"We aren't hungry enough yet," said Betty, as she turned her horse to continue down the trail.
They rode on, following the trail as it wound deeper and deeper into the woodland, catching glimpses now and then of the mining camp down in the hollow.
It seemed as if they were really getting closer to Gold Run and, fascinated by the new game they were playing, forgetting their fears in the new sights and sounds all about them, the girls rode farther and farther into the heart of a forest, whose smiling face often served to hide some hideous danger.
But to the girls all was beauty and sunshine and they conversed merrily as they cantered along.
"When is Allen coming, Betty?" asked Grace. "I had an idea he would be here before this."
"Why, dad has written, asking him to come as soon as he can," answered Betty, striving to look unconscious. "You know what that girl Lizzie said about mother's relatives—she never knew she had them till she came here—and dad thinks some of these people may make up their minds to contest the will. They haven't made trouble yet—but you never can tell. Listen, girls," she added suddenly. "Will you promise not to breathe a word of it if I tell you a big secret?"
"Hope to die," they chorused piously.
"Well, our old friend Peter Levine has been around pestering mother again."
At this news, Grace, who was riding ahead, checked her mount so suddenly that Betty had all she could do to keep Nigger from swallowing Nabob's tail.
"For goodness' sake, put out your hand when you do that next time," laughed Betty.