"What does father say to this, mother?" asked Polly.
"He says that, as the ranch is legally mine, he has no vote in the matter."
"Oh nonsense! Even if he did deed Pebbly Pit to you for a wedding gift, you always do everything to please him," declared John.
"Yes, but he refuses to say what he thinks is best in this matter," added Mrs. Brewster.
"Well, seeing that so much hinges on his willingness to coöperate with us," announced John, impatiently, "I am going to say exactly what I have felt to be the real cause of his disapproval of turning the Cliffs into money."
Mrs. Brewster glanced anxiously from the window to see if her husband could hear what was said, but Sam Brewster had evidently wandered away from the porch as he was not to be seen.
"Father told Tom and me, while on Top Notch, that he really had no personal objections to having the stones mined from Rainbow Cliffs, but all unsightly machinery and the riff-raff of miners that would be necessary in such work, must be kept out of sight of the house. He explained that most of the working ends of the project could be stationed back of the cliffs down in the Devil's Causeway, and the road that would have to run to Bear Forks trail for the conveyance of the stone, could be cut through in back of the 'Guards' and 'The Imps' of the cliffs.
"He then said that there was but one condition he exacted from any one who was interested in the plan, and that was that no undue influence would be brought to bear upon Polly to increase her desire to leave home for a higher education. His consent will be willingly given, and he will aid us in every way to a successful issue if Polly agrees to remain at home and give up her plan to go away to school."
As this unexpected ultimatum was given, every one gasped, and Polly cried: "Oh, no! Father didn't say that, did he?"
John remained silent, and Polly began to cry pathetically, as her chief delight in having found Choko's Find, was the fact that she would have enough money of her own to not only go to High School, but also to go through one of the large women's colleges. Even if her father refused to finance such an educational ideal, she would have had her own income to draw upon.