Blue Bonnet's Ranch Party

by Lillian Elizabeth Roy

  CHAPTER XVIII

  SOME ARRIVALS

  THE birthday celebration really began on the day before the birthday.Uncle Cliff had driven to the railway station early in the day, andlong before it was time for him to be back, five pairs of eyes begansearching the road for a sight of the returning buckboard. The We areSevens, observing Blue Bonnet to be as expectant as they, becameapprehensive lest their great secret should have leaked out. For herpart, Blue Bonnet had become so used to seeing the girls impatient forthe arrival of the mail, that their frequent running to the veranda topeer down the road, occasioned her only amusement.

  How little they suspected what a valuable package that buckboard wouldcontain!

  This was the twentieth of August. Every time Blue Bonnet thought ofthe great surprise in store for Alec, she grew first excited, thenafraid. How would he take his grandfather's arrival? One minute shewas sure he would be overwhelmingly glad, for Alec had a deepaffection for the "grand old man." The next, she was afraid he wouldthink she had shirked her bargain by throwing on him the burden oftelling the General his own bad news. Well, this time she had trulydone her best, let the results be what they might.

  "Do what is right let the consequence follow!" she sagely remarked toSolomon, and he put up his paw as if to say: "Shake on that!"

  She was in her garden picking flowers for the table. Indoors was adelightful flurry of preparation: from the kitchen came a clatter ofpans, and a variety of appetizing odors; above the cackle of Lisa andGertrudis rang the merry laugh of Juanita as she waited on the busycooks; while Miguel could be seen haunting the region of the backdoor.

  Out on the long-disused croquet-ground, which Uncle Joe had levelledand tamped for Blue Bonnet years before, Alec and several of thecowboys were working, converting it into a dancing ground, and hangingChinese lanterns on long wires strung between the surrounding trees.

  "It's certainly worth while having a birthday on the ranch," BlueBonnet thought happily. All this bustle of preparation to celebratethe birthday of a Texas Blue Bonnet!

  Hark! Wasn't that the rattle of wheels? Yes,--there came the buckboardat last. Blue Bonnet sprang up excitedly. Had Alec heard? She shot alook in the direction of the croquet-ground.

  Alec had heard; had glanced at the cloud of dust that marked theapproaching team, and then--had gone calmly on with his work. He waslooking for travellers on horseback, and the buckboard's arrival wononly slight notice from him. He would let the girls spring theirsurprise on Blue Bonnet and have the hubbub over before he intruded.

  "Alec!" called Blue Bonnet in a fever of excitement; but he merelywaved to her indulgently and went on fitting a candle into a socketwith exasperating slowness.

  With her arms full of flaming poppies, Blue Bonnet flew to the houseand reached the veranda just as the other girls poured from the door,and the buckboard came to a standstill. There was the General, andbeside him--Blue Bonnet gasped as she saw--was a boyish figure withclose-cropped hair.

  The poppies fell to the ground in a brilliant heap, and the momentthat Susy and Ruth alighted Blue Bonnet gathered them both in anecstatic hug. But not for long was she permitted a monopoly. Thesenewly arrived two-sevenths were passed from hand to hand, or, moreliterally, from arm to arm, and caressed and exclaimed over until Mrs.Clyde came to the rescue of the tired girls.

  The General's arrival had become of quite secondary importance. Hestood talking to the Senora until Blue Bonnet at last turned to himapologetically.

  "I'm very glad to see you!" she said.

  General Trent took her outstretched hand and smiled down into theeager flushed face. "You are very good to say so. A mere man isdecidedly _de trop_ on such an occasion!"

  "No, you're not! Only I was expecting you and I wasn't expecting Susyand Ruth,--so I rather lost my head. How did you happen to bring thegirls?"

  "I didn't bring them, really. Dr. Clark wanted them to have a changeof air, and when Mrs. Doyle heard I was coming here she asked if Iwould mind playing escort to her girls,--a change of air spelt onlyTexas to them, it seems. My delight may better be imagined thandescribed, and--here we are. Ah, Miss Kitty, you see me at last!" Hepaused to shake hands with the young lady, and then the others cameshyly up with greetings.

  "You didn't know I had a surprise up my sleeve, did you?" Blue Bonnetchallenged the girls.

  "You must wear long sleeves!" laughed Kitty, tilting her chin to lookup at the tall military figure.

  The General laughed with the rest but Blue Bonnet could see himlooking about with some impatience. "Where's Alec?" he asked finally.

  "We'll go find him. Take everybody indoors, will you, Grandmother?I'll be back in a minute." Looking particularly small and slight, BlueBonnet moved off with her tall companion towards the croquet-ground,where Alec, all unconscious of their approach, stood on a step-ladderadjusting one of the paper lanterns.

  "How is the boy by this time?" General Trent asked.

  "I--I don't know," Blue Bonnet stammered. It was quite true; she hadgiven up trying to guess the state of Alec's health.

  The horizontal line between the General's eyes grew deeper: it wasplain that the girl shrank from telling him the worst.

  Alec had started to descend the ladder when he caught sight of theapproaching pair. For a second he stood transfixed with surprise; thenwith a real cowboy "whoop" of joy, took a flying leap from his perch,cleared various obstacles with a bound, and literally fell upon hisgrandfather.

  "How splendid of you to come, sir!" was all he could exclaim for someminutes.

  Finally the General took him by the shoulders and held him off,looking him over from head to foot. Blue Bonnet saw a look ofincredulous wonder grow in his eyes, as he took in the increasedbreadth of the boy, the erect carriage and the red that glowed throughthe sunburn of his rounded cheeks.

  "Why, boy, how you've grown!"

  "Have I?" asked Alec eagerly. "Never felt so well before in all mylife!"

  Well? Blue Bonnet felt her face grow hot. How could Alec say thatwhen he had let her--even urged her--to write that letter to hisgrandfather? If it was a joke, it struck her that Alec must havedeveloped rather poor taste in jokes. She could feel the General'seyes upon her, questioning mutely. She could not meet his glance yet,and said with elaborate carelessness:

  "I reckon you two would like to have a little talk, and the girls arewaiting for me." She sped back to the house, and soon forgot herindignation in the joy of the We are Sevens' reunion.

  "It seems too good to be true!" she exclaimed, gazing happily from onegirl to another, as the seven of them lounged about the living-room,three on the broad couch and the rest distributed impartially betweenthe floor and the window-seat. Such complete informality had neverseemed permissible in the sedate Clyde mansion; but somehow thesesurroundings seemed to invite one to be as comfortable andunconventional as possible.

  Suddenly Blue Bonnet's eyes danced. "Doesn't this remind you of myfirst tea-party?" she asked demurely.

  "Well, I should say not!" Kitty exclaimed. "We all sat around yourgrandmother's drawing-room with manners as stiff as our dresses,waiting for our hostess--"

  "And wondering what you would be like--" added Sarah.

  "Were you prepared to see the wild Indian I proved to be?"

  "Fishing!" sang Kitty.

  Susy looked from Blue Bonnet to Kitty and laughed. "My, this soundslike old times!"

  "Stop talking about old times, please," begged Ruth, "and tell usabout the new ones. I want to be told all about the round-up, and Iwant to see the 'vast herds' and the cowboys,--and the blue bonnets!"

  Blue Bonnet's laugh rang out. "Blue bonnets in August! Come in Marchand I'll show you a sea of them,--and a round-up, too. The cattle andthe cowboys you shall see to-morrow,--and some steer-roping that willmake your hair stand on end."

  Ruth ran her hand through her boyish, close-cut locks and made themstand literally on end. "It isn't much of a trick to do that!" shesaid with a grimace.

  "Never mind, maybe it will
come in curly," said Sarah the comforter.

  "You can trust Sarah not to see the thorns for the roses," said BlueBonnet, sending the comforter an approving glance.

  "What turtle doves you all are," laughed Susy.

  "Oh, it's Sarah and Blue Bonnet who do all the cooing. The rest of usare still just geese." Kitty's voice had a tinge of envy that did notescape the notice of the rest.

  "Go play us something, Blue Bonnet," suggested Ruth tactfully, "--thatcowboy piece we all like."

  "Invalids must be humored," remarked Blue Bonnet as she went to thepiano.

  In a minute the little rollicking air that she had played at her firsttea-party, had set them all to dancing and humming as on that historicoccasion.

  "Aren't Kitty and Blue Bonnet as chummy as they used to be?" Ruthasked Amanda under cover of the music.

  "Yes, by spells. They had one tiff--the second since they've knowneach other,--and ever since we've lived in dread of the third, haven'twe, Sarah?"

  "You have," Sarah returned. "And I have too, in fact, though I try notto be superstitious. Besides they've had the third--and it's all overnow."

  "They have? When?" Amanda sat up in surprise.

  "While we were camping. Kitty told me about it and said it was all herfault. The last one wasn't, you know. First it's one and then theother that's to blame."

  "Kitty and Blue Bonnet aren't going to stop at three tiffs, you maydepend on it," Ruth said wisely. "They're going to have three timesthree and then some. Because Kitty is Kitty, and Blue Bonnet is--BlueBonnet!"

  As the gay music ceased Grandmother Clyde looked in at the door. "Itis time for the travellers to rest. They must be fresh for the greatoccasion to-morrow," she said, nodding to Susy and Ruth.

  Blue Bonnet glanced over to the couch where Ruth reclined among thepillows. Her face, with its crown of short dark hair, looked very thinand white.

  "I reckon the girls had better go to your room, Grandmother,--it'sabout the only place where they can be quiet. Benita is putting twocots in the nursery, but it's never quiet in there till we're allasleep."

  Ruth rose regretfully, "I'll go rest if I must. But I hate to missanything that's going on. If you only knew how deadly dull it has beenin Woodford! I think the inhabitants have learned to appreciate the Weare Sevens, for the place has seemed empty without them. And everybodywants to know when the Texas Blue Bonnet is coming back."

  They all looked towards Blue Bonnet. "I--why--there's Uncle Clifflooking for me," she said, and left the room precipitately.

  "Blue Bonnet's usual way of avoiding an answer," thought Kitty.

  "When does the Fall term of school begin?" asked Sarah.

  "The tenth of September,--and that means we must leave here about thethird," said Susy. "Only two weeks of this for us, girls!"

  "We'll see that they are two busy weeks," Kitty promised.

  Blue Bonnet drew Uncle Cliff into a secluded spot on the side veranda."You just saved my life, Uncle Cliff."

  "Were you being talked to death, Honey?"

  "No,--but I just escaped a pitfall. People do ask themost--uncomfortable questions."

  "Suppose you tell me what sort?"

  "Well, Ruth says people want to know when the Texas Blue Bonnet isgoing back to Woodford."

  "So that's come up again, eh?" Uncle Cliff knitted his brow. "I reckonyou're doing some thinking along that line, Blue Bonnet?" He watchedher face anxiously.

  She nodded. "Yes, I--you see there isn't much time left. I must decidesoon. It's not going to be easy, Uncle Cliff."

  "No,--not for either of us, Honey."

  "And there's Grandmother, too,--and Aunt Lucinda. Other people seem tohave a lot to say about one's life, don't they?"

  "They have a lot to say, Blue Bonnet, but the person who has the final'say' is yourself. You're old enough now to decide what you want to dowith your life. Sixteen to-morrow!"

  "I know what I want to do with my life, Uncle, but I don't know yetjust how to do it."

  "Don't you think you could manage to do it on the ranch? We know nowwhere to get a first-class tutor, and--"

  "Oh, as far as 'book-learnin''--as Uncle Joe calls it,--goes, I reckonI could get that all right, here on the ranch with a tutor. But books,I've found out, aren't more than half of an education. You know,life's mighty simple on the ranch, and I've grown used to doing thingsthe easiest way. But that isn't the big way. Aunt Lucinda says everywoman should have a vocation."

  Uncle Cliff squirmed. Blue Bonnet seemed to have assimilated a ratherbig dose of Aunt Lucinda. "But, Honey," he protested, "a girl withplenty of money doesn't need a vocation."

  "Oh, she didn't mean that kind of a vocation. It's a sort of glorifiedway of doing your duty by your neighbor. And you know it isn't veryeasy to do your duty by your neighbor when the nearest neighbor ismiles away! Now, Aunt Lucinda is the most all-round useful person.She's helping to keep up a home for cripples in Boston, and issecretary of the Church Aid Society, runs Grandmother's house and--"

  "Everybody in it!" added Uncle Cliff.

  Blue Bonnet slipped her hand into his with a sympathetic pressure.

  "I reckon I caught it from you,--liking to paddle my own canoe, Imean. But, though I don't love discipline, I've learned to appreciatewhat it can do. Now, look at Solomon--"

  "--in all his glory!" laughed Uncle Cliff.

  At that moment the subject of the conversation was occupied in gnawinga very dirty bone on the forbidden territory of the veranda.

  "Oh, he has his lapses," Blue Bonnet confessed, "--his forgettery isas active as mine. But he's hardly more than a puppy yet, and it'ssurprising how well he minds. He's getting pretty wild out here. Theranch has that effect I've observed. And that's why--"

  "Say, Honey," Uncle Cliff interrupted, "let's allow the subject ofgoing back to rest right where it is until after to-morrow, will you?I want to enjoy my ward's birthday, and I'd rather have a clear skywithout any clouds on my horizon."

  "That suits me, Uncle Cliff."

  "And while we're on the subject of the birthday, there's something Iwant to tell you, Blue Bonnet. I know it's usual to keep one's gift asecret, but--"

  "Oh, I hope it's just some simple thing, Uncle. Grandmother's beenlooking pretty serious lately over what she thinks is our extravagantway of living. The Woodford girls have to be very careful aboutexpenses, you know, and she thinks it makes it harder for them to besatisfied when they see me have so much."

  "Don't you worry, young lady. I'm only taking a leaf out of yourbook, and instead of giving pleasure to just one person--i. e. BlueBonnet Ashe,--I'm going to distribute it over quite a crowd. Thetrouble is it won't keep till to-morrow. It's about due now. Jump onFirefly, will you, and ride with me to meet it?"

  "Yes, everybody is resting, or supposed to be. Just wait till I slipon my riding-skirt and I'll be with you."

  A few minutes later Blue Bonnet and her uncle, after the fashion ofthe old days, cantered down the road together.

  Hardly had they disappeared when Kitty, also attired inriding-costume, stole quietly to the stable, and having found one ofthe Mexicans to saddle Rowdy, rode briskly out of the corral and offto the woods across San Franciscito.

  At the gate Uncle Cliff drew rein. "We'd better form a receptioncommittee right here. I think I hear your birthday present coming."

  Blue Bonnet looked down the road expectantly. What could it be?

  Then, as they waited, there came the rhythmic pound of hoofs, a cloudof dust, and suddenly there swept into sight a company of riders withKnight and Carita in the lead.

  "Oh, Uncle Cliff, what a splendid birthday present!" And Blue Bonnet,with a glad "Ho ye, ho ho!" of welcome, galloped to meet theprocession.

  Sandy and the three "props of the world"--Smith, Brown and Jones, withtwo of the younger boys from camp--made, as Uncle Cliff had promised,a "boy apiece" for the We are Sevens and Carita; and the entire party,dusty though they were from the long ride, were incorrigibly cheerfuland apparently not at all tired by
the trip.

  "Oh, I'm so happy!" cried Carita, as Blue Bonnet fell in beside herand led the way to the ranch. "I never dreamed I could come. But Mr.Ashe had made all arrangements, and Mother said she could get alongwithout me for the three days,--she's going to stay at the Camp. Justthink, if we hadn't gone up there again, I couldn't have known aboutit in time!"

  "How lucky! Carita, I think you are the nicest birthday present thatwas ever thought of."

  Carita looked up in surprise.

  "Having you and Knight and the boys here is my birthday gift fromUncle," Blue Bonnet explained. "Wasn't it downright grand of him toplan it?"

  "It's sweet of you to want us," Carita returned. "And your uncle looksas if he loved to do nice things. He has the kindest eyes I've everseen."

  "Except your father's," Blue Bonnet added. "I think they must bothhave been cut out by the same pattern."

  Alec, who was in the secret, had assembled everybody on the verandaawaiting the arrivals, and the hubbub that ensued as the cavalcadedismounted and everybody exchanged greetings, convinced Susy, Ruth andthe General that life in Texas was quite as exciting as it had beenpainted.

  Mrs. Clyde, having been prepared by Uncle Cliff for this invasion,tried to view the proceedings as a matter of course, and was her usualcordial self.

  "Where are we going to put them all?" Blue Bonnet asked in anundertone.

  "Shady and Uncle Joe put up a tent as soon as you rode off," hergrandmother explained. "The boys are used to camping out and there areonly two nights to plan for. Carita can share Sarah's room. Lisa hasenlarged the dining-room table, and we shall have room for all. I hopewe can make our guests comfortable."

  "Don't you worry, Grandmother. These guests will make the best ofeverything. People out here don't expect things to be--orderly, asthey are in Woodford."

  "Evidently not!" was Grandmother's unspoken thought.

  "Where's Kitty?" asked Blue Bonnet presently, missing one saucy facefrom the group on the side veranda where they had all gathered.

  "Didn't she go with you? We haven't seen her for an hour or more,"replied Sarah.

  "Here she comes now." Alec rose and went to assist Kitty from herhorse. "Hello, Miss Unsociable," he said. "Fancy riding all by yourlones! Been keeping a tryst?"

  "Nothing so romantic," she confessed. "I've been gathering theselovely wild vines to decorate the table with. See how pretty theyare!" She tossed the big armful of glossy green stuff down to him. Toher surprise and indignation Alec dodged her offering and let thevines fall in a heap on the ground. Kitty paused in the act ofdismounting and stared at him, speechless with surprise at this actfrom well-bred Alec.

  "I beg your pardon, Kitty," he laughed. "I didn't mean to be rude, butI'm deadly afraid of that stuff."

  "Stuff!" echoed Kitty. She was off her horse in a minute, and givingthe reins to Miguel who had come up for Rowdy, she bent to pick up herinsulted treasure.

  Alec prevented her. "I wouldn't, Kitty,--though I don't suppose itmatters now. The mischief's done, I'm afraid,--that's poison ivy."

  "Poison ivy!" Kitty sprang back as if the vine were about to stingher. "I never saw any before,--and I wanted to surprise BlueBonnet--it looked so pretty. Oh, Alec, are you sure?"

  "Sure?--positive. Dr. Judson pointed out lots of it around Camp, andwe learned to give it a wide berth. But say, every one isn'tsusceptible, Kitty. Maybe you're immune."

  "Oh, dear!" wailed Kitty. "What shall I do? Can't I be vaccinated orsomething to ward it off?"

  "What's the trouble?" asked Uncle Joe, coming up in time to hearKitty's despairing cry.

  "Poison ivy," said Alec, pointing to the vines.

  "Now that's bad." Uncle Joe kicked the innocent looking heap of greensoff to one side. "I'll send up one of the boys to rake that up and getrid of it. Nasty stuff to have around,--'specially for folks withyour--coloring." He eyed Kitty's milk-white freckled faceapprehensively.

  "If I get it and have to miss the party I'll never get over it!" Kittydeclared.

  "Oh, yes, you will--it only lasts a few days, generally," said UncleJoe.

  Kitty dabbed her eyes with her handkerchief.

  "Here--don't do that!" Alec exclaimed hastily. "That might play themischief with your eyes. Go bathe your face and hands with witchhazel, that may help. And hurry out again, Kitty--your friend Sandy ison the side veranda."

  Kitty for the first time glanced towards the house and saw the latestarrivals. "Carita, too! Have they come to the party? Oh, what fun!That's what Mr. Ashe meant when he promised us a boy apiece for thedance. But oh, Alec--what if--?" Kitty could not finish.

  "Please don't get it, Kitty,--it would spoil the day for Sandy!"