Now, when the maid announced the black-mustached man, and the boys departed by another door, Tavia drew Dorothy into the embrasure of a curtained window, whispering:
“Let’s wait. I’m crazy to know what has brought such a brigandish looking fellow here.”
“But it is not nice to listen,” objected Dorothy.
“But your aunt doesn’t mind.”
Mrs. White smiled at the two girls as she saw them pop behind the draperies. There was nothing private about the proposed interview.
The Major sat back in his chair while Aunt Winnie arose to meet the stranger as the maid ushered him into the library.
CHAPTER III
THE “TWO-FACED” MAN
The boys were discussing the extent of Colonel Hardin’s great estate when Dorothy and Tavia joined them at the garage an hour later. The possibilities of the vast cattle pastures and game preserves, walled in by the natural boundary of the higher Rockies, appealed strongly to Ned and Nat, and even to Dorothy’s younger brothers.
“And it was all begun by Colonel Hardin taking advantage of the Homestead Law when he came out of the army. Too bad your father didn’t do that, Dorothy,” said Ned.