When the door slammed at the outgoing of the pair, Sprague was laughing again.
“After those two young fellows have turned a few more sharp corners in the rather crooked course they’re steering, they’ll learn to take their medicine without making faces over it,” he remarked. “Any signs of Archer yet?”
Maxwell turned back to the window.
“Yes; he’s coming. He’s pulling up on the other side of the plaza—doesn’t want to run afoul of these mining friends of ours, I suppose.”
“Archer has a head on him, all right, and I like him. You want to swing onto that young fellow, Dick. He’ll make a good man for you some day. Let’s go down and join him.”
Tarbell waited when he saw the boss and his guest coming across the plaza, and when his two fares were stowed in the roomy tonneau of the big car he let the clutch in for the short run to the western suburb. The night was clear and starlit, but there was no moon. Since the hour was well past midnight, the streets were practically deserted. Beyond the last of the street-crossing arc-lamps the western road led away through a forest of dwarf pine, a broad white pathway winding among the trees and roughly paralleling the railroad.
At one of the shorter turns in the pike they came upon the brilliantly lighted road-house. In appearance it was a modern roadside tavern, one of the many which owe their sudden recrudescence to the automobile. It was withdrawn a little from the highway, and was surrounded by ample stables and shelter sheds opening upon a great square yard with wide carriage gates. Tarbell backed the auto to a stand among a number of others in the yard, and a man with a lantern came, ostensibly to offer help, but probably to make sure that the new-comers were harmless.
“It’s all right, Jerry,” said Tarbell, hopping out. “Mr. Maxwell and a friend o’ his from the East. Games goin’?”
The man nodded and held his lantern so that Maxwell and his guest could see to get out of the tonneau. Then he turned away and left them.
Tarbell led the way to the porch entrance and on the step explained the sight-seeing process to the one who was supposed to be inexperienced.