"Is she there, Frankie?" anxiously asked Barney, who was behind.
"Can't tell yet," was the reply. "Will be able to see in a minute, and then—— She is there, sure as fate!"
In another moment they came out in full view of a girl of eighteen or nineteen, who was standing facing the waterfall, her back toward a great rock, a home-made fishing pole at her feet.
The girl was dressed in homespun, the skirt being short and reaching but a little below the knees, and a calico sunbonnet was thrust half off her head.
Frank paused, with a low exclamation of admiration, for the girl made a most strikingly beautiful picture, and Frank had an eye for beauty.
Nearly all the mountain girls the boys had seen were stolid and flat-appearing, some were tall and lank, but this girl possessed a figure that seemed perfect in every detail.
Her hair was bright auburn, brilliant and rich in tint, the shade that is highly esteemed in civilization, but is considered a defect by the mountain folk. Frank thought it the most beautiful hair he had ever seen.
Her eyes were brown and luminous, and the color of health showed through the tan upon her cheeks. Her parted lips showed white, even teeth, and the mouth was most delicately shaped.
"Hivvins!" gasped Barney, at Frank's shoulder. "Phwat have we struck, Oi dunno?"
Then the girl cried, her voice full of impatience: