agreeably, ”How are things with you this fine morning? Ready to move on? And you, Bess, and all the rest of you, are you all right? Now, let me tell you all a secret,” he went on as he realized how quiet everyone had been throughout the meal, ”I'm not really such a bad old soul. Oh, I lose my temper at times. I admit that,” he said generously, ”but I'm not bad, not bad at all.” He shook his head as though he was entirely satisfied with himself and the world in general.
”And you there, Jamieson, you're not bad either,” he went on.
Walker nodded his head as though he acquiesced entirely and Alice beamed on everyone. It was nice to have everyone in such a happy frame of mind, she thought, and then, for luck, crossed her fingers.