“Help, help!” called Ted, woefully, but the girls only laughed too.
Their vacation was up on Friday. Wednesday Mrs. Sandy had invited them all over to the Alameda to dinner, and for a visit. They went in the surrey, for horseback riding was beginning to feel pretty tiresome.
“Such a tanned lot of young savages,” exclaimed Miss Honoria, when she saw them. “I declare, Polly, what will Welcome say when she sees your freckles?”
“Just look at Lady Vanitas, and her tanned face and arms. That comes from trouting without a hat. But we’re all glad to be tanned. Nobody will believe we have had a wonderful vacation in the sunshine and open air unless we can show tan.”
It was all fully arranged that day about the return trip. Jean was to accompany the girls back, and Peggie would go when Miss Honoria returned. Nothing was said definitely about what the precious skeleton represented in a monetary way, but from the smile on Mrs. Sandy’s face when it was spoken of, and Peggie’s bubbling happiness, the girls knew that all trouble in that line had been wiped away. The greatest surprise of all was when the Doctor came down to the home ranch, Thursday afternoon. He looked in the best of health, and was fairly radiant over the dinosaurus.
“I have maintained for years that the Jurassic drift took in this section,” he said, happy as a boy with a new toy. “And this confirms me positively. Polly, as a relief to my conscience, I wish to hand over some of the spoils to the club that had sense enough to know prehistoric bones when it saw them. Here is one hundred, and I knew you’d like it in gold. Girls always do. Five twenty-dollar gold pieces, one for each of you, and you shall be honorary members anyway of my own private geological society when I start it.”
“Oh, Doctor Smith,” cried Polly, flushing warmly at the unexpectedness of the gift. “We don’t deserve this.”
“Don’t you? Wouldn’t the dinosaurus be lying right in its rocky tomb this minute if it hadn’t been for your discernment? You take it, child, and add it with my best thanks and good wishes to the general fund of the Polly Page Club.”
“Girls,” said Polly, later, when she broke the glad news to the rest. “Let’s take a stateroom on the train from Chicago to Washington. We deserve that much, anyway, and it was hard sleeping all the way on the seats.”
“Hear, hear!” cried the girls, gaily.