The dinner was a great success, both from a culinary and also from the social points of view. While thoroughly enjoying the home-cooking, the boys talked of their work and adventures in the mountains. Jim had been with the survey crew all summer, but Kenneth had but just arrived. So Jim had a store-house filled with recent thrilling experiences and escapes. Close-up encounters with bears, rattle-snakes, and land-slides, were passed off as mere trifles by him. But the problems of getting enough good things to eat, now and then a dance at some school-house, or finding a pretty girl one could talk to--these were awful! When dinner was out of the way, the four young people started to walk to Rainbow Cliffs, as that was the show-spot of all the countryside. Having so many unique features and winding walks made it a delightful place for quiet little chats or tete-a-tetes. "I never saw anything like those great masses of color," said Kenneth, as they drew near the sparkling walls. "I told Ken when we rode past here to-day, that Tom wanted your father to sell out the cliffs on a royalty basis, but he refused to. Now that Tom is here again with John, and the gold mine is caved in with that land-slide, maybe he will listen, eh?" asked Jim, eagerly. Polly shook her head. "I don't believe he will, but we can't find out why he is so stubborn about it." "Jim, I don't believe our gold mine has caved in, at all. It's only temporarily buried, up there. If there is any way it can be located again, I'm going to insist upon having it worked!" declared Eleanor. "Why? You don't need the money," laughed Jim. "How do you know what I need!" retorted Eleanor. "Polly and I need money this Fall, as we are going to go away to school together--somewhere. And she can't go unless she has her own money, 'cause her father won't consent to her leaving home, but her mother will--so she will have to have her own money to get away with, see?" "No, I don't see that that will work," Kenneth interpolated. "Why not? If Mr. Brewster finds Polly is going, anyway, he will soon enough give his consent," argued Eleanor. "I never said I would go away to school with you, Nolla, although I should like it better than going alone. And I'm sure I couldn't _think_ of leaving home if Daddy objected to it," said Polly seriously. "Oh, well, I know you won't, but a lot of money of your very own will help coax him to our way of thinking," explained Eleanor. "You seem to think your mine will turn out money in time for you to spend it this Fall," ventured Kenneth, amusedly. "Why, of course it will, if we can get at it through that land-slide," returned she. "Other mines take from one to ten years to prepare for and operate. If you do the thing right, and have engineers plan for the apparatus to work the ore, you won't be spending that gold this year," added Jim.