“What happened to his father?” Valerie asked.
“He used to work in a silver mine,” Virginia said. “He and several other men owned it in partnership. Bobby’s father was killed trying to rescue one of the other men from a cave-in or something. I don’t know the exact facts. Bobby’s mother is wonderful with sewing and my mother and some other ladies from Coxton keep her supplied. That is the only way they get along.”
“I wish we had had two thousand dollars,” Janet said.
“But if Bobby’s father owned a silver mine why don’t they have money?” Madge asked.
“The mine never amounted to much,” Virginia answered. “It was only a small vein of silver and it didn’t last very long.”
The girls returned to the ranch house, each with a little warm glow in her heart. Making Bobby happy as they had done, had shown each one how much happiness there is in giving joy to some one else.
The Wilsons had prepared a festive program for their guests’ last night at the ranch. There were music and dancing and chatter and laughter. The hilarity kept up for hours.
“You know,” Janet said, “I feel like celebrating tonight--for Bobby.”
“Strange as it may seem, I was thinking the same thing,” Phyllis declared.
“I used to get the jitters every time I thought of Pedro and his knife,” Val confided to Gale in a secluded dark corner of the porch where they had gone for a breath of air between spurts of gaiety. “Now I’m glad we did meet them as we did.”