“O Kyzie, aren’t you glad you live in California?  How sweet the air is, and how high the mountains look all around!  When we were East last summer didn’t you pity the people?  Only think, they never saw any lemons and oranges growing!  They don’t know much about roses either; they only have roses once a year.”

“That’s true,” replied Kyzie.  “Let me button your gloves, Edy, you’ll be dropping them off.”

“See those butterflies!  I’d be happy if Bab was only in here,” murmured a little voice from under Lucy’s hat.  “Bab didn’t want to come with her papa and mamma; she wanted to come with me!”

“Now, Lucy, don’t be foolish,” said Edith.  “Where could we have put Bab?  There’s not room enough in this coach, unless one of the rest of us had got out.  You’ll see Bab to-morrow, and she’ll be in Castle Cliff all summer; so you needn’t complain.”

“I wasn’t complaining, no indeed!  Only I don’t want to go down in the gold mine till Bab comes.  I s’pose they’ll put us down in a bucket, won’t they?  I want Uncle James to go with us.”

Jimmy-boy laughed and threw himself about in quite a gale.  He often found his little sister very amusing.

“Excuse me, Lucy,” said he; “but I do think you’re very ignorant!  That mine up there is all played out, and Uncle James has told us so ever so many times.  Didn’t you hear him?  The shaft is more than half full of muddy water.  I’d like to see you going down in a bucket!”

“Well, then, Jimmy Dunlee, what shall we do at Castle Cliff?”

“We’ve brought a tent with us, and for one thing I’m going to camp out,” replied Jimmy.  “That’s a grand thing, they say.”

“Don’t!  There’ll be something come and eat you up, sure as you live,” said Lucy, who had a vague notion that camping out was connected in some way with wild animals, such as coyotes and mountain lions.

“Poh! you don’t know the least thing about Castle Cliff, Lucy!  And Uncle James has talked and talked!  Tell me what he said, now do.”

Uncle James was seated nearly opposite, for the two long seats of the tallyho faced each other.  Lucy spoke in a low tone, not wishing him to overhear.

“He said we were going to board at a big house pretty near the old mine.”

“Yes, Mr. Templeton’s.”

“And he said somebody had a white Spanish rabbit with reddish brown eyes and its mouth all a-quiver.”

“Yes, I heard him say that about the rabbit.  And what are those things that come and walk on top of the house in the morning?”

“I know.  They are woodpeckers.  They tap on the roof, and the noise sounds like ‘Jacob, Jacob, wake up, Jacob!’ Uncle James says when strangers hear it they think somebody is calling, and they say, ’Oh, yes, we’re coming!’ I shan’t say that; I shall know it’s woodpeckers.  Tell some more, Jimmy.”

“Yes” said Eddo, leaving Maggie and wedging himself between Lucy and Jimmy.  “Tell some more, Jimmum!”