"Will there be jelly cookies, Mrs. Simms?"
The blue came back to the eyes for a moment.
"Surely. Aha, Mr. Tommy, now I know what you came for."
"I didn't tell her about them. It was the Big Chief."
"Mr. Steve!" The blue suffered a total eclipse. "Did he come with you?"
"As far as Lower Field. By the way, what's wrong with Johnny? He galloped up to Courtlandt, stuck out his hand, then beat it."
"But he stuck out his hand?"
"Surest thing you know."
Mrs. Simms exhaled to the limit of her flat chest.
"That's all right, then. Johnny—Johnny found a sparkling stone—and he said as how he thought 'twas gold—and he's—he's pestered me to death till I told him he could ask Mr. Steve if he could stake off a claim. Minin's in his blood. My father was a miner, Miss. I guess I'd better get busy about dinner, not stand talking here," she explained as she hurried away.