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diff --git a/39063.txt b/39063.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..06150f7 --- /dev/null +++ b/39063.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7064 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Motor Girls in the Mountains, by Margaret Penrose + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Motor Girls in the Mountains + or, The Gypsy Girl's Secret + +Author: Margaret Penrose + +Release Date: March 5, 2012 [EBook #39063] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MOTOR GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS *** + + + + +Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THE MOTOR GIRLS + IN THE MOUNTAINS + + + Or + + The Gypsy Girl's Secret + + BY + Margaret Penrose + + + Copyright, 1919, by + Cupples & Leon Company + + + + + CONTENTS + + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. Breaking the Speed Limit 1 + II. Quick Thinking 12 + III. The Missing Purse 21 + IV. The Sterner Sex 29 + V. A Group of Vagabonds 39 + VI. A Perplexing Problem 47 + VII. The Mountain Camp 54 + VIII. Fun in the Open 64 + IX. The "Water Sprite" 74 + X. Springing a Leak 83 + XI. Cora Makes a Discovery 92 + XII. An Ugly Customer 100 + XIII. A Momentous Step 107 + XIV. In the Wilderness 115 + XV. Consternation 125 + XVI. Help From the Sky 132 + XVII. A Joyful Reunion 142 + XVIII. Good News Travels Fast 150 + XIX. An Uninvited Guest 159 + XX. The Greedy Marauder 170 + XXI. The Drifting Boat 177 + XXII. The Gypsy Camp 183 + XXIII. A Tangled Skein 189 + XXIV. The Knocking at Midnight 195 + XXV. Falsely Accused 202 + XXVI. Council of War 209 + XXVII. A Narrow Escape 216 + XXVIII. Waylaid 223 + XXIX. The Plot 230 + XXX. Brought Together 237 + + + + + THE MOTOR GIRLS + IN THE MOUNTAINS + + + + + CHAPTER I + BREAKING THE SPEED LIMIT + + +"Say, girls, isn't this the best thing ever?" + +Cora Kimball, the girl whose hand was on the wheel of the motor car as it +sped swiftly along a sun-flecked country road, put the words in the form +of a question, but they were really an exclamation drawn from her by +sheer delight in living. She was gloriously indifferent as to an answer, +but the answer came just the same from the two pretty girls who occupied +the seat behind her. + +"It's perfectly grand!" cried Belle Robinson, the more slender of the +two, as she snuggled down still more luxuriously in the soft cushions of +the automobile. + +"It seems to me yet as though it must be a dream," declared her twin +sister Bess, who was considerably larger than either of her companions. +"Pinch me, somebody, so that I can be sure it's real." + +Cora reached over mischievously and took her at her word. + +Bess drew back with a little squeal. + +"Ouch!" she exclaimed. "You took a piece out that time!" + +"Well, what if I did?" laughed Cora. "You can spare a little without +missing it." + +"You ought to be thankful to Cora for helping you to reduce," put in her +sister slyly. + +Bess flushed a trifle, for her "plumpness"--she abominated the word +"stout" and avoided it as if it were the plague--was rather a tender +point with her. + +"I don't care for such drastic methods," she retorted. "I'd rather take +the flesh off more gradually. Besides," she added with a show of pride, +"I'm going down quite fast enough as it is. I'm two pounds lighter than I +was last week." + +"Swell chance you have of getting thinner when you will keep nibbling at +chocolate creams," remarked her sister unbelievingly. "You might hand +some over, you stingy thing, instead of keeping them all to yourself." + +"No such thing!" denied Bess, producing a small box. "They're lemon +drops, and everybody knows _they_ don't make you"--she was going to say +"fat," but checked herself just in time to substitute "plump." + +"Slip one into my mouth, Belle," commanded Cora. "I don't dare to take my +hand from the wheel." + +"I noticed that you took it away fast enough when you wanted to pinch +me," remarked Bess. + +"That was different," returned Cora. "You asked me to, and I'd do a good +deal to oblige a friend." + +"Heaven save me from my friends," sighed Bess, and then they all laughed. + +For laughter came easy on a day like this. The sun of early August was +tempered by a light breeze that removed any suspicion of sultriness. The +road was a good one, and Cora's car under her expert guidance glided +along with scarcely a jar. Great trees on either side provided a grateful +shade. Squirrels scolded noisily in the branches, and here and there a +chipmunk slipped like a shadow along the fences and the hum of the +locusts filled the air with a dreamy harmony. A bobolink flitted across +the road, dropping a whole sheaf of silver notes from his joyous throat. +It was a day on which it was good to be alive. + +"To think that we're really on our way to the Adirondacks," murmured +Belle delightedly. "I've wanted to go there ever since I wore pigtails." + +"And to Camp Kill Kare," said Bess. "The very name seems to promise all +kinds of fun." + +"Doesn't it?" agreed Cora. "And how much more fun it is to go this way +than in stuffy old railway cars." + +"Are you sure we can get there by to-morrow night?" asked Belle. + +"We can if nothing happens to the car," answered Cora. "It's in splendid +shape now, and we're fairly eating up the miles. Of course, if it rains +and the roads get muddy it may take us a little longer. But after all the +rain we had last week, I guess we can be sure of good weather. There +isn't a cloud in the sky now." + +"Did you finally decide to stay at your Aunt Margaret's house to-night?" +asked Bess. + +"Yes," replied Cora. "Isn't it lucky that her home is just about half-way +on our trip? If it hadn't been for that, we'd have had to bring a +chaperon along with us, and that would have been a nuisance. I suppose +they are a necessary evil, but I'm awfully glad when we get a chance to +do without one." + +"I suppose your Aunt Betty will be at Kill Kare when we get there," +remarked Belle. + +"She's already there," answered Cora. "We got a letter from her +yesterday, saying that everything was all ready for us and that she was +just dying to see us. And with Aunt Betty in mind, I'll take back what I +said about chaperons. She's a perfect dear, and I'm sure you girls will +fall dead in love with her." + +"I've no doubt we shall," answered Bess. "I'm prepared to love her just +from your description. But say, girls," she continued, glancing at her +wrist watch, "do you know that it's after twelve o'clock? Don't you think +we'd better be looking about for some place to stop to get lunch?" + +"Hear that girl talk!" mocked Cora. "And she's the one that's always +talking about reducing!" + +"Oh, that this too, too solid flesh might melt," quoted Belle. + +"If the truth were known, I'll wager I don't eat as much as either of you +two," retorted Bess. "I had only a cup of coffee and two rolls this +morning." + +"You had more than two rolls," declared Belle, "I counted them and there +were at least ten." + +"What do you mean, Belle Robinson?" asked Bess, turning to her sister in +bewilderment. + +"Rolls on the floor, I mean," explained Belle, "when you were going +through your reducing exercises." + +Bess turned her eyes to heaven in mute appeal. + +"My own sister giving me away!" she moaned. "Well, our relatives are +wished on us, but thank goodness I can choose my friends." + +"Stop your scrapping, girls," interposed Cora, "and listen to me. There +isn't any hotel in sight, and even if there were, who wants to go indoors +on a day like this? Mary put up a splendid lunch before we started. +What's the matter with dining _al fresco_?" + +"Listen to the girl!" exclaimed Belle. "What does she mean by that?" + +"Sounds to me like a sleight of hand performer," murmured Bess. + +"You're thinking of 'presto change,'" laughed Cora. "No, my benighted +sisters. To put the thing in terms that your limited intelligence can +grasp, I meant that we would eat in the open air." + +"Good!" exclaimed Belle. + +"Right here in the car?" asked Bess. + +"Why, we could," answered Cora; "but don't you think it would be better +yet to find some nice little place by the side of the road? I'm a little +cramped from sitting so long, and I suppose you are too. It will do us +good to have a change." + +"Let's choose some place where there's a brook or a spring," suggested +Bess. "I'm dreadfully thirsty." + +"Been eating too many lemon drops," said Belle. + +"No more than you," retorted Bess. + +"No. But, gracious, that's too many," sighed her sister. "Less candy and +more sandwiches for me when we are in the open air like this! Come, +where's that brook?" + +"I've no doubt we can find such a place," observed Cora, as she put a +little extra speed in the car. "You girls keep your eyes open and tell me +when to stop. I've got all I can do to watch the road and save some dog +or chicken from untimely death." + +Not many minutes had elapsed before Belle reached over and touched Cora's +arm. + +"The very spot!" she exclaimed. "There's a brook and some trees that were +just intended for a picnic party." + +Cora guided the car to the side of the road. The girls got out and +stretched their cramped limbs with a sigh of relief. The lunch basket was +taken from beneath the seat and carried to a cool and shady spot beneath +a clump of great trees that stood a few feet away from the road. From a +brook that rippled over the stones with a musical murmur, they brought a +supply of water. A robe from the car was spread out on the grass, and +napkins from the basket served as miniature tablecloths. + +Then Mary's offerings were brought to light, and amply maintained that +person's reputation for culinary skill. Lettuce sandwiches, hard-boiled +eggs, fried chicken legs, lemon tarts and fruit followed each other in +rapid succession. Then, too, there was a thermos bottle filled with hot, +fragrant coffee. + +Their morning in the open air had sharpened the appetites of the girls, +and they ate with a zest that would have made a dyspeptic turn green with +envy. Bess, to be sure, tried feebly to bear in mind her rules for +dieting, but the temptation was too great, and for that once anyway her +good resolutions went by the board. + +"I could die happy now," she murmured, between bites of a lemon tart. + +"You will die anyway if you eat much more," said her sister severely. +"Bess Robinson, I'm ashamed of you." + +"You'll have to take twenty rolls to-morrow instead of ten, to make up +for this," laughed Cora. + +"To-morrow's a new day," replied Bess mutinously. "Sufficient unto the +day is the evil thereof." + +"She's a hopeless case, I'm afraid," sighed Belle. "But come along now, +girls, and gather up these things. We want to get to the house of Cora's +aunt before it gets dark." + +"Behold a stranger cometh," remarked Cora, as a horse and buggy came in +sight, with a young man holding the reins. + +The vehicle approached rapidly, and the eyes of the driver lighted up as +he caught sight of the three girls. Instead of driving by, he reined up +at the roadside and jumping from the buggy made his way toward the little +party. + +He was of medium height, flashily dressed, and had a weak, +dissipated-looking face. The girls had risen to their feet and drawn a +little closer together as he approached. + +He took off his hat and bowed, with a smile that he tried to make +ingratiating. + +"I see I'm in luck," he remarked. "Just in time to have a bite of lunch, +if there's any left." + +Cora, to whom the other girls looked for leadership, froze him with a +glance. + +"If you're hungry, you can probably get something to eat at the next +town," she said. "We haven't anything for tramps." + +The man flushed uncomfortably, and his impudent assurance went down +several degrees beneath her stare. + +"What's the use of being so stiff?" he expostulated. "I'm only trying to +be friendly." + +"That's just what we object to," replied Cora. "We don't want your +friendship. My brother will be along shortly, and perhaps he will +appreciate it more than we do." + +The young man cast a hurried glance up and down the road. It was evident +that, however strong his craving for feminine society, he had no desire +to meet the brother. + +"Oh, well," he muttered, as he made his way toward the buggy, "you +needn't be so quick to take offence. There are plenty of girls who would +be glad of my company." + +And with this, that was meant to be a Parthian shot, but that only +provoked a nervous desire to laugh on the part of the girls, he gathered +up the reins and drove off. + +They saw him go with immense relief, for there was no other man in sight, +and his impudence had alarmed as well as offended them. + +"Well, of all the nerve!" ejaculated Belle. + +"You certainly can freeze when you want to, Cora," laughed Bess. + +"How lucky it was that you thought of Jack," said Belle. "Did you see the +frightened look that came into his eyes?" + +"That sort of man always is a coward," replied Cora. "Perhaps he won't be +so free and easy when he meets girls alone again. But let's get busy now +and hustle these things back into the car." + +They soon had the thermos bottle and the depleted lunch basket tucked +snugly away. The twins settled down in the rear seat, Cora threw in the +clutch, and the car started. + +They had gone perhaps a mile, when they descried a car coming at a rapid +rate from the opposite direction. + +"That man seems to be trying to break the speed limit," remarked Cora, as +she drove her own car close to the right-hand side of the road so as to +give plenty of room. + +"Like Jehu, the son of Nimshi, he driveth furiously," observed Belle. + +Just then the gate of a near-by farmhouse was pushed open, and a little +child about three years old toddled out into the road, right in the path +of the onrushing car. + +A shriek went up from the girls. + +"Oh, girls," screamed Bess, rising from her seat, "that child will be +killed!" + + + + + CHAPTER II + QUICK THINKING + + +For one tense moment it seemed as though nothing could avert a terrible +tragedy. + +A woman burst out of the house and ran screaming toward her child. But it +was clearly impossible for her to reach the little one in time to save +it. + +The child, startled by the screams, stood helplessly right in the path of +the Juggernaut that seemed doomed to crush it. + +The driver of the car had seen the danger, and he instantly threw out the +clutch and put on the brakes. But he was too near to stop in time. + +There was only one thing to do, and, like a gallant man, he did it. He +whirled the wheel around, and the car, its speed diminished but still +considerable, dashed into a tree by the side of the road. The driver, an +elderly man, was thrown out and lay stunned and bleeding. + +The mother rushed to the little one and gathered it up into her arms with +sobs and exclamations. + +The girls, who had been unable to move and had sat paralyzed with horror, +breathed a huge sigh of relief. + +"Thank God, the baby's saved!" cried Bess. + +"Yes," exclaimed Cora, "but the man may be killed! Let's see what we can +do to help him." + +The three girls jumped from the car and rushed over to the injured man. + +While the girls are giving first aid to the man, and the mother is crying +and crooning over her child, it may be well for the sake of those who +have not followed our Motor Girls in their previous adventures to state a +little more fully just who they were and what they had been doing up to +the time this story opens. + +Cora Kimball and her brother Jack--the same Jack who had been brought in +so handily in their encounter with the impudent young man--were the +children of a wealthy widow living in Chelton, a New England village +located not very far from the New York line. They were both healthy, +normal, wideawake young people, and took vast delight in motoring. Either +in a motor car or a motor boat they were equally happy and equally at +home; and Cora was quite as expert in managing them as her brother. + +Cora's special chums were Belle and Bess Robinson, twin daughters of Mr. +and Mrs. Perry Robinson, the former a well-to-do railroad man, living in +the same town as the Kimballs. Belle, as we have seen, was tall and +slender--"_svelte_" was the way she liked to put it. And Bess--well, Bess +was "plump," but a very pretty and charming girl nevertheless. Of the +three girls, Cora was the natural leader, and the trio were almost +inseparable. + +Jack Kimball, Cora's brother, was a manly, likable chap and devotedly +attached to his sister, although at times he liked to "lord it" over her +with truly masculine complacency. He was a student at Exmouth College, +and his most intimate friend was Walter Pennington, who spent most of his +vacations and whatever other spare time he had at the Kimball home. +Perhaps Jack's charming sister was the special magnet that drew Walter +there so often---- But there, it isn't fair to delve too curiously into +matters of that kind. + +Paul Hastings, who had a position in an automobile concern, was a close +friend of Jack and Walter, and the girls too liked him very much. + +The love of motoring that all six, boys and girls alike, shared in common +had led to many trips to various parts of the country, in the course of +which they had met with many surprising and sometimes thrilling +adventures. Both Cora and the Robinson twins had cars of their own, but +as Cora seemed to take the lead in everything, most of the tours were +taken in her car. + +Their trips took them at one time or another to almost every section of +the interior and the coast. At Lookout Beach, through New England, on +Cedar Lake, at Crystal Bay, on the coast, even as far as the West Indies, +all that happened to them on these expeditions, and it was much, is told +in the previous volumes of the series. + +In the volume immediately preceding this one, called "The Motor Girls at +Camp Surprise," a number of very strange happenings are recorded. To +begin with, Cora's car was stolen and she was almost inconsolable, for +though her mother would have bought her one to replace it, she had an +affectionate attachment for the old one that had so many happy memories +connected with it. They found no real track of the thieves until, when +they were spending the early part of the summer at Camp Surprise, they +came across a gang of ticket counterfeiters, who had set up their plant +in an underground passage leading from the very house where the girls +were staying. + +And now, as the reader has seen, the girls were on their way to spend the +late summer in the heart of the Adirondacks. And right at the outset they +had been witnesses of what was so nearly a tragedy that for the moment +their hearts had stood still. + +All alert, now that their terror for the child's safety was dispelled, +the girls hurried over to the driver, who still lay stretched out in the +road. As they approached he opened his eyes and looked about him in a +dazed way. + +"The child," he murmured, as he brushed his hand over his forehead. "Is +it safe?" + +"It's all right," replied Cora cheerily, immensely relieved to find that +the driver was not dead, as she had feared. "But don't try to talk now +until you feel a little stronger." + +She knelt down and took his head upon her knee. + +"Run to the house, girls, and get some water," she commanded, taking +charge of things, as she always did in a crisis. + +The farmer's wife, who had now got back some of her self-control, led the +way into the house, and in a moment the girls were back with plenty of +cool water and some linen. Cora washed a cut in the man's head, deftly +tied a bandage around it, and put some water to his lips, which he drank +eagerly. + +The cut was not a serious one, and the farmer, who had joined the group, +announced after a brief examination that no bones seemed to be broken. He +was urgent that the man should be taken into the house and a doctor sent +for, but the injured man, who was getting stronger by the minute and +seemed to have a very determined will of his own, vetoed this +emphatically. + +"There's nothing the matter with me except for the shock and a few +bruises," he declared. "I'll be as well as ever as soon as this dizziness +passes away." + +He proved himself a true prophet, for at the end of ten minutes he was on +his feet and looking ruefully at his car. + +"Pretty much of a wreck, I imagine," he remarked with a twisted smile, as +he walked around it and took stock of the damage. + +The girls joined in the inspection, and as they knew as much about +automobiles as the man himself, they satisfied themselves that he had not +exaggerated much in describing it as a "wreck." The wheels and part of +the body were intact, but the machinery was badly knocked out of gear. It +was clear that it would not be able to go under its own power. + +"There's a garage a few miles further on," the stranger remarked. "I'll +have to leave word there and have them come back to get it." + +"No need of doing that," volunteered Cora. "We're going in that +direction, and we'll be glad to tow you there." + +The man hesitated. + +"It's very good of you," he replied, "but I'm afraid I've taxed your +kindness too far already." + +"It won't be any trouble at all," returned Cora cordially. "You can sit +in the front seat with me, and as my car is a powerful one we'll be able +to tow yours easily." + +He demurred a little longer, but finally accepted the offer with hearty +thanks. The farmer brought out a rope, and with the aid of a couple of +farm hands got the wrecked machine out in the road. Then the two cars +were connected and the girls started off, with a parting wave of the hand +and a smile directed especially to the little toddler, who was held +tightly in the mother's arm. + +"That child won't be allowed to go out of the gate alone again in a +hurry, I guess," laughed Belle. + +"It wasn't the child's fault," remarked the stranger. "I was going +altogether too fast. If I'd been moving at a moderate rate I could have +stopped in plenty of time. Fact is, I was thinking of something +else--none too pleasant thoughts they were either--and I didn't realize +just how fast I was going." + +"You were very lucky to get off as well as you did, Mr.----" Cora +hesitated inquiringly. + +"Morley," supplemented the stranger. "Bless my heart, here I am accepting +all this service from you young ladies and forgetting to introduce +myself. Samuel Morley is my name, and I live in the town of Saxton, about +twenty miles from here. Yes, as you were saying, I was very lucky to get +off as well as I did--a good deal luckier than I deserved. Though perhaps +it would have been just as well if I had been killed after all." + +He brought out the last sentence so savagely that the girls were +startled. + +"You mustn't mind what I say," he said apologetically, as he noted the +look on their faces. "I'm just a crabbed old stick anyway. If I hadn't +been that, I wouldn't have so many painful memories now. Sometimes they +come crowding in upon me until it seems as though I couldn't stand them. +But I wouldn't want to say anything that would shadow the faces of young +girls. There was a young girl once----" + +He caught himself up sharply. + +"But here I am doing all the talking," he said. "That's a sign I'm +getting old. Now suppose you girls turn the tables. Tell me all about +yourselves and where you are going." + +The conversation became general then, and from that time on he carefully +refrained from saying anything bearing on himself, although the girls, +who scented a romance or a tragedy somewhere, would gladly have forborne +their own talk in order to hear more of his story. + +"There's the garage over there," he said, as they drew near the outskirts +of a town, pointing to a low building on the right. + +Cora drove her car close in and the keeper of the garage came out and +unfastened the rope that bound the two machines. + +"I can't thank you young ladies enough," Mr. Morley said gratefully, as +he shook hands with them. "I only hope the time will come when I can +repay the favor." + +"Are you feeling all right now?" asked Cora, as she got ready to throw in +the clutch. + +"Nothing worse than a headache. You're a first-class doctor," he replied +with a twinkle in his eye. + +Cora laughed. + +"Don't tell any one," she admonished. "It might get me into trouble. You +know, I haven't a license to practise in this state." + + + + + CHAPTER III + THE MISSING PURSE + + +"What queer things that man said about himself," remarked Belle, as she +settled back in her seat. + +"I was wild to have him go on," replied her sister. "I'm sure he's got a +romance or a mystery of some kind in his life." + +"Did you see how suddenly he checked himself when he started to talk +about that girl?" asked Cora. + +"Perhaps it was some girl whom he intended to marry," said Bess, who had +a strong vein of sentiment in her composition. + +"Well, we'll never get a chance to know," observed Belle. "We've probably +seen Mr. Samuel Morley for the first and last time." + +"I don't know about that," rejoined Cora. "I have a sort of feeling that +we'll run across him again." + +"Listen to the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter," mocked Belle. + +"Sybilla, the reader of the mystic sphere, the gazer into the crystal +globe!" gibed Bess. + +"I'm no prophetess," disclaimed Cora. "I just have a feeling that way. +Perhaps I'll have the laugh on you scoffers yet." + +"We're willing to wait," returned Belle. "Just now it's the present more +than the future that I'm worrying about. That Good Samaritan act of ours +has taken up a good deal of time. And you know that we planned to stop in +that department store when we get to Roxbury and buy some of the things +we came away without in our hurry this morning. I've simply got to have +that chiffon." + +"And I need a new box of powder," put in Bess. "My old one is nearly +empty." + +"Such victims of the vanity of this world," sighed Cora. "But don't +worry, girls. I'll throw in a little extra speed and you'll hear the car +fairly purr." + +"Not too fast," cautioned Belle. "After what we saw to-day in the way of +fast driving, I'm willing to go a little slower." + +"I'll be careful," promised Cora; "but all the same we can afford to go a +good deal faster than we are moving now." + +She threw in more speed, and the gallant car responded at once with +scarcely an added vibration. In a short time Roxbury was in sight, and +turning into one of the main streets, they drew up before the doors of +the leading store of the town. + +They went at once to the veiling department, where Belle purchased her +chiffon. That and the powder that Bess secured in the drug department +completed all the buying that they had intended to do. But they were true +daughters of Eve, and so many things met their eyes that they were sure +they simply could not do without, that before they knew it they had +bought quite extensively. + +They were standing at one of the counters, waiting for their change, +which seemed an unconscionable time in coming. + +"Even Job would have lost patience if there had been department stores in +his day," remarked Belle. + +"But there _were_ department stores then," replied Cora. + +"What do you mean?" asked Bess. + +"There must have been," said Cora. "Don't you remember where Job says: +'All the days of my life will I wait till my change come'?" + +The girls laughed, but the laugh quickly faded when Cora gave a startled +exclamation: + +"Oh, girls, I've lost my purse!" + +"You don't mean it!" cried Belle. + +"Are you sure?" asked Bess. + +"I had it in my hand just a minute ago," replied Cora in much agitation. +"I took that ten dollar bill out of it that they're making change for +now. I must have laid it down for a minute, and now it's gone." + +There were a number of bolts of cloth on the counter near which the girls +were standing, and they made a hurried search among them without result. + +"And I had nearly a hundred dollars in it," mourned Cora. "Will you +please help me look for my purse?" she asked of the man behind the +counter, who had been standing with his back toward them, busily packing +pieces of cloth on the shelves. + +He turned toward them, rather reluctantly the girls thought, and they +were startled to find themselves looking into the eyes of the young man +who had annoyed them while they were lunching at the roadside. + +A flush suffused his face as the girls looked at him coldly. + +"What can I do for you, ladies?" he asked, in an obsequious tone that was +in strong contrast with the impudent one he had used a few hours before. + +"I've lost my purse about here somewhere," said Cora, "and as it had a +considerable sum of money in it I am very anxious to have it found." + +He was profuse in his expressions of regret, and began with apparent +eagerness to turn over all the goods on the counter, while the girls +watched anxiously. But there was no sign of the purse to be seen. + +Just then the manager of the store came along, an alert, keen-eyed man, +and seeing the little commotion about the counter, asked courteously if +he could be of any assistance. + +He listened carefully to what Cora had to say. + +"It's singular," he said. "There doesn't seem from what you say to have +been anybody standing close by within the last few minutes. Are you quite +sure that you had the purse when you came to this counter?" + +"Positive," replied Cora. "I haven't moved from here since I took the +bill out of the purse to pay for the goods I bought." + +"Have you made a careful search, Higby?" asked the manager, fixing his +sharp eyes upon the clerk as though he would read him through and +through. + +"Yes, sir," replied Higby; "but I'll go through the goods again to make +sure." + +He tossed the bolts of cloth about vigorously, and after a moment gave an +exclamation of triumph. + +"Here it is!" he cried. "Is this your purse, miss?" he asked, holding the +article out to Cora. + +The latter pounced upon it with a little squeal of delight. + +"Oh, yes, that's it!" she exclaimed. "Thank you ever so much." + +"You would better look over the money to make sure it is all there," +suggested the manager. + +Cora ran hastily over the roll of bills. + +"It's all right," she announced in a tone of relief. + +The manager expressed his gratification at its recovery, coupled with an +expression of regret at the annoyance she had suffered, and the missing +change having come by this time, the girls hurriedly gathered their +purchases together and left the store. + +"You lucky girl!" exclaimed Belle, as Cora started the car. + +"Luckier than I deserve," laughed Cora happily. "It was awfully careless +of me to let the purse out of my hand for a second. It would have served +me right if I had lost it." + +"Do you think you really lost it?" asked Belle significantly. + +The girls looked at each other, and it was evident that the same thought +was shared by all. + +"Perhaps it seems mean to say it," remarked Cora slowly, "but since you +ask me, I must say that the whole thing looks queer. There was the way he +kept his back to us when we were looking for it on our own account. But I +don't lay so much weight on that, because he might have recognized us and +felt a little sheepish after the way we took him down this afternoon. But +why couldn't he have found it before the manager came along, and why did +he find it so promptly when the manager was standing there watching him? +Of course, it might have been mixed up in the folds of the cloth the +first time, and dropped out when he went over the goods again the second +time. I suppose anyway we ought to give him the benefit of the doubt." + +"He doesn't get the benefit of the doubt from me," said Bess in so +emphatic a manner that the others, accustomed to her easy-going ways, +looked at her in astonishment. + +"You hard-hearted thing!" exclaimed her sister. + +"What do you mean?" asked Cora. + +"Listen, my children, and you shall hear," began Bess in her best manner. +"I kept my eye on that young gentleman----" + +"The Gorgon stare," murmured her sister. + +"When he was turning those bolts of cloth the second time," went on Bess, +disdaining to dignify the interruption by noticing it, "and while he was +fumbling them with one hand, I saw him bring up the purse from beneath +the counter with the other hand and slip it under the cloth. Then, before +I could say anything, he called out that he had found it. I could have +shaken you when you thanked him so sweetly, Cora Kimball." + +The girls looked at each other aghast. + +"Did you ever?" gasped Belle. + +"He ought to be exposed!" exclaimed Cora indignantly. + +"I suppose he ought," agreed Bess placidly. "But after all, the proof +wouldn't be strong enough. It would be simply my word against his, and +he'd swear black and blue that I was mistaken. We'd only get mixed up in +an ugly mess, and nothing would come of it after all. I fancy that that +young man will get to the end of his rope soon enough without our having +anything to do with it. Thank your lucky stars, Cora, that you've got +your money back, and let it go at that." + +"To think of Bess playing sleuth and tracking crime to its lair!" cried +Belle. "I didn't think she had it in her." + +"Oh, I'm some little bright-eyes, if you ask me," remarked Bess +complacently, as she reached out for the last of the lemon drops. + +"We'll have to work this up into amateur theatricals when the boys join +us," laughed Cora. + +"Yes," agreed Belle, "we'll stage a one-act play and call it: 'The Greed +of Gold; or, Bess Robinson, the Girl Detective.'" + + + + + CHAPTER IV + THE STERNER SEX + + +"Talking of the boys----" began Bess. + +"Out of the fullness of the heart the mouth speaketh," drawled her +sister. + +Bess flushed. + +"You think of them just as much as I do, Belle Robinson, and perhaps +more!" she countered. "But what I was going to say when I was so rudely +interrupted was to wonder when they were ever going to catch up with us." + +"Jack said they'd surely overtake us before night," replied Cora. "Walter +and he were all ready, but Paul had had some things to wind up for his +firm before he started in on his vacation. He had telegraphed, though, +that he would be in Chelton before noon, and Jack said he'd show us just +how fast that car of his could travel. He's awfully proud of that car, +but between us, girls, I don't think he has anything on this car of mine +in the matter of speed," and she patted the wheel affectionately. + +"Let's hope they don't get arrested for speeding," said Belle. + +"Or run over any babies," put in Bess, with a lively recollection of the +thrilling episode of the afternoon. + +"I guess there's no danger of that," said Cora. "Jack's keen on speed, +but he's a careful driver for all that. I tell you what we'll do, girls. +You keep a sharp lookout in the rear, for they may come into sight at any +minute now, and the minute you see them coming you let me know. Then I'll +let out a little and we'll try to tease them by keeping just far enough +ahead of them to drive them crazy." + +"That'll be dandy!" said Belle eagerly. "It'll do them good to take some +of the conceit out of them. I suppose they think we've been pining to +have them with us." + +"Well, haven't you?" asked Bess mischievously. + +"No, I haven't," declared Belle, but in a tone that somehow failed to +carry conviction. + +"That looks like their car now!" cried Bess excitedly, as she caught a +glimpse of an automobile that had just swung around a curve in the road +about half a mile in the rear. + +Belle craned her neck in the same direction. + +"I guess it is," she confirmed. "I can make out three people in it, but +they're too far away to see their faces." + +"We'll let them get a little nearer so we can make sure," said Cora, +settling herself in her seat and taking a tighter grasp on the wheel, +"and then we'll let them take our dust and see how they like it." + +Belle knelt upon the seat to get a better view. + +"Sister Anne, Sister Anne, do you see a man?" chanted Bess. + +"Three of them," replied Belle, "and they're coming like all possessed. +I'm almost sure it's Jack that's driving. There, one of them has taken +out a handkerchief and is waving it!" + +"It's them," pronounced Belle a moment later, forgetting her grammar in +her excitement, and scrambling back into her seat again. "Now, Cora, it's +up to you to show them what the Motor Girls can do." + +"See that your hats are on tight, girls," laughed Cora. "We're going to +stir up some little breeze." + +They had a long stretch of road in front of them at the time, with no +house or vehicle in sight. The conditions could not have been better for +a race, and Cora increased her speed gradually until the car was going +like the wind. + +The car behind had taken up the challenge at once and was also coming +along at a tremendous rate. But Belle, venturing sundry peeks behind, +announced gleefully that it was not gaining an inch. + +"But that isn't enough," Cora flung back. "We want to make them actually +drop farther behind. When we've once done that I'll be satisfied. Then +we'll slow up and let them catch up to us." + +Two minutes later, Belle clapped her hands in delight. + +"We've done it! We've done it!" she cried. "They're a quarter of a mile +farther back than they were when we started in." + +"Oh, how we'll rub it into them!" gurgled Bess. + +"Well, enough is as good as a feast," laughed Cora, in great +satisfaction. "Now we'll give the lords of creation a chance to explain +how they came to let mere girls run away from them." + +"It will take some explanation," remarked Belle. + +"They're great little explainers, though," said Bess. "They'd rather die +than admit we had the faster car." + +Cora gradually slackened speed until the car, while still running +swiftly, had reached a more reasonable rate. Belle's glances behind told +her that their pursuers were overtaking them by leaps and bounds. + +A moment later there was a wild chorus of shouts, and Jack's car drew up +alongside. His two friends, Walter Pennington and Paul Hastings, were +with him, both tall, athletic young fellows, with frank, pleasant faces. + +The girls looked up with well simulated surprise, and pleasure that was +not at all simulated. + +"Why, it's the boys!" they cried in chorus. + +Both cars had by this time come to a full stop, and the masculine +contingent, deserting theirs, came round to the girls' car to greet them +and to shake hands. Jack went further and gave his sister a hearty kiss, +a proceeding which brought a look of envy to the faces of his companions. + +"Where in the world have you slowpokes been?" asked Belle. + +"Not much of a compliment, keeping away from us so long," pouted Bess in +a way to show a most bewitching dimple. + +"I guess they've been glad enough to be rid of us for a while," chimed in +Cora. + +Looks full of reproach and denial greeted this onslaught. + +"That's pretty good!" remarked Paul. + +"Rich!" assented Walter. + +"Just as if we hadn't been breaking speed laws all day long in order to +overtake you," mourned Jack. + +"What's the use of living when you're so misunderstood?" groaned Walter. + +"After all the ice-creams and sodas we've blown in on these girls, too!" +wailed Paul. + +"Let's find a hole somewhere and crawl away and die," suggested Jack. + +"It seems to me that the shoe's on the other foot anyway," said Walter, +becoming accuser in his turn. "It's you who didn't want us. Who was it +just now that was trying to run away from us?" + +"Run away from you?" repeated Cora innocently. "What do you mean by +that?" + +"You know perfectly well, you little minx," said her brother with mock +sternness. "There we were, waving handkerchiefs at you and hustling the +old machine along to beat the band. I know you saw us, for one of you was +looking back." + +"I did see some one waving a handkerchief," admitted Belle. "But it +looked as though some ill-bred person was trying to flirt with us, and of +course we didn't pay the least attention." + +"No," said Bess primly, "we'd die before we'd flirt." + +"If we'd wanted to flirt we had a perfectly good chance to-day while we +were eating lunch," said Cora. "He had a perfectly lovely necktie, too, a +good deal brighter than any of yours." + +Jack threw up his hands with a gesture of despair. + +"No use, fellows!" he exclaimed. "You can't pin them down to anything." + +"But what did you have to wave your handkerchief for anyway to make us +stop?" asked Cora demurely. "All you had to do was to put on more speed +and catch up to us. That car of yours is so fast, you know. At least +that's what you've always said." + +The boys looked at each other a little disconcertedly. + +"W-well," stammered Jack, "the oil--the sparking wasn't working just +right----" + +"Tell the truth, Jack," spoke up Walter, with a fine assumption of +candor. "The real reason, girls, was that we were afraid of bumping into +you----" + +"And we didn't want to spill you all over the road," finished Paul. + +A groan went up from the girls. + +"Oh, Ananias!" exclaimed Bess. + +"Ananiases, you mean," corrected her sister. "One's just as bad as the +others. They all hang together." + +"We're like Ben Franklin when he signed the Declaration of Independence," +laughed Paul. "He said they'd all have to hang together or they'd hang +separately." + +"I'll admit that you have a good car, sis," said Jack. + +"And if that isn't enough to take us back into favor, we'll do anything +else you say," said Walter, wringing his hands in pretended agitation. + +"We'll put on sackcloth and ashes, jump through a hoop, roll over and +play dead," chimed in Paul. "No one has anything on us when it comes to +humility." + +"It almost affects me to tears," said Belle, pretending to reach for her +handkerchief. + +"They say cruel and unusual punishments are prohibited by the +Constitution," laughed Cora, "so we won't deprive you of the refining +influence of our society. Heaven knows you need it badly enough. We'll +let you trail along with us if you'll promise to be very, very good." + +"We will," promised Jack. + +"There's one thing yet that needs to be explained, fellows," remarked +Walter, as they climbed into their automobile. "What about that fellow +with the iridescent necktie? I feel the demon of jealousy gnawing at my +vitals." + +"Come, girls, 'fess up," admonished Jack. + +"He was just charming," said Cora promptly. + +"Perfectly lovely," agreed Belle. + +"Such soulful eyes!" exclaimed Bess languishingly. + +"That I should ever have lived to hear this!" groaned Walter. + +"I guess our cake is dough," said Paul. + +"Eftsoon and gadzooks!" cried Jack, striking an attitude, "lead me to +him, and sooth it shall go hard with me if my trusty sword drink not the +caitiff's blood." + +"I guess you don't need to go as far as that," laughed Cora. "Leave him +alone and the police will take care of him." + +"A-ha, a criminal!" cried Walter. + +"That only makes him the more romantic," declared Paul. + +"It doesn't help our case one bit," said Jack. "Haven't you heard of how +women will deck a murderer's cell with flowers?" + +"I don't think he'd have the nerve to be a murderer," remarked Belle. +"His specialty is stealing purses." + +And while the boys listened intently and threw in occasional indignant +exclamations, the girls told of the young man's attempt to scrape +acquaintance, and of how later he had almost succeeded in getting +possession of Cora's purse. + +"The cur!" growled Jack. "I wish I'd happened along when he was trying to +get fresh!" + +"You helped me out just the same, even if you weren't there," replied +Cora. "You ought to have seen how he made tracks for his buggy when I +said my brother would be along shortly." + +"You see," said Jack, throwing out his chest, "how the terror of my name +has preceded me." + +"It's comforting anyway," chimed in Walter. "It proves that we men are +good for something." + +"And that the girls ought to have us with them all the time as trusty +knights and vassals," added Paul. + +"You're too ready to jump to conclusions," rebuked Cora. "But now we'd +better be hurrying along. It's getting towards dark, and we'll have all +we can do to get to Aunt Margaret's in time for dinner." + +"Dinner!" exclaimed Jack. "Where have I heard that word before? Lead me +to it!" + +"Do you think you can keep up with us in that car?" asked Cora wickedly. +"If not, I'll give you a tow." + +"Listen to her rubbing it in!" moaned Paul. + +"It wasn't enough to beat us," complained Walter. + +"I guess that fellow was right," remarked Jack, "who said that Indians +and women were alike. They both scalp the dead." + + + + + CHAPTER V + A GROUP OF VAGABONDS + + +The two cars rolled along smartly, for the various happenings of the day +had put the Motor Girls behind the schedule they had hoped to make. But +despite their best efforts, dusk was settling down and the stars +beginning to peep out when they drove up to the Kimball's Aunt Margaret's +door. + +She greeted them affectionately, and after they had washed off the dust +of travel they were seated at the sumptuous meal she had had prepared in +anticipation of their coming. After dinner was over, a number of young +people in the neighborhood who had been invited to meet the tourists +dropped in, and there was music and dancing. But Aunt Margaret's +watchfulness over her charges prevented this from being prolonged to an +unseasonable hour, and by eleven o'clock all the tired travelers were +sleeping the dreamless sleep of vigorous, healthy youth. + +They needed a good sleep, for the longest lap of their journey still lay +before them. And it was at an early hour the next morning that, after a +hearty breakfast and cordial thanks and good-byes to their gracious +hostess, they climbed into their cars and drove off. + +"Off at last for the Adirondacks!" cried Jack gaily, as he drew in great +draughts of the fresh morning air. + +"And for Camp Kill Kare!" added Paul. + +The girls had started off a little ahead of them, but the boys soon drew +alongside and Jack signaled for Cora to stop. + +"I would have speech with thee, fair maiden," he remarked, as his sister +obeyed. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Cora in pretended vexation. "Here are those rude +boys interrupting us just when we were having the loveliest talk." + +"I guess you weren't talking about anything very important," replied +Jack. + +"No," said Bess, dimpling, "we were talking about you boys." + +"And saying what a lovely thing it was to be all by ourselves for a +little while," put in Belle. + +"Girls," exhorted Walter solemnly, "remember that if there was an Ananias +there was also a Sapphira." + +"We're not so keen on having a stag party ourselves," explained Jack, +"and we thought it would be a dandy thing if one of you girls would come +into our car and one of us fellows go to yours. That would make life one +grand sweet song." + +"It all comes from what Cora said yesterday about the refining influence +of feminine society," said Walter. "I feel the need of that. In fact, I +have a consuming desire to become refined. And I can't be, as long as I +associate with these two low-brows. So you'd better let me ride in your +car." + +"And leave us in our native coarseness?" queried Paul. "Not on your life, +old man! I need refinement just as much as you do." + +"Peace, brethren," interposed Jack. "We'll do this thing on the level. My +claims to coarseness are just as strong as either of yours, but do you +see me engaging in unseemly brawls? Nay and again nay. We'll pull straws +for it and may the coarsest man win." + +"I don't know that we want any of you," said Cora. "We don't take +incurable cases." + +"Don't be too harsh, Cora," said Belle. "You know they say there's a +spark of good in the very lowest." + + "While the lamp holds out to burn + The vilest sinner may return," + +hummed Bess. + +There were no straws at hand, but some matches served as well, and Walter +proved to be the lucky one. Belle agreed to go to Jack's car, and Walter +took her place alongside of Bess. + +"Hurrah!" cried Walter, as he availed himself of his good fortune. "I'm +saved. I'm doomed to refinement." + +"Doomed?" laughed Cora. + +"Did I say doomed?" Walter answered. "How careless of me! Of course I +meant destined to refinement." + +"I suppose you'll be eating lotus blossoms and water lilies before long," +called out Jack, as the cars started up again. + +"Watch me when lunch time comes," grinned Walter. "But I don't mind what +you fellows say. I've got two refining influences while you have only +one." + +"You need all you can get," was Jack's parting shot. + +With merry chaff and banter, the time flew by as though on wings. They +had lunch at a quaint little inn by the roadside, and Walter proved that +the charms of feminine society had not yet begun to affect his appetite. +But then, as he explained, the cure would be all the more effective if it +were gradual, and he had plenty of time yet to climb to higher planes. + +In the early afternoon they were turning a bend in the road, when Cora +gave a sudden exclamation. + +"Look!" she cried, pointing to a little glade at the right of the road. +"There's a camp of some kind. I do believe it's gypsies!" + +"Guessed it right the first time," declared Walter. + +"That's what it is," agreed Bess. "Oh, Cora, don't you think we might +stop a few minutes? I'd dearly love to have a look at them, if you think +we can spare the time." + +"I'm not so very keen about it myself," said Cora dubiously, for as those +familiar with her previous adventures will remember, her experiences with +these picturesque vagabonds had not been devoid of unpleasantness and +danger. "But I'll see what Jack says about it, and if he thinks we have +time, I won't mind stopping." + +She hailed Jack, and, after consulting his watch, the latter agreed that +they could easily spare a half-hour or so for a visit to the gypsy camp. + +They drew their cars to the side of the road and picked their way through +the woods to the little dell where the gypsy encampment lay. + +It was a typical camp of those strange nomads in whose blood runs the +"call of the wild," and who in their mode of life are almost as far +removed from other human beings as though they lived upon another planet. + +There were perhaps a dozen vans, from which came strange smells of +cooking, amid which onion and garlic predominated. Unkempt children in +tattered clothing played with dogs that seemed to be legion, while +wrinkled and slatternly women sat on the steps of the vans or made their +way through the grounds, whining their requests to visitors to cross +their palms with silver and learn in return all that pertained to their +present and future. Swarthy men, some of them with huge ear-rings and +with sashes and turbans that reminded one of the pirates of tradition, +lay sprawled out on the grass watching the throng with eyes that were +sometimes indifferent and again sullen and smoldering. + +There were just two elements that redeemed the camp from its general +aspect of squalor and forlornness. One was the fine horses that were +scattered here and there, for the gypsy has the keenest eye for a good +animal of any trader on earth. The other was the presence of several +gypsy girls of a wild barbaric type of beauty, whose flashing eyes and +gaudy trinkets contrasted with the prevailing ugliness of their +surroundings. + +There were a large number of visitors present, due to the proximity of a +large town a mile or so away, through which the automobiles had passed +just before reaching the camp. + +"Here's the place to have your future told," said Jack. + +"Lucky they can't tell our past," remarked Walter. "What a give-away that +would be for some of us." + +"I hope you haven't any deep dark secret that would 'chill the young +blood, harrow up our souls' if it were told," laughed Cora. + +"Walter just wants to make himself interesting," gibed Bess. + +"Well, whatever I may have been, I'm all right now that you girls have +undertaken to refine me," replied Walter. + +"I'm realizing more and more what a tremendous contract it is," Cora came +back at him. "But look at that girl over there? Isn't she a beauty?" + +"She isn't hard to look at, for a fact," said Jack judicially, as his +eyes fell on the gypsy girl his sister had indicated. "I think I'll get +her to tell my fortune. I want to know whether I'm born to be hanged or +drowned." + +"It's safe to say that you're booked for a long life anyway," remarked +Paul. "Only the good die young." + +The girl had seen that the party were regarding her with interest, and +she came over to them. + +"Do you ladies want to have your fortunes told?" she asked with a winning +smile that showed two rows of beautiful white teeth. + +The girls hesitated. + +"Go ahead, girls, and show the sporting spirit," urged Jack. "You can get +the promise of a perfectly good husband for fifty cents. And that's cheap +in these days of high prices." + +"It's more than some of them are worth," laughed Belle. + +"I hope that isn't a shot at us," said Paul. "I'd be a bargain at a +dollar." + +"She must have been thinking of that Higby fellow over at Roxbury," said +Bess. "Why, what's the matter?" she asked, as the gypsy girl started +violently and turned deadly pale. + +Cora sprang to the girl's side and put her arm around her to steady her. + + + + + CHAPTER VI + A PERPLEXING PROBLEM + + +The gypsy girl regained her self-control in a moment and gently put +Cora's helping arm aside. + +"It is nothing," she said. "I just had an attack of dizziness. The heat +of the sun, perhaps." + +It was evident that this last remark was only a pretext, for a pleasant +breeze was blowing and they were standing under a great tree that shaded +them completely. + +"I hope it wasn't anything I said that startled you," said Bess +curiously. + +"How could it have been?" put in Belle incredulously. "You only referred +jokingly to that Higby fellow who nearly got away with Cora's purse when +we were shopping yesterday. I'm sure there's nothing in that to startle +anybody." + +Cora had been watching the girl intently, and at this second mention of +the young man's name she saw a swift spasm--was it of pain or fright or a +combination of both?--sweep over the girl's face. + +"Well, never mind," said Cora briskly, "if you're sure you're all right +now. Perhaps you'd better have a drink of water. Jack, suppose you go to +the car and get one of the drinking cups." + +Jack started promptly to obey, but the girl objected so strongly that he +stopped and stood irresolute. + +"No, no," she said, "please not. Only leetle deezy, but all right now," +she continued, dropping into the slipshod gypsy manner of speaking. "Let +me tell pretty ladies' fortunes." + +But just then one of the gypsy men, who had been watching the group +sharply, stepped up to the girl and spoke to her roughly in a jargon that +the girls could not understand. It was evidently a command, for the gypsy +girl turned instantly and went away, disappearing into one of the vans, +while the man, after a scowl that included all the party, sauntered away +and dropped on the grass beside some of his comrades. + +"Well, what do you think of that?" demanded Belle in amazement. + +"Just when she had a husband picked out for each of you, too," chaffed +Paul. "But cheer up, girls. We're here yet. Count on us to the last +breath. You can't lose us." + +"No such luck," retorted Bess. "But what on earth made that man act that +way?" + +"It isn't like gypsies to let good money get away from them," said Jack, +"and they must have seen from our open countenances that we were easy +marks and ready to cough up." + +"Jack," said Walter severely, "please pass up that line of chatter--I +mean, please refrain from such vulgar slang. In my unregenerate days I +could have stood for it--I mean, endured it--but since I have become +refined it hits me on the raw--I mean, it affects me painfully." + +"Oh, stop your nonsense, you boys," chided Cora. "Can't you see I'm +trying to think?" + +"Cora's trying to think!" exclaimed her irrepressible brother. "Heaven be +praised that I have lived to see this day!" + +Cora gave him a scornful glance, and Jack sagged down at the knees, +pretending to wilt. + +"Just how did that girl strike you?" asked Cora thoughtfully. + +"A peach," replied Jack promptly. + +"A pippin--I mean, she was very good looking," added Walter. + +"I'm asking the girls," said Cora witheringly. + +"She didn't seem to me like a gypsy at all," answered Bess. "And yet I +suppose of course she must be, since she's here with them." + +"Did you notice the way she spoke when she was off her guard for a +moment?" asked Belle. "She said that she had 'an attack of dizziness.' +Later on, she was a 'leetle deezy.'" + +"Her eyes were blue," remarked Cora musingly, "and that is something +unusual in a gypsy." + +"But her complexion was as dark as any of the others," objected Bess. + +"That might be accounted for by the tan from the open-air life," replied +Cora. "And then, too, it would be easy to color it artificially." + +"I didn't know girls ever did such things," interrupted Jack with a +pained expression. + +"And then too," went on Cora, unheeding, "when her sleeve fell back, I +saw that her arm was white. But what I'm trying to get at especially is +whom she looks like. She resembles some one that I've seen before, but I +can't remember who it is." + +"What do you suppose made her act so queerly when I spoke of the stealing +of your purse?" asked Bess. + +"It wasn't the robbery itself that startled her," said Cora. "It was the +name of the man, Higby. He was mentioned twice, and each time she looked +frightened." + +"I wonder if she knows him," murmured Belle. + +"He said there were lots of girls who would be glad of his company," +laughed Bess. "Perhaps she is one of them." + +"There was no liking in that look of hers," replied Cora emphatically. +"It was positive alarm." + +"If a mere man may break into this discussion," said Jack humbly, "you +fair detectives haven't yet told us why that pirate over there took the +girl away from us." + +"That's easy," interposed Walter. "He was jealous. It was my fatal gift +of beauty that worried him. The girls all fall for it--I mean, are +attracted by it." + +"Girls," asked Cora exasperatedly, "why are those long legs of Walter's +like organ grinders?" + +"Why?" asked Belle. + +"Give it up," said Bess. + +"Because," explained Cora, "they always carry a monkey about with them." + +Walter staggered back. + +"Stung!" he moaned. "Penetrated, I mean." + +"Well, don't suffer too much, poor boy," said Cora soothingly. "If it's +any comfort to you to know it, your two accomplices in crime are just as +bad. Women are the only sensible human beings anyway." + +"Are they human?" asked Walter. "I've always thought of them as angels." + +"Stop trying to square yourself," said Paul. + +"Don't knuckle down to them," Jack adjured him. + +"I must," replied Walter, "or they won't let me ride with them any more." + +"We're not going to, anyway; that is, for the rest of this afternoon," +said Cora. "I want to have the girls in the car with me where we can talk +over this thing without being interrupted." + +"Shut out from Eden," groaned Walter bitterly. "You wash your hands of +me. You cast me into outer darkness. Just when the better part of my +nature was getting uppermost, you put me back into low company. I +wouldn't have believed it of you, girls." + +"Back to the kennel, you hound!" exclaimed Paul, seizing him by the +collar. "You might have known that the girls would throw you down. They +always do, sooner or later." + +"Well, now that Lucifer as lightning has fallen from heaven," remarked +Jack, "what do you say to hustling along? The afternoon waneth and my +appetite waxeth. Dinner at Camp Kill Kare sounds awfully good to me." + +"I suppose we'll have to," assented Cora reluctantly; "but I would like +to have another glimpse of that gypsy girl first." + +"Nothing doing," said Jack. "We're only visitors here anyway, and we +haven't any right to intrude on their private affairs when they show us +so clearly they don't want us to. Ten to one it's only a mare's nest +anyway that you're stirring up, sis, about the girl. Probably she's an +honest to goodness gypsy, just like the rest of them." + +"That's what my common sense tells me," agreed Cora, "but something +outside of common sense tells me that she isn't." + +"That's the way I feel about it too," echoed Bess. + +"I too," agreed Belle. "She may have been stolen when she was a child. +That happens often enough." + +"Not so often as it used to," said Paul. "The telegraph and the telephone +make it too risky." + +"Well, how about it?" said Jack. "Are you three Graces coming along, or +do we three scapegraces have to wend our way to Camp Kill Kare alone?" + +"There she is now!" exclaimed Bess, as she caught sight of the gypsy girl +looking at them from the door of the van. + +But a wrinkled crone who was sitting on the top step of the van reached +out a skinny arm and angrily pushed the girl inside and out of sight. + +"They've evidently made up their minds that we're showing too much +interest in her, and for some reason they don't like it," sighed Cora. +"Well, come along, girls. We'll have to go. But that gypsy girl has a +history and a secret, and I'd give a good deal to find out just what they +are." + + + + + CHAPTER VII + THE MOUNTAIN CAMP + + +The Motor Girls, followed by the boys, made their way briskly back to the +cars and climbed in, Walter resuming his place with the other boys and +Belle going back to Cora and Bess. + +For some time previous to running across the gypsy camp they had been +rising higher and higher into the mountains, and now the road became +still steeper. They had to run more slowly in consequence, for although +both cars were good hill-climbers, it took a good deal of power to make +any kind of speed. Besides, as they got farther into the wilderness, the +road was rougher and more neglected. But it was just this wildness they +had come to seek, and their spirits rose with the difficulties they +encountered. + +"You go in advance, Jack," said Cora, as the road grew narrower until it +was difficult for the two cars to go side by side. "Of course, having the +faster car, I suppose we ought to show the way, but we're nothing if not +magnanimous. If your car balks we'll push you along. Besides, you have +the map." + +"Don't worry about pushing us along," retorted Jack. "Just for that, I +ought to shoot ahead out of sight and leave you to bitter regrets when +you find yourselves lost in the wilderness. But I'm too noble to treat +helpless girls that way, so you're safe for the present. But beware, +woman, of goading me too far! It's a long worm that has no turning." + +"If you're as mixed in your road directions as you are in your proverbs, +I'm afraid we won't get to Camp Kill Kare to-night," rejoined Cora. "But +go ahead now like a good boy, and think up some more bright things to +spring on us. We want to be by ourselves so that we can talk without +foolish interruptions." + +"They want to talk," muttered Jack. "What a novelty!" + +"If women talk a good deal, I notice that lots of men take after their +mothers," replied Belle, as Jack's car darted into the lead. + +"Isn't it tantalizing," said Cora to her chums, resuming their +interrupted conversation, "that I can't think just whom that gypsy girl +looks like? Don't you know how it is when you are trying to recall a word +or a line of poetry or something, and have it just on the tip of your +tongue but can't quite get it? I feel just that way about this +resemblance. I'm perfectly sure I've seen some one very much like her. +Can't you girls help me out? We're together so much, and we know the same +people. Put on your thinking caps and see if you can't give me a hint." + +"I only wish I could," replied Belle thoughtfully. "There _was_ something +a little familiar about the girl, though it didn't strike me as strongly +as it did you." + +"There was a certain look in her eyes that suggested somebody I've seen," +said Bess, "but for the life of me I can't remember who it was. But even +suppose we did remember? It wouldn't prove anything. There are lots of +people in the world who look alike and yet who haven't the slightest +relation to each other." + +"I know it," admitted Cora. "But just the same I have what the boys would +call a hunch that in this case it would give us a clue to the gypsy +girl's secret." + +"If she has any," laughed Bess. + +"Get out your crystal sphere, Sybilla, and pluck the heart from this +mystery," smiled Belle. + +"You girls can laugh if you want to," rejoined Cora, "but all the same +I'll think about this and perhaps dream about it until I recall the face +I'm groping for." + +"I shouldn't wonder if we'd have something more practical to think of +before long," remarked Belle, pointing to the sky. "Do you see those +clouds coming up there? I've been watching them for the last five minutes +and they're getting bigger and blacker all the time. I'd hate to be +caught in a thunderstorm." + +"And get into Camp Kill Kare all wet and bedraggled," added Bess. "Oh, +Cora, let's hurry!" + +"It isn't getting wet that bothers me so much," replied Cora. "We could +put up the top and keep dry enough. But a heavy storm would turn the road +into a quagmire, and goodness knows it's bad enough as it is." + +The boys ahead had seen the signs, and Jack shouted back: + +"Give her all the juice she can stand, sis! If the storm only holds off +for fifteen minutes we'll make the camp." + +His own car shot ahead, and Cora threw in the speed and kept close +behind. They could hear now faint rumblings of thunder, all the more +noticeable because of the sudden hush that had fallen over the forest, as +birds and animals and insects sensed the coming storm. + +Darker and darker it grew and faster and faster the cars sped along, as +their drivers called on the last ounce of speed they had in them. Despite +their fluttering of anxiety, the girls had a keen sense of exhilaration +in this race with the elements. Their veils whipped about their faces and +their glowing eyes and reddened cheeks showed their inward excitement. + +A jagged flash of lightning shot across the sky, followed by a deafening +peal of thunder. It was evident that the bolt had struck not far off, for +a moment later they heard the crash of a falling tree at a little +distance to the right. + +"Oh, hurry! hurry!" urged Bess and Belle. + +"Do you think I'm creeping?" Cora called back. "I can't talk to the car +and encourage it as I might a horse. You'll notice that the boys aren't +leaving us behind." + +As a matter of fact, the cars were nearly touching. + +"Keep up your pluck, girls!" Jack called back. "If this map is all right, +we'll make the camp in five minutes more." + +"If we didn't have an old tub in front of us, we'd make it in four," sang +out Cora. + +"If the rain will only hold off," murmured Belle. + +But the prospect grew ever more threatening. The peals of thunder were +redoubled and the lightning played so vividly across the sky that Bess +covered her face with her hands. + +"Suppose the car should be struck!" she exclaimed. + +"If it were, we'd probably never know it," was all the comfort her sister +could give. + +Just then there was an appalling roar, and a great tree, split from top +to bottom, swayed for a moment and then fell with a deafening crash right +across the road, about a hundred feet in front of the leading car. + +There were shrieks from the girls, and a jumble of shouts came from the +boys, as Jack brought his machine to a halt, and Cora, who had not lost +her presence of mind, did the same. + +All jumped out and ran forward. A glance told them that there was no +getting past the tree. It blocked the road completely. Nor was it +possible to get around the fallen monarch with the cars, for there was +dense undergrowth on both sides of the road. + +"No help for it, girls," announced Jack, after a hurried examination of +the conditions. "We'll have to run for it. I caught a glimpse of the +bungalow a minute ago, and it's not far from here. We'll have to leave +the cars here and come back and cut a path for them after the storm's +over." + +"But suppose they should be stolen?" objected Belle. + +"Mighty little chance of that in this neck of the woods," replied Paul. +"You notice we haven't met any one for the last two hours. We'll put up +the tops so that the inside won't get wet. And there'll be some one at +the bungalow that we can send out to guard them and keep you from +worrying about them." + +"Now we've got to make tracks for the house. Come ahead, girls!" cried +Jack, as soon as the tops had been put up. + +Each of the boys took charge of one of the girls, and they skirted the +tree, pushing their way through the underbrush till they reached the road +on the other side. + +The outdoor life of the Motor Girls had made them fleet and strong, and +although of course with their clinging skirts they could not keep up with +the boys, the latter accommodated their pace to theirs, and they came in +sight of the bungalow in a few minutes. + +But the rain was coming, too, and it was a pretty race. They could see it +being driven before the wind in great gusts, and they felt the pattering +of the advance drops. And just as they gained the shelter of the bungalow +porch, the rain came down in torrents. + +Their coming had been seen from the house, and Aunt Betty King came +running out to meet them. + +"You darlings!" she cried, as she tried to gather all the girls at once +into her arms, and kissed them in turn. "How glad I am to see you! I've +been watching for you for the last two hours and was beginning to worry +for fear you wouldn't get here before dark. And how lucky you were to get +here ahead of the storm. But how on earth did you come?" + +"We ran here all the way from Chelton," said Jack with a sober face. "How +is that for Marathon work?" + +"Don't pay any attention to that fibber," laughed Cora. "You know what +Jack is. Our cars are standing a little way down the road. The lightning +struck a tree and it fell so that it blocked the path. So we had to make +the rest of the way on foot." + +"You poor dears!" exclaimed Aunt Betty with ready sympathy. "But come +right in now and get rested. You must be awfully tired after your long +journey, and you're all out of breath from running so hard. And you boys, +too. Your rooms are all ready for you and supper will be ready in a few +minutes." + +She led the way inside, followed by the flushed and panting travelers, +glad that the end of their journey found them safely housed at Camp Kill +Kare. + +The bungalow was a strongly built and capacious one. It had only two +stories, but was very wide and deep. It stood on a high point in the +Adirondack Mountains, with a view that stretched for many miles in all +directions. There was a large cleared space about the building, but one +had only to go a few rods away to find himself in a genuine wilderness. + +The bungalow belonged to a relative of Mrs. Kimball. Usually the owner +occupied it himself during the summer months; but this year he was on a +trip to India, hunting for big game, and he had placed the camp at Mrs. +Kimball's disposal, with a cordial invitation to occupy it and make use +of all the facilities it afforded for enjoyment. + +As Cora's mother could not accompany the young folks, the question of a +suitable chaperon had given her some concern. But this had been solved by +securing the consent of Aunt Betty to undertake that responsibility. + +Mrs. King was not really Cora's aunt, being a second cousin of Mrs. +Kimball. But everybody called her by the comfortable and affectionate +title of Aunt Betty, and she was a great favorite in the Kimball home, +which she frequently visited. She was a widow without children, and she +welcomed the opportunity of mothering this lively brood of young people. + +The main floor of the bungalow was divided into two parts by the long +hall that ran from front to back. On the right was a large living room +and library combined. Off from this was a music room, and the girls gave +little cries of delight as they saw a handsome baby grand piano through +the portieres. + +On the left of the hall was the dining room, which appealed more strongly +to the boys than the music room, and back of this was the kitchen, from +which savory odors were wafted to their olfactory organs. + +Up the broad stairs Aunt Betty led the way, and pointed out to the +various members of the party the rooms they were to occupy. Those of the +girls were on the south side of the house, while the boys' quarters faced +the north. Trunks had been sent on before and were in the rooms. + +"What perfectly darling rooms!" cried Cora, as the delighted girls let +their eyes roam over the two connecting rooms that had been assigned to +them. + +"That's all right!" shouted Jack from across the hall, "but don't forget +that there's a perfectly darling little dining room downstairs, and I'm +honing to make its acquaintance." + +"Don't worry," flung back Belle. "We'll be ready to go down as soon as +you are." + +"Ha, ha!" cried Jack. "Listen to my low, mirthless laugh." + + + + + CHAPTER VIII + FUN IN THE OPEN + + +Jack's sardonic laugh seemed to be justified, for the boys had been below +stairs for several minutes before the girls came trooping down. + +"One more proof that I'm never mistaken," Jack remarked, as he shook his +head sadly at the laughing bevy. + +"You boys haven't so much to do as we girls have," said Belle, making a +little face at him. + +"We haven't, eh?" replied Walter. "I lost all my hair-pins in that mad +sprint for the house." + +"And the rain took my hair out of curl," added Paul. + +"And I had the greatest hunt before I found my box of powder!" said Jack +in a high falsetto. + +Just then Mrs. King came in from the kitchen, where she had been +supervising the preparations for dinner. + +"Come right along now and take your places at the table," she beamed. + +"Table is my middle name!" exclaimed Jack, as he led the way, followed by +the others. + +It was a sumptuous meal that Aunt Betty had prepared, and with their +appetites sharpened by their long ride, the travelers did it full +justice. And the warmth and good cheer of the cozy dining room were +emphasized by contrast with the rain that beat upon the windows. + +"A regular flood," commented Jack. + +"Noah would have felt at home in that," said Bess. + +"That reminds me," interposed Paul. "Noah was supposed to take two +specimens of every kind of animal when he went into the Ark. But there +was one species he overlooked." + +"What was that?" asked Cora. + +"Rats," replied Paul. + +"How do you make that out?" inquired Belle. + +"Why," Paul answered, "he had been sailing forty days before he saw ary +rat." + +There was a moment of stunned silence. + +"Ararat!" Cora at length exclaimed. "Paul, how could you inflict that on +us?" + +"You ought to be shot at sunrise," said Bess. + +"Now you see, Aunt Betty, what we've had to stand on our journey up +here," moaned Cora. + +"I must say you seem to have thrived on it," smiled Aunt Betty, looking +at the rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes of the girls. + +"Good for Aunt Betty!" cried Walter. "She appreciates us! You girls will +too, when you've seen a little more of men and realize how we stand out +from the common herd." + +"Who was that woman," asked Bess, turning to Cora, "who said that the +more she saw of men the more fond she grew of dogs?" + +"Poor, misguided female," said Paul pityingly. "I suppose she was an +inmate of a lunatic asylum." + +"More to be pitied than censured," added Jack. + +By this time they had reached dessert, and when they had finished, Aunt +Betty proposed an adjournment to the porch. + +"It's perfectly dry and snug out here," she said, "and I think the rain +will be over soon anyway. When it rains so hard up here it doesn't last +very long. But you girls had better get some wraps, for even though it is +August, the nights are rather cool, especially after a storm." + +There was an abundance of big, comfortable chairs on the porch, and they +grouped them into a semi-circle and sat laughing and talking, on the best +of terms with themselves and the world. + +"That was rather a narrow escape we had this afternoon," remarked Bess. +"If we had been a hundred feet further on the road than we were, that +tree would have come down plump on top of us." + +"A miss is as good as a mile," returned Jack lightly. + +"By the way, I suppose those poor old cars of ours are getting a thorough +soaking," observed Cora. "What are you going to do about them, boys? It +doesn't seem to me that we ought to let them stay there all night." + +"I guess it's up to us fellows to take a turn down there and look them +over," answered Jack. "The fact is that I've had such a good dinner that +I feel too lazy to move. But far be it from me to resist the plain call +of duty." + +"What's the matter with us girls going along with you?" asked Bess. + +Aunt Betty looked aghast. + +"What, in all this mud and rain?" she protested. + +"You forget that we Motor Girls are used to being out in all kinds of +weather," laughed Cora. "But we'll promise to wrap up well if you let us +go. It's lucky that our trunks were sent on up here ahead of us, so that +we have our rubbers and raincoats all ready to get into. Besides, it's +practically stopped raining now." + +Aunt Betty was very easily won over. + +"I'll send Joel, the stableman, along with a lantern," she said. "He +knows the woods like a book by night or day. Then, too, he's as strong as +an ox, and he can help to get the cars out of the fix." + +"And we'll take a couple of axes along," said Jack. "I have an idea some +tall chopping will have to be done before we get the cars where they +belong." + +The girls went up to get their raincoats and overshoes, while the boys +got their hats and hunted up Joel. + +He was a tall, gaunt backwoodsman, who in his earlier days had been a +guide in the Adirondack region. But periodic attacks of rheumatism had +made it difficult for him to continue his calling, and he had become the +man of all work at Kill Kare Camp. He knew the forest thoroughly and had +an intimate acquaintance with the habits of every creature that had fur, +fin or feather. + +Despite his somewhat advanced years, he was still a powerful man, and his +strength was equaled by his good-nature and reliability. + +The boys liked him at once, and he on his part was very friendly and +cordial. + +"So you've got a couple o' them buzz wagons stalled there," he said. +"Never rode in one in my life, but the pesky things suttinly have it all +over a hoss when it comes to git up and git." + +"You've got a treat waiting for you, then, Joel," laughed Jack. "Some day +we'll take you riding, and you'll go so fast you'll have to hold on to +your hair to keep it from being blown off." + +"I ain't prezactly pinin' fur no sich speed as that," said Joel. "I sh'd +think them gals w'u'd be skeered to death to ride in one uv them." + +"They drive them as well as ride in them," returned Jack. "My sister can +handle one of them as well as any man can. You ought to have seen the +race she gave me yesterday." + +"Ye don't say so!" replied Joel, and it was evident that his respect for +the feminine members of the party had gone up several degrees. + +They were soon equipped with a lantern and three axes. In addition, Joel +took along some sticks of resinous wood to serve as torches, and they +came around to the front porch, where they found the girls impatiently +waiting for them. + +All started out in high spirits, Joel leading the way. The road was +muddy, but they found fairly good footing on the turf that bordered it. +The rain had now entirely ceased. + +It was not long before they reached the fallen tree, and they found the +cars standing where they had left them. + +"Ye needn't hev bin much skeered," grinned Joel. "There ain't many folks +come along this way, an' them that do is giner'lly honest. It's only when +the gypsies come round thet we hev to keep a tight grip on things, +specially hosses. Them gypsies suttinly is light-fingered, an' they kin +beat a weasel in gittin' into places where they ain't got no business to +be." + +"We saw a camp of them to-day," said Cora, in whom the word "gypsy" just +now woke an instant response. + +"Is thet so?" asked Joel in surprise. "Then they're probably headed up +this way. I heven't seen 'em around these diggin's fur sev'ral years now, +and I wuz hopin' I'd never see their ugly faces ag'in." + +"I'd like to see Joel go to the mat with that pirate that took the girl +away from us to-day," grinned Jack. + +"It would be some scrap," agreed Walter, as he took in the brawn and bulk +of the backwoodsman. "I'd bet on Joel unless the other fellow used a +knife." + +In order to see more clearly what they were doing, the torches were +lighted and placed where they would do the most good. Then Joel surveyed +the scene of action. + +"There's jist one thing to do," he finally announced, "an' thet is to cut +through this tree an' git it off uv the road. It might be a leetle bit +easier to git the cars around through the brush, but the tree can't be +let to stay there blockin' up the road, an' I might ez well git it out of +the way fust ez last." + +He took off his corduroy jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt, +showing the mighty biceps beneath. + +"You're not going to do it all alone," protested Jack. "Let us help. +There are two axes besides yours." + +"Why," said Joel a little dubiously, "you boys ain't used to this kind uv +work, an' I'm afraid it'll use ye up too much. It ain't only the +strength, but there's a knack about usin' a woodsman's ax thet it takes +time to git on to. Still, ye kin try it fur a while if ye want to." + +Jack and Paul took off their coats, while the girls, who were perched +like so many birds in Jack's car, clapped their hands in mock applause. + +"Behold the gallant foresters," sang out Belle. + + "'Woodman, spare that tree, + Touch not a single bough!'" + +quoted Bess. + + "To-day it threatened me, + I've no use for it now," + +improvised Cora. + +"Listen to the trilling of the merry songsters," said Jack, with +impressive sarcasm. "They toil not, neither do they spin. They mock and +fleer at us sons of honest toil. They----" + +"Get to work, Jack," Cora interrupted him heartlessly. "I love to see you +work. It's so unusual. Joel will have the trunk cut through before you +boys get started." + +Thus adjured, Jack and Paul started in with a right good will, each +attacking the trunk at a distance of about ten feet on either side of +Joel. + +Both boys were strong and sturdy, and they worked the more vigorously +because they were under the appraising eyes of the girls. But their work +was nothing compared with Joel's. Nowhere could there have been found a +more striking illustration of the advantages of the professional over the +amateur. + +Joel's work was the very poetry of motion. Back and forth his flashing ax +swung tirelessly, biting with resistless force into the very heart of the +tree, and in a surprisingly short time he had cut the trunk entirely +through. + +Walter took his turn with the other boys and did valiant execution. But +all were soon winded with their unusual exertions, and were forced to +rest, while the perspiration poured down their faces in streams. + +"This has got it all over a Turkish bath," muttered Jack. + +"I'll bet I've lost five pounds in as many minutes," growled Paul. + +"There's an idea for you, Bess," said her sister mischievously. "Talk +about reducing. You'd be a sylph in half an hour." + +"I'd be a corpse, you mean," responded Bess. "No, thank you. I'll take my +reducing in homeopathic doses." + +Joel at this point insisted on finishing the job. He had not turned a +hair in his previous exertions, and he seemed as fresh as ever when the +work was completely done. + +"Now how are we going to get the logs off the road?" asked Jack. + +"What's the matter with making the car do its share of the work?" asked +Cora. "We'll fasten a rope to each one of the logs and with you men +guiding them we can drag them to one side of the road." + +The plan met with instant approval and in a very few minutes the road was +clear. + +"Good idea, sis," said Jack approvingly. "Now we'll bundle these tools +into the cars and go to Camp Kill Kare in style." + + + + + CHAPTER IX + THE "WATER SPRITE" + + +The next morning dawned clear and beautiful. The storm of the day before +had washed the dust from plants and trees, and seemed to have washed the +very air itself, for it was as clear as crystal and had a tonic quality +that set the blood to dancing. + +Cora had awakened early and stolen to her window, where she sat entranced +by the beauty of the view. But she was not allowed to enjoy it long, for +there came a thundering knock on the door that made her jump. + +"Come along, you sleepyheads!" sounded Jack's voice from outside. "It's +too fine a morning to waste it in sleep." + +"Let us now be up and doing!" chanted Walter. + +"The day is one to stir the sluggard blood!" added Paul. + +"You boys just trot along," sang out Cora defiantly. "We're going to take +our time." + +"You always do," retorted Jack. "If time were money you girls would be +millionaires." + +"Let them rave," remarked Belle, as she opened her sleepy eyes. + +"I'm going to have another forty winks," said Bess, as she turned over on +her pillow. + +"No, you're not!" declared Cora, as the boys went clattering down the +stairs. "It's a perfectly gorgeous day, girls, and it's simply a crime to +waste it in bed. The view from these windows is enough to make you gasp. +Besides, we don't want to keep breakfast waiting." + +Bess still protested, but yielded to the laughing threat of being dragged +from bed if she did not get up of her own accord, and the girls hurried +with their dressing. + +They found the boys already at the table, making huge inroads on the +food. + +"You see we're waiting for you," remarked Jack, as he passed his plate +for another helping of bacon and eggs. + +"Yes," replied Cora, "I see you are." + +"You're a gallant lot!" reproached Belle. + +"We didn't think you'd get up till noon," defended Walter. + +"Besides," added Paul, "we've heard of something that makes us want to +hustle." + +"What is that?" asked Bess with lively interest, as the girls took their +seats. + +"Aunt Betty tells us that there is an old motor boat down on the lake," +replied Jack. "It hasn't been used much for the last two or three years, +and it's probably a good deal out of repair. We thought we might be able +to tinker it up and take you girls out for a sail on the lake." + +"You see, we're always thinking of how we can give you girls a good +time," observed Paul. + +"Of course you weren't expecting to have a good time yourselves," mocked +Cora. + +"I didn't know that there was a lake so close at hand," said Belle +delightedly. + +"Hadn't I told you about it?" said Cora. "We've had so much to talk about +that I must have omitted that from my description. But there is a +beautiful mountain lake not more than five minutes' walk from here. I +didn't know that there was a motor boat anywhere round, though. I'm wild +to have a look at it." + +"Don't spend too long a time at the table then," admonished Jack. + +"That's pretty good, coming from you," countered Belle. "But don't worry. +You boys live to eat, while we eat to live." + +"None of you seems to be wasting away," retorted Jack. "But hurry along +now and all will be forgiven. We fellows have got to go out and see if +Joel has the tools we'll need for tinkering up the boat." + +They excused themselves and went out, while the girls, who were all agog +with the new pleasure promised them, hurried through their meal and were +ready for the trip when the boys returned. + +A few minutes of brisk walking brought them to the borders of a lake +whose blue waters shimmered in the morning sun. An exclamation of delight +broke from them as they gazed upon its beauty. + +The lake stretched for about four miles in one direction and was perhaps +a mile and a half in width. Near the center of it they could see a small +island that appeared to be heavily wooded. + +Not far from where they were standing was a small boathouse with a pier +projecting into the lake. Near the end of the little dock a motor boat +was moored. + +"There's the boat!" cried Jack, and they all made a rush for it. + +"The _Water Sprite_," read Cora from the partly effaced letters on the +stern. + +"It has good enough lines," said Walter, as he ran his eyes over the +boat, "but it seems as though it had been pretty well neglected." + +"The owner never used it much," explained Jack. "He didn't care much for +the water, and when he was here spent most of his time in hunting on +land." + +"Looks pretty much like junk to me," admitted Paul, as he took in the +dilapidated appearance of the boat. + +The others could not help agreeing that Paul's criticism seemed +justified. + +"Doesn't look as though she'd be worth taking much trouble for, does +she?" remarked Jack doubtfully. + +"Well, you wouldn't say that she'd just come from a motor-boat show," +observed Paul; "but just the same she may be a well made boat and capable +of speed too if she's put in decent condition. Of course she looks like a +total loss now, but it's wonderful what a little work will do. Let's take +a look at the engine anyway." + +They boarded the little craft and removed a tarpaulin that had been +spread over the engine. The boys then proceeded to give the latter a +thorough inspection, first, however, bailing out the water that had +collected in the bottom of the boat. + +"Say, fellows!" exclaimed Jack, as his eyes lit on the manufacturer's +name plate, "this is a good little motor, no doubt of that. You know that +any engine these people put out is bound to be first class, don't you?" + +"That's true enough," agreed Paul, "but the best engine ever built can be +ruined by carelessness and neglect." + +"Yes," assented Walter, "but there may not be so much the matter with +this chugger after all. First thing to do is to turn the old engine over +and see how it sounds." He had already put in some oil and gasoline. + +"A fine idea," panted Jack after applying all his strength to the +flywheel without result. "The trouble is that it won't turn at all." + +"Here," said Walter, taking it from his hand, "let me try. Only you +mustn't mind if I pull the whole engine out of the boat. I'm mighty apt +to if I really let myself go, you know." + +"Listen to Samson talking!" gibed Cora. + +"Go ahead," said Jack. "Look out for flying splinters, Paul. Sampson is +going to tear things wide open." + +"He's mighty strong," mocked Paul. "He doesn't ask you to prove it. He +admits it." + +There were no flying splinters, however, for in spite of all Walter's +exertions, the engine remained immovable. + +"Well, that proves that she's a good solid boat to stand the strain," +grinned Walter, at last giving over the attempt. + + "The muscles of his brawny arms + Are strong as iron bands," + +jeered Cora. + +"Guess there's nothing to do," continued Walter, "but take the engine +down and see what's wrong. It feels as though the parts had grown +together." + +"Must be if you couldn't move it," said Jack scathingly. "But let's get +busy, fellows. I suppose the first thing to do is to get the cylinders +off." + +They fell to with a will, and soon had the smaller fittings dismounted. +The motor was of the two-cylinder, two-cycle type, and according to the +makers' plate was rated at six horse power. The exterior was in fairly +good condition, only a few patches of rust showing here and there where +the paint had been chipped off, leaving the metal exposed. + +With some difficulty, the boys got the cylinders off. As they removed the +front one, Jack gave a long whistle. + +"I'll bet there's the cause of the trouble," he said, pointing to the +front cylinder. + +The others examined it and Paul remarked: + +"Guess it's a case of broken piston ring, eh, Jack?" + +"No doubt of it," was the response. + +And indeed this would have been plain even to the most inexperienced eye. +One of the grooves cut in the piston to receive a compression ring was +packed with broken bits of metal and metallic dust, many of the fragments +having actually been reduced to powder. + +"That's a bad job," remarked Walter, shaking his head. "I wonder if the +cylinder itself is damaged much." + +"Easy to find out," said Jack. "Let's have a look." + +They were relieved to find that the cylinder was very little scored, +considering the condition of the piston. + +"Looks to me as if a new set of piston rings would be necessary," judged +Paul. + +"That's what," replied Jack. "But it would probably take a week to get +them from the manufacturers." + +Cora gave a little exclamation of dismay. + +"And wait all that time before we can have a ride in the _Water Sprite_?" +she asked. + +"Unless you can wave a magic wand and make the pistons come running," +said Jack. + +"I'm going to rummage through these lockers," declared Cora, jumping up +and going into the little cabin. "Perhaps there are some spare parts on +hand." + +A moment later she gave an exclamation of triumph. + +"Here they are!" she cried, holding up a pair of the much desired rings. + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" exclaimed Bess. + +"Takes a woman to do things," said Belle in a superior way. + +The boys looked a little sheepish, but at the same time delighted. + +"She's a fairy all right," conceded Walter. + +"You're the real thing, sis," beamed Jack, as he held out his hand for +the rings. "And now for the dirty work." + +They adjusted the rings and overhauled the rest of the engine, which +proved to be in fairly good condition. There were no radical defects, and +by dint of hard work they soon had the entire machinery in what seemed to +be good working order. + +"There," panted Jack, as he straightened up, "I guess we're some little +machinists, all right." + +"We ought to be able to get a union card," said Walter. + +"Toil has no terror for us!" declared Paul, striking an attitude. + +"Those boys just hate themselves, don't they?" laughed Bess. + +"They've worked pretty hard--for them," admitted Cora. "And as a special +reward, boys," she added generously, "we'll let you take us for our first +ride in the _Water Sprite_ this afternoon." + + + + + CHAPTER X + SPRINGING A LEAK + + +"You do us too much honor," said Paul, making a low bow in his best +Chesterfieldian manner. + +"I know that perfectly well," replied Cora; "but I happen to feel in a +condescending mood." + +"Good gracious, girls!" exclaimed Belle, consulting her watch, "do you +know that it's nearly twelve o'clock? We've been working here all the +morning." + +"_We've_ been working!" repeated Jack with marked emphasis. "I can see +that you're all out of breath." + +"'Those also serve who only stand and wait.'" + +"That's the kind of job I'd like," said Walter, wiping the perspiration +from his face. + +"No chance," opined Paul. "The girls have got in ahead of us." + +"Well, I notice you wouldn't have been very far ahead if Cora hadn't +found those rings," retorted Bess. + +"You boys are well enough where only muscle is concerned," said Belle +patronizingly, "but when it comes to a matter of brains you're not in the +same class with us." + +They hurried back to the house, where they found a substantial meal ready +for them. Then the girls put on their boating togs, and they started out +to try the sailing qualities of the rejuvenated _Water Sprite_. + +The boys cast off the moorings, and Cora, who could run a boat as well as +any one, took her place at the wheel. Jack stayed near the engine, where +he could keep an eye on its workings, and the rest disposed themselves +wherever they could be most comfortable. + +There was hardly any wind blowing and the water was scarcely stirred by a +ripple. It was an ideal day for boating and they were prepared to enjoy +it to the full. + +The boat darted away from the dock as though it shared the jubilant +spirits of the party, and Jack observed with great satisfaction that the +engine was chugging away without missing a beat. + +"She's working like a dream," he announced. + +"And look at the way she minds the wheel," said Cora. "She yields to the +slightest touch. It's no trouble at all to handle her." + +"That's where she differs from most members of the fair sex," hazarded +Walter. + +"And see how fast she's going," said Bess, ignoring the gibe. "We're half +a mile from shore already." + +"Let's hug the shore and go all the way around the lake. We may be able +to pick out some splendid spots to go picnicking in." + +"And on the way back let's land on the island," suggested Bess. "I wonder +if anybody lives there." + +"Joel told me that there was a man who had a cabin over there and comes +up here almost every summer," replied Jack. "He lives all alone, and +spends his time in collecting plants and flowers. Joel can't understand +that. Thinks he's a bug. I suppose he's a botanist or something of the +kind." + +"Well, he ought to have plenty of chances on that island," remarked Cora +as her eye took in the luxuriant verdure of the place. + +"Perhaps he wouldn't care to have us break in upon him," observed Belle. +"He may be of the crank or hermit type." + +"Or a woman-hater," laughed Bess. + +"If he is, you'll cure him," declared Walter gallantly. + +"I guess he won't object," said Paul. "Anyway, he doesn't own the island. +He just camps out on it, and we have as much right there as he has." + +They had quickly reached the further end of the lake, and kept up a +running fire of delighted exclamations at the beauties that nature had +flung about this favored place with reckless prodigality. + +"If a painter could only put it on canvas," sighed Cora. + +"He never could!" exclaimed Belle. "The best he could do would be a poor +imitation." + +Suddenly Bess drew up her foot. + +"Oh," she exclaimed, "my foot is soaking wet!" + +Jack looked at the bottom of the boat. + +"It's a little water that's seeped in," he remarked. "We'll get the +bailer from the cabin locker and throw it out." + +Walter bestirred himself and got the bailer. But after he had used it for +a minute, a puzzled look came into his face. + +"It's coming in faster than I can get it out," he said. + +Belle uttered a little cry, and Bess became a trifle pale. + +The other boys crowded around Walter. + +"It is coming in pretty fast for a fact," muttered Paul. + +"We'll all have to get at it," said Jack soberly. + +There was only one bailer in the boat, and there was nothing else in the +shape of a can or pail. + +"Take off your sweaters," said Jack to the boys. "Soak up the water and +wring them out over the side of the boat. Lively now!" + +A moment more and the boys were working like beavers. + +"It must have been the straining of the engine," explained Jack. "It's +started a board in the old tub. Work like the mischief, boys!" + +Bess and Belle were huddled together in alarm, but they said nothing to +betray the panic that was growing upon them. + +Cora's lips were pressed a little more tightly together and her cheeks +were a trifle pale. But her eyes were glowing like stars, and were full +of courage and determination. + +She gave the wheel a turn and headed straight for the island, which was +the nearest land. + +The water continued to gain, and as the boat settled a trifle in +consequence of the added weight, its progress was necessarily slower. + +The boys were working frantically. Bess and Belle would have gladly +helped, but in the narrow limits of the boat they would only have been in +the way. + +The open space in the bottom of the boat was yawning now. Jack doubled up +his sweater and thrust it into the opening, while the others continued to +bail. + +Still the water gained, and the boat was perceptibly settling. But they +were near the island now, and Cora turned the bow toward a low, shelving +part. + +A moment more and, with a sensation of infinite relief, they felt the bow +slide into the mud of the bottom. Jack leaped to the engine and stopped +its chugging. Then all took a long breath and looked at each other. + +The faces of the boys were white and in the eyes of the girls there was +more than a suspicion of anxiety. + +"Land ho!" exclaimed Jack, giving his sister a hug. + +"Castaways!" cried Paul dramatically. + +"But not on a desert island, thank heaven!" said Bess. + +"But how are we to get on shore without getting wet?" queried Belle, a +lesser anxiety seizing her, now that the greater one was dispelled. + +"Can you ask that," said Walter reproachfully, "when there are three +husky sailors here who ask nothing better than to carry you to the +shore?" + +"It's only a foot deep near the bow," declared Jack. "Over we go, boys," +and he set the example, that was instantly followed by his comrades. + +Each took one of the girls and landed her safely on the shore. With the +exception of Bess' wet feet, the girls were almost as fresh and unruffled +as ever, but the boys with their dripping trousers clinging closely round +them presented a comical picture. + +"That's right, laugh at us!" said Walter, as the girls looked at them +with mirth in their eyes. "Here we risk our lives for you and that's all +the reward we get. Suppose a shark had bitten us when we were wading to +the shore with our cargo of beauty. Suppose----" + +But his diatribe was interrupted by the appearance of a man who stepped +from the trees that came down near to the water's edge. + +He looked at the party with a whimsical smile. + +"Why, it's Mr. Morley!" + +"So it is," echoed Bess and Belle. + +"The very same," smiled the newcomer. "And you are the young ladies that +came to my help the other day when I ran my car into a tree. Who would +have supposed that we would meet again so soon and under such different +circumstances?" + +He shook hands heartily with the girls, and then was introduced to the +boys. + +"You've had something like a shipwreck, I see," he said, as he looked at +the boat. + +"Nothing very serious," replied Jack. "Although it might have been, if +we'd had much farther to go to reach shore." + +"It's too bad," returned Mr. Morley. "However, I'm very glad it wasn't +worse. But come up to my cabin. It's only a little way from here. You can +build a fire outside and stand about it until your clothes are dry. I +live rather simply here, but I can offer you some refreshments. After +that, we'll see what we can do toward patching up your boat." + +He led the way, chatting with Cora, and the rest followed. A few minutes' +walk brought them to the cabin. It was a small, one-story structure, with +three rooms. One served as a living room, dining room and kitchen +combined, while the others consisted of a sleeping room and a room where +Mr. Morley kept his specimens. + +"'A poor place, but mine own,'" quoted their host, with a smile. "I spend +most of my summers here looking for specimens. The rest of the year I +teach botany in a college. Now I'm going to bring out some cakes and tea +and put the young ladies in charge, and we'll have a regular afternoon +tea." + +While the girls fluttered about inside, preparing the refreshments, Mr. +Morley and the boys built a fire a little way from the door, and in a +little while the youths were dry and comfortable again. + +It was a gay party that a little later sat around the table where the +girls had spread the refreshments. Mr. Morley seemed genuinely glad to +have them with him, and the boys and girls were in the highest spirits. +What might have been a disaster had developed into a lark. + +While the girls were clearing up the things later, their host went down +with the boys to the boat. + +He had brought along some boards and oakum, together with necessary +tools. His own rowboat enabled them to board the _Water Sprite_ without +getting another wetting. Once there, the boys took off their shoes, +rolled their trousers to the knees and set to work. In less than an hour +they had repaired the damage. Then they bailed out the water and watched +anxiously to see if any more came in. + +But their anxiety was needless. The work had been well done, and the boat +floated high and dry on the water. + + + + + CHAPTER XI + CORA MAKES A DISCOVERY + + +The boys, followed by Mr. Morley, retraced their steps to the cabin and +told the good news. + +"And now," said Cora, "I suppose we must go. It was awfully good of you, +Mr. Morley, to take us shipwrecked travelers in and treat us so nicely." + +The others echoed this sentiment, but Mr. Morley put in a vehement +disclaimer. + +"It's nothing compared to what you did for me the other day," he +declared. "And I can't tell you how much good it has done me to have you +young people here. It's a long time since I've had youth in my home. But +that's my own fault. I drove it----" + +He brought himself up with a sharp turn. + +"Perhaps you'd like to take a look at my specimens before you go," he +remarked tentatively. + +"We'd dearly love to," replied Cora. + +Mr. Morley led the way into the specimen room. + +"Just now I'm making a collection of vampires," he remarked. + +"No accounting for tastes," whispered Walter to Paul, in a voice too low +to be heard by their host. + +"Do you keep them in a cage?" asked Jack. + +Mr. Morley looked up in surprise. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. + +"Why," replied Jack, "you spoke of vampires, and I thought you meant +vampire bats. They're the only kind of vampires I know anything about." + +"I was referring to the plant this leaf was taken from," smiled their +host, as he held it up for them to see. + +It was a long, rounded leaf that seemed to be covered with tiny hairs, on +which glistened something that resembled honey and gave forth a fragrant +odor. On looking more closely they saw what appeared to be fragments of +small insects. + +"We call it the sun-dew," explained Mr. Morley. "It's common enough, and +you've seen it in the fields many a time. But instead of living on +elements drawn from the soil, it feeds on flies and other insects. They +are attracted by the honey that it spreads out temptingly to bring them +within its reach. But as soon as they light on it, the leaf tightens +around them and crushes them to death. Then it eats them at leisure. +That's why it's called a 'vampire.'" + +"But," objected Cora, "any one would think from that that the plant had +intelligence and knew just what it was doing, just as an animal does when +it hunts for prey." + +"Exactly," agreed Mr. Morley. "Who are we to say that plants don't have +intelligence? What proof is there in nature that they don't suffer and +enjoy, feel and plan, as men and animals do, only on a lower plane? We +humans are too conceited. We assume that we possess intelligence almost +exclusively. We grant some to animals, though we slur even that by +calling it only instinct. But we've been inclined to deny it altogether +to plants. + +"Now I don't agree with this at all. And there are lots more of the newer +school of naturalists who feel just as I do about it. Wherever there is +life there is intelligence. Plants can be cunning and patient and cruel +and deceitful. If they can't get enough of one kind of food, they hunt +for another. When men and animals do these things or show these +qualities, we admit that it is the result of thought. What is it, then, +that makes a plant do precisely similar things with similar ends in view? + +"But there," he interrupted himself with a smile, "one might almost think +that I was in my lecture room, talking to a class! It's a hobby of mine, +and I forget sometimes that others may not be so interested in it as I +am." + +"But we _are_ interested, keenly interested," protested Cora. + +"I never thought of plants in that way before," declared Bess. + +"It's opened up an entirely new way of looking at things," said Paul. + +"Are there many kinds of vampire plants?" asked Belle. + +"Lots of them," replied Mr. Morley. "And they use all kinds of +devices--hooks, claws, poison, honey, snares and shocks." + +"Desperate characters," whispered Walter to Jack. + +"Worse than gunmen," murmured Jack. + +"There, for instance," continued their host, "is the 'devil's snare' that +is found in South America. It has long, snaky tentacles that sweep the +ground for many yards in every direction, for all the world like the long +suckers of the devil-fish. It gobbles up anything that comes within its +reach, insects, mice and larger animals. Once it gets its deadly grip on +a victim, it keeps on tightening and tightening until it chokes the life +out of it. It has been known to grasp and kill a good-sized dog." + +"The horrid thing!" exclaimed Bess with a little shudder. + +"The S. P. C. A. ought to get after it," laughed Walter. + +"There are plants, too," continued their mentor, "that show intelligence +by the way they adapt themselves to changed conditions. The bladderwort, +for example, used to live on insects. Perhaps it got a hint somewhere +that it could do better on water than on land. At any rate, it became a +water plant. It lies just under the surface and imitates the wide-open +mouth of a mother fish. The little minnows swim into it to avoid their +enemies and as soon as they're well inside, the mouth closes and the +plant regales itself with a fish dinner. + +"Then there are the cannibal plants. There are hundreds of trees that +have the life juices sucked from them by the parasitic plants that twine +around them until they give up the ghost." + +"Just as the trusts do to the common people," observed Jack. + +"Well," said Cora, drawing a long breath, "I've always known that nature +was cruel, but I've never connected that idea with plants." + +"Cruel everywhere," assented Mr. Morley, "from man, creation's crown, to +plants, creation's base." + +They looked with a new interest and a heightened respect at the other +specimens he showed, and the time passed so quickly that they were +startled, on glancing out of doors, to see how rapidly dusk was coming +on. + +"When I get to mooning along on my pet theories, I never know when to +stop," said Mr. Morley apologetically. + +"It's been a real treat to listen to you, Mr. Morley," said Cora with her +winning smile. + +"Truth is not only stranger but more interesting than fiction," smiled +Belle. + +They separated with cordial good wishes and a hearty invitation to Mr. +Morley to visit them at Camp Kill Kare. He stood at the cabin door, +watching them as they hurried down to their boat. + +"This is the end of a perfect day," sang Bess gaily, as they stepped on +board the _Water Sprite_, which the boys had brought around to the little +dock at which Mr. Morley's rowboat was tied. + +"It certainly has been a crowded one," said Belle. + +"Isn't Mr. Morley an unusual man?" asked Cora. "I'm more and more +convinced that there's a mystery about him." + +"He's a fine chap," said Jack, "but I didn't notice anything especially +mysterious about him." + +"That's because you're a man," said Cora. + +"I can't help belonging to that despised sex, can I?" inquired Jack in an +injured tone. + +"I suppose it's your misfortune rather than your fault," dimpled Bess. + +"What do you suppose he meant when he said 'I drove it,' and then stopped +so suddenly?" asked Belle thoughtfully. + +"Probably thinking of his car when he drove it into a tree," remarked +Jack flippantly. + +If he had not been hardened, he would have succumbed before the +exasperated glare of three pairs of girlish eyes. + +"Better get in out of the wet, Jack," counseled Paul. + +"Come over here and I'll protect you with my life," adjured Walter. + +"Don't pay any attention to those idiots, girls," advised Cora. "We'll +wait until we get by ourselves and can talk sense without being +interrupted." + +The _Water Sprite_, as though repenting of its lapses that afternoon, was +now on its good behavior, and she kept "dry as a bone" on the short +passage from the island. + +They found Mrs. King a little worried at their late coming, and she threw +up her hands at the story of their narrow escape from sinking. + +"You've had a lively brood wished on you, Aunt Betty," laughed Cora, as +she threw her arm affectionately around her aunt's waist. + +"I can see that already," was the reply. "My only comfort is that you +girls seem to bear a charmed life." + +"Call it 'charming,'" said Walter gallantly, "and we boys will agree with +you." + +They had some music after dinner, but as all were tired from their +strenuous day they went to their rooms early. + +"Girls," exclaimed Cora, as soon as they were alone, "I've found out whom +that gypsy girl resembles! It's Mr. Morley!" + + + + + CHAPTER XII + AN UGLY CUSTOMER + + +"Mr. Morley!" exclaimed Bess and Belle in a breath. + +"Isn't it so?" demanded Cora. "I was struck by it when we first saw him +just after we got off the boat." + +"When I come to think of it, I believe you're right," replied Belle +slowly. + +"He has a way of holding his head like hers," agreed Bess. + +"But it's the eyes," went on Cora. "They're blue like hers, and there are +times when they have exactly the same expression. Girls, I believe we're +on the edge of a mystery!" + +"Don't talk so loud," cautioned Belle, "or the boys may catch something +of what you're saying and they'll tease us to death about it." + +"But, after all, what does it all amount to?" asked Bess. "It doesn't +prove that they have the slightest connection with each other." + +"And even if they have, what could we do about it?" asked Belle. "It's +like the dog running after the train. What would he do with it if he +caught it?" + +The girls laughed. + +"It is a tangle," admitted Cora. "We couldn't go to Mr. Morley and tell +him that we'd seen a gypsy girl who reminded us of him." + +"He mightn't take it as a compliment," suggested Bess. + +"Or he might think we'd gone crazy," said Belle. + +"There are probably ten million people in the world that the gypsy girl +looks like in one way or another," said Bess, with difficulty suppressing +a yawn. "Let's go to bed and forget all about it." + +But Cora, as she slipped between the sheets, was far from intending to +dismiss the subject in such cavalier fashion. + +At breakfast the next morning, Paul proposed that they should visit an +old logging camp that Joel had told him was located a few miles away. + +"Of course it isn't in operation now," he said. "You'd have to visit it +in winter to see it running full blast. But it will be interesting to see +the bunk-houses and the flumes, and get an idea of the way the work is +carried on." + +"We won't have to do much walking," said Jack. "Joel says that the road +between here and there is a pretty good one for the cars. We can take our +lunch along and make an all-day picnic of it." + +The girls fell into the plan with enthusiasm, and in a short time the +cars were brought to the front of the house, and they were ready to +start. + +Joel stood by, looking on with lively curiosity, as Cora took the wheel. + +"How about a little spin for a mile or two?" laughed Cora. + +Joel grinned a little sheepishly. + +"Come along," urged Cora, "and I'll show you what fast going is really +like." + +"Better make your will, Joel," laughed Jack. "That sister of mine is some +speed demon." + +"I'm afraid it will put ye out in yer plans," objected Joel, though it +was plain he was tempted. + +"Not a bit of it," returned Cora cheerily. "We have all day before us. +The rest will stay here, while you and I go down the road for a mile or +two and back." + +Joel looked at Mrs. King, and as she smiled her approval, he climbed +clumsily into the car and sat in the back seat. Cora threw in the clutch, +and the car started off. + +"Hold on to your hair, Joel," Jack shouted after him. + +The road was fairly good right there, and Cora increased the speed until +the car was going well. + +Joel gasped and held on tight to the sides of the car. He had never +traveled on anything faster than the little narrow-gauge railroad train +that wheezed along at about ten or fifteen miles an hour. Now he was +moving at the rate of forty or more. + +After about two miles had been covered, Cora eased up and prepared to +turn the car. + +"How about it, Joel?" she asked mischievously, as she straightened out +for home. + +"It's--it's scrumptious, miss!" gasped Joel, "but ain't ye feared ye'll +wreck yer car? Doesn't seem's if anything on four wheels c'u'd stand it." + +"Don't worry about that," replied Cora, and again Joel was treated to a +burst of speed that set his heart thumping violently against his ribs. + +It was with a sigh of relief that he climbed down from the car when it +had come to a full stop. + +"Sufferin' cats!" exclaimed the old backwoodsman, as he faced his +grinning audience, "I've faced b'ars an' painters an' catamounts, but I +wuz never so plumb skeered in all my life! + +"An' to think uv a gal havin' the spunk to drive like that!" he muttered +to himself, as he made his way back to the barn. "She suttinly is some +gal!" + +"A little rich for Joel's blood, I guess," laughed Jack, as the gay party +started off. + +"He'll grow to like it, though," prophesied Cora. "He'll be ready for +another one by the time we get back." + +The cars moved along now at a moderate pace, for they had ample time +before them and were not at all anxious to reach their destination. + +Suddenly Jack's car, which was in advance, came to a full stop. He turned +about and motioned for Cora to drive up as softly as possible. + +"What is it?" she asked as she drew up alongside. + +For answer, Jack pointed ahead, and the girls saw a big rattlesnake +sunning himself in the road. + +The girls gave a shriek that roused the snake. He reared his ugly +triangular head, saw the cars, and with an angry rattle threw himself +into position for attack or defense as the case might call for. His +forked tongue played back and forth like lightning and his wicked eyes +sparkled with rage. + +"Beauty, isn't he?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, let's get back!" cried Belle. "He may try to climb into the car!" + +"A black snake does that sometimes, but a rattler never does," declared +Walter. "He'll leave us alone if we leave him alone." + +"For goodness' sake, leave him alone, then!" pleaded Bess. + +"I'm going to get a closer look at him," said Jack, preparing to jump +from the car. + +"Don't, Jack, don't!" cried Cora, and there was such fear in his sister's +voice that Jack yielded, though reluctantly. + +"We're not going to let him get away, are we?" he grumbled. + +"Why not?" replied Cora. "He wasn't doing anything to us." + +"He ought to be killed on general principles," said Paul. + +"He's an enemy of the human race," added Walter. + +But this viewpoint did not appeal to the girls. + +"He has a right to his life," said tender-hearted Bess. + +"To be sure he has," acquiesced Belle. "Besides, you boys haven't any +weapons, and you might get bitten." + +"There are plenty of rocks and sticks around here to kill him with," said +Walter. + +But the girls insisted, and while they were excitedly talking, the snake +himself, seeing that he was not attacked, solved the matter by uncoiling +and gliding away into the bushes at the side of the road. + +"A perfectly good bunch of rattles gone to waste," said Jack disgustedly, +as they prepared to start on again. + +"He's given us a tip anyway to be on the lookout," warned Walter. "Where +there's one there may be others. Joel says they're not very plentiful +about here, but he does run across them sometimes. I wonder what Joel +would say if he knew we had a chance to kill one and didn't do it." + +"It doesn't matter what Joel thinks," said Bess. "I'm glad we let him +go." + +"You can't help handing it to the old boy for pluck," said Jack, with +grudging admiration. "He was ready to fight the whole six of us." + +"If it had been a regiment, it would have been just the same," remarked +Paul. + +"He kept that old buzzer of his working overtime," laughed Walter. "No +striking on the sly for him. He keeps telling you just what he hopes to +do to you." + +"It's the first time I've met a rattler under such circumstances, and I +hope it will be the last," said Bess. + +"I guess his snakeship feels the same way about us, so honors are even," +laughed Paul. + +The party kept a sharp lookout from that time on, but no other snakes +were encountered, and a few minutes later the logging camp came into +view. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII + A MOMENTOUS STEP + + +The camp, which consisted of a sawmill, an immense bunk-house capable of +accommodating more than a hundred men, and a number of scattered +outbuildings, was picturesquely located in a depression between two great +hills. A mountain stream that came tearing down the side of one of the +hills furnished power for the mill. Later on, some of its waters would be +diverted to the giant flumes, down which the logs would come hurtling to +the valley below. + +Just now it was by no means the scene of busy life that it would become +in the late fall and throughout the winter. Then would come the bearded +lumberjacks, hardy, red-faced giants of the woods, Swedes, Norwegians, +Irishmen, Frenchmen, hard workers, hard fighters, hard drinkers, and the +wood would ring with the clang of axes and the crash of falling trees. + +At present there was little work going on. The sawmill, with a small +force of men, was running in a languid sort of way, clearing up some of +the by-products of the season before. The camp might be said to be in a +state of suspended animation. + +A sort of deputy foreman who was in charge gave the party a cordial +greeting and showed them about the various points of interest, explaining +volubly the processes through which the lumber passed from the standing +tree to the shaped and finished product of the mills. + +"We've got only a small force working in the woods just now," he +explained. "They're nicking the trees, so that the men will know which +ones are to be cut down this coming fall and winter." + +"Sort of passing sentence of death, as it were," said Jack. + +"I suppose you might call it that," smiled the foreman. + +"It seems a pity that they should have to die," said Cora, as her eyes +took in the stately trees that decked the mountain side. + +"Especially after what Mr. Morley was saying yesterday about the trees +being alive," remarked Bess. + +"You girls are the limit," laughed Paul. "First you let the snake go, and +now you want to save the trees." + +"They'll be afraid to pick a nosegay after a while for fear that the +flowers will bleed," mocked Jack. + +"I wish my folks had believed in that plant theory when I was a kid," +drawled Walter. "Then I wouldn't have had to weed the garden for fear of +hurting the weeds." + +"There's not a bit of poetry in you boys," said Belle reproachfully. + +"You're mistaken there," denied Paul. "We love beautiful things. If we +didn't we wouldn't be chasing after you girls." + +There was only one other visitor to the camp, a sharp-eyed reticent man, +who loitered about without betraying interest in anything especially. He +made no attempt to join the party, but kept by himself. + +"Who is our unsociable friend over there?" inquired Jack. + +"I don't know," replied the foreman. "He's been hanging around off and on +for several days. He doesn't talk much to the men, but he and I have +chinned a little together. About all I know of him is that his name is +Baxter. He doesn't let on about his business." + +"Maybe he's an author in search of local color," hazarded Bess. + +"More likely a detective," remarked Jack. "You'd better look out, girls. +He's closing in upon you, knowing you are desperate criminals." + +After the foreman had left them, they climbed the slopes of the hill, and +enjoyed the magnificent view from the summit. Then, as it was nearing +noon, Jack suggested lunch. + +"I'm keen to see what Aunt Betty has had put up for us," he remarked, +"and what I'll do to it will be a sin and a shame." + +"Let's go out into the woods to eat it," suggested Cora. + +"Isn't this woods enough for you?" asked Paul, as he looked around. + +"Not while we're in sight of the mill," returned Cora. "I want to go +right out into the wild wilderness." + +"Mightn't we get lost?" inquired Belle rather doubtfully. + +"It's easier to get into the wilderness sometimes than it is to get out +of it," added Bess. + +"I guess it's safe enough," remarked Jack. "We won't go very far, and I +have a compass with me, anyway." + +There was no further protest. The boys went back to the cars and got the +lunch basket. Then they rejoined the girls, and the party plunged gaily +into the woods. + +"We don't know where we're going, but we're on the way," chanted Walter. + +There was a trail that had evidently been used by the lumberjacks, and +the walking was easy. + +So easy, in fact, and the balsam in the air was so stimulating and +delightful, that the party had gone a good deal farther than they had +first intended to before they came to a halt in a mossy glade that seemed +to be especially designed by nature for a picnic party. + +A little brook ran near by, and the boys brought drinking water from +this, while the girls brought out the napkins and spread on them the host +of good things that Aunt Betty had had put up for them. + +There were no dyspeptics in the party, and the food vanished in amazing +fashion, to the accompaniment of a running fire of chaff and jokes. + +When the last crumb had disappeared, Walter filled one of the drinking +cups with the crystal water and raised it up. + +"A toast," he cried. "I drink to Camp Kill Kare!" + +They all responded merrily. + +"I'm going to look around this place a little," exclaimed Cora, rising to +her feet. + +"I'm just too comfortable to move," said Bess. + +"So am I," echoed Belle. + +"You're setting an example of pernicious activity," said Jack. + +"I won't go far," Cora assured him. + +She strolled about for a little while, picking an occasional flower and +observing with interest the nicks made in the trees by the woodchoppers. +The woods closed around her and shut her out of sight of the others. But +she gave no thought to this, for she knew that they could locate her by a +call, even though she was invisible. + +From the bushes in front of her, a mother bird darted out and ran along +the ground, twittering sharply as though in pain or alarm. Cora gazed at +her, and noticed that her wing was trailing as though broken. + +Her sympathies were aroused in an instant. + +"Poor little thing," she murmured to herself. "I wonder if I can't catch +her and perhaps help set that wing." + +She followed the bird for some distance, but it managed to keep just a +little out of reach of her outstretched hand. + +So much of design appeared in this that at last the truth dawned upon +Cora, and she laughed outright. + +"You little fibber!" she exclaimed. "You haven't any broken wing at all. +You're just trying to draw me away from your nest, so that I sha'n't find +your babies." + +To make sure that her guess was correct, she followed the bird a little +farther. Then the little creature seemed to realize that she had +accomplished her object, and rising from the ground, she soared swiftly +away. + +"Sold!" laughed Cora to herself. "I'll have to tell the others about +that. They'll have the laugh on me, of course, but it's too good to keep. +But I'd better go back or they'll begin to get worried about me." + +She turned in the direction of the picnic party, as she thought, and +began to walk rapidly. But at the end of five minutes she saw no trace of +them and a vague uneasiness began to take possession of her. + +"That little cheat must have led me a good deal farther than I thought," +she said to herself. "I guess I'd better call out to them." + +She sent out a loud yodel, such as she and the other girls were +accustomed to use as a call, and waited expectantly for an answer. + +But no answer came. + +She repeated the call, but with the same result. + +"It must be these trees," she assured herself. "They smother the sound so +that it can't go more than a few rods. I'll go on a little farther and +try again." + +She almost ran now, stumbling occasionally in her haste, and trying to +crowd back an awful fear that was rapidly taking form. + +Once more she stood still and called at the top of her voice, called +desperately, frantically, repeatedly. But for all the response she +received she might as well have been in the center of the Sahara desert. + +Then she stumbled over a tree root and rolled over and over down the +mountain side, to bring up at last in a wilderness of brushwood. + +She was dazed for a few moments by the fall, but soon realized that she +was not hurt. She arose and pushed her way in a zigzag course, trying to +mount the hillside down which she had fallen. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV + IN THE WILDERNESS + + +Cora was lost! + +For an hour past she had refused to admit it to herself. The utmost that +she would concede was that she had become separated from her party. But +that of course often happened, was bound to happen again and again, when +one was out in the woods. + +Jack and the rest must be looking for her as eagerly as she was for them. +How heartily they would laugh and joke over the needless fears that had +assailed her when she first realized that she was alone. + +So she had reasoned with herself, thrusting resolutely into the +background the terrible dread that kept trying to get possession of her +mind, marshaling all the pathetic sophistries by which those in similar +plight have tried to delude themselves from the beginning of the world. +But with every moment that passed she grew more certain of the truth, +until she seated herself on a fallen tree, and, burying her face in her +hands, gave way to the tears she tried in vain to hold back. + +There was no use in blinking the fact. She was lost in the Adirondack +wilderness, cut off for the time being from her friends, doomed perhaps +to suffer incredible hardships before she should be rescued. She +shuddered as she recalled instances of others, lost in that vast region, +strong men, some of them, for whom rescue had arrived too late. + +She pressed her fingers into her throbbing temples and tried to think. +But her head swam, and it was only by a strong exertion of her will that +she was able to pull herself together. It was some minutes before she had +herself well in hand and was able to bring all her powers to bear on the +problem before her. That problem had suddenly assumed gigantic +proportions. Unless she solved it correctly, her life might pay the +penalty. + +"What shall I do?" she asked herself. "What shall I do?" + +North, east, south, west, wherever she looked she could see nothing +resembling a trail. In all that tangle of trees, rocks and undergrowth +there was no indication that the foot of man had ever disturbed its +solitude. And as Cora looked wildly about her, the forest seemed to mock +her with a lurking smile as though taunting her helplessness. + +But she resolutely crushed back the feeling of panic that clutched at her +heart and hunted about desperately to get her bearings. It was +ridiculous, she told herself, that she should not find something that +would give her the needed clue. + +She knew in a general way that the bungalow lay a little north of east. +It was not much to go by, but if she could keep in that line it might +make all the difference between safety and disaster. + +But how was she to find the cardinal points? She had no compass with her. +And then her heart gave a great bound as she thought of her watch! + +Like all the Motor Girls, Cora, in her frequent journeyings, had picked +up a good many points of woodcraft. Among others, she knew how by a +simple device to locate the south, and with this as a starter find the +other points of the compass. + +Where she sat, the trees were so thick that a perpetual twilight reigned +beneath. A little to the right, however, they thinned out somewhat, and +rays of light fell through the foliage. Here was her chance to get an +idea of the sun's location. + +She went hurriedly to the spot and opening her watch carefully turned it +until the figure twelve pointed directly at the sun. Then she measured +half the distance between twelve and the hour hand and knew that this +central point indicated due south. Directly opposite, of course, was +north. Standing, then, with her face to the north, it followed that the +east was on her right hand and the west on her left. + +She had a tiny penknife with her, and with this she cut two strips of +bark and dovetailed them in the form of a cross, so that each of the four +ends stood for one of the cardinal points. On these she cut the +appropriate initials and carefully planted it in the ground at her feet. +Then she put back her watch with a sigh of satisfaction. + +Now she had at least a point of departure. All she had to do was to start +in the right direction and depend upon further glimpses of the sun to +correct her course from time to time. + +From the beginning her progress was slow, owing to the absence of a trail +and the necessity of forcing her way through the underbrush. At times she +had to make a considerable detour, to avoid brush so thickly matted that +she could not penetrate it. This of necessity threw her out of the course +she was trying to keep. And her consternation was great to find, on +reaching a more open spot, that the sun was now hidden by thick clouds. + +Still she went doggedly on for two hours or more, taxing every ounce of +courage and resolution that she possessed, finding a mental relief in the +physical effort that kept her from dwelling too intently on her desperate +plight. The afternoon was rapidly waning and the gloom of the forest was +deepening into dusk. And just then, panting with fatigue and exhaustion, +her eye caught something familiar close to her feet. + +It was the cross of bark that she had made two hours earlier! + +This, then, was the reward of all her exertions. Obeying that inexorable +and malign law that seems to hound desert and forest wanderers, she had +worked around in a circle to the very point from which she had started! + +For a moment it seemed to Cora that she must be dreaming. She could not +bring herself to admit that all the toil and effort of the afternoon had +come only to this. It was absurd, ridiculous! She rubbed her eyes and +looked again. It was only too surely the fact. There was the little cross +with the edges still raw from the blade of her knife. + +Fate had played a cruel joke on her--a joke that might prove to be +deadly. She had taxed her muscles until she was dropping with weariness, +kept up her courage with the thought that she was making progress, only +to find that all was utterly wasted, and that she was no nearer safety +than when she had started. The reaction came on her with a rush and for a +moment she thought she was going to faint. + +Now, for the first time, the full horror of her situation dawned on her. +As long as she had kept in motion, she had been buoyed up by the thought +that at any minute she might win her way to safety. But now her chance, +for the day at least, was gone. She was alone, cut off from all human +companionship in that vast wilderness, and night was coming on! + +What was to be her fate? She had everything to live for, youth, health, +friends, home and love. She was just on the brink of womanhood, and life +ran at full tide through her veins. The future stretched before her, +glowing with promise and with hands heaped high with treasures. She was +just getting ready to drink the wine of life. Was the cup to be dashed +rudely to the ground, just as she was lifting it to her lips? + +For a little while she surrendered to these gloomy imaginings. The shock +had been too severe for her to rally all at once. Then she took a grip on +herself. + +For it was not in Cora's nature to yield tamely to despair. Her heart was +naturally brave and she came of fighting stock. It was good red blood +that ran in Cora's veins, and now, as the first depression passed, it +began to assert itself. + +Not that she attempted longer to deceive herself. She admitted that her +plight was desperate. But it was not hopeless. It never would be that, +she told herself, as long as a spark of life was left. She would work, +plan, struggle and never give up. + +But where would she find shelter for the night? In some dense thicket? In +a hollow tree? She shuddered as she thought of spending the night +entirely in the open. What wild animals might be abroad, coming out, +soft-footed and wary, to make their nightly kill? She knew that there +were bears, wolves and lynxes in these forests, and also rattlesnakes. +Without anything approaching a weapon, what chance would she have in case +of attack? + +If she only had some matches! None of the beasts would dare to touch her +if she were seated close to a roaring fire. They might prowl about and +eye her hungrily, but no matter how famished or savage they were, they +would not venture into that zone of flame. + +But a fire was impossible. And as Cora realized this, she looked about +her wildly, as though she expected even in the twilight to hear a +stealthy footfall or see a pair of phosphorescent eyes glaring at her. +She could almost hear the pounding of her heart. + +She must find shelter in the few minutes of daylight that remained. There +was nothing to gain and everything to lose by staying where she was. With +a little prayer on her lips, she set off, choosing no particular +direction, but trusting to Providence to direct her. + +Five minutes later she gave a joyous cry, and ran forward to a tiny hut +that stood in a little clearing. + +It was a rude cabin of a single room. Its weather-beaten and dilapidated +appearance showed that it had been knocked together a long time +previously, probably by some trapper or hunter. Part of the thatched roof +had sagged in, leaving rifts open to the sky. + +On the earthen floor within were the ashes of a fire and several rusty +pans and skillets, abandoned or forgotten by the last occupant. In the +center was a bunk, consisting of four uprights, to which were fastened +ropes that crossed and criss-crossed each other to form a rough mattress. +A door swung loosely from the rusted hinges. + +From all appearances, no one had been in the place for years. Cora rushed +inside, pulled the door shut and slipped a bar that she found within into +place. Then she sat down on the cord mattress and cried with +thankfulness. + +From all the terrors of a night spent in the open forest she was safe. + +Night had fully fallen now, and the myriad voices of the forest were in +full swing. It was nature's symphony on a colossal scale. Locusts, +crickets and katydids sought to outdo each other. From the trees came the +hoot of owls and the mournful notes of the whippoorwill. + +Now that she was temporarily safe, Cora was conscious of being hungry. +She had been so absorbed in her attempt to escape from the captivity of +the forest that she had not even thought of food. Now she realized that +her healthy appetite was clamoring for satisfaction. + +Suddenly she remembered that she had slipped a tablet of chocolate in the +pocket of her blouse that morning, to nibble at on the trip. She had +forgotten all about it till now, and she thanked the fates for the +oversight. + +She drew it out, and as she did so she felt two other objects that she +had not known were there. She drew them out and found that they were two +cubes of compressed soup stock, wrapped in little pieces of waxed paper. + +How on earth had they gotten there? Some trick played by Bess or Belle +probably. They had slipped them in when she had not been looking, just +for the sake of seeing her perplexed expression when she should discover +them. That must be the explanation. + +Her spirits rose with the discovery. If she could only have had a can of +water and a fire, she could have made a delicious soup. But this was out +of the question, and she had to content herself with putting one of the +precious cubes in her mouth and letting it slowly dissolve. It was rather +dry eating, but the nourishment was there. + +She was sorely tempted to let the other cube and the tablet of chocolate +take the same course, as all of them together would have made but a +slender meal. But prudence spoke more loudly than appetite and she +crushed down the temptation. Although it taxed her resolution sorely, she +thrust them back into her pocket. + +She lay down on the rude mattress, although she was sure that she would +not close her eyes the whole night through. But she was utterly used up +by the terrible strain of the day's experience, and tired nature demanded +her rights. Sleep laid its soothing fingers on her eyelids, and all her +troubles were, for the time being, forgotten. + + + + + CHAPTER XV + CONSTERNATION + + +It may have been the drowsy charm of the day, the soothing murmur of the +brook, or the satisfying quality of the lunch, or perhaps a combination +of the three, that made the little party under the trees so content to +sit still or lie still for a considerable time after Cora left them. + +"This is _dolce far niente_ for fair," murmured Jack lazily. + +"I'd agree with you," drawled Paul, "if I only knew what you meant. Talk +United States." + +"Why, it means something like 'the happiness of doing nothing,' I +believe," explained Jack. + +"It seems to make a hit with you," remarked Belle. + +"It does," admitted Jack brazenly. + +"I declare, you boys are like so many stuffed anacondas stretched out +there," observed Bess. + +"We're members of the Amalgamated Order of the Sons of Rest," said +Walter. + +"Come along, Belle," said Bess, rising. "If we stay here much longer +we'll grow to be as lazy as they are. Let's go and find Cora. She's the +only real live wire in the whole party." + +"You do yourselves an injustice," Jack called after them. + +The girls went off in the direction that Cora had taken, keeping a sharp +lookout as they went along. + +"It's queer that she hasn't come back of her own accord by this time," +remarked Belle. + +"She's probably gathering flowers," replied Bess. "There are so many +beautiful varieties around here." But Belle grew more uneasy every +second. + +"I'm going to call her," she said, and gave the familiar yodel on which +Cora herself had relied in vain. + +But no answer came back, and the girls looked at each other with unrest +in their eyes. + +"Do you think she's teasing us by pretending not to hear?" asked Belle. + +"No," replied her sister, "that wouldn't be like Cora. She knows how that +would worry us." + +"Let's try both together," suggested Belle, and they gave out a call in +unison. + +Again there was no response, and thoroughly frightened now, the girls ran +back to their companions. + +"Oh, Jack," exclaimed Belle, "we can't find Cora!" + +"What!" cried the boys, leaping to their feet. + +"It's true," confirmed Bess. "We've called her again and again, and we +can't get any answer." + +Jack grew pale beneath his coat of tan. + +"It can't be!" he cried. "You didn't call loud enough. Cora, oh, Cora!" +he shouted at the top of his voice. + +Paul and Walter joined in with stentorian yells, but their united efforts +had no result. + +"There's got to be some quick work here, fellows!" cried Jack, a cold +perspiration breaking out all over him. "You girls stay right here," he +commanded. "Don't stir from this spot. We three fellows will spread out +in a semicircle, and beat up the woods in the general direction that Cora +started out in. We'll spread out as widely as we can, but we mustn't get +so far apart that we can't hear each other shout. We'll keep calling out +all the time, so as to keep in touch with each other. If at the end of +half an hour we haven't found any trace of her, we'll know that she isn't +in this section and we'll hurry back to the girls here. Then we'll raise +a hue and cry and get the whole district out searching for her. Come +along now and keep your voices going. And keep your eyes open, too. She +may have met with an accident. Work, fellows! Work like mad!" + +The others needed no urging, for they were wild with fear for Cora's +safety. + +For the next half-hour they yelled until they were hoarse, and covered as +much territory as they could. They peered into every bush and thicket. +Not one of them but thought of the ugly monster they had seen in the road +that morning. Suppose one of this tribe had attacked the girl who was so +dear to all of them? Suppose at that very moment she were lying somewhere +helpless and dying? + +They looked everywhere in an agony of apprehension, but Cora's wandering +feet and her fall down the mountainside had already carried her far +beyond sound or sight. + +At the appointed time they rejoined the girls. + +"No use," announced Jack, in a voice that he tried to keep firm, despite +the working of his features. "I'll tell you what we'll do. You stay here, +Paul, until further notice. If Cora comes back, you have an easy trail +from here to the mill. There's a telephone there, and of course you'd +call up Kill Kare at once with the good news. Walter and I will go back +with Bess and Belle to the mill. Then Walter can drive the girls to Kill +Kare in one of the cars, leave them with Aunt Betty, and bring Joel back +with him to the mill. I'll get all the men that I can at the mill to join +in the search. Those lumberjacks know the woods thoroughly. Then, too, +I'll telephone to all the neighboring towns and camps and call for +volunteers. We'll comb these woods all day and all night until we find +her." + +He and Walter hurried off with the girls, leaving Paul behind. They +reached the sawmill in record time, and leaving Jack there to explain the +situation and carry out the plans agreed upon, Walter drove the girls +home. + +It had been thought at first that it would be well to leave Aunt Betty in +ignorance of the affair, in order to spare her misery. But on second +thought this idea had been dismissed. It would not be fair to her, in a +matter of such moment, to treat her as a child, even with the best of +motives. Besides it was morally certain that the girls would not be able +to conceal their grief from her, no matter how hard they tried. + +She was waiting for them as they drove up and greeted them with her usual +kindly smile. + +"Where are the others?" she inquired. "And what on earth is the matter +with you two girls?" she added in quick alarm as she saw their eyes red +and swollen with weeping. + +"Don't be alarmed, Aunt Betty," said Walter, as lightly as he could. "The +girls are a little worried because Cora strayed off a little way into the +woods and we haven't found her. But she can't have gone very far, and +we'll find her and have her back to Kill Kare in a jiffy. Jack and Paul +are looking for her now, and I'm going back to help them." + +Aunt Betty gave a frightened exclamation and put her hand to her heart. + +"Cora lost!" she ejaculated. "And in those awful woods! Oh, why did you +let her get away from you? The poor darling girl!" + +"We boys ought to be kicked from here to Jericho for letting her out of +our sight," said Walter in savage self-reproach. "But the mischief's done +now, and we've got to remedy it as best we can. You take care of the +girls, Aunt Betty, while I go and hunt up Joel. I'm going to take him +back with me." + +He hurried away, leaving the three to condole with each other. He was +lucky enough to find Joel in the barn, and hastily explained the state of +affairs. + +The big backwoodsman was thoroughly alarmed. Better than any one else at +Kill Kare, he knew the dangers that threatened any tyro that ventured +into that wilderness. There had been cases within his own knowledge where +hapless wanderers had perished, even while the woods were alive with +searching parties. + +He put his hunting knife in his belt, grasped his rifle and hurried back +with Walter to the sawmill. + +Meanwhile, Jack told his story to the foreman, and received his instant +sympathy and promise to help. He called for volunteers, and a number of +the men who were working in the mill responded promptly. Some of them had +already started out when Walter arrived, and others quickly followed. + +Baxter too was stirred by the story and came out of his shell of +reticence. He volunteered to take charge of the telephoning, leaving Jack +to go out with the searching parties. + +"I know personally the authorities in the nearest towns," he said, "and +they'll be glad to oblige me in this. You're too excited and on edge to +stay here, and I don't wonder. You go ahead and look for your sister and +leave this to me. Before long I'll have a dozen parties out on the +trail." + +Jack gladly availed himself of the offer, and, in company with Walter and +Joel, hurried with feverish haste up the hillside and plunged into the +woods. + + + + + CHAPTER XVI + HELP FROM THE SKY + + +It was full day when Cora awoke. + +For a moment she looked around her, dazed. Then, as she realized where +she was, she sprang from the rope mattress to the floor. All the events +of the previous day rushed over her mind like a flood. + +She was greatly rested and refreshed, although her muscles ached from +contact with the rude mattress on which she had slept. + +A sickening sense of her position sought to take possession of her, but +she resolutely thrust it back. She would not begin this new day by being +a coward. + +She looked at her watch, but in the excitement of the day before she had +forgotten to wind it, and it had stopped. She set it at a guess, and held +it up to her ear a moment before she returned it to its place. Its lively +ticking seemed to say: "Cheer up! cheer up! cheer up!" + +She threw open the door and stepped outside. The sun had risen and was +flooding the wilderness with glory. The cool morning air was delicious +with the odor of the pines. She drank it in in great draughts, and it put +new life and hope into her. + +There was no sign of a stream anywhere near, and her ablutions had to be +scanty. She found a little pool of water in a slight depression, and was +able to wash her face and hands. She did not dare to drink of the +standing water, but its external use refreshed her. Then she thought of +breakfast. + +It seemed a grim joke to call it that, when her whole food supply +consisted of a soup cube and a chocolate tablet. But she hunted around in +the vicinity of the cabin, and found some blackberry bushes that were +fairly well laden. She picked the berries with great care, for she knew +how fond snakes were of such localities, and she had a lively memory of +the encounter with the rattlesnake the day before. + +The berries and the chocolate tablet furnished her morning meal. It was +not a substantial or satisfying one, and it required considerable +self-control not to supplement it with the remaining soup cube. But after +looking at it longingly, she put it back in her pocket. A time might come +when it would be worth a king's ransom to her. + +And now that she had eaten, Cora bent all her thoughts on the problem of +escape. + +What ought she to do? Ought she to leave the cabin that had proved an ark +of safety and try once more to find her way through the trackless woods? +Suppose night came on again, and she still found herself not only in the +woods but far from the cabin. + +Or would it be wiser to stay right where she was until her friends should +find her? She knew perfectly well how desperately they were hunting for +her. Her heart ached as she realized the agony they were suffering. She +could see the wild distress on the features of Jack and the other boys, +the tear-stained faces of Bess and Belle. She knew that by this time they +would have raised a hue and cry that would set scores of people searching +for her. Would they not have as good a chance of finding her where she +was as anywhere else in the woods? In fact, would not some of the +lumberjacks know of this lonely cabin in the forest, and think perhaps +that she had sought refuge there? + +To stay where she was meant inaction, the hardest thing in the world for +her just then. She would have nothing to do but to think, and she would +eat her heart out with anxiety. + +On the other hand, she faced the perils of the woods if she left the +shelter of the cabin. Bears and panthers roamed the forest in the daytime +as well as at night. Lynxes and wildcats, too, though less dangerous, +were not to be despised, and there was the ever-present danger of snakes. + +While she was pondering the best plan to pursue, she heard the humming of +a motor. + +She jumped to her feet in wild delight. Could that be the motor of a car +with people searching for her? It must be. What else could it be? + +But the next instant she realized, with a sinking of the heart, that no +car could possibly penetrate those tangled woods. + +Still the strident buzz persisted. It was a motor. She was too familiar +with the sound to be mistaken. + +She sprang to her feet, and as she did so a branch caught in the veil +that was wound round her hat. She reached up to disentangle it, and her +eyes rested on a tiny spot in the sky that was not a cloud, and that was +momentarily growing larger. + +Then she understood. + +The motor was that of an aeroplane! + +She ran to a more open spot where she could get a better view. + +The aircraft was flying at a height of perhaps a thousand feet, and was +moving at a high rate of speed. Nearer and nearer it came from out of the +west, while Cora watched it with fascinated eyes. + +Here was something that spoke of the great world that she seemed to have +left behind. It was a link that brought her once more, if only for a +moment, in contact with civilization. + +And up there on a precarious perch, a mere atom in the blue immensity of +the sky, was the aviator. How Cora envied him! No forest held _him_ in +its iron clutch. He was free as the bird whom he resembled in his flight. +He could choose what path he would. He was free while she was a prisoner. +Perhaps he was flying now straight toward friends and home and love. His +roving eyes could perhaps at that moment see Camp Kill Kare, which she +perhaps might never see again. + +She dashed the tears from her eyes and looked again. + +Now the aviator was flying lower. And his speed had perceptibly lessened. +What did it mean? Was he seeking a more favorable current of air? Was he +in doubt as to his course? + +Louder and louder grew the buzz of the motor, and lower and lower came +the plane. Like a giant bird, it was now describing great circles, and +with every one its distance from the earth was lessened. + +Cora's heart seemed as though it would leap out of her body. There was no +doubt now of the aviator's intention. He was looking for a place to +descend! + +But where? If he came down anywhere near where she was standing, he would +be caught in the trees. But somewhere there must be an open spot that his +keen eyes had descried, and it was there that he intended to make a +landing. + +Cora ran in the direction indicated by the plane. + +She had gone perhaps two hundred yards, when she came to a large plateau +which bore marks of having been swept at some time by a fire. So fierce +had been the conflagration that trees and undergrowth alike had been +burned to ashes in the holocaust. Even the stumps had crumbled into +ashes, and there were several places in the wide expanse where a skillful +aviator could make a landing without danger of injuring his machine. + +As Cora came out into the open she saw that the choice had already been +made. There was one long, graceful swoop, and then the giant flyer +settled on the ground with scarcely a jar, ran for fifty feet or so on +its wheels and stopped. + +The aviator climbed out, rather painfully, as though cramped from long +sitting. He rubbed his legs and flung his arms about vigorously as though +to restore the circulation. Then he took some tools from a box under the +seat and began to make some repairs in the motor. + +His back was toward Cora, and the latter was running across the field to +him when she suddenly stopped. + +Who knew what this man might be? She was alone in this wilderness. Could +she trust him? + +But her hesitation was only momentary. Most men were chivalrous. + +The aviator was on his knees as she approached. He heard her coming and +sprang to his feet, very visibly startled. + +"I didn't mean to startle you," panted Cora, with an attempt to smile. "I +saw you come down here and I ran over as fast as I could. I had to see +you, because I'm lost out here in the woods, and I was sure you would +help me." + +He was of medium height. The garments in which he was wrapped to protect +him from the intense cold of the upper air made it impossible to tell +whether his form was large or slender. + +"You poor child!" exclaimed the stranger in great surprise and sympathy. +"Don't be afraid to tell me all about it," he said. "Look!" + +He took off his hat, and Cora's startled eyes saw two large braids of +hair coiled tightly about his head. + +_The aviator was a woman!_ + +The next moment she had her arms about Cora, and the latter was sobbing +as though her heart would break. + +"There, there, my dear," said the newcomer, patting Cora's disheveled +hair, "go ahead and cry all you want to. It will do you good, and I know +just how you feel. But you're all right now." + +The revulsion from despair to joy had been so great that it was some +minutes before Cora recovered her self-control. + +"Oh," she exclaimed at last, as she smiled radiantly through her tears, +"I'm so happy that I can hardly bear it! Surely God has sent you to me." + +"I believe so," smiled the other, who herself was a mere girl, not much +older than Cora herself. "But now go ahead and tell me just how you came +to be lost." + +She listened with the greatest sympathy and interest while Cora narrated +all that had happened to her since the day before. + +Then in her turn she explained that she was making a cross-country flight +from Chicago to New York. She was bent on beating the best record ever +made for the distance by either man or woman, and was in a fair way to do +it. + +"My engine began working badly a little while ago," she explained. "The +ignition was balky and I thought I'd better come down and fix it before +it got worse." + +Cora looked at her with admiration, and expressed it warmly. + +"I don't see how you dare to take such risks," she said. "It must take a +tremendous amount of courage." + +"Oh, I don't know," said the other modestly. "But there's a lot of +satisfaction in beating the men at their own game," she added +mischievously. + +"We women all owe you a lot for doing it," laughed Cora happily. "It does +the men good to have some of the conceit taken out of them. But just the +same I startled you when I appeared so suddenly at your side," she added, +with a spark of mischief in her eyes. + +"Yes," admitted the other. "I didn't know that I was within miles of +anybody at all you see." + +"I'm sorry," murmured Cora, but the sportive look remained on her face. + +"Well, now, I'll just put the finishing touch on the engine and then I'll +be ready," said the aviatrix, who had introduced herself as Ruth Moore. +"And you shall go with me." + +"Me! With you?" gasped Cora. + +"Yes. Why not? My machine has an extra seat. And you want to get out of +this wilderness." + +Miss Moore set to work, Cora assisting her, and the aircraft was soon +ready to continue its flight. + +"I never thought I'd be taking my first ride in an aircraft under such +conditions," remarked Cora as her companion strapped her in. + +"You're sure you won't be afraid?" asked Miss Moore, looking at her +searchingly. + +"I'm so happy at getting away from these awful woods that I'm not afraid +of anything," replied Cora. "Then, too, I'm used to motor cars and motor +boats, and that ought to help me in keeping my nerve. You needn't be +afraid. I won't make any fuss." + +"You're a girl after my own heart," laughed Miss Moore, as she adjusted +herself in her seat. "Sit perfectly still now and leave everything to +me." + +She touched a lever and the aeroplane ran along a few yards and then +soared skyward. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII + A JOYFUL REUNION + + +Cora gasped as the aircraft mounted into the sky and she saw the earth +falling away from her. It was the newest and greatest thrill in her +experience. + +Her first sensation was that of detachment. She seemed to be floating in +a sea of ether. Everything was impalpable, intangible. It seemed to be +her astral body that was moving through space. All that was material +seemed to have been thrown aside like a cast-off garment. + +Her next impression was that of silence. All earthly noises had been +stilled. The song of birds, the rustling of leaves that had made the +forest vocal had died away. It seemed as though the world had been +suddenly stricken dumb. The only sound was that of the motor with its +monotonous hum. + +"Like it?" called out Miss Moore, looking at her with a smile. + +"Do I?" replied Cora. "It's just heavenly!" + +The aviatrix gazed at her with approval. She had found a kindred spirit. + +"You're a thoroughbred," she said. "Many girls would be frightened to +death. They'd be begging me to descend." + +"No danger of my doing that," laughed Cora. "I could go on like this +forever, if I were not so anxious to get back to my friends." + +They were flying now at a height of five hundred feet, and the air, +despite the August sun, was cold. Miss Moore had given Cora a coat and a +pair of gloves from her kit, however, so that she was fairly well +protected. + +"What a glorious view!" exclaimed Cora ecstatically, as the vast panorama +of field and forest unrolled itself as far as the eye could see. "Oh, how +I envy you!" + +Miss Moore smiled. + +"It _is_ beautiful," she assented. "But I'm kept so busy with listening +to my engine and shaping my course that I don't have as much time to +enjoy it as I would like to. That's one of the advantages of being a +passenger. But look around now, and see if you can recognize your camp. +I'll make a landing as near to it as I can." + +Cora looked eagerly about. + +"There's the sawmill!" she exclaimed. "And there's the road that leads +from there to Kill Kare," she added. "All you have to do is to follow +that road south for a few miles, and we'll come to the house. And there's +a big cleared space around it that will make a splendid landing place for +the aeroplane." + +Miss Moore turned in the indicated direction, and followed the road that +Cora had pointed out. + +"I can never thank you enough for rescuing me as you have," said Cora, +her voice broken with emotion. + +"It's made me almost as happy as it has you," returned Miss Moore. "It +will be one of the pleasantest memories of my life." + +"But it's delayed you on your trip, hasn't it?" + +"Suppose it has?" replied Miss Moore. "Do you suppose I would have +hesitated on that account to bring you home? But set your mind at rest on +that score. I was an hour or more ahead of my schedule anyway. You see," +she added gaily, "we girls can give the men a handicap and yet beat them +out." + +Cora laughed gleefully. + +"Of course we can!" she exclaimed. "But oh, Miss Moore, there's dear old +Kill Kare now! See, over there among the trees." + +"I see it," was the reply, as Miss Moore's practised eye looked out for +the landing place. + +She touched a lever and began to descend in a sweeping curve. + +When Jack and Walter, together with Joel, reached the picnic ground, they +found that Paul had not been idle. He had been searching for Cora in ever +widening circles during every moment of their absence, but a glance at +his disconsolate face showed that he had learned nothing. + +Some of the workers from the mill had already scattered in the woods, +going in different directions. Other volunteers came straggling in until +the number had reached a score. Joel, because of his knowledge of the +woods, was put in general charge of the search. + +Anticipating that Cora might not be found before dark closed in, torches +were prepared in large numbers and distributed among the men. It was +arranged that the place where they now were should be the general +rendezvous, at which all the searching parties would report, and to which +Cora should be brought as soon as found. + +Most of the men had either rifles or revolvers, and a copious supply of +ammunition was furnished by the foreman of the mill. Joel had brought +from the barn a number of skyrockets that had been left over from the +previous Fourth of July celebration, and it was arranged that one of +these should be set off every hour through the night. By following the +course of this and marking the direction from which it came, the +searching parties could keep the location of the camp in mind. It was +hoped also that Cora might see them and thereby be guided in the right +direction. + +Paul had driven back to Kill Kare, and had secured unlimited food and +coffee for the refreshment of the searchers, in case the hunt was +prolonged. + +All through the waning afternoon the search continued. And with the +coming of night it doubled in intensity. Fresh parties took the place of +exhausted ones that came straggling back. The woods were alive with +torches. + +It seemed certain that, with so many hunters, success ought to have been +almost certain. But Joel knew that twenty times that number might search +in that vast wilderness without running across the one they sought. At +best it was a gamble, with the odds against them. + +Morning came and found the boys fairly dropping with fatigue and torn +with grief and disappointment. Jack was almost out of his mind with +reflecting on his sister's plight. + +"We'll drive back to Kill Kare and telegraph for bloodhounds," he said. +"Joel says that there are a couple he knows of at the county seat. If +they're sent on the early train to the nearest town they ought to get +here by noon. We'll put them to work at once, and see what they can do." + +They left Joel in charge of the search, and drove back gloomily to Camp +Kill Kare. + +There was plenty of "care" there that morning. Neither Aunt Betty nor the +girls had been able to sleep. The thought of Cora out in the wilderness +all through that long night had driven them fairly frantic. + +And their hearts sank still further when the boys came back to report +their failure. + +"We ought to telegraph to your mother at once," declared Aunt Betty, +wringing her hands. + +"It would almost kill mother to get a telegram like that," said Jack +moodily. "It wouldn't do any good, and in the meantime Cora may be found. +We'll wait, anyway, until after we've tried the bloodhounds." + +They ate briefly and scantily of breakfast, for none of them had any +heart for food. Then they went outside to make ready for their trip to +the rendezvous. + +The boys were piling into the car when Belle gave a sudden exclamation +and pointed upward. + +"There's an aeroplane!" she cried. + +They followed her gaze and saw the aircraft coming toward them at a rapid +rate. + +As they looked, they saw that it was beginning to slacken speed and at +the same time was coming closer to earth. + +"Looks as though it were going to land somewhere about here," remarked +Jack. "Perhaps it's having trouble." + +As it drew closer they could see that there were two people in it. + +"And one of them's a woman!" cried Walter, as he noted the fluttering of +a skirt. + +"She's waving at us!" exclaimed Belle excitedly. Then her voice rose to a +scream. + +"It's Cora! It's Cora!" + +"Cora!" shrieked Bess. + +"Cora!" echoed Aunt Betty. + +As for the boys, they gave one look and tumbled out of the automobile, +yelling, shouting, thumping each other on the back. The girls sobbed and +laughed, and hugged Aunt Betty and each other. None of them had the least +idea of what they were doing or saying, and none of them cared. They were +fairly mad with joy. + +They ran out under the plane as it circled around looking for its +landing. And when it settled down as gracefully as a swan and finally +stopped, there was a wild rush for it, and the next second Cora was +unstrapped, dragged from her seat and was being devoured with hugs and +kisses. + +It was all incoherent and frantic and broken, as great revulsions of +feeling have a way of being. It was impossible to find words adequate to +their delight, and it is safe to say that at that moment there was no +happier group of people than that which wept and laughed on the lawn at +Camp Kill Kare. + +The aviatrix sat looking on through all this tumult with a happy smile. + +As soon as Cora could extricate herself from the arms that clung about +her as though they never intended to let her go, she turned to her +deliverer. + +"You see what you have done for me," she laughed through her tears. + +"They certainly seem glad to see you," was the response. + +They all crowded around and showered her rescuer with thanks, as Cora +introduced them. They were astounded to find that it was to a woman that +Cora owed her safety. Most of them had heard her name in connection with +flying exploits, and they were earnest in their compliments and +congratulations. + +When a few minutes later Miss Moore resumed her flight, every eye +remained fixed on the plane until at last it melted into space. Then they +resumed their rejoicings over the wanderer who had been so strangely +brought back from the wilderness. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + GOOD NEWS TRAVELS FAST + + +A perfect delirium of happiness reigned at Kill Kare that morning. From +being an abode of deep gloom, it had suddenly been transformed into a +corner of Paradise. + +For Cora was back again! Here she was, a little trembly about the mouth, +a little teary about the eyes, her hands and arms bearing the marks of +scratches where they had come in contact with thorns, her garments torn +from pushing her way through the underbrush, but with no damage that a +warm bath and a good breakfast and a long sleep would not repair. + +They brought her in triumph into the house and seated her at the +breakfast table that they had just deserted, while Aunt Betty and the +maid hurried about to prepare her something hot and comforting. + +"I ought to go to my room first and freshen up and change my clothes," +the girl objected, her purely feminine instincts coming to the fore, now +that she was once more in touch with civilization. "I must look a perfect +fright." + +"Just at this moment you are the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," +declared her brother fervently. + +"That's what!" confirmed Walter. "We've been wanting to see you so badly +that now we can't bear to take our eyes off you." + +"You're not going to get out of our sight again in a hurry," maintained +Paul. + +As for Bess and Belle, their voices broke so when they tried to speak +that they had to content themselves with pats and hugs. + +As for Aunt Betty, she went around hardly knowing, as she declared, +whether she was awake or dreaming, while she laughed and cried at the +same time. + +"Such a hideous nightmare as this has been!" ejaculated Jack, as he +hugged his sister for the twentieth time. + +"You must be nearly starved to death, you poor darling!" exclaimed Bess. + +"Haven't you had anything to eat since yesterday noon?" asked Belle. + +"Not enough to give me indigestion," laughed Cora--she could laugh now, +though a few hours before she had thought she could never laugh again. "A +soup cube and a chocolate tablet can hardly be called overfeeding, though +I did have a few blackberries to help out. But even at that I have some +provisions left," and she took the remaining soup cube out of her pocket. + +Bess pounced upon it. + +"One of the two I slipped into your pocket for a joke yesterday morning!" +she exclaimed. + +"It was a very lucky joke for me," smiled Cora. "I'm going to have this +one framed as a memento of my escape." + +There was something more nourishing and abundant before her now, and she +did it full justice, while the others looked on happily. + +Then, when she had partially satisfied her hunger, questions poured in +upon her in a flood, and she had to narrate all the details of her +experience from the moment she had been beguiled by the shamming mother +bird to the never-to-be-forgotten moment when she had heard the humming +of the aircraft motor in the sky. + +"If help ever came from heaven it did that time!" she said tremulously, +and they all agreed with her most fervently. + +"And, oh, girls," she said to Bess and Belle, "if you only knew how I +felt when she spoke, and, almost at the same moment, I saw those two +braids on the aviator's head and realized that I was talking to a woman!" + +"We know," the girls assured her soothingly. + +"She's a dandy!" exclaimed Jack emphatically. + +"You bet she is!" declared Walter. + +"She's as plucky as they make 'em," said Paul. "I only hope she beats the +record." + +"I'd like to be there at Governor's Island to greet her when she comes +down," said Jack. + +"Even if she puts the men in the shade by beating their time?" asked Bess +mischievously. + +"Even so," said Jack stoutly. + +"Cora's got the start on all of us now," laughed Bess. "We're only motor +girls but now she's an aviator girl." + +"Weren't you frightened just a tiny bit when you felt yourself going up +in the air?" asked Belle. + +"Not a bit," replied Cora. "Possibly I might have been if the +circumstances had been different. But I was so delighted to get away from +those dreadful woods that nothing else mattered. I think I'd have ridden +on a lion's back, if he'd promised to bring me home." + +The girls took charge of Cora now, and although the boys remonstrated, +she was borne away to her room to rest and bathe and change her clothes. + +"And now," said Jack, drawing a long breath, "it's up to us to get busy +and call off the searching parties. I suppose I ought to have done it the +moment Cora landed, but for the life of me I couldn't tear myself away." + +"You're excusable," laughed Walter. "But you stay right at home, old man, +with your sister. Paul and I will get on the job and attend to +everything." + +Jack protested, but they would take no denial. They jumped into the car +and whizzed down to the sawmill. + +They found the foreman and Baxter deep in consultation. The latter saw at +once from the boys' faces that they had good news, and hurried to meet +them. + +"We've got her!" cried Walter. + +"Safe and sound at Kill Kare," added Paul. + +"You don't say!" exclaimed the foreman with a broad smile. + +"Bully!" cried Baxter in great relief. + +"Where did you find her?" asked the foreman. + +"We didn't find her at all," grinned Paul. "She found us." + +"Came back by the sky route," chuckled Walter. + +Then, as they saw the mystified looks, they hastened to explain. + +"That aeroplane!" exclaimed Baxter. "We were watching it fly over here a +little while ago." + +"It was too far up for us to see that there were two in it," remarked the +foreman. "Well, I guess Miss Kimball can claim that she's the only person +that has ever been brought out of the woods in any such way as that." + +"And by a woman aviator, too," observed Baxter. "I've never had much +faith in women taking up flying, but I'm glad now they have. It beats the +Dutch what the women are doing these days." + +"They'll make us men take to cover if we don't watch out," laughed +Walter. "But now we've got to hustle and call off the men who are beating +the woods. We can't thank you folks enough for all you have done for us." + +"We'd like to leave some money with you to pay the men for their trouble +and time," added Paul. + +"Not a cent," said the foreman decidedly. "Their wages go on just the +same, and they'd only feel hurt if you offered it. It's just a case of +common humanity, and they've all been glad to volunteer." + +"Well, anyway," said Paul, "we'll have a big open air spread on the lawn +at Kill Kare to celebrate Miss Kimball's safe return, and we want all the +sawmill crew up there to the last man." + +"That's different," grinned the foreman. "They'll all come to that. But +you're taking a pretty big contract if you undertake to give a spread to +my lumberjacks." + +"You can't frighten us," laughed Walter. "We'll fill them up to the +chin." + +Baxter undertook to telephone the news to all those whom he had +previously called upon for help, and the boys, leaving their car at the +mill, hastened to the rendezvous in the forest. + +Joel was in charge, and a number of weary searchers who had dragged +themselves in were sitting about, munching sandwiches and drinking +coffee. + +The boys whooped out a yodel as soon as they came in sight, and waved +their hats. + +The men jumped to their feet, and Joel came running out to meet the +bearers of good news. + +"Thank the good Lord!" he exclaimed, as he saw their jubilant faces. "I +don't need to ask what's happened. You've found 'er." + +"We've got her," beamed Paul. + +"An' wuzn't she hurt none?" asked Joel. + +"Nothing but a few scratches." + +The men crowded round with eager questions, and their delight was +unbounded, for none knew better than they what risks Cora had run in +those trackless woods. + +One of the men volunteered to stay behind and notify the other searchers +as they should come in, and then, with hearts light as thistledown, the +boys and Joel retraced their steps to the mill, jumped into the car and +"burned up" the road on the way to Kill Kare. + +They had gone perhaps half the distance when they saw a figure on the +side of the road that somehow seemed familiar. + +They slowed up a little as the man approached, and then Paul gave a low +whistle. + +"It's that old pirate that took the gypsy girl away from us the other +morning!" he ejaculated. + +"So it is," replied Walter, as he took a closer look. "I wonder what the +old rascal is doing around here." + +"Up to no good, I'll be bound," remarked Joel, his old antipathy toward +the vagrant people asserting itself. + +"I've a good mind to speak to him," said Paul, who was driving, as he +slowed up a little. + +"What's the use?" replied Walter. "You won't get anything out of him that +he doesn't want to tell you. And that'll be mighty little, or I miss my +guess." + +The gypsy had looked up as the car approached, and it was apparent that +he had recognized the boys, for the same scowl came over his face that +they had seen on the first occasion of meeting. + +"Hello, friend," said Paul, as the car stopped close beside the gypsy. + +The man looked at him sullenly, but did not respond. + +"Is your camp anywhere around here?" asked Walter. + +The man shrugged his shoulders. + +"No understand," he said blankly. + +They tried again with the same result, and as there was evidently no +chance of getting an answer, they drove on. + +"If we'd promised to give him a five dollar bill, he'd have understood +all right," laughed Walter. + +"I'll bet he's prospecting around to find a good location for the camp," +observed Paul. + +"It's time then to put double locks on houses and barns," growled Joel. +"I'd hoped thet I'd never see hide nur hair uv them light-fingered +varmints ag'in." + + + + + CHAPTER XIX + AN UNINVITED GUEST + + +Cora was not visible when the party drove up to the bungalow, for Aunt +Betty and the girls had put her to bed, with strict injunctions that she +should stay there for the rest of the day. She had objected at first, but +at last had yielded. And to tell the truth, she was not sorry to yield to +their gentle compulsion, for although she was little the worse physically +from her adventure, she had been under a terrific nervous strain that had +taxed her heavily. + +But she appeared at supper time, fresh and radiant, her eyes sparkling +and her spirits high. + +"I declare it's almost worth being lost for the sake of being made so +much of when one gets back," she declared, with a loving look round at +the circle of friends, who could scarcely take their eyes off her. + +"Why shouldn't we make much of one who comes to us straight from the +skies?" said Walter. + +"There's one less angel up there now," added Paul. + +"But don't let me catch you running away again, sis," said Jack, with +mock severity. "We'll forgive you this time, but once is plenty. I don't +know but what I ought to put a ball and chain on you as it is." + +"You needn't worry," answered Cora. "I'm cured. I'll stick to the rest of +you now closer than your shadows." + +"By the way," remarked Walter, as he passed his plate, "we met an old +friend of yours on our way back from the mill this morning." + +"Who was that?" asked Cora with interest. + +"Give you three guesses," teased Paul. + +She ventured several names and then gave it up. + +"It was that dark-skinned gypsy who interfered the other morning, when +you girls were going to have your fortunes told," said Walter. + +Cora was all interest in an instant. + +"And did you see the girl?" she asked eagerly. + +"She wasn't along," replied Paul. "The man was all by his lonesome." + +"A regular brigand he was, too," commented Walter. "I'd hate to meet him +at night in a dark alley." + +"We tried to talk to him," explained Paul, "but he shut up like a clam. +Pretended he couldn't understand." + +"The rest of the gypsies can't be far off," observed Belle. + +"Wouldn't it be fine if they camped somewhere in this neighborhood?" said +Bess. + +"I wish they would," replied Cora. "I'm crazy to have another talk with +that gypsy girl." + +"I'm afraid Joel doesn't share your sentiments," laughed Walter. "To +speak of gypsy to him is like waving a red rag at a bull." + +"They're not very likely to settle down here," declared Jack. "They +usually pitch their tents somewhere in the vicinity of a town, so that +they can have plenty of visitors. The nearest place to this spot they'd +be likely to fix on is Wilton. That's quite a good-sized town, and +there's a big summer hotel there. But that's as much as four miles away." + +"What's distance to us as long as we have the cars?" said Cora. "For that +matter, it wouldn't be too far to walk. I wish you boys would keep your +eyes and ears open and let us know if you find out anything about them." + +They promised readily, but several days passed without any scrap of news +from the wandering tribe. + +One other bit of news, however, gave them unqualified pleasure. They +learned from a paper that Jack secured on a trip to a neighboring town +that Miss Moore had safely landed at Governor's Island and had broken all +records for a cross-country flight. + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" exclaimed Cora, clapping her hands. "I've been +worrying ever since that morning for fear I'd caused her to lose, and I +know how much her mind was set on winning." + +And forthwith she dispatched a telegram, care of the Aero Club, that +read: + + "Your grateful passenger sends warmest love and congratulations." + +And it may well be guessed that few of the messages that overwhelmed Miss +Moore on the completion of her wonderful feat brought her more real +satisfaction than this. + +"I'm pining away for a trip on the lake," announced Belle, one beautiful +morning a few days later. + +"Let's picnic up at the farther end of the lake," said Cora. "I noticed +the loveliest spot for an outing the last time we were up there." + +"Your wish is our command," said Jack with exaggerated courtesy. "I'd +have suggested it before, if I hadn't thought you girls might feel a wee +bit nervous about the _Water Sprite_ after the narrow escape we had last +time. But we've spent a good deal of time in fixing her up since then, +and now she's perfectly safe." + +"We're not a bit afraid," was the unanimous verdict of the girls. + +"And let's get a few fish on the way," said Walter. "There's nothing that +tastes better than a fish fry under the trees. And I know a way of +broiling them on oak twigs that will make you think you're eating +ambrosia. I'll be chef and Jack and Paul can clean the fish." + +"Such a chance!" exclaimed Paul. "You'll do your share of the cleaning, +and don't you forget it!" + +"You'd better catch the fish before you fall to scrapping over them," +remarked Cora. + +"You boys go ahead and get your bait," commanded Belle, "while we get on +our boating suits." + +"We fellows seem to be unanimously elected to do all the work," remarked +Jack. "I suppose you girls will want us to put the worms on the hooks for +you, too." + +"Likely enough," admitted Bess. + +"Worms, little boys?" sniffed Belle. + +"Bent pins, too, for hooks," suggested Cora. + +"Worms make a perfectly satisfactory bait, and don't you forget it!" +declared Walter. + +"Bet the fish swallow those worms so greedily our arms will ache pulling +them in so fast," added Jack. + +While the boys prepared the fishing tackle and dug the bait, Aunt Betty +saw to it that an ample lunch was prepared, and by the time the girls +came down, dressed for the trip, everything was in readiness. + +They made their way down to the shore of the lake, and a cry of surprise +and delight broke from the lips of the girls when they caught sight of +the motor boat. + +For it was a new, a rejuvenated, _Water Sprite_ that met their eyes. She +had been dowdy and disreputable when she had taken them out on the first +trip. But the boys had made several surreptitious trips to the nearest +town, and had come back laden with sundry cans of paint and varnish. + +They had worked like troopers, painting the boat from stem to stern, +varnishing the deck and the interior of the cabin, and cleaning every bit +of the brass work until it shone like gold. + +The _Water Sprite_ was a perfect picture now, as she floated gracefully +at the end of the little pier, her ivory white coat of paint contrasting +beautifully with the rich brown of the deck tints and her name showing in +gold letters on her stern. + +"Isn't she a darling?" exclaimed Bess ecstatically. + +"She's a dream!" asseverated Belle. + +"So that's what you boys have been up to on these mysterious trips of +yours, is it?" asked Cora, shaking her finger at them. + +"Caught with the goods," grinned Jack. + +"Guilty, with extenuating circumstances," admitted Walter. + +"We throw ourselves on the mercy of the court," laughed Paul. + +"You see," explained Jack, "it didn't seem the right thing to us that +such pretty girls should sail in such a shabby boat." + +"Well, all I have to say is that you boys are perfect darlings to go to +all this trouble for us," declared Bess emphatically. + +"It looks like + + "'An ivory shallop, silken-sailed,'" + +quoted Belle. + +"Except that there are no sails," laughed Cora. "But the ivory part is +all right. Really, girls, it looks almost too pretty to use. Talk about +Cleopatra's barge!" + +"There was only one queen on that, while we have three," grinned Walter. +"But come along, girls. I want you to catch those fish, so I can show you +what a peach of a cook I am." + +The girls went on board in high glee, Paul cast off the moorings, Jack +started the engine to chugging, and Walter this time took charge of the +wheel. + +The _Water Sprite_ darted off proudly, as though conscious she was +looking her best. The boys had not been content with mere decoration, but +had made a thorough job of fixing the hull as well, and this time there +was no danger of wet feet. + +They went down the lake some distance, and then Jack stopped the engine, +and the _Water Sprite_ floated about lazily, while they baited the hooks +and threw out the lines. + +"I've got a bite," said Jack suddenly. + +"Does it hurt?" asked Walter solicitously. + +Bess giggled, and the others joined in when Jack hauled up a lot of +dripping weeds. + +"Old Izaak Walton had nothing on you as a fisherman," chaffed Paul. + +But the laugh was on him a moment later, when a voracious pickerel made +off with his hook and sinker, and he ruefully pulled up his broken line. + +Cora was the first to score, landing a big flopping perch to an +accompaniment of little squeals from Bess and Belle. + +From that time on the luck was good, and before long they had a number of +perch and pickerel, together with enough bass to supply all they needed +for an abundant dinner. + +"I guess we're pretty well fixed now," said Jack, as he eyed the pile of +fish. "What do you say now to hustling along and giving Walter a chance +to make good on that frying proposition? I think he's bragging, if you +ask me." + +"You do, eh?" retorted Walter. "If you clean the fish as well as I cook +them there'll be nothing left to ask for." + +They started up the boat again, and before long were near the end of the +lake. They went along slowly, trying to find the special place that Cora +had referred to. + +"There it is!" she exclaimed at length. "See! Right in that little cove." + +She pointed to a little indentation in the shore where the trees had +thinned out so as to leave an open space carpeted with velvety, springing +turf. Near by, a tiny promontory extended into the water, and here it was +deep enough for the _Water Sprite_ to float without touching bottom. + +"What a lovely spot!" exclaimed Belle. + +"A little bit of Eden," seconded her sister. + +"And a dandy place to land," commented Jack. "We can fasten a rope to +that tree and step ashore without having to wade." + +The boys helped the girls ashore, and followed them, bringing along their +catch. + +While the girls emptied the contents of the lunch basket and spread the +good things about in a shady spot, Walter gathered some wood, dug a hole +in the ground and lighted a roaring fire. As the flames died down he +carefully raked the embers into the hole, until he had a small furnace +that gave forth an intense heat. + +Then he prepared a skillet of oak twigs dexterously twisted together, and +was ready. Jack and Paul in the meantime had been cleaning the fish. + +"Hurry up, you common laborers," ordered Walter in a lordly tone. "Don't +keep an artist waiting." + +A fish-head whizzed past his ear and he hastily sought refuge behind a +tree. + +"Bad shooting," he taunted. + +"Good enough to make you duck," retorted Jack. + +"While these rough-necks are disturbing the peace," drawled Walter, "it +might be a good idea to get some of those blackberries up there. They'll +come in handy for dessert." + +He pointed to a group of bushes about a hundred feet distant. + +"I'll go," volunteered Belle, rising to her feet. "You girls go on +getting things ready. This lunch basket is empty now and I'll take it +along for the berries." + +She started to pick busily, while Walter, taking the fish that had been +cleaned, began to broil them over the fire. + +A delicious, tantalizing savor rose from the oak skillets, and promised +to justify all that Walter had claimed for his cooking. + +"Hurry up, Belle!" called Cora. "Walter's nearly finished now, and we're +all ravenous." + +"I'll be with you in a minute," sang out Belle, "but there's one big bush +here that's just dying to be picked." + +She moved toward it, but stopped in fright as she heard a grunt and snort +on the other side of the bush. + +The next instant she found herself looking into the eyes of a big black +bear! + + + + + CHAPTER XX + THE GREEDY MARAUDER + + +For a moment Belle stood paralyzed with fright. + +The bear gazed at her unwinkingly, and his hair began to rise slowly on +his head as he gave vent to a savage growl. + +Then Belle screamed wildly, dropped her basket, which was half full of +berries, and ran towards the other members of the party, who had risen +and rushed to meet her. + +"What is it?" they cried in chorus. + +"A bear!" shrieked Belle, pointing to the thicket. "Oh, run, run!" + +And at this moment the bear emphasized the wisdom of this advice by +shambling into full sight. + +The boys each possessed themselves of the arm of one of the girls and +hurried them to the boat. They put them aboard, rapidly untied the rope +that held the _Water Sprite_, and themselves jumped in. + +Then with a united push they sent the _Water Sprite_ away from the bank, +Jack started the engine going faster than he ever had before, and in a +moment more they were fifty feet out on the lake. + +Then only did they dare to draw breath. + +It was perhaps lucky for them that Belle had dropped her basket right in +the path of the bear. The piles of luscious fruit that had rolled out +proved a temptation too strong to resist. He nuzzled into them +luxuriously, and when he raised his head his nose looked as though it +were dripping with paint. + +They had a good view of him now, and they shuddered as they saw what a +large and shaggy specimen he was. The bear looked at them too and snarled +as if with disappointment at their escape. + +"Beauty, isn't he?" demanded Paul. + +"Looks like a nightmare to me," observed Walter. + +"How lucky that Belle saw him first and gave warning," said Cora. "It +would have been nice, wouldn't it, to have been sitting at lunch and have +looked up to see him standing beside us?" + +"I know what it means now to have your tongue cleave to the roof of your +mouth," said Belle, who was pale and shaken. "I thought I never would be +able to scream." + +The bear resumed his shambling gait and meandered leisurely down to the +pile of fish. + +"The robber!" groaned Walter. "He'll clean up the pile. To think I've +been cooking for that old reprobate!" + +"You ought to take it as a compliment," said Jack. "Just see how the old +thief is wading into them." + +The fish were indeed disappearing with magical rapidity. + +"He's a magician," said Jack. "He's making mutton of fish." + +"It's well enough to joke," murmured Bess. "But what will we do if he +eats all the rest of our lunch?" + +"We'll have to grin and bear it," said Paul, whose disposition to pun +could not be overcome. + +"Perhaps he'll be satisfied with the fish and leave the rest of the food +alone," remarked Cora hopefully. + +"You're a cheerful optimist," replied her brother. "You don't know much +about a bear's appetite. Besides, he must be awfully hungry, otherwise he +would run away--bears usually do." + +"Oh, if I only had a rifle here!" said Paul. + +"A dynamite bomb would be good enough for me," growled Walter. + +"Haven't we anything on board we can soak him with?" groaned Jack. + +"Nothing much, except some loose bolts and nuts in the locker," answered +Cora, "and they wouldn't do any good, except perhaps to aggravate him." + +"It might get his mind off the rest of the lunch, anyway," replied her +brother. "Let's get a handful, fellows, and bombard the old brigand." + +They were all smarting for revenge, and they equipped themselves with the +missiles and began to throw. Several of them hit the bear, but he paid no +attention. + +"We're too far off," said Walter. "The force of the bolts is spent before +they get to him. Back up a little closer to the shore, Jack, and we'll +have a better chance." + +"Do you think we'd better?" asked Belle. "He might get stirred up and +come after us. Bears are good swimmers, you know." + +"He couldn't catch a motor boat in a thousand years," replied Jack. "If +it were a rowboat now, it might be different." + +He backed up until the boat was within ten feet of the shore. Walter +threw a bolt with such accurate aim that it caught the bear right on the +end of his nose. + +He reared up with an ugly roar, and his little eyes shot flames of fire +at his adversaries. + +He offered a fair mark as he stood erect, and Jack had an inspiration. +Hanging over the side of the _Water Sprite_ was one of the +life-preservers, the round type, a circle with a very large opening in +the center, so that it could be easily slipped over the head. + +Jack snatched it up and threw it with the motion of a quoit-thrower. It +covered the short intervening distance and went over the bear's head, +settling on his neck and looking for all the world like a gigantic ruff. +It gave the animal a most grotesque appearance, and the spectators roared +with laughter. + +It was easier for it to go on than it was for the bear to get it off, and +his antics were comical as he rubbed his head against the trees and, +failing in that, took his paws to it. He succeeded at last, but his +naturally surly nature had not been improved by the operation, and the +instant the life-preserver was dislodged, he rushed to the edge of the +shore and plunged into the water. + +The action was so sudden that the party was taken by surprise. The girls +screamed, and the boys had to do some quick work to get the _Water +Sprite_ under way. They succeeded, however, and once the engine was +going, it was an easy matter to keep out of the bear's reach, although +for so clumsy a creature he swam with amazing swiftness. + +They could have distanced him without trouble, but with deliberate +purpose Jack kept just far enough ahead of him to encourage him in +thinking that he might overtake his quarry. In this way, he drew him down +along the shore of the lake for more than half a mile. By that time, +Bruin's ardor had cooled and his strength began to fail. He gave a +wrathful snort and made for the shore. + +The instant he did so, Jack turned the boat about and made all speed back +to the place where they had been surprised. + +"Now's our chance, fellows," he said. "We can get there long before the +bear does, even if he makes a bee line for it as soon as he gets to +shore. I'll hold her bow against the bank, while you jump out and gather +up the provisions and bring them on board. That thief may have got our +fish, but he won't have the laugh on us altogether." + +It was very quick work that Paul and Walter did, for they had no mind to +be caught there when the bear should make his way back, as they had no +doubt he would. They regained the life preserver, which was so scratched +and torn that it was no longer good for its original purpose, but they +wanted it as a memento of the adventure. + +As the bear had not had time to meddle with the food laid out by the +girls, they were not so badly off after all, although it was exasperating +to have to go without the fish, whose appetizing aroma was still in the +air. + +"Just when they were done to a turn, too," said Walter gloomily. "I wish +the old rascal had choked on the bones." + +Having recovered everything else, even to Aunt Betty's lunch basket, the +picnic party pushed out some distance, and ate their lunch with an +appetite that was the keener for their enforced waiting. + +They were sure that Bruin's instinct would lead him straight back to the +succulent repast that had been so rudely interrupted, and they were +right, for a few minutes later he came loping along and plunged into the +remnants of his fish dinner. He glared out over the water at his enemies, +but his one experience had been sufficient, and he made no further +attempt to take after them. He sniffed around disappointedly at the place +where the other eatables had stood, and then lumbered away into the +woods. + + + + + CHAPTER XXI + THE DRIFTING BOAT + + +"There's gratitude for you," observed Jack. "We've given that bear a +perfectly good dinner--even cooked it for him--and the only thanks we get +is an attempt to kill us." + +"Oh, well," said Paul, "we must forgive the old fellow. Bear and forbear, +you know." + +"You wouldn't think it was so funny," remarked Cora, "if he'd gotten away +with the rest of the lunch, as well as the fish." + +"Even then we needn't have gone hungry," returned Paul soberly. "The +forest preserves are all around us." + +"Even in the cities, one needn't starve if he has a sweet tooth," added +Walter. "He always has the subway jams." + +"I declare," said Cora, "it's a pity the bear didn't get you boys after +all." + +"_We_ may get _him_ yet," said Walter. "I'm not willing to let those fish +of mine go unavenged. Perhaps we can get some guns from Joel and round +this old fellow up. It certainly would do me a lot of good to have his +skin for a rug." + +"He may have his own ideas about that," replied Bess. "You'd better let +well enough alone." + +"I see we're not the only ones on the lake," remarked Cora, pointing to a +small boat about a mile away. + +"Some fellow out fishing in a rowboat," pronounced Jack, after a moment's +examination. "Let's go down that way and see what luck he's having." + +"He doesn't seem to be fishing," observed Belle, as the _Water Sprite_ +turned in the direction of the rowboat. "In fact, he seems trying to +attract our attention. There, he's waving at us. Let's hurry. Perhaps +he's in trouble." + +Jack sent the _Water Sprite_ flying at full speed, and the distance +between the boats rapidly narrowed. + +"Upon my word!" cried Belle, "I believe it's Mr. Morley." + +"So it is," acquiesced Cora. + +"I don't see any oars in his boat," said Paul. + +"Looks as though he were adrift," remarked Walter. + +When he was within a few yards, Jack shut off the engine, and the _Water +Sprite_ drifted lazily down alongside the rowboat. + +It was indeed the botanist, and he smiled cordially, if a little +sheepishly, as they shouted greetings to him. + +"I'm mighty glad to see you young people," he returned. "I rather thought +it was your boat, but she looks so gay in her new coat that I wasn't sure +of it." + +"Where are your oars?" asked Jack. + +"Thereby hangs a tale," smiled Mr. Morley. + +"Come aboard and tell us all about it," replied Cora. "We'll fasten your +boat to the stern and pull it along." + +Mr. Morley climbed on board, helped by willing hands, and Walter secured +the rowboat by a rope round a cleat in the stern. + +"It's a simple story," laughed Mr. Morley. "Indeed, simple is the only +word that properly expresses it. The fact is that I rowed over to the +other side of the lake to find some specimens that I had reason to think +were growing there. I got them all right and rowed back to the island. I +put the oars out of the boat on the dock, and was going to get out +myself, when something peculiar about one of the specimens attracted my +attention, and I sat down in the boat to examine it more closely. I got +so engrossed in it that I forgot everything else. Then suddenly I woke up +to the fact that the boat had drifted away from the dock, and I was in +the middle of the lake without oars. I was trying to paddle with my +hands, but wasn't accomplishing much, when your boat came in sight. I'm +always glad to see you young folks, but I don't mind admitting that I'm +especially glad to see you to-day." + +"And we are to see you," returned Cora warmly. "How lucky it was that we +made up our mind to spend to-day on the lake." + +"We'll take you right over to your island," said Jack. + +"It's awfully good of you," returned Mr. Morley. "I hope it won't +interfere with any other plans you may have made." + +"Not a bit," answered Cora. "As a matter of fact, I was going to ask Jack +to stop at the island before we went home to-night. I wanted to scold you +for not having come over to see us at Kill Kare, as you promised." + +"I ought to be scolded," admitted Mr. Morley. "It hasn't been, however, +because I didn't want to come. But I've had a very painful and difficult +problem that I've felt I must solve and that has taken up all my time. +But I shall certainly give myself the pleasure of calling before long. + +"But you have had some very stirring adventures of your own since I saw +you last, I understand," he continued. "What's this I hear about your +being lost in the woods and rescued by an aeroplane, Miss Kimball?" + +"It's true enough," smiled Cora, and she gave him some of the details. +"But how did you come to hear anything about it?" she asked curiously. + +"I was talking with Mr. Baxter recently and he told me about it," replied +Mr. Morley. + +"Mr. Baxter!" exclaimed Cora in surprise. "We know him very well and he +was very kind and helpful while the search was going on. But I didn't +know that you were acquainted with him." + +"He's doing some special work for me," Mr. Morley explained, "and we +often have occasion to consult together. He's a very clever man in his +particular line." + +Cora would have given the world to ask just then what Mr. Baxter's line +of work was, but she felt that she might be prying. She waited +expectantly, hoping that the botanist would mention it of his own accord, +but he did not, and they were soon talking of other things. + +Of course they told him of their adventure with the bear, and he laughed +heartily at the way the brute had made away with their fish dinner. + +"If he didn't leave you enough," he said heartily, "I'd be very glad to +have you come up to the cabin with me and let me knock you up a meal." + +"Oh, we had plenty without the fish," laughed Cora. "But thank you just +the same. And by the way, we're going to have an outdoor spread on the +lawn at Kill Kare before long, in recognition of the kindness of those +who tried to bring the prodigal daughter out of the wilderness. I expect +that your friend Mr. Baxter will be there, and I'd dearly love to have +you come, too." + +"When you've fixed on the exact date, let me know, and I certainly will," +replied Mr. Morley. "But here we are now, and there are the oars lying on +the dock as a proof of my foolishness," he added with a laugh. + +"You've put me under a great obligation," he said in parting. "I might +have drifted along the greater part of the day, and perhaps the night, +before I touched shore somewhere." + +"One good turn deserves another," returned Jack, "and we haven't +forgotten how royally you helped us on the day the _Water Sprite_ got +into trouble." + +They waved to him as the boat drew away and shaped its course for Kill +Kare. + +"It's mighty lucky we came along, just the same," observed Belle. +"Suppose, by any chance, he had drifted ashore and found our friend the +bear waiting for him." + +"And he without any oars in his boat," added Bess, with a little shudder. + + + + + CHAPTER XXII + THE GYPSY CAMP + + +Cora sat in a brown study as the boat hummed its way to the home landing. + +"A penny for your thoughts, fair lady," said Walter, as he lounged lazily +on the cushions. + +"Why," said Cora, "I was wondering what were the special business +relations between Mr. Morley and Mr. Baxter." + +"Hard to tell," replied Walter lightly. "Perhaps Mr. Baxter is an author +or an illustrator, and they're getting up a book together on botany, or +something of the kind." + +"I hardly think it's that," put in Jack. "I told you before that I +thought he was a detective, and something that he said when Cora was lost +makes me believe it all the more. He said that he knew the authorities in +some of the towns, and they'd be glad to oblige him. That sounds to me +more like a detective than an author talking." + +"It does for a fact," agreed Paul. "But what do you suppose a detective +and Mr. Morley have in common?" + +"Mr. Morley said that Mr. Baxter was doing some special work for him and +that he was very clever," said Cora. + +"Mr. Morley may have been robbed, and he may be trying to trace the +robbers," suggested Belle. + +"If it were only that, there wouldn't be much romance or interest about +it," mused Cora. "But I have an idea it's something more intimate and +personal than that." + +"It seems to me that a robbery is a pretty personal and intimate thing," +laughed Walter. + +"Cora means that there's a heart interest somewhere in Mr. Morley's +life," put in Bess, "but of course you boys are too sordid to understand +anything like that." + +As they passed the barn on their way to the bungalow they met Joel, who +had just put up his horse. He seemed a bit out of sorts, and as this was +unusual for him, it attracted their attention. + +"What's the matter, Joel?" asked Jack. + +"Nuthin' much," answered Joel. "But I jest heerd thet them pesky gypsies +hez pitched their camp over near Wilton, an' it's kinda rubbed my fur the +wrong way. I won't hev an easy minute till I know they've packed up their +kits an' hit the trail again." + +"The gypsies!" exclaimed Cora. "I wonder if it is the same camp we saw +before." + +"I suppose that's likely," returned Jack. "There isn't usually more than +one camp in the same part of the country. They spread out pretty thin and +keep apart. Besides, this fits in with the old pirate we saw the other +day. He was prospecting, all right, and he picked out the vicinity of +Wilton because he saw good graft in the town and the big hotel." + +"Are you sure the news is straight?" asked Paul. "How did you hear about +it?" + +"Thet Baxter feller wuz drivin' by, an' he told me," replied Joel. "Wuss +news I've heerd in a dog's age." + +But if the news disgruntled Joel, it gave immense satisfaction to the +rest of the party, especially the girls. They restrained their +jubilation, however, until they got beyond Joel's hearing. + +"Isn't it darling!" exclaimed Cora. "Now we'll have a chance to see that +gypsy girl again!" + +"All the good it will do you," jeered Walter. "That old horse thief will +be on the job again, and keep her from talking with you. For some reason +he seems to have it in for us." + +"Let's drive over to-morrow," suggested Bess. + +"I'd like nothing better," agreed her sister. + +"Let's give Joel a pleasure and take him along," put in Walter with a +wicked grin. + +"It would make him froth at the mouth just to look at them," laughed +Jack. "I guess in the interest of the public peace we'd better keep Joel +as far away from them as possible." + +"I'm just going to make that girl talk!" declared Cora emphatically. + +"Not a very hard thing as a rule," chaffed Walter. "The difficulty is +usually to keep the girls from talking. But these gypsies are a canny +lot. For some reason or other they're suspicious of us, and they'll keep +their eyes on us as long as we're in camp." + +"Let's go in disguise," laughed Paul. "I'll make up as a clown." + +"That wouldn't be any disguise," jabbed Bess. + +"That ought to hold you for a while, old man," laughed Jack. "But let's +go in to supper. I'm ravenous. We'll have plenty of time to think of the +gypsies later on." + +The next day was bright and clear, and shortly after lunch the cars were +brought out and the party of young people started for Wilton. + +There was a fairly good road most of the way, but there were patches that +led through the woods that were rather rough, and over these the cars had +to move more slowly. + +"Suppose that bear of ours should turn up now," suggested Walter, as they +passed through an especially dense portion of the forest. + +"Don't speak of it," shivered Bess, looking fearfully on either side. +"What on earth would we do?" + +"Run for it, I guess," replied Paul laconically. "He'd have to be pretty +fast to overtake us." + +"But suppose he jumped out in front of us," said Belle. + +"Then we'd have to put on full speed ahead and bump him," laughed Jack. +"He'd be as surprised as the bull that tried to throw the locomotive off +the track." + +"And about as badly mussed up, I imagine," added Walter. + +But at the same time he reflected that it might have been just as well to +have brought Joel's rifle along, and in his secret heart he was relieved +when the cars got out again on the open road. + +They slowed up a little as they drew near Wilton, and scanned narrowly +both sides of the road. + +"There it is!" exclaimed Bess eagerly, pointing to a large opening in the +woods a little to the right. + +"So it is," acquiesced Belle. "I can see the vans through the trees." + +"And we're not the only visitors, either," remarked Jack, as they caught +sight of a number of well dressed people walking about the camp. + +"So much the better," replied Cora. "We won't be so conspicuous, and the +gypsies will be so busy with the crowd that they'll take no special +notice of us." + +They left their cars under the shade of some trees and mingled with the +throng. + +"I give them credit for having picked out a good place," remarked Jack. + +"They seem to be doing a land-office business," observed Walter. + +"I don't see that old fellow around that has such a grudge against us," +said Paul. + +"Probably off somewhere cheating some farmer in a horse trade," grinned +Jack. + +They passed a group of rather fast-looking young men, who were talking +and laughing loudly, and Bess suddenly plucked Cora by the sleeve. + +"Don't look now," she murmured, "but after we get behind that clump of +trees, take a look at that crowd we've just passed. There's an old +acquaintance of yours there." + +Cora did as directed and gave a start of surprise. + +"Why," she exclaimed, "it's the man who tried to steal my purse!" + + + + + CHAPTER XXIII + A TANGLED SKEIN + + +Belle followed Cora's gaze. + +"Sure enough," she ejaculated, "it's that man Higby!" + +"What do you suppose he's doing here?" wondered Cora. + +"I suppose he's off on his vacation," hazarded Bess. "Likely enough he's +stopping at one of the boarding houses in Wilton." + +"You girls seem to be hypnotized," laughed Jack. "We'll get jealous if +you keep looking at those chaps any longer." + +"Do you see that man over there?" asked Cora, indicating Higby. + +"The fellow with the rainbow tie?" asked Jack. "Yes, I see him. What of +him?" + +"That's the man who tried to scrape acquaintance with us, and nearly got +my purse later on." + +"I'd like to pick a quarrel with him and punch his head," said Jack +savagely. + +"You won't do anything of the kind, Jack Kimball," warned Cora. + +"So that's our hated rival, is it?" asked Paul, looking at the young man +with some amusement. + +"I'll have his heart's blood," hissed Walter tragically. + +"It's very queer," mused Cora. "Don't you remember, girls, how the gypsy +girl nearly fainted when Bess happened to mention Higby's name? And here +he is now in the same camp with her." + +"I'd like to be near by when they meet," remarked Belle. + +"Still looking for a mystery," chaffed Walter. "It beats all how you +girls can pounce on trifles and make a mountain out of them." + +"Give them an ounce of fact and they'll get a ton of romance," agreed +Paul. + +"We're not asking for your approval," retorted Cora. "This is a case that +requires brains and naturally you boys are all at sea." + +"I don't see that you've reached harbor anywhere," drawled Jack. + +"Not yet," admitted Cora, "but that doesn't say we won't. I wonder where +that girl can be," she continued, as she looked searchingly around. + +"Perhaps they've sent her over to Wilton to tell fortunes there," +suggested Paul. "These gypsies don't wait for business to come to them. +They hunt it up." + +"Oh, I hope not!" exclaimed Cora. "The only reason I cared to come over +here was to see her." + +But although they loitered about the place for another hour or two, they +saw no trace of the gypsy girl. + +They were agreeably surprised, however, to run across Mr. Baxter, with +whom their relations had grown cordial since he had exerted himself so +strenuously in the search for Cora. But despite the pleasant footing on +which they stood, there was still that baffling sense of reticence that +enveloped him in everything concerning himself. + +"Come over to get your fortune told?" asked Jack with a grin. + +"Not exactly," smiled Mr. Baxter, "though I'm always in the market for +exact information." + +"I hope you don't mean to imply that there's anything phony about the +dope they hand out here," laughed Walter. + +"We saw your friend, Mr. Morley, yesterday," remarked Cora. + +Mr. Baxter shot a sharp look at her. + +"Is that so?" he inquired. "How did you happen to know we were +acquainted?" + +"He told me so himself," returned Cora promptly. + +"Well, that ought to be pretty good authority," replied Mr. Baxter. + +But he showed no disposition to pursue the subject, as Cora had wished he +would, and the conversation turned into other channels. + +Mr. Baxter excused himself shortly, and the party strolled on. The girls +bought bits of bead and embroidered work from the women, and had their +fortunes told twice, spinning out the time in the hope that they would +meet the girl they sought. But she did not appear, and at last they made +their way to the cars, sorely disappointed. + +They had gone only a little way when Bess exclaimed: + +"Look! There's some one behind those bushes." + +The others looked, but could see nothing. + +"You're dreaming, I guess," remarked her sister. + +"Nothing of the kind!" replied Bess indignantly. "I have eyes. And it was +a woman, too. I caught a glimpse of her skirts." + +"Well, suppose it is," observed Jack nonchalantly. "She has a right to be +there if she wants to. The woods are free." + +"I wish you'd get down and see," pleaded Cora. + +"Oh, very well," replied Jack resignedly. "Since you girls are determined +to butt in, I suppose I'll have to be the goat." + +He got down from the car, but at that moment the bushes parted, and a +girl stepped out into the road. She was gaily dressed and had a +tambourine in her hand. + +But there was no suggestion of gaiety in her face, which was distressed +and bore traces of recent tears. + +Cora uttered an exclamation of surprise and pleasure. + +"Why," she cried, "it's the gypsy girl!" + +The girl looked up and tried to smile, but it was a forlorn attempt. + +The girls stepped down from the car and gathered about her. The boys +would have followed, but Cora interposed. + +"You boys drive on a little way and wait for us," she directed. "We'll be +with you in a few minutes." + +The boys looked at each other and laughed, but they obeyed. Then Cora +turned to the girl. + +"You seem to be in trouble of some kind," she said gently. "I wonder if +we couldn't help you?" + +The gypsy hesitated. + +"Don't be afraid," urged Cora. "We're all girls together here, and we'll +do anything we can to help you if you'll only let us." + +The girl started to speak in her gypsy patter, and here Cora hazarded a +bold stroke. + +"Don't talk that way," she said with a winning smile. "I'm sure you can +use as good English as we can if you want to." + +The shot went home, and the girl flushed under the tan that bronzed her +cheeks. + +"I don't know why you think that," she said in a low voice. + +"It was from something you said the other day when you were off your +guard," replied Cora. "Of course I don't want to meddle with your +affairs, but I do want that we should be friends. My name is Cora and +this is Bess and this Belle. What is your name?" + +"They call me Nina," replied the girl, who was visibly melting under the +charm of Cora's personality. + +"Now won't you tell us just what the matter is?" continued Cora. "I can +see that you have been crying." + +"I was frightened," answered the girl. + +"Do the gypsies treat you badly?" asked Cora. + +"No," replied Nina. "They're rough sometimes, but they're kindly at +heart. But there was some one over at the camp to-day that I haven't seen +for a long time, and that I hoped I never would see. I'm afraid of him. +He didn't see me, but I saw him, and I ran away to hide in the woods till +he should be gone." + +The girls looked at each other, and the same name came to the minds of +all three. + + + + + CHAPTER XXIV + THE KNOCKING AT MIDNIGHT + + +"I think I know his name," said Cora quietly. + +The girl looked at her in surprise. + +"How can you know?" she asked. + +"Because you nearly fainted the other day when you heard it mentioned," +returned Cora, "and we saw that same man over at the camp to-day. His +name is Higby." + +The girl started violently, but whether she would have admitted it they +did not know, for just at that moment a call came from the depths of the +woods: + +"Nina, Nina!" + +"My people are looking for me!" exclaimed Nina. "It wouldn't do for them +to find me here talking with you. They're suspicious of everybody. I'll +have to go." + +"But we must see you again," said Cora. "We simply must. Can't you come +over to our place and have a long talk with us? We live at Camp Kill +Kare, only about four miles from here." And she hastily gave the needed +directions for finding the way. + +Again the cry arose from the woods, but nearer this time. + +"Nina, Nina!" + +"Perhaps I will come," said Nina hurriedly. "But you had better not come +over to the camp again. If they suspect anything they will shut me up in +one of the vans until they go away. Good-bye," and she scurried away into +the woods. + +The girls looked after her regretfully and then climbed into their car +and drove ahead to where the boys were waiting for them with more or less +patience. + +"Well, how did you amateur sleuths make out?" asked Jack, as they drew +alongside. + +"Foiled again, judging from their faces," observed Paul. + +"The committee reports progress and asks to be continued," chimed in +Walter in his best parliamentary manner. + +"I thought only women were curious," said Belle scathingly. + +"You boys drive on," directed Bess. "This is a matter for us girls to +settle." + +"We're clearly in the second-fiddle class," grumbled Jack, as he threw in +the clutch and took the lead. + +"Wasn't it the most exasperating thing?" observed Bess, as the girls +settled down for a "comfy" talk. "Just as we were on the very point of +finding out perhaps about that Higby, she had to go." + +"Goodness knows when we'll see her again, if ever," sighed Belle +pessimistically. + +"I'm glad she has the Kill Kare address anyway," replied Cora. "She may +come over to see us. But if she doesn't, I'll find out some way of +getting in touch with her again." + +"Well, as Walter said, the committee has made some progress anyway," said +Bess. + +"I don't see where," put in her sister. "We don't really know any more of +her story than we did before." + +"Not of the real story, perhaps," admitted Cora, "but we know some things +now, where formerly we only suspected them. We know, for instance, that +Higby is the man she's afraid of. She didn't actually admit it, though I +think she was about to, but his being there to-day and her hiding make it +practically certain. It just couldn't be a mere coincidence. + +"Then too," Cora continued, "we know that she can speak perfect English +when she wants to. And she has the accent of an educated girl." + +"But that doesn't prove she isn't a gypsy," said Belle. "I've heard +sometimes of gypsy fathers, especially the chiefs of tribes, sending +their daughters to good schools. I suppose at the time they intend to +keep them away from gypsy surroundings altogether. But then the wild +feeling in their blood comes out and they drift back to the camp life +again." + +"I know that happens sometimes," agreed Cora thoughtfully, "but it's very +rare, and all the chances are against it's being true in this particular +case. And then, too, the blue eyes the girl has show that she isn't of +gypsy birth." + +"But even if that is true," objected Belle, "I don't see what good we can +do the girl by getting mixed up in this. If she's with the gypsies, she +may be there of her own accord. She seems to be treated well enough. She +didn't say anything about wanting to get away from them." + +"She hasn't had time to tell us very much yet," answered Cora. "But we're +letting the boys get too far ahead of us," and she put more speed into +her car and soon caught up with them. + +The next day the rain came down in torrents. It beat in a perfect deluge +on roof and windows, and even swept in on the big capacious porch, so +that outdoor life of any kind was out of the question. + +But it could not dampen the high spirits of the party at Camp Kill Kare. +They had been so constantly on the go that the little interval of forced +inactivity was not after all unwelcome. The girls were able to catch up +with neglected bits of sewing. Then there was the library stocked with +choice books, and one of the girls read aloud while the others worked. + +The boys ensconced themselves in the barn with Joel, where the old +backwoodsman regaled them with stories of his adventures in the earlier +days when he had been one of the most noted guides in the Adirondack +region. + +After supper a big wood fire blazed on the open hearth and took the edge +from the damp chill that sought to invade the house. The girls furnished +music, and boys and girls together sang songs until they were tired. + +The girls had been asleep for an hour or more when Cora was awakened by a +knocking on the front door. + +"Who on earth can that be at this hour of the night?" she wondered, as +she raised herself on her elbow to listen. + +The knocking continued, and as nobody else seemed awake to answer it, +Cora slipped out of bed, donned a kimono, and softly woke Bess and Belle. + +"What is it?" asked Belle drowsily. + +"Go away and let me sleep," murmured Bess, turning over on her pillow. + +"There's somebody knocking at the front door," explained Cora. "I'm going +down to see who it is, and I want you girls to go with me." + +"It may be a burglar!" exclaimed Belle. + +"You might get hurt!" protested Bess, wide awake now. + +"Nonsense!" laughed Cora. "Burglars don't usually announce their coming +by knocking at the door. Besides, I'll find out who it is before I open. +Slip on your kimonos and come along." + +They obeyed, not without some inward shrinking. + +"Don't you think you ought to wake the boys?" asked Belle, hesitating on +the landing. + +"I couldn't do that without waking the whole house, Aunt Betty and all," +answered Cora. "Besides, the boys would have the laugh on us and try to +patronize us. We don't want to be looked on as a lot of cowards." + +Both of the sisters seemed to be perfectly willing just at that moment to +be included in that ignominious category, but they were accustomed to +follow where Cora led, and they went down the stairs, their slippered +feet making no noise. + +The knocking still continued, though it seemed weaker than at first. + +Cora, with her lighted bedroom candle in her hand, softly approached the +door, which was secured by a double lock and also by a heavy chain. + +"Who is there?" she asked. + +"Please let me in," came in a woman's voice from outside. + +"Who are you?" Cora repeated. + +"Nina," was the answer. "Oh, please let me in!" + +Cora unfastened the chain and turned the key, and as she opened the door +the gypsy girl staggered into the bungalow. + + + + + CHAPTER XXV + FALSELY ACCUSED + + +The Motor Girls caught the gypsy girl as she was about to fall and seated +her in a chair. + +"You poor, poor thing!" exclaimed Cora. + +"Out in this pouring rain!" ejaculated Belle. + +"And drenched to the skin!" added Bess. + +The newcomer presented a pitiable appearance. Her gaudy apparel was torn +and bedraggled, her wet hair clung about her face, and she was gasping +with exhaustion. + +"I had to come!" she panted. "I was afraid!" + +Cora had formed her plans with quick decision. + +"We must keep this to ourselves for to-night, girls," she said in a low +voice. "She'd be miserable and embarrassed if the boys should come down. +We'll tell them all about it to-morrow. The first thing to do is to get +her up in our rooms and give her some dry clothes. Then we'll get her +something to eat and drink and put her to bed. She can tell us her story +later." + +"Oh, you are so good!" exclaimed the gypsy girl, covering her face with +her hands. + +As quietly as they could, they helped her up the stairs and rummaged in +their closets for towels and clothes. Then they all set to work, and in a +little while the newcomer was dry and warmly dressed in civilized +garments. + +She was of about the same size as Cora and Belle, and they had no trouble +in fitting her out. Bess would have been equally willing to contribute +some of her belongings, but her "plumpness" forbade. + +It was astonishing to see the difference wrought in Nina by the +assumption of the garments of ordinary life. She looked in them, as Belle +remarked, "to the manner born," and when they had dressed her hair in the +way they wore their own, there was little trace of the gypsy left, except +her bronzed complexion. + +She gave a little cry of feminine delight as they made her look at +herself in the mirror. + +"Oh, it's so long since I wore clothes like these!" she murmured. + +"And now," said Cora, as she gazed with pleasure on the transformation +that had been wrought, "we'll all go down to the kitchen and see what we +can get in the way of something to eat." + +They stole downstairs and the girls ransacked the larder. They found +plenty of cold meat and bread and preserves. Belle got out a chafing dish +and scrambled some eggs, and Cora brewed a pot of fragrant coffee. Bess +set the table and they all gathered about it and ate heartily. + +The girls thrilled with the romance of it all. The drenching storm, the +midnight hour, the gypsy visitor, the feeling that they were involved in +a mystery made them tingle. Then, too, the knowledge that all this was +taking place while the other occupants of the house were unconscious of +it gave a touch of the surreptitious and the clandestine that was not +without its charm. + +The gypsy girl of course was somewhat self-conscious, as she could not +help being under the peculiar circumstances, but the girls noticed that +her table manners were good, and they were more and more confirmed in +their conviction that she was not what her dress and surroundings had +made her appear. + +She spoke mostly in monosyllables and only when addressed, and every once +in a while they could see the look of anxiety and fear come into her eyes +that they had noted the day before. + +"Well," said Cora at last, when they had finished sipping their coffee, +"I guess we'd better get up to bed. You need a good night's rest," she +continued, addressing their guest, "and we'll fix you up a bed in our +rooms. In the morning you will be in better shape to tell us all you care +to." + +"But you ought to know all about me before you do that," replied Nina. +"It isn't fair to you. Perhaps after you have heard why I came you may +regret taking me in." + +"We'll never be sorry for that," declared Cora emphatically; "and I feel +sure you've never done anything you ought to be ashamed of." + +Nina's face glowed with gratitude at the generous speech. + +"Oh, I never have!" she cried. "But I've been accused of doing it, and +that sometimes in the eyes of the world amounts to nearly the same +thing." + +She had dropped all pretence to gypsy speech now, and spoke like any +other American girl of good breeding and education. + +"I think I'll tell you now," she cried impulsively. "That is, if you're +not too tired to hear it?" + +"Not a bit," answered Cora, who was inwardly delighted. + +"I'm just dying to hear it, to tell the truth," said Bess frankly. + +"So am I," echoed her sister. + +"You are right," began Nina, "in thinking that I am not a gypsy. I am an +American girl and I was born in this State. And my name isn't Nina +either. But it will have to do for the present, because until this matter +is cleared up, I don't want to tell my real name. + +"My mother and father died when I was quite young, and I went to live +with an uncle. He was an unusual man, and though no doubt he was fond of +me in a way, our natures were too different for us to get along well +together. I was hot tempered and hasty and we often quarreled. It was +after an exceedingly bitter quarrel that I made up my mind that I would +run away from home and earn my own living. + +"I got a position in a department store, with just enough pay to keep +body and soul together. Again and again I was tempted to go back and make +things up with my uncle. But that silly pride of mine kept me from doing +it. Oh, how I wish I had! + +"There had been a number of thefts in the store, and the manager was +furious. He told all the employees that the next one who was caught would +be sent to jail. Up to that time he had usually been content with +discharging them. + +"One day I was called to his office and accused of having picked up a +lady's purse that had been laid on a counter. A man who was employed in +the store said that he had seen me take it. + +"I was frightened nearly to death, for I had never even seen the purse. +But it was found lying under my counter, as though I had hidden it there. +I cried and begged and protested, but it did no good." + +"You poor child!" exclaimed Cora, deeply affected. + +"The manager must have been a brute!" cried Bess indignantly. + +"I suppose he thought I was really guilty," said Nina, "and he was +exasperated by the many other thefts. I thought I should go mad. He took +up the telephone to call for a policeman, and in that minute when his +back was turned I slipped out of the door down the stairs and into the +street. + +"Some way I got into the outskirts of the town, where I found a camp of +gypsies. I don't remember much after that. I suppose I must have +collapsed. But they took me in and nursed me, and when I came to +consciousness again some days afterward, I found that the caravan had +moved on and was in a strange town a good way off from Roxbury." + +"Roxbury!" exclaimed Cora. + +"That's where I had been employed," went on Nina. "When I found myself +lying in a gypsy van, with an old woman taking care of me, I did a lot of +hard thinking. With the gypsies I was safe. Nobody would think of looking +for me there. But anywhere else I was likely to be arrested at any +minute. And I would rather have died than gone to jail. + +"So I stayed on with them and learned to tell fortunes. I didn't know +what else to do, and gradually I got used to it. But I've never been +really happy there. And I've watched everybody who came to the camp, for +fear he might be an officer." + +Cora reached over and took the girl's hand comfortingly in her own. + +Quick tears evoked by the sympathetic action sprang to Nina's eyes, but +she brushed them away and went on: + +"I never met anybody I really knew until yesterday. Then I saw a man whom +I had known in Roxbury. That's the reason you found me hiding in the +woods. I was relieved when I went back to find that he had gone. + +"But to-day he came upon me unawares, and he knew me through all my gypsy +disguise. He threatened to expose me, to hand me over to the police. I +was wild with fright. You had been kind to me and I thought of you. I +waited to-night till the camp was asleep, and then I slipped out. And +here I am." + + + + + CHAPTER XXVI + COUNCIL OF WAR + + +The girl had told her story in such a simple and straightforward way +that, combined with the candor in her eyes, it carried conviction to the +sympathetic hearts of her hearers. And their eyes were moist as they +listened to the pelting of the rain and thought of the fugitive making +her way through the lonely woods, her footsteps dogged with terror. + +She sat looking from the eyes of one to the other, and was comforted by +what she saw there. + +"You poor, dear girl!" cried Cora, springing up and giving her an +impulsive hug. "You've had an awful time of it, but we're going to do our +best to straighten things out and make you forget your troubles." + +"Of course we know who the rascal was that threatened you," said Bess. +"It was that man Higby." + +"He was the one," admitted Nina. + +"You say that he used to know you in Roxbury," put in Belle. "Was he +employed in the same store with you?" + +"Not only that," returned Nina, "but _he was the man who said that he saw +me take the purse!_" + +"He, of all men!" exclaimed Bess. "When I saw him in the very act of +slipping back Cora's purse after he had taken it!" + +"But why should he have tried to put the theft on you rather than anybody +else?" asked Belle. + +"I think he had a grudge against me," answered Nina. "He had been too +familiar in his manner toward me, and I resented it. He was angry and +told me that I would be sorry. But I don't think that would have been +enough to make him go as far as he did. He worked in the same part of the +store that I did, and I have thought since that perhaps he took the purse +himself. Then, when the search for it was coming close to him, he got +scared, and slipped it under my counter so that the blame would fall on +me." + +"A cur like that oughtn't to be allowed to live!" cried Bess in hot +indignation. + +"Of course, I don't _know_ that he stole it," qualified Nina; "but his +eagerness to put the matter on some one else makes me think he might have +done so. And even if he isn't a thief, he knew that he was telling a +falsehood when he said he saw me take it." + +"But why should he threaten you now?" asked Belle. "The whole matter has +blown over long ago as far as he's concerned, and he's in no further +danger. I can understand how the coward might have lied in a moment of +fright to save his own skin. But why should he be cold-blooded enough to +keep on persecuting you now?" + +"He's got some purpose in view," replied Nina, "and he wants to make me +help him by threatening to expose me if I don't. I don't know what it is, +but from what I know of him I'm sure it's something wrong. He said he'd +see me again tomorrow and tell me his plan. I told him I wouldn't have +anything to do with him or his plans, but he only grinned and said he +guessed I'd rather help him than go to jail. I ran away from him then, +and later on I made up my mind to come here." + +"You did just exactly right," declared Cora. "We'll take care of you +until everything is made all right. But you'll have to keep close to the +house, so that nobody besides ourselves will know you're here." + +"How about the gypsies?" asked Belle. "Won't they make a search for you?" + +"I suppose they will," answered Nina. "You see," she said with a little +pitiful smile, "they regard me as one of their assets. I make a good deal +of money for them from the visitors to the camp. But apart from that, +some of them are really fond of me, and I feel the same way toward them. +They took me in when I was in extremity, and in their way they have been +kind. I never want to go back if I can help it, but I will always have a +feeling of gratitude and affection for them." + +"And so you ought," returned Cora. "But all the same your natural place +is with your own people, and you mustn't have your life spoiled. We'll +set things in motion the first thing to-morrow morning--or rather this +morning," she smiled, as she looked at her watch. "Good gracious, girls, +it's after two now! We simply must get to bed." + +They put out the light and stole upstairs, where, after bestowing Nina +comfortably, they were soon sound asleep. + +But Cora was astir early, for she wanted to forestall the appearance of +Nina at the breakfast table by notifying Aunt Betty and the boys of all +that had happened in the night. + +"A miracle!" cried Jack, as he came down the stairs three steps at a +time, followed by Paul and Walter. "Cora is up before the rest of us!" + + "Fair goddess of the rosy-fingered dawn," + +quoted Walter. + +"You boys stop your nonsense now and listen to me," smiled Cora. "I've +got something very important to talk over with you." + +"The new fall styles, perhaps," chaffed Walter. + +"It's about the gypsy girl," began Cora. + +"The gypsy girl!" exclaimed Jack, pressing his hand to his brow. "Where +have I heard that name before?" + +"She's upstairs sleeping," said Cora simply. + +The effect was electric. The young men dropped their foolery at once. + +"What do you mean?" asked Jack, staring at her. + +"You're joking!" cried Walter. + +"How did she get here?" queried Paul. + +"She came last night about twelve o'clock," replied Cora, quietly +enjoying the shock she had given. "I heard her knocking at the door, and +got up and let her in." + +"But why didn't you call us?" asked Jack. + +"I didn't want to rouse the house," Cora answered. "I made sure that it +was a woman before I opened the door." + +"But that might have been a trap," reproved Walter. "She might have had +confederates with her who would have forced their way in as soon as the +door was opened." + +"I didn't think of that," admitted Cora. "I knew it was Nina--that's the +name she goes by--and I took her in. The poor thing was drenched from +head to foot and was nearly frightened to death. We gave her dry clothes +and something to eat and put her to bed." + +And then to the boys and to Aunt Betty, who had entered while they were +talking, Cora told in detail what she had learned of the gypsy girl's +story. + +The others listened intently, breaking in frequently with questions. Aunt +Betty was full of sympathy, though a little dubious about this new +element brought into the life of Kill Kare. + +The sympathies, too, of the boys were aroused, though their feelings took +the form of bitter indignation against Higby. They would have jumped at +the chance to form a vigilance committee and thrash him within an inch of +his life, if it could have been done without disagreeable publicity for +the girls. + +As to the mystery itself, they were not as keenly interested as the girls +were in solving it. They had a masculine hatred of seeming to pry, and +they foresaw a whole lot of possible complications in the presence of the +newcomer. But after all, their chivalry was aroused by the girl's plight, +and they cheerfully promised to do all they could to get her out of it. + +"On general principles I object to Kill Kare's becoming an orphan +asylum," laughed Jack. "But you can count on us, sis, to take off our +coats and work like beavers to set things right. Eh, fellows?" + +"You bet!" replied Walter in his somewhat slangy manner. + +"Watch our smoke," prophesied Paul, and grinned broadly. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVII + A NARROW ESCAPE + + +Cora, greatly relieved now that things had been explained to the rest of +the household, went upstairs to find that the other girls were up and +nearly dressed. + +Nina presented a very different picture from that of the night before. No +one looking at her would think that she was different from any other girl +who might be staying as a guest at Kill Kare. In a pretty white dress +that Belle lent her, she looked charming. + +She was naturally diffident and nervous at the prospect of meeting Aunt +Betty and the boys. But their good breeding and kindness of heart +smoothed over all difficulties. They laughed and jested at the table as +usual, including her at times in the conversation, but taking care not to +make her feel conspicuous. By the time the meal was over, they had +succeeded very materially in putting her at ease. + +For the benefit of the servants, it was given out that Nina was a friend +who had arrived rather late the night before, and might stay at Kill Kare +for some time. + +"Let's hope that Joel doesn't get wise," remarked Jack, when he was alone +with his chums. "I can imagine the old boy throwing a fit if he learns +that we're harboring anybody connected with the gypsies. He loves them as +much as a miser loves a tax collector." + +"I don't think he'll catch on," replied Walter; "but if he does we'll +tell him that our keeping her here is making the gypsies sore. That'll +square things with him." + +"I think it would be a good thing for one of us to run over to the gypsy +camp to-day, to see if that Higby is hanging around," suggested Paul. "We +might get a line on where he's staying and how long he's likely to be in +the neighborhood. And then, too, we might be able to see whether Nina's +absence has raised much of a stir in the camp." + +"I'd like to get my hands on that Higby's throat," growled Jack. "Of all +the unspeakable cads, he's the limit." + +"He sure is," agreed Paul. "But we'll have to put on the soft pedal if we +hope to find out anything. I'll try to strike up an acquaintance with +him, ask him for a match, or something like that. He's a shallow rascal, +and it ought to be easy to worm something out of him." + +"All right, Mr. Detective," laughed Jack. "Suppose you take that part of +the work on you. In the meantime, I'll write a letter to Tom Willis, an +old college pal of mine and Walter's, who lives in Roxbury, and ask him +to make some discreet inquiries about that matter of the theft. Tom's a +good old scout and he'll be glad to do anything he can for us. I want to +find out whether a warrant was actually issued for the girl. If it +wasn't, the girl is all right, and Higby can't make good on his threats. +If it was, we'll have to get a lawyer, and try to have it quashed." + +"How are you going to find out whether a warrant was issued for her, if +you don't know her name?" asked Walter. + +"That's so," replied Jack, a little dashed. "I'll go and have a talk with +Cora. Maybe she can get the girl to tell her." + +As a result of his hurried conference, Cora spoke to Nina. + +"Jack wants to look up that old matter at Roxbury, Nina, and he can't do +it unless he knows the date and also your name," she explained. "We don't +want to pry, but you can see yourself that we can't do much if we go +groping round in the dark." + +"It happened a year ago last May," replied Nina, "and the name to look +for is Helen Holman. It isn't my real name, but it was one that I chose +to take when I was afraid my uncle would be hunting for me." + +"And you don't feel quite ready yet to tell me your real name?" inquired +Cora kindly. + +"Please don't ask me yet," pleaded Nina. "When once I know that there's +no danger of disgracing it, I'll be glad to tell you." + +Cora did not press her, but returned to Jack with the information he +wanted. + +"Thank you, sis," he said. "By the way, are you girls planning to use +your car to-day? If not, Paul would like to drive over to the gypsy camp +in it. Walter and I want to take my car over to the garage in town to-day +to have a few repairs made. These roads have played the mischief with the +tires. Besides, I want to lay in a stock of gasoline. I noticed this +morning it was running low." + +"We won't want to use my car to-day, and Paul's perfectly welcome to it," +replied his sister. "And if you're going over to Milford I wish you'd +bring back some things we're short of for the spread. You know that comes +off to-morrow night. I'll give you a list of the things we want." + +"Sure thing," replied Jack. + +But an hour later, when he and Walter drove off, his mind was so full of +the measures he meant to take in behalf of Nina that he forgot all about +Cora's list. + +She herself did not remember it until Jack had been gone for an hour or +more. And by that time Paul had driven off in her car to the gypsy camp. + +"Oh, pshaw!" exclaimed Cora in deep vexation, "how could I have been so +careless? We just can't get along without those things." + +"Just for a lark let's go over to Milford ourselves," suggested Bess. + +"And walk?" asked her sister. + +"Why not?" said Bess. "I haven't done as much walking as I ought to +lately, and it's a great thing to help me reduce. Besides, I don't +believe it is more than four miles, and it's a splendid day for walking." + +"We might follow the railroad through the cut," said Cora. "That takes +off some of the distance. Come ahead, girls, and let's do it. We'll +probably get there before the repairs are finished on the car, and we'll +give the boys a surprise party." + +Belle agreed after a little more urging, and the girls put on their hats +and sallied forth, leaving Nina in charge of Aunt Betty, with strict +injunctions not to show herself at any of the windows. + +At a distance of a mile and a half from Kill Kare ran a single track, +narrow-gauge railroad that served a number of tiny towns scattered +through that region. It was a leisurely, go-as-you-please affair, and, as +a railroad, was considerable of a joke. The rolling stock consisted of a +couple of locomotives that had seen better days and a string of +dilapidated cars that had been discarded on other roads. Time schedules +were honored in the breach rather than in the observance, and one or two +trains a day each way wheezed along at their own sweet will. + +But it served as a short cut to Milford, and the girls chose to go by way +of it on that account, and also because it ran through a sort of gorge +that cut off the hot rays of the sun. + +But if it was delightful overhead, as much could not be said for the +walking underfoot. The ties were split and irregular, and the slag that +lay between them was trying to the feet. + +"I feel sorry for any stranded actors who ever have to walk these ties," +complained Belle. + +"I think it's smoother on the outside of the track than where you're +walking," suggested Cora. "Suppose you try it." + +There was a switch in the track just at that point, and as Belle tried to +step over the rail as Cora had suggested, her foot slipped and was caught +in the frog. + +She would have fallen to her knees if Cora had not caught and steadied +her. + +"Did you hurt yourself?" asked Bess. + +"Only scraped my ankle a little," answered her sister. "But I may have +ruined a perfectly good shoe." + +She tried to pull her foot from the frog, but found that she could not. + +"Pull a little harder," urged Cora. + +Belle tried again, but with no success. + +"The sole seems to be caught in a spike or something," she explained. + +Bess gave a little scream. + +"Oh, hurry, hurry," she cried. "Suppose a train should come along!" + +And just at that instant they heard a long shrill whistle from up the +track. + + + + + CHAPTER XXVIII + WAYLAID + + +A scream broke from all the girls, and Belle nearly fainted. + +They could not see more than a hundred feet up the track, for at that +point the road curved round a bluff. But they could see a column of smoke +rising high in the air and the humming of the rails grew steadily louder. + +Cora was pale as death, but she rose to the emergency and took command. + +"Run up the track as fast as you can, Bess," she directed, "and wave your +hands to the engineer to stop." + +Bess was off at once and Cora turned to Belle. + +"We have plenty of time, dear," she said soothingly, "if you do exactly +as I say. Keep your foot perfectly still while I unlace your shoe." + +By a great effort of will, Belle did as she was told, leaning her hand +for support on Cora's shoulder as the latter knelt at her feet. + +Bess rushed madly up the track and around the curve, and her eyes dilated +with horror as she saw the train, now only a few rods away. + +She screamed wildly and waved her hands frantically. + +Her voice could not be heard above the rattle of the train, but +fortunately her signals were seen and the engineer shut off the steam and +put on the brakes. + +With a great hissing and clamor the train swung round the curve and bore +down upon the girls. + +Cora had been working desperately, but her fingers seemed to fumble with +the laces as though she were in a nightmare. But she steadied herself and +finished her task. Then she sprang to her feet and pulled with all her +might, Belle aiding her, and the foot slipped from the shoe, while the +girls fell back against the side of the gorge, well clear of the track. + +The train had slowed rapidly, but when it came to a full stop it was not +more than twelve feet from the abandoned shoe. + +The engineer and fireman jumped down and rushed forward. A glance at the +shoe told the whole story. + +"That was a narrow escape, ladies," remarked the grizzled engineer. "It's +lucky I saw those signals. I hope that you're not hurt." + +"More scared than hurt," answered Cora. + +"I don't wonder you were scared," he replied; "but you were mighty plucky +just the same. Lots of girls would have lost their heads and just +screamed or fainted. I'll get this shoe out of the frog for you." + +He handed the shoe to Belle, and he and the fireman clambered back in the +cab. The train was a freight, for which the girls were grateful, as they +were spared the embarrassment of a trainful of passengers crowding +around. + +They rested a little after the train moved on, for the strain, though +brief, had been very great. Then Belle resumed her shoe. + +"Don't you think you had better go straight home?" asked Bess +solicitously. + +"Oh, I guess not," replied Belle, who was getting back some of her color. +"Besides, we're much nearer to Milford now than we are to Kill Kare." + +"Perhaps we had better go on," judged Cora. "The boys will bring us back +in the car, and if we should miss them, we'll hire a rig of some kind to +get home in." + +"I guess Bess will need it more than any of the rest of us," said Belle. + +"I never ran so fast in my life," answered Bess. "If exercise is all that +is needed for reducing, I ought to have lost pounds," and she smiled, +although the smile was tremulous. + +They were lucky to find the boys still waiting at the garage, and the +surprise of the latter at their appearance was only equalled by their +consternation at the danger Belle had run. + +"You girls need a guardian," said Jack severely, "and Walter and I elect +ourselves unanimously for that position." + +"It's a mighty hard job," sighed Walter. "Our hair will be gray before +our time." + +"Don't tell Aunt Betty about this adventure," warned Jack. "She must be +on the verge of nervous prostration already, and this would just about +cap the climax." + +They made the purchases for which Cora had come, and drove rapidly back +to Kill Kare. + +They found that Paul had returned some time before. + +"Did you find out anything?" asked Cora eagerly, as she stepped from the +car. + +"Not such an awful lot," answered Paul. "The gypsy camp was certainly +stirred up about something--little knots everywhere jabbering away in +that outlandish lingo of theirs. Didn't seem as keen on grafting from +visitors as usual. I suppose of course that Nina was the storm center. +They're pretty badly roiled, I imagine." + +"But how about Higby?" asked Bess. + +"I saw him, too," replied Paul. "Jostled against him, excused myself in +my well known irresistible manner, and got into conversation with him. +He's staying over at Wilton on a two weeks' vacation. He's used up nearly +a week of it now. Doesn't seem to be very keen about going back, though. +Knocks his job to beat the band. I guess he's sore on the management." + +"Probably the real reason is that they're sore on him," said Jack. + +"I noticed the manager looked at him very suspiciously the day that Cora +lost her purse," observed Belle. + +"Perhaps he's near the end of his rope and knows it," said Paul. "He was +quite anxious to know how far we were here from the Canadian line. He may +be getting ready to emigrate." + +"He'd be a great loss to the United States," sniffed Bess contemptuously. + +"We could probably stagger along without him," drawled Walter. + +"Did he have anything to say about Nina?" asked Bess. + +"Only in an offhand way," returned Paul. "He remarked that there seemed +to be a great hullabaloo among the gypsies, and that he understood one of +the girls was missing. But I noticed that he kept looking sharply all +around as though he was hoping to see some one." + +"Well, there's just one thing to do," remarked Cora, "and that is to keep +Nina close inside the house until the coast is clear. Higby will be gone +in another week, and the gypsies never stay long in one place. And in the +meantime we may get word from Roxbury that will tell us what the next +step must be." + +The following night was the one set for the celebration of Cora's safe +return, and the weather was all that could be asked for. The spread +itself was a great success. The girls had decorated the lawn with strings +of Chinese lanterns on lines that swung from tree to tree, and the tables +were abundantly spread with food that both in quantity and quality roused +the enthusiastic appreciation of the men from the sawmill, who composed +the major portion of the guests. Mr. Morley made a little speech and Mr. +Baxter came out of his shell long enough to offer a witty toast to Cora +and the other girls. The boys sang some rollicking college ditties, and +the phonograph, brought out on the porch, discoursed such music as was +not commonly heard in that remote region. It was a jolly, sparkling +evening that they all enjoyed, and it was late when the gathering +dispersed with three rousing cheers for their hosts. + +The days flew swiftly by until a week had passed. Nina had fallen readily +into the life at Kill Kare and the girls had become greatly attached to +her. + +The danger that threatened her seemed to be vanishing. The gypsies, after +unavailing search and inquiries that had reached as far as the bungalow, +had departed. Paul had motored over to Wilton and found that Higby had +left the place where he had been boarding, and the presumption was that +he had returned to Roxbury. + +Under these circumstances the restrictions that had held Nina to the +house seemed unnecessary. Besides, she felt the confinement more on +account of the outdoor life to which she had been accustomed. + +Soon she ventured into the woods round about, though seldom going far +from the house. But as her sense of security increased, she occasionally +went farther. And one afternoon, when her temerity had taken her far +beyond her usual limit, she turned a bend in the path and came face to +face with--Higby! + + + + + CHAPTER XXIX + THE PLOT + + +The girl screamed and tried to run, but Higby was too quick for her and +seized her roughly by the arm. + +"No, you don't!" he cried. "You're not going to get away from me as +easily as all that, after I've been watching you for days. You've got to +listen to what I have to say." + +"Let me go!" cried the girl, pulling away from him. + +"Go where?" he leered. "To jail? You'll go there mighty quick if I care +to have you go. All I have to do is to notify the police at Roxbury and +you'll be behind the bars in forty-eight hours." + +The girl turned white as the awful vision that had haunted her for a year +past seemed to be assuming form and substance. She had no doubt that he +could do as he threatened. + +"What do you want with me?" she asked in a trembling voice. + +"Now you're getting a little more sensible," he remarked. "Sit down on +that bank and I'll tell you what I want. + +"Those folks you're staying with are pretty well off, aren't they?" he +inquired. + +"How do you know where I'm staying?" she asked. + +"That's my affair," he said brusquely. "I know you're staying at a place +they call Camp Kill Kare. Quite a change from the gypsy camp," he +sneered. "You're flying high these days. But that's neither here nor +there. Those boys and girls there seem to have plenty of money. There'd +be quite a haul there in the way of cash and watches and diamond rings +and other jewelry, I suppose." + +She grasped his meaning and drew away from him in horror. + +"You don't mean to say that you're thinking of robbing the house!" she +exclaimed. + +"You're pretty squeamish for a jailbird," he sneered. + +"I'm not a jailbird!" she cried passionately. "I never did a dishonest +thing in my life!" + +"They say differently at Roxbury," he taunted. + +"Yes!" she blazed out. "But why? Because you told a falsehood about me! +You know you didn't see me steal that purse!" + +"Let's cut this short," he said impatiently. "I'll put the whole thing in +a few words. I'm not going back to Roxbury. I need money, and need it +bad! Those folks at Kill Kare have plenty of it, or what can be turned +into money, and I want you to help me get it." + +"I never will!" she cried defiantly. + +"It's either that or jail," he said menacingly. "And I know that you +won't choose jail when you come to think it over. I'll give you a day to +make up your mind. You be here at this same time to-morrow, or it will be +the worse for you." + +She pleaded with him to renounce his purpose and leave her in peace, but +he laughed at her and went away with a parting threat. + +Nina retraced her steps to the house in a state of great agitation. She +felt sure that Higby was in desperate earnest and would denounce her to +the authorities if she should fail to do his bidding. But she would have +died before helping him to rob her benefactors. + +What resource then was left? Flight! Once more to become a fugitive--to +live under the ban of the law--to fear any moment the touch of an +officer's hand upon her shoulder. + +The castle of dreams that she had been building in the last few happy +days seemed ready to dissolve in mist. + +She tried to assume her usual cheerful manner when she entered the house, +but the girls noticed at once that she was pale and anxious. + +"What's the matter, Nina?" asked Bess. "You're as white as though you'd +seen a ghost?" + +"I hope you haven't run across any of the gypsies!" exclaimed Cora, in +quick apprehension. + +"Nothing like that," Nina asserted. + +"Nor Higby?" asked Belle. + +Nina faltered, and at this the others jumped to their feet in great +excitement. + +"Do you mean to say that that cur is lurking around here yet?" demanded +Cora. + +Nina broke down then, and told them all the details of her meeting with +Higby. + +The girls were aghast at the plan to rob the house. + +"He's getting along fast," remarked Belle bitterly. "He's graduating from +the sneak thief to the burglar class." + +"I wonder what we ought to do," said Bess. "It's too bad the boys are +away to-day. I suppose the police ought to be told about it." + +"There's nothing yet to tell," said Cora. "He'd simply deny that he ever +suggested anything of the kind to Nina. It would be only her word against +his, and she has no witnesses. Besides, for revenge, he'd blurt out all +about that Roxbury matter." + +At this moment the maid announced a visitor, and Nina vanished as Mr. +Baxter entered the room and greeted the girls cordially. + +"Sort of an Adamless Eden here, I see," he laughed, as he noted the +absence of the boys. + +"Yes," smiled Cora, "they're out for a spin to-day by themselves. But I +expect that they'll be back before long." + +"I'm rather sorry they're not here," said Mr. Baxter, "as I wanted to +talk over a matter in which you're all interested. I refer to the young +lady who has been staying with you for the last week or two." + +For a moment the sickening fear came to Cora that Mr. Baxter might be an +emissary from the Roxbury authorities. + +"Well, what about her?" she asked warily. "She's a dear friend of mine +who is paying me a little visit." + +"But not a very old friend," said Mr. Baxter quietly, "since two weeks +ago she was telling fortunes in a gypsy camp." + +A cry broke from the lips of the girls, and they looked at each other in +great trepidation. + +"Now, now," said their visitor with a genial smile, "she hasn't the +slightest thing to fear from me. In fact, I think I'm going to prove one +of the best friends she has." + +"Oh," breathed Cora in relief, "I hope you will! The poor girl is sadly +in need of all the help she can get." + +"I have been looking for her for a long time past," said Mr. Baxter. "At +least I feel reasonably sure that she's the girl I'm after. And my only +object in finding her is to restore her to the home and relative that she +ran away from in a fit of youthful anger. I suspected that I had found +her in Nina the gypsy girl. But now that I have seen her dressed in +civilized clothes and compared her with the pictures in my possession, I +feel practically sure of it. Still, I won't know positively until I bring +her and my client face to face." + +"O," cried Cora, "is your client----" + +"There, there!" Mr. Baxter checked her. "No names, please. If I am right +in my identification you'll know all about it before long." + +"I think I can name him now," smiled Cora. + +"Never jump at conclusions," advised Mr. Baxter. "But what I called for +especially to-day was to warn you that your house was to be robbed." + +"So we heard only a few minutes ago," replied Cora. "Thank you very much +for the warning, though." + +"So she told you?" remarked Mr. Baxter with a gratified smile. "That's +good. I am glad that she has defied that fellow's threats. I was +concealed near by and heard the whole conversation." + +"What do you think we ought to do?" asked Cora. + +"I think," replied Mr. Baxter, "that the girl had better meet Higby +to-morrow and pretend to fall in with his plans. I will be on hand and +hear all he says. In the conversation that goes on between them, Higby +may say something that reveals her innocence and his guilt in that +Roxbury affair. + +"She can arrange to let him into the house at night, which is evidently +the part he wants her to play in the theft. We'll be waiting for him when +he comes, and we'll give Mr. Higby the surprise of his life." + + + + + CHAPTER XXX + BROUGHT TOGETHER + + +The plan met with the hearty approbation of the girls, and they accepted +it, subject to the approval of the boys. + +And when the latter reached Kill Kare and learned what was afoot, they +agreed to it enthusiastically. They all felt toward Higby as they would +toward a particularly noxious reptile. And this latest attempt to make +the victim of his falsehoods a criminal brought their feeling of +detestation to the highest pitch. + +"Oh, won't it do me good to get a whack at him!" gloated Jack. + +"He'll be as safe with me as if he were on a battlefield," remarked +Walter. + +"We'll fix him!" declared Paul. + +Nina had been told that Mr. Baxter had overheard the conversation with +Higby, but had been given no hint that the detective was looking for her +to restore her to her home. + +At the appointed time on the following day, she met Higby, whose face +lighted up with an evil smile as he saw her appear. + +"Thought better of it, did you?" he remarked jeeringly. "I knew mighty +well you would." + +"It's vile of you to make me do a thing like this," protested Nina. + +"You weren't so particular at Roxbury," he taunted. + +"Why do you harp on that?" she cried furiously. "You know I didn't steal +that purse. I believe you did it yourself." + +"Suppose I did?" he grinned mockingly, in a way that was itself a half +admission. "I deserve credit for being smart enough to make somebody else +the goat. But let's get down to business. I want you to tell me all about +the way the rooms are laid out and where the cash and jewelry are kept." + +She gave him an idea of the plan of the bungalow, and promised to leave a +door open from the back leading into the kitchen. He was to come a little +after midnight. + +That afternoon and evening, life took its ordinary course at Kill Kare, +as far as external signs were concerned. They knew that Higby was +probably watching the house from the shelter of the adjoining woods, +ready to take flight at anything which might indicate the betrayal of his +plans. + +Not that he anticipated betrayal. He was confident that the deadly fear +that Nina had of jail would keep her his accomplice, even though an +unwilling one. But one could never be too careful when engaged upon such +a venture as his. + +He noted the girls sitting on the porch with their sewing, or picking +flowers in the garden, saw the boys go motoring and return, heard the +party singing songs after supper on the steps of the veranda. There was +nothing to excite suspicion in the slightest degree and he exulted as he +thought of the rich haul he expected to make. + +His jubilation would have been less keen, however, had he noted the care +with which Joel loaded his favorite revolver and had he seen three men +who slipped into Kill Kare under cover of the darkness. + +One of the three was an officer who had been brought over from Milford to +make the expected arrest. The other two were Mr. Morley and Mr. Baxter. + +The botanist had been told of the robbery that had been planned, and had +been invited to be "in at the death." But he had not received the +slightest hint of the presence of Nina in the house. The detective did +not care to risk a possible disappointment. Then, too, he had a sense of +the dramatic, and schooled himself to wait. + +As for Nina herself, she kept carefully out of view, as she always did +when there were visitors at Kill Kare. + +Eleven o'clock was the usual hour of retiring at the bungalow, and no +deviation from the custom occurred on that night. A few minutes after +eleven the lights were out, and Kill Kare seemed to be peacefully +sleeping. + +The door at the rear had been left unlocked, as arranged. The members of +the party, all fully dressed, waited in different rooms the outcome of +the drama. + +"He'll probably stop in the dining room to look over the silver," +remarked the officer, Thompson by name, to Mr. Baxter. "Do you think we'd +better nab him then?" + +"Don't be in too much of a hurry," advised Baxter. "He'll probably look +for his biggest haul in the sleeping rooms upstairs. Give him plenty of +rope and let him hang himself. Besides, the farther he gets into the +heart of the house, the harder it will be for him to escape in case any +of our plans go wrong." + +The girls were seated in the dark in their own rooms, their hearts +beating fast with excitement. + +"I suppose we'll be only lookers on," remarked Bess in a low tone. "The +men will do all the work." + +"I'm not so sure of that," replied Cora. "We may come in somewhere." + +"What was it you put in that cedar chest you're sitting on?" asked Belle +curiously. + +"I'll tell you later," replied Cora. "And, girls, stay right where you +are, whatever happens." + +In the dark she busied herself with something at the entrance of the +room. + +Shortly after midnight, Higby slipped in through the rear door. He had +taken off his shoes and was in his stocking feet. + +It was pitch dark within, and he moved with such feline stealthiness that +he had reached and stolen up the stairs before the watchers were sure +that he was not one of themselves. + +The jewelry of the girls was the chief object that he had in view, and he +went to their rooms first. But as he stepped inside, he tripped over a +wire that extended from one side of the door to the other, at the height +of a foot, and fell headlong with a crash that jarred the house. + +Cora reached into a chest, and clutching an acetylene lamp that was +already lighted, turned its blinding glare right into Higby's eyes. + +"Don't dare to move!" she commanded. + +Higby, not knowing how many weapons were turned upon him, and unable to +see anything in that pitiless blaze, lay perfectly still. The next +instant he was in the grasp of the men and boys, who handled him none too +gently and jerked him to his feet. + +"Trapped by a woman!" he growled, as he saw the wire over which he had +fallen and the lamp that Cora still held. + +"You're trapped all right," declared Thompson, as he snapped a pair of +handcuffs on his wrists. + +"And in for a good long term in the State Prison," added Mr. Baxter. "We +have you dead to rights, Higby, and you haven't a show in the world. But +you may be able to have some years cut from your term if you help now to +undo a wrong." + +"What is it?" muttered Higby, his craven soul clutching at straws. + +"That theft at Roxbury that you charged Helen Holman with committing," +Baxter reminded him. "You stole that purse yourself, didn't you? Speak up +now. Nothing but the truth will help you." + +"Yes," admitted Higby, sheepishly. + +"I thought as much," remarked Baxter. "Take him away, Thompson." + +There was a wild hubbub after the officer had driven away to Milford with +his prisoner. All the boys and girls were laughing and talking at once. + +"Who is this Helen Holman you were talking of?" asked Mr. Morley. + +A sudden hush fell on Cora and the others, as they listened for Mr. +Baxter's answer. + +"A girl that has lately been leading the life of a gypsy," replied Mr. +Baxter. "She's a very interesting character. Miss Kimball," he continued, +turning to Cora, "will you ask Miss Holman to step here for a moment?" + +Cora darted into the adjoining room, and returned an instant later +leading Nina. + +She and Mr. Morley looked casually at each other. A startled look leaped +into the eyes of each. There was a gasping cry, and the next instant she +was in his arms, sobbing as though her heart would break, while he held +her tight as though he never intended to let her go. + +"Alice!" + +"Uncle!" + +The girls were sobbing openly, while Mr. Baxter blew his nose vigorously, +and even the eyes of the rollicking boys were momentarily dimmed. + +Mutual explanations followed, together with mutual requests for +forgiveness. Both had reaped the bitter fruit of hasty tempers, and had +been made to realize during their separation how really dear they were to +each other. The reconciliation was complete, and the Motor Girls were +delighted beyond measure at the part they had played in bringing it +about. + +During the remainder of her stay at Kill Kare, Alice Morley grew more and +more deeply attached to the girls to whom she owed so much, and when she +finally went back with her uncle to Saxton, it was with the promise that +she would soon make a long visit to them at their homes in Chelton. + +"Dear old Chelton!" remarked Belle, as, shortly after the departure of +Alice, they themselves turned their faces homeward. "How glad I'll be to +get back." + +"Yes," agreed Cora. "But you must admit that we've never spent such a +glorious outing as this one at Camp Kill Kare." + +And with this delightful memory as their cherished possession, we bid +farewell to the Motor Girls. + + + THE END + + + + + Transcriber's Notes + + +--Silently corrected several palpable typos in spelling and punctuation + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Motor Girls in the Mountains, by +Margaret Penrose + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MOTOR GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS *** + +***** This file should be named 39063.txt or 39063.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/6/39063/ + +Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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