w over there. He speaks
English. Your train will reach Berlin at seven. It's on track four.
Don't thank me at all. I'm indebted to you. Won't you walk to the
office and see Miss Green? She'd be delighted, I'm sure!"

"'Anne answered for us. "No, thank you," she said. "I'm afraid we
can't. We haven't had breakfast yet, and we must telegraph my mother.
She'll expect us earlier. Yes, thank you, I'm sure we can manage
quite well alone. Give Miss Green our best regards. I'm sure we hope
she'll be successful."

"'He shook hands all around.

"'"You really think," asked Jess, a little worried in tone, I
thought, "you really think it's likely to be a job for life?"

"'"Yes," said the man, "I do. I think she's the very woman I've been
looking for."

"'Then he went. We stood looking at one another, not knowing what to
say. It had all been too unexpected."

"'"Well," said Jess at last, "I don't know but that a job for life is
cheap at twenty dollars. And, you know, she really expected to
return to St. Helen's year after next."

"'We had just time to eat our belated breakfast, telegraph, buy our
tickets, and catch the ten o'clock train, which carried us to Berlin
without incident, other than embarrassments arising from my total
lack of German. We didn't mind third class at all. It's a lot more
human. Mrs. Hill and Dad met us, and Dad forgot all about the twenty
dollars when we told him about Greenie.

"'I've given up seeing the Emperor's stables to tell you all of this,
and I hope you appreciate it. Jess and Anne send loads of love to all
of you, and so do I. I can't believe Wyoming is any better than
Germany!

"'Jean.'"

"I can't help wondering, Virginia," said Priscilla, after they had all
laughed again over Jean's letter, "I can't help wondering whether Greenie
will consider _this_ vocation thrust upon her!"

"That's just what I was wondering, too," returned Virginia.

CHAPTER VII

THE VIGILANTES HOMESTEAD

"John, do you really think it's safe?"

It was Aunt Nan who asked the question. Mr. Hunter laughed.

"Safe, Nan? They couldn't be safer. There's nothing in the wide world to
hurt them out there on the mesa. They're safer there, in my opinion, than
any place I know, and if they want to know what homesteading is like, why
let them homestead for a night! It won't hurt them a bit. If they