True enough, Jack returned in ample time, and was the first at the table.
Early in the afternoon Dorothy and Nancy went out for a drive with Romeo.
It was one of those sunny days that tempt nearly every one to ride or walk.
The mountain roads were rather lonely, and Mrs. Dainty insisted that whether Dorothy were riding Romeo, or driving in the phaeton, the groom must ride at a little distance behind her.
There were the lovely, slender birches on either side of the roads, there were patches of bright green moss upon which the sunlight rested, there were blackberry vines and woodbine wreathing the low stone walls, and here and there a mullein raised its stately head from its base of velvet leaves.
Oh, it seemed like an enchanted country, where new beauties were to be found on either hand!
"Look!" cried Dorothy, "close beside that mullein is an evening primrose, and their blossoms are the same color."
Then a tiny chipmunk sprang upon the wall, sat erect, and watched them for a moment, then ran up the trunk of a slender tree, where from a low branch he watched until they had passed. Then back to the wall he sprang, where he chattered as if scolding the little girls who had disturbed his solitude. It may be that, instead, he was talking to himself, and telling what charming little girls they were.
A long way from the hotel they passed Jack Tiverton, with a number of other boys who were staying at a hotel a few miles distant from the Cleverton.
They were all somewhat larger than Jack, and he thought it fine to be with them.