The girl, happening to glance up just then, found the kind, gray eyes of her brother earnestly regarding her. “Do you care so much about Tom’s coming, Virginia?” Malcolm asked. Then fearing that his question would be an embarrassing one for his sister to answer (for he had noted the sudden rose in her cheeks) he hurriedly added, “I, too, will be glad to see Tom. I believe he will be free to come whenever he wishes.” After that Malcolm seemed to read on, apparently deeply absorbed in the articles in his magazine, but in reality he did not even see the printed page for he had suddenly realized that his sister was a little girl no longer, that indeed she was verging on young womanhood, and that some day, perhaps soon, she would care more for someone else than she did for him; she might even go somewhere else to live and leave him alone on the V. M. Ranch. After about half an hour of vain endeavor to grasp the meaning of the scientific article, Malcolm closed the magazine and, looking up, caught an amused twinkle in Margaret’s violet eyes and saw the dimple that he had always thought the prettiest thing a girl could possess. Leaning over Megsy said merrily, “Malcolm, hand me that magazine! I am going to give you an oral exam in what you have read. You have been staring at one page for so long, I think you must have been memorizing the commas.” Malcolm laughed and said irrelevantly, “Thank you for darning my socks, Mistress Megsy. I see you have one now in your nimble fingers.” Then, rising, he added, “Nine o’clock, girls, and I want you to be ready for the saddle by five tomorrow morning. It’s a long, hard ride to Douglas and back. Good night.” The girls soon heard him whistling in another part of the house. A sudden glad hope had awakened in Malcolm’s consciousness. Perhaps, just perhaps, he might not have to live alone after all. CHAPTER XXXIX LONG DISTANCE PHONE MESSAGE The sun was just appearing above a range of misty gray mountains far across the desert on the eastern horizon when the three young riders reached the top of the mesa trail and drew rein to watch while the glory of the dawn flamed the mountain peaks with rose and gold. “A wonderful day has come and surely that is a good omen,” Virginia said. “I feel as excited as though something very unusual were about to happen.” Virg was right! Something very unusual and unexpected was about to happen, but the nature of the something was very different from that which they anticipated.