They sat down, Delores at the head, with Felicia opposite. Frank and Bart sat on the opposite sides of the table. When they were seated, the little girl placed her soft white hands together, bowed her head, and said “grace” in a simple, touching way.
Then, when the “amen” had risen from the lips of the three men at the table, Delores lifted the cover of a platter and revealed to view some broiled steak, the sight of which made Bart Hodge positively ravenous.
That supper was enjoyed by all. Delores smiled when he realized how hungry his visitors were, and he was pleased to see them satisfy the cravings of their appetites.
Merry sought to satisfy Delores that he was no impostor; but the man was on his guard, and it was not easy to tell what thoughts were passing through his mind. Then Frank told of the adventures at the entrance to the valley, relating how the old Indian had tried to frighten them from entering, and had declared that Juan Delores lived far away to the north.
“He faithful old fellow!” exclaimed Delores. “Once, long time ago, he come here very sick—just able to crawl to door. My wife, she take him in an’ doctor him; she get him well, though he have da fever. He never forget. He do anyt’ing for us.”
“Even to commit murder,” said Hodge. “He would have shot one or both of us if the boy had not hurled a rock and struck the barrel of his rifle.”
Felicia clapped her hands.
“Dick can throw a rock just as straight!” she exclaimed. “Oh, he can do lots of things, and Old Joe has promised to teach him all the things he knows about the mountains, the prairies, and the woods.”
“His education is well begun,” said Frank, “but it is the finishing off that will count.”
“Oh, he can read and write and all dat!” quickly exclaimed Juan. “My wife, she be educated American, and she teach Dick and Felicia.”