"I reckon our company is coming, after all," said Polly, smiling with satisfaction.

"I'll run back and tell your mother, Polly, as it will be at least half an hour before they can reach the house," said Anne, happy also that Barbara was to be silently contradicted.

"Don't dally around here, girls, when your company joins you," advised Anne, turning around, after she had started down the cliff-side.

"I reckon we'd better go back with you--mother can be the first to say how-dy to them," ventured Polly, looking like a stage-struck amateur at her first appearance before the public.

"See here, Polly Brewster! Don't you go back on _me_! I wouldn't have Bob watching us meet those boys and then laughing at us afterwards, for anything in the world! We'll stay right _here_ and get acquainted before we go to the house to be teased and made to feel uncomfortable,"

declared Eleanor, who knew her sister only too well.

"I guess Eleanor's right, Polly; it struck me that that nice young boy was rather shy with strangers, so you will be doing him a great favor if you get acquainted here and then bring him to the house to meet the rest of us," admitted Anne, then she ran down the steep sides of the rocks.

Now and then the waiting girls had glimpses of the two riders as they rode along the winding trail past the Cliffs. And Jim Latimer also caught a glimpse of the girls as he happened to pause, to point out the Rainbow rocks to his friend. Instantly he pulled off his wide sombrero and waved it gayly at his young hostesses. Then both boys spurred their horses eagerly onward.

Eleanor and Jim felt perfectly at ease as they met and shook hands, but it was evident that Polly and Kenneth Evans were not accustomed to social ways or behavior, for both acted rather awkward at this meeting.

However, Eleanor generally fitted into any breach, and now she unconsciously steered the would-be friendly craft of the four past the reefs of self-consciousness into the haven of youthful reciprocity.

"We thought you were _never_ coming--it's past one o'clock you know, and we looked for you at eleven," said she, catching Jim by the sleeve and leading the way to the road where the two horses were waiting.

"We expected to be here at half-past ten, or eleven at the latest, but it is a long story to tell, and we ought to explain to your mother at the same time," replied Jim, throwing the bridle over his arm and starting to walk beside Eleanor.

Naturally, Kenneth and Polly followed, but Eleanor turned around every other moment to include them in her vivacious conversation about the land-slide and the fears that Choko's Find was lost.

"Oh, but say! What a ripping chance we missed, Ken, by not being one of the party on the Slide, eh?" cried Jim, enviously.

"I'd like to be one of the party up there now. Just fancy the opportunities one would have for seeing how much he knows about engineering," replied Kenneth.

"Maybe we can fix it so mother'll allow us to show you the way up. I'd love to go again," ventured Polly, enthusiastically, as she forgot herself in the absorbing subject of the gold mine.

"Ken and I have to be back at camp to-night! That's the worst of being hired!" grumbled Jim.

"It's that, or being fired!" retorted Kenneth, laughingly.

Youth needs little to laugh at, so the four took this little speech as a cue to laugh loud and long. It attracted Barbara's attention. She had been trying to read, but now she got up to frown at the gay young people she saw climbing the road to the house. Anne also heard the laughter and hurriedly called to Mrs. Brewster: "They're almost here--come right out."

So the visitors found a pleasant welcome awaiting them as they reached the porch. Immediately after greeting the ladies, the boys apologized for their lateness. Jim then acted as spokesman.

"We feared we would not be able to be here, at all, as the Boss of our Crew forbid any one taking out a horse to-day. Jake has charge of the horses, you know, and he was instructed not to pa.s.s one mount.

"Maybe the boys weren't furious! as we always take Sundays to ride to Oak Creek. It's the only off day we get. But Carew said we had a long move to make to-morrow, and his horses had to be fresh for the trip.

"Gee! I felt like thundering about camp, as I had looked forward to this visit ever since Ken told me about how he met you folks, and all. Now we both were all fixed ready to make an early start in the morning, and there would be no horses!

"Ken and I stole out late last night and tried to bribe Jake with goodies, then with money, and lastly I remembered tobacco! I agreed to hand over a big bag of Cut Plug and a tin box of cigarettes if he would loan us his two wagon-horses. These he could use as they were not included in the ban on the crew horses.

"But Jake is a wily fellow and wanted to see our tobacco first. He knew that neither of us used it and he doubted our having any!"

Jim chuckled at this, and Ken smiled sympathetically. The ladies also smiled as an interested audience will. Then the narrator continued:

"Ken and I knew where Jake kept the store of tobacco that he always sold to the other surveyors, so we fixed up a little scheme. We left more than enough money to pay for what we took and then hurried back to Jake with the gift of tobacco.

"I wish you could have seen him scratch his head in bewilderment when he saw us hand over the star brand of tobacco he kept in stock! Still he refused to say whether we could start early in the morning, and then I got good and mad. If it wasn't for Ken, here, kicking me in the ribs, I'd have spilled the beans!"

Every one laughed at Jim's slangy way of describing his interview with Jake, but he was full of his subject and would not be laughed out of countenance.

"Ken and I were getting ready to go to sleep, when Jake crept under our tent flap and pulled my foot to attract attention.

"There were three other surveyors in our tent, and Jake did not wish them to hear what was going on. The lights were out, so we were not seen as we slid under the canvas and joined the driver over by the trees where no one could hear us whisper.

"'You fresh boys!' was the first thing Jake said.

"Then he laughed deep down in his throat, and said; 'Ah kin bet on you boys, ef Ah lets you-all have mah team to-morrer,--you-all sh.o.r.e will come back in time?'

"I eagerly promised everything, and he added: 'Ah sold a lot of tobakker to some one Ah don't know, but it doesn't matter who the smoker is, 'cuz now Ah got mah money and tobakker, too! It's 'cuz that feller is so smart that Ah feels sh.o.r.e the Boss won't get wind of mah hosses bein'

lent. 'Course Ah hez a right to use mah waggin-team ef Ah likes, but Carew is strick and might get on his high-boss ef he learned Ah sent two of his men on an errent.'

"I was so sure no one would ever know we rode the horses if he would _only_ loan them to us, that I agreed to anything.

"Then he said: 'Wall, now, Ah left one of the crew's tripods over at Bear Forks line to-day when Ford took an observation. Ah've got'ta go fer it to-morrer--er find some good-natured feller who will go fer me.

Ah've got'ta get a heap of work done, to-morrer, and it looks well-nigh impossible fer me to get that tripod!'

"I caught on at once, and turned to Ken and said: 'Why, Jake, I will get that tripod for you. But I'd hate to walk so far as Bear Forks line, all alone, you know.'

"That made Jake laugh softly and he said: 'Ef you-all will find that tripod fer me, Ah'll lend you-all the hosses fer the day.'

"So that is how we got away from camp, but we have been hunting everywhere for that old tripod and haven't seen a shadow of it. While looking for it along the line that Ford surveyed this week, we lost our way and had to have that rancher show us the way back to Bear Forks trail. That's why we are so late."

"Well, now that you are here, suppose you brush up and get ready for dinner. I've had it waiting this hour and a half," said Mrs. Brewster, leading the way over to the pump.

"And maybe we aren't ready to do justice to your cooking! We haven't had a crumb since supper last night, because we dared not ask the cook for sandwiches, and we left camp before breakfast-time. Jake said we might not be permitted to hunt up his tripod for him if any one learned he was giving us his horses for the trip," explained Kenneth.

"Oh, you poor boys! Do hurry, then, and join us at table over under the oak, yonder!" exclaimed Mrs. Brewster, hasting to bring out towels and brushes for her young visitors.

The dinner was a great success, both from a culinary and also from the social points of view. While thoroughly enjoying the home-cooking, the boys talked of their work and adventures in the mountains. Jim had been with the survey crew all summer, but Kenneth had but just arrived. So Jim had a store-house filled with recent thrilling experiences and escapes.

Close-up encounters with bears, rattle-snakes, and land-slides, were pa.s.sed off as mere trifles by him. But the problems of getting enough good things to eat, now and then a dance at some school-house, or finding a pretty girl one could talk to--these were awful!

When dinner was out of the way, the four young people started to walk to Rainbow Cliffs, as that was the show-spot of all the countryside. Having so many unique features and winding walks made it a delightful place for quiet little chats or tete-a-tetes.

"I never saw anything like those great ma.s.ses of color," said Kenneth, as they drew near the sparkling walls.

"I told Ken when we rode past here to-day, that Tom wanted your father to sell out the cliffs on a royalty basis, but he refused to. Now that Tom is here again with John, and the gold mine is caved in with that land-slide, maybe he will listen, eh?" asked Jim, eagerly.

Polly shook her head. "I don't believe he will, but we can't find out why he is so stubborn about it."

"Jim, I don't believe our gold mine has caved in, at all. It's only temporarily buried, up there. If there is any way it can be located again, I'm going to insist upon having it worked!" declared Eleanor.

"Why? You don't need the money," laughed Jim.