CHAPTER XXVII
THE LITTLE CAPTAIN--CONCLUSION
"Wasn't it mean," grumbled Tavia, "I thought it would be so dramatic."
"Dramatic enough for me," answered Dorothy. "I felt a chill steal allover me when I put my hand on that man's arm, and said, 'This is he!'Ugh, I have the rub of his sleeve still on my palm," and Dorothy triedto efface the memory of it on her small white hand by rubbing itbriskly on her linen skirt.
"Well, I am disappointed," pouted Tavia, "and I don't want any moremock trials."
"We must hurry, your father will soon be here. And how anxious I am togo to that place. What if the man has deceived the police as he didpoor Mr. Burlock?"
"No danger. He is caught in his own trap now, and his only hope is fromgood behavior--they make it lighter for him as he makes it easier toclear up the case. I heard pop talking to the folks last night aboutit."
This was the day after the identification of Andrew Anderson by Dorothyin the Police Court. The man had disguised his appearance by taking offhis beard, but there were other marks, and the girl could not be shakenin her positive identification.
The man had denied his guilt at first, but finally broke down whenconfronted with the evidence against him and admitted he had theBurlock child in hiding, but she was now in charge of some woman.Dorothy was to go for her to-day.
Mr. Travers, though having many important affairs to attend to, was ontime, and he agreed to take Dorothy and Tavia with him to find Nellie.
"Keep close to me," he told the girls, making their way through dirtyand uncertain streets. "This is a rough part of town."
House after house he stopped at, leaving the girls in each instancewaiting anxiously to be told to follow. But the places were so muchalike in their squalor the search was becoming more and more tiresome.
"Maybe he gave the wrong address," ventured Tavia, discouraged anddissatisfied with the many mistakes.
"No, but these people change homes so often," explained her father."Here, this looks--wait a minute!"
Down the steps of a dark basement Squire Travers hurried. The girlslooked after him--that place was not dirty, merely poor and bare.
Presently he called to them:
"Come in, girls," and Dorothy felt she could hardly move--she was soanxious and expectant.
A woman, with a kind face, greeted them sadly, but with thatunmistakable air of one whom poverty cannot drag down from self-respect.
"Yes, I have a child with me," she answered nervously, "but I cannotallow you to see her."
Then Squire Travers produced his credentials.
"You need not fear us," he told her kindly. "We have the best of newsfor little Nellie Burlock, and we are only too anxious to make heracquainted with it."
"But we have been disappointed so often," objected the woman, "and thatman Anderson--"
"You need not think of him now," said Squire Travers. "We have justleft him in the hands of the sheriff. This little girl," placing hishand on Dorothy, "has brought it all about. She showed the child'sfather how to die happily--made it possible for him to see the hopebeyond, and then she and her good father have worked untiringly to findthe child. Cannot we see her now?"
Instantly Dorothy had her arms around the little girl]
The woman took Dorothy's hands, and looked straight into her eyes.Then, without a word, she turned and opened a narrow door, that seemedto run under a stairway.
"Nellie!" she called softly.
Dorothy's heart felt as if a life was dependent upon those few moments.What if it should not be the right one?
A child--pale and wan, but with an inexpressibly sweet face--stoodbefore them. She clung to the woman like a frightened little bird.
"They have good news for us, Nellie," said the woman. "This child isNellie Burlock, only child of Miles Burlock."
Instantly Dorothy had her arms around the little girl.
"To think we have really found you," she tried to say, but the wordschoked for very joy in her throat.
"Have you any papers?" asked Squire Travers of the woman.
"Yes," she answered, "and more than papers. I took that child from herdying mother's arms, and no threats nor promises of that villainAnderson have taken her from me. She is all I have now--my own darlinghas been spared the hardships we have to suffer."
"But we will not take her from you," said Squire Travers. "I knowsomething of your affairs. Your husband is a printer out of work? Hisname is Mooney?"
"Yes," answered the woman sadly.
"Then how long will it take you to get ready to leave for Dalton?Yourself, Nellie and Mr. Mooney?"
"Leave?" gasped the woman, "we have until to-morrow morning to get outof this place--"
"Very well," replied the squire, "then you can come with us promptly,for Major Dale will not rest until we get back. Here, you two Daltongirls, don't smother that child. Save a kiss or two for those at home.They will want to know Nellie, too," and Dorothy looked from the littlestranger's face to smile at the jolly squire.
When the next afternoon train from the west pulled into Dalton therealighted from it a party that attracted the attention of all whochanced to be about the depot. The little blue-eyed girl, NellieBurlock, was very pale, but "wonderfully pretty" Tavia declared. Mrs.Mooney had also that frightened, tired look, but her husband seemed tohave left all Rochester behind him. He was a first-class printer andwas to work on Major Dale's paper, and was not that a bright prospectfor an ambitious man?
Dorothy brought Nellie in alone to the major, He raised his head tokiss his daughter, then he kissed the fatherless one--a new light cameinto his eyes.
"Dorothy," he murmured. "My own Little Captain! You have led us all tovictory! God bless you!"
Of course there were a hundred and one explanations to make, and manystories to tell besides. Nellie Burlock told of her life with Mrs.Mooney, and of how she and the woman had been threatened more than onceby Andrew Anderson. To Mr. Mooney the affair was nothing but a mysteryand he had not bothered his head much about it.
"The authorities will take care of Anderson," said the major, and toldthe truth, for the rascal was sent to prison for a term of years. ThenMajor Dale was regularly appointed as little Nellie's guardian,although the girl continued to reside with Mrs. Mooney. But she oftencame to see Dorothy, and to see Tavia, too.
"It has all turned out for the best," said Dorothy, one day, to Tavia.
"I wonder if anything so wonderful will ever happen to us again,"remarked her friend.
"I doubt it," answered Dorothy; yet she was mistaken; somethingwonderful did happen, although of an entirely different nature. What itwas we shall discover in another story about her, to be called,"Dorothy Dale at Glenwood School."
Schooldays at Dalton were rapidly drawing to a close now. Both Dorothyand Tavia applied themselves diligently, and, wonder of wonders, bothpassed!
"I can't believe it!" cried Tavia, and she began to dance around theroom. "Isn't it sublime!" And then she caught Dorothy and made herdance too.
"It certainly is grand," answered Dorothy. "Oh, I am so happy!" andthen she kissed her girl friend; and here let us say good-bye.
The End
THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES By MARGARET PENROSE
Author of "The Motor Girls Series" 12 mo. Illustrated. Price pervolume, 80 cents, postpaid.
Dorothy Dale is the daughter of an old Civil War veteran who is runninga weekly newspaper in a small Eastern town. Her sunny disposition, herfun-loving ways and her trials and triumphs make clean, interesting andfascinating reading. The Dorothy Dale Series is one of the most popularseries of books for girls ever published.
DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL DOROTHY DALE'S GREAT SECRET DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS DOROTHY DALE'S QUEER HOLIDAYS DOROTHY DALE'S CAMPING DAYS DOROTHY DALE'S SCHOOL RIVALS DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY DOROTHY DALE'S PROMISE DOROTHY DALE IN THE WEST DOROTHY DALE'S STRANGE DISCOVERY DOROTHY DALE'S ENGAGEMENT
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