It was ten o'clock before they went back to the house. Wing had performed a miracle in the meantime; the boy's suits were not only dried, but neatly pressed.
Mrs. Morton let them all sleep late the next morning in view of the long journey ahead for Ernest and the girls.
Poor Sherm found this last day trying. His father's health was not improving and a fear lay close in his heart that he should never see him again. It was almost more than he could bear to hear the girls talk about going home. He eased the ache by keeping at work. Dr. Morton had already initiated him into Ernest's duties. The others were too busy to think much about Sherm but Chicken Little, who sat beside him at the table, noticed that he scarcely tasted his dinner. She started to remark about it, but a glance at Sherm's drawn face warned her in time.
Presently, she had a gracious thought. "Sherm, let's ride Caliph and Calico in to the train, then the others won't be so crowded and Marian and Jilly can go, too."
Sherm somehow felt better immediately. The brisk gallop they took at starting helped still more. Sunflowers and golden rod lined the roadside for miles; brown cat tails nodded above the swales. A bobolink, swaying on a weed stalk near by, answered Sherm's chirrup to the ponies with a volley of golden notes.
"Chicken Little," he remarked, apropos of nothing, after they had ridden a few miles, "you are a mighty comfortable person to have 'round."
"Maybe you won't think so in a day or two. I shall be so lonesome I may be tempted to follow you about like Huz and Buz."
"You can't scare me that way, Chicken Little, I think the ranch is going to be a pretty loose fit for all of us for a few days. But your school begins about the middle of September, doesn't it? That will help."
"Yes, I wish you were going to school, too. Say, Sherm, why couldn't you arrange to take one or two special studies under the new teacher? They say he only lacks one year of graduating from college and knows a lot. He's teaching to save the money for his last year. Perhaps you might take some of your freshman work."
"I wish I could--I hate to get behind the rest of the boys. But your father is hiring me to work, not to study."
"I know, but when winter comes you won't need to work all the time, and you'll have all your evenings--Jim Bart does."