Jane Allen, Center Read online

  CHAPTER V--ON THEIR WAY

  "But I am sort of perplexed," Jane admitted to Judith. "It was lovely,of course, for the boys to serenade us, and I think Fedario quite asport to give us the ukelele, but how can we return the--compliment? Ifeel we ought to thank them, somehow."

  "Couldn't we give them a straw ride?"

  Jane burst out laughing. "Oh, Judy, you poor pale-face! Can you fancygiving cowboys a straw ride?"

  "Now, Jane Allen, I did not mean to pack them all into one hay-rick oranything as grotesque as that," answered Judith in pique. "But couldn'twe give them the picnic that goes at the end of the ride, and eliminatethe ride?"

  Another gale of laughter followed this suggestion. Judith plainly knewvery little of the joys of ranch life.

  "I really think," said Jane, "if we want to give them a good time wewould have to make it a good game of poker, and that is altogether outof the question. Most of the ranch men think joy and gamblingsynonymous, and dad has all he can do to keep the sporting tendencywithin bounds. No, I guess we will just have to let them know somehow,how much we appreciated their concert. Then we must start seriously toprepare for our journey."

  Judith's face darkened. She had had a wonderful time at El Capitan, andthe thought of leaving was not a signal of joy.

  "I shall hate to go," she sighed. "It has been divine, Janie."

  "And glorious for me to have you, Judy." Jane twined her arm around thegood friend. "I am not going to forget Woo Nah's prophecy. My goodfriend for always has the midnight hair." She touched Judith's darktresses softly.

  "Now, wasn't it the skylight eyes?" teased Judith.

  "At any rate, I lined up Marian Seaton with the corn-silk hair,"recalled Jane.

  "And we are to be beautiful if we make a tea of the wild cinnamon andwash in it! Don't forget that."

  "Oh, no," Jane corrected. "We wash in the silver solution. Old lady WooNah must know a little about chemistry, for that liquid is a solutionof silver, and it certainly would bleach. I have tried it on Fliver andhis nice brown coat has now a whitish patch. Fancy trying that on theskin of natural girls!"

  It was one of the "last days" at El Capitan. Jane and Judith wereexchanging opinions on so many topics, that they called the occasiontheir mental cleaning period. True, the matter of the cowboys'serenade, a musical event of importance in the ranch season, had notbeen satisfactorily disposed of, for the boys had really furnished avery creditable program with their ukes, banjoes, mouth organs,clippers and Dingo Joe's concertina. Fedario acted as leader, andJudith declared New York could furnish no greater thrill, even on aroof garden, than that which she experienced when the cyclone of soundbroke loose under her window. Then, when she and Jane (chaperoned byAunt Mary) appeared on the rose-vined balcony in their silken robes,the only regret expressed was that the moonlight would not give enoughglare for focussing a picture on Jane's camera.

  It was midnight when the Jap "cleany yupped" after the spread furnishedthe serenaders, but no dance at its best, could have been more novel orenjoyable. The girls remained on their second floor balcony, while Mr.Allen descended to entertain in the big, roomy kitchen, but even fromthat distance Jane and Judith heard the "pieces spoke" and joined inthe laughter following some of the ludicrous attempts at histrionicfeats.

  "After all," philosophized Mr. Allen, "living near to Nature makeschildren of us all, and our boys are mere kindergartners when it comesto home sports."

  "I always feel like a leader in a Sunday school," commented Aunt Mary,"when we entertain them. It is surely a good work, and they are soappreciative."

  "And I always feel like--well, as if I belonged to the idle rich, whenthe boys pay us a visit. It is so narrow to have to make classdistinction, and feed them in the kitchen," Jane objected with a noteof scorn in her voice.

  "Now, Janie," insisted Judith, "didn't Woo Nah say something aboutBolshevism and the Girl? Your sentiments sound rather extreme. Can youimagine Dingo Joe among forks?"

  "Boy all samee too much grub," objected Willie Wing the cook. "Likeebig cow."

  The above is an excerpt from the conversation that sifted through theAllen home on the morning following the "doin's" catalogued as theCowboys' Serenade. Jane and Judith both made copious notes of theoccasion in their diaries, but in spite of these records the real storywas not to be told in mere words. It required the language of the boysthemselves to give the affair its actual color. This was, however,plentifully supplied all over the ranch for at least a day after, andthe consensus of opinion seemed to be, "that Miss Allen was a peach,"and her friend "some girl." Also "that Chief Allen ought to bepresident of the United States, and the little sister woman would beall right for the first lady of the land."

  The boys had rehearsed for their concert for more than a week, andconsequently what was not given in perfection was supplied inenthusiasm, and the memory of that performance, for actors andaudience, would not soon be obliterated by the everyday work of lifeand its prosaic demands.

  So it was that the last day at home for Jane Allen had arrived.

  The presence of her friend, Judith, softened the usual sadness of thehour of parting. Mr. Allen was both father and companion to hishigh-strung, brave little daughter, and the separation was necessarilymomentous. Judith, alert to the situation, bubbled around, blowing inand out, on all the little love scenes, managing adroitly to curtailJane's meditation before the reverenced picture of "Dearest," Jane'sdeparted mother.

  "I can imagine what will happen when we take up our New York quarters,"she prophesied as Jane was all velvet-eyed and unnaturally quiet aftera "word" with Aunt Mary. "I am so glad I can go with you, and not berequired to report home first. Our folks will be resting until KingdomCome after that Coast tour. We had so many delays and mixups."

  "Oh, I could never go to housekeeping without you, Judy," Jane repliedbrightening. "I dream of the shopping tours and the hunting trips, andI match colors with my Polish girl's eyes, and take samples of her hairto bed with me. I have not really decided on her hair, although Irather incline to blonde."

  "Oh, of course. I never saw a Polish girl other than a blonde,"declared Judith. "But, Janie, I cannot help wondering how your daddytrusts you with so much--money. This will be very expensive."

  "You forget, Judy dear, that I am his confidential clerk. I could runthis entire ranch if daddy were incapacitated. He misses Dearest somuch I feel I must be more than just plain daughter to him," and hersoft gray eyes became suspiciously misty again.

  "Well, I'm packed. Thank goodness my trunks went on from the coast! Doyou remember how I packed someone's dress in my bag at Wellington? Itmay be funny to one's friends, to do absurd things through absentmindedness, but it simply terrifies me to think of what I may do withothers' money and such trifles. Aren't you afraid, Janie dear, I willrun off with some of your family plate?"

  "Not the leastest bit," and Jane swung around to give her chum apunctuating hug. "Judy, haven't you promised to keep your failing foryour enemies, and never to work it off on your friends?" she remindedthe girl, who was fairly dancing around the spacious room, as ifwanting to cover every inch of it before bidding good bye to ElCapitan.

  "Yes, I know, Janie. But I have a horror of certain things," and sheglanced quizzically at the wonderful silver set on Jane's mahoganydresser. "Then, too, I might walk in my sleep and--go right down stairsand talk sweetly to Fedario on one of his serenade sprees. But, Janie,I shall never forget--to--love--you."

  The journey East began next morning.

  "It must be the quiet of the country that gives you such a wonderfulset of nerves," Judith ruminated when they had reached theircompartment. "I always feel I must explode, even when there is nochance of combustion. Here we are, without a hair lost, and I felt tenminutes ago we would never make this train."

  "Perhaps it is sort of self reliance," Jane ventured. "We ranchersnever miss a train--wouldn't dare to, we would have to wait too long forthe next; but neither would we feel justified in getting all ruffled upin excitement
. That is bad for--georgette crepe," she finished,smoothing the texture mentioned, in her dainty little blouse, that hadbrushed up the least bit in the final good byes.

  "Now we can think of Wellington," proposed Judith, settling backcomfortably.

  "I just can't bear to see Montana running away from me, so I refuse tolook," and she wheeled her chair around, back to window.

  "As you like," agreed Jane. "But I am so fond of all the high spots ofYellowstone I want a very 'lastest' look. But let's to Wellington. I dowonder how many of the old set will be back? The war has changed somany homes, we may have to take over an entirely new contingent."

  "Best luck," commented Judith. "We may thus eliminate theundesirables."

  "And get a lot very much worse," feared Jane.

  "How could we, with Marian Seaton?"

  "But we had Adrienne, and Norma and Dorothy--they more than outbalancedthe rebels."

  "Well, I claim," and Judith produced the inevitable box of chocolatesfrom her Indian beaded bag, "I claim that a girl who does not love--meor you, is not normal, for it is perfectly evident and obvious, andother synonyms, that we are simply--charming." When Judith "went in themovies" even so far as to act a scene in the drawing room car, shenever failed to "register" strong emotion.