Then Eleanor turned
and looked curiously at her companion.
"Does your father own all of this great estate free and clear?" asked
she.
"Free and clear! What do you mean--that he cleared it of timber and
freed it of sage-brush?"
Eleanor laughed heartily. "Mercy no! I never thought of that. I meant a
mortgage, you know."
"I don't know what a mortgage is. But father never had to clear the
place much as it was always rich free soil without brush."
Eleanor glanced quizzically at Polly. "Humph! My father knows what a
mortgage is, poor man! Mother made him do it to get her a French car
this spring. If your father was my father and owned all this vast place
free and clear, my mother would mortgage it in a jiffy if she married
him!"
"Well, she didn't!" came decidedly from Polly, with a grateful sigh of
relief.
Eleanor laughed in appreciation. "Say, Polly, my father would like you
down to the ground!"
Polly made no reply and Eleanor looked about her again. "Polly, how
does it feel to own such wonderful things as you just showed us? And
such a great farm as you have?"
"I never thought of it. In fact, I don't believe any of us remember who
owns them. Everybody is welcome to help themselves to these cliffs and
the jewels at Rainbow Cliffs."
"How much do you s'pose your father is worth?" now asked Eleanor,
showing a trace of Mrs. Maynard's teachings.
"I never asked him. We never thought of his being worth more than we
might need.
Pages:
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105