“The ladies willa pardon. They have no objec to two others who also eta here?”
But the ladies were not in the humor to object to anything. They were too much engaged in admiring the little valley and the olive grove opposite which clung to the hillside like a soft gray mist.
“It’s just like a little Italy,” cried Billie, enthusiastically. “It looks like Italy. The people are all Italians and so are the houses and the terraced vineyards. Isn’t it sweet?”
“Wait until you see the festa,” said Evelyn, “and Pasquale’s daughter, Lucia. She is out now gathering grapes with the others, I suppose.” Pasquale now appeared bearing a big soup tureen, followed by a graceful young Italian boy who carried a dish of grated cheese. There were plates of ripe olives on the table and in the centre a pyramid of fresh figs and grapes. How charming it all was! Down in the vineyard below came the sound of singing, which grew louder as the young men and girls climbed the mountain to the village.
They were very happy and jolly, and Miss Campbell made a little speech.
“Sweet, lovely girls,” she said, “do you know how very dear you are to me? We have been through so much together, through so many, dangers which we will forget, and pleasures which we shall always remember; up hill and down dale—across mountains—”
“And prairies,” suggested Nancy.
“Yes, across these interminable prairies, that I feel, now that we are coming to the end of it all, how lonesome I am going to be without you. I hope you will all marry, my dears. There is no one in the world so lonely as a spinster—”
Evelyn’s face flushed. The subject of marriage was a painful one to her, because, although she had written twice to Daniel, not one word had she received from him since she left Salt Lake City. And deep in her heart, she was wholly and utterly miserable. No one but Billie noticed the tears that glistened in her eyes, and under the table, the two girls clasped hands for a moment.
“—a spinster past middle age,” went on Miss Campbell, looking so charming and appealing that the girls were obliged to rush from their seats and embrace her.