. "Though now I'm ashamed to recall how
readily I consigned them to a tramp I was unwilling to take myself.
I wish I'd brought them with me. We could have used Scruff's back,
turn and turn about."

"Oh how could they! One misstep and they'd have been killed."

"What is it, mother?" asked Jessica, seeing the lady's hand shake so
that she could scarcely serve the soup which formed the chief dish of
their plain dinner.

"Only another prank of those terrifying children. Bound themselves--or
had help to bind--and rode Scruff bareback up the canyon! They're
always 'playing Indian,' and I wish they'd never heard of one. It's
that Ferd eggs them on. He 'dares' them and----Excuse me, Mr. Hale.
Mothers are anxious people. Try some of Jessie's scramble, please. She
is just learning to cook and likes to be appreciated."

"But I didn't see them, as I went up or down. They must have taken the
long road around by the north end. Where the old Digger village is,"
observed Jessie.

"A forbidden route. It's to be hoped they'll follow the shortest road
home. If they're not here in an hour one of the men must go to fetch
them."

Jessica laughed and kissed her mother.

"Don't you worry, dear, and do, please, eat your dinner. Aren't those
children always having hairbreadth escapes, and are they ever hurt?
Pedro'll send them down in a hurry. He knows his mistress and her
ways, and wouldn't let her be troubled if he could help it. They'll get
no dinner at Pedro's, and dinner is something they've never missed yet.
Hark! Aren't going to miss now! Listen. They're fighting along home in
their regular fashion. By the sound they've about got to prickly-pear
hedge. _Hola!_ Ned! Lu-is! Oh! beg pardon. I forgot I was at table.
Excuse me, mother, and I'll bring in the youngsters--after a deluge!"

Already there was an uproar in the outer kitchen, where two tired and
hungry little boys were assaulting the unoffending Pasqual, diligently
scrubbing away at his pots and pans. Any victim will do, at a pinch, to
vent one's wrath upon, and Pasqual was nearest. But he was not one to
suffer patiently, and promptly returned the puny blows of his assailants
with much more vigorous ones, till Jessica reached the spot, rescued
the truants, and conducted them to the washbasin.

From there, disdaining the towel, they made rapid transit to the porch
and the presence of the stranger. All along their enforced walk home
they had laid plans of vengeance, among wh