"Then we'll have to hurry and clear up this mess," said Irene. "We can hide the candy until later, but this table would give everything away."

So the trio flew to work again, put away the remains of the tramp's dinner, washed the telltale dishes, and had the kitchen in its usual spick and span order when the rest of the large family returned an hour later from their sojourn to the river. If their consciences p.r.i.c.ked them a little for their deception, they said nothing, not even to each other; and it was several days before the young housekeeper discovered their secret.

CHAPTER XI

IN THE CANYON

The next day was Sat.u.r.day, and the morning dawned so hot and sultry that almost before the old kitchen clock struck five, the restless eaglets were stirring once more.

"Now's the time I wish we didn't live so far up the mountain," sighed Mercedes, mopping her perspiring face on her sleeve as she struggled to b.u.t.ton the dress she had just donned.

"Yes, summer's an awful trial here in this house," agreed Susie, trying to decide whether to put on her shoes and stockings and suffer from the heat in that manner, or to go bare-footed and burn her tender soles on the hot sands.

"Le's do down to the river to-day," lisped Janie, lifting eager eyes to scan the dark face bending over, as Tabitha patiently brushed the tangled curls into smooth ringlets.

"Oh, let's!" seconded the twins.

"You know we had to stay at home yesterday when the rest of you went,"

wheedled Inez.

"And 'twould have been awful lonesome," began Irene, "if it hadn't been for that----"

"Ice-cream," hastily interposed Susie, giving the little blunderbus a warning glance. "Can't we go, Tabitha? It would be so much cooler there."

"I don't see how we can manage it," answered the flushed housekeeper, glancing longingly out of the window down the yellow ribbon of a road which wound its way in and out among the rocks and yuccas on its way to the muddy Colorado, seven miles away. "The a.s.sayer will be wanting his horses to-day and it's too far to walk."

"Can't we hire a team from the stables?" proposed Inez.

"And pay ten dollars a day for it?" scoffed Mercedes. "Where are you going to get your money to foot the bill?"

"Then let's catch enough burros to lug us all," suggested the resourceful Susie. "No one would care. They run loose on the desert all the time."

Tabitha shook her head slowly, although her eyes gleamed appreciatively at the plan. If only Rosslyn and Janie were older! How she would enjoy such a frolic as Susie's suggestion would mean.

Only Gloriana remained discreetly silent.

She shuddered whenever she recalled her first and only ride on one of the wicked little beasts,--that wild New Years Even when she and Tabitha had tried to keep Mr. McKittrick's claims from being jumped,--and she drew an audible sigh of relief at Tabitha's decision.

But the next instant her heart sank within her, for with a scurry of feet in the narrow hallway, the door of the room was unceremoniously flung open, and two eager, boyish faces peered in.

"I say, Tab," began Billiard, so excited he could hardly refrain from shouting his news, "your Uncle Decker is out here----"

"And he's brung a whole--flock--of burros," broke in Toady, so anxious to tell part of the good news that he could not stop for choice of words.

"Saddled," Billiard hurried on, trying to beat Toady to the climax.

"For us!" cried the smaller boy.

"To ride to the canyon on!" bellowed the two as with one voice.

"Really?" gasped Tabitha.

"How perfectly scrumptious!" squealed the tribe of McKittrick.

"But Janie and Rosslyn," faltered Gloriana faintly. "Aren't they too small----"

"Oh, he's got a buckboard, too," grinned Billiard, who had recently discovered the red-haired maid's poor little secret; but forbore to make unkind remarks about it because he himself stood somewhat in awe of the sleepy-eyed demons of the desert, since one had unexpectedly kicked him when he was trying to mount. "He drove in for some provisions, and your father told him to bring us all back with him, and we're to _camp_ at the mines until Monday. Won't that be great?

Whoop-ee!" He leaped into the air, cracked his heels together and came down with a resounding thump which shook the whole house and made the dishes in the pantry rattle.

But no word of reproof was uttered, for Tabitha had seized the half-dressed, half-combed Janie in her arms, and rushed from the room.

It seemed impossible that anyone could have come up that narrow, rocky trail to the Eagles' Nest with a half dozen or more burros and a buckboard without her having heard them, but there they were lined up by the kitchen steps,--seven sleepy-eyed, wicked little burros, saddled and bridled, and a pair of small, wiry mustangs. .h.i.tched to a light wagon, and driven by Decker Simmons, Mr. Catt's partner.

"Why, Uncle Decker!" Tabitha began.

"Didn't we tell you he was here?" exulted the two boys who had followed her.

"But--but--" she stammered.

"But she didn't b'lieve us," crowed Toady.

"I thought you must be mistaken," she confessed, "for I could not imagine anyone so crazy as to want _ten_ children under foot at a mine.

Whatever possessed Dad, Uncle Decker?"

The man laughed good-naturedly. "Thought we all needed a vacation, I reckon," he answered. "Are you anywhere near ready? Better hurry.

Sun will soon be unmercifully hot, and the canyon isn't exactly within walking distance. Can't I help?"

"No, thanks. It won't take us long----"

"We're ready now," announced the procession of girls crowded around her.

"Mercy finished Janie's hair while you stood here gabbing. Glory packed up what duds we'd need, and Billiard's got the house all locked up. Who's to take which burro?"

"Makes no difference," answered the man, chuckling at the despatch with which preparations for the outing were made. "Put the little tikes in here with me, and any of the rest of you who perfer the buckboard can pile in. That red--the girl with the game hip--you better ride with us, too."

This suited Gloriana perfectly, and she lost no time in making herself comfortable among the leather cushions with Rosslyn and Janie beside her; but the rest of the party declined that method of transportation, and mounted the animals standing patiently in the scant shade of the porch. In less time than it takes to tell, the hilarious procession was on its way to the canyon, and the baking town was left behind.

"Let's race," cried Billiard, who was mounted on an innocent-looking, lazy beast.

"Come on!" cried Susie, giving her animal a prod with a sharp stick she had s.n.a.t.c.hed from the woodpile as they clattered out of the yard; and away they flew, shouting and flapping reins, urging the stolid little burros out of their poky gait into a surprised run.

But the race came to an abrupt and unexpected end. Susie's mount seemed more ambitious than its mates, or else the youthful rider goaded it to desperation; for, with a mighty spurt, it took the lead, and shot three lengths ahead of the rest, cantering off across the desert as if racing were its daily delight. Rosy-cheeked Susie glanced back over her shoulder, waved the sharp stick triumphantly in the air, and jeered, "Yah, yah! Why don't you come along? Has you burro gone to sleep?"

This was too much for Billiard, and grabbing a needle-pointed Spanish bayonet frond from the hands of his brother, he gave the brown-coated beast beneath him a vicious stab, as he yelled in disgust, "Giddap, you old demon! Wake up and stretch your legs a lit----"

Brownie awoke into surprising activity, leaped forward with unseating suddenness, planted his forefeet firmly among the rocks, and with one deliberate, energetic kick, sent Billiard flying through the air. The watchers behind held their breath in terror. Would the boy be killed for his folly? Then a wild shout of laughter rose from eight throats.

But who could have resisted it? For the luckless Billiard, after turning a summersault high in the air, fell astraddle the neck of Toady's burro, and slipped to the ground in a sprawling heap, while the second startled beast bolted across the desert with its plucky rider still clinging to its back.