Part 41 (1/2)

nice young men jus' fer a good time? Like as not our Jeb'll get la.s.soed by one of 'em, and she'll marry him fer his money, er git it all away from him afore she lets him go. Ah've seen it all, over and over again, in the movies at Oak Crick!” Sary almost wept as she described the lamentable case of Jeb if he was permitted to visit Denver, alone.

”Don't worry over Jeb, Sary. He hasn't gone yet,” said Mrs. Brewster, sending her husband a signal to keep quiet.

Sary went out of the room, and when Polly called for a cup, no one replied. So she had to jump up and go to the kitchen for her own cup, but the kitchen was empty--no Sary to be seen, anywhere. Polly reported this discovery when she came back to the table, and Mrs. Brewster spoke impatiently to her husband.

”You haven't any judgment about love affairs, Sam! Don't you know that you are actually throwing Jeb at Sary's head by saying such things, as you did--about giving Jeb enough vacation to allow him to go to the city and find a pretty girl for himself?”

Mr. Brewster sat back in his chair and dropped his fork upon the table in surprise. He turned wondering eyes at his wife as he said: ”Ah only said that to show Sary that she must bide her time with Jeb, and give him a chance to make an honest choice for a wife.”

”That's what you _wanted_ to do, Sam, but what you actually accomplished was to give Sary a fright over having Jeb get out of her snare, and now she'll move heaven and earth to consummate her own schemes to get Jeb. I wouldn't be one bit surprised if we should find out that she is, even now, helping Jeb at the barn and trying to wheedle him into an out and out proposal. There!” was Mrs. Brewster's reply.

At that, Sam Brewster jumped up, and without asking to be excused, rushed away and down the road that led to the barns. Mrs. Brewster, with the girls, laughed at his sudden departure, and when supper was over, with the master of the house still absent, they all cleared away the meal and piled up the dishes for Sary to wash in the morning. Then Mr. Brewster came back.

”Well, Mary! You must have second sight, is all Ah can say. Sary was out helping Jeb with the horses, sure enough. And Ah overheard her sayin', when Ah came up to the door: 'Jeb, if you-all ever has time to go visitin' to Denver, or any such place, it would be a fine honeymoon for me and you, woulden' it?'”

As Mr. Brewster repeated Sary's words, he glanced at his wife, but every one laughed heartily at his expression and Sary's clever antic.i.p.ation of Jeb's vacation. Mrs. Brewster wagged her head wisely, as she said:

”Didn't I tell you so, Sam? Now Sary will have no rest, nor indeed give poor Jeb any peace of mind, until she has him firmly attached to her by vows. Once the bans are announced at church, she knows Jeb will not try to dodge them and his responsibility.”

”Well, Mary, after this experience Ah swear Ah shall have nothing more to do in trying to break up any matches. No, not even if my own children plan to marry without having due time to judge what is best for them!” His sigh of sacrifice in such a dire case made all eyes turn to Anne, and her companions laughed teasingly at her blush.

”Now, girls--all off to bed at once, if you expect to go with us at daybreak,” was Mrs. Brewster's advice that cut the conversation short.

”I have no objections to tumbling into bed,” confessed Polly.

”Nor I. If it were not for that ride to-morrow, I could sleep all day,”

added Eleanor, hiding a yawn.

”Ah will set the Big Ben to-night, I think,” said Mr. Brewster, ”so that we will not miss Simms and his party at Lone Pine Blaze in the morning.”

”Who besides Simms is going with us, father?” asked Polly.

”Why, my old pal the Sheriff, and his men; Simms and a few of his best friends, and Rattle-snake Mike as a guide.”

”Oh, really! Why, it will be a large party, won't it?” cried Polly, delightedly.

”We'll need a large party, Ah'm thinking, girls, if our surmises are right. In fact, the Sheriff plans to send an extra posse up by a different trail, in order to head off any strange-acting or unfamiliar-looking men who might happen to meet them on this unfrequented ride along Top Notch Trail.”

”My! It makes me tingle deliciously at thought of the fun we will have if we have to fight for the mine,” said Eleanor.

”I don't think we women ought to go if there is the least danger,”