Meg of Mystery Mountain

by Grace May North

  CHAPTER XXVII. THE GREEN HILLS RANCH

  Shielded from the fury of the storms by gently sloping foothills, therambling Packard ranch house presented a very inviting appearance to theyoung people as the two big horses carefully picked their way down thelast steep trail.

  "O, how beautiful!" was Jane's involuntary exclamation when the levelroad, having been reached, she felt freer to look about and admire thescene.

  "I had no idea that a mere ranch could be so attractive." A great changewas evident in the Eastern girl, and Jean Sawyer had been quick to noticeit. Not once that morning had she seemed to be posing that she mightappear more charming to him. She was just sweetly, sincerely natural. Thereason, perhaps, was that Jane had suffered so much since his last visitthat she had changed her estimate of real values. She was so happy, so atpeace deep in her heart. She had learned that her mother's little oneswere dearer to her than all else, and so the impression she might makehad dwindled in importance. If Jean had thought her beautiful on the dayof their first meeting, he thought her more lovely now, although her faceshowed evidence of a great weariness and the hours of anxiety throughwhich she had passed. He smiled up at her as he walked at her side, onehand resting on the horse's bridle. "Mr. Packard and I have tried outmany schemes to make our home more beautiful," he told her. "That littleartificial lake surrounded by cottonwood trees and willows we made quiteby ourselves. A mountain stream flows into it. Indeed, there are manysprings in these foothills and that is why they have such a soft,velvety-green appearance when the desert and mountains are so dry." Theywere passing through a vegetable garden where a beaming Chinaman, hoe inhand, nodded to them.

  Then came the flower gardens and Meg's enthusiasm, though expressed inher usual quiet way, was very evident. "How you do love flowers," Dansaid, smiling up at her.

  "Indeed I do!" Meg replied. "They seem like live things to me, and so Iwas not surprised to read recently that a scientist, with some verydelicate instrument, has learned that many plants are sentient, thoughnot acutely so. Since then I have never torn a plant ruthlessly. Thatscientist advised cutting flowers rather than breaking them."

  It was indeed Meg's much-loved subject and her eyes glowed as she gazedat the banks of scarlet salvia, at the masses of golden glow, andmany-hued asters.

  "Someone else must love flowers," she commented, turning to look back atJean. He nodded. "It is my best friend, Mr. Packard. You two ought to begreat cronies. I sometimes tell him that I think it is the color effect,rather than the individual flower, that he so greatly admires, but herehe comes now."

  They were riding up to the circling drive which passed under avine-covered portico. Mr. Packard leaped down the steps with an agilitywhich seemed to dispute the years his graying hair attributed to him.

  "Welcome!" he cried, with a wide sweep of his sombrero. "This is indeed apleasant surprise, although I can hardly call it that as I have beenwatching for just such a cavalcade to come riding down my foothills eversince the dawn broke." He held out his strong arms to lift little Julie,whose face, still tear-stained and white with pain, appealed to him. Heheld her close as he listened sympathetically while Gerald told what hadhappened to the poor little foot. Then, after giving a word of greetingto each of the guests, he bade them follow him indoors to the breakfastthat had long been awaiting them.

  The girls found that a wing, containing two rooms and a bath, andoverlooking the little lake, had been prepared for their comfort. Gerald,with the two older boys, sought quarters elsewhere in the rambling ranchhouse, which had room for the accommodation of many guests.

  "When you girls have prinked enough," Mr. Packard said merrily, "followthe scent of the coffee and you will find the rest of us." When the doorhad closed and the three girls were alone, Jane held out a hand to Meg,saying: "Will you forgive me for everything, and let me try to be a realfriend?" An expression of gladness in the mountain girl's dusky eyes washer most eloquent reply.

  Directly after breakfast in the dining-room, which seemed to be allwindows and where they were served by a silently moving Chinaman, thegirls were told that they were to go to their wing and rest until noon.

  This was in no way a displeasing suggestion and in a very short whileJulie and Jane in one room and Meg in the other were deep in slumber.Gerald was also advised to rest, but he declared that he would ratherstay awake and see what was going to happen. Dan laughed as he said thatGerald seemed always to believe that an adventure might begin at anymoment.

  "What boy does not?" Mr. Packard smiled understandingly down at thestocky little fellow whose clear blue eyes and freckled face beamed goodnature. Then, quite as though he could read the small boy's thought, theman exclaimed: "Gerald, you ought to wear my grandson's cowboy outfit.He'd be glad to loan it to you." That this suggestion met with theyoungster's entire approval was quite evident by the wild dance which heexecuted then and there.

  Jean led the little fellow away and before long Gerald reappeared,clothed in a costume of the most approved style, a fringed buckskin suit,a red bandana handkerchief loosely knotted about his neck, while in onehand he held a wide felt hat on which to his great joy a driedrattlesnake skin served as band. His own small gun was never out of hispossession.

  "Great!" Dan said with brotherly pride. "I wish our dad and dear oldgrandmother might see you now, Gerry. You do indeed look ready to starton an adventure."

  "Where'll we go to look for it?" The small boy gazed eagerly, hopefullyup at their genial host.

  "Well, sonny, what kind of an adventure would you prefer?" the amused manasked as though he were willing, at least, to attempt to provide whateveradventure his small guest might desire.

  "I'd like an Indian raid best, or a hold-up." The boy was thinking of themost exciting things he could recall in his set of Wild-West books, butMr. Packard shook his head. "Sorry to disappoint you, sonny, but the Utesare a friendly tribe: peaceable, anyway, and they are no longer our nearneighbors. They have moved their camp deeper into the mountains. And, asfor hold-ups, since we are neither on a stage or a train we cannotprovide that, but if you boys are not too weary I am going to suggestthat you ride with me to the old stage road. I've been losing some calveslately and Jean believes that they might have been driven into anabandoned corral over in the foothills at night, and later were spiritedaway." He hesitated. "It's a hard ride, though. Perhaps you boys wouldrather not undertake it until tomorrow."

  But they were glad to go, and Gerald would not agree to being leftbehind. He was given a small horse that was gentle and used to boys, asthe grandson had claimed it as his own, and so they rode away, havingleft word for the girls that they would return as soon as possible.

  In the mid-morning they reached the old abandoned stage road. "No oneuses it now, that is, for legitimate purposes, as it is very dangerous.There are washouts and cutways that make it almost impassable for stageor for auto travel." Then, pointing to the place where the road circled ahigh hill, Mr. Packard concluded: "Jean, can you see where yesterday'scloudburst washed out the road? It has started a new canon that will haveto be bridged, for now and then a tenderfoot autoist does get started onthat old road, thinking that it leads to Redfords. Time and again we haveput up signs on the main highway, but they are hurled down in the storms,I suppose."

  Dan had been intently tracing the old road until it was lost from sight.Suddenly he urged his horse forward to Mr. Packard's side. "May I takethe field glasses? I feel sure that I see a dark object moving along thatold road and coming this way. You look first, though. Your eyes arebetter trained to these distances than mine." Mr. Packard gazed long,then he turned to Jean. "Boy," he said, "it looks like an auto movingslowly this way. If it ever starts on that down grade toward the washoutthere is going to be a tragedy."

  Jean was eagerly alert. "What shall we do, Mr. Packard? How can it beaverted?"

  The automobile had disappeared as the road circled behind a hill, but thewatchers well knew that if it did not meet wi
th disaster it would soonreappear above the washout and then be unable to stop because of thesteep descent.

  "Follow me!" Mr. Packard gave the brief order, and, urging his horse toits utmost speed, he led the way at what seemed to Gerald a breakneckpace. The small boy clung to his wiry little pony, which kept closebehind the racing mustangs. It was evident to the boys that Mr. Packardwas hoping to round the foot of the hill in time to shout a warning tothe autoists before they began the descent which would prove fatal. Itseemed a very long distance to Dan and he could not see how they possiblycould make it. He kept his eyes constantly on the crest of the hill road,dreading the moment when the car would appear, there to plunge down tocertain destruction. Mr. Packard rounded the foot of the hill first,whirled in his saddle, beckoned the boys to make haste, then disappeared,leaving his horse standing riderless. "What can _that_ mean?" Dan asked,but Jean merely shook his head. In another moment they would know. Whenthey, also, had rounded the hill, they saw that "ill fortune," asautoists usually consider a blow-out, had befriended the travelers. Thecar had been stopped just as it had begun the ascent of the hill, on theother side of which sure death had awaited them.

  Mr. Packard was seen breaking a trail through the underbrush. From timeto time he hallooed, and the boys saw that at last he had been heard.

  "It will be needless for us to make the climb," Jean said, "since Mr.Packard will warn them," and so the three boys awaited the man's return.

  "Who were they?" Jean inquired. Mr. Packard, removing his Stetson to wipehis brow, shook his head. "I do not know. Some family from the Easttrying to cross the Rockies. They could have done it easily enough ifthey had not taken the wrong road. The woman in the party is so utterlyexhausted that I invited them to come to our place to rest. I showed themthe road from the foot of the hill back of them. It certainly isn't ingood condition, but, being on the level, it at least will not bedangerous. The woman fainted when she heard how near death lurked aheadof them, but they'll be all right now. We'll inspect that old foothillcorral some other day, Jean. These strangers have need of our friendlyservices." Mr. Packard turned his horse's head toward the ranch as hespoke and they all galloped back at a moderate speed.

  "That was sort of an adventure, wasn't it?" Gerald inquired hopefully.

  Mr. Packard laughed heartily. "I certainly think it could be soclassified," he agreed. "I shudder to think what it would have been,however, if that tire had not halted them. We could not have reached themin time."

  Although it was not quite noon, the girls were up and dressed when theequestrians returned and were greatly interested in all that hadhappened. Gerald waxed eloquent as he told Julie the details, and thatlittle girl, who hungered for adventure quite as much as her brother,hoped that if anything exciting happened again, she might be in the thickof it.

  Mr. Packard retired to the kitchen to advise Sing Long, the cook, thatfour other guests were to arrive for lunch. Although that Chinaman'sreply was merely "Ally lite" the American interpretation of his pleasedsmile would be, "the more the merrier." Guests were his joy that he mightdisplay the art at which he excelled.

  An hour later a big, luxurious closed car limped into the ranchdoor-yard. Mr. Packard went out to greet the strangers in the samehospitable manner that he had greeted his friends. The girls on the wideporch saw a fine looking man with a Van Dyke beard assisting a simplythough richly gowned woman from the car, then the front door was flungopen! There was a joyful cry from a girl who leaped out and fairly racedup the front steps with arms out-held. "O Jane, Jane! How wonderful tofind you here! We were looking for your cabin and that's how we came tolose our way."

  "Marion Starr, of all things! I thought that you were in Newport!"