Camp Fire Girls The on the March Part 7

As she had expected, Jake did not enter the station. She had no sooner taken up her position in the shelter of the billboard than she was able to single him out from the men who were lounging about, waiting for the train. His movements were still furtive and sly, and Bessie had to repress a shudder of disgust. Such work seemed to bring out everything small and mean and sly in Jake's nature, and Bessie's thoughts were full of sympathy for his father. After all, Paw Hoover had always been good to her, and when she and Zara had run away from Hedgeville, he had helped them instead of turning them back, as he might so easily have done. It seemed strange to Bessie that so good and kind a man should have such a worthless son.

Twice, as Bessie looked, she saw Jake approach one of the windows of the station building furtively, but each time he was scared away from it before he had a chance to look in.

"Trying to make sure that I'm in there, and afraid of being seen at his spying," decided Bessie. "That's great! If he doesn't see me, he'll just decide that I must be there anyhow, and take a chance. It's a good thing he's such a coward. But I wonder what he thinks we'd do to him, even if we did see him?"

She laughed at the thought. Never having had a really guilty conscience herself, Bessie had no means of knowing what a torturing, weakening thing it is. She could not properly imagine Jake's mental state, in which everything that happened alarmed him. Having done wrong, he fancied all the time that he was about to be haled up, and made to pay for his wrongdoing. And that, of course, was the explanation of his actions, when, as a matter of fact, he could have walked with entire safety into the station and the midst of the Camp Fire Girls.

Soon the whistle of the train that was to carry the Camp Fire Girls to Plum Beach was heard in the distance, and a minute later it roared into the station, stopped, and was off again. Seeing a great waving of handkerchiefs from the last car, Bessie guessed what they meant. Miss Eleanor had agreed to her plan, and this was the way the girls took of bidding her good-bye and good luck.

As soon as the train had gone Jake rushed into the station, and Bessie walked boldly toward it, a new idea in her mind. She had made up her mind that to be afraid of Jake Hoover was a poor policy. If the guess she and Dolly had made concerning his relations with those who were persecuting her was correct, Jake must be a good deal more afraid of them, or of what he had done, than she could possibly be of him, and Bessie knew that there should be no great difficulty in dealing very much as she liked with a coward.

Moreover, the presence of a policeman at the station gave her a.s.surance that she need fear no physical danger from Jake, and she felt that was the only thing that need check her at all.

When she reached the station she looked in the window first, and saw Jake standing by the ticket agent's window. The ticket agent was also the telegraph operator, and Bessie saw that she was writing something on a yellow telegraph blank. Evidently Jake was sending a message, and Bessie knew that, while he could read a very little, Jake had always been so stupid and so lazy that he had never learned to write properly. The sight made her smile, because, unless her plans had miscarried completely, Dolly was inside the little ticket office, and must be hearing every word of that message!

So she waited until Jake, satisfied, turned from the window, and then she walked boldly in. For a minute Jake, who was looking out of one of the windows in front toward the track, did not see her at all. In that moment Bessie got in line with the ticket window and, seeing Dolly, waved to her to come out. Then she walked over to Jake, smiled at his amazed face as he turned to her, and saluted him cheerfully.

"h.e.l.lo, Jake Hoover," she said. "Were you looking for me!"

Jake's face fell, and he stared at her in comical dismay.

"Well, I snum!" he said. "How in tarnation did you come to git off that there train, hey?"

"I never was on it, Jake," said Bessie, pleasantly. "You just thought I was, you see. You don't want to jump to a conclusion so quickly."

Jake was petrified. When he saw Dolly come out of the ticket office, puzzled by Bessie's action, but entirely willing to back her up, his face turned white.

"You're a pretty poor spy, Jake," said Dolly, contemptuously. "I guess Mr. Holmes won't be very pleased when he gets your message at Canton, telling him Bessie went on that train and then doesn't find her aboard at all."

"What's that?" asked Bessie, suddenly. "Is that the message he sent, Dolly!"

"It certainly is," said Dolly. "Why, what's the matter, Bessie?"

But Bessie didn't answer her. Instead she had raced toward a big railroad map that hung on the wall of the station, and was looking for Canton on it.

"I thought so!" she gasped. Then she ran over to the ticket window, and spoke to the agent.

"If I send a telegram right now, can it be delivered to Miss Mercer, on that train that just went out, before she gets to Canton?" she asked.

The agent looked at her time-table.

"Oh, yes," she said, cheerfully. "That's easy. I'll send it right out for you, and it will reach her at Whitemarsh which is only twenty-five miles away."

"Good!" said Bessie, and wrote out a long telegram. In a minute she returned to Jake and Dolly, and the sound of the ticking telegraph instrument filled the station with its chatter.

"He wanted to run away, Bessie," said Dolly. "But I told him it wasn't polite to do that when a young lady wanted to talk to him, so he stayed. That was nice of him, wasn't it?"

"Very," said Bessie, her tone as sarcastic as Dolly's own. "Now, look here, Jake, what have you done that makes you so afraid of Mr. Holmes and these other wicked men?"

Jake's jaw fell again, but he was speechless. He just stared at her.

"There's no use standing there like a dying calf, Jake Hoover!" said Bessie, angrily. "I know perfectly well you've been up to some dreadful mischief, and these men have told you that if you don't do just as they tell you they'll see that you're punished. Isn't that true?"

"How--how in time did you ever find that out?" stammered Jake.

"I've known you a long time, Jake Hoover," said Bessie, crisply. "And now tell me this. Haven't I always been willing to be your friend? Didn't I forgive you for all the mean things you did, and help you every way I could? Did I ever tell on you when you'd done anything wrong, and your father would have licked you?"

Bessie's tone grew more kindly as she spoke to him, and Jake seemed to be astonished. He hung his head, and his look at her was sheepish.

"No, I guess you're a pretty good sort, Bessie," he said. "Mebbe I've been pretty mean to you--"

"It's about time you found it out!" said Dolly, furiously. "Oh, I'd like to--"

"Let him alone, Dolly," said Bessie. "I'm running this. Now, Jake, look here. I want to be your friend. I'm very fond of your father, and I'd hate to see him have a lot of sorrow on your account. Don't you know that these men would sacrifice you and throw you over in a minute if they thought they couldn't get anything more out of you? Don't you see that they're just using you, and that when they've got all they can, they'll let you get into any sort of trouble, without lifting a finger to save you?"

"Do you think they'd do that, Bessie? They promised--"

"What are their promises worth, Jake? You ought to know them well enough to understand that they don't care what they do. If you're in trouble, I know someone who will help you. Mr. Jamieson, in the city."

"He--why, he would like to get me into trouble--"

"No, he wouldn't. And if I ask him to help you, I know he'll do it. He can do more for you than they can, too. You go to him, and tell him the whole story, and you'll find he will be a good friend, if you make up your mind to behave yourself after this. We'll forget all the things you've done, and you shall, too, and start over again. Don't you want to be friends, Jake?"

"Sure--sure I do, Bessie!" said Jake, looking really repentant. "Do you mean you'd be willing--that you'd be friends with me, after all the mean things I've done to you?"

Bessie held out her hand.

"I certainly do, Jake," she said. "Now, you go to Mr. Jamieson, and tell him everything you know. Everything, do you hear? I can guess what this latest plot was, but you tell him all you know about it. And you'll find that they've told you a great many things that aren't so at all. Very likely they've just tried to frighten you into thinking you were in danger so that they could make you do what they wanted."

"I'll do it, Bessie!" said Jake.

CHAPTER XI.

A NARROW ESCAPE.

Despite Dolly's frantic curiosity, Bessie drew Jake aside where there was no danger of their being overheard by any of the others in the station, and talked to him earnestly for a long time. Jake seemed to have changed his whole att.i.tude. He was plainly nervous and frightened, but Dolly could see that he was listening to Bessie with respect. And finally he threw up his head with a gesture entirely strange to him, and, when Bessie held out her hand, shook it happily.

"Here's Mr. Jamieson's address," said Bessie, writing on a piece of paper which she handed to him. "Now you go straight to him, and do whatever he tells you. You'll be all right. How soon will you start?"

"There's a train due right now," said Jake, excitedly. "I'll get aboard, and as soon as I get to town I'll do just as you say, Bessie. Good-bye."

"Good-bye, Jake--and good luck!" said Bessie warmly. "We're going to be good friends, now."

"Well, I never!" gasped Dolly. She stared at Jake's retreating form, and then back to Bessie; as if she were paralyzed with astonishment. "Whatever does this mean, Bessie? I should think you would be pretty hard up for friends before you'd make one of Jake Hoover!"

"Jake's been more stupid than mean, Dolly. And he's found out that he's been wrong, I'm sure. From this time he's going to do a whole lot for us, unless I'm badly mistaken. I'm sure it's better to have him on our side than against us."

"I'm not sure of anything of the sort, Bessie. But do tell me what happened. Why did you send that telegram to Miss Eleanor? And what was in it?"

"I sent it because if I hadn't she would have walked right into a trap--she and Zara. Maybe it was too late, but I hope not. And our staying behind here was a mighty lucky thing. If we hadn't had some warning of what Mr. Holmes and the others were planning, I don't know what would have happened! Zara and I would have been caught, I'm quite sure."

"Don't be so mysterious, Bessie," begged Dolly. "Tell me what you found out, can't you? I'm just as excited and interested as you are, and I should think you would know it, too."

"You'll see it all soon enough, Dolly. Let's find out how soon the next train comes."

"In twenty minutes," said the ticket agent, in answer to the question.

"And is it a through train--an express?" asked Bessie. "Have you a time-table? I'd like to see just where it stops."

She got the time-table, and, after she had examined it carefully, heaved a sigh of relief.

"The train doesn't stop at any place that isn't marked down for it on the time-table, does it?" she said, as she bought the tickets.

"No, indeed. That's a limited train, and it's almost always on time. They wouldn't stop that except at the regular places for anyone."

"That's all right, then," said Bessie. "Dolly, can't you see the point yet for yourself? Go and look at the map, and if you can't see then, why, I'm not going to tell you! If you're as stupid as all that, you deserve to wait!"

Bessie laughed, but Dolly understood that the laugh was not one of amus.e.m.e.nt alone, but that Bessie was undergoing a reaction after some strain that had worried her more than she was willing to admit or to show.

"I guess I'm stupid all right," she said, after she had looked at the map. "I don't know what you're driving at, but I suppose you do, and that makes it all right. I'm willing to do whatever you say, but I do like to know why and how things like that are necessary. And I don't think I'm unreasonable, either."

"You're not," said Bessie, suddenly contrite. "But, Dolly dear, I don't want everyone here to know all about us, and the things that are happening to us. You won't mind waiting a little for an explanation, will you?"

"Not when you ask that way," said Dolly, loyally. "But I don't like to have you act as if it were stupid of me not to be able to guess what it is. You wouldn't have known yourself, would you, if Jake Hoover hadn't told you when you two were whispering together?"

"I knew it before that. That's one reason I was able to make Jake tell me what he did, Dolly. I suppose you don't like my making up with him, either, do you?"

"Oh, no, I don't like it. But that doesn't make any difference. I daresay you've got some very good reason."

"I certainly have, Dolly, and you shall know it soon, too. Listen, there's our train whistling now! We'll start in a minute or two."

"Well, that's good. I hate mysteries. Do you know, Bessie, that if this train only makes one or two stops, we shall be at Plum Beach very soon after Miss Eleanor and the other girls get there!"

"I'm glad of it, Dolly. Tell me, there isn't any station at Plum Beach, is there?"

"No, we'll go to Bay City, and then go back on another train to a little station called Green Cove, and that's within a mile of the beach. It's on a branch railroad that runs along the coast from Bay City."

Then the train came along, and they climbed aboard, happy in having outwitted the enemies of Bessie and Zara. Dolly did not share Bessie's enthusiasm over the conversion of Jake Hoover, though.

"I don't trust him, Bessie," she said. "He may have really meant to turn around and be friends with us, but I don't think he can stick to a promise. I don't know that he means to break them, but he just seems to be helpless. You think he's afraid of Mr. Holmes and those men, don't you?"

"Yes, and he as good as admitted it, too, Dolly."

"Well, what I'm afraid of is that he will see them again, and that he'll do whatever the people he happens to be with tell him."

"I suppose we've got to take that much of a chance, Dolly. We really haven't much choice. My, how this train does go!"

"Why are you looking at your map and your time-table so carefully, Bessie?"

"I want to be sure to know when we're getting near Canton, Dolly. When we do, you must keep your eyes open. You'll see something there that may explain a whole lot of things to you, and make you understand how silly you were not to see through this plot."

Canton was a town of considerable size, and, though the train did not stop there, it slowed down, and ran through the streets and the station at greatly reduced speed. And as the car in which they were sitting went through the station Bessie clutched Dolly's arm, and spoke in her ear.

"Look!" she said. "There on the platform! Did you ever see those men before!"

Dolly gave a startled cry as her eyes followed Bessie's pointing finger.

"Mr. Holmes!" she exclaimed. "And that's that little lawyer, Mr. Brack. And the old man with the whiskers--"

"Is Farmer Weeks, of course! Do you see the fourth man standing with them? See how he pushes his coat back! He's a constable and he's so proud of it he wants everyone to see his badge!"

"Bessie! Do you mean they were waiting here for you?"

"For me and Zara, Dolly! If I had been on a train that stopped here--but I wasn't! And I guess Miss Eleanor must have got my telegram in time to hide Zara so that they didn't find her on the other train, too, or else we'd see something of her."

Dolly laughed happily. Then she did a reckless thing, showing herself at the window, and shaking her fist defiantly as the car, with rapidly gathering speed, pa.s.sed the disconsolate group on the station platform. Holmes was the first to see her, and his face darkened with a swift scowl. Then he caught sight of Bessie, and, seizing Brack's arm, pointed the two girls out to him, too. But there was nothing whatever to be done.

The train, after slowing down, was already beginning to move fast again, and there was no way in which it could be stopped, or in which the group of angry men on the platform could board it. They could only stand in powerless rage, and look after it. Bessie and Dolly, of course, could not hear the furious comments that Holmes was making as he turned angrily to old Weeks. But they could make a guess, and Dolly turned an elfin face, full of mischievous delight, to Bessie.

"That's one time they got fooled," she exclaimed.

"I'm sorry they found out we were on this train, though," said Bessie, gravely, "It means that we'll have trouble with them after we get to Plum Beach, I'm afraid."

"Who cares?" said Dolly. "If they can't do any better there than they've done so far on this trip, we needn't worry much, I guess."

"Well, do you see what they were up to, now, Dolly?"

Dolly wrinkled her brows.

"I guess so," she said. "They meant to come aboard the train at Canton and try to get hold of you and Zara. But I don't see why--"

"Why they should pick out Canton rather than any other station where the trains stop along the line?"

"That's just it, Bessie. Why should they?"

"That's the whole point, Dolly. Look at this map. Do you see the state boundaries? For just a little way this line is in the state Canton is in--and Canton is in the same state as Hedgeville!"

"Oh!" gasped Dolly. "You were right, Bessie, I was stupid! I might have thought of that! That's why they had Jake there, and what his telegram was. But how clever of you to think of it! How did you ever guess it?"

"I just happened to think that if we did go into that state, it would be easy for them to get hold of Zara and me, if they only knew about it beforehand. Because, you see, in that state Farmer Weeks is legal guardian for both of us, and he could make us come with him if he caught us there."

"Well, I think it was mighty clever of you. Of course, when you had the idea, it was easy to see it, once you had the map so that you could make sure. But I never would have thought of it, so I couldn't have looked it up to make sure, because I wouldn't have thought there was anything to look up."