CHAPTER VII
A FRIEND IN NEED
"But we must do something, really we must, Miss Eleanor!" cried Bessie."I must, I mean. Zara trusted me, and if I don't help her now, justthink of what will happen."
"You must keep calm, Bessie, that's the first thing to think of. If youlet yourself get excited and worked up you won't help Zara, and you'llonly get into trouble yourself. You say she trusted you--now you musttrust me a little. Tell me, first, just what this man will do and if hehas any right at all to touch her."
"Why, he's the meanest man in town, Wanaka! He really is--everyone saysso! None of the men would work for him in harvest time. They said heworked them to death and wouldn't give them enough to eat."
"Yes, but why should he pick Zara up that way and carry her off?"
"Because he wants to make her work for him. He's awfully rich, and PawHoover said he'd lent money to so many men in the village and all aroundthat they had to do just what he told them, or he'd sell their land andtheir horses and cattle. And he said he'd make the people at thepoor-farm bind Zara over to him and then she'd have to work for himuntil she was twenty-one, just for her board."
"That's pretty serious, Bessie. I'm sure he wouldn't be a good guardian,but if he had such influence over the men, maybe they wouldn't stop tothink about that."
She was silent for a minute, thinking hard.
"Where was he going with her, Bessie? He seemed to be driving away fromHedgeville."
"Yes, he was. I suppose he was going over to Zebulon. That's the countyseat, and he goes over there quite often. Almost every time they holdcourt, I guess. Paw Hoover said he was a mighty bad neighbor, alwaysgetting into lawsuits."
"Well, I think I'd better go to Zebulon. If I talk to him, perhaps I canmake him give Zara up. How far is it, Bessie?"
"Only about two miles. But if you go, can't I go with you?"
"I think I'd better go alone, Bessie. If he saw you, he might try totake you back to the Hoovers, you know. No, I'll go alone. If it's onlytwo miles, it won't take me long to walk there, and I can get someone todrive me back. Girls!"
They crowded about her.
"I'm going away for a little while. You are to stay here and wait forme. And keep close together. I'll get back as soon as I can. And whileI'm gone you can clear up the mess we made with luncheon--when you'vefinished it, I mean. Now, you'd better hurry up and eat it. I won'twait."
And the guardian hurried off, determined to rescue Zara from theclutches of the old miser who was so anxious to make her work for him,because he saw a chance to get a good deal for nothing, or almostnothing. If the general opinion about Silas Weeks was anywhere neartrue, it would cost him mighty little to satisfy himself that he waskeeping faith with the county and giving Zara, in return for herservices, good board, lodging, and clothing.
Bessie watched Wanaka go off, and she tried to convince herself thateverything would be all right. But, strong as was the faith she alreadyhad in Miss Mercer, she knew the ways of Silas Weeks too well to bereally confident. And she couldn't get rid of the feeling that she, andno one else, was responsible for Zara. It was because of her that Zarahad come away, and Bessie felt that she should make sure, herself, thatZara didn't have cause to regret the decision.
And then, suddenly, too, another thought struck her. What if she had,without intention, misled Miss Eleanor? Suppose Farmer Weeks didn't goto Zebulon at all? It was possible, for Bessie remembered now thatthree-quarters of a mile or so along the road was a crossroad thatwould lead him, should he turn there, back to Hedgeville.
With the thought Bessie could no longer remain still. She knew theroads, and she determined that she must at least find out where Zara hadbeen taken. She might not be able to help her herself, but she could getthe news, the true news, for those who could. And, saying nothing to anyof the other girls, lest they should want to come with her, she slippedoff silently.
She did not descend to the road. If one farmer from Hedgeville hadpassed already, others might follow in his wake, and Bessie was fiercelydetermined not to let anything check her or interfere with her until sheknew what had become of Zara.
So, although she might have been able to travel faster by the road,Bessie stayed above, and hurried along, making the best progress shecould, although the going was rough. She could see, without being seen.If anyone who threatened her liberty came along, she could hide easilyenough behind a tree or a clump of bushes.
At the crossroad she hesitated. She wasn't sure that Farmer Weeks hadturned off. He might very well, as she had thought at first, have beenon his way to Zebulon.
"What a stupid I am!" she thought in a moment, however. "Of course Iought to take the crossroad! If he's gone to Zebulon Wanaka will findhim, and if he hasn't, he must have gone this way. If I turn off here,there'll be someone after him, no matter which way he's gone."
So, still keeping to the side of the road, she followed the pointer onthe signboard which said, "Hedgeville, six miles."
About a mile and a half from the crossroads the road Bessie was nowfollowing crossed a railroad, and as she neared that spot she moved ascarefully as she could, for a suspicion that gave her a ray of hope wasrising in her mind. At the railroad crossing there was a littlesettlement and an inn that was very popular with automobilists. AndBessie thought it was possible that Farmer Weeks might have stoppedthere. Miser as he was, he was fond of good food, and, since he was hisown cook most of the time when he was at home, he didn't get much of itexcept when he was away, as he was now. Bessie had heard Maw Hooversneer at him more than once for the way he hinted for an invitation todinner or supper.
"Old skinflint!" Bessie had heard Maw say. "I notice he has a way offorgettin' anythin' he wants to tell Paw till jest before meal time.Then he comes over post haste, and nothin'll do but Paw's got to standout there listenin' to him, when all he wants, really, is to have mering the bell, so's Paw'll have to ask him to stay."
Even in her sorrow at Zara's plight, Bessie couldn't help laughing atthe remembrance of those times. But then the smoke of the inn came insight, and Bessie forgot everything but the need of caution. If FarmerWeeks were there, he must on no account see her. That would end anychance she had of helping Zara.
She crept through a grove of trees that surrounded the inn, to work upbehind it. In the rear, as she knew, were the stables, and the placewhere the automobiles of the guests were kept. She wanted to get a lookat the horses and carriages that were tied in the shed for she wouldknow Farmer Weeks' rig anywhere, she was sure. But she had to becareful, for the inn was a busy spot, and around the horses and theautos, especially, were lots of men, working, smoking, loafing--and anyone of them, Bessie felt sure, was certain to question her if they sawher prowling about.
She got behind the shed, and then she had to work along to the endfarthest from the direction of the road she had left, since, at the nearend, a group of men were sitting down and eating their lunch. But, withthe shed full of horses making plenty of noise, to screen her movements,that wasn't so difficult. Bessie managed it all right, and, when she gotto the far end, and had a chance to peep at the horses, her heart leapedjoyfully, for she saw within a few feet of her Farmer Weeks' horse andbuggy, the buggy sadly in need of paint and repairs, and the harness afair indication of the miserly nature of its owner, since it was patchedin a dozen places and tied together with string in a dozen others.
"Well, I know that much, anyhow!" said Bessie to herself. "He didn'ttake her to Zebulon, and he can't have done anything yet. I don'tbelieve he's got any right to keep her that way, not unless the peopleat the poor-farm give him the right to take her. Zara hasn't doneanything--it isn't as if she'd been arrested, and were running away fromthat."
Suddenly Bessie started with alarm. She had drawn back among the treesto hide while she tried to think out the best course of action for herto take, and she heard someone moving quite close to her. But then, asthe one who had frightened her came into view, she smiled, for it wasonly a small boy, very dirty and
red of face, his white clothes soiled,but looking thoroughly happy, just the same.
"Hello!" he said, staring at her.
"Hello, yourself! Where did you come from? And wherever did you get allthat dirt on yourself?"
"Oh, in the woods," said the small boy. "Say, my name's Jack Roberts,and my pop owns that hotel there. What's your name? Do you likecherries? Can you climb a tree? Did you ever go out in the woods allalone? Can you swim?"
"My, my! One question at a time," laughed Bessie. "I love cherries. Haveyou got some?"
"Bet I have!" he said. The single answer to all his questions seemed tosatisfy him thoroughly, and he pulled out a great handful of cherriesfrom his straw hat, which he had been using for a basket.
"Here you are," he said. "Say, do you know that other girl?"
Bessie's heart leaped again. She felt that she had struck real luck atlast.
"What other girl?" she asked, but even as she asked the question, herheart sank again. He couldn't mean Zara. How could he possibly knowanything about her?
"She was dressed just like you," he said. "And she had black hair andher skin was dark. So she didn't look like you at all, you see. She wascrying, too. Say, aren't those cherries good? Why don't you eat them?"
Bessie was so interested and excited when she heard him speak of Zarathat she forgot to eat the cherries. But she saw that she had hurt hisfeelings by her neglect of his present, and she made amends at once. Sheate several of them, and smacked her lips.
"They're splendid, Jack! They're the best I've eaten this year. I thinkyou're lucky to be able to get them."
Jack was delighted.
"You come here again later on and I'll give you some of the best pearsyou ever tasted."
"Tell me some more about the girl, Jack--the other girl, with blackhair. I think perhaps she's a friend of mine. Why was she crying?"
"I don't know but she was. She was going on terrible. And she was withher pop, I guess. So I s'pose she'd just been naughty, and he'd punishedher."
"What makes you think that, Jack?"
"Oh, he came in, and he talked to my pop, and they both laughed andlooked at her. He had her by the hand, and she didn't say anything--shejust cried. And my pop says, 'Well, I've got just the place for her. Toobad to send her off without her dinner, but when they're bad they've gotto be punished.' And he winked at her, but she didn't wink back."
"What happened then, Jack?"
"They put her up in my room. See, you can see it there, right over thetree with the branch torn off. See that branch? It was torn off in thatstorm yesterday."
"And didn't she have any dinner?"
"Oh, yes. My pop, he sent her some dinner, of course. He was justjoking. That's why he winked at her. He'd never let anyone go hungry, mypop wouldn't!"
"What sort of looking man brought her here, Jack?"
"Oh, he--he was just a man. He had white hair, and eye-glasses. Say,that's his rig right there in the corner of the shed. I don't think muchof it, do you?"
Bessie wondered what she should do. She liked Jack, and she was sure hewould do anything he could for her. But he was only a little boy, and itseemed as if that would not be very much. But he was her only hope, andshe decided to trust him.
"Jack," she said, soberly, "that is my friend, and I've been looking forher. And that old man isn't her father at all. He wants to make her dosomething horrid--something she doesn't want to do at all. And if shedoesn't get away, I'm afraid he will, too."
"Say, I didn't like him when I first saw him! I'd hate to have him fora pop. Why doesn't she run away?"
"How can she, Jack?"
"Huh, that's just as easy! Why, I never go down the stairs at all,hardly, from my room. The branches of that big tree stick right over tothe window, and it's awful easy to climb down."
"She could do that, too, Jack, but she doesn't know I'm here to helpher. She'd think there wasn't any use getting down."
"Say, I'll climb up and tell her, if you like. Shall I?"
"Will you, really, Jack? And tell her Bessie is waiting here for her?Will you show her how to get down, and how to get here? And don't youthink someone will see her?"
"No, an' if they do, they can't catch us. I've got a cave back herethat's the peachiest hiding-place you ever saw! I'll show you. They'llnever find you there. You just wait!"
He was off like a flash, and Bessie, terribly anxious, but hopeful, too,saw him run up the tree like a squirrel. Then the branches hid him fromher, and she couldn't see what happened at the window. But before shehad waited more than two minutes, although it seemed like hours to poorBessie, Jack was in sight again, and behind him came Zara. She droppedeasily to the ground, and ran toward Bessie, behind Jack, like a scaredrabbit.
"Oh, Bessie, I'm so glad--so glad!" she cried. "I was so frightened--"
From the inn there was a shout of anger.
"Gee! He's found out already," cried Jack. "Come on! Don't be scared!I'll show you where to hide so he'll never find you. Run--run, just asfast as you can!"
And they were off, while Farmer Weeks shouted behind them.
A Campfire Girl's First Council Fire Page 7
