“Say, Sis, don’t you want to stay home and help me herd to-morrow? The girls wouldn’t mind this once.”
“Oh, I’d love it. We just haven’t had a good talk for ages–but I don’t know what Mother’ll say.”
“I’ll fix Mother,” he answered confidently.
Later, he whispered: “It’s all O. K.”
“Gee, I guess Mother’d give you the moon if she 247could, she feels so bad about having you go so far away.”
“Poor Mother, it’s mighty rough on her out here on the ranch. Say, Sis, I don’t mind if you want to wear some of my old truck to-day–we’ll just be down in the field and your riding skirt will be a nuisance in among the cattle.”
This was a mighty concession for Ernest, who had a considerable share of his mother’s respect for the conventions. Chicken Little appreciated it.
She reached up and gave him a big hug.
“It’s going to be awful hard to have you go, Ernest.”
Ernest didn’t say anything in reply, but he squeezed his young sister tight, as if he were realizing himself that he was about to miss something precious from his life.