“Of the pirate’s shirt,” finished Tavia. “Such a mustache! He looked deliciously villainous.”
“Another conquest?” grunted Nat, who never liked to see any fellow “tagging about after Tavia,” as he expressed it, unless it was a gallant of his own choosing.
“He followed Dorothy—and spoke to her,” declared Tavia, with effrontery. “And she spoke to him.”
“Soft pedal! soft pedal, there, Tavia!” urged Ned, who had overheard. “We know Dorothy.”
“And we know you,” added his brother. “You’ll have to unwind a better string than that, Tavia. There’s a ‘knot’ in it—Dorothy did not.”
“Ask her!” snapped Tavia, quite offended, and marched away toward the house.
Dorothy at that moment appeared on the side porch. “Come in, boys, do,” she urged. “It’s ten o’clock and everybody else is in the library. Your mother is all ready to unveil the Great Surprise.”
CHAPTER II
“HOORAY FOR THE WILD WEST!”
The family gathered in the library. Major Dale, Dorothy’s father, sat forward in his armchair, leaning his crossed hands and chin upon his cane. Joe and Roger, Dorothy’s brothers, fidgetted side by side upon the leather couch.