ttin' discouraged he'd jest plum up an' quit. He's
gittin' old, he is, an' he ain't that spry like he used to be. All he
has is his hope in that mine--an' me. Ef you killed that you might as
well kill him."

After a while they stopped in the shade of some stunted trees and had
lunch. The girls could tell from Meggy's popping eyes that the
delicacies they drew forth from Miz Cummins' lunch basket had never
been dreamed of in all her hum-drum, joyless life.

Tongue sandwiches, buttered corn-bread, fried chicken that you were at
perfect liberty to take up in your fingers and nibble to your heart's
content, jelly and olives and hot cocoa in the thermos bottle with rich
cream already in it--truly a feast even worthy of the Outdoor Girls!

After lunch the girls strolled around a bit, leaving their mounts to
graze lazily. They talked of many things, the adventures they had had,
the curious people they had met in their adventuring, while Meggy
listened to it all, drinking it in thirstily.

"To think of all the things you've seen," she breathed at last. "An'
I've spent all my time sence I was able to toddle, I reckon, betwixt our
cabin an' the mine--back an' forth, back an' forth----"

After that they rode on again and it was quite late in the day when they
decided it was time to be going back.

"I don't see," said Grace, as they neared the ranch, "why we don't lay
out some claims and start digging ourselves, girls. The north end of
this ranch is quite near the other mines. We might strike gold."

The words were spoken laughingly, but Meggy took them seriously.

"Mebbe there's some truth in that," she said soberly. "Dad allus
reckoned they might be gold on Gold Run Ranch."

A short time later they left her at the mine and Betty mounted Nigger,
leading the brown colt by the reins. Meggy had tried to stammer some
words of thanks, but the girls would have none of it. They waved to her
gayly and started for home.

After an unusually long and thoughtful silence, Amy spoke up softly.

"Betty," she said, "if Meggy is right about the ranch, there being gold
here, I mean, then what your mother had thought all along may turn out
to be the truth."

"Well," said Betty, a joyous lilt to her voice that the girls knew well,
"Allen will be here in a few days and then we'll start our gold hunt.
Gold!" she repeated softly. "There is something romantic in the very
sound of it!"

CHAPTER XIV

A DISCOVERY

Up to this time