“Don’t you want to go with us on our ride about the camp tomorrow?” Jo Ann asked Miss Prudence.
“Yes, I’ve been wanting to ever since I came, but I’ve been so busy, you know. I’ll get an early start at cleaning tomorrow morning, so I can go with you.”
An amused expression slipped into each girl’s face at the familiar words “an early start.”
So it was that, immediately after the siesta hour, the girls and Miss Prudence set out on horseback on a general inspection trip of the mining camp.
“We won’t have time to go down into the mine this time,” Miss Prudence said as they rode off. “Ed says that he wants us to go all through it soon, though.”
“We’re very anxious to go down into the mine, aren’t we, girls?” said Jo Ann.
“We surely are,” both replied.
With the greatest satisfaction Jo Ann and Peggy pointed out the rows of neat, substantial limestone houses, each one very homelike with flowers and vines.
“The Mexicans love beauty,” Florence remarked to Miss Prudence as they passed a house one side of which was covered with a bougainvillea vine aflame with pinkish purple flowers. The tiny yard was a riot of color, too.
“Yes, I’ve noticed that they are very fond of flowers,” Miss Prudence agreed. “Carlitos told me today that Maria had asked him if I’d brought some flower seed with me—that she wanted to see if she could grow some new kinds of flowers.”