It did not take Jo Ann long to discover that Carlitos knew no English. “He can’t be an American, then,” she thought. “He’s probably a German or some other kind of a foreigner.” She asked him a few questions in her broken Spanish but, as it was very difficult for him to understand her, she gave up trying to talk finally and turned her attention to the little girl, who kept looking up at her adoringly.
When at last they drew near their house, Florence pointed it out to the father, saying, “This is where we live. We will have to leave you now. You must be very careful with Pepito, remember. Don’t let him go back up the mountain with you.”
The man nodded a vigorous assent. “All right, señorita. We will take much care of Pepito.”
Jo Ann spoke up eagerly just then: “Florence, tell them that we’ll come down to the cave tomorrow to see how Pepito is getting along.”
After Florence had translated this message, the two girls called, “Adios!” to the family and a special one to Pepito, then hurried on to the house.
No sooner had they greeted Mrs. Blackwell and Peggy than they began recounting their adventures excitedly.
When Florence told of discovering that Pepito was still alive, both her listeners gasped in amazement.
“I’m so thankful you girls knew what to do and could save that boy from being buried alive,” Mrs. Blackwell said, after Jo Ann and Florence had finished their entire story.
“And I am, too,” agreed Peggy.
“It was a good thing we carried a lunch along with us,” Jo Ann added. “Those poor children were almost starved. They’d had hardly anything to eat for days. You should have seen the way they gobbled up the cakes we gave them—even Pepito.”