human
That was a bad case, as one of the sheriff's men had been dangerously wounded and it was feared he would die. All our valuable machinery was ruined and all orders for the delivery of the lava jewels had to be cancelled, or postponed for a year. So the culprits each got twenty years and Oak Creek is quieter, by far, because more than a score of its worst citizens are safely housed in jail.
gpt
Oh, Tom! I never dreamed of all the trouble everyone would have because of those precious mines, the day Nolla and I filed our papers at Oak Creek,
human
No one does dream of these things--they only see the future in rosy hues,
gpt
And to think of the work and worry John and you have had in establishing this great undertaking, while I was in Europe taking life easy, and spending money without a thought of how it was being produced at home!
human
That is as it should be, Polly. You were not squandering the money, but using it in ways to profit yourself for the future. John and I knew, when we started in on this mining venture, that the line would not lay in flower-strewn paths, but that it might force us over all sorts of snags, before we reached success.
gpt
Well, it is fine of you to talk like this, Tom, admitted Polly, gratefully.
human
If it were not for you boys taking an interest in the work, I might as well say 'good-by' to the gold.
gpt
Polly, this is so insignificant a work to do for you--just taking an interest in your mine. Some day I hope to prove in some greater way, just what I want to, and can, do for you.
human
Tom, do you like the home in Pebbly Pit? Isn't it different from living in the city, in these apartments?
gpt
Yes, it is fine, Polly. It is a real home--with your blessed mother at the ranch-house. I have lived in adobe huts in Arizona, and out on sand wastes in New Mexico, you know, so that Pebbly Pit is great, in comparison.
human
Mother told me how good it was to have Anne and you with her all summer, while I was abroad, said Polly, after a short interval of silence.
gpt
I feel that it was not so heartless of me to enjoy myself in Europe as I did, so long as mother and father were not lonely and homesick for me.
human
But your mother often said to me, that were it not for Anne's being with her, she would have cabled you to come home. She had looked forward so anxiously to your spending this vacation at Pebbly Pit,
gpt
My! Then I was more fortunate than I dreamed of, laughed Polly.
human
I should have hated to leave Eleanor in Europe, with such a wonderful tour before us, and come back home without having done the whole trip.