The Camp Fire Girls at School; Or, The Wohelo Weavers
Page 15
CHAPTER XV.
THE ESCAPE.
"No mistake about our being here!" gasped Nyoda. Her knees failed herand she sank weakly to the floor. "What can that mean? Are we kidnapped?Do you suppose we are being held for ransom?"
"It's too horrible," said Gladys, passing her hand over her eyes. "Suchthings happen in novels, but not in real life."
"And yet," said Nyoda musingly, "if you read the newspapers, you seethat stranger things happen in reality than in fiction."
"If we're being held for ransom," said Gladys, "then mother and fatherwill find out where I am." She was more troubled about the worry herdisappearance would cause her parents than about any evil which mightbefall herself.
They rushed to the window to see if any boat was passing which theycould signal. Not a sign of anything. Whoever had constructed this towerhad considered a great many things. Built in the middle of an extensiveestate and hidden on three sides by tall trees, it was not visible fromthe road at all. The barred window in the tower could only be seen fromthe lake side, so that if some one should wander through the grounds theappearance of the house itself would excite no suspicion. At somedistance on each side of the tower a long rocky pier extended far outinto the water. It was not a landing pier, for the rocks were piledunevenly on each other. These rocks changed the current of the water andmade boating in the vicinity dangerous, so that launches and sailboatsgave the place a wide berth. Then, on the outside of the barred window,clearing it by about two feet, there was an ornamental wooden trellis onwhich vines grew, which effectually screened the barred window fromdetection on the lake side.
All these excellent points of construction were borne in on the girls asthey circled the room again and again looking for some way of escape.Discouraged and heartsick, they finally sat down on the bed and facedeach other When the woman brought their dinner they made a furtherattempt to get from her the meaning of their being held there, but invain. To all their written questions she simply wrote,
"I can tell you nothing."
The afternoon dragged slowly by, the girls getting more dejected all thetime.
"I believe this violet color is affecting me already," said Nyoda. "Inever felt so depressed and melancholy."
"It's the same way with me," said Gladys.
"If there was only one bright spot to relieve the monotony," said Nyoda,"it wouldn't be so bad."
"How about our middy ties?" asked Gladys. "They're bright red and oughtto inspire courage." She took the ties from her little satchel andspread them out over a chair.
"That's better," said Nyoda. "I feel more cheerful already." Afterstaring intently at the flaming square of silk for a while her mentalactivity began to revive and she commenced to turn over in her mindplans for their escape. Acting on this latest impulse, she wrote aletter addressed to a friend of hers and sealed and stamped it. When thedeaf-mute brought their supper she drew a diamond ring from her finger,laid it beside the letter and wrote on a piece of paper,
"The ring is yours if you will mail this letter."
The woman shook her head. Nyoda drew off another ring, a handsome rubysurrounded by seed pearls and tiny diamonds. The woman gazed steadfastlyat it, and Nyoda thought she saw a longing look in her eyes. She turnedthe ring so the stone sparkled in the light. The woman's lips parted andher hand crept toward the letter. Nyoda turned the ring in the lightonce more. By the look in the woman's face she knew that she had gainedher point. In another moment she would accept the bribe. Just then thethrobbing sound of a motor was heard on the drive. The woman startedviolently, jerked her hand back and sent the elevator down in haste.With a gesture of despair Nyoda threw the letter down on the dresser.
"Do you suppose she really is deaf?" asked Gladys. "She seemed to hearthat sound."
"Maybe she heard it," said Nyoda, "and then again she may have felt thevibrations. Who do you suppose has come?"
They spent the evening in a thrill of expectation, but were undisturbed.Without lighting the lights they stood looking at the stars through theopenings in the trellis. At last Nyoda turned from the window andsnapped on the switch. As she did so she noticed that the elevator cagehad been up and was just going down. As it sank out of sight she sawthat the occupant was a man. Soon afterward they heard the throb of themotor again and then the sound of a car driving away.
"Where did you put the red ties?" asked Gladys the next morning.
"I didn't take them," said Nyoda. The ties had disappeared from thechair overnight.
From sheer nervousness Nyoda began twisting up her felt outing hat inher hands. As she did so she came upon something hard in the inside ofthe crown. Investigating she drew out her Wohelo knife. "I had forgottenI had it in there," she said. "I put that pocket in my hat just for funand slipped the knife in to see if it would go in."
Why is it that a knife in one's hand inspires a desire to cut something?Nyoda immediately began examining the room for a possible means ofescape with the aid of the knife. Opening the window, she inspected thesetting of the bars closely. They were set only into the wooden windowsill. "Gladys," she whispered excitedly, "I believe we can cut the woodaway from these bars and push them out."
"And what then?" asked Gladys.
"Jump," said Nyoda. "Jump into the lake and swim away."
Not daring to make any attempt in the daytime for fear of themysteriously silent visits of the deaf-mute, who never came at anyregular time, they waited until after dark, and then Gladys sat closebeside the elevator shaft, watching for the slightest indication of theapproaching car. Nyoda meanwhile hacked away at the window casing,cutting and splitting it away from the bars. She worked feverishly forseveral hours and succeeded in freeing the ends of three of the bars,which would be enough to let them through. Just then Gladys gave awarning hiss. The elevator cord was moving. Nyoda drew the shade downover the window and closed the purple curtains over it, and both girlsjumped into bed and pulled the covers over them. They had undressed soas to avert suspicion. The next moment the elevator door openedsilently, but whether it moved up or down or side wise they could notmake out, and the deaf-mute stepped into the room. Guided by aflash-light, she picked up Gladys's red petticoat from the chair anddeparted as silently as she had come. As soon as the elevator had sunkout of sight the girls were back at work again. Throwing all her weightagainst the bars, Nyoda bent them out and upward, the wood that heldthem at the top splintering with the strain. Then, leaning out, shebegan to cut away the trellis, which was in the way. It was built outfrom the sill and had no supports on the ground, and the vines whichwere on it came around the corner of the house.
Looking down, she could see that they were indeed right above the lake,without a foot of ground at the bottom of the tower. No other part ofthe house was visible from this angle. The waves roared and dashed onthe cliff below, and a strong wind was blowing from the west. "It looksas if a storm were coming," said Nyoda in a low tone. The night waswearing away fast and the girls knew that it was safer to escape undercover of darkness. About three o'clock in the morning the storm broke, aterrific thunder shower. The tower swayed in the wind and at each crashthey held their breath, thinking that the house had been struck. Thespray from the waves as they were flung against the rocks often came inthrough the open window. Both girls looked down into the boiling seabeneath them and drew back with a shudder. "Wait until the storm isover," said Gladys.
"It may be daylight then," said Nyoda. Howling like an imprisoned giant,the wind hurled itself against the side of the tower. "There's one thingabout it," said Nyoda, "we never can swim in those waves with skirts on.I'm going to have a bathing suit." Taking the blankets from the bed, shemade them into straight narrow sacks, cutting various holes in them soas to leave the arms and limbs free.
When the storm had abated somewhat they prepared for the plunge. Thefirst faint streaks of dawn were showing in the east. Gladys crept outon the sill and then shrank back. The surface of the water seemed milesbelow her. "I can't do it, Nyoda," she panted.
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"Yes, you can," said Nyoda, patting her on the shoulder. "You aren'tgoing to lose your nerve at this stage of the game, are you? 'Screw yourcourage to the sticking point,' We have our fate in our own hands now.'Who hesitates is lost.'"
"But the water is so far away," shuddered Gladys.
"What of that?" said Nyoda. "It's perfectly safe to jump. The water isvery deep along the shore here. Think, just one leap and then we're outof this!"
Gladys still hung back. "You go first," she pleaded.
Nyoda made a motion to go and then stopped. "No," she said firmly, "I'drather you went first. You might be afraid to follow me afterward. Braceup; remember you're a Winnebago!"
This had its effect and without allowing herself to stop to think Gladystossed her bundle of clothes out of the window and, closing her eyes,dropped from the sill. There was a wild moment of suspense as she sankdownward through the gloom, and then she struck the water and it rolledover her head. It was icy cold and for a minute she felt numb. Then thewaves parted over her head and she felt the wind blowing against herface. A great splash beside her terrified her for an instant, and thenshe remembered that it was Nyoda jumping in after her. In a moment ahead came up nearby and Nyoda inquired calmly how she enjoyed thebathing. "It's g-r-r-e-a-t," said Gladys with chattering teeth.
"Now for a little pleasure swim," said Nyoda, striking out. While theywere swimming away the storm broke the second time; the thunder soundedin their ears like cannon and the vivid lightning flashes lit up theshore for miles around. By its light they could see that they werenearing one of the long stone piers. Climbing up on this, they resteduntil they had their breath back again, although it was a ratherexciting rest, for the waves were going high over the pier andthreatened to wash them off every moment. The shore line along here waspeculiarly rugged and forbidding. Instead of a beach, high cliffs roseperpendicularly out of deep water and afforded nowhere a landing place.The girls swam slowly and easily, fearing to spend their strength beforethey could reach shallow water, often turning over to float and gain afew moments' rest in this way. The waves were very rough and tossed themabout a great deal, but the wind was west and they were swimming towardthe east, and as the natural current of the lake was eastward towardNiagara, their progress was helped rather than retarded by the force ofthe water.
The storm abated and the sun began to rise over the lake, gilding thecrest of the waves. Still no sign of a beach. "I can't go much further,"said Gladys faintly. Both girls were nearly spent when Nyoda spied astrip of yellow in the distance which put new strength into them.Putting forth their last efforts, they headed toward it. Trembling withweakness and breathless from being buffeted about so much, they gainedthe narrow beach and with a great sigh of relief rolled out onto thesand.