“Which way are we going to travel tomorrow?” Gale asked.
“Up into the hills would be the prettiest country,” he answered.
At the corral fence they separated, Gale going on to the ranch house and Jim into the cowboys’ bunkhouse. The girls were on the porch, Janet and Carol perched at perilous angles on the railing, Virginia and Valerie on the top step, and Madge and Phyllis in chairs.
“Where have you been?” Janet demanded.
“What’s wrong?” Valerie asked.
“Wrong?” Gale questioned. She did not realize that her recent experience with the deadly rattlesnake had left her face pale and a tinge of shadow in her eyes.
“You look as though you had seen somebody’s ghost,” Carol declared.
“I came near to being one,” Gale answered, squeezing between Valerie and Virginia.
“What do you mean?” Madge asked. “Did you meet the bank robbers?”
Gale described with all the terrifying details her adventure with the snake and the girls were all speechless with amazement. When she had finished they regarded her wonderingly, fully appreciating what a close call she had had.