Peggy with a roguish twinkle in her eyes. “I told you we wouldn’t be here three days before she’d find a mystery, and here it’s hardly been that many hours.”

“Then, when we were at the cave,” Jo Ann went on, unruffled by Peggy’s teasing, “the boys came in, and I got a good look at that one’s eyes, and they were blue—a deep, deep blue—bluer than yours, Florence.”

“Well, what’s your solution?” grinned Peggy. “Has your blue-eyed boy been kidnaped, or is he a prince in disguise?”

“I’ll tell you later. Give me a little time, and I’ll find out. Florence and I are going down to the cave tomorrow to carry some food to those children—there were several thin, dirty, half-starved little ones there. Come along, Peg, and if that boy is there, you can see for yourself that his eyes are blue. I hope he is—I want to prove to you and Florence that I’m not color blind.”

“I’m ’most as hungry as those children looked,” put in Florence. “Let’s get supper.”

Jo Ann sprang up. “I’m a swell fire-builder. I’ll build the fire this minute—in the outdoor fireplace.”

“No, you won’t. I’ve beat you to it,” laughed Peggy.

As they went through the house, Jo Ann noticed that a gay red-and-white checked cloth had been spread on the table and places set for four. “You have been busy, haven’t you?” she said motioning toward the table.

“Sure. Mrs. Blackwell told me what to do with things, and I’ve straightened up the kitchen and put some rice on to cook for supper.”

Just as they reached the kitchen door, Florence came up and slipped her arm around Peggy affectionately, “Peg, you’re a grand person to have around; Jo’s been dreading straightening this kitchen all the way home.” She smiled over at Jo Ann, then went on to the kitchen and took several articles out of a box near the door. “Here, Jo, if you’ll fry the bacon and scramble some eggs, I’ll make some real Mexican chocolate; then if you’ll open this jar of preserves, Peg, we’ll have supper ready in a jiffy.”

“Even that won’t be soon enough to suit me,” laughed Jo Ann. “That climb up the mountain and this invigorating air have made me hungry as a bear.”

In a very short time supper was ready, and as Jo Ann placed the platter of bacon and eggs on the table, she called over to Peggy, “Catch hold of the other end of this table and let’s carry it outside. That sunset’s just too gorgeous to miss, and then Mrs. Blackwell won’t have to walk so far, either.”

Carefully Peggy and Jo Ann carried the table out in front of the house and set it down near Mrs. Blackwell’s cot; then Florence brought a chair and placed it at the head of the table.

“The banquet is served, Your Majesty.” She turned to help her mother into the chair.

“No banquet hall was ever as beautiful as this.” Jo Ann waved her hand toward the deep purple valley, the gold-tipped mountain peaks, and the rainbow-hued canopy overhead. “And listen—the music of the little mountain folk singing their farewells to the sun!”

“You surely have a good, imagination, Jo,” commented Peggy, laughing. “It is perfectly grand, but all I can hear is the croaking of bullfrogs.”

“Your appreciation of the beauties of nature seems to be sadly lacking.” She smiled condescendingly at Peggy, then turned to Mrs. Blackwell. “I don’t wonder that the doctor at the sanitarium, and your husband, too, ordered you up here to recuperate after your long illness. You couldn’t help but get well here.”

Mrs. Blackwell nodded assent. “Yes, this is a wonderful place to rest. I really begin to feel stronger already—and with three such thoughtful girls to look after me I’m sure I shall be as well as ever in a few weeks.”

“I’m so glad you’re here with us and not ’way off there at that sanitarium,” said Florence, reaching over to squeeze her mother’s hand. “We’re going to take such good care of you that you’ll just have to get well.”

Tired out from the busy, strenuous day, they lingered long over their supper, watching the ever changing colors of the slow tropical sunset. Carmine melted into rose, amber, violet, finally fading away into a soft tender green. Deep purple shadows settled over the mountains as the colors faded, and a slender crescent of a moon peeped down at them from a star-flecked sky.

Suddenly the spell was broken as Florence jumped to her feet. “Gracious! I forgot all about fixing that box down at the spring to keep our milk and butter in. Does anyone know where my flashlight is?”

“Yes, I put it on the dressing table right beside your cot. I’ll get it.” Peggy jumped up and ran inside the house. A moment later she returned with the flashlight and handed it to Florence.

“I’ll go with you and fix the box if you’ll tell me what to do,” offered Jo Ann.

“First we’d better light some candles so we can see what we’re doing,” Florence said as the three of them went into the kitchen. She dived down into the box and brought out two tallow candles and handed them to Jo Ann. “When you get those lit, Peg and I’ll put the milk and butter in jars.”

“What’ll I do with them now I’ve got them lit, Florence—hold them?” grinned Jo Ann a moment later, holding a lighted candle in each hand.

“Stick them on these lids and put them on the table. Here’s the box I’d planned to use. We’ll put the things in it and then carry it down to the spring.”

“The spring! Do you mean that spring where we saw the two boys—my blue-eyed boy?” Jo Ann asked.

“Of course not, silly. I mean the spring back of the house where we get our drinking water. There’re springs all over these mountains.”

They placed the things in the box, then, with Florence leading the way with the flashlight, they carried it to the near-by spring.

After they had moved several stones aside, they placed the jars of milk and butter in the icy water, placed the package of bacon on top of the jars and then turned the box over all.

“Pile some stones around the box and put this big one on top, and then our refrigerator’ll be fixed,” Florence said.

As soon as they returned to the house and had washed the dishes, they began getting ready for bed.

“I didn’t realize how tired I was till now. I won’t need any rocking tonight, I’m sure,” Jo Ann said as she crawled under the blankets.

Her thoughts drifted back to the blue-eyed boy. Who was he, and why was he with those peons? There must be some mystery back of it all. Could it be possible that he had been kidnaped as Peggy had jokingly suggested? “I’m going down there early tomorrow morning and find out more about it,” she told herself before dropping off to sleep.

CHAPTER III
AN UNWELCOME VISITOR

When Jo Ann opened her eyes the next morning, the sun was already shining through the open doorway. She lay still a moment and tried to think why she had wanted to get up early. What had she planned to do? Then it all came back to her. She was going down to the cave to find out more about the blue-eyed boy.

She threw back the covers and sprang up quickly, but the next moment she dropped back with a stifled groan.

“What’s the matter, Jo?” whispered Peggy. “You’re not stiff or sore, are you?”

“Oh no—of course not! I just groaned for the fun of it.”