Penny of Top Hill Trail

On an afternoon in early spring a man lounged against the wall of the station waiting for the express from the east. Slender of waist and hip, stalwart of shoulder, some seventy...

over her eyes like the girls in movies wear. I'd passed a corner on the way to the boat where they sold flowers. There were some violets that looked like her. I bought a big bun...

A soft, plaintive note in the voice made Kurt Walters turn the brake of an old, rickety automobile and halt in the dust-white road, as he cast a sharply scrutinizing glance upon...

When the first faint edges of light outlined the coming day, she sat bolt upright and stared about her. As far as eye could see was the tortuous trail leading up sculptured hill...

As on the day previous, Pen awoke at an early hour. She lay quiet for a moment, sensing to the full the deliciousness of being cosily submerged in soft, warm coverings that prot...

The two fiddlers were tuning their instruments when the party from the house entered the rosy-lighted mess-hall. Jo started forward with an air of assurance to claim Pen. When h...

"Come down under cover of one of the hills," she urged, "and I will show you what my part in the day's work will be. Special exhibition. Admittance free, but no other spectators...

The next day Francis carried out his cherished intention of being a "bit bad," and in violation of orders, surreptitiously mounted a "real horse" instead of his well-behaved lit...

Pen smiled as she took up the little stiff nosegay. She held it lightly for a moment, looking down at the blossoms. There was a mute appeal in the little messengers from the boy...

Pen found the ranch-house quite deserted the next morning. Kurt had gone to Wolf Creek to purchase cattle and would not return until night. A little scrawled note from Francis a...

"Yes;" he said, a note of exultation sounding in his voice with the knowledge that his last stand of resistance to long-held theories was giving away before some new force, powe...

"Bobbie gave us a nickel apiece not to disturb you," she began glibly. "She said you had a headache last night. And father's come home and brought a man with him. And mother's c...

"Speaking of diamond rings," said Hebler, as they all rose from the table, "reminds me that I very carelessly left mine on a table yesterday and I forgot to put it away, or to e...

"DEAR JO: Leaving Top Hill forever by the Excelsior Route. Had to. Never go back on Little Marta. Will see you somewhere, sometime. At four this afternoon, come to Westcott's re...

Down the road from the corral, Kurt chugged homeward in his crude little car. He had the manner of one whose heart is heavy, but whose resolution was still invincible.

In the little valley by Westcott's, Pen stood waiting and staring upward. At last she heard the sharp sound of an engine and saw the plane describing a sweeping circle. It came...

To the delight of his young passengers Kurt drove at a speed never before attempted when they were with him. At the hotel there was a rallying reunion of the Top Hill family.

"I was such a fool," he replied bitterly. "I should have known that you were not what you pretended you were. You must believe me when I tell you that I loved you from that firs...