e. In fact, I will be glad to offer my services in the same
capacity, at any time, for you girls."

"Better beware how you offer yourself on such an altar," teased Polly,
trying to appear calm and composed, whereas she was keyed up to hear
about the proposed work young Baxter wished them to do for his new
apartment.

Eleanor deemed it wise to mention another subject first, so she asked:
"How long were you at Pebbly Pit, Mr. Baxter?"

"That's one of the reasons we came over to see you," interpolated Mr.
Dalken. "Jack has a lot to tell you about the troubles there."

"What troubles?" wondered Polly. "You don't mean the land-slide, do you?"

"We know about that," added Eleanor.

"You only heard the first news of it. But you never knew what followed
that first event," returned Mr. Dalken. "I've known how things stood for
a short time, but I talked it over with the Latimers, and we decided to
let Jack go West with Mr. Alexander, and investigate matters for
themselves."

"Dodo's father! What has he to do with it?" asked both girls in surprise.

"More than we can ever appreciate. Because he is such an experienced old
miner, having spent years in the Klondike, and later, down in the
Colorado mining districts, his going to Pebbly Pit was the best thing
that ever happened to our company. Jack had just decided to invest a
great deal of his capital in the joint companies, so he decided to
accompany Alexander and see for himself how the land lay."

"And what was Mr. Alexander's verdict?" asked Polly.

"Listen to Jack's story of what happened on the mountain, that early
morning. It is as thrilling as anything I ever heard," said Mr. Dalken.

"I'd have given anything to have been on the spot when that old peak
divided her earthly substance," laughed Jack. "But even the telling of it
by Tom Latimer and John Brewster, was so exciting that I tried every way
possible to reach the mountain where the awful avalanche took place.

"Tom had felt a tremor run along the side of the peak the night before,
and had warned John that old Grizzly was ripping mad again. So the two of
them rode along the Crest where those claim-jumpers were buried the time
that other avalanche occurred, and they saw that Grizzly Slide had broken
up great masses of ice-field, and on the far side where it drops suddenly
to the valley, thousands of feet below, a great block of ice and rock had
fallen from the top-side and had rolled down, destroying everything