"Antonio hasn't come up, either, since the plucking. I wish he would while the food is fresh. If you'll----" "We needn't wait for him, because I met him riding toward the foothills, as I came home. He's probably off to the mines and that means an all-day's trip. But I'll help you dish up, and seek the boys, though they don't often need seeking at mealtime. You sit right down with Mr. Hale, dear, and I'll serve you. Pasqual can bring in the tureen, and I hope the eggs aren't spoiled by waiting." "Is Scruff that mottled burro poking his nose through that fence?" asked the guest. "Yes. He belongs to my little son, Ned, who shares him with his playmate, Luis. An inseparable trio, usually." "Then I'm the cause of their present separation. I rode that animal down from old Pedro's cabin and at his advice," Mr. Hale described his meeting with the two small lads, the fright they had given him, and his own desertion of them. "Though now I'm ashamed to recall how readily I consigned them to a tramp I was unwilling to take myself. I wish I'd brought them with me. We could have used Scruff's back, turn and turn about." "Oh how could they! One misstep and they'd have been killed." "What is it, mother?" asked Jessica, seeing the lady's hand shake so that she could scarcely serve the soup which formed the chief dish of their plain dinner. "Only another prank of those terrifying children. Bound themselves--or had help to bind--and rode Scruff bareback up the canyon! They're always 'playing Indian,' and I wish they'd never heard of one. It's that Ferd eggs them on. He 'dares' them and----Excuse me, Mr. Hale. Mothers are anxious people. Try some of Jessie's scramble, please. She is just learning to cook and likes to be appreciated." "But I didn't see them, as I went up or down. They must have taken the long road around by the north end. Where the old Digger village is," observed Jessie. "A forbidden route. It's to be hoped they'll follow the shortest road home. If they're not here in an hour one of the men must go to fetch them." Jessica laughed and kissed her mother. "Don't you worry, dear, and do, please, eat your dinner. Aren't those children always having hairbreadth escapes, and are they ever hurt? Pedro'll send them down in a hurry. He knows his mistress and her ways, and wouldn't let her be troubled if he could help it. They'll get no dinner at Pedro's, and dinner is something they've never missed yet. Hark! Aren't going to miss now! Listen. They're fighting along home in their regular fashion. By the sound they've about got to prickly-pear hedge. _Hola!_ Ned! Lu-is! Oh! beg pardon. I forgot I was at table. Excuse me, mother, and I'll bring in the youngsters--after a deluge!"