The man frowned, but immediately upon seeing who it was he smiled. "Why, it's the little gal that wanted to see the pine squirrel," he said. "How did you get here? I might ask."
"I came on a visit," Mary Lee told him.
"And I came to turn an honest penny," he said.
As he drove away Mary Lee turned to Mr. Sanders. "How did you get hold of him? I saw him 'way down toward San Bernardino."
"Oh, he travels around, works when he feels like it, loafs when he pleases. He's a good worker when he takes hold of a job, and I'm always glad to get him. It isn't every one he'll work for."
"Have you known him long?" Mary Lee kept up her questions.
"Oh, yes, I've known him for years. Saw him first down in Mexico, and I've run across him on and off ever since. Sometimes not for two or three years and then suddenly he'd turn up in some entirely different place. He's a born rover."
"Do you suppose all those stories they tell about him are true?"
"Well, it's hard telling. He's no saint, but I guess he's not as black as he's painted. He's always acted white with me. There's mother waiting for you. I'll set your grip right inside and then I'll jog down to the barn."
Jack had already been welcomed heartily by Bessie and they were now plotting all sorts of amusements. "We were so sorry Jean couldn't come," Mary Lee explained to Mrs. Sanders, "but she has sprained her ankle, and mother didn't want to trust Jack alone, so I came to look after her."