The Outdoor Girls in the Saddle | Page 4

The girls laughed and Betty threw a pillow at her, missing her by a
hair's breadth.
"You needn't worry about your hat," laughed Betty. "Reckon there
won't be anybody around there to admire you but Indians and broncho
busters."
"Oh, aren't the boys coming?" Grace asked, her disappointment in her
voice.
"They haven't been asked, silly," Mollie interrupted impatiently. "Tell
me, Betty," she cried, turning to the Little Captain. "Is it really certain
that we'll have this chance?"

"No, it isn't," admitted Betty, her bright face sobering. "That's why I
don't want you to get too excited about it. You see," her voice lowered
confidentially, "dad might decide to sell it."
"Sell it!" they cried in dismay, and Grace added, with a decision that
made the girls laugh:
"Oh, he mustn't do that until the fall, anyway."
"All right, Gracie," said Betty, with a chuckle. "I'll give dad his orders."
"But why does he want to sell it, Betty?" Amy questioned.
"We-el," said the Little Captain slowly. "You see mother has already
received an offer of fifteen thousand dollars for it. There's a ranchman
out there, I think his name is John Josephs, or some such name, who
seems to want to get hold of our ranch. So his lawyers have offered
mother fifteen thousand for it."
"That's a pretty good lot of money," said Amy thoughtfully.
"Yes, it is," agreed Betty. "And dad seems to think that the best thing
mother could do would be to take the money and get rid of the ranch.
He says it will be a sort of white elephant on our hands, since there isn't
very much chance of our going out there to live," she ended, with a
chuckle.
"Well," said Grace, with an injured air, "I don't see why you called us
all over here just to disappoint us. If your father is going to sell the
place, then we certainly sha'n't be able to make ourselves beautiful with
bandannas and picturesque hats----"
"Ah, but you did not let me finish," hissed Betty, melodramatically.
"We have one ally--my mother."
"Your mother!" cried Mollie, eagerly. "Then she doesn't want to sell
the ranch?"
"Right, the first time," cried Betty hilariously. "I think mother has a

sneaking notion that she might look pretty good in a cowboy make-up
herself. You see," she added, with a twinkle, "mother has never had a
chance to own a real honest-to-goodness ranch before."
"Oh, isn't she sweet!" cried Mollie fervently, adding, as one to whom
inspiration had come: "I tell you what, Betty, we'll take her with us!"
"How sweet of you," drawled Grace. "Especially since the ranch
belongs to her!"
The other girls chuckled and Mollie looked rather sheepish.
"Oh, well," she admitted, "I guess it would be a case of her taking us
along."
"And I don't envy her the job," said gentle Amy unexpectedly, while
the girls gazed their reproach.
"Betty," said Mollie, "there is one very important thing that I would
like to know."
"Well, I'm the original little information bureau," Betty assured her.
"What will you have?"
"Does your dad really want to sell the ranch? Or is your mother likely
to win out?"
"Oh, mother always gets her way," said Betty confidently, adding:
"Besides, the ranch was left to mother, you know, and not to dad. So
really she has the say about it."
"Yes, but she might change her mind," said Grace pessimistically.
"Fifteen thousand dollars is a lot of money, you know. She might
decide to sell the ranch, after all."
"Well," said Betty, with an air of importance that the girls were quick
to notice, "there is another reason why mother will probably hold on to
the property, for a little while at least."

"Yes?" they queried eagerly.
"You see," Betty continued thoughtfully, "mother has an idea that this
John Josephs is a little too anxious to buy the ranch. It's right up in the
gold region, you know----"
"Gold!" shrieked Mollie. "You never said a word about gold, Betty
Nelson! Do you mean there may be gold----"
"Now she is getting interesting," admitted Grace, shaken out of her
usual calm.
"How romantic," murmured Amy, breathing fast.
"Yes," said Betty ruefully. "That's what dad says mother is--romantic!
He says there isn't a chance in a thousand that there is real gold
anywhere near that ranch----"
"Stop, woman, stop!" cried Mollie, with her most tragic scowl.
"Wouldst put an end to all our dreams in one fell swoop----"
"Probably that is all we shall do--just dream," said Betty, insisting upon
being practical. "It's an idea of mother's, that's all. But she is really
determined to see the ranch, at least, before she makes up her mind
whether to sell or not. In fact," she hesitated, colored a little, then went
on bravely,