Margaret Vandercook

“ Jeanette shook her head.
"No, the arrow is no more mine than yours or Via's or Eda's. I simply chanced to be nearest the side of the water where it fell."
"Well, I have something to suggest," Via remarked dreamily. "Suppose we take the arrow home and keep it always. When the day comes that one of us does something braver or better than the other, she is to possess the silver arrow until another earns it in the same fashion—or until some one claims it."
"A beautiful suggestion, Via! But come, we must leave this enchanted lake. At least we should manage to arrive at home by bedtime." ”

“ At present in Jeanette's eyes Margery was perfection. Never before had she a girl friend for whom she cherished any deep admiration, or more than an everyday affection. She and Martha Putnam and a half dozen other girls in the neighborhood had grown up together, played, quarreled and made friends. They were without illusions concerning one another and without any sense of the delightful mystery that awaits the forming of new friendships. Until of late her own sisters had occupied a more important part in her daily life. ”

“ Lina laughed.
"Jeanette talks as if I casually picked up a book and there ran across a legend of a 'Silver Arrow.' The truth is I searched diligently for days. Whether or not it is true we cannot be certain, but the arrow we discovered seems to be an ancient one, which makes it more than ever a mystery."
"Well, do go on with your story, Lina; we are most impatient to hear," Martha Putnam, one of Lina's girl friends, expostulated. ”

“ I must either say that, or Jack, and Jack is hardly a respectful title for one's stepmother, whatever one's inward feeling."
Jeanette Colter attempted to speak lightly, yet there was in her voice and manner an intensity of feeling that suggested shoals ahead.
"You have no right to frighten or prejudice the younger girls, whatever you may feel yourself," Lina whispered in an undertone. "I wish I disagreed with you more completely, then I would have more influence. In my heart of hearts I feel almost as uncomfortable as you do," Lina added. ”

“ Her father smiled.
"You may be right, Jeanette. I have always wished you girls to learn to make your own living. Later I shall do what I can to help. What you must see, dear, is that at present it is impossible. Not only is the ranch failing to pay, but the stocks in which I have placed nearly all my savings are yielding almost nothing.
"You are young, Jeanette, yet I am going to tell you something else. I have not told any one as much as I am telling you, not even your stepmother. She knows I have been troubled about business matters, but she does not know how seriously. ”

“ Previously having screwed up her bright, short chestnut hair into a tight little knot, Jeanette now puckered her brows and lips.
"You are a goose, Lina! Why talk as if the riding contest for women and girls would lie between the new Mrs. Colter and me? You and father are mistaken. There are other riders in the neighborhood more skillful than either of us. I simply want to be allowed to see what I can do. However, I may be ruled out as being too young." Jeanette yawned. "If this occurs I shall not care particularly; everybody at home has made such a fuss." ”

“ It would not surprise me, Jeanette, if you were chosen president instead of one of the boys. Do you know there was an informal discussion the other day, after you had won the racing contest, to award you the silver arrow. No one of us will succeed in doing anything so thrilling as winning a riding contest. I never dreamed you would win, Jeanette. Really, I never have been so proud of any one! ”

“ The older guests, following their usual custom, were on the big veranda of the front lawn, leaving the younger club members entirely free from their society.
Flinging off the pink muslin hat she had been wearing, Martha Putnam wiped a few drops of perspiration from her face, sighed and then laughed.
"Jeanette Colter," she called across to the other girl, sitting on the ground a few yards away, "I have been thanking the kind fates all afternoon that we did not decide to award the mysterious silver arrow to the member of our club who became the best archer. ”

“ He was a lean, wiry man, with furtive eyes.
"Why, nothing is likely to happen!" exclaimed Jeanette, a little awed by the man's manner.
"You never can tell," he answered. "The motto of Tom Furniss—that's myself—is, 'Expect the worst, and you won't be disappointed.'"
Mrs. Perry frowned.
"I think that is the very stupidest motto in the world," said Jeanette indignantly. "It seems to me that the real man is he who goes through the world expecting the best things; and if the worst things come, he meets them courageously and with the belief that the misfortune is but momentary." ”

“ On the afternoon of the tea, long after the guests had departed, she and Jeanette sat in the window-seat in Jeanette's bedroom looking out over the moonlit fields, engaged in an ardent discussion.
"You are more changed, Jeanette, in a few weeks than I imagined it possible any human being could be," Lina protested. "Personally I see no sufficient reason for such a change. Not that I pretend to be pleased at father's marrying again, but I must say no one could be more agreeable than our new mother." ”

“ If we do not see father and our new and reverend stepmother"—Jeanette made a little grimace—"before bedtime, why, the misfortune is four times more her own than ours! It does seem absurd for father to have married some one so much younger than himself! He was her guardian, as we know, years before his marriage to our own mother. Personally, I don't believe in second marriages." ”

“ Indians were not unusual figures in the neighborhood of the Rainbow Ranch. With a group of visitors to Mrs. Perry Jeanette had paid a visit to one of the nearby Indian reservations only the day before.
What especially interested the two girls at present was that the young Indian carried a bow in one hand. Thrust into the belt about his waist were half a dozen crudely fashioned Indian arrows.
"Are we awake, Via? Is this 'White Heart,' the hero of Lina's legend of the Silver Arrow? It is too impossible to be true!" ”

“ At whatever cost to herself, or her pony, she must win.
The next jump would probably be the supreme test, as beyond lay a stretch of easy riding.
She could only see the graceful, gallant figure in the brown cloth riding suit so like her own. She had no sensation of dislike toward her stepmother at this instant, only the impression that the race was between them.
Once more Jeanette spurred her pony, passing the others again.
She was nearing the final ditch ahead of all the riders. Close behind her was the easy patter of the horse and rider with whom she was most familiar. ”

“ Jeanette glanced toward her stepmother. How undisturbed she appeared, as if the race ahead of them was only the most ordinary amusement, of no greater or less importance than any game played with friends!
A moment Jeanette envied her coolness and then felt a sense of pity. This it must mean to grow old. One felt neither enthusiasm nor excitement. One should not envy such a state of mind or being. ”

“ What she feared and resented was her younger sister's strange faculty for appreciating the atmosphere in which human beings lived. Oftentimes she guessed their thoughts and moods before they were fully conscious of them themselves.
Moreover, life at the big house was certainly more entertaining and worth while at present than staying at home with one's own family or sharing in their amusements.
The day following the one spent with her younger sister in the depth of the ravine, Margery Barret and Jeanette managed to arrange a long-desired ride together, with no one accompanying them. ”

“ I don't know how I am going to be able to arrange it, but I shall not remain at home much longer."
"You are unfair, Jeanette," said Via. "The worst of it is that you really know you are being unfair. This is what has troubled me about you of late, dear. You used to have a greater sense of justice and fair play than any one of us, and Lina and Eda and I always depended upon this characteristic in you more than any other. Since the day of the riding contest——"
"Look, Via, and stop talking. Tell me instead if I am dreaming." ”

“ An instant her father stared at her in surprise.
"Why, certainly not, Jeanette," he answered finally. "You are not only too young, you are not a sufficiently skillful horsewoman. Because you chance to ride better than the other girls you must not have too great an opinion of your own ability. The truth is, dear, you have no idea of the skill necessary for riding with the best horsewomen in the State of Wyoming."
In characteristic fashion a sudden wave of color flooded the girl's cheeks. ”

“ We held another conference and concluded that it was too soon to bestow the silver arrow on any one of us, as the club had never been actually organized and we had no officers. We have always planned to ask several grown persons to assist us when we make the final decision.
"Isn't Mr. Stevens about to announce who has been elected president?"
Jeanette held her hands tightly clasped, her lips shut firmly together.
No such ill fortune could descend upon her as to be chosen president of a club which she herself had suggested should be a test of courage and honor. ”

“ Jeanette dear, because I care so deeply for your stepmother, don't think I am more blind to her faults than to my daughters', I have known her since she was a little girl. You are not unlike her, wilful and difficult oftentimes, but always with a high sense of honor. At first I thought she seemed almost too anxious to make friends with you girls, but of late she has not appeared sufficiently sympathetic with you. ”

“ Lina knows, and knows because I am always asking her advice and help.
"If only you realized how relieved we are to know it is only worry over money matters that has been troubling you of late! The girls and I have been waiting for you to tell us. While you and Jeanette were outdoors we made up our minds that we would not, could not wait much longer. You see, we have something we want to tell. Suppose for the next six months or more we rent the big house and move over to the old lodge, Rainbow Lodge. It is still the home I seem to love best, even if I should not confess it." ”

“ A great experience does change one sometimes, don't you think?
"So you see I not only have no right to the silver arrow, I am afraid I have even lost the right to continue a member of the club. But I hope you will learn to forgive me and permit me to do this."
The girl's voice softened and her lips trembled.
"Some day I may be able to prove I still know how to play fair."
"You have proved this already, Jeanette!" Cecil asserted. "I think your confession braver than helping to rescue the people you care for. I vote that you be awarded the silver arrow of courage." ”

“ The most disagreeable thing about having sisters is that one always is being included with them. No one speaks of what I like or wish, or what Lina likes or Via or Eda. One always talks about 'the girls' in a group, as if we possessed the same tastes and ideas! ”

“ You will find her always just, always frank and fair, unless she feels that she has been tricked or deceived. Then, I grant you, it is harder for her to forgive than other people. These weaknesses are so far from her own nature. I hope no better thing for you, Jeanette, than that you may become more like her as you grow older."
These thoughts had been haunting Jeanette as their motor car was bearing her sisters and herself to the meeting of the Club of the Silver Arrow.
More than ever she was becoming convinced that there was no solution for her save in a boarding school in the East. ”

“ He did not catch the expression in Jeanette's gray-blue eyes, and about her lips.
"You see, dear, your stepmother has a good deal of money of her own and is the most generous person in the world. She has been trying her best ever since our marriage to make me use her income, but this I have utterly declined to do. It is enough that she has married a man so much older than she, so unworthy of her in many ways." ”

“ Give up this idea of the riding contest. I suppose you ride pretty well for a girl, but you will never be in it with Mrs. Colter. Perhaps you expect to be awarded the silver arrow for your courage in making the attempt?"
Jeanette shrugged her shoulders.
"Really, Cecil, I wonder if you realize what a talker you are. You talk more than any girl I ever have known. I suppose that is one of the reasons why I think you are rather effeminate. Forgive me if I go on upstairs at once, as I want to change my riding-habit before lunch." ”

“ As she felt the swing of his feet under her, the wind from the prairies sweeping across her cheeks and the fragrance of the purple clover in her nostrils, the new Mrs. Colter laughed aloud.
Instead of drawing her reins and pulling up, she touched her horse lightly with her whip and sped more swiftly ahead.
At the same instant there was a rushing and a patter of many hoofs across a nearby field.
Their manes flying, graceful and beautiful in the moonlight, their slender noses sniffing with curiosity and pleasure, half a dozen mares followed by their young colts raced close beside the rider. ”

“ I know you will never be the same again. Boarding school, away from your own family and our Western country! You are sure to change."
"And can you think of no possibilities for improvement in one Jeanette Colter, Via?" Cecil inquired. "There are those among us who may even be hopeful that she will alter in one or two characteristics."
"Then speak for yourself alone, Cecil Perry," Via flashed with unexpected fire. "I am perfectly well satisfied with Jeanette as she is. If any one else feels differently it is not your place to mention it." ”