The Ranch Girls and Their Heart's Desire, Page 2

  CHAPTER II

  THE YOUNGER SET

  The front yard of the Rainbow lodge appeared an extremely smallplayground for a boy accustomed to covering many miles of the broadranch and the adjoining country in the course of each day. Yet as JimColter's word was law on the Rainbow ranch Jimmie Kent had no thought ofbreaking parole.

  He glanced up at the double rows of tall cottonwood trees which led fromthe lodge to the gate. Almost impossibly difficult trees to climbbecause of their tall, smooth trunks and the branches so high overhead!A warm September day and Rainbow creek not half a mile away! Jimmietaxed his imagination until he could well-nigh feel himself swimmingabout in the cool freshness of the little stream, deeper than usual atthe present time because of the abundant September rains. When one'sswim ended, not far away were his mother, his Aunt Jean and her husbandRalph Merritt, a clever mining engineer. The family was to meet thisafternoon to discuss the possibility of sinking a new shaft into the oldRainbow mine with the hope of striking a new lode.

  Moreover, Jim Colter (and Jimmie and the big man were so intimate as touse each other's first names) was attending to the branding of a herd ofcalves at one of the ranch houses. Any one, or all, of theseentertainments might have been his, except for an unfortunate impulse toinvestigate the Rainbow ranch alone a few afternoons before.

  A week of the front yard of the lodge appeared an interminable time toJimmie Kent, yet even a week would pass in time. And one had better behalf a prisoner at the old ranch than free in any other part of theworld.

  Six weeks before having arrived at the ranch after a long journey fromEngland, at present this was Jimmie Kent's earnest conviction. Was thereanywhere else in the world such a wide sweep of country, such plains andprairies and desert sands covered with sage brush and cacti? In theprairies there were wolves and deer and bear. Since his arrival at theranch Jimmie believed he had heard one night the call of a wolf, theleader of the pack, and coyotes he had seen with his own eyes, sniffingabout the edge of the woods not far from Rainbow creek. Jim Colter hadsuggested that the buffalo were not all destroyed, but might be foundroaming in certain western portions of the state, now inhabited only bywandering Indian tribes. He had hinted at mountain lions as not wholly afigment of a boy's dreams, but as realities, creatures Jim Colter hadbeheld with his own eyes long years before, when the west was the westindeed.

  Yet here he was, Jimmie Kent, late of Kent House, Kent county, England,suddenly transformed into an American boy, but shut up within an acre ofground for a week and, moreover, face to face with the tragicpossibility that within a month or more he might be forced to return toEngland. He had nothing against England except that it was too small fora boy's energies and hopelessly devoid of wild animals outside theLondon Zoo.

  India of course was a possession of the British Empire, and SouthAfrica, but Jimmie felt that probably for a number of years he might notbe permitted to explore these regions. So why the present discussion?If he and his mother both desired to remain at the Rainbow ranch atleast for a number of years, they ought to be able to decide forthemselves. Nevertheless his mother had explained that she must continueto think the situation over and to ask the advice of her family.To-night the grown-up members of the family were even to dine togetherfor this purpose.

  Discovering a cottonwood tree not far from the gate, Jimmie now climbedup and seated himself upon one of the lower branches. Here he wasenabled to have a wide outlook.

  Behind him was the Rainbow lodge where he and his mother were living atthe present time. So often Jimmie Kent had been told its history! Herehis mother with her sister, Frieda Ralston, and her cousin Jean Bruce,had lived when the three of them were little girls and under theguardianship of Jim Colter, the manager of their father's ranch afterhis death. Later the fourth ranch girl had found refuge with them,escaping from an Indian woman in whose charge she had been for so manyyears that her early childhood was enshrouded in mystery.

  From his present viewpoint Jimmie Kent was able to observe two figuresnot at a great distance away. They were Captain MacDonnell and his wife,who had been Olive to the other ranch girls until the discovery of herparentage.

  Captain MacDonnell, injured in the great war, later had developed histalent as an artist. Jimmie possessed the ordinary small boy's attitudetoward pictures, nevertheless he had something to say in favor ofCaptain MacDonnell's, since _his_ reputation had been acquired throughhis painting of western scenes.

  At the present moment he was sketching a mustang pony, which one of theranch boys was leading back and forth in an effort to persuade the ponyto remain within the range of the artist's vision. Jimmie would haveenjoyed changing places with the other boy. In spite of Captain BryanMacDonnell's lameness he had an especial understanding and love of theoutdoors, to such an extent that he and his wife were spending a year ormore at the Rainbow ranch, living in a tent, regardless of the fact thatat the great house built after the discovery of the Rainbow mine therewas room for any number of guests.

  Jimmie now glanced over toward the splendid mansion which had beenchristened "Rainbow Castle" by Frieda Ralston years before. His AuntFrieda and her distinguished if eccentric husband, Professor HenryTilford Russell and their one little girl were at present visitors atRainbow Castle, having arrived only a day or so before.

  Jimmie was no more interested in relatives as relatives than most smallboys. Yet had his preference been asked he would have said freely thathe liked best his Aunt Jean and his uncle Ralph Merritt, possiblybecause a famous engineer who had been not only the engineer of theRainbow mine but of several other mines would appeal to any masculineimagination. Then possessing no sons of her own and greatly desiringone, his Aunt Jean was particularly kind to him.

  At this moment Jimmie became especially grateful to fate for his exaltedposition in the tree top. Advancing toward him he beheld his seven girlcousins.

  "Eight cousins!" Some one was always muttering this tiresomeexclamation, as if there was any special point in it. Personally Jimmieconsidered the one drawback to his residence in the United States wasthe possession of such an affliction. Not that he disliked the sevengirls; two or three of them were fairly agreeable. One could not dislikethe little girl, who was scarcely more than a baby, and whose name wasPeace, she was so pretty and so gentle. She had been called Peace thoughnamed for her mother, because no one wished to repeat the name Friedaduring the war.

  The seven cousins and two nurses were now entering the yard of theRainbow lodge and Jimmie Kent wondered if he preferred not to bediscovered. He guessed their errand: they intended gathering violetsfrom the violet beds on either side of the house, planted years beforeby Frieda Ralston in an effort to increase the family fortunes, and nowfamous throughout the neighborhood.

  In advance were the four daughters of Jim Colter, whom he described asthe four new Rainbow Ranch girls and whose names were also Jacqueline,Jean, Olive, and Frieda, although called Lina, Jeannette, Olivia, andEda, to distinguish them from the original "Ranch Girls of the RainbowLodge." The three visitors with the maids were following.

  An instant Jimmie considered whether it might not be a good idea toallow Jeannette Colter to observe his present elevation. She was the oneof the seven girls he most disliked. A few months his elder, she boastedthat she could ride and run and climb equally well with the new Englishboy visitor. She could learn to shoot equally well if her father offeredher an equal opportunity.

  The truth was that if Jimmie considered he disliked Jeannette, shecordially hated him. Before Jimmie's coming she had been her father'sconstant companion, riding with him about the ranch as JacquelineRalston had done in the years past. But three times of late had herfather left her at home with her sisters, saying that he wanted to ridealone with Jimmie in order better to make his acquaintance.

  Now Jimmie felt a reasonable pride in the fact that Jeannette would notbe able to occupy such a position as his present one without assistance.

  "Hello," he called down. The other girls waved and returned
hisgreeting, but Jeannette Colter laughed.

  "Up a tree, aren't you, in more ways than one, Jimmie Kent! I am sorryyou cannot leave the front yard for a week," which was not kind ortruthful in Jeannette, who was especially pleased by Jimmie's captivitysince it restored her to her father's uninterrupted companionship.

  At the close of the day, having finished his solitary dinner--his motherwas dining at the big house--Jimmie came out on the veranda of the lodgeand went to bed in the big porch hammock where he often spent the night.

  Several hours later, half awakened by the return of his mother and JimColter from the family dinner party, but too drowsy to speak,nevertheless Jimmie overheard his mother announce in a tone of relief:

  "Well, Jim, thank goodness I have been able to make up my mind at last!Indecision, you know, always has annoyed me more than anything else inthe world. So it is to be the Rainbow ranch and my own country for asmany years as I can arrange it. And may they be as many years as youneed me, Jim."

  His friend's reply made Jimmie Kent smile and settle himself morecomfortably in his hammock bed. The reply gave one a pleasant sense ofpermanency.

  "Then if you never leave the United States until I cease to need you,Jack, you won't go away until I am removed to broader fields than theRainbow ranch. But do you think you will be happy, that is the mainthing? What will you do with yourself? These are restless days for mostwomen and you have more energy than any woman I have ever known. Want acareer, Jacqueline Ralston Kent? Are you staying in your own countrybecause you wish to be a famous woman some day and the United Statesoffers the best opportunity?"

  "Suppose we sit down a while, Jim," Jack answered. "You are not sleepy,are you? It is too lovely a night!"

  Walking over to the hammock, Jack pulled up a warm covering over her sonand as he smiled up at her, whispered,

  "We won't disturb you, will we, Jimmie?" and Jimmie only shook his head,not wishing to speak, yet enjoying the distant sound of the two voiceshe loved best.

  A moment later Jim Colter and Jack were sitting together upon one of thefront steps of the Rainbow lodge as they had sat together so many timesin years past, always preferring to be in some spot where there were nowalls closed about them but where there was a wide view of sky andland.

  "Don't laugh, Jim, but I don't know, yet laugh a little if you like, asit may be good for me. Yes, I have sometimes thought since Frank's deaththat I should like a career of my own, besides just being Jimmie'smother, proud as I am of that honor. Inside the secret corners of mymind the thought has influenced me a little in my desire to remain athome."

  "But what is the great career to be?" Jim Colter answered smiling, andyet with a sufficient interest in his tone to take away any lack ofsympathy that might have been conveyed by his amusement. "You aren'tgoing to turn poet, or painter, or actress, Jack, after displaying nofondness for the arts in all these years?"

  "No, Jim Colter, and no talents either," Jack returned. "I appreciateyour veiled sarcasm. No, the good fairies who bestow the artistic giftswere not present at my birthday. What do you think I might be able todo, Jim? Tell me."

  There was a short silence and then the man answered:

  "Help me manage the Rainbow ranch, Jack, or a larger ranch if you like."

  Jack shook her head.

  "No, Jim, you have managed the ranch successfully without me and thoughI may bore you by interfering now and then, to help you when you do notneed help will not be the thing I am after. Would you hate it if Ishould take an interest in politics? It is an exciting world these daysand after all Wyoming was the first state to give the vote to women! Iwonder if I am still an American citizen. In marrying an Englishman Iknow I became a British subject while my husband was alive, but now heis dead and I have returned to my own country, the point is, what am I,Jim? A woman without a country?"

  "Jack, I don't know. However, I should dislike your entering politicallife, but suppose you are old enough to decide for yourself." Jim Colterlaughed. "You always did decide for yourself in the end, Jack, even whenyou were pretty young. But you will marry again some day! Suppose we askan old friend of yours, Peter Stevens, whether at present you are anAmerican citizen or a British subject? Stevens has become one of thedistinguished young lawyers in the state, or in the west for thatmatter. But look out for him, Jack, he is an old bachelor and a womanhater. Now it must be nearly midnight. Good-night."