Mrs. Alexander seemed mollified at this, and subsided with a fixed smile upon her lips. A smile that seemed to say sorrowfully: “I’ll be pleasant no matter what you do or say to me, since I am a martyr, anyway.”
The young people soon forgot Algy, and Mrs. Alexander exerted herself to be agreeable to Jack, hence the trip proved to be very enjoyable to all.
The week passed quickly with so much sightseeing, and the genial company that agreed pleasantly upon every suggestion Jack made for them. Then Mr. Dalken and Mr. Alexander concluded their conferences at Gallup, and, in company with Mr. Fuzzier, informed Jack that they were ready to leave. Jack then arranged with a man who owned several fine cars to drive the entire party to Adamana, which was the nearest stop to the Painted Desert, just north of the town, and the Petrified Forest to the south of it. It had been decided to visit the Painted Desert first, and then drive through the Petrified Forest the next day, and come out near Holbrook, where the entire party could spend the night. In the morning the three business men would continue to Ash Fork where they were to remain for a week, to consult privately with several prominent men. The party under Jack’s supervision would motor to the Hopi Indian Reservation, where the wonderful Keams Canyon and the remarkable Hopi Mesas were to be found. Going southerly from Polacca, he wished his friends to visit the Giant’s Chain, and then follow the autoroad from Oraibi to the Painted Desert of the Little Colorado. Thence he would turn off this road and follow the one which led to Canyon Diablo. Here they would stop long enough to see all the points of interest, and then motor on to Flagstaff.
This route was followed, and a week later the two cars ran into Flagstaff. The passengers and their luggage were soon waiting in the hotel while Jack paid off the drivers of the automobiles and sent them back to Gallup. To the delight of the three girls, Mr. Dalken and his two companions met them as they entered the hotel. This meant that Dalky would be with them when they visited the Cliff Dwellings just south of Cliffs, a wonder-spot which they had seen in the distance when motoring past.
Soon after the party had gone to their individual rooms to brush away the dust and dirt of touring in a wind which carried the desert dust upon its wings, Jack’s room-telephone rang. He answered it at once, and heard his guardian’s voice.
“Jacky, old boy, what do you plan to do the rest of the day?”
“I paid off the chauffeurs and sent them back to Gallup, because I learned how much cheaper are the cars in Flagstaff. But I have not hired any; I wanted to hear from you first,” returned Jack.
“Can you come down—or shall I come up?” asked Mr. Dalken.
“I’ll run down—I was about to leave my room, anyway,” said Jack; then he hung up the receiver and left the room.
A few minutes later he met Mr. Dalken, and sat down beside him to plan for the week.