Then one afternoon Mrs. Allan had come with John Westley, and her mother, to her disgust, had sent her down to the Notch with a message for old Mrs. Teed that had not seemed a _bit_ important. After her return John Westley had invited her to take him and Bigboy and Pepperpot to the Witches' Glade because, he said, he "had something to tell her!"
It was a glorious afternoon. August was painting with her vivid coloring the mountain slopes and valleys; over everything was a soft glow. It was reflected on Jerry's eager face.
John Westley pointed down into the valley where Jerry's "shining" road ran off out of sight. They could see an automobile, like a speck, moving swiftly along it.
"Your road, down there, goes off the other side of the mountain and on and on and after a very long way--takes me back home. I'm going on Thursday."
Jerry turned a disappointed face. Each day of John Westley's two weeks near Miller's Notch had brought immeasurable pleasure and excitement into her life.
"Mrs. Allan is going to drive back with me--she lived in my town, you know. She hasn't been home for months and I shall enjoy her company."
Jerry was staring at the distant road. After awhile the specks that were automobiles and that she liked to watch would become fewer and fewer; the days would grow colder, school would begin, the snow would come and choke the trails and she and Sweetheart and Little-Dad would be shut in at Sunnyside for weeks and weeks. Her face clouded.
"And now listen very carefully, Jerry, and hold on to my arm so that you won't fall off from the mountain! _You_ are going with us!"
Jerry _did_ hold on to his arm with a grip that hurt. She stared, with round, wondering eyes.
He laughed at her unbelief. "Your wish is coming true! You're going to ride along that road yonder, in my automobile, which ought to get here to-morrow, straight around to the other side of the mountain, and on and on--then you're going to stay all winter with my own nieces and go to school with them----"
"Oh, it _can't_--be--true! Mother'd _never_ let me."
"It _is_ true! Mothers are always willing to do the things that are going to be best for their girls. Mrs. Allan and I have persuaded her----"
But Jerry, with a "whoop," was racing down the trail, Bigboy and Pepperpot at her heels. She vaulted the little gate leading into the garden and swept like a small whirlwind upon her mother, sitting in the willow rocker on the porch. With a violent hug she tried to express the madness of her joy and so completely was her face hidden on her mother's shoulder that she did not see the quick tears that blinded her mother's eyes.