Arizona -- Juvenile fiction; Girls -- Juvenile fiction; Guardian and ward -- Juvenile fiction; Ranch life -- Juvenile fiction
“Supper will be served sooner than I had expected,” Winona told them
as they returned to the house. “Red Feather will bring milk. He and
his older brother, Eagle Eyes, have gone to the upper end of the
valley after the goats.”
“Here he is now!” Barbara exclaimed five minutes later as the little
fellow appeared in the open door and set on the floor a large
earthen jug that was nearly full of creamy milk.
Winona gave each of the girls a quaint red mug and Babs exclaimed,
“Oh, Winona, you have such adorable things! I love this room of
yours. I wish I had one just like it.”
The Indian maiden knew, that bubbling as Babs might be, she was also
sincere and so she smilingly replied, “I, too, like it. I shall
remain here for a time that I may teach my people, and then I want
to go away and learn more in the world from which you have come.”
“We’ll all go together!” Virginia said as they sat about the
fireplace, tailor-wise, on the floor, and ate the hot corn cakes and
drank the creamy milk.
“Who knows? Queer things do happen!” Margaret commented
meditatively.
Suddenly there was a cry of delight from Virginia. The others looked
at her in surprise. She was pointing and they followed her gaze.
Under a corner of the rug was caught a piece of brown paper and
there was scrawly writing upon it.
“The message!” Virg exclaimed, springing up. “Oh, how I do hope I
will be able to decipher it.”
Virginia gazed intently for one silent moment at the bit of soiled
brown paper, the others eagerly watching and waiting. Babs stood by
the side of the western girl and peered at the scrawl which meant
nothing to her. The others did likewise. “Can you read it, Virg?”
Margaret inquired at last.
The girl addressed, shook her head. “Not easily,” she said. “The
writing is very difficult to make out. However, I am sure that the
words are Spanish but the letters are so queerly made it may take me
a long time to decipher it.”
“Why not leave it until morning” Winona suggested. “It will soon be
dark and I was going to invite you girls to climb with me to the top
of the cliff trail to watch the sun set and the stars come out. Of
course sunsets are beautiful anywhere on the desert, but I do feel
that my own particular sunset view is a little more wonderful than
any other that I have ever seen.”
“Let us go then,” Virginia said as she refolded the bit of brown
paper and placed it in her pocket, “since this message can have
nothing whatever to do with us or our friends, I will postpone
trying to decipher the very queer writing until there is more light.
Lead on, Winona, and we will follow.”
As the girls wandered through the Indian village, many unkempt
little wolf-like children paused in their antics to gaze wide-eyed
at the “white face” maidens whom they seemed to regard with awe as
though they were beings supernatural.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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