"But," he continued, quite seriously, "this is a larger load of freight and baggage than usual. There's going to be a party up at Julian to-night, and there's a good many extras.
"If you'll step in now, ladies," he went on, turning politely to Aunt Mary and Nellie, "you can have your choice of seats. The lady can set in the back with the hull seat to herself, and she won't have to sit Turk fashion, neither. The little gal can do the same, and when you put a robe at your back--plenty of 'em here--you'll be like you was reclinin' on a couch. Otherwise, I don't deny that if you sit up straight you'll have your knees at your chin, for there won't be no other place to put 'em, with the boxes and bags on the floor. The little feller can set with me in front."
Walter sprang into the place allotted him.
"Hello!" he exclaimed. "_Our_ legs are not going to be cramped. You've got all the baggage under the other seats behind there."
"That's the way it's got to be," said the driver gravely. "Got to have my legs free to steer the ship. Holdin' them mules ain't always a joke."
"Oh, are they dangerous?" queried Aunt Mary in alarm, in the act of gathering her skirts about her to enter the vehicle. Nellie was already seated sidewise on her perch.
"Not a bit dangerous, ma'am," rejoined the driver. "Never been an accident on this here line. But there could be, and there might be without keerful drivers--we have 'em on this route----"
"And couldn't you, don't you think, dust off the seats?" asked Aunt Mary, still hesitating, her skirts in her hands.
The boy here burst into a fit of uncontrollable mirth. "It's plain to be seen this here's your first trip to the mountains, ma'am. Why, what would be the use? Before we get to Witch Creek we'll be fairly eatin' dust."
With a solemn shake of the head, but making no further remarks, Aunt Mary now took her place. Giving her and Nellie each a heavy woolen blanket to serve as cushions for their backs, the driver also prepared to envelop them in linen robes, to preserve them as much as possible from the dust they were to "eat" before nightfall.
"Oh, I can't have that thing around me," said Nellie, tossing it aside. "I want to be able to move about. I'm not afraid of the dust."
