CHAPTER XIV
MR. DRUMMOND AND RALPH CHANGE PLACES
The ranch girls, Jim and Ralph Merrit were at supper later that eveningwhen some one walked down the length of the long dining room, glancingfor an instant toward their table as he passed by.
Frieda nearly choked over her soup. "Look, Jack, there's the man whogave me the pretty yellow stone this afternoon!" she exclaimed in a loudwhisper.
Jack look up quickly and blushed. Then to hide her confusion, she smiledand bowed in an unexpectedly friendly fashion, surprising the others, asshe was usually shy with strangers. Mr. Drummond returned her greetingcordially, smiling at Frieda; and straightway the social position of thecaravaners reached the high-water mark. He was said to be a wealthybachelor from New York, but as no one actually knew anything about himand he had refused to associate with the other guests, his reservecaused him to be regarded as a very important person.
After dinner, as the girls went out on the verandah, they looked asthough they had dressed to illustrate the name of the Rainbow Ranch.Weary of their traveling costumes they had put on their best summermuslins. Jack wore a violet organdie, Jean a red one, Olive was in paleyellow and Frieda in blue. Ruth never dressed in anything except whitein the evenings. Jim went off to inquire for his mail, asking Ruth towait for him. He was beginning to feel anxious to hear how things weregoing on at the ranch in his absence.
Peter Drummond stood a short distance off watching the little group. Incoming west, he had made up his mind to have nothing to do with thepeople he ran across in the course of his travels. He saw too much ofsociety in New York. Wealthy, of an old Knickerbocker family, with ahome on the south side of Washington Square, life had given himeverything he desired until three short months before. Then, when he wasforty years old, for the first time in his life he had fallen in love,and the woman he cared for refused to marry him for what seemed toPeter a perfectly absurd reason. Therefore Mr. Drummond had determinedforever to forswear the company of women. He was wondering if girls needbe included in his decision, when Frieda solved the problem for him.Slipping away from the others she crossed the piazza. Peter suddenlydiscovered a pair of serious blue eyes gazing straight into his.
"If you want that stone back that you gave me this afternoon you mayhave it," she said. "You see I did cry a little bit when I fell, soperhaps it isn't exactly fair of me to keep it."
Mr. Drummond's face was quite as serious as Frieda's.
"I should hardly like to be called an 'Injun giver', would you?" heasked. "I don't know how girls feel about it, but when I was a boy ifanother fellow tried to get back a thing he had given away he wasthought to be a pretty poor kind of person."
"Girls feel the same way," Frieda felt compelled to answer honestly.
"Then, for my sake, won't you please keep it?--and shaking hands makesit a bargain," Peter returned, extending his hand to clasp Frieda's.With her fingers still in his, he joined Ruth and the other girls, whohad been trying not to laugh at the little scene.
Few eastern people, who have had no experience of life in the West,realize how much more unconventional and informal it is. Strangersmeeting on a train talk as freely during the journey as though they hadbeen formally introduced; friendliness is in the very atmosphere.
So, though Mr. Drummond was surprised at his own behavior, the ranchgirls accepted his approach quite simply. First, he inquired of Ruth ifFreida had really been hurt in her accident of the afternoon; tenminutes later he knew the names of the five girls, something of theirhistory, had heard of Jim Colter and Ralph Merrit, and had given a briefaccount of himself in exchange, and for the first time in three monthswas actually enjoying himself.
The moon was just rising behind the dark circle of evergreen foreststhat bordered the Yellowstone Lake on three sides. Going out on thelawn, Olive was first to discover a dark figure with his hands in hispockets strolling quietly up and down. Perhaps because in the earlydays, when first brought home to Rainbow Ranch, she too had sometimesfelt like an alien, now she was the only one of the caravaners to guesswhy Ralph had gone away from them wishing to be alone.
Ralph Merrit was having a fight with himself. In the past ten days, as aguest of the caravan party, he had learned to care for them very deeply.If he preferred one of the girls to the others he had not said so norshowed it in any way. During the trip he felt he had been able to makehimself useful, but since their arrival at the hotel Ralph had felt shyand ill at ease. Jack had told him they were poor, and in the gaycamaraderie of the open air he had thought little of wealth or poverty;now he was acutely conscious of his own lack of money. With hardly adollar in his pocket and only a change of clothes in his knapsack, hecould not remain one of the travelers through the Yellowstone Park. Itwas hard to say farewell to his friends and to start out again to lookfor work, but harder to remain and not do his share in theentertainment. The ranch girls evidently had richer friends than hedreamed, the Harmons were evidently wealthy people, and Ralph had beentold this Mr. Drummond was a millionaire.
"What's the matter, Ralph?" Jack's friendly voice asked. Olive had drawnher and Jean over in Ralph's direction, while Mr. Drummond, Ruth andFrieda walked slowly on.
"We have been wondering what had become of you ever since dinner?" Jeanadded.
Ralph cleared his throat a bit huskily.
"I've got a bad case of blues," he said, "but I am glad you found meout. I have got to be off from here early in the morning, and perhaps itis better to explain to you to-night."
Jean pouted, Jack gave a surprised exclamation, Olive believed sheunderstood.
"But I thought you told Jim you would make the trip with us, Ralph,"Jack argued. "Has anything disagreeable happened? Surely no one of ushas hurt your feelings."
Ralph shook his head emphatically. "No people have ever been so good tome in my life," he answered. "Look here, don't you think the best thingto do is to make a clean breast of things? I am going away because Ihaven't any money, and I'm not going to be a snide and stay on here asyour guest. I told you that the little money I had was stolen from me bythe two miners who took me out to 'Miner's Folly' to see if theirclaims were any good. It wasn't much, because I came west to earn afortune, not to spend one, but it was all I had. Now I have to clear outand look for a job. I don't think we are 'Ships That Pass in the Night',I believe we are going to meet again, some day," Ralph ended. "And ifever there is anything I can do to show you my gratitude andappreciation----"
"Oh, do hush, Ralph Merrit!" Jean burst out impetuously. "I don't seewhat you have got to thank us for. But if you really were having a goodtime you wouldn't go off and leave us."
"That isn't fair, Jean," Ralph answered hotly. Then he laughed athimself, for Jean's speeches had a fashion of provoking him, although hewas so much her elder.
"I don't believe that, Jean," Jack interrupted. "But I don't see whyRalph can't finish the trip with us and then go after his fortune."
"I am so sorry nobody understands," Ralph said slowly, "but I must beoff just the same. I'll see you again in the morning, but our realgood-by is to-night."
As Olive shook hands she said quietly: "I understand why you are going.And don't worry, please, because I feel sure I can make the othersunderstand." Jack's good night was cordial, but Jean refused to changeher opinion of Ralph's desertion.
Ruth suggested that the girls go back to the hotel for their wraps, asthe evening was growing chilly. As Jean and Jack disappeared on theirway to their rooms, Mrs. Harmon drew Olive and Frieda to her end of theporch, Mr. Drummond had said good night, Ralph Merrit had againvanished, and still Jim had not returned. Ruth could not make up hermind whether to be angry with Jim for being so long in keeping hisappointment with her, or to feel worried for fear something had happenedto him.