ls went off in
fresh gales of merriment.

"I wish," said Grace, after a pause, "that we were going to reach Gold
Run this afternoon, instead of Chicago. I'm half afraid to spend another
night in the sleeper after the scare we got last night. It might be a
_real_ bandit this time."

"Oh, what would we care?" said Betty carelessly. "I'd rather like to
meet a train robber, myself."

"About all a bandit could do would be to take our money," added Mollie.

"All!" cried Grace indignantly. "Yes, that's all. And what would we do
without any money, I'd like to know!"

"Goodness, we could always sell the ranch," said Betty, so
matter-of-factly that the girls chuckled. "We have Peter Levine to fall
back on, you know."

"'Peter Levine,'" repeated Amy, then added quickly: "Oh yes, he was the
man who wanted your mother to sell the ranch."

"Yes, and it was too bad of you to keep him all to yourself, Betty,"
said Grace reproachfully.

"You might at least have shown him to the rest of us."

"He wasn't anything to show," said Betty, experiencing again the feeling
of distaste she had had for the man. "He was one of the most unpleasant
looking men I ever saw. Just the same," she added lightly, "we owe him a
lot. If it hadn't been for him we probably wouldn't be sitting in this
beautiful train, speeding to our great adventure. I told Allen I could
almost love Peter Levine for it."

"You did?" queried Mollie, her eyes dancing. "What did he say?"

"He left me rather suddenly," said Betty, with a chuckle at the memory.
"He said he was on his way to kill Peter."

"Poor Allen," laughed Grace. "It must be awful to be that way. When is
he coming out to Gold Run, Betty?"

"As soon as he finishes this case he is on now," answered Betty,
flushing in spite of herself as she thought of Allen. "There is really
no great hurry about it, you know. Dad has made up his mind to take a
regular vacation while he's about it, and I imagine mother won't care if
she never gets home."

That afternoon they changed trains at Chicago, bemoaning the fact that
they had not time to see something of the great city before they
traveled farther west. There was only half an hour between trains and,
as every one knows, there can be little sightseeing done in that limited
space of time. As it was, for some reason they could not ascertain, the
outgoing train was over an hour late in starting. If they had known this
fact in advance they might have managed to sp