In the mean time Joe had recalled the fact that Mr. Dugan promised him a ride in the automobile, an experience he had never enjoyed, and he was excitedly telling his sisters how much faster it ran than Daisy his pony could go.
The morning after Gully had brought the news of the probable coming of the party he went to Jack Norton's to acquaint him of the fact and he and Jack discussed the probable cause of their visit, and agreed that it must be for the purpose of irrigation, as they had never attempted to cultivate the land since the first year that had proven such a dismal failure. So they decided to get together that evening and prepare a concise statement of their experiences and methods that would contain all the information for which the land owners would probably ask.
For Gully and Norton this would be a comparatively easy task, for they had kept an accurate record of the items that effected the peculiar conditions in the locality in which they lived, and had applied them in a manner that had been very largely responsible for the success they had attained. The accumulation of this data, such as the varieties of seed to be used, time for planting and the conditions under which water should be applied to the land had been brought about by the introduction into their literary society, which still held regular meetings, of the reading weekly of a paper prepared by some homesteader as an educational feature.
Miss Anderson was also told of the return to the neighborhood of Mr. Palmer and Mr. Dugan, and returned from school with the children that afternoon to learn more of their coming.
And when young Norton drove over to the Gully home after supper that evening, his arrival completed the circle of faces that had gathered at the same place on the day of the surveyors departure three years before, and the thought that was uppermost in the minds of those present was: "What will they think of the change that has been wrought?"
It was agreed that should the party of visitors arrive the following day, and their arrival could be plainly noted from both the school house and Norton's home, Jack was to come over immediately and Miss Anderson was to accompany the children home. After plans for their reception had been completed, Jack with Miss Anderson accompanying him in his buggy, left the Gullys, and after seeing her safely home, the night being fine, Jack drove for several miles along the dusty road in the bright moonlight, and as he allowed the horse to choose his own gait, he took no notice of his surroundings or the distance he had come.
He wondered to himself what motive had prompted his actions, he might have remained at Gully's and spent a happy hour or more with Ida and plan for the future with her, as was their custom when together. But tonight he wanted to be alone.
The announcement of the unexpected return of Palmer and Dugan had recalled his experience with these men on the first day they had met at the hotel and he smiled as he thought of the opportunity it had afforded him to match wits with them, and the satisfaction he had derived from the occurrence.
Since their departure he had not allowed his mind to be diverted from his one purpose, the subduing of the desert sands and the forcing of the land to yield as his analysis of it had proven it capable of doing. He had, on two occasions during the past two years, accompanied the Professor on a trip to the Grand Coulee and had spent days of delightful research that had resulted in more firmly convincing him that the country as a whole was a wonderland.
But this night, while alone on the desert, driving aimlessly along a most miserable road, his mind would dwell on his old home, on his past, and his old Dad, whose only child he was, of how he had left and had now for over four years, kept his whereabouts a secret, just to satisfy a hastily made resolve to make proper restitution for a boyish prank. Now that he was in a position to make good this resolution, another factor had come into his life—Ida Gully.