A Campfire Girl's First Council Fire

by Jane L. Stewart

  CHAPTER X

  OUT OF THE WOODS

  The train only stopped for a moment at the little station. Seldom,indeed, did it take on any passengers. And on that trip it was alreadylate. Even as the two girls climbed up the steps the brakeman gave hissignal, the conductor flung out his hand, and the wheels began to move.And Farmer Weeks, jumping out of his buggy, raced after it, yelling, butin vain.

  Swiftly the heavy cars gathered speed. And Bessie and Zara, frightenedby their narrow escape, were still too delighted by the way in whichFarmer Weeks had been baffled to worry. They felt that they were safenow.

  "I suppose that old hick thought we'd stop the train for him," theyheard the conductor say to the brakeman. "Well, he had another guesscoming! Look at him, will you?"

  "He's mad all through!" said the brakeman, laughing, "Well, he had aright to be there when the train got in. If we waited for every farmerthat gets to the station late, we'd be laid off in a hurry, I'll bet."

  Bessie and Zara were in the last car of the train, and they could lookback as it sped away.

  "See, Zara, he's standing there, waving his arms and shaking his fist atus," she said.

  "He can't hurt us that way, Bessie. Well, all I hope is that we've seenthe last of him. Is it true that he can't touch me except in thisstate?"

  "That's what Wanaka said, Zara. And she must know."

  Then the conductor came around.

  "We didn't get our tickets, so here's the money," said Bessie. "We wantto get to Pine Bridge."

  "You didn't have much more time than you needed to catch this train,"said the conductor, as he took the money. "Pine Bridge, eh? That's ourfirst stop. You can't make any mistake."

  "How soon do we cross the state line, Mr. Conductor?" asked Zara,anxiously.

  The conductor looked out of the window.

  "Right now," he said. "See that white house there? Well, that's almoston the line. The house is in one state, and the stable's in the other.Why are you so interested in that?" He looked at them in suddensuspicion. "Here, was that your father who was so wild because he didn'tcatch the train? Were you running away from him?"

  Bessie's heart sank. She wondered if the conductor, should be really besuspicious, could make them go back, or keep them from getting off thetrain at Pine Bridge.

  "No, he wasn't any relative of ours at all," she said.

  "Seems to me he was shouting about you two, though," said the conductor."Hey, Jim!"

  He called the brakeman.

  "Say, Jim, didn't it look to you like that hayseed was trying to stopthese two from gettin' aboard instead of tryin' to catch the trainhimself?"

  "Never thought of that," said Jim, scratching his head. "Guess maybe hewas, though. Maybe we'd better send 'em back from Pine Bridge."

  "That's what I'm thinking," said the conductor.

  "We've paid our fare. You haven't any right to do that," said Bessie,stoutly, although she was frightened. "And I tell you that man isn't ourfather. He hasn't got anything to do with us--"

  "He seemed to think so, and I believe that was why you came running thatway to catch the train, without any tickets. You say he's not yourfather. Who is he? Do you know him at all?"

  Bessie wished she could say that she did not; wished she could,truthfully, deny knowing Farmer Weeks at all. But not even to avert whatlooked like a serious danger would she lie.

  "Yes, we know him," she said. "He's a farmer from Hedgeville. And--"

  "Hedgeville, eh? What's his name?"

  "Weeks--Silas Weeks."

  The effect of the name was extraordinary. Conductor and brakeman doubledup with laughter, and for a moment, while the two girls stared, neitherof them could speak at all. Then the conductor found his voice.

  "Oh, ho-ho," he said, still laughing. "I wouldn't have missed that for aweek's pay! If I could only have seen his face! Don't you worry anymore! We'll not send you back to him, even if you were running from him.Don't blame anyone for tryin' to get away from that old miser!"

  "Wish he'd tried to jump aboard after we started," said Jim, thebrakeman. "I'd have kicked him off, and I wouldn't have done it gently,either!"

  "We know Silas Weeks," explained the conductor. "He's the worst kickerand trouble maker that ever rode on this division. Every time he'saboard my train he gives us more trouble in one trip than all the otherpassengers give us in ten. He's always trying to beat his way withoutpayin' fare, and scarcely a time goes by that he don't write to theoffice about Jim or me."

  "Lot of good that does him," said Jim. "They don't pay any attention tohim."

  "No, not now. They're getting used to him, and they know what sort of amischief maker he is. But he's a big shipper, an' at first they used toget after me pretty hard when he wrote one of his kicks."

  "Before I came on the run, you mean?"

  "Sure! He'd been at it a long time before I got you, Jim. You see, hesends so much stuff by freight they had to humor him--and they still do.But now they just write him a letter apologizin' and don't bother meabout it at all. Bet I've lost as much as a week's pay, I guess, goin'to headquarters in workin' time to explain his kicks. He's got a swellchance of gettin' help from me!"

  Then the two trainmen passed on, but not until they had promised to seethe two girls safe off the car at Pine Bridge.

  "People usually get paid back when they do something mean, Zara," saidBessie. "If Farmer Weeks hadn't treated those men badly, they wouldprobably have sent us back. But as soon as they heard who he was, yousaw how they acted."

  "That's right, Bessie. I bet he'd be madder than ever if he knew that.Someone ought to tell him."

  "He'd only try to make more trouble for them, and perhaps he could, too.No, I don't want to bother about him any more, Zara. I just want toforget all about him. I wonder how long we'll have to wait at PineBridge."

  "Miss Eleanor didn't say what she was going to do, did she?"

  "No; she just said that she'd get there, and that she had decided tochange all her plans on our account."

  "We're making an awful lot of trouble for her, Bessie."

  "I know we are, and we've got to show her that we're grateful and doanything we can to help her, if she ever needs our help. I thought whenwe started from Hedgeville after the fire that we would be able to getalong together somehow, Zara, but I see now how foolish that was."

  "I believe you'd have managed somehow, Bessie. You can do 'mostanything, I believe."

  "I'm afraid you'll find out that I can't before we're done, Zara. Wedidn't have any money, or any plans, or anything. It certainly was luckyfor us that we went to that lake where the Camp Fire Girls were. If ithadn't been for them we'd be back in Hedgeville now, and much worse offthan if we hadn't tried to get away."

  "There's the whistle, Bessie. I guess that means we're getting near PineBridge."

  "Well, here you are! Going to meet your friends here?" said theconductor.

  "Yes; thank you," said Bessie. "We're ever so much obliged, and we'll beall right now."

  "You sit right down there on that bench in front of the station,"advised the conductor. "Don't move away, or you'll get lost. Pine Bridgeis quite a place. Bigger than Hedgeville--quite a bit bigger. And ifanyone tries to bother you, just you run around to the street in frontof the station, and you'll find a fat policeman there. He's a friend ofmine, and he'll look after you if you tell him Tom Norris sent you.Remember my name--Tom Norris."

  "Thank you, and good-bye, Mr. Norris," they called to him together, asthey stepped off the car. Then the whistle blew again, and the train wasoff.

  Although there were a good many people around, no one seemed to pay muchattention to the two girls. Everyone seemed busy, and to be so occupiedwith his own affairs that he had no time to look at strangers or thinkabout what they were doing.

  "We're a long way from home now, Zara, you see," said Bessie. "I guessno one here will know us, and we'll just wait till Miss Eleanor comes."

  "Maybe she's here already, waiting for us."

&nbs
p; "Oh, I don't think so."

  "We'd better look around, though. How is she going to get here, Bessie?"

  "I don't know. She never told me about that. We were talking as fast aswe could because we were afraid Farmer Weeks might come along any time,and that would have meant a lot of trouble."

  "Suppose he follows us here, Bessie?"

  "He won't! He'll know that we're safe from him as soon as we're out ofthe state. I'm not afraid of him now--not a bit, and you needn't be,either."

  "Well, if you're not, I'll try not to be. But I wish Miss Eleanor wouldcome along, Bessie. I'll feel safer then, really."

  "You've been brave enough so far, Zara. You mustn't get nervous now thatwe're out of the woods. That would be foolish."

  "I suppose so, but I wasn't really brave before, Bessie. I was terriblyfrightened when he locked me in that room. I didn't see how anyone wouldknow what had become of me, or how they could find out where I was intime to help me."

  "Did you think about trying to run away by yourself?"

  "Yes, indeed, but I was afraid I'd get lost. I didn't know where wewere. I'd never been that way before."

  "It's a good thing you waited, Zara. Even if you had got away and gotinto those woods where Jack took us, it would have been dangerous. Youmight easily have got lost, and it's the hardest thing to find peoplewho are in the woods."

  "Why?"

  "Because they get to wandering around in circles. If you can see thesun, you can know which way you're going, and you can be sure of gettingsomewhere, if you only keep on long enough. But in the woods, unless youknow a lot of things, there's nothing to guide you, and people justseem, somehow, bound to walk in a circle. They keep on coming back tothe place they started from."

  Pine Bridge was a junction point, and while the girls waited, patientlyenough, it began to grow dark. Several trains came in, but, though theylooked anxiously at the passengers who descended from each one of them,there was no sign of Miss Mercer.

  "I hope nothing's happened to her," said Zara anxiously.

  "Oh, we mustn't worry, Zara. She's all right, and she'll come alongpresently."

  "But suppose she didn't, what should we do?"

  "We'd be able to find a place to spend the night. I've got money, youknow, and the policeman would tell us where to go, if we went to him, asthe conductor told us to do."

  Another train came in on the same track as the one that had broughtthem. Again they scanned its passengers anxiously, but no one who lookedat all like Miss Mercer got off, and they both sighed as they leanedback against the hard bench. Neither of them had paid any attention tothe other passengers, and they were both startled and dismayed when atall, gaunt figure loomed up suddenly before them, and they heard theharsh voice of Farmer Weeks, chuckling sardonically as he looked down onthem.

  "Caught ye, ain't I?" he said. "You've given me quite a chase--but I'verun you down now. Come on, you Zara!"

  He seized her hand, but Bessie snatched it from him.

  "You let her alone!" she said, with spirit. "You've no right to touchher!"

  "I'll show you whether I've any right or not, and I'm going to take herback with me!" Farmer Weeks said, furiously. "Come on, you baggage!You'll not make a fool of me again, I'll promise you that!"

  "Come on," said Bessie, suddenly. She still held Zara's hand, and beforethe surprised farmer could stop them, Bessie had dragged Zara to herfeet, and they had dashed under his outstretched arm and got clear away,while the loafers about the station laughed at him.

  "Come back! You can't get away!" he shouted, as he broke into a clumsyrun after them. "Come back, or I'll make you sorry--"

  But Bessie knew what she was about. Without paying the slightestattention to his angry cries, she ran straight around to the front ofthe station, and there she found the fat policeman.

  "Won't you help us?" she cried. "Mr. Norris, the conductor, said youwould--"

  "What's wrong?" said the policeman, starting. He had been dozing. "Anyfriend of Tom's is a friend of mine--here, here, none of that!"

  The last remark was addressed to Farmer Weeks, who had come up andseized Zara.

  "I've got an order saying I've a right to take her," exclaimed Weeks.

  "But it's not good in this state--" interrupted Bessie.

  "Let's see it," said the policeman.

  Weeks, storming and protesting, showed him the court order.

  "That's no good here. You'll have to get her into the state where itwas issued before you can use that," said the policeman.

  "You're a liar! I'll take her now--"

  The policeman's club was out, and he threatened Weeks with it.

  "You touch her and I'll run you in," he said, angrily. "We don't standfor men laying their hands on girls and women in this town. Get awaywith you now! If I catch you hanging around here five minutes from now,I'll take you to the lock-up, and you can spend the night in a cell."

  "But--" began Weeks.

  "Not a word more--or I'll do as I say," said the policeman. He wasenergetic, if he was fat, and he had put a protective arm about Zara.Weeks looked at him and then he slunk off.

  And, as he went, the girls heard a merry chorus, "Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo,"just as another train puffed in.