Leaving the main road, the little men struck into another, which went first up a bare brown hill and then down again. The second hill was green with a crop of the ever-present beans. Finally they climbed to the top of a mesa and brought Sally to a resting place before a clump of dusty, gray-green pepper trees. On their left was a hedge of untrimmed shrubs and in front an open court. Beyond stood an old Spanish ranch house. After whispering together, one of the little men rang a bell, which hung on a stand outside this court. A few moments later a Japanese servant appeared and the three men spoke to one another in Japanese. Then the servant turned away. It was all very unusual and puzzling. Before Sally and Gerry could be overwhelmed by uneasiness, to their relief they observed an older man and two young men approaching. They were obviously gentlemen, and one of them Gerry thought the most attractive fellow she had ever seen in her life. Yet he did not look like an American, but what her imagination had pictured as a Spaniard. He must have been about twenty-two or three and possessed unusually dark hair and eyes and skin. When Gerry had explained their difficulty and apologized for their intrusion, their host led the way through the outer court into the enclosed one. Their Host Led the Way Through the Outer Court into the Enclosed One Their Host Led the Way Through the Outer Court into the Enclosed One Sally continued to be borne aloft like a foreign princess upon the shoulders of her faithful Caryatids. The inside court was a miniature fairyland. Like all really old Spanish ranch houses, this house was built in the form of a square with the garden in the center. It was of one story with the veranda also on the inside and running the entire length of the house. In days long past this veranda would have been filled with people, for when the Spanish ranch houses were the center of California's social life all the play and work of the Spanish families, their friends and servants took place outdoors. Now the two Camp Fire girls saw no one save their hosts and the one man servant; there was no faintest suggestion of the presence of a woman.
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