were "primed" (as Laura said) with goodies and cocoa, and sent
away; the older girls, dropping in one by one, were huddled on
beds, chairs, the couch, and even sat Turk-fashion on the floor,
gradually filling the room. The crowd included all those girls who
had gone to Adminster two Saturdays previous.

Nan had kept Rhoda so busy helping behind the tea table that the
Western girl did not realize at once how the character of the party
had changed. And shrewd Nan had got Rhoda to talking, too.

A query or two about Rose Ranch, something about the Navaho blanket
Nan and her chum had bought for their couch--before she knew it the
girl from the West was eagerly describing her home, and telling
more in ten minutes about her life before she had come to Lakeview
Hall than she had related to anybody in all the weeks she had been
here.

"Rose Ranch must be a great place," sighed Bess longingly.

"A beautiful country?" suggested Amelia.

"Magnificent views all around us," Rhoda agreed softly. "A range of
hills to the southeast that we call the Blue Buttes. Many mesas on
their tops, you know, on which the ancient Indian peoples used to
till their gardens. There was a city of Cliff Dwellers not fifty
miles from our house."

"Sounds awf'ly interesting," declared Laura.

"And winding through the Blue Buttes is the old Spanish Trail. Up