Very soon after the trip to Quentina's home, Mr. Tim produced from somewhere five stout1 little ponies2, warranted to be broken to "skirts"—which Genevieve had said would be absolutely necessary, as the girls would never consent to ride astride.
It was a nervous morning, however, for five of the Happy Hexagons when the horses were led up to the door. Cordelia was frankly3 white-faced and trembling. Even Tilly looked a little doubtful, as she said, trying to speak with her usual lightness:
"Oh, we know, of course, Genevieve, that these little beasts won't teeter up and down like Reddy's broncho; and we hope they'll bear in mind that Westerners ought to be politely gentle with Easterners, who aren't brought up to ride jumping jacks4. But still, we can't help wondering."
"Genevieve, I—I really think I won't ride at all to-day," stammered5 Cordelia, faintly; "that is, if you don't mind."
"But I do mind," rejoined Genevieve, looking much distressed6. "Of course, girls, I wouldn't urge you against your will, for the world; but we can't have half the fun here unless you ride, for we go everywhere, 'most, in the saddle. And, honestly, Mr. Tim says these horses are regular cows. Father told him he must get steady ones. Won't you please—try it? It will break my heart, if you don't. You see I've said so much to the boys, since I came, about your riding! They were so surprised to think you could ride, and I was so proud to say you did!"
"You—you were?" stammered Cordelia.
"Yes."
"Well, young ladies," called Mr. Tim, at that moment, "here's the steadiest little string of horses going! Who'll have the first pick?"
"I will," cried Cordelia, wetting her dry lips, and speaking with a stern determination that yet did not quite hide the shake in her voice. "That is—I don't care about my pick, but I'm going to ride—right away—quick!" she finished, determined7 that at least Genevieve should not be ashamed—of her.
After all, it was only the first five minutes that were hard. The little horses were politeness itself, and seemed fully8 to realize the responsibilities of their position. The girls, determined not to shame Genevieve, acquitted9 themselves with a grace and ease that brought forth10 an appreciative11 cheer from the boys as the young people rode away.
"Now I feel as if I were in Texas," exulted12 Tilly, drawing in a full breath of the fresh, early morning air.
"I'm so glad—so glad we're all in Texas," cried Genevieve, looking about her with shining eyes.
According to Tilly, there was always "something doing" at the ranch13 house. The boys—much to their own surprise, it must be confessed—had adopted "the whole bunch" (as Long John called the young people), and were never too busy or too tired to display their skill as ropers or riders. Always there was the fascinating morning start to work to watch, and frequently there was in the afternoon some wild little broncho that needed to be broken to the saddle, or to be trained to stop, wheel instantly, stand motionless, or to start at top speed, according to his master's wishes; all of which was a never-ending source of delight to unaccustomed Eastern eyes.
For pleasant days there were, too, rides, drives to Bolo, picnic luncheons14, and frolics of every sort. For rainy days there were games and music in the living room, to say nothing of letters from home to be read and answered. Most of the twilights—if fair—were spent by everybody on the front gallery watching the golden ball in the west set the whole prairie, as well as the sky itself, on fire. In the early afternoon, of course, there was the inevitable15 siesta—Tilly's abhorred16 "naps."
There were callers at the ranch house, too. Sometimes a cowboy from a neighboring ranch came to look after a lost pony17, or to see if his cattle had strayed off the range through a broken fence. Sometimes a hunter or trapper would stop for a chat on his way to or from Bolo. Once Susie Billings in her khaki suit and cowboy hat came to spend the day; and once, on Sunday, Mr. Jones came to hold service again. Much to the girls' disappointment, Quentina did not come with him. The mother's foot was better, Mr. Jones said, but the twins had come down with the whooping18 cough, and poor Quentina could not be spared to leave home.
Sometimes a score of men and teams and cowboys with their strings19 of horses would pass on their way to a round-up; and once two huge prairie schooners20 "docked in the yard," as Tilly termed it; and their weary owners, at Mr. Hartley's invitation, stopped for a night's rest.
That was, indeed, a time of great excitement for the Happy Hexagons, for under Genevieve's fearless leadership they promptly21 made friends with the sallow-faced women and the forlorn children, and soon were shown the mysteries of the inside of the wagon22-homes.
"Mercy! it looks just like play housekeeping; doesn't it?" gurgled Tilly.
"But it isn't play at all, my dear," replied one of the women, a little sadly. "Seems now like as if I ever had a home again what stayed put, that I'd be happy, no matter where 'twas. Ain't that the way you feel, Mis' Higgins?"
"Yes," nodded the other woman, dully, from her perch23 on the driver's seat. "But I reckon my man ain't never goin' ter quit wheelin', now."
Even Genevieve seemed scarcely to know what to reply to this; but a few minutes later she had succeeded in gaining the confidence of the several children hanging about their mothers' skirts. Laughingly, then, the young people trooped away together to look at the flowers—all but Cordelia Wilson. Cordelia remained behind with the two women.
"Please—I beg your pardon—but did you say your name was 'Mrs. Higgins'?" she asked eagerly, turning to the woman on the driver's seat.
"Why, no—I didn't, Miss. But that's my name."
"Yes, I know; 'twas the other lady who called you that, of course; but it doesn't matter, so long as I know 'tis that."
"No; and—you came from New Hampshire, once, didn't you?"
An odd look crossed the woman's face.
"Well, I ain't sayin' that."
"But you did—please say that you did," begged Cordelia. "You see, I'm so anxious to find you!"
A look that was almost terror came to the woman's eyes now.
"I don't know nothin' what you're talkin' about, and I don't want to know, neither," she finished coldly, turning squarely around in her seat.
Cordelia hesitated; then she stammered:
"If—if you think it's because your mother will scold you, I can assure you that she will not. She is very anxious to hear from you—that's all. She's been so worried! She wants to know if you're doing well, and all that."
"What are you talking about?" demanded the woman, turning sharply back to Cordelia.
"Your—mother."
"My mother is—dead, Miss."
"Oh-h!" gasped25 Cordelia. "You mean you aren't Mrs. Lizzie Higgins—she that was Lizzie Snow of Sunbridge, New Hampshire, who eloped with Mr. Higgins and ran away to Texas years ago?"
The woman laughed. Her face cleared. Whatever it was that she had feared—she evidently feared it no longer.
"No, Miss. My name isn't 'Lizzie,' and it wa'n't 'Snow,' and I never heard of Sunbridge, New Hampshire."
"O dear!" quavered Cordelia. "Mrs. Snow will be so sorry—that is, of course she'll be glad, too; for you aren't—" With a little gasp26 of dismay Cordelia pulled herself up before the words were uttered, but not before their meaning was quite clear to the woman.
"Oh, yes, she'll be glad, too, no doubt," she cut in bitterly; "because I'm not exactly what a woman would want for a lost daughter, now, am I?"
Cordelia blushed painfully.
"Oh, please, please don't talk like that! I am sure Mrs. Snow would be glad to find any one for a daughter—she wants her so! And she's her—mother, you know."
"All right," she smiled, a little bitterly. "If I find her I'll send her to you."
"Oh, will you? Thank you so much," cried Cordelia. "And there are some others, too, that I'm hunting for. Maybe you can find them—traveling around so much as you do. If you've got a little piece of paper and a pencil, I'll just write them down, please."
Thus it happened that when the prairie schooners"sailed away" (again to quote Tilly), one of them carried a bit of paper on which had been written full instructions how to proceed should the wife of its owner ever run across John Sanborn, Lizzie Higgins, Lester Goodwin, or James Hunt.
It was soon after this that the Happy Hexagons and Mr. Tim, returning on horseback from a long day on the range, met with a delay that would prevent their reaching the ranch house until some time after dark.
"Oh, goody! I don't care a bit," chuckled28 Genevieve, when she realized the facts of the case. "There is a perfectly30 glorious moon, and now you can see the prairie by moonlight. And you never really have seen the prairie until you do see it by moonlight, you know!"
"But we have seen it by moonlight—right from your steps," cried Tilly.
"Oh, but not the same as it will be out here—away from the ranch house," cried Genevieve. "You just wait! You'll see."
And they did wait. And they did see.
It did seem, indeed, that they never before had really seen the prairie; they all agreed to that, as they gazed in awed31 delight at the vast, silvery wonder all about them, some time later.
"Why, it looks more than ever like the ocean," cried Bertha.
"I didn't suppose anything could be so beautiful," breathed Cordelia. "But, Genevieve, won't Mrs. Kennedy be dreadfully worried, at our being so late?"
Genevieve gave a sigh.
"Yes, I'm afraid so," she admitted. "Still, she has Father to comfort her, and he'll remind her that Mr. Tim is with us, and that delays are always happening on a day's run like ours."
"I wish she could see this beautiful sight herself," cried Alma. "She wouldn't blame us, then, for going wild over it and not minding if we are a little hungry."
Tilly, for once, was silent.
"Well?" questioned Genevieve, after a time, riding up to her side.
"I don't know any one—only Quentina—who could do justice to it," breathed Tilly. And, to Genevieve's amazement33, the moonlight showed a tear on Tilly's cheek.
There was a long minute of silence. The moon was very bright, yet the many swift-flying clouds brought moments of soft darkness, and cast weird34 shadows across the far-reaching prairie.
"Wouldn't it be lovely to have it come while we were out here," gurgled Tilly.
"Hardly!" rejoined Mr. Tim with emphasis. "I reckon you needn't worry about that storm for some hours yet. I'll have you all safely corralled long before it breaks—never fear."
"I wasn't fearing. I was hoping," retorted Tilly in a voice that brought a chuckle29 to the man's lips.
"Do you see that black shadow over there?" he asked Bertha Brown, who was nearest him.
"Yes. From a cloud, isn't it?" Bertha, too, stopped to look.
"I think not. It's a bunch of cattle, I reckon. I think I make out the guards riding round them."
"What is it, Mr. Tim?" Genevieve and the other girls had caught up with them now.
At that moment the moon came out unusually clear.
"I can see two men on horseback, passing each other," cried Bertha.
Mr. Tim nodded.
"Yes—the guard. They ride around the bunch in opposite ways, you know."
"Let's go nearer! I want to see," proposed Tilly, trying to quiet the restless movements of her pony.
The man shook his head.
"I reckon not, Miss Tilly. A stampede ain't what I'm looking for to amuse you all to-night."
"What's a stampede?" asked Tilly.
"Mr. Tim, look—quick!" Genevieve's voice was urgent, a little frightened. But the man had not needed that. With a sharp word behind his teeth, he spurred his horse.
"Follow me—quick!" he ordered. And with a frightened cry they obeyed.
Genevieve obeyed, too—but she looked back over her shoulder.
The moon was very bright now. The black shadow to the right had become a wedge-shaped, compact, seething38 mass, sweeping39 rapidly toward them. There was a rushing swish in the air, and the sound of hoarse40 shouts. A few moments later the maddened beasts swept across their path, well to the rear.
"I'll answer your question, now, Miss Tilly," said Mr. Tim, as they reined41 in their horses and looked backward at the shadowy mass. "That was a stampede."
"But what will they do with them?" chattered42 Cordelia, with white lips. "How can they ever stop them?"
"Oh, they'll head them off—get them to running in a circle, probably, till they can quiet them and make them lie down again."
"And will they be all right—then?" shivered Elsie.
"Hm-m; yes," nodded Mr. Tim, "—till the next thing sets them going. Then they'll be again on their feet, every last one of them—heads and tails erect43. Oh, they're a pretty sight then—they are!"
"They must be," remarked Tilly. "Still—well, I sha'n't ask you again what a stampede is—not to-night."
Mr. Tim laughed.
"Well, Miss Tilly, 'tain't likely I could show you one if you did. I don't always keep 'em so handy! And now I reckon we'd better hit the trail for the Six Star, and be right lively about it, too," he added, "or we'll be having Mis' Kennedy out here herself on a broncho after ye!"
Half an hour later a white-faced, teary-eyed little woman at the Six Star Ranch was trying to get her joyful44 arms around six girls at once.
It was the next morning, and just before Mr. Tim's predicted storm broke, that the girls found the injured man almost hidden in the tall grass near the ranch house. They had gone out for a short ride, but had kept near shelter owing to the threatening sky. Tilly saw the man first.
"Genevieve, there's a man down there," she cried softly. "He's hurt, I think."
Genevieve was off her horse at once. The man was found to be breathing, but apparently45 unconscious. He lay twisted in a little huddled46 heap, with one of his legs bent47 under him. He groaned48 faintly when Genevieve spoke49 to him.
Genevieve was a little white when she straightened up.
"I think we'll have to get a wagon, or something, and two of the boys," she said. "I'll ride back to the house if some of you girls will stay here."
"We'll all stay," promised Cordelia; "only be quick," she added, slipping from her pony's back, and giving the reins50 to Bertha. "Maybe if I could hold his poor head he'd be more comfortable."
Cautiously she sat down on the ground and lifted the man's head to her lap. He groaned again faintly, and opened his eyes. They were large and dark. For a moment there was only pain in their depths; then, gradually, there came a look of profound amazement.
"Where am I?" he asked feebly.
"Sh! Don't talk. You are on the prairie. You must have got hurt, some way."
He tried to move, and groaned again.
"Please be still," begged Cordelia. "You'll make things worse. We've sent for help, and they'll be here right away."
The man closed his eyes now. He did not speak again.
It seemed a long time, but it was really a very short one, before Genevieve came with Carlos and Pedro and one of the ranch wagons51. The man groaned again, and grew frightfully white when they lifted him carefully into the wagon. Then he fainted. He was still unconscious when they reached the ranch house.
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2
ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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jacks
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| n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃 | |
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stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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distressed
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| 痛苦的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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acquitted
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| 宣判…无罪( acquit的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（自己）作出某种表现 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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appreciative
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| adj.有鉴赏力的，有眼力的；感激的 | |
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exulted
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| 狂喜，欢跃( exult的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ranch
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| n.大牧场，大农场 | |
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luncheons
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| n.午餐，午宴( luncheon的名词复数 ) | |
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inevitable
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| adj.不可避免的，必然发生的 | |
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abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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pony
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| adj.小型的；n.小马 | |
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whooping
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| 发嗬嗬声的，发咳声的 | |
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strings
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| n.弦 | |
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schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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27
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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28
chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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ripples
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| 逐渐扩散的感觉( ripple的名词复数 ) | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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weird
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| adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的 | |
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sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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seething
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| 沸腾的，火热的 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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41
reined
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| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
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42
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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43
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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44
joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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45
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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46
huddled
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| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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48
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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49
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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50
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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51
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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