The Merriweather Girls in Quest of Treasure. Edholm Lizette M.

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СКАЧАТЬ laughed happily as she read the name on the envelope. "Mr. William Patten." Returning the paper to the professor she said, "I should know that man well. He's my father!"

      "Oh isn't that jolly, Kit!" cried Joy. "Imagine meeting someone who is on the way to see your father! That's a bit of luck, isn't it?"

      "Dad will be very glad to help you," continued Kit.

      "What a strange coincidence!" remarked the professor glowing with pleasure. His boyish smile offset the formal style that might have bothered the girls. His dark eyes were small and twinkling and he was so very nearsighted that it was necessary for him to look intently in order to see anything.

      At that moment a loud report startled them. Joy gave a scream of fright. "What is it?" she cried excitedly. "Indians!"

      "Shooting?" exclaimed the professor, half rising in his seat. "Is it a hold up?" He looked around in all directions. But the desert seemed devoid of human life.

      "It means that we've blown out a tire," smiled Matt as he brought the car to a stop at the side of the road and got out muttering, "Of all the ding-busted places to get a flat! Not even a spear of grass for shade and no water hole nearer than Coyote Creek and that's ten miles away." Matt puffed as he unstrapped the spare tire and prepared to jack up the wheel.

      The girls stood around, anxious to make themselves useful, but Matt paid no attention to their offers of help. He even scowled at Professor Gillette, and went on without answering him. Matt's face was red with the effort under the burning sun that scorched the flesh with its blistering rays. It seemed impossible that life could exist in that burned-out sandy waste.

      Bet Baxter had not spoken. She was tremendously interested in the things she saw around her. Suddenly she gave an exclamation of surprise as her foot touched what appeared at first to be a light-colored stone, and saw it move.

      "What under the sun is this?" she cried as she stooped over the now motionless little creature.

      "Oh, that's a horn toad, it won't bother you," laughed Kit. "You'll see plenty of them around."

      "Isn't it pretty!" Bet picked up the little creature between her thumb and forefinger gingerly. "Just look at its funny little tail! I never knew a toad had a tail."

      "And look at the thorns all over its body. Isn't it funny?" Enid poked her finger at the toad, prodding it in the sides.

      The toad was motionless now as if dead, only an occasional blinking of the eyes showed that it had life.

      "If it isn't poisonous, I'd like to take it along for a pet." Bet turned toward the car.

      "Oh, leave it where it is, Bet. Maybe it wouldn't want to be parted from its family," said Shirley in her quiet way.

      Kit burst into a peal of laughter. "That's what I call considerate. Its mother mightn't like to have it go out for a ride in an auto with strange people."

      Bet paid no attention to Kit's nonsense. She was fascinated by this strange creature, covered with horn-like spines.

      But at that moment Matt's voice rang out: "Let's go! And here's hoping we'll have no more tire trouble before we reach the ranch."

      Bet turned to put down the horn toad, then exclaimed excitedly: "Look, Kit, what kind of a bird is that?"

      "That's just a road runner. You'll see plenty of them before the summer is over."

      "What a funny name for a bird!" answered Bet.

      "You can call it a Chapparal Cock, if that suits your fancy," laughed Matt Larkin.

      "I'll do it!" Bet said with a toss of her head. "That name sounds very stylish. And it suits it much better. Look at its lovely blue crest, and its bronze-green body!" The girls gave a little gasp as the large bird, evidently startled by the engine, went off on a run that looked ridiculous in a bird. Aided by its large wings, it made rapid progress.

      "I like that bird!" cried Joy with enthusiasm. "I believe it could be taught to dance."

      "You can have the job of teaching it," remarked Shirley Williams with a shiver. "I wouldn't want to get a nip from that long bill."

      "If you want to know what that bill can do, just get the opinion of the rattlesnakes and lizards around here. Those birds are the worst enemies the snakes have. They certainly fade away when Mr. Road Runner is out for a walk. And by the way, Bet, this bird has a third name, it's 'Snake killer'."

      But Matt was calling impatiently and the girls finally left their observations of desert life and took their seats in the car.

      For a few miles Matt sent the machine ahead at a rate which troubled the girls but finally his impatience wore away and he slowed down to his ordinary careful driving.

      Kit nodded approval and whispered to Bet: "Matt forgot he was driving a car; he thought he was riding a bronc."

      "I am greatly relieved," said the professor quietly. "Speed is the curse of the age. We should take lessons from the Indians."

      "That's all you know about Injins, Injins ain't so slow as you might think. I've seen 'em with plenty of ginger in 'em. They're only slow when there's work to be done." Matt Larkin had made the longest speech that Kit had ever heard from him at one time. He was not a talkative man, and rarely addressed anyone.

      But that did not shake the professor in his conviction that Indians had led a quiet, placid existence and should be an example.

      "Yes, we have much to learn from the red man," he continued just as if Matt had not spoken. And if he heard the contemptuous snort from the driver, he did not let on.

      Mile after mile slid by quickly and soon the walls of the ranch house were visible.

      "There it is!" cried Kit, hardly able to sit still. "We're almost home!"

      "At long last!" Joy burst out impatiently. "I had almost given up expecting it. It's been ages since we left the station."

      "But wasn't every minute of it perfect!" Enid Breckenridge was enjoying the feeling of ownership in the land. Part of this strange country was hers, her home. "Didn't you enjoy it all?"

      "No, I didn't," Joy answered. "I got so tired of those tall smoke-stack cactus things that I wanted to scream." She pointed her hand at the towering pillars of the suhuaro, or giant cactus. "And I hope I'll never have to see a cow again. They're everywhere! Only one thing I dislike more, that's cactus."

      "Why, Joy Evans, I think they are the most romantic looking objects I've ever seen. They're wonderful!" exclaimed Bet.

      "And as for me, I've taken pictures every time Matt has slowed down enough. That shows what I think of them. I'm enthused over everything! I've taken six pictures of cattle." Shirley, the quiet one, rarely spoke so whole-heartedly over things. She appreciated but seldom expressed her emotions.

      Bet had half risen in the auto and craned her neck to catch a glimpse of the ranch buildings, but all they could see for the moment was the high wall of sun-dried bricks.

      "What's the idea of that wall about a ranch?" she asked. In spite of Bet's lively imagination, she always wanted a reason for everything she saw. "They don't have Indian raids any more, do they?" Bet's tone indicated that she almost wished they did.

      "Oh, I hope not!" cried Joy. "Those fierce-looking Indians that we saw racing toward СКАЧАТЬ