The Motor Girls in the Mountains; or, The Gypsy Girl's Secret
Page 28
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 thatpoint the road curved round a bluff. But they could see a column of smokerising 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 yourhands 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 exactlyas 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 handfor 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 dilatedwith 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, butfortunately her signals were seen and the engineer shut off the steam andput on the brakes.
With a great hissing and clamor the train swung round the curve and boredown upon the girls.
Cora had been working desperately, but her fingers seemed to fumble withthe laces as though she were in a nightmare. But she steadied herself andfinished her task. Then she sprang to her feet and pulled with all hermight, Belle aiding her, and the foot slipped from the shoe, while thegirls 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 notmore than twelve feet from the abandoned shoe.
The engineer and fireman jumped down and rushed forward. A glance at theshoe told the whole story.
"That was a narrow escape, ladies," remarked the grizzled engineer. "It'slucky 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 pluckyjust the same. Lots of girls would have lost their heads and justscreamed 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 thecab. The train was a freight, for which the girls were grateful, as theywere spared the embarrassment of a trainful of passengers crowdingaround.
They rested a little after the train moved on, for the strain, thoughbrief, had been very great. Then Belle resumed her shoe.
"Don't you think you had better go straight home?" asked Besssolicitously.
"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 backin the car, and if we should miss them, we'll hire a rig of some kind toget 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 thatis 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 thesurprise of the latter at their appearance was only equalled by theirconsternation at the danger Belle had run.
"You girls need a guardian," said Jack severely, "and Walter and I electourselves unanimously for that position."
"It's a mighty hard job," sighed Walter. "Our hair will be gray beforeour time."
"Don't tell Aunt Betty about this adventure," warned Jack. "She must beon the verge of nervous prostration already, and this would just aboutcap the climax."
They made the purchases for which Cora had come, and drove rapidly backto Kill Kare.
They found that Paul had returned some time before.
"Did you find out anything?" asked Cora eagerly, as she stepped from thecar.
"Not such an awful lot," answered Paul. "The gypsy camp was certainlystirred up about something--little knots everywhere jabbering away inthat outlandish lingo of theirs. Didn't seem as keen on grafting fromvisitors 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 inmy 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 nearlya 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 Coralost her purse," observed Belle.
"Perhaps he's near the end of his rope and knows it," said Paul. "He wasquite anxious to know how far we were here from the Canadian line. He maybe 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 seemedto be a great hullabaloo among the gypsies, and that he understood one ofthe girls was missing. But I noticed that he kept looking sharply allaround as though he was hoping to see some one."
"Well, there's just one thing to do," remarked Cora, "and that is to keepNina close inside the house until the coast is clear. Higby will be gonein another week, and the gypsies never stay long in one place. And in themeantime we may get word from Roxbury that will tell us what the nextstep must be."
The following night was the one set for the celebration of Cora's safereturn, and the weather was all that could be asked for. The spreaditself was a great success. The girls had decorated the lawn with stringsof Chinese lanterns on lines that swung from tree to tree, and the tableswere abundantly spread with food that both in quantity and quality rousedthe enthusiastic appreciation of the men from the sawmill, who composedthe 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 Coraand the other girls. The boys sang some rollicking college ditties, andthe phonograph, brought out on the porch, discoursed such music as wasnot commonly heard in that remote region. It was a jolly, sparklingevening that they all enjoyed, and it was late when the gatheringdispersed with three rousing cheers for their hosts.
The days flew swiftly by until a week had passed. Nina had fallen readilyinto the life at Kill Kare and the girls had become greatly attached toher.
The danger that threatened her seemed to be vanishing. The gypsies, afterunavailing search and inquiries that had reached as far as the bungalow,had departed. Paul had motored over to Wilton and found that Higby hadleft the place where he had been boarding, and the presumption was thathe had returned to Roxbury.
Under these circumstances the restrictions that had held Nina to thehouse seemed unnecessary. Besides, she felt the confinement more onaccount of the outdoor life to which she had been accustomed.
Soon she ventured into the woods round about, though seldom going farfrom the house. But as her sense of security increased, she occasionallywent farther. And one afternoon, when her temerity had taken her farbeyond her usual limit, she turned a bend in the path and came face toface with--Higby!