Varley entered the names of the party in the book—he had to ask Step and Poke’s initials, but he wrote “Samuel Parker” without hesitation. Then he stepped back, smiling cheerily.
“We’ll freshen up a bit, and then go right in,” said he.
Both Sam and Step had been studying the lobby and the people, but Poke was staring, in a sort of fascination, at a tall vase at an end of the desk. It was slender and graceful of line, and was made of a prismatic glass, which caught the light and reflected it in many-hued brilliance.
“Golly! Look at the sparkle!” he exclaimed.
“That’s our mascot—our luck piece,” the clerk explained. “Odd thing, isn’t it? You’re quite right about the sparkle—regular rainbow effect, in fact. That’s why it fits the Rainbow Mountain House, you see.”
Poke wagged his head in his solemn fashion. “I do see it. And it is—er—er—it is mighty—er—er—appropriate.”
But Varley was tugging at his sleeve. “Oh, come along! A plate with a lot on it would look still more appropriate.”
Poke yielded to the pull. “There’s room for more than one good thing in the world at a time,” he remarked philosophically. “I’ll be glad enough to eat, but that—that sparkler—say, somehow it takes my fancy a lot.”
“Well, you can sit down after lunch and admire it,” Varley reminded him. “Just now your first duty to yourself is to play an engagement in the dining-room.”
The Rainbow Mountain House was a very comfortable, well-managed hotel, whose landlord had a theory that people liked good things to eat. His winter guests especially were likely to be blessed with vigorous appetites, and he took especial pains not to disappoint them. So, while the midday meal was known as luncheon, it was, in fact, a substantial repast, daintily served in the big, sunny dining-room. Sam’s first glimpse of the bill of fare made him glance swiftly, and suspiciously, at Varley. A little lunch, forsooth! Why, this was a dinner of half a dozen courses. But Varley met the glance blandly and with no recognition, apparently, of the fact that it was suspicious. He was entirely at his ease in presiding over the table to which the boys had been conducted; and what was more, he put his guests at their ease.