A Concert In The Moonlight

: Dorothy On A Ranch

Night fell on San Leon; and the searching party which had gone out in

the morning, sure of prompt success, returned tired and dispirited. But

their places were immediately taken by fresh recruits, Mr. Ford

announcing that the matter would not be dropped, night or day, until all

hope had to be given up.



Except that Jim's clothes had been left in his room it might have seemed

that the lad had run away, feel ng himself out of place at San Leon. But

the folded garments placed on the chair beside his empty bed told a

different tale.



"No, he has wandered off unknowing what he did. Well, when he comes back

he shall find his place ready for him and the warmest of welcomes

waiting. While we have tried--and will still--to visit every cabin and

ranch within reasonable reach, there are many such little shacks dropped

here and there among the mountains; and we have probably overlooked the

one in which he is sheltered. Open hospitality is a feature of the west.

Anybody who comes across the boy will be good to him. Now, let's have a

little music and then to bed. A whole day in the saddle tires me, though

I'm bound to get used to it yet, and so shall all of you. Come, Erminie,

give me a song; and Dorothy dear, get out your violin."



Thus said Mr. Ford, when their evening dinner had been enjoyed and they

had all gone out to sit upon the wide veranda, the moonlight flooding

the beautiful grounds, and the soft spring air playing about them.



Dorothy felt that she could not play a note, and even Alfaretta was

quietly crying in the retired corner she had sought, in the shadow of a

pillar. But Mrs. Ford at once obeyed her husband's wish, and as her

wonderful voice floated over them it banished every thought save the

delight of listening.



The "boys" came over from their "Barracks" and sprawled on the grass,

entranced. Hitherto, their life on the ranch had been one of toil,

lightened by sports almost as rough, with the evening diversion of

swopping stories over their pipes. They hadn't been greatly pleased at

the prospect of a lot of strangers living so near them, but already all

that was changed; and though they didn't know, till Lemuel informed

them, and this singer was one of a few famous artistes, they were

moved and touched by the marvellous beauty of her voice.



"You know, boys, it'd be worth ten dollars a ticket--gallery seats, at

that--just to get into an opery house an' hark to yonder lady. An' now

you're just gettin' it for nothin', free, clear gratis, take it or leave

it, ary one. Fact. The 'Boss's' lady is an A 1 singer if she is a--I

mean, a poor show at a rifle."



The songs went on till the Gray Lady dared sing no more. Like all

trained singers she was careful of her throat and unused, as yet, to the

air of this region at night. But when she laughingly declared:



"No more this time; not if I'm to sing again," there was a murmur of

dissatisfaction from the group of men about the fountain; and old

Captain Lem begged, in their name:



"Just one more, lady, to sleep on. That kind o' music makes a feller

hungry for more and sort-of-kind-of sets him thinkin' 'bout things back

home."



But Mr. Ford interposed:



"No, Captain, not to-night! I want to have a lot of just such concerts

so we mustn't put the prima donna out of condition. But I've a little

girl here with a fiddle and I tell you she can just make it talk! Come

farther forward, Dolly dear, and stand close to me. Then 'rosin your

bow' and get to work. Show these cowboys what a little girl-tenderfoot

can do. Maybe, too, who knows? Maybe our Jim will hear it wherever he

is and hurry back. At it, child, and call him!"



Lady Gray feared this was a trifle unkind to the girl, who she wished

might wholly forget the boy, but the master felt it not so. He knew that

nothing would more thoroughly inspire her than this possibility.



"Oh! do you think so? Then I'll play as I never did before--I will, I

will!"



She stepped out from the veranda upon the broad walk before it, and with

the moonlight pouring down upon her white-clad little figure, her face

uplifted to the sky, and her precious violin beneath her chin, she

played, indeed, "as she had never done before."



On and on she played; one ranchman after another softly suggesting some

desired melody, and her eager little fingers rendering it upon the

instant. The men ceased sprawling and sat up. If they had found the Gray

Lady's voice a marvel, here was a greater. That any child--a despised

"female" child--could evoke such music seemed past belief; and when, at

length, Mr. Ford bade her render the beloved "Home, Sweet Home" as a

finale, there was a reluctant rising of the audience to its feet,

ordered to it by the Captain who, in rather husky tones, stated:



"Ladies and gentlemen, and mostly the little gal, I give the sentiments

o' my regiment, to a man, when I say all you tenderfoots is welcome to

S' Leon. We wasn't very tickled before, thinkin' all our free livin's

an' doin's was to be interfered with, but we are now. Three cheers

for the company an' the treat they've give us, more especial for the

Little One, and--Long may she wave! Hip, hip, hurrar!"



The cheer was given with a will, and then again came the Captain's

order:



"Fall into line. Right about face. March! hep, hep, hep--hep!"



But as they filed away Dorothy had another inspiration and, acting upon

it, sent the delighted cowboys marching to the lively air of "Yankee,

Doodle, Doodle Doo."



"And now to bed!" advised the hostess. So within a very few moments all

were in their rooms, tired and happy despite the worries of the day, and

sure that all would come right at last.



The four girls shared two rooms, facing one another and with two dainty

beds in each. Milliken's chamber was at the end of the long passage

beyond theirs, and those of the rest of the household across a wide hall

which cut this wing of the house in two. In structure the building was

very like El Paraiso, which the Gray Lady had admired and where the

happiness of reunion had come to her; and it seemed to those who had

wintered in the old adobe that they had but stepped into another home.



Of course, sleep did not come at once. Four girls, even if together all

day long, find much to chatter about at night, and this had been a day

of "happenings" indeed.



Dolly and Alfy came across to sit on Helena's bed and watch her dainty,

slow preparations for retiring. Molly was already perched in the middle

of her own white bed, hugging her knees and proclaiming for the

twentieth time, at least:



"Oh! I am such a thankful girl! After I fired that rifle and saw that

purple mass of stuff lying on the ground I thought I was a murderer! I

did so. Yet I was mad, too, to think Wun Sing had been such an idiot as

to go between me and the target."



"Herbert claims the safest place for others, when a girl shoots, is

right behind the target. But it wasn't when Alfy hit the bull's-eye. How

did you do it, child? It was wonderful and at that distance--which

Captain Lemuel fixed for himself!" said Helena, brushing out her hair

preparatory to loosely braiding it.



"Oh! Nell, you're lovely that way! In that soft nightie--you do have

such lovely, lacey things. I wish Aunt Betty would buy me some like

them, but she won't. She's too sensible, and oh! dear! I wish I had my

arms around her neck this minute!"



"Put them around mine, Dolly Doodles, and quit wishin' for things you

can't get. Do you s'pose I'll ever do it again?" asked Alfaretta,

drawing one of Dorothy's arms about her own shoulder.



"Do what again, child?"



"Child, yourself. I mean fire right into the middle of the thing, and

'honest Injun', I did do it with my eyes shut. I wonder if that ain't

the rightest way to sharpshoot, anyway. The rest of you couldn't hit it

anywheres near, with your eyes open. What say?"



Molly yawned and stretched herself luxuriously, and Helena remarked:



"Molly, you make me think of a Persian kitten! She does just that when

she feels particularly good."



"Well, I ought to feel good. I didn't kill Wun Sing. I just made a hole

in his old purple blouse and I can give him another new one. If I can

find one like it, and have money enough, and--and other things. If I had

shot him instead of his clothes what would they have done to me? Would I

have been hung by the neck till you are dead and the Lord have mercy on

your soul? Would I?"



"Oh! Molly, how horrible and how wicked! That's swearing!" cried

indignant Dorothy.



"Well, I like that! I mean I don't! I never swore a swore in my life and

you're horrid, just horrid, Dorothy Calvert, to say so," retorted Molly,

suddenly sitting up and flashing a look of scorn at her beloved chum.



"It was really swearing, you know, though you didn't mean it."



"It's what the Judge says--my poor father's one--when a man is condemned

to death."



"Aunt Betty says that any taking of the Lord's name in vain is

swearing and--"



Foreseeing a childish squabble, due to over-excitement and fatigue,

Helena gently interposed:



"That's enough. Neither of you knows what she is talking about. They

don't hang people nowadays, they electrocute them, and Wun Sing wasn't

hurt. He was only badly scared and will keep a good distance from our

rifle-range hereafter. Alfy did hit the bull's-eye, no matter whether

she meant to do it or not. We've had a perfectly lovely evening and a

perfectly lovely summer is before us. I mean to get up, to-morrow, and

see the sun rise, so--off with you, girls. Molly and I are sleepy. Good

night to both of you. What friends we shall be before this summer ends!"



"Why, I thought we was now. I'm sure I don't feel much above any of you,

even if I can shoot better 'n the rest," said practical Alfaretta,

moving slowly toward the door.



A shout of laughter greeted her words and Molly indignantly retorted:



"You aren't one bit smarter than I am. You only hit an old target and I

hit a man, and we didn't either of us mean to do it. But good night,

good night. Wake early, 'cause Leslie says we've a great doin's before

us, to-morrow. Something better than waking up to see the sun rise.

Helena'll get over that, though. Such fine resolutions don't last."



"You'll see. I--I think I shall keep a diary. Take notes of what happens

up here on the Rockies. If I succeed I may--I may write a book,

sometime," said Helena.



Molly and Dolly stared, seized with sudden awe of this ambitious young

person, and Alfy stared, too; but she was not impressed and her comment

was a not unkindly but perfectly sincere remark:



"Why, Nell, you couldn't do that. It takes brains to--"



"Young ladies! I am amazed at your disturbing the house like this, after

retiring hours! Lights out, or off, silence at once!" ordered Miss

Milliken, appearing in their midst. And at this apparition silence did

follow.



Back in their own room, Dorothy and Alfaretta pushed their little beds

close together and knelt down to say their prayers. In the heart of each

was an earnest petition for "poor Jim," Dolly's ending with the words:

"And let me see his face the first thing in the morning."



But Alfy reproved this.



"We haven't any right to set times for things to be done and prayers to

be answered, Dolly Doodles, and don't say no more. It's sort of saucy

seems if, to ask for things and then keep thinkin' in your insides that

they won't be give. You've asked and the Lord's heard you--now get up

and go to bed."



"Oh! Alfy! I wish you had--had--a little more spiritually!" wailed

Dorothy, rather stumbling over the long word but obediently rising from

her knees and creeping between the snowy sheets. "And I don't feel as if

there was any use going to bed, any way. I know I shan't sleep a wink."



"Fiddlesticks! You just do beat the Dutch! As if great Jim Barlow hadn't

a decent head on his shoulders and needed the use o' your 'n! He

wouldn't thank you for makin' him out such a fool. Good night. I'm goin'

to sleep."



Dorothy felt that this was simply heartless and sighed:



"I wish I could! But I can't!"



Then she drew the covers about her shoulders, stared through the open

window at the moonlit ground, felt the scene a trifle dazzling, and

closed her lids just to rest her eyes a minute.



When she opened them again Alfaretta's bed was empty and neatly spread.

Except her own belongings the room was in perfect order for the day, the

sun shone where the moonlight had been, and the cathedral clock on the

cloister wall was striking--



"Oh! Oh! It's morning! It's late morning, too, that's six, seven, nine

o'clock! Oh! how could I sleep so? I never did before in all my

life--except--well, sometimes, but I'm ashamed, I'm awfully ashamed of

myself."



As she sprang to her feet there was a tap at the door and a

white-capped, white-aproned maid appeared, saying:



"Good morning, Senorita. The Senora sent me to serve you and help you

about your bath. It is ready, yes, and the other senoritas have

breakfasted and gone out, si. By my Lady's orders you were not to be

awakened till you roused yourself."



"Oh! but I am sorry. I didn't mean to do this, for I know one of Mr.

Ford's rules is early rising. I found that out at El Paraiso and--yes,

yes, please do help me. But tell me, what shall I call you?"



"Anita, nina. Anita Mantez I am, from the dear City of the Angels, si.

This way, carita, do not fear displeasure. They are all beloved, the

fair young things, but you are nearest, dearest, so my Lady tells. For

you will never be blamed, believe me."



Dorothy made short work of her toilet and felt so refreshed by her night

of sound sleep and her delightful morning bath, that the world outside

seemed even lovelier than she remembered it. Also, she was hungry--so

hungry! It was quite as Mr. Ford had said; that the mountain air made

people almost ravenous, at first. Afterwards, one's appetite sank to the

normal and to be out and doing was the one great desire of life.



Anita led her to the refectory and served her with a dainty breakfast,

disposed on exquisite "individual" dishes, and oddly enough, bearing the

initial "D." Dolly lifted a cup and stared at it, wondering while Anita

glibly explained in her patois of Spanish-English, that yes, indeed, it

was the Senorita's own.



Dorothy's heart was touched and grateful. Charming as her hosts were to

all their guests, in many little ways they had singled her out as in

this; and she understood without explanation from them that it was

because of the part she had played in bringing together the once divided

family. Very humbly and gravely she accepted these attentions, thankful

in her deepest heart that she had been "inspired," on that past winter

day, to lead the father and son across the mesa to the little cabin

where Gray Lady dwelt alone. It had been a daring thing to do--an

"assisting Providence"--such as wise Aunt Betty wholly disapproved; but

that time it had been a fortunate one for all concerned.



Now as the girl sipped her cocoa, turning the egg-shell like cup to

catch the light, she wondered what she could still do to help her dear

Gray Lady and to prove her own love. Then her dreaming was cut short by

a hubbub of merry voices without, and, a moment later, a crowd of young



folks tumbled through the big window, laughing, teasing, exhorting:



"Lazy girl! Just eating breakfast and it's nearly time for lunch, seems

if!"



"Oh! The loveliest thing in the world!" cried Molly, clapping her hands.



"Thank you," said Dolly, demurely, lifting her face for the other to

kiss.



"Oh! not you, Miss Vanity, but a beautiful thing on four legs!"



"We're to take our choice and the white one's mine, for--" declared

Alfaretta.



"No white one for me! Dad says we're to do our own grooming and white

ones have to be washed just like a poodle dog and--" began Leslie.



"I had one once. His name was 'Goodenough,' and he was good enough, too.

Could walk on its hind legs--" interrupted Herbert.



"Oh, Dorothy! If you aren't going to finish that buttered toast, do give

it to me! I never was so hungry in all my life. I simply can't get

filled up, and--"



"Montmorency Vavasour-Stark! You ought to be ashamed! After eating four

chops, three boiled eggs, five helpings of potato, to say nothing of

coffee enough for the regiment, and strawberries--"



"Well, Mistress Molly Breckenridge, I don't know who set you to keep

tally on my appetite! and I hate to see good things wasted. Want the

rest of those berries, girlie? I know you don't. You're real unselfish,

you are; and you wouldn't eat all the nice-ripe-red-strawberries-

raised-under-glass-ripe-red-strawberries and give your neighbor none.

And give your neighbor none, you-shan't-have-any-of-my-nice-ripe-red-

strawberries-who-gives-his-neighbor--Molly, give it back! Aw, now,

Molly! You wouldn't eat all the nice-ripe--Hold on! Bert Montaigne,

that's a beastly shame! After I had to warble in that dulcet way for

a plate of poor, left-over, second-hand strawberries, to have 'em

grabbed by you and Molly--that's too much. Just one drop too much to

fill my bucket, but I say, 'Little One,' I wish you'd get up late

every morning, and have just such a superfine breakfast as this saved

for you, and not be hungry at all yourself, but save it for a poor

starved little boy who hasn't had a mouthful in an hour--"



Monty was running on in this absurd way, yet holding his own in a three

cornered scramble for possession of a dish of berries he had pre-empted

from Dorothy's table; till, without saying anything, Helena calmly

walked up, took the disputed dish from the contestants and, shoving

Dolly aside to give up half her chair, sat down and began to eat them

herself.



"Two spoons with but a single dish! How touching!" cried Herbert, posing

in pretended admiration of the pair, yet covertly watching his chance to

add a third spoon to the two and get his own taste of the luxury.



Not but that all had been served likewise, at the regular meal earlier

in the day, and Monty's boasted appetite was but a part of the happy

foolishness of their youth and high spirits.



For they were all evidently greatly excited over something, and the talk

fell back upon "choice" and "points" and "colors" with a comparison of

manes and tails, till Dorothy sprang up, clapped her hands over her

ears, and demanded:



"One at a time! One at a time! Do tell me what you're all jabbering

about and be quick! Just because I was lazy--I admit it, all right--I

don't want to miss all the fun! Tell me!"



But her answer did not come from any of the lively group about her. A

shadow fell across the floor and Captain Lem appeared at the window.

Leaning his elbows on the low sill he surveyed the interior with a

quizzical smile, then observed:



"If everybody's et all they can and has got time for somethin' elst,

please to step over to the corral behind the Barracks. Time there was

somethin' doin'! Come on, Little One. I'd like to have you head the

procesh, for 'twas the Boss's orders, first pick for you. Hep, hep,

hep--march!"