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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/15133-h.zip b/15133-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0f3d931 --- /dev/null +++ b/15133-h.zip diff --git a/15133-h/15133-h.htm b/15133-h/15133-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f2fcb65 --- /dev/null +++ b/15133-h/15133-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4646 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of Campfire Girls in The Allegheny Mountains, by Stella M. Francis. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {border: none; margin-left: 25%; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .pagenum {position: absolute; left: 92%; font-size: smaller; text-align: right;} /* page numbers */ + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {text-align: center; + border: solid black 2px;} + .list {border: solid black 2px; + margin-right: 20%; + margin-left: 20%; + } + .listind {margin-left: 3%; margin-right: 3%;} + .size10 {font-size: 10pt; text-align: center} + .size12 {font-size: 12pt; text-align: center} + .size14 {font-size: 14pt; text-align: center} + + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span {display: block; margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Campfire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains +by Stella M. Francis + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Campfire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains + or, A Christmas Success against Odds + +Author: Stella M. Francis + +Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15133] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAMPFIRE GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Riikka Talonpoika and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<a name="Page_4" id="Page_4" /> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="images/cover.jpg"><img width="30%" border="0" src="./images/cover.jpg" alt="CAMP-FIRE GIRLS In the ALLEGHANY +MOUNTAINS or A CHRISTMAS SUCCESS AGAINST ODDS" title="CAMP-FIRE GIRLS In the ALLEGHANY +MOUNTAINS or A CHRISTMAS SUCCESS AGAINST ODDS" /></a></p> +<hr /> + +<p class="figcenter"><a href="images/frontispiece.png"><img width="30%" border="0" src="./images/frontispiece.png" alt="Campfire Girls in the Mountains" +title="Campfire Girls in the Mountains" /></a></p> +<p class="figcenter"><span class="smcap"><br />Campfire Girls in the Mountains</span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><br /> + + +<a name="Page_5" id="Page_5" /><h1>Campfire Girls in the</h1> + +<h1>Allegheny Mountains;</h1> + +<h3>OR,</h3> + +<h2>A Christmas Success Against Odds</h2> + +<h3>By</h3> + +<h2>STELLA M. FRANCIS</h2><br /><br /> + +<h4>M.A. DONOHUE & CO.</h4> + +<h4>CHICAGO NEW YORK</h4><br /> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><br /> + +<a name="Page_6" id="Page_6" /><h3>CAMPFIRE GIRLS' SERIES</h3><br /> + +<div class="list"><br /><p class="listind"><b>CAMPFIRE GIRLS IN THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS; + or, A Christmas Success Against Odds.</b></p> + +<p class="listind"><b>CAMPFIRE GIRLS IN THE COUNTRY; or, The Secret + Aunt Hannah Forgot.</b></p> + +<p class="listind"><b>CAMPFIRE GIRLS' TRIP UP THE RIVER; or, Ethel + Hollister's First Lesson.</b></p> + +<p class="listind"><b>CAMPFIRE GIRLS' OUTING; or, Ethel Hollister's Second + Summer in Camp.</b></p> + +<p class="listind"><b>CAMPFIRE GIRLS' ON A HIKE; or, Lost in the Great + North Woods.</b></p> + +<p class="listind"><b>CAMPFIRE GIRLS AT TWIN LAKES; or, The Quest of + a Summer Vacation.</b></p><br /></div><br /><br /> + + <h4>1918</h4> + +<h4>M.A. DONOHUE & COMPANY</h4> + +<h5>MADE in U.S.A.</h5> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS" /><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7" />CONTENTS.</h2><br /><br /> + + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='right'><b>CHAPTER</b></td><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'><b>PAGE</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> </td><td align='left'> </td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>I</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">The Grand Council Fire</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">9</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>II</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">The Boy Scouts' Invasion</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">15</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>III</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">The Skull and Cross-Bones</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">20</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>IV</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">Studying the Mystery</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">28</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>V</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">Girls Courageous</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">36</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>VI</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">The Punster Makes a Find</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">43</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>VII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">To the Rescue</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">53</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>VIII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">The Eavesdropper</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">61</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>IX</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">Mr. Stanlock Surprised</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IX">69</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>X</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">Mr. Stanlock Amused</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_X">76</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XI</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">A Man of Big Heart and Queer Notions</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XI">84</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">A Mysterious Disappearance</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XII">91</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XIII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">"Find Her, or I'll Find Her Myself"</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">97</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XIV</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">Trapped</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">103</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XV</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">A Pile of Scrap Lumber</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XV">109</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XVI</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">Helen and the Strike Leader's Wife</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">116</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XVII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">Helen Declares Herself</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">121</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XVIII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">Helen in the Mountains</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">129</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XIX</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">The Subterranean Avenue</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XIX">139</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XX</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">Twelve Girls in the Mountains</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XX">144</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XXI</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">Thirteen Girls in the Mountains</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXI">152</a></td></tr> + +<tr><td align='left'></td><td align='left'>XXII</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">A Sleighride Home</a></td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_XXII">156</a></td></tr></table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3><a name="Camp_Fire_Girls_in_the_Allegheny_Mountainsquot" id="Camp_Fire_Girls_in_the_Allegheny_Mountainsquot" />"<a name="Page_8" id="Page_8" /><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9" />Camp Fire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains"</h3> + +<h4>OR</h4> + +<h3>"A Christmas Success Against Odds"</h3> + +<h3>By STELLA M. FRANCIS.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I" />CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h2>THE GRAND COUNCIL FIRE.</h2><br /> + + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Wo-he-lo for aye,<br /></span> +<span>Wo-he-lo for aye,<br /></span> +<span>Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo for aye!<br /></span> +<span>Wo-he-lo for work,<br /></span> +<span>Wo-he-lo for health,<br /></span> +<span>Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo for love."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>Two hundred and thirty-nine girl voices chanted the Wo-he-lo Cheer +with weird impressiveness. The scene alone would have been impressive +enough, but Camp Fire Girls are not satisfied with that kind of +"enough." Once their imagination is stimulated with the almost +limitless possibilities of the craft, they are not easily pleased with +anything but a finished product.</p> + +<p>The occasion was the last Grand Council Fire of Hiawatha Institute for +Camp Fire Girls located in the Allegheny city of Westmoreland. The +classroom work had been rushed a day ahead, examinations were made +almost perfunctory, and for them also the clock had been turned +twenty-four hours for<a name="Page_10" id="Page_10" />ward. The curriculum was finished, and the day +just closed had been devoted to preparation for a Grand Council +wind-up for the fifteen Fires of the Institute, which would "break +ranks" on the following day and scatter in all directions for home and +the Christmas holidays.</p> + +<p>And there was literal truth in this "break ranks" method of dismissing +school at the Institute. Since the United States entered the European +war on the side of the anti-frightfulness allies, Hiawatha had become +something of a military school. The girls actually drilled with guns, +and they would shoot those guns with all the grim fatality of so many +boys. Not that they expected to go to war and descend into the +trenches and fire hail-storms of steel-coated death-messengers at the +enemy. Oh, no. They might, but they were sensible enough not to let +their imagination carry them so far. But preparedness was in the air, +and the girls voted to a—a—girl (I almost said man, for they were as +brave as men in many respects) to take up military drill and tactics +two hours a week as a part of their curriculum.</p> + +<p>Madame Cleaver, head of the Institute, did not start the military +movement rashly. She was carefully diplomatic in the conduct of her +school, for she must satisfy the critical tastes and ideas of a +high-class parentage clientele. But she also kept her fingers on the +pulse of affairs and knew pretty well how to <a name="Page_11" id="Page_11" />strike a popular vein. +Hence the membership of her classes was always on the increase. +Indeed, at the beginning of this school year, she had to turn away +something like forty applicants, for want of room and accommodations.</p> + +<p>Hiawatha Institute was founded as a Camp Fire Girls' school, and when +Uncle Sam became involved in the European war, the national need for +nurses appealed strongly to Camp Fire Girls everywhere. What could +they do? The very nature of the training of the girls from Wood +Gatherer to Torch Bearer made the question, so far as they were +concerned, a self-answering one. They had all the broad commonsense +rudiments of nursing. With some advanced science on top of this, they +would be experts.</p> + +<p>But military authorities said that the nurses ought to have some +military drill. War nurses must be organized, and there was no better +method of effecting this orderly requisite than by military training.</p> + +<p>One well-known captain of infantry informed Madame Cleaver that war +nurses could not reach the highest grade of efficiency unless they +were able to march in columns from one camp to another and be +distributed in squads at the points needed.</p> + +<p>With all this information at her tongue's end, the madame put the +matter to her uniformed girls in the assembly hall. Rumor of what was +coming had reached them in advance, so that it did not fall as a +surprise.<a name="Page_12" id="Page_12" /> The vote was unanimous in favor of the plan. The needed +nursing expert was already a member of the faculty. The classes were +formed a few days later.</p> + +<p>These were the girls that gathered around a big out-door campfire—it +was really a bonfire—in the snow of mid-winter on the evening of the +opening of this story. Most of them were rich men's daughters, but +there were no snobs among them. They were girls of vigor and vim, +intelligence and imagination, practical and industrious. They were +lively and fond of a good time, but—most of them, at least,—would +not slight a duty for pleasure. Behind every enjoyment was a pathway +of tasks well done.</p> + +<p>Madame Cleaver was Chief Guardian of the fifteen Camp Fires of the +Institute. The faculty was not large enough to supply all the adult +guardians required, but that fact did not prove by any means an +insurmountable difficulty. More than enough young women in +Westmoreland, well qualified to fill positions of this kind, +volunteered to donate their services in order to make the Camp Fire +organization of the school complete. Indeed, these volunteer Guardians +added materially to their influence and rank in the community by +becoming connected with the Institute. There was, in fact, a waiting +list of volunteers constantly among the social leaders of the place.</p> + +<p>The Chief Guardian was mistress of ceremonies at the Grand Council +Fire. Two hun<a name="Page_13" id="Page_13" />dred and thirty-nine girls in uniform, brown coats, +campfire hats, and brown duck hiking boots, stood around the fire +answering "Kolah" in unison by groups as the roll of the Fires was +called. As each Fire was called and the answer returned, the Guardian +stepped forward and gave a little recitation of current achievements. +This program was varied here and there with music by a girls' chorus +and a girls' orchestra. Everything went along with the smoothness, +although with some of the deep dips and lofty lifts, of Grand Opera, +until the name of the last Camp Fire, Flamingo, was called. Miss +Harriet Ladd, the Guardian, stepped forward and said:</p> + +<p>"Madame Chief Guardian, associate guardians, and Camp Fire Girls of +Hiawatha Institute, I bring to you a message of things planned by +Flamingo Camp Fire Girls, thirteen in number. As you know, there is in +an adjoining state a strike of coal miners that has caused much +suffering among the poor families of the strikers. High Peak lives in +a mountain mining district. Her father is a mine owner and has given +his consent to the extending of an invitation to Flamingo Camp Fire to +work among these poor families and give them relief during the +Christmas holidays. The arrangements have been completed, and the +girls will start for Hollyhill tomorrow."</p> + +<p>"Hooray, hooray, hooray! Hooray for High<a name="Page_14" id="Page_14" /> Peak! Hooray for Marion +Stanlock! Hooray for Flamingo Camp Fire."</p> + +<p>The cheers, shrill on the sharp winter air, now in unison, now in +confusion, came not from the assembled Camp Fire Girls, although from +nearly as many voices. Out from the timber thicket to the west of the +campus rushed a small army of khaki-clad figures. There were a few +screams among the girls, but not many. To be sure, everybody was +thrilled, but nobody fainted. There were a few moments of suspense, +followed by bursts of laughter and applause from the girls.</p> + +<p>"It's the Spring Lake Boy Scouts," cried Marion Stanlock, who was +first to announce an explanation of the surprise. "Clifford, Clifford +Long, are you responsible for this?"</p> + +<p>The Boy Scout patrol leader thus addressed did not reply, though he +recognized the challenge with a wave of his hand.</p> + +<p>He was busy bringing his patrol in matching line with the other +patrols. As if realizing their purpose, the circle around the camp +fire was broken at a point nearest the newly arrived invaders, and an +avenue of approach was formed by the lining up of some of the girls in +two rows extended out towards the Boy Scouts. In double file a hundred +and fifty boys marched in and around the campfire; then faced toward +the outer ring of Camp Fire Girls and bowed acknowledgment of the +courteous reception.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II" /><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15" />CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h2>THE BOY SCOUTS' INVASION.</h2><br /> + + +<p>That was a grand surprise that the Boy Scouts of Spring Lake academy +"put over" on the Camp Fire Girls of Hiawatha Institute. They had been +planning it for several weeks, or since they first received +information of the Grand Council Fire as a closing event of the first +semester of the girls' school. The two institutions were located in +municipalities only fifteen miles apart, connected by both steam +railroad and electric interurban lines.</p> + +<p>Spring Lake academy, located on a lake of the same name at the +southern outskirt of Kingston, was originally a boys' military school, +and it still retained that primal distinction. But the success of +Hiawatha Institute as a Camp Fire Girls' school set the imaginative +minds of some of the leaders of the boys at Spring Lake to work along +similar lines, with the result that the faculty's cooperation was +petitioned for the organization of the student body into a troop of +Boy Scout patrols. The scheme was successful, and as it served to +inject new life into the academy, the business end of the institution +had no ground for complaint.</p> + +<p>This innovation at Spring Lake was due largely to the activities of +Clifford Long, one of the students. He was a cousin of Marion +Stanlock, and naturally this relationship <a name="Page_16" id="Page_16" />served to direct his +personal interest toward Hiawatha Institute. Not a few other students +in these two schools were similarly related, some of them being +brothers and sisters.</p> + +<p>And so it is not to be wondered at if these two places of learning +became, as it were, twin schools, with much of interest in common and +many of their activities interassociated. They had rival debating +teams between which were held more or less periodic contests, and in +the numerous social events there were frequently exchanges of +invitational courtesies.</p> + +<p>The boys plotted their big surprise on the girls in true scout +fashion. There was no real secret in the fact that the Camp Fire Girls +of Hiawatha Institute were planning a big event, but girl-like they +affected secrecy to stimulate interest. The result was more than could +have been expected, although the girls did not realize this until +after it was all over. The curiosity of the Spring Lake boys was +thoroughly alive as soon as they learned of a mysterious "something +big" going on at the institute. True to the character of real scouts +they delegated emissaries, commonly denominated spies, to visit the +stronghold of the Camp Fire Girls, get all the details of their plans +discoverable and report back to headquarters. Greater success than +that which rewarded their efforts could hardly have been wished for. +Half a dozen boys went and returned and then put their heads and their +reports <a name="Page_17" id="Page_17" />together with the result that the Scouts of the school had +all the information they needed.</p> + +<p>They mapped out their plans and scheduled their prospective movements +by the calendar and the clock. They chartered an interurban train for +the run to and from the Institute. The arrival on the scene of the +Grand Council Fire was, as we have seen, a complete surprise to the +girls. The Scouts well knew that their presence would not be regarded +as an intrusion, for a Grand Council Fire, according to the handbook, +"is for friends and the public."</p> + +<p>The interruption of the program by the marching of the Boy Scouts +within the circle of the Camp Fire Girls was permitted to continue for +ten or fifteen minutes, while a number of short speeches were made by +some of the boy leaders, in which they gloried over the way they had +"put one over on the girls."</p> + +<p>"And we're not through yet," announced Harry Gilbert prophetically. +"Some of us are going to put over another surprise just about as +thrilling as this, and we want to challenge you to find out what it +is."</p> + +<p>Of course this statement produced the very result the boys desired. +Naturally they wished the girls to think they were pretty bright +fellows. They got just what they were looking for as a result of their +"surprise," namely, volumes of praise. To be sure, this did not come +in the form of undisguised admiration. That isn't the way a clever +girl signifies her approval of this sort of thing. It just burst into +<a name="Page_18" id="Page_18" />evidence through such mock jeers as, "You boys think you are so +smart," or "It's a wonder you wouldn't have gone to enough pains to +build a railroad or sink a submarine."</p> + +<p>To which, on one occasion in the course of the evening, Earl Hamilton +replied:</p> + +<p>"Thank you, ladies; we always do things thorough."</p> + +<p>"-<i>ly</i>!" screamed Katherine Crane. Yes, it was really a scream, an +explosion, too, if the indelicacy may be excused. But the opportunity +for a come-back struck her so keenly, so swiftly, that she just could +not contain her eagerness to beat somebody else to it.</p> + +<p>Well, the laugh that followed also was of the nature of an explosion. +And it was on poor Katherine quite as much as on Earl, who had tripped +up on an adjective in place of an adverb. The girl's eagerness was so +evident that it struck everybody as funnier than the boy's mistake in +grammar. Anyway, she recovered quite smartly and followed up her +attack with this pert addendum as the laughter subsided:</p> + +<p>"You evidently don't do your lessons thorough-<i>ly</i>." The emphasis on +the "-ly" was so pronounced, almost spasmodic, as to bring forth +another laughing applause.</p> + +<p>This exchange of repartee took place in the large school auditorium, +to which all repaired as soon as the outdoor exercises had been +finished.</p> + +<p>The program of the evening was punctuated by interruptions of this +kind every now and <a name="Page_19" id="Page_19" />then. Of course, the fun-makers waited for +suitable opportunities to spring their "quips and cranks," so that no +merited interest in the doing could be lost. And none of it was lost. +The presence of the bold invaders seemed to add zest to the most +routine of the Camp Fire performances, and when all was over everybody +was agreed that there had not been a dull minute during the whole +evening.</p> + +<p>At the close of the Camp Fire Girls' program the 150 Boy Scouts arose +and, with heroic unison of voices peculiar to much practice in the +delivery of school yells, they chanted a clever parody of Wo-he-lo +Cheer, a Boy Scout's compliment to the Camp Fire Girls, and then +marched out of the auditorium and away toward the interurban line, +where their chartered train was waiting for them, and all the while +they continued the chant with variations of the words, the rhythmic +drive of their voices pulsing back to the Institute, but becoming +fainter and more faint until at last the sound was lost with the +speeding away of the trolley train in the distance.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III" /><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20" />CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h2>THE SKULL AND CROSS-BONES.</h2><br /> + + +<p>If Marion Stanlock, "High Peak" in the trait and a torch bearer, had +read one of two letters, signed with a "skull and cross-bones," which +she found lying on the desk in her room after the adjournment of the +Grand Council Fire, doubtless there would have been an interruption, +and probably a change, in the holiday program of the Flamingo Camp +Fire. She saw the letters lying there and under ordinary circumstances +would have torn them open and read them, however hastily, before +retiring. But on this occasion she was rather tired, owing to the +activities and the excitement of the day and evening. Moreover, she +realized that she could not hope for anything but a wearisome journey +to Hollyhill on the following day unless she refreshed herself with as +many hours sleep as possible before train time.</p> + +<p>So she merely glanced at the superscriptions on the envelopes to see +if the letters were from any of her relatives or friends, and, failing +to recognize either of them, she put them into her handbag, intending +to read them at the first opportunity next morning. Then she went to +bed and fell asleep almost instantly.</p> + +<p>Marion was awakened in the morning by her roommate, Helen Nash, who +had quietly arisen half an hour earlier. The latter was <a name="Page_21" id="Page_21" />almost ready +for breakfast when she woke her friend from a sleep that promised to +continue several hours longer unless interrupted. She had turned on +the electric light and was standing before the glass combing her hair. +Marion glanced at the clock to see what time it was, but the face was +turned away from her and the light in the room made it impossible for +her to observe through the window shades that day was just breaking.</p> + +<p>"What time is it, Helen?" she asked. "Did the alarm go off? I didn't +hear it. What waked you up?"</p> + +<p>Helen did not answer at once. For a moment or two her manner seemed to +indicate that she did not hear the questions of the girl in bed. Then, +as if suddenly rescuing her mind from thoughts that appealed to have +carried her away into some far distant abstraction, she replied thus, +in a series of disconnected utterances:</p> + +<p>"No, the alarm didn't go off—a—Marion. I got up at 6 o'clock. I +turned the alarm off. It is 6:30 now. I don't know what woke me. I +just woke up."</p> + +<p>Marion arose, wondering at the peculiar manner of her roommate and the +strained, almost convulsive, tone of her voice. She asked no further +questions, but proceeded with her dressing and preparation for +breakfast. For the time being, she forgot all about the two letters in +her handbag that lay on her dresser.</p> + +<p>In some respects Helen was a peculiar girl.<a name="Page_22" id="Page_22" /> If her speech and action +had been characterized with more vim, vigor and imagination, +doubtlessly she would generally have been known as a pretty girl. As +it was, her features were regular, her complexion fair, her eyes blue, +and her hair a light brown. Marion thought her pretty, but Marion had +associated with her intimately for two or three years, and had +discovered qualities in her that mere acquaintances could never have +discovered. She had found Helen apparently to be possessed of a +strong, direct conception of integrity, never vacillating in manner or +sympathies. Moreover, she exhibited a quiet, unwavering capability in +her work that always commanded the respect, and occasionally the +admiration, of both classmates and teachers.</p> + +<p>Not only was Helen quiet of disposition, but strangely secretive on +certain subjects. For instance, she seldom said anything about her +home or relatives. She lived in Villa Park, a small town midway +between Westmoreland and Hollyhill. Her father was dead, and, when not +at school, she had lived with her mother; these two, so far as Marion +knew, constituting the entire family.</p> + +<p>Marion had visited her home, and there found the mother and daughter +apparently in moderate circumstances. Naturally, she had wondered a +little that Mrs. Nash should be able to support her daughter at a +private school, even though that institution made a specialty of +teaching rich men's daughters how to be <a name="Page_23" id="Page_23" />useful and economical, but +the reason why had never been explained to her. Helen got her +remittances from home regularly, and seemed to have no particular +cause to worry about finances. She had spent parts of two vacations at +the Stanlock home and there conducted herself as if quite naturally +able to fit in with luxurious surroundings and large accommodations.</p> + +<p>Only a few days before the Christmas holidays, something had occurred +that emphasized Helen's secretive peculiarity to such an extent that +Marion was considerably provoked and just a little mystified. A young +man, somewhere about 25 or 27 years old, fairly well but not +expensively dressed, and bearing the appearance of one who had seen a +good deal of the rough side of life, called at the Institute and asked +for Miss Nash. He was ushered into the reception room and Helen was +summoned. One of the girls who witnessed the meeting told some of her +friends that Miss Nash was evidently much surprised, if not +unpleasantly disturbed, when she recognized her caller. Immediately +she put on a coat and hat and she and the young man went out. An hour +later she returned alone, and to no one did she utter a word relative +to the stranger's visit, not even to her roommate, who had passed them +in the hall as they were going out.</p> + +<p>Helen Nash was a member of the Flamingo Camp Fire and accompanied the +other mem<a name="Page_24" id="Page_24" />bers on their vacation trip to the mountain mining district. +The other eleven who boarded the train with Marion, the holiday +hostess, were Ruth Hazelton, Ethel Zimmerman, Ernestine Johanson, +Hazel Edwards, Azalia Atwood, Harriet Newcomb, Estelle Adler, Julietta +Hyde, Marie Crismore, Katherine Crane, and Violet Munday.</p> + +<p>Miss Ladd, the Guardian, also was one of Marion's invited guests. The +party took possession of one end of the parlor car, which, +fortunately, was almost empty before they boarded it. Then began a +chatter of girl voices—happy, spirited, witty, and promising to +continue thus to the end of the journey, or until their kaleidoscopic +subjects of conversation were exhausted.</p> + +<p>Every thrilling detail of the evening before was gone over, examined, +given its proper degree of credit, and filed away in their memories +for future reference. There was more catching of breath, more +cheering, more clapping of hands; but no mock jeers, now that the boys +were absent, as the events of the Boy Scouts' invasion and the many +incidental and brilliant results were recalled and repictured.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what Harry Gilbert meant when he said some of them were +planning another surprise nearly as thrilling as the one they sprung +last night," said Azalia Atwood, with characteristic excitable +expectation. "He addressed himself to you, Marion, when he said it; +and he's a close friend of your cousin, Clif<a name="Page_25" id="Page_25" />ford Long. Whatever it +is, I bet anything it will fall heaviest on this Camp Fire when it +comes."</p> + +<p>"Maybe it was just talk, to get us worked up and looking for something +never to come," suggested Ethel Zimmerman. "It would be a pretty good +one for the boys to get us excited and looking for something clear up +to April 1, and then spring an April fool joke, something like a big +dry goods box packed with excelsior."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but that wouldn't measure up to expectations," Ruth Hazelton +declared. "It wouldn't be one-two-three with what they did last night, +and they promised something just about as interesting."</p> + +<p>"You don't get me," returned Ethel. "The dry goods box filled with +excelsior would be the anti-climax of wondering expectations."</p> + +<p>"You're too deep for a twentieth century bunch of girls, Ethel," Hazel +Edwards objected. "That might easily be mistaken for the promised big +stunt. They might compose a lot of ditties and mix them up with the +packing, something like this:</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"'Believe not all big things that boys may tell thee, for<br /></span> +<span>Great expectations may produce excelsior'."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>"Very clever, indeed, only it sounds like an impossible combination of +Alice in Wonderland and an old maid," said Harriet Newcomb, with a +toss of her head. "I'm surprised at you,<a name="Page_26" id="Page_26" /> Hazel, for suggesting such a +thing. If the boys should put over anything like that, we'd break off +diplomatic relations right away. If they wanted to call us a lot of +rummies, they couldn't do it as effectively by the use of direct +language. Cleverness usually makes a hit with its victims, unless it +contains an element of contempt."</p> + +<p>"That is really a brilliant observation," announced the Guardian who +had been listening with quiet interest to the spirited conversation. +"Continued thought along such lines ought to result in a Keda National +Honor for you, Harriet."</p> + +<p>"I'll agree to all that if Harriet will take back what she said about +my being an old maid," said Hazel with mock dignity.</p> + +<p>"I didn't call you an old maid, my dear," denied the impromptu poet +pertly. "I merely said, or meant to say, that the idea you expressed +might better be expected from an old maid, although I doubt if many +old maids could have expressed it as well as you did."</p> + +<p>"Girls, Girls, are you going to turn our vacation into a two-weeks +repartee bee?" Marion broke in with affected desperation. "If you do, +you will force your hostess to go way back and sit down, and that +wouldn't be polite, you know. By the way, if you'll excuse me I'll do +that very thing now for another reason. I've got two letters in my +hand bag that I forgot all about. I'm going to read them <a name="Page_27" id="Page_27" />right now. +You girls are making too much chatter. I can't read in your midst."</p> + +<p>So saying, Marion retired to a chair just far enough away to lend +semblance of reality to her "go way back and sit down" suggestion, and +settled back comfortably to read the two missives that arrived with +the last evening's mail at the Institute.</p> + +<p>"Settled back comfortably"—yes, but only for a short time. Marion +never before in her life received two such letters. Both were +anonymous. The first one that she opened aroused enough curiosity to +"unsettle" her. She thought she knew whom it was from—those ingenious +Boy Scouts of Spring Lake—perhaps it was written by cousin Clifford +himself. It was just like him. He was a natural leader among boys, and +often up to mischief of some sort. Marion was sure he was one of the +prime movers of the Scout invasion of Hiawatha Institute.</p> + +<p>But the next letter was the real thriller, or rather cold chiller. She +knew very well what it meant. From the point of view of the writer it +meant "business," a threat well calculated to work terror in her own +heart and the heart of every other member of Flamingo Fire. It was a +threat couched in direful words, warning her and her friends not to go +to Hollyhill on their charity mission, as announced, and predicting +serious injury if not death to some of them. It was signed with a +skull and cross-bones.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV" /><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28" />CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h2>STUDYING THE MYSTERY.</h2><br /> + + +<p>Is there any wonder that Marion Stanlock, after reading letter No. 2 +was seriously in doubt as to whether No. 1 was from the Scouts who had +promised another surprise for the Camp Fire Girls in the near future? +Judge for yourself—here is No. 1:</p> + +<p class="size10">Something Doing Soon<br /> + Look Out</p> + <p class="size12">SOMETHING DOING SOON<br /> + LOOK OUT</p> + <p class="size14"><b>SOMETHING DOING SOON</b><br /> + <b>LOOK OUT!</b></p> + +<p>That was all. The second letter read thus:</p> + +<p>"Miss Stanlock: This is to serve you with warning not to take your +friends with you to Hollyhill this vacation to work among the poor +families of the striking miners. We know that move of yours is +inspired by the rankest hypocrisy, that you have no genuine desire to +do anything for our starving families. This move of yours, we know, +was planned by that villainous father of yours to cloud the big issue +of our fight. If you do carry out your plans, some of you are liable +to get hurt, and it need not surprise anybody if some of you never get +back to Westmoreland alive.</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>Go Slow! Be Careful! Look Out!"<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29" />Marion was not easily panic-stricken, but it is of the nature of a +truism to say that this letter applied the severest test to her +nerves. That the writer was in deep earnest she had no reason to +doubt. She had read of so many crimes preceded by threatening letters +of this sort that the suggestion did not come to her to regard this +one lightly. Although there was no common basis for comparing the +handwriting of the two missives, one being lettered in Roman capitals +and the other in ordinary script, nevertheless she quickly dismissed +the first suspicion that letter No. 1 was written by Clifford Long or +some other Scout of Spring Lake academy. Both ended with the words +"Look Out." Plainly this was a result of carelessness on the part of +the writer. Evidently he had planned to cause her to believe that the +two letters were written by different persons, for he had taken the +pains of differentiating the superscriptions on the envelopes as well +as the contents within.</p> + +<p>But now the question was, What should she do? It was no more than fair +and just for her to inform the girls what they might expect if they +attempted to carry out their original plan, but what method should she +pursue to convey to them this information? She might go at the matter +bluntly and create something of a panic; then again she might so +handle it that the best possible result could be obtained in a quiet +and orderly manner.</p> + +<p>Marion felt in this crisis that a great <a name="Page_30" id="Page_30" />responsibility rested on her +to handle the problem with all the skill and intelligence at her +command. She longed for the counsel of an older and more experienced +head, but there was none present, except Miss Ladd, the Guardian of +the Fire, to whom she might go with her story. The latter, though she +came well within the requirements of the national board to fill the +position which she held, was nevertheless a young woman in the +sensitive sense of the phrase and could hardly be expected to give the +best of executive advice under the circumstances. Marion realized that +it was her duty to exhibit to Miss Ladd the letters she had received, +but if she did this at once, the act would amount to turning the whole +matter over to her and relinquishing the initiative herself, she +reasoned.</p> + +<p>Marion was naturally aggressive, and she was not favorably impressed +with the idea of leaving the affair in the hands of another unless +that person were peculiarly fitted to handle it. As she sat studying +over the problem she suddenly became conscious of the presence of +another person close beside her, and looking up she saw Helen Nash, +with an expression of startled intelligence in her eyes. Apparently +her attention had been attracted by the crude drawing of a skull and +cross-bones at the close of the letter lying open in her lap.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Marion," said Helen with an evident effort at +self-control. "I didn't <a name="Page_31" id="Page_31" />mean to intrude. I hope you'll forgive me for +something quite unintentional."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, Helen," Marion replied generously, "and since a chance +look has informed you of the nature of these letters and I want to +talk this affair over with somebody, I think I may as well talk it +over with you. Let's go down to the other end of the car where we +aren't likely to be disturbed."</p> + +<p>Accordingly they moved up to the front of the car where they took +possession of two chairs and soon were so deeply absorbed in the +problem at hand as to excite the wonder and curiosity of the other +Camp Fire Girls.</p> + +<p>Marion handed the two anonymous letters to her friend without +introductory remark, and the latter read them. As Marion watched the +expression on the reader's face, she was forced to admit to herself +that right then, under those seemingly impersonal circumstances, +Helen's habitual strangeness of manner was more pronounced than she +had ever before known it to be. This girl of impenetrable secrecy read +the letters, seemingly with an abstraction amounting almost to +inattention, while physically she appeared to shrink from something +that to her alone was visible and real.</p> + +<p>As she finished reading, Helen looked up at her friend and the gaze of +penetrating curiosity that she saw in Marion's eyes caused her to +blush with confusion. Unable to meet her friend's gaze steadily, she +shifted her eyes <a name="Page_32" id="Page_32" />toward the most uninteresting part of the car, the +floor, and said:</p> + +<p>"That looks like a dangerous letter. It ought to be turned over to the +police as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"Both of them, don't you think?" Marion inquired.</p> + +<p>"Why? I don't see anything in this shorter one. My guess would be that +it was written by your cousin or one of his friends."</p> + +<p>"But do you notice the way they both end?—the same words," Marion +insisted.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I noticed that," Helen replied slowly. But that is such a +common, ordinary expression, almost like 'a,' 'an,' or 'the,' that it +doesn't mean much to me here. Where are the letters postmarked?"</p> + +<p>"Both in Westmoreland."</p> + +<p>"That's something in favor of your suspicion that both letters were +written by the same person," Helen admitted. "Still it doesn't +convince me. You wouldn't expect the Spring Lake boys to mail a letter +like the shorter one at Spring Lake, would you? That would stamp its +identity right away."</p> + +<p>"You are sure those letters were written by different persons?" Marion +inquired curiously.</p> + +<p>"I don't think it makes any difference whether they were or not," +Helen answered more decisively than she had spoken before. "It is in +that skull-and-cross-bones letter that you are most interested. I +think you can disregard the other entirely. I would say this, +<a name="Page_33" id="Page_33" />however, that if both were written by one person, you have less to +fear than if the shorter one was written by your cousin or one of his +friends."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because if one person wrote both of them, he is probably suffering +from softening of the brain. But if the person who wrote the longer +one did not write the shorter one, there is more likelihood that he +means business and will attempt to carry out his threat."</p> + +<p>"I never realized that you were such a Sherlock Holmes," Marion +exclaimed enthusiastically, while the suggestion came to her that +perhaps a genius for this sort of thing accounted for her friend's +peculiarities. "You ought to be a detective for a department store to +catch shoplifters."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, Marion, for the compliment, but I am not inclined that way. +I'd rather do something in this case to keep our vacation plans from +ending in trouble."</p> + +<p>"I was looking for someone who could advise me," Marion said; "and I +am now convinced that you are just the person I was looking for. What +do you think I ought to do, Helen?"</p> + +<p>"All the girls ought to know about this letter," Helen replied. "But +you can't go to them and blurt out anything so sensational. We must +break the news gently, as they say in melodrama. I wish we hadn't +come."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_34" id="Page_34" />So do I," Marion replied, but with just a suggestion of +disappointment in her voice.</p> + +<p>"Not that I am afraid of getting hurt," Helen added hastily, realizing +the suspicion of cowardice that might rest against her. "Still, if my +advice had been asked, I would have argued against this very dangerous +vacation scheme of yours."</p> + +<p>"Why?" inquired Marion in a tone of disappointment.</p> + +<p>"Because of the very situation complained of in that +skull-and-cross-bones letter. I hope I don't hurt your feelings, +Marion, but it is very natural for some of these rough miners to +suspect that your plan was cooked up by your father to pull the wool +over their eyes, and to regard you as a tool employed by him to put +the scheme into operation."</p> + +<p>"Some of the girls' parents raised the objection that there might be +danger in a mining district during a strike, but none of them +suggested anything of this sort," Marion remarked with humble anxiety. +"I explained to them that there could hardly be any danger even if the +strikers should get ugly, as the mines are some distance from where we +live and any violence on the part of the miners would surely be +committed at the scene of their labors. This seemed to satisfy them. +Most of the miners live at the south end of the town or along the +electric line running from Hollyhill to the mines."</p> + +<p>"That doesn't make much difference if the <a name="Page_35" id="Page_35" />miners once get it into +their heads that the girls are being used to put over a confidence +game on them," Helen argued authoritatively. "Miners are peculiar +people, especially if they are lead by radical leaders of aggressive +purpose. They believe that they are a badly misused set, turning out +the wealth of the wealthy, who repay them by holding them in contempt, +keeping their wages down to a minimum and pressing them into social +and political subjection."</p> + +<p>"Where did you learn all that, Helen?" Marion asked wonderingly. "You +are not even studying sociology at school. You talk like a person of +experience."</p> + +<p>"My father was a miner," Helen began. Then she stopped, and Marion saw +from the expression in her eyes and the twitch of her mouth that a big +lump in her throat had interrupted her explanation. She seemed to be +making an effort to continue, but was unable to do so.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Helen," said Marion, taking her hand tenderly in her own. +"I am more convinced than ever that I found just the right person to +advise me when I laid this matter before you. We will try to work this +problem out together. Meanwhile we must take Miss Ladd into our +confidence. Why, here she is now."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V" /><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36" />CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h2>GIRLS COURAGEOUS.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>"What's the matter, girls? You look as if you had the weight of the +world on your shoulders."</p> + +<p>Miss Ladd spoke these words lightly as if to pass judgment on the +conference as entirely too serious for a Christmas holiday occasion. +Marion and Helen did not respond in tones of joviality, as might have +been expected. They met her jocular reproach with expressions of such +serious portent that the Guardian of the Fire could no longer look +upon it as calling for words of levity.</p> + +<p>"What's the matter, girls?" she repeated more seriously. "You look +worried."</p> + +<p>"Sit down, Miss Ladd, and read these letters I received last night," +said Marion without any change of tone or manner. "They will explain +the whole thing. We were just about to call you aside and lay our +trouble before you."</p> + +<p>"Trouble," Miss Ladd repeated deprecatingly, "I hope it isn't as bad +as that."</p> + +<p>She drew an upholstered armchair close to the girls and began at once +to examine the letters that Marion handed to her. Marion and Helen +watched her closely as she read, but the Guardian of Flamingo Fire +indicated her strength of character by a stern immobility of +countenance until she had finished both <a name="Page_37" id="Page_37" />letters. Then she looked at +Marion steadily and said inquiringly:</p> + +<p>"I suppose you have no idea who wrote these letters?"</p> + +<p>"Not the slightest," replied the girl addressed, "unless the shorter +one was written and mailed by some of the Boy Scouts at Spring Lake. +Helen thinks it was, and I am inclined to believe with her that it +doesn't make much difference to us who wrote it. The other letter is +the one we are most interested in."</p> + +<p>"I agree with you thoroughly," said Miss Ladd energetically. "And we +have got to do something to prevent him from carrying out his threat."</p> + +<p>"Ought we to inform the other girls now?" asked Marion with a sense of +growing courage, for she felt that in the Camp Fire's Guardian she had +found elements of wise counsel extending even beyond that young +woman's experience.</p> + +<p>"Why, yes," Miss Ladd replied. "I see no reason for delay. I'd rather +tell them now than just before or after we get to Hollyhill. If we +tell them now they'll have a couple of hours in which to stiffen their +courage. There are eleven girls besides you two. Suppose you call them +here in three lots in succession, four, four, and three, and we'll +tell them quietly what has occurred and give them a little lecture as +to how they should meet this crisis."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Marion, rising. "I'll bring <a name="Page_38" id="Page_38" />the first four and you +get your lecture ready."</p> + +<p>"It's ready already," said the guardian reassuringly. "It is so simple +that I have no need of preparation."</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I need some drill in the best means and methods of reading +character," Marion told herself as she walked back to the rear of the +car. "I was really afraid to take the matter up with Helen or Miss +Ladd for fear lest they recommend something foolish. Now it appears +that each of them has a very clever head on her shoulders. Maybe I'll +find the other girls possessed of just as good qualities. If I do, +this day will have brought forth an important revelation to me, that +the average girl, after all, is a pretty level-headed sort of person. +Well, here's hoping for the best."</p> + +<p>Marion selected the four girls farthest in front and asked them to +approach the forward end of the car. They did so with some appearance +of apprehension, for by this time all the girls had begun to suspect +that something unusual was doing. This appeared to be evident also to +the half-dozen other passengers in the car, whose curious attention +naturally was directed toward the forward group of girls.</p> + +<p>All of the girls received the information relative to the anonymous +letters so calmly that Marion felt just a little bit foolish because +of her groundless misjudgment of them. After the last group had read +the letters and <a name="Page_39" id="Page_39" />discussed the situation with the trio of informants, +she spoke thus to them:</p> + +<p>"Girls, you are real heroines, or have in you the stuff that makes +heroines, and that is about the same thing. You take this as calmly as +if it were an ordinary every-day affair in the movies. I'm proud of +you."</p> + +<p>"We ought to be wearing Carnegie medals, oughtn't we, girls?" said +Julietta Hyde, blinking comically. "We can throttle anything from a +black-hand agent to a ghost."</p> + +<p>"No, you ought to be wearing honor pins, for things well done," Miss +Ladd corrected. "We'll leave the Carnegie medals for those who haven't +any Camp Fire scheme of honors. But really, girls, you have all +conducted yourselves admirably in this affair. We will hope it won't +result in anything very serious, but meanwhile we must take proper +precautions."</p> + +<p>"Shall we have to give up our vacation at Hollyhill on account of +this?" asked Katherine Crane almost as dejectedly as if she were being +sentenced to prison for violating a Connecticut blue law.</p> + +<p>"That is up to you girls and the conditions that develop," answered +Miss Ladd. "As soon as we get to Hollyhill we will take the matter up +with the proper authorities and try to determine what the outlook is."</p> + +<p>"My father will get busy as soon as he hears about this," said Marion. +"I think we can leave everything to his management. He will probably +advise us to give up the idea of <a name="Page_40" id="Page_40" />doing anything for the strikers' +families and have as good a time as we can entertaining ourselves at +home."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I hope not!" Katherine exclaimed, and the manner in which she +spoke indicated how much she had set her heart on the work they had +planned to do.</p> + +<p>"It would be too bad to give it up," Marion said earnestly, "for I +understand some of those people are greatly in need of assistance. +There is not only much hunger and privation among them, but +considerable sickness among the children. We can't do a whole lot in +two weeks, but we can do something, and our training as Camp Fire +Girls and in our nursing classes fits us to be of much assistance to +them. It is a shame that they should take an attitude so hostile to +their own interests."</p> + +<p>"They probably don't understand your father or they wouldn't be +striking now," said Miss Ladd.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure they wouldn't," Marion testified vigorously. "I've often +heard father say he'd like to do more for the men and their families +but conditions tied his hands. Many of the miners are good fellows, +but they get mistaken ideas in their heads and it's impossible for +anybody whom they once put under suspicion to convince them that they +are in the wrong."</p> + +<p>"Do you know, girls," interposed Violet Munday enthusiastically; "I +believe we are going to get a lot out of this vacation experience, +whatever happens. I'm interested in <a name="Page_41" id="Page_41" />what Marion tells us about the +miners. Let's make a study of coal mining, hold up everybody we can +for information and watch our chance to help the poor families and +their sick children whenever we can without doing anything foolhardy."</p> + +<p>"That's a good idea," said Miss Ladd. "We'll keep that in mind and if +Marion's father's advice is favorable, we'll take it up."</p> + +<p>The train arrived at Hollyhill shortly after 2 p.m. Mr. Stanlock's +touring car and two taxicabs were waiting at the station to convey the +girls to Marion's home. The run to the spacious, half-rustic Stanlock +residence at the northeast edge of the city occupied about fifteen +minutes, and was without notable incident.</p> + +<p>The cars passed through a massive iron gateway, up a winding +gravel-bedded drive, and stopped near a white pillared pergola +connected with the large colonial house by a vine-covered walk running +up to a porticoed side entrance.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Stanlock met them at the door and the travelers were speedily +accommodated with the usual journey-end attentions. Marion then +inquired for her father, but Mr. Stanlock had gone to his office early +in the day and would not return until dinnertime. So the girl hostess +decided that she must let the problem uppermost in her mind rest +unsettled a few hours longer.</p> + +<p>Evening came, but still Mr. Stanlock did not <a name="Page_42" id="Page_42" />appear. Wondering at his +delay, Mrs. Stanlock called up his office, but learned that he had +left an hour and a half before, supposedly for home.</p> + +<p>"How did he leave?" Mrs. Stanlock inquired nervously.</p> + +<p>"In his automobile," was the answer.</p> + +<p>That being the case, he ought to have been home more than an hour ago. +His office was in the city and he could easily make the run in fifteen +minutes.</p> + +<p>Thoroughly alarmed, Mrs. Stanlock called up the police, stated the +circumstances and asked that a search be made for her husband.</p> + +<p>Two hours more elapsed and the whole neighborhood was alarmed. The +news spread rapidly and was communicated by phone to most of Mr. +Stanlock's friends and acquaintances throughout the city. The search +was growing in scope and sensation. Treachery was suspected, a tragedy +was feared.</p> + +<p>Then suddenly and calmly, Mr. Stanlock reappeared at home, driving the +machine himself. He had a thrilling story to tell of his experiences.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI" /><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43" />CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h2>THE PUNSTER MAKES A FIND.</h2><br /> + + +<p>When Marion Stanlock selected the term High Peak as her Camp Fire +name, her deliberations carried her back from Hiawatha Institute to +the scene of most of the years of her child life in Hollyhill. +Confronted with the task of choosing a name, she first consulted her +ideals to determine what associations she wished to have in mind when +in after years she recalled the motive and circumstances of her +selection.</p> + +<p>Home surroundings had always had much of beauty for Marion. From the +beginning of his business career, Mr. Stanlock had had a large income +and was able to supply his family with many of the expensive luxuries, +as well as all the so-called necessities of life. But for Marion the +artificial luxuries had little special attraction. She accepted them +as a matter of course, but that is about all the claim they had upon +her. She enjoyed the use of her father's automobiles, but she wondered +sometimes at the scheme of things which entitled her to an electric +runabout or a limousine and a chauffeur, while thousands of other +quite as deserving girls were not nearly as well favored.</p> + +<p>The ability and the disposition to look at things occasionally from +this point of view contributed much to the generosity of Marion's +nature. She was a favorite among rich <a name="Page_44" id="Page_44" />and poor alike, except among +those rich who could "understand" why the wealthy ought to be +specially favored, and those poor too narrow and circumscribed to +credit any wealthy person with genuine generosity.</p> + +<p>Being of this artless and unartificial trend of mind, Marion must +naturally turn to either nature or human merit for the selection of +her Camp Fire name. She was not sufficiently mature to pick a poetic +idea from the achievements of men, and so it fell to nature to supply +a quaint notion as a foundation for her "nom-de-fire."</p> + +<p>Seated in her room at Hiawatha Institute one evening, Marion cast +about her mental horizon for some scene or association in her life +that would suggest the desired name. The first that came to her was +the picture of a towering mountain, conspicuous not so much for its +actual loftiness as for its deceptive appearance of great height. In +all her experiences at home, it had never occurred to Marion to think +of this individual portion of prehistoric geologic upheaval as a mass +of earth and stones. She thought of it only as the most beautiful +expression of nature she had ever seen, graceful of form, rich in the +seasons' decorations.</p> + +<p>This mountain was probably about as slender as it is possible for a +mountain to be. Compared, or contrasted, with a nearby and +characteristic mountain of the range, it was as a lady's finger to a +telescoped giant's thumb.<a name="Page_45" id="Page_45" /> High Peak, as the tapering sugar-loaf of +earth was called, was located west of Hollyhill, close to the town. In +fact the portion of the city inhabited by the main colony of miners' +families was built on the sloping ground that formed a foothill of the +mountain.</p> + +<p>And so when Marion named herself as a Camp Fire Girl after this +mountain she had in mind an ideal expressed in the first injunction of +the Law of the Camp Fire, which is to</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span>"Seek Beauty."<br /></span> +</div></div> + +<p>High Peak was her ideal of beauty and grandeur. It stood also, with +her, for lofty aspiration. Thus she pictured the physical +representation of the name she chose as a member of the great army of +girls who seek romance, beauty, and adventure in every-day life.</p> + +<p>On the day when the Flamingo Camp Fire arrived at Hollyhill, another +train pulled in at the principal station several hours earlier. It +came from the same direction and might, indeed, have borne the +thirteen girls and their guardian if they had seen fit to get up early +enough to catch a 3 o'clock train.</p> + +<p>But the thirteen girls would have been much interested if they could +have beheld the eight boy passengers as they got off in a group and +looked around to see if there was anyone at the depot who knew any of +them.</p> + +<p>Relieved at the apparent absence of anybody who might recognize the +one of their number whose home was in Hollyhill or an<a name="Page_46" id="Page_46" />other who had +been a frequent visitor there, the eight boys hastened to a corner +half a square away from the depot and boarded a street car that was +waiting for the time to start from this terminal point. The car +started almost immediately after they had seated themselves, moving in +a southwesterly direction through the business section of the city and +then directly west toward High Peak, passing along the northern border +of the mining colony and then making a curve to the north through a +more prosperous residence district.</p> + +<p>The eight boys all wore Scout uniforms. They were the full membership +of one Spring Lake patrol, the leader of which was Ernest Hunter, +whose home was in Hollyhill, and who had invited all the Scouts of his +patrol to be his guests during the holidays. This invitation followed +the receipt of information that Marion Stanlock had invited the +members of her Camp Fire to spend the Christmas holidays with her.</p> + +<p>Ernest Hunter was well prepared to entertain his guests in real scout +fashion. His parents' home was not large enough to afford sleeping +quarters and other ordinary conveniences for seven visitors in +addition to the regular personnel of the family, but the boy had taken +care of this deficiency long before he had ever dreamed that it might +occur. The Hunter home included a large tract of land running clear up +to the foot of the mountain, <a name="Page_47" id="Page_47" />which, at this point, was rocky and +covered with a plentiful growth of white pine, hemlock and black +spruce. Hidden behind an irregular heap of boulders and a small timber +foreground was a cave, formed by nature and nature's anarchistic +elements, that could not fail to delight the most fastidious +wonder-seeker. The entrance was about the size of an ordinary doorway, +flanked by twin boulders like columns for an arched shelter. Within +was a large room with fairly smooth walls and ceiling of Silurian rock +and sandstone.</p> + +<p>The cave as it now appeared would hardly have been recognized by its +aboriginal frequenters. It had been converted into a place of civil +abode or resort, retaining only enough of its pristine wildness for +romantic effect. Ernie Hunter had done his work well. He had provided +for heat for the cave by running a galvanized stovepipe up through a +crevice in the rocks and filling with stones and cement all the +surrounding vents to guard against the draining in of water from the +mountain side. He also collected and stored at home a supply of old +mattresses, blankets, kitchen utensils, a laundry stove, and other +domestic conveniences usable in a place of this kind. A week before +vacation he wrote thus to his 12-year-old brother, Paul:</p> + +<p>"I'm going to bring seven boys home with me. We are going to spend the +vacation in the mountains, with the cave as headquarters. Will you +have the stove hauled there and set <a name="Page_48" id="Page_48" />up and keep a fire in it a good +deal of the time to dry the place out thoroughly? We will come to +Hollyhill on an early train, so as to have plenty of time to haul the +mattresses and other outfittings to the cave and get it ready for +habitation. We will all have guns and will have some great times +shooting game. Of course, you will be in on all this."</p> + +<p>Paul did as requested. When the patrol arrived at the Hunter home, he +reported to his brother that the latter's instructions had been +carried out and all was in readiness for the removal of the outing +outfit from the storeroom over the garage to the cave. Everything but +the mattresses were piled into Mr. Hunter's seven-passenger touring +car, the eight boys piled in on top and the first run to their holiday +headquarters was made.</p> + +<p>As the machine drove up toward the mouth of the cave, the boys were +startled at seeing two rough looking men emerge from the entrance and +slink away to the south, half hidden by the unevenness of the ground +and the thick shrubbery. Their hurried movements and evident desire to +avoid meeting the boys marked them as suspicious characters. Fearing +that they might have committed some malicious act to render the place +uninhabitable, Ernie hastened toward the cave, followed by the other +boys, to make an inspection.</p> + +<p>Before entering, however, Ernie, who was the patrol leader, asked four +of the boys to return and watch the automobile. Division <a name="Page_49" id="Page_49" />of the +patrol with this in view was quickly arranged, and Ernie, Clifford +Long, Harry, Gilbert, and Jerry McCracken proceeded into the cave.</p> + +<p>The entrance of the cave was protected against the cold by a heavy +blanket hung over a pole anchored at either end in the rocky side at +the top. Pushing aside this wilderness portiere, the four +investigators stepped in, lighting their way with two or three +electric flash lights.</p> + +<p>They were relieved to discover that no damage had been done to the +cave or to the stove set up within. After satisfying themselves on +this score they proceeded to replenish the fire, by putting in several +cuts of spruce, a good supply of which had been provided by Ernie's +brother. The cave was still warm and had been well dried out by the +steady fire kept up by Paul for two or three days.</p> + +<p>The entire patrol now reassembled and mapped out a plan for completing +their day's work. It was decided that Ernie should return in the +automobile to his home a mile and a half away and bring the mattresses +and a supply of food that was being prepared for them at the house, +while the others took upon themselves the task of cutting a supply of +brushwood to lay on the floor of the cave as a kind of spring support +for the mattresses. Accordingly Ernie got into the machine and drove +away, while the other boys got busy with the task assigned to them.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50" />The patrol leader returned, in less than an hour, accompanied by Paul +and a farm hand employed by Mr. Hunter. They brought with them not +only four mattresses, but the shotguns and rifles shipped by the boys +from the academy for their mid-winter hunting. Ernie announced that +their trunks and valises also had arrived and that George, the farm +hand, would return for them in the automobile.</p> + +<p>The work progressed rapidly and by the time the trunks and valises +arrived the mattresses were all in position, the food and cooking +utensils were stored away in the narrowest compass of space that could +be arranged for them and a large pile of resinous wood had been +gathered.</p> + +<p>It was now 4 o'clock and the boys felt that they were entitled to a +rest. A large boulder with a flat end two and a half feet in diameter +was rolled into the cave and propped into position, with slabs of +stone for a table. On this was placed a large kerosene lamp, which, +when burning, lighted up the cave very well. A supply of camp chairs +had been brought with the first load, so that everybody had a seat.</p> + +<p>"I call this something swell, from the point of view of a smart rustic +who hasn't absorbed any city nonsense," observed Miles Berryman, +seating himself comfortably in a chair and gazing about with great +satisfaction. "I think, Ernie, that we must all agree that you are a +very wide-awake opportunist."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_51" id="Page_51" />Is that the kind of musician who plays an opportune at every +opportunity?" inquired John St. John in a tone of gravity as deep as +the cavern in which they were housed.</p> + +<p>"Now, see here, Johnnie Two Times," exclaimed Miles portentously: "you +know what we came near doing to you six months ago for springing that +kind of stuff."</p> + +<p>"We came near ducking him in the lake," reminded Earl Hamilton.</p> + +<p>"Yes," continued Miles in the attitude of a stage threat, "and if we +can't find a lake around here we can find a deep snowdrift to throw +him into."</p> + +<p>"I wonder if he catches the drift of that argument," said Clifford +Long, with a wink at Miles.</p> + +<p>"He not only catches it, but he understands, and hence he does snow +drift (does know drift) of what the menacing Miles means," declared +John, who had long answered to the nickname of "Johnnie Two Times," +because of the combination of baptismal and family names by which he +was legally known.</p> + +<p>A roar of pun-protesting groans filled the cavern, and as several of +the boys arose in attitudes of vengeance, the punster made a dive for +the exit and disappeared beyond the blanket portiere. None of the +protestors followed. They did not feel like engaging in any vigorous +sport following the strenuous exercises they had had.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later "Johnnie Two Times" re<a name="Page_52" id="Page_52" />turned. One glance at his +face was sufficient guarantee that he had lost all his punning +facetiousness. He held in his hand a bit of paper which he laid on the +stone table by the lamp.</p> + +<p>"Read that, boys!" he exclaimed, excitedly. "I found it outside. Those +men must have dropped it. They're after Mr. Stanlock—going to hold +him up."</p> + +<p>The ten other boys needed no second bidding. They crowded around so +eagerly that nobody could read.</p> + +<p>"Here, I'll read it aloud," said Clifford, picking up the paper and +holding it close to the lamp. Here is what he read:</p> + +<p>"I will bring Old Stanlock along the foothill pike. Will slow up in +the sand stretch. Be there ready to grab him. Jake."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII" /><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53" />CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h2>TO THE RESCUE.</h2><br /> + + +<p>"Boys, we've got to do something," declared Patrol Leader Ernie +Hunter, breaking the gaping silence that followed the reading of the +note.</p> + +<p>"What shall we do?" asked Harry Gilbert, who was a good soldier, but +no leader.</p> + +<p>"We must go to Mr. Stanlock's rescue," Ernie replied. "There is no +telling what those rascals are plotting. They may kill him if we don't +get there in time to prevent it."</p> + +<p>"It's a long hike, and we may not be able to get there in time," Paul +Hunter warned.</p> + +<p>"That means we've got to move mighty fast," Ernie said. "Boys, get +your guns and a supply of shells. I hope we won't have to use them, +but we'd better be well prepared. We're going to be late getting back, +so you may as well grab some bread and dried beef and anything else +you can find in a jiffy to eat on the way. We've got to start in three +minutes. Now everybody hustle.</p> + +<p>"Paul, you and Jerry had better run home and stay there till morning," +Ernie added, turning to his brother. Jerry was scarcely any larger +than Paul, although the latter was a year younger. Ernie felt a +slightly nervous responsibility for the safety of the "twin babies of +the bunch," as some one had already referred to them in the course of +the day.<a name="Page_54" id="Page_54" /> Jerry, who, like Paul, was an extremely likable fellow, +resented being called the baby of the patrol, a term sometimes applied +to him when the Scouts were dealing in jocular personalities.</p> + +<p>"Not much are we goin' home," declared Paul, energetically; "are we, +Jerry? I'm goin' along and carry my target rifle with the rest. What +do you say, Jerry?"</p> + +<p>"I'm with you," the latter announced with spirit. "They can't leave us +behind."</p> + +<p>"But you can't make the trip fast enough," Ernie insisted.</p> + +<p>"We'll have to run part of the way, and the ground is rough, and the +snow and ice on the road make it hard traveling. We've got over two +miles of that kind of hiking to do, and less than an hour to do it +in."</p> + +<p>"We can make it just as well as anybody else in this bunch," declared +Paul, stoutly.</p> + +<p>"Well, come along, then; but you will have to obey orders," said +Ernie, speaking as one with military authority. "We're operating under +martial law tonight, and if you insist on coming along you must expect +to be treated like a soldier. Everybody bring your gun and flashlight. +It's cloudy now and will be dark before long."</p> + +<p>In scarcely more time than it takes to tell it, the boys had possessed +themselves of their guns, flashlights, overcoats, hats, and "a bite to +eat on the run," and were dashing out along the path leading down to +the road that skirted <a name="Page_55" id="Page_55" />the foothill to the southward. Presently, +however, they slowed down to a "dog trot" at the suggestion of +Clifford Long, who warned his fellow Scouts against "tuckering +themselves out."</p> + +<p>They continued along in this manner half a mile and then, by common +consent, reduced their pace to a walking long stride. As they +proceeded thus, Ernie said to Clifford Long and one or two others +nearest him:</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid we've made a mistake in not doing one thing that has just +occurred to me. What I ought to have done was to hurry home, got the +automobile and made a race for the police station while you boys made +this trip. In that way we could 'ave had a double chance of catching +those bandits. If everything had gone smoothly, I might even have +beaten you boys to the scene of the hold-up with an auto load of +police. I could 'ave left word, too, for someone to call up Mr. +Stanlock's office and warn him, if by any cause he had been delayed."</p> + +<p>"I don't think much of that suggestion," replied Clifford; "for, if +they haven't got him started by this time, they're not likely to get +him going their way tonight. But the other'd 'a' been a good one. It's +too bad you didn't think of it sooner."</p> + +<p>"Too late now," said Ernie. "We've got to make the best of it."</p> + +<p>"Who do you suppose those two men are <a name="Page_56" id="Page_56" />that we saw come out of the +cave?" Miles Berryman inquired.</p> + +<p>"The chances are ninety-nine out of a hundred that this affair is +connected directly with the strike," Clifford replied, with confident +assurance. "The highwaymen who plotted this scheme doubtless belong to +the rougher element of the strikers. They are really dangerous men, +and the community would be much safer if they were lodged in prison."</p> + +<p>"How do you suppose they got your uncle to come away out here at the +time when he usually starts home for dinner—that is, if he really +came this way?" asked Hal Ettelson.</p> + +<p>"That's the very thing that's bothering me most," Clifford replied, +with puzzled air. "Uncle is usually pretty shrewd, and I am pretty +certain that people who try to put anything over on him generally find +that they have a hard job on their hands."</p> + +<p>"I'd take it, from the note Jerry found, that this is a decoy game +they're trying to work," Ernie remarked.</p> + +<p>"It'd have to be a sharp one to get my uncle," declared Clifford. +"He's a very clever business man."</p> + +<p>"The smartest men get caught once in a while," was Ernie's sage +remark.</p> + +<p>"That must have been a chauffeur who wrote that note," observed Johnny +St. John. "It read as if a chauffeur was the brains of this plot. If +we get there on time, he won't have much to chauffeur it" (show for +it).</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_57" id="Page_57" />Oh, Johnny Twice!" groaned Earl Hamilton. "Don't spoil your good +deed of finding that note by springing any more of that stuff. You're +taking an unfair advantage of us, for we can't stop now to duck you in +a snowdrift."</p> + +<p>The road was not broken all the way for good walking, so that the boys +were forced to put forth their best efforts in order to reach the +place of the plotted ambush on time.</p> + +<p>Their pace therefore varied from a rapid walk to a run, according as +their "wind" and leg muscles supplied the needed endurance. Paul and +Jerry found it pretty hard to keep up with the other boys during the +last three-quarters of a mile, especially when they struck a poorly +broken snowdrift or a stretch of ground covered with rocks or rough +ice. They were quite elated, however, at their ability to keep their +feet in these rough places, after seeing two of the larger boys slip +and fall.</p> + +<p>It was almost dark by the time they reached the vicinity of the "sand +stretch" referred to in the note found by "Johnny Two-Times." This +stretch was a sand bed of several acres in extent, between which and +High Peak was a large stone quarry. The road ran between the "sand +stretch," which, of course, was now frozen and covered with snow, and +the quarry. The approach to this was sheltered, fortunately for the +concealment of the boy rescuers, by a growth of timber extending down +the mountain slope to the road.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58" />Ernie called a halt about two hundred yards from the point in the +road which appeared the most favorable place for an ambush.</p> + +<p>"Let's leave the road and make our way through the trees," he +suggested.</p> + +<p>"There comes the automobile!" exclaimed Paul, excitedly, pointing down +the highway to the southwest.</p> + +<p>Yes, a machine was approaching, about two miles away. The long stream +of light from the electric lamps could be seen, almost hitting the +sky, as the auto began to climb a steep hill. Evidently it had just +turned into this highway from another thoroughfare leading direct from +the city.</p> + +<p>"Come on! We must hurry," said Ernie, dashing into the timber. "Be +careful; don't fall or run any branches in your eyes."</p> + +<p>They made fairly good progress, considering the difficulties before +them and the darkness in the woods. However, they kept close to the +edge, where the tree growth was not very heavy and where the snow +reflected sufficient light to guide their feet. Ernie ordered that +none of the flashlights be used, and perhaps it was fortunate for the +success of the expedition that this order was issued and obeyed.</p> + +<p>The efforts of the boys were well timed. Everything went like +clockwork, or so it afterward seemed. Two shadowy forms were discerned +standing in the thicker darkness under <a name="Page_59" id="Page_59" />the trees as the automobile +arrived near the Southern edge of the quarry. The boys were within +easy attacking distance from the place where the two men stood. Ernie +whispered the word "Halt" loud enough for his companions to hear him. +They gathered around their leader, who hurriedly spoke thus:</p> + +<p>"Now, everybody listen to me for orders. When I give the word, 'fire,' +you, Paul, John, Harry and Jerry, fire your guns into the air. Be +careful, and shoot up toward the tops of the trees, so as not to hit +anyone. Then I'll give the order to charge, and everybody let out an +Indian war-whoop or something of the sort. We won't have to do any +more shooting. Now, come on; we'll get closer. Those fellows are +starting now."</p> + +<p>Even as he spoke, the two villainous individuals, with masks on their +faces, dashed out from the timber and planted themselves in front of +the automobile, with pistols leveled at the driver. The latter, +according to the plan outlined in his note discovered by "Johnny +Two-Times," slowed down the machine before the highwaymen appeared. At +the command to halt he came to a sudden stop and threw up his hands.</p> + +<p>"Ready!—Fire!" commanded Ernie in a loud voice.</p> + +<p>Two magazine shotguns and two target rifles exploded in quick +succession. Without giving the two hold-up men time to determine +<a name="Page_60" id="Page_60" />whether they had been hit or not, the patrol leader issued his second +order, thus:</p> + +<p>"Now, boys, after them! Charge! No quarter for the rascals!"</p> + +<p>Then followed a scene that, for rapidity of action, is not often +surpassed by motion picture speed artists.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII" /><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61" />CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h2>THE EAVESDROPPER.</h2><br /> + + +<p>If the two masked highwaymen had been crouching in position for a +footrace to be started at the shot of a pistol, they could hardly have +sprung forward more suddenly or have sped down the road more rapidly. +One glance over their shoulders at what doubtless appeared to them to +be something like a regiment of armed men was pouring out of the +timber, as one of the boys afterward put it, was enough to make them +"hot-foot along hot enough to melt all the ice and snow in their +path."</p> + +<p>All of the boys now produced the flashlights which they had carried in +their pockets and turned them on to their own faces, in order that Mr. +Stanlock might see who they were and have no doubt that they were +friends. This was according to one detail of their pre-arranged plan, +and worked successfully. The owner of the automobile recognized his +nephew, Clifford Long, and the Scout uniforms worn by the boys, and +realized at once that he had been rescued from the hands of a pair of +unscrupulous rascals by a company of real boy heroes. He threw open +the door, sprang out, and began shaking the hands of his rescuers in +grateful appreciation of what they had done for him.</p> + +<p>"I don't know what all this means," he said;<a name="Page_62" id="Page_62" /> "but I've got wits +enough to understand there's been some pretty tough rascality on foot, +and you boys have done me a very great service."</p> + +<p>"We were hiking along this way and saw those two men with guns in +their hands stop your machine" exclaimed Clifford, who thought it best +not to reveal the discovery of the note in the presence of the +chauffeur.</p> + +<p>"You did mighty good work" declared the wealthy mine operator, +enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>"Does your Boy Scout training teach you to use your heads so +successfully? One would think that this hold-up and the rescue were +both plotted and planned some time ahead, judging by the skill with +which you worked."</p> + +<p>"Don't flatter us too much, uncle, or you may tempt us to help along +the deception by leading you to believe that we really are a +remarkable bunch of boys," Clifford warned, slyly.</p> + +<p>"I not only believe it, but I know it," replied Mr. Stanlock with +stubborn generosity. "So, if I am deceived, the fault is all my own. +But, Clifford, I didn't know you were in town. When did you come? You +haven't been over at the house yet, have you?"</p> + +<p>"No, not yet, uncle," Clifford answered, slowly. "And I'm not coming +over for a few days. The fact is, we are here on a hunting trip and a +mystery mission, and we want you to help us keep our secret. Since we +have proved ourselves to be a very unusual lot of <a name="Page_63" id="Page_63" />boys, perhaps you +will take special care to favor us in this respect. We are planning a +surprise on the girls, and we don't want you to tell them we are in +town."</p> + +<p>"My lips are sealed until you unseal them," Mr. Stanlock assured them. +"But where are you staying?"</p> + +<p>"All of us are members of one patrol of Scouts at Spring Lake Academy, +all except Paul Hunter. We came here on an invitation from Ernie +Hunter, and we are living in a cave at the west end of Mr. Hunter's +farm."</p> + +<p>"In a cave!" Mr. Stanlock exclaimed with some concern. "Isn't that +rather an unhealthful place for you to live? You don't sleep there, I +hope?"</p> + +<p>"We certainly do, uncle; or, rather, we are going to, for this is our +first night. I wish you could come over and see it. It's as dry and +warm as can be. Paul dried it out by keeping a stove burning in it for +several days."</p> + +<p>"A stove in a cave!" was Mr. Stanlock's astonished comment. "That is +surely some combination of wild nature and mechanical civilization. I +shall certainly inspect your domesticated wild-and-woolly retreat. +When am I invited to come?"</p> + +<p>"Any time, Mr. Stanlock," Ernie interposed, with the hospitality of +host. "Name your time and we'll be there to receive you."</p> + +<p>"You'll have quite a walk to the cave tonight, and the walking isn't +very good, I venture. Pile in and I'll take you in the machine."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_64" id="Page_64" />I'm afraid we'll make more of a load than you can carry," said +Ernie.</p> + +<p>"This machine can carry seven, nine in a pinch, and eleven in a case +of life and death," assured Mr. Stanlock. "But I've got an idea that +will cut off the life and death. I am bringing home a large sled that +a young manual training student made for my seven-year-old son, +Harold. It has a good, strong rope attached, and we will hitch it on +behind, and two of you boys can ride on that."</p> + +<p>"Let's you and me hitch," said Paul to Jerry, eagerly. Jerry was just +as eager, and the problem of carrying ten passengers and the chauffeur +was settled.</p> + +<p>"One of you boys get in front with Jake and show him the way," +suggested the owner of the automobile.</p> + +<p>"Jake!" The utterance of that name sent a thrill through every one of +the boys, all of whom recognized it as the name signed to the note +that "Johnny Two-Times" had found near the cave.</p> + +<p>Ernie climbed up with the driver, the sled was taken out and hitched +on behind, and six of the boys "piled in" with Mr. Stanlock. As soon +as Paul and Jerry called out "Go ahead," they started.</p> + +<p>It was not quite as jolly an adventure for the two boys on the sled as +they had expected. The road was pretty rough and, although the +chauffeur, obeying his employer's instruction, <a name="Page_65" id="Page_65" />drove carefully, the +"hitchers" were twice thrown off.</p> + +<p>But they refused to give up, declaring it to be the most fun they had +had "in a coon's age," which was really a boys' bravery fib, and +finally the machine drew up within a hundred and fifty feet of the +cave.</p> + +<p>The boys and Mr. Stanlock left the automobile in charge of the driver +and proceeded to the Scouts' hunting headquarters. The visitor proved +that he had not lost all sympathy for his youthful days, for he +declared that he would like nothing better than to return to his +'teens and spend a mid-winter vacation with the young hunters in their +cave. After the inspection was completed, Clifford again broached the +subject of the highwaymen's attack, saying:</p> + +<p>"Uncle, we didn't tell you how we happened to be present when those +two men stopped you tonight, because we didn't want the chauffeur to +hear what we had to say. The whole story is contained in this note, +which one of the boys found after we had seen those men come out of +the cave and hurry away. Here it is; read it. As you are more +interested in it than anybody else, you may keep it."</p> + +<p>Clifford drew the folded paper from his vest pocket and gave it to Mr. +Stanlock. The latter held it close to the lamp and read.</p> + +<p>"That's Jake, my driver; it's his handwriting I'm certain. What did be +want to do that for? He must be in league with the worst ele<a name="Page_66" id="Page_66" />ment of +the strikers. Probably they paid him well for this, or promised him a +tempting bribe."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock mused thus aloud as he studied over the note. The +situation puzzled him. What ought he to do? Of course, he must have +the driver arrested, and there must be an investigation by the police. +But, would it be safe for him to trust Jake to drive him home? +Probably it would be safe enough, for doubtless the driver had no +desire to be openly connected with the plot.</p> + +<p>He was about decided to return home with the driver and say nothing to +him about the note, when a slight noise at the entrance attracted the +attention of all. Listening carefully, they could hear the sound of +retreating footsteps.</p> + +<p>"That's Jake," Mr. Stanlock exclaimed. "He overheard us. After him, or +he'll run away with the machine."</p> + +<p>The rush for the entrance threatened to cause some confusion and delay +in getting out. Fortunately, however, the delay, if any, was not +serious, and the pursuit soon indicated that there were some real +sprinters among the boys. As they emerged from the cave, the driver +was already within fifty feet of the machine. But he looked back over +his shoulder and evidently thought better of his original purpose, for +he turned to the left and raced down the hill toward the road at +another point, leaping and striding with such <a name="Page_67" id="Page_67" />recklessness that it +seemed almost miraculous that he should escape a fall and serious +injury.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock had no desire to attempt a capture of the traitorous +chauffeur by physical force, and when he saw that Jake had given up +the idea of fleeing in the automobile, he called the pursuit off. Then +he announced his intention to drive the machine home himself, taking +the route that led past Mr. Hunter's home. He had no fear of further +trouble with the driver or his confederates, for he was certain that +Jake was a coward at heart and the two highwaymen could hardly have +arrived in the vicinity of the cave on foot, since they were driven +off in mad haste in the opposite direction, even if they had been +disposed to make another attack.</p> + +<p>"Well, good-night, boys," he said, taking his place in the driver's +seat. "You've done me a service tonight that I won't forget very soon. +Come and see me, all of you, after you have sprung your surprise on +the girls. I'll remember to keep your secret all right. Good night."</p> + +<p>He put his foot on the starter, gave the steering wheel a few turns, +and the throbbing machine moved over the sloping stretch of ground +between the cave and the road. The boys, several of them with guns in +their hands, followed him to the road and stood there ready to run to +his assistance if they should see any evidences of another attack.<a name="Page_68" id="Page_68" /> +They continued the watch for fifteen or twenty minutes, until the +lights of the automobile, which pierced the darkness far ahead, +indicated that he had proceeded between one and two miles without +interference.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX" /><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69" />CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h2>MR. STANLOCK SURPRISED.</h2><br /> + + +<p>Perhaps it were better not to attempt to describe with faithfulness of +detail the reception given Mr. Stanlock by his wife and family on his +return home shortly before 9 o'clock that night. The fear that +something of serious nature had intervened to prevent his appearing at +the usual dinner hour had taken firm hold of Mrs. Stanlock, Marion, +sister Kathryn, and brother Harold. The fact that the police had been +searching for him for two hours or more and had been unable to make +any hopeful report, had not tended in the least to relieve the tension +of suspense, which became almost unbearable.</p> + +<p>Then came the vague announcement from Mr. Stanlock's stenographer at +the latter's home that he had been called away somewhere, but left no +definite information. He had been called unexpectedly and left in a +hurry. That was all the stenographer could say.</p> + +<p>This information was communicated to the police, who increased the +family's alarm by asking a string of questions over the telephone +indicating the most direful suspicions. Had Mr. Stanlock seen or heard +anything which caused him to believe that the strikers might do him +bodily harm if they had an opportunity? Had he received any +threaten<a name="Page_70" id="Page_70" />ing letters? Had he appeared nervous or was there anything in +his manner which indicated that he was apprehensive of trouble not +already well known to the public?</p> + +<p>Marion and her mother answered some of these questions over the +telephone and half an hour later a police lieutenant called at the +house and made further inquiry. There was no longer any possibility of +dodging the most logical suspicions, namely, that Mr. Stanlock was the +victim of a decoy plotted by some criminal element working with or +under the shadow of the coal miners' strike.</p> + +<p>And so the relief from this dread suspense was very great when he +drove up to the house and walked in, smiling as if nothing unusual had +happened. Marion fairly flew into her father's arms as if she had not +seen him for sixteen months.</p> + +<p>"Papa!" she cried almost hysterically; "where have you been? We've +been telephoning all over the city, and the police have been searching +for you for nearly two hours. Why didn't you call us up and let us +know you were going to be late?"</p> + +<p>"I was intending to call you, my dear," replied Mr. Stanlock, as he +greeted her and the other members of the family with a rapid +succession of hugs and kisses, indicating, in spite of his attempts to +appear composed, that he had returned home not under the most ordinary +circumstances.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you?" Marion insisted. "Do <a name="Page_71" id="Page_71" />you know what a state of mind +you had us in during the last two or three hours?"</p> + +<p>"I delayed calling you because I wanted to find out how late I was +going to be," Mr. Stanlock explained. "Then something happened, and I +wasn't near a telephone, and something more delayed me, and I decided +to come directly home without stopping on the way to telephone."</p> + +<p>"What was it that happened, papa?" Marion demanded. "Was it anything +serious?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty serious, girlie," answered her father, pinching her cheek; +"but your daddy is an awfully brave man, you know, and he can't tell +his daughter any of his blood-curdling experiences unless she can +listen to the roaring of cannons and the yelling of Indians without +flinching."</p> + +<p>"Now, papa, you're making fun of me," Marion protested. "Didn't +anything really serious happen? The police thought you must have been +waylaid."</p> + +<p>"I see there's no way out of it, and I shall have to tell you girls a +story that will make you all scream and dream nightmares filled with +revolvers and skulking figures and masked faces and lonely highways."</p> + +<p>All of the thirteen members and the Guardian of Flamingo Camp Fire, +Marion's mother, sister, and brother were present at this scene in the +big living room of the Stanlock home. Mr. Stanlock covertly watched +the faces of his auditors and was pleased to <a name="Page_72" id="Page_72" />note that his bandying +words were rapidly bringing the tension back to normal. Young Master +Harold at this point helped his father's purpose along remarkably by +piping forth:</p> + +<p>"It's mighty funny if a man can't be out after dark without a lot o' +women jumpin' on 'im."</p> + +<p>Nobody with a grain of humor in his soul, if that is where the sense +of fun is located, could have restrained a laugh at that remark. In a +moment it would have been difficult for any one of those present to +realize how tragically serious they had all been a few minutes before.</p> + +<p>After the chorus of laughter had subsided, Mr. Stanlock sat down in a +large upholstered armchair, and remarked to his unconsciously +brilliant son:</p> + +<p>"You are a great protector of women-oppressed man, aren't you, Harold. +Your chief virtue along this line is your ability to get the +philosophical high spots of every-day gossip. But don't stop there, my +able young advocate. Do you realize that your father has had no dinner +and that this exacting bevy of girls is going to force me to suffer +the pangs of hunger until I have told my story?"</p> + +<p>"I just told Mary (the head maid) to get your dinner ready," Mrs. +Stanlock interposed smilingly. "You won't need to go hungry more than +fifteen minutes longer."</p> + +<p>"I see that you don't appreciate an eager and attentive audience," +Marion remarked, <a name="Page_73" id="Page_73" />affecting to be deeply offended in behalf of her +guests. "Very well, we'll wait until after you have satisfied a mere +man's appetite, and then we'll condescend to listen."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can tell it in fifteen minutes while Mary is warming over the +meat and potatoes. Now, get ready, all you young ladies, for the first +shock. I was really and truly held up."</p> + +<p>"Held up!" exclaimed several of the girls in chorus.</p> + +<p>"Yes, held up, with guns pointed at the chauffeur's head by two masked +men on a lonely highway."</p> + +<p>"You're joking," said Marion, dubiously.</p> + +<p>"All right," said the mine owner, settling back comfortably in his +chair. "You insisted on my telling my story, and now that I have begun +it, you won't believe my first sentence."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do believe it, papa," Marion said repentantly, going close to +her father's chair and putting her arm around his neck. "I believe you +were held up by two masked highwaymen with guns in a lonely spot, as +you say. But how did you escape?"</p> + +<p>"We were rescued by some boys!"</p> + +<p>Although at the end of a sentence, Mr. Stanlock stopped so quickly +that only a dull person could fail to notice it. His sudden stop, of +course, was occasioned by the return to his mind of his promise to +keep the secret of the Boy Scouts.</p> + +<p>"Boys," said Mrs. Stanlock, wonderingly.<a name="Page_74" id="Page_74" /> "I didn't know that we had +any heroes of that type in Hollyhill."</p> + +<p>"They were some young fellows out hunting," explained the narrator. +"They witnessed the hold-up and leveled their guns at the rascals and +drove them away."</p> + +<p>"Who are those boys?" Marion demanded, and one might almost have +imagined from her manner that she had half a kingdom to bestow on the +rescuers of her father.</p> + +<p>"I'm afraid I can't give you their names," Mr. Stanlock replied +slowly.</p> + +<p>"You don't mean to say that you let them get away without finding out +who they were, do you?" his daughter inquired with just a shade of +indignation.</p> + +<p>"No, not exactly that, for I can easily get all their names any time I +want them. But I know also that they don't wish to get into the +newspapers in connection with this affair."</p> + +<p>"Can't you tell me who some of them are, papa?" Marion pleaded. "I +want to know who it was that, perhaps, saved the life of my father."</p> + +<p>"I can't tell you now, Marion. I have promised faithfully not to +reveal their identity at present for very good reasons which they gave +to me."</p> + +<p>"Where is Jake, the driver, Henry?" asked Mrs. Stanlock. "I see you +drove home alone."</p> + +<p>"Jake proved himself to be a scoundrel and a traitor and when he +discovered that I had found him out he vamoosed. I expect to <a name="Page_75" id="Page_75" />swear +out a warrant for his arrest tomorrow. Shortly before my usual time +for coming home, I received a letter by messenger, supposedly from Mr. +Mills, chairman of a special hospital committee that is looking after +the sick members of striking miners' families. I had been expecting a +call of a meeting and this letter stated that it was important that I +be present. He lives out on the Foothill pike near the quarries. I +thought that I would make a quick run out there and call you up from +his home and let you know how late I would be. Well, I didn't get +there. It seems that Jake was one of the conspirators in a plot to get +me out there and waylay me. By the way, that makes me think I ought to +call Mills up and find out if he did call a meeting. The notice was on +his stationery and it is just possible that wasn't a fake."</p> + +<p>In a few moments Mr. Stanlock was talking with Mills on the phone. The +latter was astonished, declared that he had no idea of calling a +meeting that night.</p> + +<p>"Well, it's lucky I kept the notice," the mining president muttered. +"That'll be something interesting to show to the police tomorrow."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X" /><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76" />CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h2>MR. STANLOCK AMUSED.</h2><br /> + + +<p>"I understand now how a mathematician could write 'Alice in +Wonderland'," Helen Nash remarked to Marion after Mr. Stanlock had +withdrawn to the diningroom and his belated meal.</p> + +<p>"How is that?" the hostess inquired, looking curiously at her friend.</p> + +<p>"Why, your father, I suppose, has been thinking in terms of tons of +coal all day—"</p> + +<p>"Carloads," Marion corrected, with a toss of levity.</p> + +<p>"Well, make it carloads," Helen assented. "That's better to my +purpose, more like a multiplication table, instead of addition. But it +must be about as dry as mathematics."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I get you," Marion exclaimed delightedly. "You mean that it is +quite as remarkable for a coal operator, with carloads of coal and +soot weighing down his imagination all day, to come home in the +evening and spin off a lot of nonsense like a comedian as it is for a +mathematician to have written 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'."</p> + +<p>"Precisely," answered Helen.</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know but you're right. Anyway, I wouldn't detract from +such a nice compliment paid to the dearest daddy on earth. Still, +after leaving the atmosphere of <a name="Page_77" id="Page_77" />his carloads of coal he had +experienced the diversion of being held up."</p> + +<p>"By two masked men with guns on a lonely highway," supplemented Helen.</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"And later found that his driver had turned traitor and planned to +deliver him into the hands of the enemy."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I don't see any diversion or inspiration in that sort of experience. +Many a man would have come home in a very depressed state of mind +after such an adventure. And yet he came home, found everybody scared +to death, and before he even began his story had us all laughing just +as Alice would at some of the contortions behind the looking glass. +And he kept us smiling even when he told of the masked would-be +kidnappers standing in the middle of the road and pointing pistols at +the driver of his automobile."</p> + +<p>"Kidnappers," repeated Marion in puzzled surprise. "Why do you say +kidnappers?"</p> + +<p>The two girls were alone in the library when this conversation took +place. All of the other guests, feeling that the members of the family +would prefer to be left alone following the startling occurrences of +the evening, had withdrawn to their rooms. Helen was about to bid her +friend good-night when her remark regarding Mr. Stanlock's happy +personal faculties opened the discussion as here re<a name="Page_78" id="Page_78" />corded. She +hesitated a few moments before answering the last inquiry; then she +said:</p> + +<p>"Don't you think that those men intended to kidnap your father? What +other explanation can you find for their actions?"</p> + +<p>"I hadn't tried to figure out their motive," Marion replied +thoughtfully. "Father called it a hold-up and I took his word for it."</p> + +<p>"But he had no money with him, did he?"</p> + +<p>"No, I think not. He seldom carries much money."</p> + +<p>"And it is hardly reasonable to suppose that this plot between the +chauffeur and the two highwaymen was for the purpose of murder. They +would have gone about it in some other way. This one leaves too many +traces behind."</p> + +<p>"Yes," Marion admitted.</p> + +<p>"Well, the only reasonable conclusion you can reach with the robbery +and murder motives out of the way, is that the plotters wished to take +your father prisoner and hold him some place until they got what they +wanted."</p> + +<p>"But what did they want?" asked the bewildered Marion.</p> + +<p>"That's for your father to suspect and the police to find out," said +Helen shrewdly. "Personally, I haven't a doubt that the strike has +everything to do with it."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think so?"</p> + +<p>"The threatening letter that you received at the Institute. Show that +to your father to<a name="Page_79" id="Page_79" />night and suggest that he turn it over to the +police."</p> + +<p>"I will," Marion promised. "In this new excitement I forgot all about +it. I didn't even show it to mother. Just as soon as papa finishes his +dinner, I'm going to show that letter to him. I'll go upstairs now and +get it. You wait here and be present when we talk it over, Helen. +You're so good at offering suggestions that maybe with you present we +can all work out some kind of solution of what has been going on."</p> + +<p>Marion hastened up to her room and returned presently with both of the +anonymous letters she had received in Westmoreland. A few minutes +later her father and mother both entered the library with the evident +purpose in mind of holding a lengthy conference on the problems +growing out of Mr. Stanlock's business troubles.</p> + +<p>"Papa, do you think those men tried to kidnap you?" Marion inquired by +way of introducing the subject.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>"Kidnap me!" he exclaimed. "Well, that's a good one. I thought they +only kidnapped kids."</p> + +<p>"Father," the girl pleaded; "do be serious with me. I've got something +very important to show you, something I forgot all about until Helen +reminded me. Helen thinks those men tried to kidnap you, and she's a +pretty wise girl, as I've had occasion to find out."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_80" id="Page_80" />If Helen said that, she surely must be a wise girl or else she has +made a pretty accurate guess," was the mine owner's reply.</p> + +<p>"Then they did want to kidnap you?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely no doubt of it. They've got some kind of retreat in the +mountains, and planned to carry me off there and keep me prisoner."</p> + +<p>"What for?"</p> + +<p>"Why, to force me to yield to some of their demands, which are utterly +impossible and unreasonable. First, they demand an increase of wages +that would force us into a receivership sooner or later and again they +demand the adoption of a cooperative plan which eventually would make +them owners of the mines, if there were any possibility of it working, +and there isn't. It's a most ridiculous hold-up, the responsibility +for which rests with a few fanatical leaders of doubtful integrity."</p> + +<p>"What do you think of these letters?" Marion asked, handing the two +anonymous missives to her father. "I received them by mail at the +Institute last night, but neglected to read them until we were all on +the train this morning."</p> + +<p>As Mr. Stanlock read them, his brow contracted sternly. He could treat +lightly any hostile attack on himself, but when danger threatened +members of his family or their intimate friends, all signs of levity +disappeared from his manner and he was ready <a name="Page_81" id="Page_81" />at once to meet with all +his energy the source of the danger, whether it be human or an element +of inanimate nature.</p> + +<p>"This" he said, as he finished reading and held up the letter signed +with a skull and cross-bones, "undoubtedly came from the source where +the plot to kidnap me originated. They are pretty well organized and +determined to go the limit. Of course, you girls must give up your +plans to work among the strikers' families. It would be foolhardy and +probably would result in somebody's getting hurt."</p> + +<p>"How about the other letter?" Marion asked.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," was the reply. "It doesn't seem to amount to much. I +hardly think it is to be taken as a threat. Have you no idea who sent +it?"</p> + +<p>"Some of the girls think it was sent by some of the Boy Scouts at +Spring Lake. You see they came up in full force to Hiawatha on the +night when we held our Grand Council Fire. It was a complete surprise +on us, exceedingly well done and about as clever as you could expect +from the cleverest boys. Before they left, several of them boasted +openly that they were planning another surprise for some of us, and +they dared us to find out in advance what it was."</p> + +<p>"No doubt that is what this note means," Mr. Stanlock declared so +positively and such a gleam of interest in his eyes that<a name="Page_82" id="Page_82" /> Marion +could not help wondering just a little.</p> + +<p>"What makes you so certain about it?" she inquired. "I don't see any +real proof in those words as to what they mean or who wrote them."</p> + +<p>"No, no, of course not," agreed Mr. Stanlock with seemingly uncalled +for glibness; "but then, you see, it is more reasonable to suspect +that this note came from the boys than from the strikers. If it is +between the two,—the boys and the strikers,—I say forget the +strikers and be sure that the boys sent this note."</p> + +<p>"I wish that the boys would spring their surprise tonight and settle +the question of that note," said Marion.</p> + +<p>"Why?" inquired her father with the faint light of a smile in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>"Because I don't like the uncertainty of the thing. Uncertainty always +bothers me, and this is a more than ordinary case."</p> + +<p>"But how could the boys spring their surprise without coming to +Hollyhill?" her father asked.</p> + +<p>"That's just it," she returned with a quick glance of suspicion toward +both her father and her mother. "Do you know, I found myself wondering +several times if Clifford wouldn't bring some of those boys down here +some time during the holidays."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock laughed, but he would have given a good deal to be able +to recall the noise he made. It was really a noise, as he <a name="Page_83" id="Page_83" />must have +admitted himself, and so hollow as to indicate something decidedly +unlike spontaneous amusement.</p> + +<p>Marion caught herself in a brown study several times over these +circumstances and her father's manner before she went to sleep that +night.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI" /><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84" />CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h2>A MAN OF BIG HEART AND QUEER NOTIONS.</h2><br /> + + +<p>Christmas was a big event at Hollyhill. Hollyhill was well named. +Perhaps some old patriarch a century or two back conceived the +inspiration of the name while playing Santa Claus with the little tots +of the household and pretending to have slid down the chimney without +getting a speck of soot on his bulging vestments.</p> + +<p>Perhaps he imagined, while mother woke the children and had them peek +through a "crack in the door" at the white whiskered visitor stuffing +their stockings full of presents, that he had tethered his prancing +team of reindeer to a holly tree outside. Certainly there seemed to +have been material for such imagination, for tradition said that the +hill on which the first houses of the first settlement were built had +at one time been richly adorned with a species of American Ilex, and +even now there remained here and there carefully preserved remnants of +that reported original wealth of the wilderness.</p> + +<p>Whether or not this conjectural history of the settlement had anything +to do with the cheerful mid-winter holiday developments of the +community need not be argued at length. An argument would render the +truth flat and insipid if it should prove to be in accord with poetic +tradition. So what's the use?</p> + +<p><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85" />In mid-winter everybody just knew that Hollyhill as a child had been +nursed in the snow trimmed evergreen lap of Christmas. Not that this +municipality had a corner on mid-winter holiday generosity to the +exclusion of all other communities. The chief outstanding fact in this +relation was that the inhabitants, or those so fortunate as to be in a +position to give and receive abundantly, believed Hollyhill to be the +most generous Christmas town on earth, and there was nobody +sufficiently interested to make a denial and follow it up with proof.</p> + +<p>Much of the credit for this condition was due to the leading man of +the place, Richard P. Stanlock, president and controlling power of the +Hollyhill Coal Mining company, which owned a string of mines in the +mountain district near the divisional line of two states. Besides +being the leading citizen, Mr. Stanlock was the "biggest" man in town, +because of the position to which he had risen, his ability to hold it, +and the influence that went with it. What he said usually went, but +his hand was not always evident. He liked to see things done, +doubtless enjoyed the realization that his was the great moving power +that produced results, but didn't give a fig to have anybody else know +it. To his intimate friends, who were few, and to the many with whom +he would pass the time of day, he was as common in word and manner as +the average house<a name="Page_86" id="Page_86" />holder with nothing more pretentious in life than +the earning of his daily bread.</p> + +<p>But in spite of all this simplicity and personal retirement Mr. +Stanlock was a good deal of a mystery to many citizens who knew really +little about him. Or perhaps he was a mystery to these fellow +townsfolk because of his modest qualities. Knowing little about him, +they imagined more. Leading citizens who knew his good qualities were +ever ready with a word of praise for him. But the trouble was, the +needed tangible evidence of his broad philanthropy was utterly +lacking. Seldom was there a visible connecting link between him and a +good deed. And so the praise of his work in pulpit, press and other +public and semi-public places fell as platitudes before a considerable +number of skeptics, whose favorite reply to this sort of thing was +something like—</p> + +<p>"Bunk."</p> + +<p>But Marion knew that it wasn't "bunk." She was one of the few +confidants that gained an intimate understanding of the wealthy mine +owner's character. She knew that he was the secret financial backer of +an organization of settlement workers which kept close watch on the +needs of the miners and their families, many of whom were so woefully +ignorant that about the only way to handle them was by appealing to +their appetites, their sympathies and their prejudices. She knew, too, +that he had strong connections constantly <a name="Page_87" id="Page_87" />at work fostering and +promoting the best of activities for advancement of the civic welfare, +that Christmas was one of his secret hobbies and that it was +practically impossible for this city of 40,000 inhabitants to neglect +this opportunity for a revival of good fellowship and good cheer so +long as her father had his hand on the electric key of public +generosity.</p> + +<p>Christmas was a blaze of glory every year in Hollyhill. Public halls, +churches, and theaters were the scenes of the liveliest activities for +several days and nights before and after this biggest event of the +winter season. Nor was the celebration confined to the more prosperous +sections of the town, but extended into the heart of the mining +settlement, where Christmas tinsel and lights were lavished without +consideration of cost and nobody was allowed to pass the season +without being impressively reminded as to just what turkey roast and +cranberry sauce tasted like.</p> + +<p>So skilfully were these programs put into effect that seldom was a +hint dropped from any source that Richard Perry Stanlock was entitled +to the slightest credit for these magnificent doings. He spent +Christmas at home in a quiet unassuming way amid the family +decorations of holly and mistletoe, and a vast litter of presents, +oranges, apples, nuts, and candy.</p> + +<p>Marion knew that her father's greatest vanity was his secret pride in +his ability to <a name="Page_88" id="Page_88" />put over the biggest generosity of the year without +its being traceable to him. One day a girl acquaintance of her asked +her if she knew that her father spent $25,000 every year for +Christmas. Marion laughed; later she laughingly reported the query to +Mr. Stanlock. Next day this girl friend's uncle, one of the +philanthropist's agents, was called in on the carpet and given a +lecture on the wisdom of guarding his remarks such as he had never +before dreamed of receiving.</p> + +<p>"Papa," the millionaire's older daughter said to him one day; "don't +you think it is foolish to keep secret all these generous things that +you are doing?"</p> + +<p>"Why do you think it is foolish, my dear?" he replied with an +expression of shrewd amusement. He was certain that she would have +difficulty in answering his question.</p> + +<p>"Well," she began slowly, then admitted: "I don't know."</p> + +<p>"I'm very glad you don't know," said her father with evident +satisfaction. "If you had tried to give a reason, I should have been +greatly disappointed. No explanation of that suggestion could be based +on anything but family pride, which is one form of vanity."</p> + +<p>"No," Marion differed thoughtfully. "There is one explanation based on +human caution and wisdom. I am afraid that you are misunderstood by +the very people whose confidence you should seek to cultivate, that is +the miners. Some of them don't like you very well. They <a name="Page_89" id="Page_89" />think that +you personally are a hard taskmaster and that the attentions and +relief which really come from you in times of need, are bestowed on +them by persons who feel that they have to help them because of your +failure to do the right thing by them. Why don't you, papa, go right +among them and tell them that you are going to do everything you can +for them, raise their wages, maybe, and make them love you +personally?"</p> + +<p>"It isn't my nature, Marion, to do it that way," Mr. Stanlock replied. +"There is nothing in the world that would be so distasteful to me as +assuming the role of a philanthropist or a hero. It spoils every man +to some extent who tries it. Personal vanity is the greatest enemy +that man has to guard against. I've guarded myself against it thus far +successfully, I think, and I'm not going to let it get me in the +future if I can help it."</p> + +<p>Marion felt like saying that her father's fear of vanity might some +day get him into trouble with his men, but she refrained from so +expressing herself. On the occasion before us she recalled that +conversation, for she realized that the strike was a result, in part, +of the very misunderstanding that she had anticipated. Several clever +leaders among the miners had spread the report about that Mr. Stanlock +had become immensely wealthy by overworking and underpaying his men, +while he caused to be circulated through various <a name="Page_90" id="Page_90" />channels numerous +undetailed reports of his generosity, philanthropy and public spirit.</p> + +<p>When she invited the members of Flamingo Camp Fire to be her guests +and work with her among the poor and hunger-suffering families of the +strikers she did not realize the seriousness of the situation with +reference to the feeling of the miners toward her father. Now she felt +that the condition of affairs was more than she could cope with and +from the day of her arrival home she was constantly in fear lest some +dread catastrophe should befall the family because the "biggest man" +in Hollyhill kept himself severely fortified against the adulation of +his fellow townsmen and the character weakening influence of personal +vanity.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII" /><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91" />CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h2>A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.</h2><br /> + + +<p>The Flamingo Camp Fire arrived at the Stanlock home on Friday. +Christmas was scheduled on the calendar to fall on the following +Wednesday.</p> + +<p>From the day of their arrival all of the girls were busy with +Christmas preparations. Every one of them, several weeks before, had +taken on her the task of making, buying, or assembling from parts +purchased a score or more of presents. As one of the chief aims of +Hiawatha Institute was to teach wealthy men's daughters how to be +economical, it goes without saying that each of these girls had on +hand no enviable Winter Task.</p> + +<p>Madame Cleaver laid the matter very plainly before her two hundred and +forty-odd girls. She had observed that the Christmas problem had a +tendency to make some of the students of her school sympathize with +Old Scrooge. If Christmas wasn't a humbug it could very easily be made +a nuisance.</p> + +<p>Madame Cleaver agreed with them in this respect. She told them so. +Furthermore, she added:</p> + +<p>"I don't wish you to understand that there is anything compulsory in +the giving of presents on such occasions. One of the dangers of this +sort of thing is that it is likely to become a perfunctory affair with +thousands <a name="Page_92" id="Page_92" />taking part because they feel they have to. Also Christmas +is exploited by many people. Their sympathy for the good-fellowship of +the occasion is measured largely by the dollars and cents that it +pours into their coffers.</p> + +<p>"You should see all these drawbacks and then decide for yourselves +whether the advantages of Christmas overbalance the drawbacks. For my +part I believe that they do and I enjoy the day and the season. But +don't take my word for it. Decide for yourselves."</p> + +<p>The result was that everybody at the Institute got busy several weeks +before the holiday season, and the manner in which the products of +girl ingenuity began to pile up must have been satisfying indeed to +the head of the school. But the work was not all done when the Camp +Fire arrived at Hollyhill, most of the girls still having enough to do +to keep them busy almost up to Christmas eve.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock advised the girls not to leave the house under any +consideration after night, and engaged three detectives, who were +given instructions to follow and protect any of Marion's guests who +might desire to go shopping or make other journeys about the city in +the day time. Automobiles, with drivers, were within ready call for +these men at any time. It was understood, also, that no journeys were +to be made into the section of the city inhabited by the miners and +their families.</p> + +<p>Thus far the strike had not been attended <a name="Page_93" id="Page_93" />by violence of any sort or +the destruction of property. The men had simply ceased to work and had +submitted their demands to the president of the company. The latter +realized at once that the employees were being led by an unusual type +of labor agitators, who might be expected to employ unusual methods to +gain their ends. The man who appeared to be the leader was as unusual +in appearance as he was in methods pursued. He was about thirty-five +years old, but looked five or eight years younger. He had first been +employed in the mines about six months before as an operator of an +electric chain-cutter machine, but he had not long been connected with +the work before his influence among the men began to be felt. To the +casual observer, he was a quiet sharp-eyed man, who seldom spoke, +under ordinary circumstances, unless he was first spoken to. But he +got in communication with all his fellow workers in some mysterious +manner and before long, in spite of the fact that he was not what is +popularly known as a "mixer," everybody from shovelers to machine men +knew him as Dave, the chain-cutter man. He had the reputation of being +able to do "half again as much work as any man in the slope." Although +Mr. Stanlock knew of the influence of this man on the miners almost +from the day when the strike was called, the only name by which he +heard him spoken of during almost the entire period <a name="Page_94" id="Page_94" />of the tie-up was +"Dave, the chain-cutter man."</p> + +<p>Little of special interest relative to the strike, so far as the girls +were concerned, took place on the last Saturday and Sunday before +Christmas. Mr. Stanlock reported the recent occurrences to the police +in detail, but what the police planned to do was not communicated in +the form of hint or suggestion to the members of Flamingo Fire. If Mr. +Stanlock knew, he kept the information a close secret. In harmony with +his habitual reticence on business matters, he sought to avoid further +discussion of the subject.</p> + +<p>On Saturday, however, there was added to the events of the season one +item of great importance, which would have caused Marion no little +uneasiness could she have caught more than the most superficial hint +concerning it. This hint was so superficial that it consisted merely +of a glimpse at the address and postmark on a letter that arrived at +the house with the early mail. Marion took the letters and papers from +the mail box, and as she was distributing them she observed the +Hollyhill postmark on an envelope addressed in a man's handwriting to +Helen Nash.</p> + +<p>"I wonder who it can be," the hostess mused as she laid the letter on +Helen's dresser. "I didn't know that she was on specially friendly +terms with any of the boys of Hollyhill. But then you can never know +what to expect of <a name="Page_95" id="Page_95" />her. You find out what she is going to do when she +does it."</p> + +<p>In spite of the paradox, no truer statement of Helen's nature had ever +been made. She said nothing to any of the girls about the letter she +had received and if subsequent events had not recalled the incident, +Marion probably would have forgotten it entirely.</p> + +<p>The three detectives employed by Mr. Stanlock were housed in the now +vacant sleeping quarters of the chauffeur over the garage. A buzzer +connected with the house and an agreed signal system of "1," "2," "3" +served as a means of quick information as to how many of the men were +wanted at any given time. Sunday morning another chauffeur, engaged by +Mr. Stanlock, arrived and was housed with the detectives.</p> + +<p>It was not the duty of the latter, of course, to accompany or follow +anybody leaving the house unless they were called. Hence it was quite +possible for any of the guests to start out alone and make a trip to +any part of the city without the protection of a watchful guard. The +possibility that any of the guests might desire to take such a course +did not occur to Marion or any other member of the household. It was +presumed that everybody would gladly accept such protection on every +occasion when it seemed advisable.</p> + +<p>As a matter of fact, however, the detectives had little to do on +Saturday and Sunday. Only three of the girls made shopping trips on<a name="Page_96" id="Page_96" /> +Saturday and all took an automobile ride Sunday afternoon. This was +the sum total of their activities away from the Stanlock home, with +the exception of one instance, of which there was no hint until late +in the afternoon.</p> + +<p>About six o'clock Marion suddenly became mindful of the fact that she +had not seen Helen since their return from the automobile drive three +hours earlier, and she began a search for her. She first went upstairs +to her room to see if her friend were there. Probably she was tired +and had lain down to rest and fallen asleep. But an inspection of the +room failed to discover Helen.</p> + +<p>Considerably puzzled, Marion now hunted up every other person in the +house and inquired for the missing girl. Not one of them remembered +seeing her since the return from the drive. The girl hostess was now +thoroughly alarmed and her fears were speedily communicated to the +others. Everybody joined in the search and every nook and corner +capable of concealing a human form was examined.</p> + +<p>Helen Nash was not in the house and there seemed to be no reasonable +explanation of her disappearance.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII" /><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97" />CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h2>"FIND HER, OR I'LL FIND HER MYSELF."</h2><br /> + + +<p>Mr. Stanlock came home from a meeting of mining stockholders about the +time when consternation over the disappearance of Helen was at its +height. After the particulars of the affair, so far as they were +known, had been explained to him, he asked:</p> + +<p>"Where are the detectives?"</p> + +<p>The question fell with something of a shock on the ears of the +assembled searchers who had just completed a second fruitless hunt +through the house. Why had they not thought of the trio of "mystery +masters" before?</p> + +<p>"We ought to have called them in at once," Mrs. Stanlock said. "I +suppose they've gone by this time, but I'll see."</p> + +<p>She pushed the buzzer button in the hall and soon the new chauffeur +appeared at the side entrance. Yes, the detectives had gone, but he +knew where they could be found—at the High Peak Athletic Club.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock at once called up the club and soon had one of the +detectives on the wire.</p> + +<p>"Can you men come over at once?" he inquired. "One of the girls has +disappeared and we are afraid that something serious has happened."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we'll be there right away," was the answer.</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes later there was a ring at <a name="Page_98" id="Page_98" />the door and the three +detectives, a tall thin man, a short heavy man, and a squarely built +angular man, were ushered in.</p> + +<p>The short heavy man, named Meyers, was the most talkative of the +three. He put forth a string of questions as to when and where Helen +was last seen and what she was doing. Had anybody seen her go out of +the house? Nobody had. Was there anything peculiar in her manner in +the course of the day? Nothing peculiar. What kind of a girl was she? +What were her most noticeable characteristics? Had she any pronounced +likes and dislikes? Was she in the habit of doing things just to be +contrary? Was she a girl of good judgment, or flighty and +light-headed?</p> + +<p>These questions brought out nothing of tangible advantage, and No. 1 +rested apparently well satisfied with the keenness of his record thus +far made. No. 2 now took up the inquiry. He was the squarely built +angular fellow with deep-set eyes, quiet demeanor and few words. His +first question was:</p> + +<p>"Has Miss Nash any other friends living in Hollyhill?"</p> + +<p>"No, I think not," Marion replied; "no particular friends."</p> + +<p>"None that she ever corresponds with?" persisted the man with the +deep-set eyes.</p> + +<p>Marion started visibly. Sudden recollection of the letter received by +Helen the day before came to her.</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_99" id="Page_99" />She got a letter postmarked Hollyhill yesterday," the young hostess +replied.</p> + +<p>"Who was it from?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. I didn't know that she was corresponding with anybody +in the town. But the address on the envelope looked as if it was +written by a man."</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose you could find that letter?"</p> + +<p>"I'll go upstairs and look," Marion said, suiting the action to the +word.</p> + +<p>In a few minutes she returned with a waste paper basket in her hands.</p> + +<p>"Helen was sharing my room with me," she said. "A letter has been torn +up and thrown in the basket. As I didn't do it, it must be Helen's."</p> + +<p>"This begins to look like something," the tall man said with a nod of +approval, picking up several bits of paper from the basket. "She's +torn it up in pretty small pieces, but if we all get busy we ought to +be able to put them together in a short time."</p> + +<p>"Let's go out to the dining room table," Mrs. Stanlock proposed, +leading the way as she spoke.</p> + +<p>In a few moments all were seated around the large fumed oak table from +which the spread had been removed as the hard wood surface was much +better for the task of piecing the letter together.</p> + +<p>It was, indeed, a tedious task, but with so many working together +progress was fairly rapid. Within fifteen minutes half a dozen +<a name="Page_100" id="Page_100" />sentence sections of several words each had been joined in their +phrase order. These were soon followed by three or four more and +presently one of the girls found a connecting link between two +sections thus forming a complete sentence. Imagine the thrill that +went through everyone as Mr. Stanlock read the following:</p> + +<p>"Get your friends out of Hollyhill as soon as possible."</p> + +<p>"I bet this letter was written by the same person who wrote the +skull-and-cross-bones letter to me," Marion ventured confidently.</p> + +<p>"That's the very idea that just occurred to me," Miss Ladd declared as +she fitted "no" and "difference" together and then tried to find a +connecting edge on the pieces held by her neighbor to the left.</p> + +<p>Fortunately the letter had been written on only one side of a large +sheet of paper, so that they could be pasted in correlative positions +on another sheet provided for the purpose.</p> + +<p>Finally the patchwork was completed, in so far as the material at hand +made completeness possible. A few of the bits of torn paper were +missing, so that a word was wanting here and there in the text, but +apparently the idea and purpose of the writer did not suffer from +these vacancies. The letter as read at last by Mr. Stanlock was as +follows:</p> + +<p>"Dear ...r</p> + +<p>"You have failed to do what I ... you to do. I told you that it was +... dangerous <a name="Page_101" id="Page_101" />to bring the girls here. The letter of warning to Miss +Stan ... did no good.... I want to warn you again and ... ... last time. +Get your friends out of Hollyhill as soon as possible. I won't be +responsible for what occurs. It makes no difference if you have given +up your original purpose. Some of the men are so worked up that they +are liable to do almost anything. If you can't get the rest out of +town go yourself, or you may get hurt.</p> + +<p>"D...."</p> + +<p>"Ah, ha!" exclaimed the short, heavy and loquacious detective, "That +explains the whole thing. Miss Nash has gone out of town."</p> + +<p>"She hasn't done any such thing," Marion exclaimed indignantly, +springing to her feet. "Helen isn't that kind of a girl. I know she is +peculiar, but she isn't a coward. It's evident now that she knew +something about affairs here that resulted in the sending of that +threatening letter to me, and she kept her information secret for some +reason. Whatever her reason was, she meant all right."</p> + +<p>"Did she at any time urge or suggest that it would not be well for the +girls to come here in the holidays?" Mr. Stanlock inquired.</p> + +<p>"Never a word," Marion replied, positively. "I admit that once or +twice I noticed that there was something peculiar in her manner, and +it may have had something to do with her condition back of these +developments, but that is all."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_102" id="Page_102" />How do you account for her disappearance?" asked Detective Meyer, +with puzzled humility.</p> + +<p>"I don't pretend to account for it," Marion replied, quickly. "That's +a problem for you men to solve. All I know is that Helen did not +intentionally desert us. She's gone, and she went for some reason, and +I believe that reason is connected with the letter. Now, it's up to +you men to find her, and, if you don't find her pretty quick, I'll go +and find her myself."</p> + +<p>A murmur of applause swept the room.</p> + +<p>"We'll do it," declared the tall, thin detective.</p> + +<p>"If it's within human power," conditioned the square-built, deep-eyed +man.</p> + +<p>The talkative gentleman of genius said nothing. All three of them left +the house a few minutes later.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV" /><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103" />CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h2>TRAPPED.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>There was little sleep for anyone at the Stanlock home that night. The +mystery of the patched-up letter, coupled with Helen's apparently +voluntary disappearance and the fear that she had been led into a +trap of some sort, in line with the threat contained in the +skull-and-cross-bones letter, kept everybody up until long after +midnight. Meanwhile, Mr. Stanlock called up the police station and +asked the lieutenant in charge to come over and begin work on a new +angle of the strike developments.</p> + +<p>"One of the girls has disappeared, and we are afraid that something +serious has happened," he told the officer over the telephone.</p> + +<p>The latter soon drove up to the house in an automobile and was +admitted by Mr. Stanlock. The conference lasted half an hour, but +before half this time had elapsed Lieut. Larkin had the station on the +wire and was giving instructions to the desk sergeant.</p> + +<p>To add to the difficulty of the problem, snow began to fall about 5 +o'clock, and developed almost into a blizzard in three or four hours.</p> + +<p>Next morning the two newspapers of Hollyhill carried big headlines and +column-and-a-half stories of the new strike development, suggestive of +a far-reaching plot that might result in tragedy. Mr. Stanlock had +during <a name="Page_104" id="Page_104" />the evening received all newspaper calls over a special wire +in his private room, so as not to disturb the guests with the +publicity end of the affair.</p> + +<p>In the afternoon Mrs. Stanlock announced that she, being an officer of +the woman's club with an important duty to perform, must attend a +committee meeting from 3 until 4:30 o'clock, and she asked Miss Ladd +to accompany her. The latter consented, but cautioned the girls +against leaving the house, inasmuch as the three detectives were no +longer available for guard duty, having been directed to devote their +entire time to the search for Helen.</p> + +<p>There were now at the house only the twelve remaining Camp Fire Girls +and the kitchen maid, Kitty Koepke.</p> + +<p>Marion's younger sister and brother were attending a children's +afternoon party a few blocks away. The new chauffeur had been summoned +by Mrs. Stanlock to take her and Miss Ladd to the club rooms where the +committee meeting was to be held.</p> + +<p>About 3 o'clock a newspaper photographer and a reporter arrived. The +girls allowed a group picture to be taken and the reporter was granted +an interview.</p> + +<p>Half an hour after the newspaper men departed, there came a ring at +the front door. As Mary, the head servant, was out, Marion answered +the ring and found at the entrance a woman of middle age, dressed in +plain black, who spoke to her, in quick, eager accents, thus:</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_105" id="Page_105" />Is this Miss Marion Stanlock?"</p> + +<p>"It is," the girl answered.</p> + +<p>"I am Mrs. Eddy, who moved into one of those vacant houses two blocks +from here," the woman explained. "I have some information of interest +to you."</p> + +<p>"Is it about Helen Nash?" Marion asked, so eagerly that there could be +no mistaking the subject nearest her heart.</p> + +<p>The woman nodded and smiled, and Marion seized her by the arm and +almost dragged her into the hall and thence into the reception room.</p> + +<p>"Where is she?—tell me quickly!" Two of the other girls in the +drawing-room, hearing these words and surmising their significance, +came rushing in and caught the visitor's answer, thus:</p> + +<p>"She's over at my house. She came there last night. I had no idea who +she was until I saw the articles in the newspaper—I didn't get it +until late—and then I came right over."</p> + +<p>"But," said Marion, apprehensively, "why didn't she come right home? +What was the matter—couldn't she explain who she was?"</p> + +<p>"The girl was not in her right mind," Mrs. Eddy said. "She was in a +delirium. It was about 10 o'clock at night, and evidently she had been +tramping the streets for hours in the storm."</p> + +<p>"How is she now? Oh! I must go right to her! Did she get lost in the +storm? Girls, <a name="Page_106" id="Page_106" />girls! Come here! Helen's found! Is she—is +she—ill—very ill, Mrs. Eddy?"</p> + +<p>"I don't think she is seriously ill," the woman replied, with an +expression of sweet encouragement. "I had a doctor call, and he didn't +seem to think there was any immediate danger, although she hasn't +talked rationally yet. She is in bed, and has considerable fever."</p> + +<p>"Would it be all right for me to go and see her—is it against the +doctor's orders? I'd be very careful; and, besides, I'm a nurse—in +fact, we all are nurses."</p> + +<p>"Oh, to be sure—it will be all right for you to come—all of you may +come if you wish. You can go in one at a time, quietly. Then a couple +of you may remain and help nurse her. I really need help, for I am all +alone, and sat up all night with her, and have been close to her most +of the day. Perhaps it would be well for you girls to make +arrangements for relief nursing watches. You are perfectly welcome to +keep her at my home until she is well, if you will relieve me of the +necessity of nursing her."</p> + +<p>"Come on, girls; get your wraps; we will all go over. It's only a +couple of blocks. Hurry, everybody!"</p> + +<p>"Wait, and I'll tell Kitty we're going out," Marion said.</p> + +<p>She ran through several rooms, calling "Kittie! Kittie!" but received +no response.</p> + +<p>"I wonder where she is," the hostess said, in a puzzled manner. "Well, +we haven't time to find her. Come on."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_107" id="Page_107" />I think I saw her go out more than half an hour ago," Harriet +Newcomb said. "She called someone up on the telephone, and then put +her hat and coat on and went out the side way, and I haven't seen her +since."</p> + +<p>"That's strange," Marion commented. Then the subject was forgotten. +The twelve girls and their leader were walking rapidly toward the +place where Mrs. Eddy, the good Samaritan, had taken in and cared for +the girl whom every one of them loved as they would have loved a +sister.</p> + +<p>The house they stopped in front of was rather dingy and forbidding. It +was a large brick structure, set back a hundred feet from the street +on a plot of ground nearly an acre in extent. Most of the windows were +darkened with green blinds two generations out of date.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Eddy put a key into the lock and opened the door. Then she +stepped aside and motioned the girls to enter, and they did so as if +moved by a spell that they were unable to resist. Then the woman +herself entered, closed the door and put the key into the lock and +turned it. If the twelve Camp Fire Girls had no suspicions as to the +genuineness of the motives of the woman up to this time, they had good +and sufficient reason to anticipate something dreadful when they saw +her take the key from the lock and put it in her coat pocket.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108" />And still if there were any doubts in their minds after this act, +they were effectively dispelled by the sound of a man's voice coming +through a doorway from a dimly lighted room to the right, speaking +thus:</p> + +<p>"Now, young ladies, let me warn you to be quiet. You have been led +into a trap; but you will not be hurt in any way if you obey orders. +One scream from any of you will be followed by a blow with a club that +will silence you for a long time—maybe, forever. This way, please. +Everybody be quiet and sensible, and you will be well treated."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV" /><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109" />CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h2>A PILE OF SCRAP LUMBER.</h2><br /> + + +<p>Conditions and developments seemed to work favorably for the +mysterious trappers of the Camp Fire Girls. In the first place, when +Mrs. Stanlock returned home and found the house without an occupant, +except Kittie Koepke, who was working away very quietly in the +kitchen, it was difficult for her to suspect anything wrong.</p> + +<p>"Where are the girls, Kittie?" she inquired, and the other replied, +with a suggestion of foreign accent:</p> + +<p>"Oh, they just gone out for a walk. They be back soon, I guess."</p> + +<p>"I hope they didn't go far," Mrs. Stanlock said, concernedly. "They +ought to be very careful. It will be getting dark before very long. +It's cloudy and looks like more snow. How long have they been gone?"</p> + +<p>"About half an hour," Kittie answered. "I went out to the drug store +to get something for my toothache, and when I came back they was +gone."</p> + +<p>This was the first reference that Mrs. Stanlock heard regarding +Kittie's toothache, but she accepted the statement for its face value +and waited hopefully for an early return of her daughter and her +daughter's guests. Half an hour went by and the girls did not appear. +Darkness was now visibly gathering. Mrs.<a name="Page_110" id="Page_110" /> Stanlock was becoming uneasy +and called up her husband's office, but Mr. Stanlock had already +started for home. By the time he arrived, the good woman was almost +prostrated, so rapidly were fear and apprehension taking possession of +her.</p> + +<p>The big coal operator scented danger at once. Immediately after +gathering the principal details of the day's occurrences, he got the +police station on the wire and communicated them to the officer in +charge.</p> + +<p>Drastic measures were resorted to at once. The day shift of uniformed +and ununiformed guardians of the law was summoned back to duty, and a +posse of available citizens were sworn in.</p> + +<p>About 7 o'clock a posse of citizen policemen, led by three or four +uniformed members of the regular force, began a canvass of the +neighborhood to discover information that might suggest a clew as to +the whereabouts of the missing girls. Half an hour later a woman +informed one of the canvassers that she had seen eight or ten girls +enter the yard of the old Buckholz place between 3 and 4 o'clock, but +had not noticed whether they went into the house or not. The man to +whom this statement was made blew a whistle as an agreed signal to the +other searchers that he had important information and soon a score of +them were running toward him from all directions.</p> + +<p>A comparison of notes disclosed the fact that another member of the +party of can<a name="Page_111" id="Page_111" />vassers had received a similar statement from another +resident in the neighborhood. It was decided, therefore, to delay no +further but to proceed at once to the house in question, while one of +the men hastened to Mr. Stanlock with news of developments in order +that he might be present and direct the next move.</p> + +<p>The latter was waiting at home, ready to answer a telephone or +personal call from any of the central points of investigation. The +nervous strain of the apparent certainty, by this time, that the +disappearance of Marion and her guests portended serious developments +had compelled Mrs. Stanlock to take to her bed and summon a physician +and a nurse. The call from the searchers in the neighborhood took Mr. +Stanlock from her bedside, and so speedily did he respond to it that +he was at the entrance of the Buckholz house almost as soon as the +party of citizens and uniformed policemen.</p> + +<p>"Don't hesitate, men," he urged. "I know the owner of this house very +well and will take all responsibility for damages on my own shoulders. +If the door won't give, break it down."</p> + +<p>"Maybe there is somebody at home," Lieutenant Larkin suggested. "Let's +ring the bell first"</p> + +<p>"Well, come on," said Mr. Stanlock. "We'll soon find out if there's +anyone in the house."</p> + +<p>He led the way up the weather-beaten but fairly well preserved steps +and pulled the knob <a name="Page_112" id="Page_112" />of the old fashioned doorbell. Then they waited +expectantly, straining their ears to catch the sound of the approach +of someone within. But no such sound reached them.</p> + +<p>It appearing evident now that the house was temporarily without an +inmate, the searchers for the thirteen mysteriously vanished girls +decided to force their way in. Under ordinary conditions, this act +would have been recognized as burglary, but the present circumstances +were so extraordinary that legal consequences had no terrors for any +of those present. Accordingly an examination was made of the two first +story windows, two of which were found unlocked. With the aid of a box +discovered under the rear porch, several of the men climbed in one by +one and found themselves in a large unfurnished room, architecturally +intended, perhaps, as a dining room. Each of the three uniformed +policemen carried an electric flashlight and with the aid of these an +examination of the house was begun.</p> + +<p>But not a trace of the missing girls could be found.</p> + +<p>"What next?" one of the men asked.</p> + +<p>"The basement," suggested Lieut. Larkin.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock opened the door at the head of the stairway and flashed +his light down the steps.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute," he said, barring the entrance. "Let's examine the +ground as we go. These steps have dust on them, and there are <a name="Page_113" id="Page_113" />shoe +prints in the dust, and, yes, sir, as sure as you are alive, they are +the prints of women's shoes, and there are a lot of 'em, unless I'm +mistaken. Be careful now, men. Follow me single file and come down +along the left side of the stairway as close the wall as possible so +as not to spoil those footprints in the dust."</p> + +<p>"Look out," said Mr. Stanlock. "There may be some desperate characters +down there with guns. Better let me go first—I have most at stake."</p> + +<p>"Not much!" replied the lieutenant. "We'll never win the European war +without charging the trenches. All I ask is that you get the fellow +that gets me. So here goes."</p> + +<p>Cautiously he descended the stairs, followed by the five men who had +entered the house with him. But their anticipations were groundless. +Not a sign of human life did they find in the large, square, deep +basement, or cellar, more properly.</p> + +<p>Some of the men looked puzzled, Mr. Stanlock was evidently laboring +under increasing distress, but Lieut Larkin's curiosity seemed to +grow.</p> + +<p>"Some queer stories have been told about this place," he said; "and +I'm wondering if now is not the time to put them to a test. They are +pretty wild stories, almost as wild as haunted house yarns, but there +may be thing to them."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_114" id="Page_114" />I've heard something about them myself," said Mr. Stanlock. "You +refer to the stories about the building of this house over an old +mine, I suppose? This cellar was said to have been the mouth of the +shaft of the mine enlarged."</p> + +<p>"That's it," the lieutenant replied. "Now, let's look about and see if +there is anything to it."</p> + +<p>He began to flash his light over the floor, walls, and contents of the +cellar. The latter consisted principally of barrels, boxes and a +nondescript pile of scrap lumber. Most of this was heaped against the +south wall.</p> + +<p>Presently something in the pile of lumber held the attention of the +lieutenant, who began to examine it more closely.</p> + +<p>"Look here," he said, addressing Mr. Stanlock. "Do you see any +difference between this pile of lumber and that dry goods box over +there?"</p> + +<p>"I was just noticing that there was a heavy covering of dust on the +box and little or none on the top pieces of lumber," the mine owner +answered.</p> + +<p>"That's just it," continued Lieut. Larkin, "and it can mean only one +thing, that this pile of lumber has been moved recently. Now, the +question, in view of the fact that the missing girls were seen +entering this place today and in view of the shoe prints on the cellar +stairway and the fact that they are not in the basement now is, Why?"</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_115" id="Page_115" />The best way to find out is to move it again," suggested Sergeant +Higgins.</p> + +<p>"Exactly," agreed his superior officer. "Now, Johnson, you go upstairs +and inform the other men what we are doing. We don't want them down +here, for there's nothing they can do. Moreover, we don't want any +more traveling up and down those steps than is absolutely necessary. +Be careful, Johnson, on your way up."</p> + +<p>"Excuse me, lieutenant," interposed Mr. Stanlock in a weak voice that +bespoke the distress under which he was laboring. "I think I won't +remain down here just now. I'll go up and carry that message to the +men, if you wish. Let me know as soon as you can what you find."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI" /><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116" />CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h2>HELEN AND THE STRIKE LEADER'S WIFE.</h2><br /> + + +<p>But what had become of Helen Nash?</p> + +<p>It was a very determined little woman who stole out of the Stanlock +residence, with the contents of the last threatening letter fresh in +her memory, after the return of the members of Flamingo Camp Fire from +their Sunday afternoon drive. She walked briskly four blocks east and +boarded a street car.</p> + +<p>A twenty-minutes' ride took her into the heart of the mining tenement +district. Reference to an address memorandum on a slip of paper that +she carried in her handbag and a question to the conductor determined +where she should get off.</p> + +<p>Heaver street, the conductor told her, was three blocks east. With no +evidence of a slackening of resolution, she proceeded as directed and +was soon searching a long row of cottages, built along almost +identical lines, for number 632.</p> + +<p>Reaching this number, she ascended a flight of seven or eight steps +and gave a quick turn to the old-fashioned fifteen-or-twenty-cent +trip-action door bell. A pale-faced, care-worn woman of about 30 +years, who might have been mistaken for 40, answered the ring. At +sight of the caller she exclaimed in a voice that echoed years of toil +and suffering:</p> + +<p>"Helen!"</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_117" id="Page_117" />Nell," was the greeting returned by the caller.</p> + +<p>The woman stepped aside, and Helen stepped into a hall, whose sole +furnishing consisted of a rag rug on the floor and a cheap hall-tree +with a cracked mirror. Evidently it was the chief wardrobe of the +house, for upon the twenty or more nails driven into the walls in +fairly regular order were articles of both men's and women's wear, +most of them bearing evidence of contact with hard labor. From the +hall, Helen was conducted into the "front room," the only name it was +ever known by, which communicated with the dining room through a cased +opening without portieres. These two rooms were about as barely +furnished as possible under a minimum of necessary articles and +quality. A threadbare ingrain carpet covered the floor of the front +room. A few rag rugs hid probably some of the worst gaps in the +matching of the yellow-pine floor of the dining room.</p> + +<p>As for human life in this house of pinch and poverty, it was hardly +vigorous enough to attract attention ahead of the furnishings. +Clinging to the faded skirts of their mother were three hungry-eyed +anaemic children, a girl and two boys.</p> + +<p>"How are you, Nell?" inquired Helen, giving the woman a kiss that +seemed almost to frighten her. "It's been two years since I've seen +you."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_118" id="Page_118" />I'm not very well, Helen," the other replied, wearily. "I've about +given up all hope of ever seeing any better days. But what brings you +here? I didn't expect ever to see you again."</p> + +<p>"Now, Nell, don't talk that way," Helen protested. "You know—or maybe +you don't know it—that I would do anything in the world to help you +out of this unhappy condition, but Dave's way of looking at things +makes it impossible. If you had any vitality I would urge you to leave +him and earn your own living."</p> + +<p>"But I haven't any left, Helen," said the discouraged woman; "and I +don't believe I'll ever recover any. I've rested hope after hope on +Dave's assurances of his ability to make a success in life. Really he +is a queer genius, and I don't use the word genius entirely with +disrespect. In some ways he's clever, very clever, but in other ways +he is the most impossible man you ever knew. I believe he is +thoroughly honest, but he has no idea of the value of money or what it +means to his family. I believe he is by far the strongest leader among +the men, but it does neither him nor his family any good. Many a labor +leader would make such power and position a source of revenue for +himself, but not Dave. Instead, half of his earnings, when he works, +are devoted to the labor cause."</p> + +<p>"How does he get such a hold on the miners?" Helen inquired.</p> + +<p>"By talk, just talk, and really, I must admit <a name="Page_119" id="Page_119" />he is the cleverest +speaker I ever heard. I've seen an audience of a thousand working men +and women stand on their tiptoes and cheer him as if they would burst +their lungs. I was proud of him on such occasions, but when we got +home to our stale bread and soup I could not help wondering if it was +not all a dream and I had not just waked up to the reality of things."</p> + +<p>"When will he be home?"</p> + +<p>"I wish I could tell you," the woman said, helplessly. "He may be here +in five minutes and he may not come before 12 or 1 o'clock tonight."</p> + +<p>"Right here is where the holiday charity work of the Flamingo Camp +Fire begins," she told herself. Then aloud she added:</p> + +<p>"I haven't had much to eat since morning, couldn't eat much this noon +in my condition of mind, and I'm hungry; what have you in the house +for a Sunday evening lunch, Nell?"</p> + +<p>"Not much, Helen," was the reply. "Only a half a loaf of rye bread and +some corn molasses. The children used to be very fond of that, but +they've had it so often since the strike began, that they're almost +sick of it."</p> + +<p>"Is there any store open near here where I can go and buy something?"</p> + +<p>"There's a bakery and delicatessen over on the street where the car +line runs. It's probably open now."</p> + +<p>"Will I find a drug store over there, too? I want to use the +telephone."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_120" id="Page_120" />Yes, you'll find a drug store on that street, a block north."</p> + +<p>"I'll go at once and you set the table while I'm gone. We'll have a +feast that will delight the hearts and stomachs of these little ones."</p> + +<p>"God bless you, Helen," were the last words that fell on her ears as +she went out.</p> + +<p>"I must call up Marion and tell her where I am," she mused as she +hastened toward the drug store. "I would have told her where I was +going before I left, but I was afraid she wouldn't let me go. Besides, +I don't feel like telling her everything yet."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later she was in the drug store applying for permission +to use the telephone.</p> + +<p>"The phone is out of order," the druggist replied.</p> + +<p>"Oh," Helen exclaimed in disappointment. "Where is there another in +the neighborhood?"</p> + +<p>"There is none within half a mile that I know of, except in the +saloons," was the reply.</p> + +<p>"I can't go there," the girl said desperately. "And I must have a +telephone soon. Won't yours be fixed before long?"</p> + +<p>"I hope so," said the druggist. "I've sent in a call for a repair man. +Can't you come back in an hour or two?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I think so," Helen said, turning to go. "I do hope it is +repaired then, because it's very important."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII" /><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121" />CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h2>HELEN DECLARES HERSELF.</h2><br /> + + +<p>Twenty minutes later Helen returned to her brother's home, her arms +loaded with cured meats, bread, a pie, some frosted cup-cakes, a glass +of jam, and a bottle of stuffed olives.</p> + +<p>"There," she said, as she deposited her bounteous burden on the table. +"I couldn't get any tea or sugar or butter, but even without those we +can have quite a feast in a very short jiffy."</p> + +<p>"I have some tea and some light brown sugar, which the children like +on their bread for a change after they've got tired of corn syrup," +Mrs. Nash said.</p> + +<p>"Good!" exclaimed Helen with genuine enthusiasm. "That's fine! Butter +and white sugar are unnecessary luxuries sometimes. Now we'll get busy +and will soon be feasting like a royal family."</p> + +<p>And there was no mistake in her prediction. True, it was an extremely +democratic royalty—proletariat, to be more exact—but no child prince +or princess ever enjoyed the richest viands in a king's dining room +more than little Margaret, Ernest and Joseph Nash enjoyed the feast +spread before them by the girl auntie they had not seen for two years.</p> + +<p>The conversation between Helen and Mrs. Nash, interrupted by the +former's errand to the delicatessen and drug stores, was taken up +again at the table of the royal feast. The <a name="Page_122" id="Page_122" />way the children laughed +and "um-um-ed" over the "goodies" did Helen's heart good and rendered +even cheerful her discussion of a distressing subject.</p> + +<p>"What in the world ever brought you here, Helen?" was the question put +by Mrs. Nash, after full confidence in the sincerity of Helen's +mission, whatever it was, had supplied her with courage to converse +with her sister-in-law with perfect frankness. "You didn't come to +Hollyhill just to visit us, did you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I didn't," Helen answered slowly, "and that fact need not hurt +your feelings any, Nell. You'll understand what I mean when I've +finished my story. I am attending a girl's school at Westmoreland. We +are all Camp Fire Girls, and thirteen of us and a guardian came to +Hollyhill on a mission in harmony with Camp Fire teachings, that is, +to work among the poor and suffering families of the strikers during +the holidays."</p> + +<p>"What?" exclaimed Mrs. Nash. "Do you mean to tell me that you are one +of the girls visiting at the home of Old Stanlock, the mine owner?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am," Helen replied, looking curiously at the startled woman.</p> + +<p>"Then you mustn't stay here any longer. You must hurry right back. You +are in great danger, I tell you, very great danger. The fact of your +being my husband's sister won't do you any good. There are some bad +men around here, and they're as smart as they are <a name="Page_123" id="Page_123" />bad. Sometimes I +wonder if they are really miners, or if they are not an accomplished +bunch of professional crooks."</p> + +<p>"What makes you think that?" Helen inquired.</p> + +<p>"Well, for one reason, I've been told it. But before anybody uttered +such a suspicion in my hearing, I suspected something wrong. You see, +while Dave seems to be the leader in the strike, he is in fact only a +puppet in the hands of a band of the worst kind of crooks, who are +using him to keep the miners in line."</p> + +<p>"Who are they?" asked Helen.</p> + +<p>"I don't know them all. I know of only half a dozen. They have been +here at the house a number of times. The man who seems to dominate +them all is a man known as 'Gunpowder' Gerry, a powerful, cunning, +sly-eyed fellow about 45 years old. He is the business agent of the +union and runs everything, although few persons know it. In some +mysterious way he has got a very strong hold on Dave and can make him +do anything he wants him to."</p> + +<p>"Why do you think I am in danger here?" was Helen's next question.</p> + +<p>"Because I've heard some talk here about what would happen if you +girls attempted to carry out your plans. They had a spy, a chauffeur, +in Mr. Stanlock's home, and he found out all about it. Gerry used this +to work up bad blood among the strikers, using Dave as his tool as +usual. The threat reached <a name="Page_124" id="Page_124" />my ears that if you girls came down here in +Mining Town, you would never get out alive. They think it is just a +move to put something over."</p> + +<p>"Did you know that Dave came to Westmoreland a few weeks ago and +called at the institute to see me?" Helen asked.</p> + +<p>"No, did he? What for? I thought he didn't have any use for you. +Excuse me for putting it that way, but it's the way he talks."</p> + +<p>"I suppose so. That's because we objected so much to his way of doing. +But I found out on that occasion that there really was a tender place +in his heart for us. He wanted me to do something to call off our +vacation plans, as he was afraid something would happen."</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you?"</p> + +<p>"Because I didn't take him very seriously. But when on the day before +we started for Hollyhill I happened into the postoffice at +Westmoreland and caught him in the act of mailing a letter to Marion +Stanlock, I became somewhat alarmed. I forced the truth from him after +the letter was mailed. He said he was sending her a threatening letter +in the hope that it would break up our plans. I asked him why he came +to Westmoreland to mail it. He replied that he was afraid it would be +traced to him if he mailed it in Hollyhill. Then he urged me, almost +commanded me, to prevent our plans from being carried out. He declared +that every one of us would probably be killed if we came. I promised +to <a name="Page_125" id="Page_125" />do my best. I watched Marion, hoping to see her read the +threatening letter. I saw it after it was laid on her desk in her +room. I saw her glance at it and put it into her handbag before she +went to bed. Next morning I waked her early and laid the handbag right +before her eyes, hoping she would take the letter out and read it. I +did not dare to do anything more, but resolved to watch the events +closely. Marion read the letter on the train. It was signed with a +skull and cross-bones. We decided to give up our original plans, but +came on to Hollyhill."</p> + +<p>"What did you hope to accomplish by coming to see Dave?" Mrs. Nash +inquired.</p> + +<p>"I am going to put the matter right square up to him and demand that +he lay bare the whole plot that he has been hinting at. If he doesn't, +I'm going to tell him that I am going to lay the whole matter before +the police."</p> + +<p>"You'll probably have to do it. I don't believe he'll ever betray the +men who control his gifts and his weaknesses as they would handle a +child."</p> + +<p>"He really is a child in some respects, isn't he?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely. In fact, I believe he is half sane and half insane, and +he is just smooth enough to conceal his insanity from the miners."</p> + +<p>"Have you any objection, Nell, to my going after him good and strong?" +Helen asked.</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_126" id="Page_126" />Not in the least. I wish you would, only I'm afraid the results +won't be of much advantage to any of us. And I wish you wouldn't stay +here late, for I am afraid to have you start back alone after dark."</p> + +<p>"I'll make him take me back," Helen said resolutely. "And I want to +reassure you in one respect, if you are afraid of consequences to +yourself and the children."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't let that bother you," Mrs. Nash interrupted. "You couldn't +make conditions much worse than they are now, and you may accidentally +make them better."</p> + +<p>"But I have something to say that you ought to know," Helen continued. +"When father died, it was generally supposed that he left nothing for +his family. For years he drew a good salary as a mining +superintendent. Well, he didn't leave much, except about $5,000 +insurance, but mother had been saving for years secretly, not even +letting him know how much she had. He supposed we were living up his +salary of $10,000 a year as we went along, for it wasn't in him to +save a cent. Mother took a good deal of delight in her secret. For a +while she had done her best to induce him to save something, and then, +realizing that her plea was futile, she got busy herself in a +systematic manner and in the course of seven or eight years she laid +aside something like $25,000.</p> + +<p>"But shortly before father's death something happened that caused her +to guard her <a name="Page_127" id="Page_127" />secret up to the present time. A large amount of money +was stolen from the company that employed father, and mother realized +at once that if it were discovered that she had so much money, +suspicion might be directed toward him. In fact, she took me into her +confidence only about a year ago.</p> + +<p>"Now, mother has often said that she would like to do something for +you and the children, but Dave's peculiarities always stood in the +way. I just wanted to tell you that mother is able and willing to help +you and will not let you or her grandchildren suffer as a result of +what I may be forced to do."</p> + +<p>The conversation went along in this manner for more than an hour. +Neither of the sisters-in-law realized how rapidly the time was flying +until dusk fell so heavily that it became necessary to light the gas +in order to see each other's faces.</p> + +<p>"My, what time is it?" Helen questioned, looking at her watch. "Why, +it's nearly seven o'clock, and I haven't telephoned to Marion yet. +They'll have the whole police force out looking for me if I don't get +her on the wire pretty soon. I'll run over and see if that phone is +repaired yet. If it isn't I'll have to take a car and ride on to the +next drug store; but I'll be back before very long."</p> + +<p>"I wish you wouldn't come back tonight, Helen," Mrs. Nash pleaded. +"I'm so afraid of those men. Why not go straight to Stanlocks'<a name="Page_128" id="Page_128" /> and +send word to Dave that you wish to meet him somewhere tomorrow?"</p> + +<p>"I'd rather handle it this way," the girl answered a little +stubbornly. "I tell you what I'll do—I'll have them send the +chauffeur with the automobile over here after me. That'll be the best +way."</p> + +<p>With this reassuring announcement, Helen put on her coat and hat and +went out. But she would not have proceeded so confidently if she could +have caught a glimpse of the figure of a man dashing far up the alley +in the rear and have realized that this man had crouched in an +eavesdropping attitude for an hour or more at the kitchen door and +overheard most of the conversation between her and her sister-in-law.</p> + +<p>One, two blocks he ran, then through a gateway and into a house +similar to nearly every other house in the street. Two men, a woman, +and a child 10 years old looked expectantly toward him as he entered.</p> + +<p>"All ready!" cried the latter. "She's coming down the street on this +side. Hurry up, Lizzie. Get your coat and hood on. Remember what you +are to say: father gone, mother sick. If she won't come in with a +little begging, make a big fuss, cry and plead for all you're worth. +There you are, all ready. Remember, you get a new coat if you bring +her in here."</p> + +<p>The speaker opened the door and almost shoved the pale-faced, +trembling child out upon her strange mission.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII" /><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129" />CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h2>HELEN IN THE MOUNTAINS.</h2><br /> + + +<p>It was snowing. The flakes that fell were not large fluffy ones; they +were small and compact, so that as the northwest wind drove them into +Helen's face, she realized that she was being pelted with something +more substantial than eiderdown.</p> + +<p>The severity of the storm startled the girl. It spurred her to a +fuller consciousness of her obligation to her friends, that she remove +from their minds all occasion for worry as to her whereabouts as soon +as possible.</p> + +<p>Putting her muff up to shield her face from the cutting blast, Helen +set out bravely up the street. She was not a timid or timorous girl. +In fact, the words of warning uttered by her sister-in-law had made no +lasting impression on her mind, so far as her own personal safety was +concerned. She scarcely thought of looking out for danger from any +human agency as she left the house.</p> + +<p>As the storm was beating into her face, she did not attempt to look +ahead much farther than each step as it was taken. It was necessary +for her to lean forward slightly and push her head, as it were, right +into the storm, and before she had reached the nearest corner it +became evident that she must undergo no little inconvenience, if not +actual suffering, before her evening's mission were completed.</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_130" id="Page_130" />Well, maybe this exercise will give me just the life I need to talk +real business to Dave when he comes," she mused, punctuating her +conjecture with a gasp or two as she fought against a gust of wind +that forced her almost to a standstill. Winning this skirmish with the +storm, she pressed forward again, when suddenly another gasp was +forced from her by an entirely different cause. She almost stumbled +over an object directly in her way, and as she recovered her +equilibrium she recognized before her the form of a small girl +scantily clad in a short-sleeved coat much too small for her and a +hood that came down scarcely far enough to cover her ears. Her hands +were bare and she held them up pitifully before the comfortably—to +her richly—clad maiden so out of her element in this poverty-stricken +district.</p> + +<p>"Please, Miss," the girl pleaded; "won't you come and help me? Ma's +sick—she fainted—and pa's gone away. I'm all alone with her. Ma's +down on the floor an' don't move—I'm afraid she's dead. Oh, please do +come, Miss, just a minute, and—"</p> + +<p>"Where do you live?" Helen interrupted, indicating by her tone of +sympathy that she would do as requested.</p> + +<p>"Right there," the little girl replied, pointing with her hand toward +one of the houses a short distance ahead. "Come on, please. Just a +minute—help me get ma on the bed. I'll find one of the neighbors to +help after that."</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_131" id="Page_131" />All right, go ahead," Helen directed.</p> + +<p>"It seems that I am fated to do at least a little of the work that we +set out to do, but were prevented from doing by some unfriendly +interests. It's a pity some of these people are so prejudiced, for we +could really do a lot for them."</p> + +<p>Helen's small conductress led the way to the entrance of a miner's +cottage that, to all outward appearance from the front, was dark +within.</p> + +<p>"Haven't you any light?" she asked a little apprehensively, drawing +back as if hesitating to enter.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes," the other replied almost eagerly, it seemed. "There's a +lamp burning in the kitchen, and I'll light the gas in the front room. +Come on, please."</p> + +<p>"Where is your mother?"</p> + +<p>"She's layin' down on the floor in the kitchen. Come on, I've got a +match. I'll light the gas in the front room."</p> + +<p>If Helen had obeyed a strong impulse that was tugging within her to +hold her back, she would have refused to enter. Perhaps the reason she +did not obey that impulse was the fact that a desperate effort to +think of another reasonable method of procedure was fruitless and she +must either go ahead as she had started or turn away in confusion and +leave the little girl in her distress and without an explanation. The +latter opened the door and Helen followed her inside.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132" />It was difficult for the visiting Camp Fire girl to figure out any +reason why she should be fearful of anything this slip of a child +might do, and yet the first act of the latter after they were inside +sent through her a chill of terror. Slipping around her like an eel, +the little emissary of trouble pushed the door to and turned the key +in the lock. Helen was certain also that she heard the key withdrawn +from the lock.</p> + +<p>Still her conductress, clever little confidence girl that she was, +spoke words of reassurance that dispelled some of her victim's fears.</p> + +<p>"Wait," she said; "I dropped my match. I'll have to go in the kitchen +for another."</p> + +<p>Helen's eyes followed the dim form of the child, as the latter moved +across the room, and observed for the first time a line of light under +what appeared to be a door between the front room and the kitchen. A +moment later the door swung open, and she was considerably relieved +when she saw lying on the floor the apparently limp and unconscious +form of a woman.</p> + +<p>Instantly the rescuer's Camp Fire training in the reviving of a person +from a faint stimulated in her a sort of professional interest in the +task before her, and she started forward to begin work at once. First +she must loosen her patient's clothing to make it as easy as possible +for her to breathe. Then she must get her in a supine position with +her head slightly lower than any other part of her <a name="Page_133" id="Page_133" />body in order that +the brain might get a plentiful supply of blood. The air in the house +was heavy and stuffy—the front and rear doors must be thrown open. +She must dash cold water upon the face and chest of the patient and +rub her limbs toward her body. She ought to have some smelling salts +or ammonia, but as these were lacking she must get along without them, +unless the daughter of the unconscious woman were able to supply +something of the sort.</p> + +<p>These things flashed through Helen's well-trained mind as she moved +rapidly toward the kitchen. All apprehension of treachery left her as +she beheld the evidence corroborating the story of distress that had +brought her into the house. Then suddenly the whole apparent situation +was transformed into one of the most terrifying character.</p> + +<p>A slight noise to her right caused her to turn. Then a piercing scream +escaped her lips as she saw a door open and beheld the dim outlines of +two burly men approaching her. At the sound of her cry of alarm, they +dashed forward like two wild beasts.</p> + +<p>The first one seized her around the neck to shut off further alarm. As +those muscular fingers closed in upon her throat, it seemed suddenly +as if her head were about to burst. Then as the thumping in her ears +almost completed the deadening of her auditory nerves, she +indistinctly heard these words uttered in a hoarse voice:</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_134" id="Page_134" />Look out, Bill; don't kill her."</p> + +<p>As if surprised back into his senses, "Bill" loosened his hold on +Helen's throat. She did not struggle or attempt to cry out again. +Evidently the purpose of the ruffians did not contemplate murder, and +she realized that there was no wisdom in anything but submission on +her part now.</p> + +<p>But she was not given time to recover completely before the next move +of her captors was made. While one of them held her in a vise-like +grip, the other shoved a gag into her mouth and tied the attached +strings tightly around the base of her head. Then he bound her hands +together in front of her with a strip of cloth.</p> + +<p>"There," said the man whom the other had addressed as Bill, "you set +down in that chair and keep still and you won't get hurt. But the +instant you go to makin' any racket you're liable to breathe your +last. All right, Jake, go and get the machine."</p> + +<p>"Jake!" The exclamation, though not uttered, was real enough in her +mind. Even with the deafening pulse of choking confusion in her head, +it had seemed that there was something familiar in the man's voice +when he warned "Bill" not to kill her. Was it possible that this was +Mr. Stanlock's former automobile driver?</p> + +<p>Jake went out the back way, closing the door between the front room +and the kitchen as he went. Helen was now left alone in dark<a name="Page_135" id="Page_135" />ness with +Bill, who, she thankfully observed, seemed disposed to pay no +attention to her so long as she remained quietly in the old +loose-jointed rockingchair in which she was seated.</p> + +<p>Ten minutes later an automobile drove up in front of the house and +Jake reappeared.</p> + +<p>"It's almost stopped snowing, luckily," he remarked, "or we'd have our +troubles makin' this trip tonight. A little more snow and a little +more drifting and we'd be in a pretty pickle."</p> + +<p>Helen was certain she recognized Jake's voice now. How she wished she +could get a glimpse of his face in even the poorest candle light.</p> + +<p>Bill now threw a large shawl over her head and brought it around so +that it concealed both the gag over her mouth and the rag manacle on +her wrists. Then he pinned it carefully so that it might not slip +awry, and ordered her to go with him quietly out to the automobile. +Jake had just made an inspection up and down the street and reported +the coast clear.</p> + +<p>"Now, mind you, young lady," Bill warned significantly; "not a word or +a wiggle out o' the ordinary or you'll get your final choke, and you +know what that means."</p> + +<p>Yes, Helen knew, and she had no intention of futilely provoking a +repetition of such punishment. She accompanied her captors +submissively and was assisted into the machine. Then something +happened which might almost <a name="Page_136" id="Page_136" />be said to have delighted her if it were +not for the strain of benumbing fear that was gripping her.</p> + +<p>Jake went around in front of the machine to crank it. For one moment +the strong acetylene light from one of the lamps fell full upon his +face. Helen recognized it. Her surmise as to his identity was not a +mistake.</p> + +<p>A minute later the automobile was traveling at a high rate of speed +over the streets. Ten minutes later it passed the city limits and was +kicking the three inches of snow up along a country highway. On, on it +sped, one mile, two miles, on, on, until the probable distance Helen +was unable to conjecture, on, on, over smooth roads and rough roads, +up hill and down hill, into the mountains. Then suddenly "Bill," who +sat in the seat beside her, pulled a light-weight muffler from his +pocket and tied it over Helen's eyes, saying coarsely:</p> + +<p>"Not that I'm afraid you'll do any mischief with those pretty eyes of +yours, but we may as well guard against accidents. You couldn't trace +this route again, anyway, could you?"</p> + +<p>Helen did not attempt to answer with either a shake or a nod of her +head. She was disappointed at the act of her captor in blindfolding +her, for she had been watching their course as closely as possible in +order to photograph it upon her mind for future reference.</p> + +<p>Jake was a good driver—that much must be said for him; and yet, after +they struck the <a name="Page_137" id="Page_137" />mountain road the progress was much slower. From the +time when her eyes were bandaged, Helen's only means of determining +the character of the road over which they were traveling was the speed +or slowness of the automobile. Nor could she compute satisfactorily +the time that passed during the rest of the trip.</p> + +<p>But it ended at last. The machine stopped, Helen knew not where, and +she was assisted out by the two men, who led her, still blindfolded, +along a fairly smooth trail, up the side of a mountain or steep hill, +then along a fairly level stretch, until at last the prisoner knew +that she was passing under a canopy or roof of some sort, for there +was no snow under foot. Moreover their footfalls produced a sound, +somewhat of the nature of a soft resonant reverberation of a million +tiny echoes.</p> + +<p>But presently they were out in the open again, as evidenced by the +snow and the brisker atmosphere, and Helen shrewdly observed to +herself:</p> + +<p>"That was a tunnel, I bet anything."</p> + +<p>Two hundred feet farther up another gentle incline they reached a +place of habitation and entered. Helen had no idea as to the +appearance of the exterior, but when the bandage was removed from her +eyes, and she was able to look about her, she made a clever surmise, +not very far from the truth, that she was in a log cabin.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138" />Every inch of the walls and ceiling, except the windows and doors, +was plastered. The doors and windows were fitted in the crudest kind +of casing. A few unframed, colored pictures were pasted on the walls. +The furniture of the room consisted of a few chairs, a table and an +old trunk. A kerosene lamp on the table lighted the room.</p> + +<p>"Here's one of them, Mag," said Bill, addressing a large, coarse +featured, but remarkably shrewd-eyed woman who opened the door and +received them. "Can you keep her safe?"</p> + +<p>"You bet your bottom dollar I can keep her safe as long as there is +any dough in it for me," was the reply in almost a man's voice.</p> + +<p>"Well, get into good practice on this one a-keepin' prisoners," the +first speaker advised. "We're goin' to have a dozen more here before +long, and then you will have some job."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX" /><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139" />CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h2>THE SUBTERRANEAN AVENUE.</h2> +<br /> + +<p>For more than half an hour Mr. Stanlock waited upstairs nervously, +eagerly, expectantly, apprehensively, for a report from Lieut. Larkin +and the four men who remained in the cellar of the Buchholz house to +move the pile of scrap lumber, under which it was suspected might be +found a clew as to the whereabouts of the missing twelve girls. +Interest in the search within the building had suspended other +activities in the neighborhood, as it was felt that further progress +must depend upon results at this point.</p> + +<p>So the score or more of uniformed and citizen policemen waited as +patiently as they could in or around the house of mystery, becoming +more and more impatient as the minutes grew into the twenties and then +the thirties, and still nobody came upstairs to announce indications +of success or failure. The noise of the striking pieces of lumber +against one another had not been heard for more than twenty minutes. +In fact, no sound of any kind came up the cellarway following the +first quarter of an hour of rapid labor on the part of the five active +searchers below.</p> + +<p>At last one of the men, more nervously eager for information than the +rest, shouted down the cellarway to the lieutenant, inquir<a name="Page_140" id="Page_140" />ing how he +and his helpers were getting on. There was no answer.</p> + +<p>He shouted again. Still no reply. Then he announced his intention to +descend into the cellar to investigate.</p> + +<p>"Wait," said Mr. Stanlock. "There are some tracks in the dust on the +steps, and Lieut. Larkin doesn't want them disturbed. Let me go."</p> + +<p>Although his apprehensions had not diminished, the mine owner's nerve +was considerably strengthened by this time, perhaps as a result of his +return from a stuffy basement atmosphere into a region of better +ventilation. As he started down the steps with the flashlight of one +of the policemen in his hand, he was surprised to feel a strong +current of wind blowing upward into his face.</p> + +<p>"They must have opened one of the windows," he surmised; but he +quickly dismissed the suggestion after flashing his light around the +cellar. The pile of lumber had been moved to the opposite side and in +the section of the floor it had formerly occupied was a hole three +feet in diameter.</p> + +<p>"That's where the wind comes from," Mr. Stanlock decided. "It's the +mouth of the old mine we used to hear about years ago. But where's the +other opening? Funny nobody knows about that. This end has been +covered up with that old heavy door and concealed with a layer of +earth. When our men moved the pile of lumber, they observed that the +<a name="Page_141" id="Page_141" />earth had been disturbed recently and shoveled it away and found this +hole."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock directed the rays of light into the hole and discovered a +flight of steps cut in the hard clay.</p> + +<p>"The lieutenant and his men are down in there," he concluded. "I think +I'll follow them."</p> + +<p>He descended cautiously into the hole. Half a dozen irregularly formed +steps brought him to a slope leading downward on an inclined plane of +six or seven degrees. He was astonished at the degree of preservation +of the walls, ceiling, and supports, considering the years that had +elapsed since the mine was last worked. The passage continued as a +downward slope for about fifty yards and then became almost level for +a like distance. Only in two places had the walls or ceiling fallen in +to any considerable extent, and in neither of those places was the +obstruction so great as to constitute an impassable barrier.</p> + +<p>As he proceeded, Mr. Stanlock peered ahead anxiously, in the hope that +he would discover the lights of Lieutenant Larkin and his companions. +But he walked nearly 100 yards through an irregular and +characteristically jagged passage before he caught sight of anything +indicating that there was anybody besides himself in the abandoned +mine. Then suddenly, rounding a sharp point he came upon the advance +party of searchers approaching him.</p> + +<p>"<a name="Page_142" id="Page_142" />What did you find?" the mine owner inquired before any surprise +greetings could be exchanged. "There's another outlet to this place +somewhere, isn't there?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, there is," was the reply of the officer in charge. "This gallery +runs on for another hundred yards, piercing Holly Hill right through +the center. You know the bluff and the rocky slope behind the old +mill. Well, it seems that this mine was cut right through at that +point, but there was a cave-in that filled up that opening. These +rascals that kidnapped the girls evidently were associated with the +people that rented the Buchholz place and cut the passage through. The +girls have been here all right, but they're gone. They've been taken +out of this end of the mine and spirited away in some manner. This +means that the scoundrels have a larger and more effective +organization than we have ever suspected. Such a case of wholesale +kidnapping was never heard of before."</p> + +<p>"How can you tell they passed through here?" Mr. Stanlock asked.</p> + +<p>"By this principally," the lieutenant answered, holding up a woman's +handkerchief that he had picked up; "and by the fact that there is a +trail in the snow from the opening of the mine to the alley behind the +old mill."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stanlock's face shone deathly pale in the glare of the flash +lights. The new element of suspense had brought him again to the +danger-point of a collapse that had com<a name="Page_143" id="Page_143" />pelled him to withdraw from +the active search nearly an hour before.</p> + +<p>His voice reflected the distressing strain under which he was laboring +as he put his next question:</p> + +<p>"What became of them then?"</p> + +<p>"That's the problem we've got to solve," Larkin replied. "Apparently +they were loaded in automobiles and rushed off to some retreat of the +scoundrels."</p> + +<p>"How in the world could they do it without somebody's seeing or +hearing what was going on?"</p> + +<p>"Oh," said the lieutenant without a suggestion of doubt in his voice; +"that wasn't very difficult if there were enough of them working +together. The evidence of cleverness and skill is not nearly so much +in the handling of this affair at the mill end of the mine as at the +house end. That was a mighty smooth piece of work, getting all of +those girls into that old house, however it was done. Mark my word, +you'll find that a very clever trap was set for them. But come on, +we've got to get busy before the snow makes it impossible to follow +them."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XX" id="CHAPTER_XX" /><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144" />CHAPTER XX.</h2> + +<h2>TWELVE GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS.</h2><br /> + + +<p>Ethel Zimmerman and Ernestine Johnson fainted. All of the rest of the +twelve girls who had been decoyed into the Buchholz house by the +"sympathetic Mrs. Eddy" were thrown into a panic. And the terror of +the situation was not mollified in the least by the sudden appearance +on the scene of five men.</p> + +<p>Where the men came from so suddenly was not at all clear. Undoubtedly +they had been hidden somewhere, but that place could not be +determined, for none of the girls remembered from what direction they +had made their appearance, north, south, east, west, up, or down. They +were just there, and that was all there was to it.</p> + +<p>The men did not look like ruffians exactly, although they were not +clad in "gentlemen's clothes." The girls were huddled together in the +dark scantily-furnished front room, which at some time probably had +served the purpose of a combined parlor and reception room. The next +apartment, probably designed as a living room, was lighted by a single +gas jet turned low.</p> + +<p>Ethel and Ernestine fainted in the midst of the address of warning and +command from the spokesman of the plotters. This was a <a name="Page_145" id="Page_145" />signal for a +rally to their aid on the part of the other Camp Fire Girls best +gifted with presence of mind. Marion led this move, and was quickly +assisted by Ruth Hazelton, Julietta Hyde, and Marie Crismore. No +objection was offered by the men to this proceeding, as they were +intelligent enough to realize that the success of their plot depended +largely on a careful guard against a noisy panic that would attract +attention from without.</p> + +<p>"Somebody get some water quick," Marion directed, as she proceeded to +go through the reviving formula in which all of them had been +thoroughly drilled.</p> + +<p>"I'll get some," "Mrs. Eddy" volunteered, indicating by her offer and +actions that she was an efficient ally of the kidnappers. She hastened +into the kitchen and soon returned with a large dipper of water. +Marion took it from her and sprinkled some of the liquid on the faces +of the unconscious girls. The latter quickly recovered and sat up.</p> + +<p>But meanwhile the five men were not idle. The leader addressed the +girls again with more gentle words and manner, realizing, as only an +intelligent criminal may do, that a confidence man's method is the +best method for producing a desired illegal effect. In a degree, he +was successful, attempting to reassure the captives in the following +manner:</p> + +<p>"Now, girls, you have nothing to fear from us, if you obey orders. We +don't wish to harm a hair on any of your heads. We are merely +<a name="Page_146" id="Page_146" />determined to get what we have set out for, and we are going to use +you to help us get it. If you try to balk our purpose, you must take +the consequences. Otherwise you will suffer only such inconveniences +as go naturally with the experience of being kidnapped. And try to +realize this, that being kidnapped isn't such a terrible thing if you +are in the custody of gentlemen kidnappers. That's what we +are—gentlemen kidnappers. All we ask of you is that you prove +yourselves to be what gentlemen kidnappers prefer above all others, +namely, real ladylike prisoners.</p> + +<p>"Now," he added after a pause during which he surveyed his audience as +if to determine the effect of his words; "as soon as the two young +ladies who were so unfortunate as to make the mistake of connecting a +tragic prospect with this affair have fully recovered, we will +proceed."</p> + +<p>"That fellow is disguised," declared Marion in a whisper to the girls +nearest her. "In fact, all of them are. Observe that every one of them +wears a beard, moustache or short side whiskers. Watch their eyes and +mouths and every expression on their faces so that we may be able to +identify them if we are ever called upon to do so."</p> + +<p>"Now, girls," said the spokesman with well simulated gentleness, "no +more of that. We don't want to be unduly rude with you, but if there +is any more whispering, we'll have to resort to measures that will +make it impos<a name="Page_147" id="Page_147" />sible. Now, I think you are all ready, so just follow +the leader and some of us will bring up the rear. We will proceed +first into the basement."</p> + +<p>Tremblingly the twelve Camp Fire Girls followed two of the men down +the cellar steps. It was evident to them that resistance would be +worse than useless. A single blow from the fist of one of those +powerful men would stun any of the girls, if it did not knock her +unconscious. In fact their captors could make quick work of them if +necessary, and, cooped up as they were in this isolated prison, they +could scarcely hope to send forth an effective cry of distress before +they were rendered physically incapable of sounding further alarm.</p> + +<p>All of the "gentlemen kidnappers" were supplied with electric flash +lights, with which they illuminated the cellar and revealed to their +captives a hole three feet in diameter in the ground floor and +seemingly a flight of steps leading downward.</p> + +<p>"Don't get scared, young ladies," advised the "gentlemanly leader" of +the "gentleman kidnappers" softly. "That hole is merely the mouth of +an old coal mine. We will conduct you through the mine to the other +end, which is concealed from public view at a distance, and there we +will find four automobiles waiting for you. Lead the way, comrad +kidnappers."</p> + +<p><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148" />The two head men descended into the hole, and the girls followed +Indian file. The spokesman and one other man descended last as a rear +guard. One of the men remained in the cellar with "Mrs. Eddy" and +together they hurriedly replaced the old door over the mouth of the +mine, shoveled some loose earth over this and then covered the earth +with eight or ten thicknesses of scrap lumber loosely tossed in a +heap.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the girls, guided by the lights ahead and aided by the two +lights behind, which were directed helpfully along their path, made +their way laboriously down the slope and along the many-angled gallery +to the opening at the other side of Holly Hill, as the high, rounded +elevation on and around which the city was built was called. Under +different circumstances undoubtedly they would have been much +interested in this experience as a subterranean exploration. And they +had all the time they might need for such exploration, for the dusk of +evening had not yet developed into darkness and they had to wait in +the mine over an hour before it was deemed safe to venture out with +the captives.</p> + +<p>Near the opening at the foot of the bluff behind the abandoned flour +mill, gags were tied tightly over the girls' mouths and their hands +were bound in front of them, and they were assisted one by one down a +gradual, but rough, incline and into the waiting machines. Snow +falling in millions of huge flakes, a fact <a name="Page_149" id="Page_149" />that evidently caused the +kidnappers more worry than the possibility of detection by persons in +the vicinity, for remarks escaped some of them relative to the +importance of haste before the roads became impassable to automobiles. +But the storm served them one good purpose if it menaced them in +another respect. It rendered the darkness of the night more +impenetrable and kept the streets almost free of pedestrians. +Moreover, the plotters were well supplied with means and methods of +guarding against escape or rescue. The gags and cloth manacles were so +well made that one might have suspected them of being products of a +manual training school of burglars' wives. During the passage from the +mine to the automobiles each of the girls wore a shawl thrown over her +head and pinned close in front, thus concealing both the gags and the +manacled condition of their hands.</p> + +<p>At last they were all in the machines, each of which was in charge of +a driver. Three of the girls were put into each automobile and one of +the men got in with them to see that their conduct was as per +scheduled program. Then the start was made.</p> + +<p>On, on they went, out into the country and along a road that Marion +knew led into the heart of the mountains. She could see the dim, +shadowy form of High Peak in the distance. Meanwhile, as she peered +out eagerly into the darkness with an irrational longing for rescue +from some miraculous source—for <a name="Page_150" id="Page_150" />this was the only kind of rescue +that seemed possible under the circumstances—she kept working at the +bonds about her wrists and the gag in her mouth slyly and without +obvious effort, until with joy she realized that she was at least +partly successful.</p> + +<p>"I am certain I could shove that thing right out of my mouth and give +the most piercing scream ever heard if somebody would only come along +and hear me," she told herself.</p> + +<p>The snow kept on falling heavily, much to the alarm of the kidnappers +and the joy of the kidnapped, but the automobiles reached the +mountains before there was any serious delay. It looked indeed as if +the trip would be successful from the point of view of the captors of +the Camp Fire Girls. But at last the snow became so deep that the +girls could feel that the automobiles were laboring under almost +insurmountable difficulties. Marion heard several curses uttered by +the chauffeur, and the man inside the car echoed them once or twice. +Finally the automobile came to a full stop and the driver could force +it along no further. A consultation, with all three of the men taking +part, was held.</p> + +<p>In the midst of their debate, something happened that changed the +aspect of things almost as completely as might have been accomplished +if Marion's dream of a miraculous rescue had been realized. Other +persons were on the scene and they were talking to the <a name="Page_151" id="Page_151" />driver, +inquiring if they could be of any assistance.</p> + +<p>"We're a patrol of Boy Scouts," one of the new arrivals said. "We've +lost our way, but that doesn't need hinder our helping you out of your +scrape. Maybe you can direct us how to find our way back."</p> + +<p>Marion never felt a more intense thrill in her life than she felt at +the sound of that voice. She looked out of the window and saw a group +of eight or ten boys, each of them carrying a gun, close to the +automobile.</p> + +<p>With an effort that had behind it all of the power of the most joyous +impulse of her life, she swung her bound clinched fists right through +the pane of glass, pushed the gag from her mouth, and shouted:</p> + +<p>"Clifford! Clifford! This is Marion. All of us girls are being +kidnapped by these men. Shoot these rascals and shoot to kill."</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI" /><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152" />CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h2>THIRTEEN GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS.</h2><br /> + + +<p>Marion's plea for aid did not reach Clifford and the other Boy Scouts +to whom it was addressed without interruption. The latter half of it +came in jerked and disjointed phrases, and the tone of utterance was +one of extreme fear and distress. Clifford and Ernie Hunter, the +leader of the patrol, although amazed beyond description, realized +that this appeal for assistance was no idle one, and it was up to them +to do something quickly or action on their part might soon be too +late.</p> + +<p>"You boys take care of the men in front, and Clif and I will settle +this affair back here," Ernie shouted. "Don't let them escape."</p> + +<p>With these words, the patrol leader seized the latch of the nearest +auto door and pressed down on it. As he did this, the door flew open +with a heavy swing, and Ernie jumped aside just in time to ward off a +body-lunge blow from the fist of a man who sprang out of the machine +like a beast leaping with all fours.</p> + +<p>In less time than it takes to tell it, two of the men had broken +through the cordon of Boy Scouts around the automobile and disappeared +in the darkness. The third, Mr. Stanlock's chauffeur, was not so +desperately courageous. The menace of two or three gun muzzles held +within a few feet of his face was <a name="Page_153" id="Page_153" />more than he cared to oppose, so he +remained a prisoner.</p> + +<p>"Look out, boys," called out Hazel Edwards. "There are three more +automobiles coming along behind with desperate men in them. Each of +those autos has three girl prisoners in charge of two men, one of them +the driver."</p> + +<p>"Miles, you and Hal and Jerry stay here and guard the prisoner and +protect the girls against those rascals if they return," Ernie +directed. "The rest of us will run back a short distance and meet the +next machine before they suspect something wrong."</p> + +<p>As he finished speaking, Ernie led the way, followed by four other +boys, back through the snow twenty or thirty yards, and then stopped +and listened. A short distance further, they heard a sound the cause +of which could not be mistaken. It was the rapid, pulsating chug-chug +of an automobile engine. They waited a few minutes, but it appeared to +be coming no nearer.</p> + +<p>"The snow has stopped this one, too," said Clifford. "Come on and +we'll give them a surprise."</p> + +<p>A few paces farther brought the boys in view of a machine with the +engine running idle and no driver visible in front. Naturally this +made them suspicious and a halt was called for a little +circumspection. Then, carefully, cautiously, they advanced toward the +automobile, keeping nervous watch on all sides to avoid a surprise.</p> + +<p><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154" />They reached the machine, which they had been able to locate by the +noise of the engine, and found it also deserted, save for the three +prisoners, bound and gagged, in the car. While the other four in the +party of rescuers kept watch against a surprise, Clifford cut the +bonds on the wrists of the girls and removed the gags from their +mouths.</p> + +<p>"Where did the villains in charge of this car go?" was the first +question he put to the released prisoners.</p> + +<p>"They skipped," replied Violet Munday. "Two men who had been in the +machine ahead came back and said the game was up, that they were +discovered by a force of Boy Scouts armed with guns and they couldn't +afford to put up a fight, for even if they won, the whole country +would be aroused and they couldn't hope to carry out their original +plans. They went back to warn the other men. No doubt you'll find the +other machines abandoned, too."</p> + +<p>"All right," said Ernie; "you girls stay here in the car and keep +warm. We'll be back as soon as we can find the others."</p> + +<p>The boys found the other two automobiles also abandoned and released +six more Camp Fire prisoners.</p> + +<p>"Now let's return and get the head auto started back first," Ernie +proposed.</p> + +<p>This plan was adopted. Arrived at the machine in which Marion, Hazel +and Julietta had been prison-passengers, they found a new and +important development in affairs. Jake, <a name="Page_155" id="Page_155" />the chauffeur, had confessed. +He had offered to conduct the boys to Helen's place of detention and +effect her release if the boys would let him go. It was less than half +a mile away. The boys agreed. Clifford suggested that the girls remain +in the automobile while the Scouts made the proposed raid, but they +objected strenuously.</p> + +<p>In a short time the rest of the girls were brought forward, informed +of the plan, and the start was made. All of the girls insisted on +taking part in the expedition. In less than half an hour they were at +the door of Helen's prison, where Jake gave the "open sesame" knock.</p> + +<p>An uncouth woman opened the door. Behind her stood a man, who proved +to be her husband. Jake pushed the astonished pair aside, and went +directly to the side of the room opposite the entrance and lifted a +bar across a door opening into another department. As he opened this +door, Marion rushed forward and was first to greet a slender, +pale-faced girl, who stepped out eagerly toward her rescuers.</p> + +<p>"Helen!" cried the girls in a chorus.</p> + +<p>Jake slipped out and was seen no more.</p> + + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII" /><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156" />CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h2>A SLEIGHRIDE HOME.</h2><br /> + + +<p>That was a meeting not soon to be forgotten. It was a signal for the +casting away of every element of secrecy, and Helen told her story.</p> + +<p>She told the story of her brother, of his sickness when a child, of +the resultant distortion of his character into that of a man of +strange and incongruous genius and weakness, and of the embarrassment +he had caused her and her mother. He, it was, she said, who had +written the skull-and-cross-bones letter.</p> + +<p>"Who wrote the other anonymous letter that you received at the +Institute?" Hazel Edwards inquired.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," Helen replied with a faint smile. "Perhaps these boys +can answer that question."</p> + +<p>"I must plead guilty to that," announced Clifford, advancing with a +bow.</p> + +<p>"But what's the surprise you were going to spring?" inquired Ruth +Hazelton, mischievously. "Is this it?"</p> + +<p>"Now, never you mind," said Clifford. "Things didn't go just right. +This kidnapping affair interfered with our plans, and they are hereby +called off. We didn't want you to know we were here."</p> + +<p>Two of the boys had been dispatched as messengers to Hollyhill for +vehicles to take the girls back to Marion's home. About 2 <a name="Page_157" id="Page_157" />o'clock in +the morning Mr. Stanlock, several of his neighbors, and three +policemen, led by the two Scout messengers, burst into the room and +announced that they had brought three bob-sleds to give them all a +sleighride.</p> + +<p>And a glorious sleighride home it was for all except the two +prisoners, whom the police took into custody.</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>The story of the CAMP FIRE GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS is told, all but the +subtitle, "A Christmas Success Against Odds." There was a real success +in store for them. The police made a raid, but found that the criminal +element that had gained a throttle hold on the labor organization in +the mines had cleared out so clean that not a living vestige of them +could be discovered. The way was now clear, and the Camp Fire Girls +carried out their original plans, successfully and much to the benefit +of the poverty stricken families of the strikers.</p> + +<p>But the history of Flamingo Camp Fire is by no means complete with +this narrative. It seemed to be a peculiar lot of these girls to +become associated or in touch with events of novel, interesting, and +sometimes thrilling character, and those who would follow their +further experiences along these lines should read the second volume of +this series, entitled:</p> + +<p class="center">CAMP FIRE GIRLS IN THE COUNTRY;</p> + +<p class="center">or</p> + +<p class="center">The Secret Aunt Hannah Forgot.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Campfire Girls in the Allegheny +Mountains, by Stella M. 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Francis + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Campfire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains + or, A Christmas Success against Odds + +Author: Stella M. Francis + +Release Date: February 21, 2005 [EBook #15133] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CAMPFIRE GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Riikka Talonpoika and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +[Illustration: CAMP-FIRE GIRLS _In the_ ALLEGHANY MOUNTAINS + +_or_ + +A CHRISTMAS SUCCESS AGAINST ODDS] + +[Illustration: Campfire Girls in the Mountains] + + + + +Campfire Girls in the + +Allegheny Mountains; + +OR, + +A Christmas Success Against Odds + +By + +STELLA M. FRANCIS + +M.A. DONOHUE & CO. + +CHICAGO NEW YORK + + + + +CAMPFIRE GIRLS' SERIES + + + =CAMPFIRE GIRLS IN THE ALLEGHENY MOUNTAINS; + or, A Christmas Success Against Odds.= + + =CAMPFIRE GIRLS IN THE COUNTRY; or, The Secret + Aunt Hannah Forgot.= + + =CAMPFIRE GIRLS' TRIP UP THE RIVER; or, Ethel + Hollister's First Lesson.= + + =CAMPFIRE GIRLS' OUTING; or, Ethel Hollister's Second + Summer in Camp.= + + =CAMPFIRE GIRLS' ON A HIKE; or, Lost in the Great + North Woods.= + + =CAMPFIRE GIRLS AT TWIN LAKES; or, The Quest of + a Summer Vacation.= + + 1918 + + M.A. DONOHUE & COMPANY + + MADE in U.S.A. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + CHAPTER + + I The Grand Council Fire + + II The Boy Scouts' Invasion + + III The Skull and Cross-Bones + + IV Studying the Mystery + + V Girls Courageous + + VI The Punster Makes a Find + + VII To the Rescue + + VIII The Eavesdropper + + IX Mr. Stanlock Surprised + + X Mr. Stanlock Amused + + XI A Man of Big Heart and Queer Notions + + XII A Mysterious Disappearance + + XIII "Find Her, or I'll Find Her Myself" + + XIV Trapped + + XV A Pile of Scrap Lumber + + XVI Helen and the Strike Leader's Wife + + XVII Helen Declares Herself + + XVIII Helen in the Mountains + + XIX The Subterranean Avenue + + XX Twelve Girls in the Mountains + + XXI Thirteen Girls in the Mountains + + XXII A Sleighride Home + + + + +"Camp Fire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains" + +OR + +"A Christmas Success Against Odds" + +By STELLA M. FRANCIS. + + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +THE GRAND COUNCIL FIRE. + + + "Wo-he-lo for aye, + Wo-he-lo for aye, + Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo for aye! + Wo-he-lo for work, + Wo-he-lo for health, + Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo, Wo-he-lo for love." + +Two hundred and thirty-nine girl voices chanted the Wo-he-lo Cheer +with weird impressiveness. The scene alone would have been impressive +enough, but Camp Fire Girls are not satisfied with that kind of +"enough." Once their imagination is stimulated with the almost +limitless possibilities of the craft, they are not easily pleased with +anything but a finished product. + +The occasion was the last Grand Council Fire of Hiawatha Institute for +Camp Fire Girls located in the Allegheny city of Westmoreland. The +classroom work had been rushed a day ahead, examinations were made +almost perfunctory, and for them also the clock had been turned +twenty-four hours forward. The curriculum was finished, and the day +just closed had been devoted to preparation for a Grand Council +wind-up for the fifteen Fires of the Institute, which would "break +ranks" on the following day and scatter in all directions for home and +the Christmas holidays. + +And there was literal truth in this "break ranks" method of dismissing +school at the Institute. Since the United States entered the European +war on the side of the anti-frightfulness allies, Hiawatha had become +something of a military school. The girls actually drilled with guns, +and they would shoot those guns with all the grim fatality of so many +boys. Not that they expected to go to war and descend into the +trenches and fire hail-storms of steel-coated death-messengers at the +enemy. Oh, no. They might, but they were sensible enough not to let +their imagination carry them so far. But preparedness was in the air, +and the girls voted to a--a--girl (I almost said man, for they were as +brave as men in many respects) to take up military drill and tactics +two hours a week as a part of their curriculum. + +Madame Cleaver, head of the Institute, did not start the military +movement rashly. She was carefully diplomatic in the conduct of her +school, for she must satisfy the critical tastes and ideas of a +high-class parentage clientele. But she also kept her fingers on the +pulse of affairs and knew pretty well how to strike a popular vein. +Hence the membership of her classes was always on the increase. +Indeed, at the beginning of this school year, she had to turn away +something like forty applicants, for want of room and accommodations. + +Hiawatha Institute was founded as a Camp Fire Girls' school, and when +Uncle Sam became involved in the European war, the national need for +nurses appealed strongly to Camp Fire Girls everywhere. What could +they do? The very nature of the training of the girls from Wood +Gatherer to Torch Bearer made the question, so far as they were +concerned, a self-answering one. They had all the broad commonsense +rudiments of nursing. With some advanced science on top of this, they +would be experts. + +But military authorities said that the nurses ought to have some +military drill. War nurses must be organized, and there was no better +method of effecting this orderly requisite than by military training. + +One well-known captain of infantry informed Madame Cleaver that war +nurses could not reach the highest grade of efficiency unless they +were able to march in columns from one camp to another and be +distributed in squads at the points needed. + +With all this information at her tongue's end, the madame put the +matter to her uniformed girls in the assembly hall. Rumor of what was +coming had reached them in advance, so that it did not fall as a +surprise. The vote was unanimous in favor of the plan. The needed +nursing expert was already a member of the faculty. The classes were +formed a few days later. + +These were the girls that gathered around a big out-door campfire--it +was really a bonfire--in the snow of mid-winter on the evening of the +opening of this story. Most of them were rich men's daughters, but +there were no snobs among them. They were girls of vigor and vim, +intelligence and imagination, practical and industrious. They were +lively and fond of a good time, but--most of them, at least,--would +not slight a duty for pleasure. Behind every enjoyment was a pathway +of tasks well done. + +Madame Cleaver was Chief Guardian of the fifteen Camp Fires of the +Institute. The faculty was not large enough to supply all the adult +guardians required, but that fact did not prove by any means an +insurmountable difficulty. More than enough young women in +Westmoreland, well qualified to fill positions of this kind, +volunteered to donate their services in order to make the Camp Fire +organization of the school complete. Indeed, these volunteer Guardians +added materially to their influence and rank in the community by +becoming connected with the Institute. There was, in fact, a waiting +list of volunteers constantly among the social leaders of the place. + +The Chief Guardian was mistress of ceremonies at the Grand Council +Fire. Two hundred and thirty-nine girls in uniform, brown coats, +campfire hats, and brown duck hiking boots, stood around the fire +answering "Kolah" in unison by groups as the roll of the Fires was +called. As each Fire was called and the answer returned, the Guardian +stepped forward and gave a little recitation of current achievements. +This program was varied here and there with music by a girls' chorus +and a girls' orchestra. Everything went along with the smoothness, +although with some of the deep dips and lofty lifts, of Grand Opera, +until the name of the last Camp Fire, Flamingo, was called. Miss +Harriet Ladd, the Guardian, stepped forward and said: + +"Madame Chief Guardian, associate guardians, and Camp Fire Girls of +Hiawatha Institute, I bring to you a message of things planned by +Flamingo Camp Fire Girls, thirteen in number. As you know, there is in +an adjoining state a strike of coal miners that has caused much +suffering among the poor families of the strikers. High Peak lives in +a mountain mining district. Her father is a mine owner and has given +his consent to the extending of an invitation to Flamingo Camp Fire to +work among these poor families and give them relief during the +Christmas holidays. The arrangements have been completed, and the +girls will start for Hollyhill tomorrow." + +"Hooray, hooray, hooray! Hooray for High Peak! Hooray for Marion +Stanlock! Hooray for Flamingo Camp Fire." + +The cheers, shrill on the sharp winter air, now in unison, now in +confusion, came not from the assembled Camp Fire Girls, although from +nearly as many voices. Out from the timber thicket to the west of the +campus rushed a small army of khaki-clad figures. There were a few +screams among the girls, but not many. To be sure, everybody was +thrilled, but nobody fainted. There were a few moments of suspense, +followed by bursts of laughter and applause from the girls. + +"It's the Spring Lake Boy Scouts," cried Marion Stanlock, who was +first to announce an explanation of the surprise. "Clifford, Clifford +Long, are you responsible for this?" + +The Boy Scout patrol leader thus addressed did not reply, though he +recognized the challenge with a wave of his hand. + +He was busy bringing his patrol in matching line with the other +patrols. As if realizing their purpose, the circle around the camp +fire was broken at a point nearest the newly arrived invaders, and an +avenue of approach was formed by the lining up of some of the girls in +two rows extended out towards the Boy Scouts. In double file a hundred +and fifty boys marched in and around the campfire; then faced toward +the outer ring of Camp Fire Girls and bowed acknowledgment of the +courteous reception. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE BOY SCOUTS' INVASION. + + +That was a grand surprise that the Boy Scouts of Spring Lake academy +"put over" on the Camp Fire Girls of Hiawatha Institute. They had been +planning it for several weeks, or since they first received +information of the Grand Council Fire as a closing event of the first +semester of the girls' school. The two institutions were located in +municipalities only fifteen miles apart, connected by both steam +railroad and electric interurban lines. + +Spring Lake academy, located on a lake of the same name at the +southern outskirt of Kingston, was originally a boys' military school, +and it still retained that primal distinction. But the success of +Hiawatha Institute as a Camp Fire Girls' school set the imaginative +minds of some of the leaders of the boys at Spring Lake to work along +similar lines, with the result that the faculty's cooperation was +petitioned for the organization of the student body into a troop of +Boy Scout patrols. The scheme was successful, and as it served to +inject new life into the academy, the business end of the institution +had no ground for complaint. + +This innovation at Spring Lake was due largely to the activities of +Clifford Long, one of the students. He was a cousin of Marion +Stanlock, and naturally this relationship served to direct his +personal interest toward Hiawatha Institute. Not a few other students +in these two schools were similarly related, some of them being +brothers and sisters. + +And so it is not to be wondered at if these two places of learning +became, as it were, twin schools, with much of interest in common and +many of their activities interassociated. They had rival debating +teams between which were held more or less periodic contests, and in +the numerous social events there were frequently exchanges of +invitational courtesies. + +The boys plotted their big surprise on the girls in true scout +fashion. There was no real secret in the fact that the Camp Fire Girls +of Hiawatha Institute were planning a big event, but girl-like they +affected secrecy to stimulate interest. The result was more than could +have been expected, although the girls did not realize this until +after it was all over. The curiosity of the Spring Lake boys was +thoroughly alive as soon as they learned of a mysterious "something +big" going on at the institute. True to the character of real scouts +they delegated emissaries, commonly denominated spies, to visit the +stronghold of the Camp Fire Girls, get all the details of their plans +discoverable and report back to headquarters. Greater success than +that which rewarded their efforts could hardly have been wished for. +Half a dozen boys went and returned and then put their heads and their +reports together with the result that the Scouts of the school had +all the information they needed. + +They mapped out their plans and scheduled their prospective movements +by the calendar and the clock. They chartered an interurban train for +the run to and from the Institute. The arrival on the scene of the +Grand Council Fire was, as we have seen, a complete surprise to the +girls. The Scouts well knew that their presence would not be regarded +as an intrusion, for a Grand Council Fire, according to the handbook, +"is for friends and the public." + +The interruption of the program by the marching of the Boy Scouts +within the circle of the Camp Fire Girls was permitted to continue for +ten or fifteen minutes, while a number of short speeches were made by +some of the boy leaders, in which they gloried over the way they had +"put one over on the girls." + +"And we're not through yet," announced Harry Gilbert prophetically. +"Some of us are going to put over another surprise just about as +thrilling as this, and we want to challenge you to find out what it +is." + +Of course this statement produced the very result the boys desired. +Naturally they wished the girls to think they were pretty bright +fellows. They got just what they were looking for as a result of their +"surprise," namely, volumes of praise. To be sure, this did not come +in the form of undisguised admiration. That isn't the way a clever +girl signifies her approval of this sort of thing. It just burst into +evidence through such mock jeers as, "You boys think you are so +smart," or "It's a wonder you wouldn't have gone to enough pains to +build a railroad or sink a submarine." + +To which, on one occasion in the course of the evening, Earl Hamilton +replied: + +"Thank you, ladies; we always do things thorough." + +"-_ly_!" screamed Katherine Crane. Yes, it was really a scream, an +explosion, too, if the indelicacy may be excused. But the opportunity +for a come-back struck her so keenly, so swiftly, that she just could +not contain her eagerness to beat somebody else to it. + +Well, the laugh that followed also was of the nature of an explosion. +And it was on poor Katherine quite as much as on Earl, who had tripped +up on an adjective in place of an adverb. The girl's eagerness was so +evident that it struck everybody as funnier than the boy's mistake in +grammar. Anyway, she recovered quite smartly and followed up her +attack with this pert addendum as the laughter subsided: + +"You evidently don't do your lessons thorough-_ly_." The emphasis on +the "-ly" was so pronounced, almost spasmodic, as to bring forth +another laughing applause. + +This exchange of repartee took place in the large school auditorium, +to which all repaired as soon as the outdoor exercises had been +finished. + +The program of the evening was punctuated by interruptions of this +kind every now and then. Of course, the fun-makers waited for +suitable opportunities to spring their "quips and cranks," so that no +merited interest in the doing could be lost. And none of it was lost. +The presence of the bold invaders seemed to add zest to the most +routine of the Camp Fire performances, and when all was over everybody +was agreed that there had not been a dull minute during the whole +evening. + +At the close of the Camp Fire Girls' program the 150 Boy Scouts arose +and, with heroic unison of voices peculiar to much practice in the +delivery of school yells, they chanted a clever parody of Wo-he-lo +Cheer, a Boy Scout's compliment to the Camp Fire Girls, and then +marched out of the auditorium and away toward the interurban line, +where their chartered train was waiting for them, and all the while +they continued the chant with variations of the words, the rhythmic +drive of their voices pulsing back to the Institute, but becoming +fainter and more faint until at last the sound was lost with the +speeding away of the trolley train in the distance. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE SKULL AND CROSS-BONES. + + +If Marion Stanlock, "High Peak" in the trait and a torch bearer, had +read one of two letters, signed with a "skull and cross-bones," which +she found lying on the desk in her room after the adjournment of the +Grand Council Fire, doubtless there would have been an interruption, +and probably a change, in the holiday program of the Flamingo Camp +Fire. She saw the letters lying there and under ordinary circumstances +would have torn them open and read them, however hastily, before +retiring. But on this occasion she was rather tired, owing to the +activities and the excitement of the day and evening. Moreover, she +realized that she could not hope for anything but a wearisome journey +to Hollyhill on the following day unless she refreshed herself with as +many hours sleep as possible before train time. + +So she merely glanced at the superscriptions on the envelopes to see +if the letters were from any of her relatives or friends, and, failing +to recognize either of them, she put them into her handbag, intending +to read them at the first opportunity next morning. Then she went to +bed and fell asleep almost instantly. + +Marion was awakened in the morning by her roommate, Helen Nash, who +had quietly arisen half an hour earlier. The latter was almost ready +for breakfast when she woke her friend from a sleep that promised to +continue several hours longer unless interrupted. She had turned on +the electric light and was standing before the glass combing her hair. +Marion glanced at the clock to see what time it was, but the face was +turned away from her and the light in the room made it impossible for +her to observe through the window shades that day was just breaking. + +"What time is it, Helen?" she asked. "Did the alarm go off? I didn't +hear it. What waked you up?" + +Helen did not answer at once. For a moment or two her manner seemed to +indicate that she did not hear the questions of the girl in bed. Then, +as if suddenly rescuing her mind from thoughts that appealed to have +carried her away into some far distant abstraction, she replied thus, +in a series of disconnected utterances: + +"No, the alarm didn't go off--a--Marion. I got up at 6 o'clock. I +turned the alarm off. It is 6:30 now. I don't know what woke me. I +just woke up." + +Marion arose, wondering at the peculiar manner of her roommate and the +strained, almost convulsive, tone of her voice. She asked no further +questions, but proceeded with her dressing and preparation for +breakfast. For the time being, she forgot all about the two letters in +her handbag that lay on her dresser. + +In some respects Helen was a peculiar girl. If her speech and action +had been characterized with more vim, vigor and imagination, +doubtlessly she would generally have been known as a pretty girl. As +it was, her features were regular, her complexion fair, her eyes blue, +and her hair a light brown. Marion thought her pretty, but Marion had +associated with her intimately for two or three years, and had +discovered qualities in her that mere acquaintances could never have +discovered. She had found Helen apparently to be possessed of a +strong, direct conception of integrity, never vacillating in manner or +sympathies. Moreover, she exhibited a quiet, unwavering capability in +her work that always commanded the respect, and occasionally the +admiration, of both classmates and teachers. + +Not only was Helen quiet of disposition, but strangely secretive on +certain subjects. For instance, she seldom said anything about her +home or relatives. She lived in Villa Park, a small town midway +between Westmoreland and Hollyhill. Her father was dead, and, when not +at school, she had lived with her mother; these two, so far as Marion +knew, constituting the entire family. + +Marion had visited her home, and there found the mother and daughter +apparently in moderate circumstances. Naturally, she had wondered a +little that Mrs. Nash should be able to support her daughter at a +private school, even though that institution made a specialty of +teaching rich men's daughters how to be useful and economical, but +the reason why had never been explained to her. Helen got her +remittances from home regularly, and seemed to have no particular +cause to worry about finances. She had spent parts of two vacations at +the Stanlock home and there conducted herself as if quite naturally +able to fit in with luxurious surroundings and large accommodations. + +Only a few days before the Christmas holidays, something had occurred +that emphasized Helen's secretive peculiarity to such an extent that +Marion was considerably provoked and just a little mystified. A young +man, somewhere about 25 or 27 years old, fairly well but not +expensively dressed, and bearing the appearance of one who had seen a +good deal of the rough side of life, called at the Institute and asked +for Miss Nash. He was ushered into the reception room and Helen was +summoned. One of the girls who witnessed the meeting told some of her +friends that Miss Nash was evidently much surprised, if not +unpleasantly disturbed, when she recognized her caller. Immediately +she put on a coat and hat and she and the young man went out. An hour +later she returned alone, and to no one did she utter a word relative +to the stranger's visit, not even to her roommate, who had passed them +in the hall as they were going out. + +Helen Nash was a member of the Flamingo Camp Fire and accompanied the +other members on their vacation trip to the mountain mining district. +The other eleven who boarded the train with Marion, the holiday +hostess, were Ruth Hazelton, Ethel Zimmerman, Ernestine Johanson, +Hazel Edwards, Azalia Atwood, Harriet Newcomb, Estelle Adler, Julietta +Hyde, Marie Crismore, Katherine Crane, and Violet Munday. + +Miss Ladd, the Guardian, also was one of Marion's invited guests. The +party took possession of one end of the parlor car, which, +fortunately, was almost empty before they boarded it. Then began a +chatter of girl voices--happy, spirited, witty, and promising to +continue thus to the end of the journey, or until their kaleidoscopic +subjects of conversation were exhausted. + +Every thrilling detail of the evening before was gone over, examined, +given its proper degree of credit, and filed away in their memories +for future reference. There was more catching of breath, more +cheering, more clapping of hands; but no mock jeers, now that the boys +were absent, as the events of the Boy Scouts' invasion and the many +incidental and brilliant results were recalled and repictured. + +"I wonder what Harry Gilbert meant when he said some of them were +planning another surprise nearly as thrilling as the one they sprung +last night," said Azalia Atwood, with characteristic excitable +expectation. "He addressed himself to you, Marion, when he said it; +and he's a close friend of your cousin, Clifford Long. Whatever it +is, I bet anything it will fall heaviest on this Camp Fire when it +comes." + +"Maybe it was just talk, to get us worked up and looking for something +never to come," suggested Ethel Zimmerman. "It would be a pretty good +one for the boys to get us excited and looking for something clear up +to April 1, and then spring an April fool joke, something like a big +dry goods box packed with excelsior." + +"Oh, but that wouldn't measure up to expectations," Ruth Hazelton +declared. "It wouldn't be one-two-three with what they did last night, +and they promised something just about as interesting." + +"You don't get me," returned Ethel. "The dry goods box filled with +excelsior would be the anti-climax of wondering expectations." + +"You're too deep for a twentieth century bunch of girls, Ethel," Hazel +Edwards objected. "That might easily be mistaken for the promised big +stunt. They might compose a lot of ditties and mix them up with the +packing, something like this: + + "'Believe not all big things that boys may tell thee, for + Great expectations may produce excelsior'." + +"Very clever, indeed, only it sounds like an impossible combination of +Alice in Wonderland and an old maid," said Harriet Newcomb, with a +toss of her head. "I'm surprised at you, Hazel, for suggesting such a +thing. If the boys should put over anything like that, we'd break off +diplomatic relations right away. If they wanted to call us a lot of +rummies, they couldn't do it as effectively by the use of direct +language. Cleverness usually makes a hit with its victims, unless it +contains an element of contempt." + +"That is really a brilliant observation," announced the Guardian who +had been listening with quiet interest to the spirited conversation. +"Continued thought along such lines ought to result in a Keda National +Honor for you, Harriet." + +"I'll agree to all that if Harriet will take back what she said about +my being an old maid," said Hazel with mock dignity. + +"I didn't call you an old maid, my dear," denied the impromptu poet +pertly. "I merely said, or meant to say, that the idea you expressed +might better be expected from an old maid, although I doubt if many +old maids could have expressed it as well as you did." + +"Girls, Girls, are you going to turn our vacation into a two-weeks +repartee bee?" Marion broke in with affected desperation. "If you do, +you will force your hostess to go way back and sit down, and that +wouldn't be polite, you know. By the way, if you'll excuse me I'll do +that very thing now for another reason. I've got two letters in my +hand bag that I forgot all about. I'm going to read them right now. +You girls are making too much chatter. I can't read in your midst." + +So saying, Marion retired to a chair just far enough away to lend +semblance of reality to her "go way back and sit down" suggestion, and +settled back comfortably to read the two missives that arrived with +the last evening's mail at the Institute. + +"Settled back comfortably"--yes, but only for a short time. Marion +never before in her life received two such letters. Both were +anonymous. The first one that she opened aroused enough curiosity to +"unsettle" her. She thought she knew whom it was from--those ingenious +Boy Scouts of Spring Lake--perhaps it was written by cousin Clifford +himself. It was just like him. He was a natural leader among boys, and +often up to mischief of some sort. Marion was sure he was one of the +prime movers of the Scout invasion of Hiawatha Institute. + +But the next letter was the real thriller, or rather cold chiller. She +knew very well what it meant. From the point of view of the writer it +meant "business," a threat well calculated to work terror in her own +heart and the heart of every other member of Flamingo Fire. It was a +threat couched in direful words, warning her and her friends not to go +to Hollyhill on their charity mission, as announced, and predicting +serious injury if not death to some of them. It was signed with a +skull and cross-bones. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +STUDYING THE MYSTERY. + + +Is there any wonder that Marion Stanlock, after reading letter No. 2 +was seriously in doubt as to whether No. 1 was from the Scouts who had +promised another surprise for the Camp Fire Girls in the near future? +Judge for yourself--here is No. 1: + + Something Doing Soon + Look Out + SOMETHING DOING SOON + LOOK OUT + =SOMETHING DOING SOON + LOOK OUT!= + +That was all. The second letter read thus: + +"Miss Stanlock: This is to serve you with warning not to take your +friends with you to Hollyhill this vacation to work among the poor +families of the striking miners. We know that move of yours is +inspired by the rankest hypocrisy, that you have no genuine desire to +do anything for our starving families. This move of yours, we know, +was planned by that villainous father of yours to cloud the big issue +of our fight. If you do carry out your plans, some of you are liable +to get hurt, and it need not surprise anybody if some of you never get +back to Westmoreland alive. + + Go Slow! Be Careful! Look Out!" + +Marion was not easily panic-stricken, but it is of the nature of a +truism to say that this letter applied the severest test to her +nerves. That the writer was in deep earnest she had no reason to +doubt. She had read of so many crimes preceded by threatening letters +of this sort that the suggestion did not come to her to regard this +one lightly. Although there was no common basis for comparing the +handwriting of the two missives, one being lettered in Roman capitals +and the other in ordinary script, nevertheless she quickly dismissed +the first suspicion that letter No. 1 was written by Clifford Long or +some other Scout of Spring Lake academy. Both ended with the words +"Look Out." Plainly this was a result of carelessness on the part of +the writer. Evidently he had planned to cause her to believe that the +two letters were written by different persons, for he had taken the +pains of differentiating the superscriptions on the envelopes as well +as the contents within. + +But now the question was, What should she do? It was no more than fair +and just for her to inform the girls what they might expect if they +attempted to carry out their original plan, but what method should she +pursue to convey to them this information? She might go at the matter +bluntly and create something of a panic; then again she might so +handle it that the best possible result could be obtained in a quiet +and orderly manner. + +Marion felt in this crisis that a great responsibility rested on her +to handle the problem with all the skill and intelligence at her +command. She longed for the counsel of an older and more experienced +head, but there was none present, except Miss Ladd, the Guardian of +the Fire, to whom she might go with her story. The latter, though she +came well within the requirements of the national board to fill the +position which she held, was nevertheless a young woman in the +sensitive sense of the phrase and could hardly be expected to give the +best of executive advice under the circumstances. Marion realized that +it was her duty to exhibit to Miss Ladd the letters she had received, +but if she did this at once, the act would amount to turning the whole +matter over to her and relinquishing the initiative herself, she +reasoned. + +Marion was naturally aggressive, and she was not favorably impressed +with the idea of leaving the affair in the hands of another unless +that person were peculiarly fitted to handle it. As she sat studying +over the problem she suddenly became conscious of the presence of +another person close beside her, and looking up she saw Helen Nash, +with an expression of startled intelligence in her eyes. Apparently +her attention had been attracted by the crude drawing of a skull and +cross-bones at the close of the letter lying open in her lap. + +"I beg your pardon, Marion," said Helen with an evident effort at +self-control. "I didn't mean to intrude. I hope you'll forgive me for +something quite unintentional." + +"Certainly, Helen," Marion replied generously, "and since a chance +look has informed you of the nature of these letters and I want to +talk this affair over with somebody, I think I may as well talk it +over with you. Let's go down to the other end of the car where we +aren't likely to be disturbed." + +Accordingly they moved up to the front of the car where they took +possession of two chairs and soon were so deeply absorbed in the +problem at hand as to excite the wonder and curiosity of the other +Camp Fire Girls. + +Marion handed the two anonymous letters to her friend without +introductory remark, and the latter read them. As Marion watched the +expression on the reader's face, she was forced to admit to herself +that right then, under those seemingly impersonal circumstances, +Helen's habitual strangeness of manner was more pronounced than she +had ever before known it to be. This girl of impenetrable secrecy read +the letters, seemingly with an abstraction amounting almost to +inattention, while physically she appeared to shrink from something +that to her alone was visible and real. + +As she finished reading, Helen looked up at her friend and the gaze of +penetrating curiosity that she saw in Marion's eyes caused her to +blush with confusion. Unable to meet her friend's gaze steadily, she +shifted her eyes toward the most uninteresting part of the car, the +floor, and said: + +"That looks like a dangerous letter. It ought to be turned over to the +police as soon as possible." + +"Both of them, don't you think?" Marion inquired. + +"Why? I don't see anything in this shorter one. My guess would be that +it was written by your cousin or one of his friends." + +"But do you notice the way they both end?--the same words," Marion +insisted. + +"Yes, I noticed that," Helen replied slowly. But that is such a +common, ordinary expression, almost like 'a,' 'an,' or 'the,' that it +doesn't mean much to me here. Where are the letters postmarked?" + +"Both in Westmoreland." + +"That's something in favor of your suspicion that both letters were +written by the same person," Helen admitted. "Still it doesn't +convince me. You wouldn't expect the Spring Lake boys to mail a letter +like the shorter one at Spring Lake, would you? That would stamp its +identity right away." + +"You are sure those letters were written by different persons?" Marion +inquired curiously. + +"I don't think it makes any difference whether they were or not," +Helen answered more decisively than she had spoken before. "It is in +that skull-and-cross-bones letter that you are most interested. I +think you can disregard the other entirely. I would say this, +however, that if both were written by one person, you have less to +fear than if the shorter one was written by your cousin or one of his +friends." + +"Why?" + +"Because if one person wrote both of them, he is probably suffering +from softening of the brain. But if the person who wrote the longer +one did not write the shorter one, there is more likelihood that he +means business and will attempt to carry out his threat." + +"I never realized that you were such a Sherlock Holmes," Marion +exclaimed enthusiastically, while the suggestion came to her that +perhaps a genius for this sort of thing accounted for her friend's +peculiarities. "You ought to be a detective for a department store to +catch shoplifters." + +"Thanks, Marion, for the compliment, but I am not inclined that way. +I'd rather do something in this case to keep our vacation plans from +ending in trouble." + +"I was looking for someone who could advise me," Marion said; "and I +am now convinced that you are just the person I was looking for. What +do you think I ought to do, Helen?" + +"All the girls ought to know about this letter," Helen replied. "But +you can't go to them and blurt out anything so sensational. We must +break the news gently, as they say in melodrama. I wish we hadn't +come." + +"So do I," Marion replied, but with just a suggestion of +disappointment in her voice. + +"Not that I am afraid of getting hurt," Helen added hastily, realizing +the suspicion of cowardice that might rest against her. "Still, if my +advice had been asked, I would have argued against this very dangerous +vacation scheme of yours." + +"Why?" inquired Marion in a tone of disappointment. + +"Because of the very situation complained of in that +skull-and-cross-bones letter. I hope I don't hurt your feelings, +Marion, but it is very natural for some of these rough miners to +suspect that your plan was cooked up by your father to pull the wool +over their eyes, and to regard you as a tool employed by him to put +the scheme into operation." + +"Some of the girls' parents raised the objection that there might be +danger in a mining district during a strike, but none of them +suggested anything of this sort," Marion remarked with humble anxiety. +"I explained to them that there could hardly be any danger even if the +strikers should get ugly, as the mines are some distance from where we +live and any violence on the part of the miners would surely be +committed at the scene of their labors. This seemed to satisfy them. +Most of the miners live at the south end of the town or along the +electric line running from Hollyhill to the mines." + +"That doesn't make much difference if the miners once get it into +their heads that the girls are being used to put over a confidence +game on them," Helen argued authoritatively. "Miners are peculiar +people, especially if they are lead by radical leaders of aggressive +purpose. They believe that they are a badly misused set, turning out +the wealth of the wealthy, who repay them by holding them in contempt, +keeping their wages down to a minimum and pressing them into social +and political subjection." + +"Where did you learn all that, Helen?" Marion asked wonderingly. "You +are not even studying sociology at school. You talk like a person of +experience." + +"My father was a miner," Helen began. Then she stopped, and Marion saw +from the expression in her eyes and the twitch of her mouth that a big +lump in her throat had interrupted her explanation. She seemed to be +making an effort to continue, but was unable to do so. + +"Never mind, Helen," said Marion, taking her hand tenderly in her own. +"I am more convinced than ever that I found just the right person to +advise me when I laid this matter before you. We will try to work this +problem out together. Meanwhile we must take Miss Ladd into our +confidence. Why, here she is now." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +GIRLS COURAGEOUS. + + +"What's the matter, girls? You look as if you had the weight of the +world on your shoulders." + +Miss Ladd spoke these words lightly as if to pass judgment on the +conference as entirely too serious for a Christmas holiday occasion. +Marion and Helen did not respond in tones of joviality, as might have +been expected. They met her jocular reproach with expressions of such +serious portent that the Guardian of the Fire could no longer look +upon it as calling for words of levity. + +"What's the matter, girls?" she repeated more seriously. "You look +worried." + +"Sit down, Miss Ladd, and read these letters I received last night," +said Marion without any change of tone or manner. "They will explain +the whole thing. We were just about to call you aside and lay our +trouble before you." + +"Trouble," Miss Ladd repeated deprecatingly, "I hope it isn't as bad +as that." + +She drew an upholstered armchair close to the girls and began at once +to examine the letters that Marion handed to her. Marion and Helen +watched her closely as she read, but the Guardian of Flamingo Fire +indicated her strength of character by a stern immobility of +countenance until she had finished both letters. Then she looked at +Marion steadily and said inquiringly: + +"I suppose you have no idea who wrote these letters?" + +"Not the slightest," replied the girl addressed, "unless the shorter +one was written and mailed by some of the Boy Scouts at Spring Lake. +Helen thinks it was, and I am inclined to believe with her that it +doesn't make much difference to us who wrote it. The other letter is +the one we are most interested in." + +"I agree with you thoroughly," said Miss Ladd energetically. "And we +have got to do something to prevent him from carrying out his threat." + +"Ought we to inform the other girls now?" asked Marion with a sense of +growing courage, for she felt that in the Camp Fire's Guardian she had +found elements of wise counsel extending even beyond that young +woman's experience. + +"Why, yes," Miss Ladd replied. "I see no reason for delay. I'd rather +tell them now than just before or after we get to Hollyhill. If we +tell them now they'll have a couple of hours in which to stiffen their +courage. There are eleven girls besides you two. Suppose you call them +here in three lots in succession, four, four, and three, and we'll +tell them quietly what has occurred and give them a little lecture as +to how they should meet this crisis." + +"All right," said Marion, rising. "I'll bring the first four and you +get your lecture ready." + +"It's ready already," said the guardian reassuringly. "It is so simple +that I have no need of preparation." + +"I'm afraid I need some drill in the best means and methods of reading +character," Marion told herself as she walked back to the rear of the +car. "I was really afraid to take the matter up with Helen or Miss +Ladd for fear lest they recommend something foolish. Now it appears +that each of them has a very clever head on her shoulders. Maybe I'll +find the other girls possessed of just as good qualities. If I do, +this day will have brought forth an important revelation to me, that +the average girl, after all, is a pretty level-headed sort of person. +Well, here's hoping for the best." + +Marion selected the four girls farthest in front and asked them to +approach the forward end of the car. They did so with some appearance +of apprehension, for by this time all the girls had begun to suspect +that something unusual was doing. This appeared to be evident also to +the half-dozen other passengers in the car, whose curious attention +naturally was directed toward the forward group of girls. + +All of the girls received the information relative to the anonymous +letters so calmly that Marion felt just a little bit foolish because +of her groundless misjudgment of them. After the last group had read +the letters and discussed the situation with the trio of informants, +she spoke thus to them: + +"Girls, you are real heroines, or have in you the stuff that makes +heroines, and that is about the same thing. You take this as calmly as +if it were an ordinary every-day affair in the movies. I'm proud of +you." + +"We ought to be wearing Carnegie medals, oughtn't we, girls?" said +Julietta Hyde, blinking comically. "We can throttle anything from a +black-hand agent to a ghost." + +"No, you ought to be wearing honor pins, for things well done," Miss +Ladd corrected. "We'll leave the Carnegie medals for those who haven't +any Camp Fire scheme of honors. But really, girls, you have all +conducted yourselves admirably in this affair. We will hope it won't +result in anything very serious, but meanwhile we must take proper +precautions." + +"Shall we have to give up our vacation at Hollyhill on account of +this?" asked Katherine Crane almost as dejectedly as if she were being +sentenced to prison for violating a Connecticut blue law. + +"That is up to you girls and the conditions that develop," answered +Miss Ladd. "As soon as we get to Hollyhill we will take the matter up +with the proper authorities and try to determine what the outlook is." + +"My father will get busy as soon as he hears about this," said Marion. +"I think we can leave everything to his management. He will probably +advise us to give up the idea of doing anything for the strikers' +families and have as good a time as we can entertaining ourselves at +home." + +"Oh, I hope not!" Katherine exclaimed, and the manner in which she +spoke indicated how much she had set her heart on the work they had +planned to do. + +"It would be too bad to give it up," Marion said earnestly, "for I +understand some of those people are greatly in need of assistance. +There is not only much hunger and privation among them, but +considerable sickness among the children. We can't do a whole lot in +two weeks, but we can do something, and our training as Camp Fire +Girls and in our nursing classes fits us to be of much assistance to +them. It is a shame that they should take an attitude so hostile to +their own interests." + +"They probably don't understand your father or they wouldn't be +striking now," said Miss Ladd. + +"I'm sure they wouldn't," Marion testified vigorously. "I've often +heard father say he'd like to do more for the men and their families +but conditions tied his hands. Many of the miners are good fellows, +but they get mistaken ideas in their heads and it's impossible for +anybody whom they once put under suspicion to convince them that they +are in the wrong." + +"Do you know, girls," interposed Violet Munday enthusiastically; "I +believe we are going to get a lot out of this vacation experience, +whatever happens. I'm interested in what Marion tells us about the +miners. Let's make a study of coal mining, hold up everybody we can +for information and watch our chance to help the poor families and +their sick children whenever we can without doing anything foolhardy." + +"That's a good idea," said Miss Ladd. "We'll keep that in mind and if +Marion's father's advice is favorable, we'll take it up." + +The train arrived at Hollyhill shortly after 2 p.m. Mr. Stanlock's +touring car and two taxicabs were waiting at the station to convey the +girls to Marion's home. The run to the spacious, half-rustic Stanlock +residence at the northeast edge of the city occupied about fifteen +minutes, and was without notable incident. + +The cars passed through a massive iron gateway, up a winding +gravel-bedded drive, and stopped near a white pillared pergola +connected with the large colonial house by a vine-covered walk running +up to a porticoed side entrance. + +Mrs. Stanlock met them at the door and the travelers were speedily +accommodated with the usual journey-end attentions. Marion then +inquired for her father, but Mr. Stanlock had gone to his office early +in the day and would not return until dinnertime. So the girl hostess +decided that she must let the problem uppermost in her mind rest +unsettled a few hours longer. + +Evening came, but still Mr. Stanlock did not appear. Wondering at his +delay, Mrs. Stanlock called up his office, but learned that he had +left an hour and a half before, supposedly for home. + +"How did he leave?" Mrs. Stanlock inquired nervously. + +"In his automobile," was the answer. + +That being the case, he ought to have been home more than an hour ago. +His office was in the city and he could easily make the run in fifteen +minutes. + +Thoroughly alarmed, Mrs. Stanlock called up the police, stated the +circumstances and asked that a search be made for her husband. + +Two hours more elapsed and the whole neighborhood was alarmed. The +news spread rapidly and was communicated by phone to most of Mr. +Stanlock's friends and acquaintances throughout the city. The search +was growing in scope and sensation. Treachery was suspected, a tragedy +was feared. + +Then suddenly and calmly, Mr. Stanlock reappeared at home, driving the +machine himself. He had a thrilling story to tell of his experiences. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE PUNSTER MAKES A FIND. + + +When Marion Stanlock selected the term High Peak as her Camp Fire +name, her deliberations carried her back from Hiawatha Institute to +the scene of most of the years of her child life in Hollyhill. +Confronted with the task of choosing a name, she first consulted her +ideals to determine what associations she wished to have in mind when +in after years she recalled the motive and circumstances of her +selection. + +Home surroundings had always had much of beauty for Marion. From the +beginning of his business career, Mr. Stanlock had had a large income +and was able to supply his family with many of the expensive luxuries, +as well as all the so-called necessities of life. But for Marion the +artificial luxuries had little special attraction. She accepted them +as a matter of course, but that is about all the claim they had upon +her. She enjoyed the use of her father's automobiles, but she wondered +sometimes at the scheme of things which entitled her to an electric +runabout or a limousine and a chauffeur, while thousands of other +quite as deserving girls were not nearly as well favored. + +The ability and the disposition to look at things occasionally from +this point of view contributed much to the generosity of Marion's +nature. She was a favorite among rich and poor alike, except among +those rich who could "understand" why the wealthy ought to be +specially favored, and those poor too narrow and circumscribed to +credit any wealthy person with genuine generosity. + +Being of this artless and unartificial trend of mind, Marion must +naturally turn to either nature or human merit for the selection of +her Camp Fire name. She was not sufficiently mature to pick a poetic +idea from the achievements of men, and so it fell to nature to supply +a quaint notion as a foundation for her "nom-de-fire." + +Seated in her room at Hiawatha Institute one evening, Marion cast +about her mental horizon for some scene or association in her life +that would suggest the desired name. The first that came to her was +the picture of a towering mountain, conspicuous not so much for its +actual loftiness as for its deceptive appearance of great height. In +all her experiences at home, it had never occurred to Marion to think +of this individual portion of prehistoric geologic upheaval as a mass +of earth and stones. She thought of it only as the most beautiful +expression of nature she had ever seen, graceful of form, rich in the +seasons' decorations. + +This mountain was probably about as slender as it is possible for a +mountain to be. Compared, or contrasted, with a nearby and +characteristic mountain of the range, it was as a lady's finger to a +telescoped giant's thumb. High Peak, as the tapering sugar-loaf of +earth was called, was located west of Hollyhill, close to the town. In +fact the portion of the city inhabited by the main colony of miners' +families was built on the sloping ground that formed a foothill of the +mountain. + +And so when Marion named herself as a Camp Fire Girl after this +mountain she had in mind an ideal expressed in the first injunction of +the Law of the Camp Fire, which is to + + "Seek Beauty." + +High Peak was her ideal of beauty and grandeur. It stood also, with +her, for lofty aspiration. Thus she pictured the physical +representation of the name she chose as a member of the great army of +girls who seek romance, beauty, and adventure in every-day life. + +On the day when the Flamingo Camp Fire arrived at Hollyhill, another +train pulled in at the principal station several hours earlier. It +came from the same direction and might, indeed, have borne the +thirteen girls and their guardian if they had seen fit to get up early +enough to catch a 3 o'clock train. + +But the thirteen girls would have been much interested if they could +have beheld the eight boy passengers as they got off in a group and +looked around to see if there was anyone at the depot who knew any of +them. + +Relieved at the apparent absence of anybody who might recognize the +one of their number whose home was in Hollyhill or another who had +been a frequent visitor there, the eight boys hastened to a corner +half a square away from the depot and boarded a street car that was +waiting for the time to start from this terminal point. The car +started almost immediately after they had seated themselves, moving in +a southwesterly direction through the business section of the city and +then directly west toward High Peak, passing along the northern border +of the mining colony and then making a curve to the north through a +more prosperous residence district. + +The eight boys all wore Scout uniforms. They were the full membership +of one Spring Lake patrol, the leader of which was Ernest Hunter, +whose home was in Hollyhill, and who had invited all the Scouts of his +patrol to be his guests during the holidays. This invitation followed +the receipt of information that Marion Stanlock had invited the +members of her Camp Fire to spend the Christmas holidays with her. + +Ernest Hunter was well prepared to entertain his guests in real scout +fashion. His parents' home was not large enough to afford sleeping +quarters and other ordinary conveniences for seven visitors in +addition to the regular personnel of the family, but the boy had taken +care of this deficiency long before he had ever dreamed that it might +occur. The Hunter home included a large tract of land running clear up +to the foot of the mountain, which, at this point, was rocky and +covered with a plentiful growth of white pine, hemlock and black +spruce. Hidden behind an irregular heap of boulders and a small timber +foreground was a cave, formed by nature and nature's anarchistic +elements, that could not fail to delight the most fastidious +wonder-seeker. The entrance was about the size of an ordinary doorway, +flanked by twin boulders like columns for an arched shelter. Within +was a large room with fairly smooth walls and ceiling of Silurian rock +and sandstone. + +The cave as it now appeared would hardly have been recognized by its +aboriginal frequenters. It had been converted into a place of civil +abode or resort, retaining only enough of its pristine wildness for +romantic effect. Ernie Hunter had done his work well. He had provided +for heat for the cave by running a galvanized stovepipe up through a +crevice in the rocks and filling with stones and cement all the +surrounding vents to guard against the draining in of water from the +mountain side. He also collected and stored at home a supply of old +mattresses, blankets, kitchen utensils, a laundry stove, and other +domestic conveniences usable in a place of this kind. A week before +vacation he wrote thus to his 12-year-old brother, Paul: + +"I'm going to bring seven boys home with me. We are going to spend the +vacation in the mountains, with the cave as headquarters. Will you +have the stove hauled there and set up and keep a fire in it a good +deal of the time to dry the place out thoroughly? We will come to +Hollyhill on an early train, so as to have plenty of time to haul the +mattresses and other outfittings to the cave and get it ready for +habitation. We will all have guns and will have some great times +shooting game. Of course, you will be in on all this." + +Paul did as requested. When the patrol arrived at the Hunter home, he +reported to his brother that the latter's instructions had been +carried out and all was in readiness for the removal of the outing +outfit from the storeroom over the garage to the cave. Everything but +the mattresses were piled into Mr. Hunter's seven-passenger touring +car, the eight boys piled in on top and the first run to their holiday +headquarters was made. + +As the machine drove up toward the mouth of the cave, the boys were +startled at seeing two rough looking men emerge from the entrance and +slink away to the south, half hidden by the unevenness of the ground +and the thick shrubbery. Their hurried movements and evident desire to +avoid meeting the boys marked them as suspicious characters. Fearing +that they might have committed some malicious act to render the place +uninhabitable, Ernie hastened toward the cave, followed by the other +boys, to make an inspection. + +Before entering, however, Ernie, who was the patrol leader, asked four +of the boys to return and watch the automobile. Division of the +patrol with this in view was quickly arranged, and Ernie, Clifford +Long, Harry, Gilbert, and Jerry McCracken proceeded into the cave. + +The entrance of the cave was protected against the cold by a heavy +blanket hung over a pole anchored at either end in the rocky side at +the top. Pushing aside this wilderness portiere, the four +investigators stepped in, lighting their way with two or three +electric flash lights. + +They were relieved to discover that no damage had been done to the +cave or to the stove set up within. After satisfying themselves on +this score they proceeded to replenish the fire, by putting in several +cuts of spruce, a good supply of which had been provided by Ernie's +brother. The cave was still warm and had been well dried out by the +steady fire kept up by Paul for two or three days. + +The entire patrol now reassembled and mapped out a plan for completing +their day's work. It was decided that Ernie should return in the +automobile to his home a mile and a half away and bring the mattresses +and a supply of food that was being prepared for them at the house, +while the others took upon themselves the task of cutting a supply of +brushwood to lay on the floor of the cave as a kind of spring support +for the mattresses. Accordingly Ernie got into the machine and drove +away, while the other boys got busy with the task assigned to them. + +The patrol leader returned, in less than an hour, accompanied by Paul +and a farm hand employed by Mr. Hunter. They brought with them not +only four mattresses, but the shotguns and rifles shipped by the boys +from the academy for their mid-winter hunting. Ernie announced that +their trunks and valises also had arrived and that George, the farm +hand, would return for them in the automobile. + +The work progressed rapidly and by the time the trunks and valises +arrived the mattresses were all in position, the food and cooking +utensils were stored away in the narrowest compass of space that could +be arranged for them and a large pile of resinous wood had been +gathered. + +It was now 4 o'clock and the boys felt that they were entitled to a +rest. A large boulder with a flat end two and a half feet in diameter +was rolled into the cave and propped into position, with slabs of +stone for a table. On this was placed a large kerosene lamp, which, +when burning, lighted up the cave very well. A supply of camp chairs +had been brought with the first load, so that everybody had a seat. + +"I call this something swell, from the point of view of a smart rustic +who hasn't absorbed any city nonsense," observed Miles Berryman, +seating himself comfortably in a chair and gazing about with great +satisfaction. "I think, Ernie, that we must all agree that you are a +very wide-awake opportunist." + +"Is that the kind of musician who plays an opportune at every +opportunity?" inquired John St. John in a tone of gravity as deep as +the cavern in which they were housed. + +"Now, see here, Johnnie Two Times," exclaimed Miles portentously: "you +know what we came near doing to you six months ago for springing that +kind of stuff." + +"We came near ducking him in the lake," reminded Earl Hamilton. + +"Yes," continued Miles in the attitude of a stage threat, "and if we +can't find a lake around here we can find a deep snowdrift to throw +him into." + +"I wonder if he catches the drift of that argument," said Clifford +Long, with a wink at Miles. + +"He not only catches it, but he understands, and hence he does snow +drift (does know drift) of what the menacing Miles means," declared +John, who had long answered to the nickname of "Johnnie Two Times," +because of the combination of baptismal and family names by which he +was legally known. + +A roar of pun-protesting groans filled the cavern, and as several of +the boys arose in attitudes of vengeance, the punster made a dive for +the exit and disappeared beyond the blanket portiere. None of the +protestors followed. They did not feel like engaging in any vigorous +sport following the strenuous exercises they had had. + +Five minutes later "Johnnie Two Times" returned. One glance at his +face was sufficient guarantee that he had lost all his punning +facetiousness. He held in his hand a bit of paper which he laid on the +stone table by the lamp. + +"Read that, boys!" he exclaimed, excitedly. "I found it outside. Those +men must have dropped it. They're after Mr. Stanlock--going to hold +him up." + +The ten other boys needed no second bidding. They crowded around so +eagerly that nobody could read. + +"Here, I'll read it aloud," said Clifford, picking up the paper and +holding it close to the lamp. Here is what he read: + +"I will bring Old Stanlock along the foothill pike. Will slow up in +the sand stretch. Be there ready to grab him. Jake." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +TO THE RESCUE. + + +"Boys, we've got to do something," declared Patrol Leader Ernie +Hunter, breaking the gaping silence that followed the reading of the +note. + +"What shall we do?" asked Harry Gilbert, who was a good soldier, but +no leader. + +"We must go to Mr. Stanlock's rescue," Ernie replied. "There is no +telling what those rascals are plotting. They may kill him if we don't +get there in time to prevent it." + +"It's a long hike, and we may not be able to get there in time," Paul +Hunter warned. + +"That means we've got to move mighty fast," Ernie said. "Boys, get +your guns and a supply of shells. I hope we won't have to use them, +but we'd better be well prepared. We're going to be late getting back, +so you may as well grab some bread and dried beef and anything else +you can find in a jiffy to eat on the way. We've got to start in three +minutes. Now everybody hustle. + +"Paul, you and Jerry had better run home and stay there till morning," +Ernie added, turning to his brother. Jerry was scarcely any larger +than Paul, although the latter was a year younger. Ernie felt a +slightly nervous responsibility for the safety of the "twin babies of +the bunch," as some one had already referred to them in the course of +the day. Jerry, who, like Paul, was an extremely likable fellow, +resented being called the baby of the patrol, a term sometimes applied +to him when the Scouts were dealing in jocular personalities. + +"Not much are we goin' home," declared Paul, energetically; "are we, +Jerry? I'm goin' along and carry my target rifle with the rest. What +do you say, Jerry?" + +"I'm with you," the latter announced with spirit. "They can't leave us +behind." + +"But you can't make the trip fast enough," Ernie insisted. + +"We'll have to run part of the way, and the ground is rough, and the +snow and ice on the road make it hard traveling. We've got over two +miles of that kind of hiking to do, and less than an hour to do it +in." + +"We can make it just as well as anybody else in this bunch," declared +Paul, stoutly. + +"Well, come along, then; but you will have to obey orders," said +Ernie, speaking as one with military authority. "We're operating under +martial law tonight, and if you insist on coming along you must expect +to be treated like a soldier. Everybody bring your gun and flashlight. +It's cloudy now and will be dark before long." + +In scarcely more time than it takes to tell it, the boys had possessed +themselves of their guns, flashlights, overcoats, hats, and "a bite to +eat on the run," and were dashing out along the path leading down to +the road that skirted the foothill to the southward. Presently, +however, they slowed down to a "dog trot" at the suggestion of +Clifford Long, who warned his fellow Scouts against "tuckering +themselves out." + +They continued along in this manner half a mile and then, by common +consent, reduced their pace to a walking long stride. As they +proceeded thus, Ernie said to Clifford Long and one or two others +nearest him: + +"I'm afraid we've made a mistake in not doing one thing that has just +occurred to me. What I ought to have done was to hurry home, got the +automobile and made a race for the police station while you boys made +this trip. In that way we could 'ave had a double chance of catching +those bandits. If everything had gone smoothly, I might even have +beaten you boys to the scene of the hold-up with an auto load of +police. I could 'ave left word, too, for someone to call up Mr. +Stanlock's office and warn him, if by any cause he had been delayed." + +"I don't think much of that suggestion," replied Clifford; "for, if +they haven't got him started by this time, they're not likely to get +him going their way tonight. But the other'd 'a' been a good one. It's +too bad you didn't think of it sooner." + +"Too late now," said Ernie. "We've got to make the best of it." + +"Who do you suppose those two men are that we saw come out of the +cave?" Miles Berryman inquired. + +"The chances are ninety-nine out of a hundred that this affair is +connected directly with the strike," Clifford replied, with confident +assurance. "The highwaymen who plotted this scheme doubtless belong to +the rougher element of the strikers. They are really dangerous men, +and the community would be much safer if they were lodged in prison." + +"How do you suppose they got your uncle to come away out here at the +time when he usually starts home for dinner--that is, if he really +came this way?" asked Hal Ettelson. + +"That's the very thing that's bothering me most," Clifford replied, +with puzzled air. "Uncle is usually pretty shrewd, and I am pretty +certain that people who try to put anything over on him generally find +that they have a hard job on their hands." + +"I'd take it, from the note Jerry found, that this is a decoy game +they're trying to work," Ernie remarked. + +"It'd have to be a sharp one to get my uncle," declared Clifford. +"He's a very clever business man." + +"The smartest men get caught once in a while," was Ernie's sage +remark. + +"That must have been a chauffeur who wrote that note," observed Johnny +St. John. "It read as if a chauffeur was the brains of this plot. If +we get there on time, he won't have much to chauffeur it" (show for +it). + +"Oh, Johnny Twice!" groaned Earl Hamilton. "Don't spoil your good +deed of finding that note by springing any more of that stuff. You're +taking an unfair advantage of us, for we can't stop now to duck you in +a snowdrift." + +The road was not broken all the way for good walking, so that the boys +were forced to put forth their best efforts in order to reach the +place of the plotted ambush on time. + +Their pace therefore varied from a rapid walk to a run, according as +their "wind" and leg muscles supplied the needed endurance. Paul and +Jerry found it pretty hard to keep up with the other boys during the +last three-quarters of a mile, especially when they struck a poorly +broken snowdrift or a stretch of ground covered with rocks or rough +ice. They were quite elated, however, at their ability to keep their +feet in these rough places, after seeing two of the larger boys slip +and fall. + +It was almost dark by the time they reached the vicinity of the "sand +stretch" referred to in the note found by "Johnny Two-Times." This +stretch was a sand bed of several acres in extent, between which and +High Peak was a large stone quarry. The road ran between the "sand +stretch," which, of course, was now frozen and covered with snow, and +the quarry. The approach to this was sheltered, fortunately for the +concealment of the boy rescuers, by a growth of timber extending down +the mountain slope to the road. + +Ernie called a halt about two hundred yards from the point in the +road which appeared the most favorable place for an ambush. + +"Let's leave the road and make our way through the trees," he +suggested. + +"There comes the automobile!" exclaimed Paul, excitedly, pointing down +the highway to the southwest. + +Yes, a machine was approaching, about two miles away. The long stream +of light from the electric lamps could be seen, almost hitting the +sky, as the auto began to climb a steep hill. Evidently it had just +turned into this highway from another thoroughfare leading direct from +the city. + +"Come on! We must hurry," said Ernie, dashing into the timber. "Be +careful; don't fall or run any branches in your eyes." + +They made fairly good progress, considering the difficulties before +them and the darkness in the woods. However, they kept close to the +edge, where the tree growth was not very heavy and where the snow +reflected sufficient light to guide their feet. Ernie ordered that +none of the flashlights be used, and perhaps it was fortunate for the +success of the expedition that this order was issued and obeyed. + +The efforts of the boys were well timed. Everything went like +clockwork, or so it afterward seemed. Two shadowy forms were discerned +standing in the thicker darkness under the trees as the automobile +arrived near the Southern edge of the quarry. The boys were within +easy attacking distance from the place where the two men stood. Ernie +whispered the word "Halt" loud enough for his companions to hear him. +They gathered around their leader, who hurriedly spoke thus: + +"Now, everybody listen to me for orders. When I give the word, 'fire,' +you, Paul, John, Harry and Jerry, fire your guns into the air. Be +careful, and shoot up toward the tops of the trees, so as not to hit +anyone. Then I'll give the order to charge, and everybody let out an +Indian war-whoop or something of the sort. We won't have to do any +more shooting. Now, come on; we'll get closer. Those fellows are +starting now." + +Even as he spoke, the two villainous individuals, with masks on their +faces, dashed out from the timber and planted themselves in front of +the automobile, with pistols leveled at the driver. The latter, +according to the plan outlined in his note discovered by "Johnny +Two-Times," slowed down the machine before the highwaymen appeared. At +the command to halt he came to a sudden stop and threw up his hands. + +"Ready!--Fire!" commanded Ernie in a loud voice. + +Two magazine shotguns and two target rifles exploded in quick +succession. Without giving the two hold-up men time to determine +whether they had been hit or not, the patrol leader issued his second +order, thus: + +"Now, boys, after them! Charge! No quarter for the rascals!" + +Then followed a scene that, for rapidity of action, is not often +surpassed by motion picture speed artists. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +THE EAVESDROPPER. + + +If the two masked highwaymen had been crouching in position for a +footrace to be started at the shot of a pistol, they could hardly have +sprung forward more suddenly or have sped down the road more rapidly. +One glance over their shoulders at what doubtless appeared to them to +be something like a regiment of armed men was pouring out of the +timber, as one of the boys afterward put it, was enough to make them +"hot-foot along hot enough to melt all the ice and snow in their +path." + +All of the boys now produced the flashlights which they had carried in +their pockets and turned them on to their own faces, in order that Mr. +Stanlock might see who they were and have no doubt that they were +friends. This was according to one detail of their pre-arranged plan, +and worked successfully. The owner of the automobile recognized his +nephew, Clifford Long, and the Scout uniforms worn by the boys, and +realized at once that he had been rescued from the hands of a pair of +unscrupulous rascals by a company of real boy heroes. He threw open +the door, sprang out, and began shaking the hands of his rescuers in +grateful appreciation of what they had done for him. + +"I don't know what all this means," he said; "but I've got wits +enough to understand there's been some pretty tough rascality on foot, +and you boys have done me a very great service." + +"We were hiking along this way and saw those two men with guns in +their hands stop your machine" exclaimed Clifford, who thought it best +not to reveal the discovery of the note in the presence of the +chauffeur. + +"You did mighty good work" declared the wealthy mine operator, +enthusiastically. + +"Does your Boy Scout training teach you to use your heads so +successfully? One would think that this hold-up and the rescue were +both plotted and planned some time ahead, judging by the skill with +which you worked." + +"Don't flatter us too much, uncle, or you may tempt us to help along +the deception by leading you to believe that we really are a +remarkable bunch of boys," Clifford warned, slyly. + +"I not only believe it, but I know it," replied Mr. Stanlock with +stubborn generosity. "So, if I am deceived, the fault is all my own. +But, Clifford, I didn't know you were in town. When did you come? You +haven't been over at the house yet, have you?" + +"No, not yet, uncle," Clifford answered, slowly. "And I'm not coming +over for a few days. The fact is, we are here on a hunting trip and a +mystery mission, and we want you to help us keep our secret. Since we +have proved ourselves to be a very unusual lot of boys, perhaps you +will take special care to favor us in this respect. We are planning a +surprise on the girls, and we don't want you to tell them we are in +town." + +"My lips are sealed until you unseal them," Mr. Stanlock assured them. +"But where are you staying?" + +"All of us are members of one patrol of Scouts at Spring Lake Academy, +all except Paul Hunter. We came here on an invitation from Ernie +Hunter, and we are living in a cave at the west end of Mr. Hunter's +farm." + +"In a cave!" Mr. Stanlock exclaimed with some concern. "Isn't that +rather an unhealthful place for you to live? You don't sleep there, I +hope?" + +"We certainly do, uncle; or, rather, we are going to, for this is our +first night. I wish you could come over and see it. It's as dry and +warm as can be. Paul dried it out by keeping a stove burning in it for +several days." + +"A stove in a cave!" was Mr. Stanlock's astonished comment. "That is +surely some combination of wild nature and mechanical civilization. I +shall certainly inspect your domesticated wild-and-woolly retreat. +When am I invited to come?" + +"Any time, Mr. Stanlock," Ernie interposed, with the hospitality of +host. "Name your time and we'll be there to receive you." + +"You'll have quite a walk to the cave tonight, and the walking isn't +very good, I venture. Pile in and I'll take you in the machine." + +"I'm afraid we'll make more of a load than you can carry," said +Ernie. + +"This machine can carry seven, nine in a pinch, and eleven in a case +of life and death," assured Mr. Stanlock. "But I've got an idea that +will cut off the life and death. I am bringing home a large sled that +a young manual training student made for my seven-year-old son, +Harold. It has a good, strong rope attached, and we will hitch it on +behind, and two of you boys can ride on that." + +"Let's you and me hitch," said Paul to Jerry, eagerly. Jerry was just +as eager, and the problem of carrying ten passengers and the chauffeur +was settled. + +"One of you boys get in front with Jake and show him the way," +suggested the owner of the automobile. + +"Jake!" The utterance of that name sent a thrill through every one of +the boys, all of whom recognized it as the name signed to the note +that "Johnny Two-Times" had found near the cave. + +Ernie climbed up with the driver, the sled was taken out and hitched +on behind, and six of the boys "piled in" with Mr. Stanlock. As soon +as Paul and Jerry called out "Go ahead," they started. + +It was not quite as jolly an adventure for the two boys on the sled as +they had expected. The road was pretty rough and, although the +chauffeur, obeying his employer's instruction, drove carefully, the +"hitchers" were twice thrown off. + +But they refused to give up, declaring it to be the most fun they had +had "in a coon's age," which was really a boys' bravery fib, and +finally the machine drew up within a hundred and fifty feet of the +cave. + +The boys and Mr. Stanlock left the automobile in charge of the driver +and proceeded to the Scouts' hunting headquarters. The visitor proved +that he had not lost all sympathy for his youthful days, for he +declared that he would like nothing better than to return to his +'teens and spend a mid-winter vacation with the young hunters in their +cave. After the inspection was completed, Clifford again broached the +subject of the highwaymen's attack, saying: + +"Uncle, we didn't tell you how we happened to be present when those +two men stopped you tonight, because we didn't want the chauffeur to +hear what we had to say. The whole story is contained in this note, +which one of the boys found after we had seen those men come out of +the cave and hurry away. Here it is; read it. As you are more +interested in it than anybody else, you may keep it." + +Clifford drew the folded paper from his vest pocket and gave it to Mr. +Stanlock. The latter held it close to the lamp and read. + +"That's Jake, my driver; it's his handwriting I'm certain. What did be +want to do that for? He must be in league with the worst element of +the strikers. Probably they paid him well for this, or promised him a +tempting bribe." + +Mr. Stanlock mused thus aloud as he studied over the note. The +situation puzzled him. What ought he to do? Of course, he must have +the driver arrested, and there must be an investigation by the police. +But, would it be safe for him to trust Jake to drive him home? +Probably it would be safe enough, for doubtless the driver had no +desire to be openly connected with the plot. + +He was about decided to return home with the driver and say nothing to +him about the note, when a slight noise at the entrance attracted the +attention of all. Listening carefully, they could hear the sound of +retreating footsteps. + +"That's Jake," Mr. Stanlock exclaimed. "He overheard us. After him, or +he'll run away with the machine." + +The rush for the entrance threatened to cause some confusion and delay +in getting out. Fortunately, however, the delay, if any, was not +serious, and the pursuit soon indicated that there were some real +sprinters among the boys. As they emerged from the cave, the driver +was already within fifty feet of the machine. But he looked back over +his shoulder and evidently thought better of his original purpose, for +he turned to the left and raced down the hill toward the road at +another point, leaping and striding with such recklessness that it +seemed almost miraculous that he should escape a fall and serious +injury. + +Mr. Stanlock had no desire to attempt a capture of the traitorous +chauffeur by physical force, and when he saw that Jake had given up +the idea of fleeing in the automobile, he called the pursuit off. Then +he announced his intention to drive the machine home himself, taking +the route that led past Mr. Hunter's home. He had no fear of further +trouble with the driver or his confederates, for he was certain that +Jake was a coward at heart and the two highwaymen could hardly have +arrived in the vicinity of the cave on foot, since they were driven +off in mad haste in the opposite direction, even if they had been +disposed to make another attack. + +"Well, good-night, boys," he said, taking his place in the driver's +seat. "You've done me a service tonight that I won't forget very soon. +Come and see me, all of you, after you have sprung your surprise on +the girls. I'll remember to keep your secret all right. Good night." + +He put his foot on the starter, gave the steering wheel a few turns, +and the throbbing machine moved over the sloping stretch of ground +between the cave and the road. The boys, several of them with guns in +their hands, followed him to the road and stood there ready to run to +his assistance if they should see any evidences of another attack. +They continued the watch for fifteen or twenty minutes, until the +lights of the automobile, which pierced the darkness far ahead, +indicated that he had proceeded between one and two miles without +interference. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +MR. STANLOCK SURPRISED. + + +Perhaps it were better not to attempt to describe with faithfulness of +detail the reception given Mr. Stanlock by his wife and family on his +return home shortly before 9 o'clock that night. The fear that +something of serious nature had intervened to prevent his appearing at +the usual dinner hour had taken firm hold of Mrs. Stanlock, Marion, +sister Kathryn, and brother Harold. The fact that the police had been +searching for him for two hours or more and had been unable to make +any hopeful report, had not tended in the least to relieve the tension +of suspense, which became almost unbearable. + +Then came the vague announcement from Mr. Stanlock's stenographer at +the latter's home that he had been called away somewhere, but left no +definite information. He had been called unexpectedly and left in a +hurry. That was all the stenographer could say. + +This information was communicated to the police, who increased the +family's alarm by asking a string of questions over the telephone +indicating the most direful suspicions. Had Mr. Stanlock seen or heard +anything which caused him to believe that the strikers might do him +bodily harm if they had an opportunity? Had he received any +threatening letters? Had he appeared nervous or was there anything in +his manner which indicated that he was apprehensive of trouble not +already well known to the public? + +Marion and her mother answered some of these questions over the +telephone and half an hour later a police lieutenant called at the +house and made further inquiry. There was no longer any possibility of +dodging the most logical suspicions, namely, that Mr. Stanlock was the +victim of a decoy plotted by some criminal element working with or +under the shadow of the coal miners' strike. + +And so the relief from this dread suspense was very great when he +drove up to the house and walked in, smiling as if nothing unusual had +happened. Marion fairly flew into her father's arms as if she had not +seen him for sixteen months. + +"Papa!" she cried almost hysterically; "where have you been? We've +been telephoning all over the city, and the police have been searching +for you for nearly two hours. Why didn't you call us up and let us +know you were going to be late?" + +"I was intending to call you, my dear," replied Mr. Stanlock, as he +greeted her and the other members of the family with a rapid +succession of hugs and kisses, indicating, in spite of his attempts to +appear composed, that he had returned home not under the most ordinary +circumstances. + +"Why didn't you?" Marion insisted. "Do you know what a state of mind +you had us in during the last two or three hours?" + +"I delayed calling you because I wanted to find out how late I was +going to be," Mr. Stanlock explained. "Then something happened, and I +wasn't near a telephone, and something more delayed me, and I decided +to come directly home without stopping on the way to telephone." + +"What was it that happened, papa?" Marion demanded. "Was it anything +serious?" + +"Pretty serious, girlie," answered her father, pinching her cheek; +"but your daddy is an awfully brave man, you know, and he can't tell +his daughter any of his blood-curdling experiences unless she can +listen to the roaring of cannons and the yelling of Indians without +flinching." + +"Now, papa, you're making fun of me," Marion protested. "Didn't +anything really serious happen? The police thought you must have been +waylaid." + +"I see there's no way out of it, and I shall have to tell you girls a +story that will make you all scream and dream nightmares filled with +revolvers and skulking figures and masked faces and lonely highways." + +All of the thirteen members and the Guardian of Flamingo Camp Fire, +Marion's mother, sister, and brother were present at this scene in the +big living room of the Stanlock home. Mr. Stanlock covertly watched +the faces of his auditors and was pleased to note that his bandying +words were rapidly bringing the tension back to normal. Young Master +Harold at this point helped his father's purpose along remarkably by +piping forth: + +"It's mighty funny if a man can't be out after dark without a lot o' +women jumpin' on 'im." + +Nobody with a grain of humor in his soul, if that is where the sense +of fun is located, could have restrained a laugh at that remark. In a +moment it would have been difficult for any one of those present to +realize how tragically serious they had all been a few minutes before. + +After the chorus of laughter had subsided, Mr. Stanlock sat down in a +large upholstered armchair, and remarked to his unconsciously +brilliant son: + +"You are a great protector of women-oppressed man, aren't you, Harold. +Your chief virtue along this line is your ability to get the +philosophical high spots of every-day gossip. But don't stop there, my +able young advocate. Do you realize that your father has had no dinner +and that this exacting bevy of girls is going to force me to suffer +the pangs of hunger until I have told my story?" + +"I just told Mary (the head maid) to get your dinner ready," Mrs. +Stanlock interposed smilingly. "You won't need to go hungry more than +fifteen minutes longer." + +"I see that you don't appreciate an eager and attentive audience," +Marion remarked, affecting to be deeply offended in behalf of her +guests. "Very well, we'll wait until after you have satisfied a mere +man's appetite, and then we'll condescend to listen." + +"Oh, I can tell it in fifteen minutes while Mary is warming over the +meat and potatoes. Now, get ready, all you young ladies, for the first +shock. I was really and truly held up." + +"Held up!" exclaimed several of the girls in chorus. + +"Yes, held up, with guns pointed at the chauffeur's head by two masked +men on a lonely highway." + +"You're joking," said Marion, dubiously. + +"All right," said the mine owner, settling back comfortably in his +chair. "You insisted on my telling my story, and now that I have begun +it, you won't believe my first sentence." + +"Yes, I do believe it, papa," Marion said repentantly, going close to +her father's chair and putting her arm around his neck. "I believe you +were held up by two masked highwaymen with guns in a lonely spot, as +you say. But how did you escape?" + +"We were rescued by some boys!" + +Although at the end of a sentence, Mr. Stanlock stopped so quickly +that only a dull person could fail to notice it. His sudden stop, of +course, was occasioned by the return to his mind of his promise to +keep the secret of the Boy Scouts. + +"Boys," said Mrs. Stanlock, wonderingly. "I didn't know that we had +any heroes of that type in Hollyhill." + +"They were some young fellows out hunting," explained the narrator. +"They witnessed the hold-up and leveled their guns at the rascals and +drove them away." + +"Who are those boys?" Marion demanded, and one might almost have +imagined from her manner that she had half a kingdom to bestow on the +rescuers of her father. + +"I'm afraid I can't give you their names," Mr. Stanlock replied +slowly. + +"You don't mean to say that you let them get away without finding out +who they were, do you?" his daughter inquired with just a shade of +indignation. + +"No, not exactly that, for I can easily get all their names any time I +want them. But I know also that they don't wish to get into the +newspapers in connection with this affair." + +"Can't you tell me who some of them are, papa?" Marion pleaded. "I +want to know who it was that, perhaps, saved the life of my father." + +"I can't tell you now, Marion. I have promised faithfully not to +reveal their identity at present for very good reasons which they gave +to me." + +"Where is Jake, the driver, Henry?" asked Mrs. Stanlock. "I see you +drove home alone." + +"Jake proved himself to be a scoundrel and a traitor and when he +discovered that I had found him out he vamoosed. I expect to swear +out a warrant for his arrest tomorrow. Shortly before my usual time +for coming home, I received a letter by messenger, supposedly from Mr. +Mills, chairman of a special hospital committee that is looking after +the sick members of striking miners' families. I had been expecting a +call of a meeting and this letter stated that it was important that I +be present. He lives out on the Foothill pike near the quarries. I +thought that I would make a quick run out there and call you up from +his home and let you know how late I would be. Well, I didn't get +there. It seems that Jake was one of the conspirators in a plot to get +me out there and waylay me. By the way, that makes me think I ought to +call Mills up and find out if he did call a meeting. The notice was on +his stationery and it is just possible that wasn't a fake." + +In a few moments Mr. Stanlock was talking with Mills on the phone. The +latter was astonished, declared that he had no idea of calling a +meeting that night. + +"Well, it's lucky I kept the notice," the mining president muttered. +"That'll be something interesting to show to the police tomorrow." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MR. STANLOCK AMUSED. + + +"I understand now how a mathematician could write 'Alice in +Wonderland'," Helen Nash remarked to Marion after Mr. Stanlock had +withdrawn to the diningroom and his belated meal. + +"How is that?" the hostess inquired, looking curiously at her friend. + +"Why, your father, I suppose, has been thinking in terms of tons of +coal all day--" + +"Carloads," Marion corrected, with a toss of levity. + +"Well, make it carloads," Helen assented. "That's better to my +purpose, more like a multiplication table, instead of addition. But it +must be about as dry as mathematics." + +"Oh, I get you," Marion exclaimed delightedly. "You mean that it is +quite as remarkable for a coal operator, with carloads of coal and +soot weighing down his imagination all day, to come home in the +evening and spin off a lot of nonsense like a comedian as it is for a +mathematician to have written 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'." + +"Precisely," answered Helen. + +"Well, I don't know but you're right. Anyway, I wouldn't detract from +such a nice compliment paid to the dearest daddy on earth. Still, +after leaving the atmosphere of his carloads of coal he had +experienced the diversion of being held up." + +"By two masked men with guns on a lonely highway," supplemented Helen. + +"Yes." + +"And later found that his driver had turned traitor and planned to +deliver him into the hands of the enemy." + +"Yes." + +"I don't see any diversion or inspiration in that sort of experience. +Many a man would have come home in a very depressed state of mind +after such an adventure. And yet he came home, found everybody scared +to death, and before he even began his story had us all laughing just +as Alice would at some of the contortions behind the looking glass. +And he kept us smiling even when he told of the masked would-be +kidnappers standing in the middle of the road and pointing pistols at +the driver of his automobile." + +"Kidnappers," repeated Marion in puzzled surprise. "Why do you say +kidnappers?" + +The two girls were alone in the library when this conversation took +place. All of the other guests, feeling that the members of the family +would prefer to be left alone following the startling occurrences of +the evening, had withdrawn to their rooms. Helen was about to bid her +friend good-night when her remark regarding Mr. Stanlock's happy +personal faculties opened the discussion as here recorded. She +hesitated a few moments before answering the last inquiry; then she +said: + +"Don't you think that those men intended to kidnap your father? What +other explanation can you find for their actions?" + +"I hadn't tried to figure out their motive," Marion replied +thoughtfully. "Father called it a hold-up and I took his word for it." + +"But he had no money with him, did he?" + +"No, I think not. He seldom carries much money." + +"And it is hardly reasonable to suppose that this plot between the +chauffeur and the two highwaymen was for the purpose of murder. They +would have gone about it in some other way. This one leaves too many +traces behind." + +"Yes," Marion admitted. + +"Well, the only reasonable conclusion you can reach with the robbery +and murder motives out of the way, is that the plotters wished to take +your father prisoner and hold him some place until they got what they +wanted." + +"But what did they want?" asked the bewildered Marion. + +"That's for your father to suspect and the police to find out," said +Helen shrewdly. "Personally, I haven't a doubt that the strike has +everything to do with it." + +"What makes you think so?" + +"The threatening letter that you received at the Institute. Show that +to your father tonight and suggest that he turn it over to the +police." + +"I will," Marion promised. "In this new excitement I forgot all about +it. I didn't even show it to mother. Just as soon as papa finishes his +dinner, I'm going to show that letter to him. I'll go upstairs now and +get it. You wait here and be present when we talk it over, Helen. +You're so good at offering suggestions that maybe with you present we +can all work out some kind of solution of what has been going on." + +Marion hastened up to her room and returned presently with both of the +anonymous letters she had received in Westmoreland. A few minutes +later her father and mother both entered the library with the evident +purpose in mind of holding a lengthy conference on the problems +growing out of Mr. Stanlock's business troubles. + +"Papa, do you think those men tried to kidnap you?" Marion inquired by +way of introducing the subject. + +Mr. Stanlock laughed heartily. + +"Kidnap me!" he exclaimed. "Well, that's a good one. I thought they +only kidnapped kids." + +"Father," the girl pleaded; "do be serious with me. I've got something +very important to show you, something I forgot all about until Helen +reminded me. Helen thinks those men tried to kidnap you, and she's a +pretty wise girl, as I've had occasion to find out." + +"If Helen said that, she surely must be a wise girl or else she has +made a pretty accurate guess," was the mine owner's reply. + +"Then they did want to kidnap you?" + +"Absolutely no doubt of it. They've got some kind of retreat in the +mountains, and planned to carry me off there and keep me prisoner." + +"What for?" + +"Why, to force me to yield to some of their demands, which are utterly +impossible and unreasonable. First, they demand an increase of wages +that would force us into a receivership sooner or later and again they +demand the adoption of a cooperative plan which eventually would make +them owners of the mines, if there were any possibility of it working, +and there isn't. It's a most ridiculous hold-up, the responsibility +for which rests with a few fanatical leaders of doubtful integrity." + +"What do you think of these letters?" Marion asked, handing the two +anonymous missives to her father. "I received them by mail at the +Institute last night, but neglected to read them until we were all on +the train this morning." + +As Mr. Stanlock read them, his brow contracted sternly. He could treat +lightly any hostile attack on himself, but when danger threatened +members of his family or their intimate friends, all signs of levity +disappeared from his manner and he was ready at once to meet with all +his energy the source of the danger, whether it be human or an element +of inanimate nature. + +"This" he said, as he finished reading and held up the letter signed +with a skull and cross-bones, "undoubtedly came from the source where +the plot to kidnap me originated. They are pretty well organized and +determined to go the limit. Of course, you girls must give up your +plans to work among the strikers' families. It would be foolhardy and +probably would result in somebody's getting hurt." + +"How about the other letter?" Marion asked. + +"I don't know," was the reply. "It doesn't seem to amount to much. I +hardly think it is to be taken as a threat. Have you no idea who sent +it?" + +"Some of the girls think it was sent by some of the Boy Scouts at +Spring Lake. You see they came up in full force to Hiawatha on the +night when we held our Grand Council Fire. It was a complete surprise +on us, exceedingly well done and about as clever as you could expect +from the cleverest boys. Before they left, several of them boasted +openly that they were planning another surprise for some of us, and +they dared us to find out in advance what it was." + +"No doubt that is what this note means," Mr. Stanlock declared so +positively and such a gleam of interest in his eyes that Marion +could not help wondering just a little. + +"What makes you so certain about it?" she inquired. "I don't see any +real proof in those words as to what they mean or who wrote them." + +"No, no, of course not," agreed Mr. Stanlock with seemingly uncalled +for glibness; "but then, you see, it is more reasonable to suspect +that this note came from the boys than from the strikers. If it is +between the two,--the boys and the strikers,--I say forget the +strikers and be sure that the boys sent this note." + +"I wish that the boys would spring their surprise tonight and settle +the question of that note," said Marion. + +"Why?" inquired her father with the faint light of a smile in his +eyes. + +"Because I don't like the uncertainty of the thing. Uncertainty always +bothers me, and this is a more than ordinary case." + +"But how could the boys spring their surprise without coming to +Hollyhill?" her father asked. + +"That's just it," she returned with a quick glance of suspicion toward +both her father and her mother. "Do you know, I found myself wondering +several times if Clifford wouldn't bring some of those boys down here +some time during the holidays." + +Mr. Stanlock laughed, but he would have given a good deal to be able +to recall the noise he made. It was really a noise, as he must have +admitted himself, and so hollow as to indicate something decidedly +unlike spontaneous amusement. + +Marion caught herself in a brown study several times over these +circumstances and her father's manner before she went to sleep that +night. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A MAN OF BIG HEART AND QUEER NOTIONS. + + +Christmas was a big event at Hollyhill. Hollyhill was well named. +Perhaps some old patriarch a century or two back conceived the +inspiration of the name while playing Santa Claus with the little tots +of the household and pretending to have slid down the chimney without +getting a speck of soot on his bulging vestments. + +Perhaps he imagined, while mother woke the children and had them peek +through a "crack in the door" at the white whiskered visitor stuffing +their stockings full of presents, that he had tethered his prancing +team of reindeer to a holly tree outside. Certainly there seemed to +have been material for such imagination, for tradition said that the +hill on which the first houses of the first settlement were built had +at one time been richly adorned with a species of American Ilex, and +even now there remained here and there carefully preserved remnants of +that reported original wealth of the wilderness. + +Whether or not this conjectural history of the settlement had anything +to do with the cheerful mid-winter holiday developments of the +community need not be argued at length. An argument would render the +truth flat and insipid if it should prove to be in accord with poetic +tradition. So what's the use? + +In mid-winter everybody just knew that Hollyhill as a child had been +nursed in the snow trimmed evergreen lap of Christmas. Not that this +municipality had a corner on mid-winter holiday generosity to the +exclusion of all other communities. The chief outstanding fact in this +relation was that the inhabitants, or those so fortunate as to be in a +position to give and receive abundantly, believed Hollyhill to be the +most generous Christmas town on earth, and there was nobody +sufficiently interested to make a denial and follow it up with proof. + +Much of the credit for this condition was due to the leading man of +the place, Richard P. Stanlock, president and controlling power of the +Hollyhill Coal Mining company, which owned a string of mines in the +mountain district near the divisional line of two states. Besides +being the leading citizen, Mr. Stanlock was the "biggest" man in town, +because of the position to which he had risen, his ability to hold it, +and the influence that went with it. What he said usually went, but +his hand was not always evident. He liked to see things done, +doubtless enjoyed the realization that his was the great moving power +that produced results, but didn't give a fig to have anybody else know +it. To his intimate friends, who were few, and to the many with whom +he would pass the time of day, he was as common in word and manner as +the average householder with nothing more pretentious in life than +the earning of his daily bread. + +But in spite of all this simplicity and personal retirement Mr. +Stanlock was a good deal of a mystery to many citizens who knew really +little about him. Or perhaps he was a mystery to these fellow +townsfolk because of his modest qualities. Knowing little about him, +they imagined more. Leading citizens who knew his good qualities were +ever ready with a word of praise for him. But the trouble was, the +needed tangible evidence of his broad philanthropy was utterly +lacking. Seldom was there a visible connecting link between him and a +good deed. And so the praise of his work in pulpit, press and other +public and semi-public places fell as platitudes before a considerable +number of skeptics, whose favorite reply to this sort of thing was +something like-- + +"Bunk." + +But Marion knew that it wasn't "bunk." She was one of the few +confidants that gained an intimate understanding of the wealthy mine +owner's character. She knew that he was the secret financial backer of +an organization of settlement workers which kept close watch on the +needs of the miners and their families, many of whom were so woefully +ignorant that about the only way to handle them was by appealing to +their appetites, their sympathies and their prejudices. She knew, too, +that he had strong connections constantly at work fostering and +promoting the best of activities for advancement of the civic welfare, +that Christmas was one of his secret hobbies and that it was +practically impossible for this city of 40,000 inhabitants to neglect +this opportunity for a revival of good fellowship and good cheer so +long as her father had his hand on the electric key of public +generosity. + +Christmas was a blaze of glory every year in Hollyhill. Public halls, +churches, and theaters were the scenes of the liveliest activities for +several days and nights before and after this biggest event of the +winter season. Nor was the celebration confined to the more prosperous +sections of the town, but extended into the heart of the mining +settlement, where Christmas tinsel and lights were lavished without +consideration of cost and nobody was allowed to pass the season +without being impressively reminded as to just what turkey roast and +cranberry sauce tasted like. + +So skilfully were these programs put into effect that seldom was a +hint dropped from any source that Richard Perry Stanlock was entitled +to the slightest credit for these magnificent doings. He spent +Christmas at home in a quiet unassuming way amid the family +decorations of holly and mistletoe, and a vast litter of presents, +oranges, apples, nuts, and candy. + +Marion knew that her father's greatest vanity was his secret pride in +his ability to put over the biggest generosity of the year without +its being traceable to him. One day a girl acquaintance of her asked +her if she knew that her father spent $25,000 every year for +Christmas. Marion laughed; later she laughingly reported the query to +Mr. Stanlock. Next day this girl friend's uncle, one of the +philanthropist's agents, was called in on the carpet and given a +lecture on the wisdom of guarding his remarks such as he had never +before dreamed of receiving. + +"Papa," the millionaire's older daughter said to him one day; "don't +you think it is foolish to keep secret all these generous things that +you are doing?" + +"Why do you think it is foolish, my dear?" he replied with an +expression of shrewd amusement. He was certain that she would have +difficulty in answering his question. + +"Well," she began slowly, then admitted: "I don't know." + +"I'm very glad you don't know," said her father with evident +satisfaction. "If you had tried to give a reason, I should have been +greatly disappointed. No explanation of that suggestion could be based +on anything but family pride, which is one form of vanity." + +"No," Marion differed thoughtfully. "There is one explanation based on +human caution and wisdom. I am afraid that you are misunderstood by +the very people whose confidence you should seek to cultivate, that is +the miners. Some of them don't like you very well. They think that +you personally are a hard taskmaster and that the attentions and +relief which really come from you in times of need, are bestowed on +them by persons who feel that they have to help them because of your +failure to do the right thing by them. Why don't you, papa, go right +among them and tell them that you are going to do everything you can +for them, raise their wages, maybe, and make them love you +personally?" + +"It isn't my nature, Marion, to do it that way," Mr. Stanlock replied. +"There is nothing in the world that would be so distasteful to me as +assuming the role of a philanthropist or a hero. It spoils every man +to some extent who tries it. Personal vanity is the greatest enemy +that man has to guard against. I've guarded myself against it thus far +successfully, I think, and I'm not going to let it get me in the +future if I can help it." + +Marion felt like saying that her father's fear of vanity might some +day get him into trouble with his men, but she refrained from so +expressing herself. On the occasion before us she recalled that +conversation, for she realized that the strike was a result, in part, +of the very misunderstanding that she had anticipated. Several clever +leaders among the miners had spread the report about that Mr. Stanlock +had become immensely wealthy by overworking and underpaying his men, +while he caused to be circulated through various channels numerous +undetailed reports of his generosity, philanthropy and public spirit. + +When she invited the members of Flamingo Camp Fire to be her guests +and work with her among the poor and hunger-suffering families of the +strikers she did not realize the seriousness of the situation with +reference to the feeling of the miners toward her father. Now she felt +that the condition of affairs was more than she could cope with and +from the day of her arrival home she was constantly in fear lest some +dread catastrophe should befall the family because the "biggest man" +in Hollyhill kept himself severely fortified against the adulation of +his fellow townsmen and the character weakening influence of personal +vanity. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE. + + +The Flamingo Camp Fire arrived at the Stanlock home on Friday. +Christmas was scheduled on the calendar to fall on the following +Wednesday. + +From the day of their arrival all of the girls were busy with +Christmas preparations. Every one of them, several weeks before, had +taken on her the task of making, buying, or assembling from parts +purchased a score or more of presents. As one of the chief aims of +Hiawatha Institute was to teach wealthy men's daughters how to be +economical, it goes without saying that each of these girls had on +hand no enviable Winter Task. + +Madame Cleaver laid the matter very plainly before her two hundred and +forty-odd girls. She had observed that the Christmas problem had a +tendency to make some of the students of her school sympathize with +Old Scrooge. If Christmas wasn't a humbug it could very easily be made +a nuisance. + +Madame Cleaver agreed with them in this respect. She told them so. +Furthermore, she added: + +"I don't wish you to understand that there is anything compulsory in +the giving of presents on such occasions. One of the dangers of this +sort of thing is that it is likely to become a perfunctory affair with +thousands taking part because they feel they have to. Also Christmas +is exploited by many people. Their sympathy for the good-fellowship of +the occasion is measured largely by the dollars and cents that it +pours into their coffers. + +"You should see all these drawbacks and then decide for yourselves +whether the advantages of Christmas overbalance the drawbacks. For my +part I believe that they do and I enjoy the day and the season. But +don't take my word for it. Decide for yourselves." + +The result was that everybody at the Institute got busy several weeks +before the holiday season, and the manner in which the products of +girl ingenuity began to pile up must have been satisfying indeed to +the head of the school. But the work was not all done when the Camp +Fire arrived at Hollyhill, most of the girls still having enough to do +to keep them busy almost up to Christmas eve. + +Mr. Stanlock advised the girls not to leave the house under any +consideration after night, and engaged three detectives, who were +given instructions to follow and protect any of Marion's guests who +might desire to go shopping or make other journeys about the city in +the day time. Automobiles, with drivers, were within ready call for +these men at any time. It was understood, also, that no journeys were +to be made into the section of the city inhabited by the miners and +their families. + +Thus far the strike had not been attended by violence of any sort or +the destruction of property. The men had simply ceased to work and had +submitted their demands to the president of the company. The latter +realized at once that the employees were being led by an unusual type +of labor agitators, who might be expected to employ unusual methods to +gain their ends. The man who appeared to be the leader was as unusual +in appearance as he was in methods pursued. He was about thirty-five +years old, but looked five or eight years younger. He had first been +employed in the mines about six months before as an operator of an +electric chain-cutter machine, but he had not long been connected with +the work before his influence among the men began to be felt. To the +casual observer, he was a quiet sharp-eyed man, who seldom spoke, +under ordinary circumstances, unless he was first spoken to. But he +got in communication with all his fellow workers in some mysterious +manner and before long, in spite of the fact that he was not what is +popularly known as a "mixer," everybody from shovelers to machine men +knew him as Dave, the chain-cutter man. He had the reputation of being +able to do "half again as much work as any man in the slope." Although +Mr. Stanlock knew of the influence of this man on the miners almost +from the day when the strike was called, the only name by which he +heard him spoken of during almost the entire period of the tie-up was +"Dave, the chain-cutter man." + +Little of special interest relative to the strike, so far as the girls +were concerned, took place on the last Saturday and Sunday before +Christmas. Mr. Stanlock reported the recent occurrences to the police +in detail, but what the police planned to do was not communicated in +the form of hint or suggestion to the members of Flamingo Fire. If Mr. +Stanlock knew, he kept the information a close secret. In harmony with +his habitual reticence on business matters, he sought to avoid further +discussion of the subject. + +On Saturday, however, there was added to the events of the season one +item of great importance, which would have caused Marion no little +uneasiness could she have caught more than the most superficial hint +concerning it. This hint was so superficial that it consisted merely +of a glimpse at the address and postmark on a letter that arrived at +the house with the early mail. Marion took the letters and papers from +the mail box, and as she was distributing them she observed the +Hollyhill postmark on an envelope addressed in a man's handwriting to +Helen Nash. + +"I wonder who it can be," the hostess mused as she laid the letter on +Helen's dresser. "I didn't know that she was on specially friendly +terms with any of the boys of Hollyhill. But then you can never know +what to expect of her. You find out what she is going to do when she +does it." + +In spite of the paradox, no truer statement of Helen's nature had ever +been made. She said nothing to any of the girls about the letter she +had received and if subsequent events had not recalled the incident, +Marion probably would have forgotten it entirely. + +The three detectives employed by Mr. Stanlock were housed in the now +vacant sleeping quarters of the chauffeur over the garage. A buzzer +connected with the house and an agreed signal system of "1," "2," "3" +served as a means of quick information as to how many of the men were +wanted at any given time. Sunday morning another chauffeur, engaged by +Mr. Stanlock, arrived and was housed with the detectives. + +It was not the duty of the latter, of course, to accompany or follow +anybody leaving the house unless they were called. Hence it was quite +possible for any of the guests to start out alone and make a trip to +any part of the city without the protection of a watchful guard. The +possibility that any of the guests might desire to take such a course +did not occur to Marion or any other member of the household. It was +presumed that everybody would gladly accept such protection on every +occasion when it seemed advisable. + +As a matter of fact, however, the detectives had little to do on +Saturday and Sunday. Only three of the girls made shopping trips on +Saturday and all took an automobile ride Sunday afternoon. This was +the sum total of their activities away from the Stanlock home, with +the exception of one instance, of which there was no hint until late +in the afternoon. + +About six o'clock Marion suddenly became mindful of the fact that she +had not seen Helen since their return from the automobile drive three +hours earlier, and she began a search for her. She first went upstairs +to her room to see if her friend were there. Probably she was tired +and had lain down to rest and fallen asleep. But an inspection of the +room failed to discover Helen. + +Considerably puzzled, Marion now hunted up every other person in the +house and inquired for the missing girl. Not one of them remembered +seeing her since the return from the drive. The girl hostess was now +thoroughly alarmed and her fears were speedily communicated to the +others. Everybody joined in the search and every nook and corner +capable of concealing a human form was examined. + +Helen Nash was not in the house and there seemed to be no reasonable +explanation of her disappearance. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +"FIND HER, OR I'LL FIND HER MYSELF." + + +Mr. Stanlock came home from a meeting of mining stockholders about the +time when consternation over the disappearance of Helen was at its +height. After the particulars of the affair, so far as they were +known, had been explained to him, he asked: + +"Where are the detectives?" + +The question fell with something of a shock on the ears of the +assembled searchers who had just completed a second fruitless hunt +through the house. Why had they not thought of the trio of "mystery +masters" before? + +"We ought to have called them in at once," Mrs. Stanlock said. "I +suppose they've gone by this time, but I'll see." + +She pushed the buzzer button in the hall and soon the new chauffeur +appeared at the side entrance. Yes, the detectives had gone, but he +knew where they could be found--at the High Peak Athletic Club. + +Mr. Stanlock at once called up the club and soon had one of the +detectives on the wire. + +"Can you men come over at once?" he inquired. "One of the girls has +disappeared and we are afraid that something serious has happened." + +"Yes, we'll be there right away," was the answer. + +Twenty minutes later there was a ring at the door and the three +detectives, a tall thin man, a short heavy man, and a squarely built +angular man, were ushered in. + +The short heavy man, named Meyers, was the most talkative of the +three. He put forth a string of questions as to when and where Helen +was last seen and what she was doing. Had anybody seen her go out of +the house? Nobody had. Was there anything peculiar in her manner in +the course of the day? Nothing peculiar. What kind of a girl was she? +What were her most noticeable characteristics? Had she any pronounced +likes and dislikes? Was she in the habit of doing things just to be +contrary? Was she a girl of good judgment, or flighty and +light-headed? + +These questions brought out nothing of tangible advantage, and No. 1 +rested apparently well satisfied with the keenness of his record thus +far made. No. 2 now took up the inquiry. He was the squarely built +angular fellow with deep-set eyes, quiet demeanor and few words. His +first question was: + +"Has Miss Nash any other friends living in Hollyhill?" + +"No, I think not," Marion replied; "no particular friends." + +"None that she ever corresponds with?" persisted the man with the +deep-set eyes. + +Marion started visibly. Sudden recollection of the letter received by +Helen the day before came to her. + +"She got a letter postmarked Hollyhill yesterday," the young hostess +replied. + +"Who was it from?" + +"I don't know. I didn't know that she was corresponding with anybody +in the town. But the address on the envelope looked as if it was +written by a man." + +"Do you suppose you could find that letter?" + +"I'll go upstairs and look," Marion said, suiting the action to the +word. + +In a few minutes she returned with a waste paper basket in her hands. + +"Helen was sharing my room with me," she said. "A letter has been torn +up and thrown in the basket. As I didn't do it, it must be Helen's." + +"This begins to look like something," the tall man said with a nod of +approval, picking up several bits of paper from the basket. "She's +torn it up in pretty small pieces, but if we all get busy we ought to +be able to put them together in a short time." + +"Let's go out to the dining room table," Mrs. Stanlock proposed, +leading the way as she spoke. + +In a few moments all were seated around the large fumed oak table from +which the spread had been removed as the hard wood surface was much +better for the task of piecing the letter together. + +It was, indeed, a tedious task, but with so many working together +progress was fairly rapid. Within fifteen minutes half a dozen +sentence sections of several words each had been joined in their +phrase order. These were soon followed by three or four more and +presently one of the girls found a connecting link between two +sections thus forming a complete sentence. Imagine the thrill that +went through everyone as Mr. Stanlock read the following: + +"Get your friends out of Hollyhill as soon as possible." + +"I bet this letter was written by the same person who wrote the +skull-and-cross-bones letter to me," Marion ventured confidently. + +"That's the very idea that just occurred to me," Miss Ladd declared as +she fitted "no" and "difference" together and then tried to find a +connecting edge on the pieces held by her neighbor to the left. + +Fortunately the letter had been written on only one side of a large +sheet of paper, so that they could be pasted in correlative positions +on another sheet provided for the purpose. + +Finally the patchwork was completed, in so far as the material at hand +made completeness possible. A few of the bits of torn paper were +missing, so that a word was wanting here and there in the text, but +apparently the idea and purpose of the writer did not suffer from +these vacancies. The letter as read at last by Mr. Stanlock was as +follows: + +"Dear ...r + +"You have failed to do what I ... you to do. I told you that it was +... dangerous to bring the girls here. The letter of warning to Miss +Stan ... did no good.... I want to warn you again and ... ... last time. +Get your friends out of Hollyhill as soon as possible. I won't be +responsible for what occurs. It makes no difference if you have given +up your original purpose. Some of the men are so worked up that they +are liable to do almost anything. If you can't get the rest out of +town go yourself, or you may get hurt. + +"D...." + +"Ah, ha!" exclaimed the short, heavy and loquacious detective, "That +explains the whole thing. Miss Nash has gone out of town." + +"She hasn't done any such thing," Marion exclaimed indignantly, +springing to her feet. "Helen isn't that kind of a girl. I know she is +peculiar, but she isn't a coward. It's evident now that she knew +something about affairs here that resulted in the sending of that +threatening letter to me, and she kept her information secret for some +reason. Whatever her reason was, she meant all right." + +"Did she at any time urge or suggest that it would not be well for the +girls to come here in the holidays?" Mr. Stanlock inquired. + +"Never a word," Marion replied, positively. "I admit that once or +twice I noticed that there was something peculiar in her manner, and +it may have had something to do with her condition back of these +developments, but that is all." + +"How do you account for her disappearance?" asked Detective Meyer, +with puzzled humility. + +"I don't pretend to account for it," Marion replied, quickly. "That's +a problem for you men to solve. All I know is that Helen did not +intentionally desert us. She's gone, and she went for some reason, and +I believe that reason is connected with the letter. Now, it's up to +you men to find her, and, if you don't find her pretty quick, I'll go +and find her myself." + +A murmur of applause swept the room. + +"We'll do it," declared the tall, thin detective. + +"If it's within human power," conditioned the square-built, deep-eyed +man. + +The talkative gentleman of genius said nothing. All three of them left +the house a few minutes later. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TRAPPED. + + +There was little sleep for anyone at the Stanlock home that night. The +mystery of the patched-up letter, coupled with Helen's apparently +voluntary disappearance and the fear that she had been led into a +trap of some sort, in line with the threat contained in the +skull-and-cross-bones letter, kept everybody up until long after +midnight. Meanwhile, Mr. Stanlock called up the police station and +asked the lieutenant in charge to come over and begin work on a new +angle of the strike developments. + +"One of the girls has disappeared, and we are afraid that something +serious has happened," he told the officer over the telephone. + +The latter soon drove up to the house in an automobile and was +admitted by Mr. Stanlock. The conference lasted half an hour, but +before half this time had elapsed Lieut. Larkin had the station on the +wire and was giving instructions to the desk sergeant. + +To add to the difficulty of the problem, snow began to fall about 5 +o'clock, and developed almost into a blizzard in three or four hours. + +Next morning the two newspapers of Hollyhill carried big headlines and +column-and-a-half stories of the new strike development, suggestive of +a far-reaching plot that might result in tragedy. Mr. Stanlock had +during the evening received all newspaper calls over a special wire +in his private room, so as not to disturb the guests with the +publicity end of the affair. + +In the afternoon Mrs. Stanlock announced that she, being an officer of +the woman's club with an important duty to perform, must attend a +committee meeting from 3 until 4:30 o'clock, and she asked Miss Ladd +to accompany her. The latter consented, but cautioned the girls +against leaving the house, inasmuch as the three detectives were no +longer available for guard duty, having been directed to devote their +entire time to the search for Helen. + +There were now at the house only the twelve remaining Camp Fire Girls +and the kitchen maid, Kitty Koepke. + +Marion's younger sister and brother were attending a children's +afternoon party a few blocks away. The new chauffeur had been summoned +by Mrs. Stanlock to take her and Miss Ladd to the club rooms where the +committee meeting was to be held. + +About 3 o'clock a newspaper photographer and a reporter arrived. The +girls allowed a group picture to be taken and the reporter was granted +an interview. + +Half an hour after the newspaper men departed, there came a ring at +the front door. As Mary, the head servant, was out, Marion answered +the ring and found at the entrance a woman of middle age, dressed in +plain black, who spoke to her, in quick, eager accents, thus: + +"Is this Miss Marion Stanlock?" + +"It is," the girl answered. + +"I am Mrs. Eddy, who moved into one of those vacant houses two blocks +from here," the woman explained. "I have some information of interest +to you." + +"Is it about Helen Nash?" Marion asked, so eagerly that there could be +no mistaking the subject nearest her heart. + +The woman nodded and smiled, and Marion seized her by the arm and +almost dragged her into the hall and thence into the reception room. + +"Where is she?--tell me quickly!" Two of the other girls in the +drawing-room, hearing these words and surmising their significance, +came rushing in and caught the visitor's answer, thus: + +"She's over at my house. She came there last night. I had no idea who +she was until I saw the articles in the newspaper--I didn't get it +until late--and then I came right over." + +"But," said Marion, apprehensively, "why didn't she come right home? +What was the matter--couldn't she explain who she was?" + +"The girl was not in her right mind," Mrs. Eddy said. "She was in a +delirium. It was about 10 o'clock at night, and evidently she had been +tramping the streets for hours in the storm." + +"How is she now? Oh! I must go right to her! Did she get lost in the +storm? Girls, girls! Come here! Helen's found! Is she--is +she--ill--very ill, Mrs. Eddy?" + +"I don't think she is seriously ill," the woman replied, with an +expression of sweet encouragement. "I had a doctor call, and he didn't +seem to think there was any immediate danger, although she hasn't +talked rationally yet. She is in bed, and has considerable fever." + +"Would it be all right for me to go and see her--is it against the +doctor's orders? I'd be very careful; and, besides, I'm a nurse--in +fact, we all are nurses." + +"Oh, to be sure--it will be all right for you to come--all of you may +come if you wish. You can go in one at a time, quietly. Then a couple +of you may remain and help nurse her. I really need help, for I am all +alone, and sat up all night with her, and have been close to her most +of the day. Perhaps it would be well for you girls to make +arrangements for relief nursing watches. You are perfectly welcome to +keep her at my home until she is well, if you will relieve me of the +necessity of nursing her." + +"Come on, girls; get your wraps; we will all go over. It's only a +couple of blocks. Hurry, everybody!" + +"Wait, and I'll tell Kitty we're going out," Marion said. + +She ran through several rooms, calling "Kittie! Kittie!" but received +no response. + +"I wonder where she is," the hostess said, in a puzzled manner. "Well, +we haven't time to find her. Come on." + +"I think I saw her go out more than half an hour ago," Harriet +Newcomb said. "She called someone up on the telephone, and then put +her hat and coat on and went out the side way, and I haven't seen her +since." + +"That's strange," Marion commented. Then the subject was forgotten. +The twelve girls and their leader were walking rapidly toward the +place where Mrs. Eddy, the good Samaritan, had taken in and cared for +the girl whom every one of them loved as they would have loved a +sister. + +The house they stopped in front of was rather dingy and forbidding. It +was a large brick structure, set back a hundred feet from the street +on a plot of ground nearly an acre in extent. Most of the windows were +darkened with green blinds two generations out of date. + +Mrs. Eddy put a key into the lock and opened the door. Then she +stepped aside and motioned the girls to enter, and they did so as if +moved by a spell that they were unable to resist. Then the woman +herself entered, closed the door and put the key into the lock and +turned it. If the twelve Camp Fire Girls had no suspicions as to the +genuineness of the motives of the woman up to this time, they had good +and sufficient reason to anticipate something dreadful when they saw +her take the key from the lock and put it in her coat pocket. + +And still if there were any doubts in their minds after this act, +they were effectively dispelled by the sound of a man's voice coming +through a doorway from a dimly lighted room to the right, speaking +thus: + +"Now, young ladies, let me warn you to be quiet. You have been led +into a trap; but you will not be hurt in any way if you obey orders. +One scream from any of you will be followed by a blow with a club that +will silence you for a long time--maybe, forever. This way, please. +Everybody be quiet and sensible, and you will be well treated." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +A PILE OF SCRAP LUMBER. + + +Conditions and developments seemed to work favorably for the +mysterious trappers of the Camp Fire Girls. In the first place, when +Mrs. Stanlock returned home and found the house without an occupant, +except Kittie Koepke, who was working away very quietly in the +kitchen, it was difficult for her to suspect anything wrong. + +"Where are the girls, Kittie?" she inquired, and the other replied, +with a suggestion of foreign accent: + +"Oh, they just gone out for a walk. They be back soon, I guess." + +"I hope they didn't go far," Mrs. Stanlock said, concernedly. "They +ought to be very careful. It will be getting dark before very long. +It's cloudy and looks like more snow. How long have they been gone?" + +"About half an hour," Kittie answered. "I went out to the drug store +to get something for my toothache, and when I came back they was +gone." + +This was the first reference that Mrs. Stanlock heard regarding +Kittie's toothache, but she accepted the statement for its face value +and waited hopefully for an early return of her daughter and her +daughter's guests. Half an hour went by and the girls did not appear. +Darkness was now visibly gathering. Mrs. Stanlock was becoming uneasy +and called up her husband's office, but Mr. Stanlock had already +started for home. By the time he arrived, the good woman was almost +prostrated, so rapidly were fear and apprehension taking possession of +her. + +The big coal operator scented danger at once. Immediately after +gathering the principal details of the day's occurrences, he got the +police station on the wire and communicated them to the officer in +charge. + +Drastic measures were resorted to at once. The day shift of uniformed +and ununiformed guardians of the law was summoned back to duty, and a +posse of available citizens were sworn in. + +About 7 o'clock a posse of citizen policemen, led by three or four +uniformed members of the regular force, began a canvass of the +neighborhood to discover information that might suggest a clew as to +the whereabouts of the missing girls. Half an hour later a woman +informed one of the canvassers that she had seen eight or ten girls +enter the yard of the old Buckholz place between 3 and 4 o'clock, but +had not noticed whether they went into the house or not. The man to +whom this statement was made blew a whistle as an agreed signal to the +other searchers that he had important information and soon a score of +them were running toward him from all directions. + +A comparison of notes disclosed the fact that another member of the +party of canvassers had received a similar statement from another +resident in the neighborhood. It was decided, therefore, to delay no +further but to proceed at once to the house in question, while one of +the men hastened to Mr. Stanlock with news of developments in order +that he might be present and direct the next move. + +The latter was waiting at home, ready to answer a telephone or +personal call from any of the central points of investigation. The +nervous strain of the apparent certainty, by this time, that the +disappearance of Marion and her guests portended serious developments +had compelled Mrs. Stanlock to take to her bed and summon a physician +and a nurse. The call from the searchers in the neighborhood took Mr. +Stanlock from her bedside, and so speedily did he respond to it that +he was at the entrance of the Buckholz house almost as soon as the +party of citizens and uniformed policemen. + +"Don't hesitate, men," he urged. "I know the owner of this house very +well and will take all responsibility for damages on my own shoulders. +If the door won't give, break it down." + +"Maybe there is somebody at home," Lieutenant Larkin suggested. "Let's +ring the bell first" + +"Well, come on," said Mr. Stanlock. "We'll soon find out if there's +anyone in the house." + +He led the way up the weather-beaten but fairly well preserved steps +and pulled the knob of the old fashioned doorbell. Then they waited +expectantly, straining their ears to catch the sound of the approach +of someone within. But no such sound reached them. + +It appearing evident now that the house was temporarily without an +inmate, the searchers for the thirteen mysteriously vanished girls +decided to force their way in. Under ordinary conditions, this act +would have been recognized as burglary, but the present circumstances +were so extraordinary that legal consequences had no terrors for any +of those present. Accordingly an examination was made of the two first +story windows, two of which were found unlocked. With the aid of a box +discovered under the rear porch, several of the men climbed in one by +one and found themselves in a large unfurnished room, architecturally +intended, perhaps, as a dining room. Each of the three uniformed +policemen carried an electric flashlight and with the aid of these an +examination of the house was begun. + +But not a trace of the missing girls could be found. + +"What next?" one of the men asked. + +"The basement," suggested Lieut. Larkin. + +Mr. Stanlock opened the door at the head of the stairway and flashed +his light down the steps. + +"Wait a minute," he said, barring the entrance. "Let's examine the +ground as we go. These steps have dust on them, and there are shoe +prints in the dust, and, yes, sir, as sure as you are alive, they are +the prints of women's shoes, and there are a lot of 'em, unless I'm +mistaken. Be careful now, men. Follow me single file and come down +along the left side of the stairway as close the wall as possible so +as not to spoil those footprints in the dust." + +"Look out," said Mr. Stanlock. "There may be some desperate characters +down there with guns. Better let me go first--I have most at stake." + +"Not much!" replied the lieutenant. "We'll never win the European war +without charging the trenches. All I ask is that you get the fellow +that gets me. So here goes." + +Cautiously he descended the stairs, followed by the five men who had +entered the house with him. But their anticipations were groundless. +Not a sign of human life did they find in the large, square, deep +basement, or cellar, more properly. + +Some of the men looked puzzled, Mr. Stanlock was evidently laboring +under increasing distress, but Lieut Larkin's curiosity seemed to +grow. + +"Some queer stories have been told about this place," he said; "and +I'm wondering if now is not the time to put them to a test. They are +pretty wild stories, almost as wild as haunted house yarns, but there +may be thing to them." + +"I've heard something about them myself," said Mr. Stanlock. "You +refer to the stories about the building of this house over an old +mine, I suppose? This cellar was said to have been the mouth of the +shaft of the mine enlarged." + +"That's it," the lieutenant replied. "Now, let's look about and see if +there is anything to it." + +He began to flash his light over the floor, walls, and contents of the +cellar. The latter consisted principally of barrels, boxes and a +nondescript pile of scrap lumber. Most of this was heaped against the +south wall. + +Presently something in the pile of lumber held the attention of the +lieutenant, who began to examine it more closely. + +"Look here," he said, addressing Mr. Stanlock. "Do you see any +difference between this pile of lumber and that dry goods box over +there?" + +"I was just noticing that there was a heavy covering of dust on the +box and little or none on the top pieces of lumber," the mine owner +answered. + +"That's just it," continued Lieut. Larkin, "and it can mean only one +thing, that this pile of lumber has been moved recently. Now, the +question, in view of the fact that the missing girls were seen +entering this place today and in view of the shoe prints on the cellar +stairway and the fact that they are not in the basement now is, Why?" + +"The best way to find out is to move it again," suggested Sergeant +Higgins. + +"Exactly," agreed his superior officer. "Now, Johnson, you go upstairs +and inform the other men what we are doing. We don't want them down +here, for there's nothing they can do. Moreover, we don't want any +more traveling up and down those steps than is absolutely necessary. +Be careful, Johnson, on your way up." + +"Excuse me, lieutenant," interposed Mr. Stanlock in a weak voice that +bespoke the distress under which he was laboring. "I think I won't +remain down here just now. I'll go up and carry that message to the +men, if you wish. Let me know as soon as you can what you find." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +HELEN AND THE STRIKE LEADER'S WIFE. + + +But what had become of Helen Nash? + +It was a very determined little woman who stole out of the Stanlock +residence, with the contents of the last threatening letter fresh in +her memory, after the return of the members of Flamingo Camp Fire from +their Sunday afternoon drive. She walked briskly four blocks east and +boarded a street car. + +A twenty-minutes' ride took her into the heart of the mining tenement +district. Reference to an address memorandum on a slip of paper that +she carried in her handbag and a question to the conductor determined +where she should get off. + +Heaver street, the conductor told her, was three blocks east. With no +evidence of a slackening of resolution, she proceeded as directed and +was soon searching a long row of cottages, built along almost +identical lines, for number 632. + +Reaching this number, she ascended a flight of seven or eight steps +and gave a quick turn to the old-fashioned fifteen-or-twenty-cent +trip-action door bell. A pale-faced, care-worn woman of about 30 +years, who might have been mistaken for 40, answered the ring. At +sight of the caller she exclaimed in a voice that echoed years of toil +and suffering: + +"Helen!" + +"Nell," was the greeting returned by the caller. + +The woman stepped aside, and Helen stepped into a hall, whose sole +furnishing consisted of a rag rug on the floor and a cheap hall-tree +with a cracked mirror. Evidently it was the chief wardrobe of the +house, for upon the twenty or more nails driven into the walls in +fairly regular order were articles of both men's and women's wear, +most of them bearing evidence of contact with hard labor. From the +hall, Helen was conducted into the "front room," the only name it was +ever known by, which communicated with the dining room through a cased +opening without portieres. These two rooms were about as barely +furnished as possible under a minimum of necessary articles and +quality. A threadbare ingrain carpet covered the floor of the front +room. A few rag rugs hid probably some of the worst gaps in the +matching of the yellow-pine floor of the dining room. + +As for human life in this house of pinch and poverty, it was hardly +vigorous enough to attract attention ahead of the furnishings. +Clinging to the faded skirts of their mother were three hungry-eyed +anaemic children, a girl and two boys. + +"How are you, Nell?" inquired Helen, giving the woman a kiss that +seemed almost to frighten her. "It's been two years since I've seen +you." + +"I'm not very well, Helen," the other replied, wearily. "I've about +given up all hope of ever seeing any better days. But what brings you +here? I didn't expect ever to see you again." + +"Now, Nell, don't talk that way," Helen protested. "You know--or maybe +you don't know it--that I would do anything in the world to help you +out of this unhappy condition, but Dave's way of looking at things +makes it impossible. If you had any vitality I would urge you to leave +him and earn your own living." + +"But I haven't any left, Helen," said the discouraged woman; "and I +don't believe I'll ever recover any. I've rested hope after hope on +Dave's assurances of his ability to make a success in life. Really he +is a queer genius, and I don't use the word genius entirely with +disrespect. In some ways he's clever, very clever, but in other ways +he is the most impossible man you ever knew. I believe he is +thoroughly honest, but he has no idea of the value of money or what it +means to his family. I believe he is by far the strongest leader among +the men, but it does neither him nor his family any good. Many a labor +leader would make such power and position a source of revenue for +himself, but not Dave. Instead, half of his earnings, when he works, +are devoted to the labor cause." + +"How does he get such a hold on the miners?" Helen inquired. + +"By talk, just talk, and really, I must admit he is the cleverest +speaker I ever heard. I've seen an audience of a thousand working men +and women stand on their tiptoes and cheer him as if they would burst +their lungs. I was proud of him on such occasions, but when we got +home to our stale bread and soup I could not help wondering if it was +not all a dream and I had not just waked up to the reality of things." + +"When will he be home?" + +"I wish I could tell you," the woman said, helplessly. "He may be here +in five minutes and he may not come before 12 or 1 o'clock tonight." + +"Right here is where the holiday charity work of the Flamingo Camp +Fire begins," she told herself. Then aloud she added: + +"I haven't had much to eat since morning, couldn't eat much this noon +in my condition of mind, and I'm hungry; what have you in the house +for a Sunday evening lunch, Nell?" + +"Not much, Helen," was the reply. "Only a half a loaf of rye bread and +some corn molasses. The children used to be very fond of that, but +they've had it so often since the strike began, that they're almost +sick of it." + +"Is there any store open near here where I can go and buy something?" + +"There's a bakery and delicatessen over on the street where the car +line runs. It's probably open now." + +"Will I find a drug store over there, too? I want to use the +telephone." + +"Yes, you'll find a drug store on that street, a block north." + +"I'll go at once and you set the table while I'm gone. We'll have a +feast that will delight the hearts and stomachs of these little ones." + +"God bless you, Helen," were the last words that fell on her ears as +she went out. + +"I must call up Marion and tell her where I am," she mused as she +hastened toward the drug store. "I would have told her where I was +going before I left, but I was afraid she wouldn't let me go. Besides, +I don't feel like telling her everything yet." + +A few minutes later she was in the drug store applying for permission +to use the telephone. + +"The phone is out of order," the druggist replied. + +"Oh," Helen exclaimed in disappointment. "Where is there another in +the neighborhood?" + +"There is none within half a mile that I know of, except in the +saloons," was the reply. + +"I can't go there," the girl said desperately. "And I must have a +telephone soon. Won't yours be fixed before long?" + +"I hope so," said the druggist. "I've sent in a call for a repair man. +Can't you come back in an hour or two?" + +"Yes, I think so," Helen said, turning to go. "I do hope it is +repaired then, because it's very important." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +HELEN DECLARES HERSELF. + + +Twenty minutes later Helen returned to her brother's home, her arms +loaded with cured meats, bread, a pie, some frosted cup-cakes, a glass +of jam, and a bottle of stuffed olives. + +"There," she said, as she deposited her bounteous burden on the table. +"I couldn't get any tea or sugar or butter, but even without those we +can have quite a feast in a very short jiffy." + +"I have some tea and some light brown sugar, which the children like +on their bread for a change after they've got tired of corn syrup," +Mrs. Nash said. + +"Good!" exclaimed Helen with genuine enthusiasm. "That's fine! Butter +and white sugar are unnecessary luxuries sometimes. Now we'll get busy +and will soon be feasting like a royal family." + +And there was no mistake in her prediction. True, it was an extremely +democratic royalty--proletariat, to be more exact--but no child prince +or princess ever enjoyed the richest viands in a king's dining room +more than little Margaret, Ernest and Joseph Nash enjoyed the feast +spread before them by the girl auntie they had not seen for two years. + +The conversation between Helen and Mrs. Nash, interrupted by the +former's errand to the delicatessen and drug stores, was taken up +again at the table of the royal feast. The way the children laughed +and "um-um-ed" over the "goodies" did Helen's heart good and rendered +even cheerful her discussion of a distressing subject. + +"What in the world ever brought you here, Helen?" was the question put +by Mrs. Nash, after full confidence in the sincerity of Helen's +mission, whatever it was, had supplied her with courage to converse +with her sister-in-law with perfect frankness. "You didn't come to +Hollyhill just to visit us, did you?" + +"No, I didn't," Helen answered slowly, "and that fact need not hurt +your feelings any, Nell. You'll understand what I mean when I've +finished my story. I am attending a girl's school at Westmoreland. We +are all Camp Fire Girls, and thirteen of us and a guardian came to +Hollyhill on a mission in harmony with Camp Fire teachings, that is, +to work among the poor and suffering families of the strikers during +the holidays." + +"What?" exclaimed Mrs. Nash. "Do you mean to tell me that you are one +of the girls visiting at the home of Old Stanlock, the mine owner?" + +"Yes, I am," Helen replied, looking curiously at the startled woman. + +"Then you mustn't stay here any longer. You must hurry right back. You +are in great danger, I tell you, very great danger. The fact of your +being my husband's sister won't do you any good. There are some bad +men around here, and they're as smart as they are bad. Sometimes I +wonder if they are really miners, or if they are not an accomplished +bunch of professional crooks." + +"What makes you think that?" Helen inquired. + +"Well, for one reason, I've been told it. But before anybody uttered +such a suspicion in my hearing, I suspected something wrong. You see, +while Dave seems to be the leader in the strike, he is in fact only a +puppet in the hands of a band of the worst kind of crooks, who are +using him to keep the miners in line." + +"Who are they?" asked Helen. + +"I don't know them all. I know of only half a dozen. They have been +here at the house a number of times. The man who seems to dominate +them all is a man known as 'Gunpowder' Gerry, a powerful, cunning, +sly-eyed fellow about 45 years old. He is the business agent of the +union and runs everything, although few persons know it. In some +mysterious way he has got a very strong hold on Dave and can make him +do anything he wants him to." + +"Why do you think I am in danger here?" was Helen's next question. + +"Because I've heard some talk here about what would happen if you +girls attempted to carry out your plans. They had a spy, a chauffeur, +in Mr. Stanlock's home, and he found out all about it. Gerry used this +to work up bad blood among the strikers, using Dave as his tool as +usual. The threat reached my ears that if you girls came down here in +Mining Town, you would never get out alive. They think it is just a +move to put something over." + +"Did you know that Dave came to Westmoreland a few weeks ago and +called at the institute to see me?" Helen asked. + +"No, did he? What for? I thought he didn't have any use for you. +Excuse me for putting it that way, but it's the way he talks." + +"I suppose so. That's because we objected so much to his way of doing. +But I found out on that occasion that there really was a tender place +in his heart for us. He wanted me to do something to call off our +vacation plans, as he was afraid something would happen." + +"Why didn't you?" + +"Because I didn't take him very seriously. But when on the day before +we started for Hollyhill I happened into the postoffice at +Westmoreland and caught him in the act of mailing a letter to Marion +Stanlock, I became somewhat alarmed. I forced the truth from him after +the letter was mailed. He said he was sending her a threatening letter +in the hope that it would break up our plans. I asked him why he came +to Westmoreland to mail it. He replied that he was afraid it would be +traced to him if he mailed it in Hollyhill. Then he urged me, almost +commanded me, to prevent our plans from being carried out. He declared +that every one of us would probably be killed if we came. I promised +to do my best. I watched Marion, hoping to see her read the +threatening letter. I saw it after it was laid on her desk in her +room. I saw her glance at it and put it into her handbag before she +went to bed. Next morning I waked her early and laid the handbag right +before her eyes, hoping she would take the letter out and read it. I +did not dare to do anything more, but resolved to watch the events +closely. Marion read the letter on the train. It was signed with a +skull and cross-bones. We decided to give up our original plans, but +came on to Hollyhill." + +"What did you hope to accomplish by coming to see Dave?" Mrs. Nash +inquired. + +"I am going to put the matter right square up to him and demand that +he lay bare the whole plot that he has been hinting at. If he doesn't, +I'm going to tell him that I am going to lay the whole matter before +the police." + +"You'll probably have to do it. I don't believe he'll ever betray the +men who control his gifts and his weaknesses as they would handle a +child." + +"He really is a child in some respects, isn't he?" + +"Absolutely. In fact, I believe he is half sane and half insane, and +he is just smooth enough to conceal his insanity from the miners." + +"Have you any objection, Nell, to my going after him good and strong?" +Helen asked. + +"Not in the least. I wish you would, only I'm afraid the results +won't be of much advantage to any of us. And I wish you wouldn't stay +here late, for I am afraid to have you start back alone after dark." + +"I'll make him take me back," Helen said resolutely. "And I want to +reassure you in one respect, if you are afraid of consequences to +yourself and the children." + +"Oh, don't let that bother you," Mrs. Nash interrupted. "You couldn't +make conditions much worse than they are now, and you may accidentally +make them better." + +"But I have something to say that you ought to know," Helen continued. +"When father died, it was generally supposed that he left nothing for +his family. For years he drew a good salary as a mining +superintendent. Well, he didn't leave much, except about $5,000 +insurance, but mother had been saving for years secretly, not even +letting him know how much she had. He supposed we were living up his +salary of $10,000 a year as we went along, for it wasn't in him to +save a cent. Mother took a good deal of delight in her secret. For a +while she had done her best to induce him to save something, and then, +realizing that her plea was futile, she got busy herself in a +systematic manner and in the course of seven or eight years she laid +aside something like $25,000. + +"But shortly before father's death something happened that caused her +to guard her secret up to the present time. A large amount of money +was stolen from the company that employed father, and mother realized +at once that if it were discovered that she had so much money, +suspicion might be directed toward him. In fact, she took me into her +confidence only about a year ago. + +"Now, mother has often said that she would like to do something for +you and the children, but Dave's peculiarities always stood in the +way. I just wanted to tell you that mother is able and willing to help +you and will not let you or her grandchildren suffer as a result of +what I may be forced to do." + +The conversation went along in this manner for more than an hour. +Neither of the sisters-in-law realized how rapidly the time was flying +until dusk fell so heavily that it became necessary to light the gas +in order to see each other's faces. + +"My, what time is it?" Helen questioned, looking at her watch. "Why, +it's nearly seven o'clock, and I haven't telephoned to Marion yet. +They'll have the whole police force out looking for me if I don't get +her on the wire pretty soon. I'll run over and see if that phone is +repaired yet. If it isn't I'll have to take a car and ride on to the +next drug store; but I'll be back before very long." + +"I wish you wouldn't come back tonight, Helen," Mrs. Nash pleaded. +"I'm so afraid of those men. Why not go straight to Stanlocks' and +send word to Dave that you wish to meet him somewhere tomorrow?" + +"I'd rather handle it this way," the girl answered a little +stubbornly. "I tell you what I'll do--I'll have them send the +chauffeur with the automobile over here after me. That'll be the best +way." + +With this reassuring announcement, Helen put on her coat and hat and +went out. But she would not have proceeded so confidently if she could +have caught a glimpse of the figure of a man dashing far up the alley +in the rear and have realized that this man had crouched in an +eavesdropping attitude for an hour or more at the kitchen door and +overheard most of the conversation between her and her sister-in-law. + +One, two blocks he ran, then through a gateway and into a house +similar to nearly every other house in the street. Two men, a woman, +and a child 10 years old looked expectantly toward him as he entered. + +"All ready!" cried the latter. "She's coming down the street on this +side. Hurry up, Lizzie. Get your coat and hood on. Remember what you +are to say: father gone, mother sick. If she won't come in with a +little begging, make a big fuss, cry and plead for all you're worth. +There you are, all ready. Remember, you get a new coat if you bring +her in here." + +The speaker opened the door and almost shoved the pale-faced, +trembling child out upon her strange mission. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +HELEN IN THE MOUNTAINS. + + +It was snowing. The flakes that fell were not large fluffy ones; they +were small and compact, so that as the northwest wind drove them into +Helen's face, she realized that she was being pelted with something +more substantial than eiderdown. + +The severity of the storm startled the girl. It spurred her to a +fuller consciousness of her obligation to her friends, that she remove +from their minds all occasion for worry as to her whereabouts as soon +as possible. + +Putting her muff up to shield her face from the cutting blast, Helen +set out bravely up the street. She was not a timid or timorous girl. +In fact, the words of warning uttered by her sister-in-law had made no +lasting impression on her mind, so far as her own personal safety was +concerned. She scarcely thought of looking out for danger from any +human agency as she left the house. + +As the storm was beating into her face, she did not attempt to look +ahead much farther than each step as it was taken. It was necessary +for her to lean forward slightly and push her head, as it were, right +into the storm, and before she had reached the nearest corner it +became evident that she must undergo no little inconvenience, if not +actual suffering, before her evening's mission were completed. + +"Well, maybe this exercise will give me just the life I need to talk +real business to Dave when he comes," she mused, punctuating her +conjecture with a gasp or two as she fought against a gust of wind +that forced her almost to a standstill. Winning this skirmish with the +storm, she pressed forward again, when suddenly another gasp was +forced from her by an entirely different cause. She almost stumbled +over an object directly in her way, and as she recovered her +equilibrium she recognized before her the form of a small girl +scantily clad in a short-sleeved coat much too small for her and a +hood that came down scarcely far enough to cover her ears. Her hands +were bare and she held them up pitifully before the comfortably--to +her richly--clad maiden so out of her element in this poverty-stricken +district. + +"Please, Miss," the girl pleaded; "won't you come and help me? Ma's +sick--she fainted--and pa's gone away. I'm all alone with her. Ma's +down on the floor an' don't move--I'm afraid she's dead. Oh, please do +come, Miss, just a minute, and--" + +"Where do you live?" Helen interrupted, indicating by her tone of +sympathy that she would do as requested. + +"Right there," the little girl replied, pointing with her hand toward +one of the houses a short distance ahead. "Come on, please. Just a +minute--help me get ma on the bed. I'll find one of the neighbors to +help after that." + +"All right, go ahead," Helen directed. + +"It seems that I am fated to do at least a little of the work that we +set out to do, but were prevented from doing by some unfriendly +interests. It's a pity some of these people are so prejudiced, for we +could really do a lot for them." + +Helen's small conductress led the way to the entrance of a miner's +cottage that, to all outward appearance from the front, was dark +within. + +"Haven't you any light?" she asked a little apprehensively, drawing +back as if hesitating to enter. + +"Oh, yes," the other replied almost eagerly, it seemed. "There's a +lamp burning in the kitchen, and I'll light the gas in the front room. +Come on, please." + +"Where is your mother?" + +"She's layin' down on the floor in the kitchen. Come on, I've got a +match. I'll light the gas in the front room." + +If Helen had obeyed a strong impulse that was tugging within her to +hold her back, she would have refused to enter. Perhaps the reason she +did not obey that impulse was the fact that a desperate effort to +think of another reasonable method of procedure was fruitless and she +must either go ahead as she had started or turn away in confusion and +leave the little girl in her distress and without an explanation. The +latter opened the door and Helen followed her inside. + +It was difficult for the visiting Camp Fire girl to figure out any +reason why she should be fearful of anything this slip of a child +might do, and yet the first act of the latter after they were inside +sent through her a chill of terror. Slipping around her like an eel, +the little emissary of trouble pushed the door to and turned the key +in the lock. Helen was certain also that she heard the key withdrawn +from the lock. + +Still her conductress, clever little confidence girl that she was, +spoke words of reassurance that dispelled some of her victim's fears. + +"Wait," she said; "I dropped my match. I'll have to go in the kitchen +for another." + +Helen's eyes followed the dim form of the child, as the latter moved +across the room, and observed for the first time a line of light under +what appeared to be a door between the front room and the kitchen. A +moment later the door swung open, and she was considerably relieved +when she saw lying on the floor the apparently limp and unconscious +form of a woman. + +Instantly the rescuer's Camp Fire training in the reviving of a person +from a faint stimulated in her a sort of professional interest in the +task before her, and she started forward to begin work at once. First +she must loosen her patient's clothing to make it as easy as possible +for her to breathe. Then she must get her in a supine position with +her head slightly lower than any other part of her body in order that +the brain might get a plentiful supply of blood. The air in the house +was heavy and stuffy--the front and rear doors must be thrown open. +She must dash cold water upon the face and chest of the patient and +rub her limbs toward her body. She ought to have some smelling salts +or ammonia, but as these were lacking she must get along without them, +unless the daughter of the unconscious woman were able to supply +something of the sort. + +These things flashed through Helen's well-trained mind as she moved +rapidly toward the kitchen. All apprehension of treachery left her as +she beheld the evidence corroborating the story of distress that had +brought her into the house. Then suddenly the whole apparent situation +was transformed into one of the most terrifying character. + +A slight noise to her right caused her to turn. Then a piercing scream +escaped her lips as she saw a door open and beheld the dim outlines of +two burly men approaching her. At the sound of her cry of alarm, they +dashed forward like two wild beasts. + +The first one seized her around the neck to shut off further alarm. As +those muscular fingers closed in upon her throat, it seemed suddenly +as if her head were about to burst. Then as the thumping in her ears +almost completed the deadening of her auditory nerves, she +indistinctly heard these words uttered in a hoarse voice: + +"Look out, Bill; don't kill her." + +As if surprised back into his senses, "Bill" loosened his hold on +Helen's throat. She did not struggle or attempt to cry out again. +Evidently the purpose of the ruffians did not contemplate murder, and +she realized that there was no wisdom in anything but submission on +her part now. + +But she was not given time to recover completely before the next move +of her captors was made. While one of them held her in a vise-like +grip, the other shoved a gag into her mouth and tied the attached +strings tightly around the base of her head. Then he bound her hands +together in front of her with a strip of cloth. + +"There," said the man whom the other had addressed as Bill, "you set +down in that chair and keep still and you won't get hurt. But the +instant you go to makin' any racket you're liable to breathe your +last. All right, Jake, go and get the machine." + +"Jake!" The exclamation, though not uttered, was real enough in her +mind. Even with the deafening pulse of choking confusion in her head, +it had seemed that there was something familiar in the man's voice +when he warned "Bill" not to kill her. Was it possible that this was +Mr. Stanlock's former automobile driver? + +Jake went out the back way, closing the door between the front room +and the kitchen as he went. Helen was now left alone in darkness with +Bill, who, she thankfully observed, seemed disposed to pay no +attention to her so long as she remained quietly in the old +loose-jointed rockingchair in which she was seated. + +Ten minutes later an automobile drove up in front of the house and +Jake reappeared. + +"It's almost stopped snowing, luckily," he remarked, "or we'd have our +troubles makin' this trip tonight. A little more snow and a little +more drifting and we'd be in a pretty pickle." + +Helen was certain she recognized Jake's voice now. How she wished she +could get a glimpse of his face in even the poorest candle light. + +Bill now threw a large shawl over her head and brought it around so +that it concealed both the gag over her mouth and the rag manacle on +her wrists. Then he pinned it carefully so that it might not slip +awry, and ordered her to go with him quietly out to the automobile. +Jake had just made an inspection up and down the street and reported +the coast clear. + +"Now, mind you, young lady," Bill warned significantly; "not a word or +a wiggle out o' the ordinary or you'll get your final choke, and you +know what that means." + +Yes, Helen knew, and she had no intention of futilely provoking a +repetition of such punishment. She accompanied her captors +submissively and was assisted into the machine. Then something +happened which might almost be said to have delighted her if it were +not for the strain of benumbing fear that was gripping her. + +Jake went around in front of the machine to crank it. For one moment +the strong acetylene light from one of the lamps fell full upon his +face. Helen recognized it. Her surmise as to his identity was not a +mistake. + +A minute later the automobile was traveling at a high rate of speed +over the streets. Ten minutes later it passed the city limits and was +kicking the three inches of snow up along a country highway. On, on it +sped, one mile, two miles, on, on, until the probable distance Helen +was unable to conjecture, on, on, over smooth roads and rough roads, +up hill and down hill, into the mountains. Then suddenly "Bill," who +sat in the seat beside her, pulled a light-weight muffler from his +pocket and tied it over Helen's eyes, saying coarsely: + +"Not that I'm afraid you'll do any mischief with those pretty eyes of +yours, but we may as well guard against accidents. You couldn't trace +this route again, anyway, could you?" + +Helen did not attempt to answer with either a shake or a nod of her +head. She was disappointed at the act of her captor in blindfolding +her, for she had been watching their course as closely as possible in +order to photograph it upon her mind for future reference. + +Jake was a good driver--that much must be said for him; and yet, after +they struck the mountain road the progress was much slower. From the +time when her eyes were bandaged, Helen's only means of determining +the character of the road over which they were traveling was the speed +or slowness of the automobile. Nor could she compute satisfactorily +the time that passed during the rest of the trip. + +But it ended at last. The machine stopped, Helen knew not where, and +she was assisted out by the two men, who led her, still blindfolded, +along a fairly smooth trail, up the side of a mountain or steep hill, +then along a fairly level stretch, until at last the prisoner knew +that she was passing under a canopy or roof of some sort, for there +was no snow under foot. Moreover their footfalls produced a sound, +somewhat of the nature of a soft resonant reverberation of a million +tiny echoes. + +But presently they were out in the open again, as evidenced by the +snow and the brisker atmosphere, and Helen shrewdly observed to +herself: + +"That was a tunnel, I bet anything." + +Two hundred feet farther up another gentle incline they reached a +place of habitation and entered. Helen had no idea as to the +appearance of the exterior, but when the bandage was removed from her +eyes, and she was able to look about her, she made a clever surmise, +not very far from the truth, that she was in a log cabin. + +Every inch of the walls and ceiling, except the windows and doors, +was plastered. The doors and windows were fitted in the crudest kind +of casing. A few unframed, colored pictures were pasted on the walls. +The furniture of the room consisted of a few chairs, a table and an +old trunk. A kerosene lamp on the table lighted the room. + +"Here's one of them, Mag," said Bill, addressing a large, coarse +featured, but remarkably shrewd-eyed woman who opened the door and +received them. "Can you keep her safe?" + +"You bet your bottom dollar I can keep her safe as long as there is +any dough in it for me," was the reply in almost a man's voice. + +"Well, get into good practice on this one a-keepin' prisoners," the +first speaker advised. "We're goin' to have a dozen more here before +long, and then you will have some job." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE SUBTERRANEAN AVENUE. + + +For more than half an hour Mr. Stanlock waited upstairs nervously, +eagerly, expectantly, apprehensively, for a report from Lieut. Larkin +and the four men who remained in the cellar of the Buchholz house to +move the pile of scrap lumber, under which it was suspected might be +found a clew as to the whereabouts of the missing twelve girls. +Interest in the search within the building had suspended other +activities in the neighborhood, as it was felt that further progress +must depend upon results at this point. + +So the score or more of uniformed and citizen policemen waited as +patiently as they could in or around the house of mystery, becoming +more and more impatient as the minutes grew into the twenties and then +the thirties, and still nobody came upstairs to announce indications +of success or failure. The noise of the striking pieces of lumber +against one another had not been heard for more than twenty minutes. +In fact, no sound of any kind came up the cellarway following the +first quarter of an hour of rapid labor on the part of the five active +searchers below. + +At last one of the men, more nervously eager for information than the +rest, shouted down the cellarway to the lieutenant, inquiring how he +and his helpers were getting on. There was no answer. + +He shouted again. Still no reply. Then he announced his intention to +descend into the cellar to investigate. + +"Wait," said Mr. Stanlock. "There are some tracks in the dust on the +steps, and Lieut. Larkin doesn't want them disturbed. Let me go." + +Although his apprehensions had not diminished, the mine owner's nerve +was considerably strengthened by this time, perhaps as a result of his +return from a stuffy basement atmosphere into a region of better +ventilation. As he started down the steps with the flashlight of one +of the policemen in his hand, he was surprised to feel a strong +current of wind blowing upward into his face. + +"They must have opened one of the windows," he surmised; but he +quickly dismissed the suggestion after flashing his light around the +cellar. The pile of lumber had been moved to the opposite side and in +the section of the floor it had formerly occupied was a hole three +feet in diameter. + +"That's where the wind comes from," Mr. Stanlock decided. "It's the +mouth of the old mine we used to hear about years ago. But where's the +other opening? Funny nobody knows about that. This end has been +covered up with that old heavy door and concealed with a layer of +earth. When our men moved the pile of lumber, they observed that the +earth had been disturbed recently and shoveled it away and found this +hole." + +Mr. Stanlock directed the rays of light into the hole and discovered a +flight of steps cut in the hard clay. + +"The lieutenant and his men are down in there," he concluded. "I think +I'll follow them." + +He descended cautiously into the hole. Half a dozen irregularly formed +steps brought him to a slope leading downward on an inclined plane of +six or seven degrees. He was astonished at the degree of preservation +of the walls, ceiling, and supports, considering the years that had +elapsed since the mine was last worked. The passage continued as a +downward slope for about fifty yards and then became almost level for +a like distance. Only in two places had the walls or ceiling fallen in +to any considerable extent, and in neither of those places was the +obstruction so great as to constitute an impassable barrier. + +As he proceeded, Mr. Stanlock peered ahead anxiously, in the hope that +he would discover the lights of Lieutenant Larkin and his companions. +But he walked nearly 100 yards through an irregular and +characteristically jagged passage before he caught sight of anything +indicating that there was anybody besides himself in the abandoned +mine. Then suddenly, rounding a sharp point he came upon the advance +party of searchers approaching him. + +"What did you find?" the mine owner inquired before any surprise +greetings could be exchanged. "There's another outlet to this place +somewhere, isn't there?" + +"Yes, there is," was the reply of the officer in charge. "This gallery +runs on for another hundred yards, piercing Holly Hill right through +the center. You know the bluff and the rocky slope behind the old +mill. Well, it seems that this mine was cut right through at that +point, but there was a cave-in that filled up that opening. These +rascals that kidnapped the girls evidently were associated with the +people that rented the Buchholz place and cut the passage through. The +girls have been here all right, but they're gone. They've been taken +out of this end of the mine and spirited away in some manner. This +means that the scoundrels have a larger and more effective +organization than we have ever suspected. Such a case of wholesale +kidnapping was never heard of before." + +"How can you tell they passed through here?" Mr. Stanlock asked. + +"By this principally," the lieutenant answered, holding up a woman's +handkerchief that he had picked up; "and by the fact that there is a +trail in the snow from the opening of the mine to the alley behind the +old mill." + +Mr. Stanlock's face shone deathly pale in the glare of the flash +lights. The new element of suspense had brought him again to the +danger-point of a collapse that had compelled him to withdraw from +the active search nearly an hour before. + +His voice reflected the distressing strain under which he was laboring +as he put his next question: + +"What became of them then?" + +"That's the problem we've got to solve," Larkin replied. "Apparently +they were loaded in automobiles and rushed off to some retreat of the +scoundrels." + +"How in the world could they do it without somebody's seeing or +hearing what was going on?" + +"Oh," said the lieutenant without a suggestion of doubt in his voice; +"that wasn't very difficult if there were enough of them working +together. The evidence of cleverness and skill is not nearly so much +in the handling of this affair at the mill end of the mine as at the +house end. That was a mighty smooth piece of work, getting all of +those girls into that old house, however it was done. Mark my word, +you'll find that a very clever trap was set for them. But come on, +we've got to get busy before the snow makes it impossible to follow +them." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +TWELVE GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS. + + +Ethel Zimmerman and Ernestine Johnson fainted. All of the rest of the +twelve girls who had been decoyed into the Buchholz house by the +"sympathetic Mrs. Eddy" were thrown into a panic. And the terror of +the situation was not mollified in the least by the sudden appearance +on the scene of five men. + +Where the men came from so suddenly was not at all clear. Undoubtedly +they had been hidden somewhere, but that place could not be +determined, for none of the girls remembered from what direction they +had made their appearance, north, south, east, west, up, or down. They +were just there, and that was all there was to it. + +The men did not look like ruffians exactly, although they were not +clad in "gentlemen's clothes." The girls were huddled together in the +dark scantily-furnished front room, which at some time probably had +served the purpose of a combined parlor and reception room. The next +apartment, probably designed as a living room, was lighted by a single +gas jet turned low. + +Ethel and Ernestine fainted in the midst of the address of warning and +command from the spokesman of the plotters. This was a signal for a +rally to their aid on the part of the other Camp Fire Girls best +gifted with presence of mind. Marion led this move, and was quickly +assisted by Ruth Hazelton, Julietta Hyde, and Marie Crismore. No +objection was offered by the men to this proceeding, as they were +intelligent enough to realize that the success of their plot depended +largely on a careful guard against a noisy panic that would attract +attention from without. + +"Somebody get some water quick," Marion directed, as she proceeded to +go through the reviving formula in which all of them had been +thoroughly drilled. + +"I'll get some," "Mrs. Eddy" volunteered, indicating by her offer and +actions that she was an efficient ally of the kidnappers. She hastened +into the kitchen and soon returned with a large dipper of water. +Marion took it from her and sprinkled some of the liquid on the faces +of the unconscious girls. The latter quickly recovered and sat up. + +But meanwhile the five men were not idle. The leader addressed the +girls again with more gentle words and manner, realizing, as only an +intelligent criminal may do, that a confidence man's method is the +best method for producing a desired illegal effect. In a degree, he +was successful, attempting to reassure the captives in the following +manner: + +"Now, girls, you have nothing to fear from us, if you obey orders. We +don't wish to harm a hair on any of your heads. We are merely +determined to get what we have set out for, and we are going to use +you to help us get it. If you try to balk our purpose, you must take +the consequences. Otherwise you will suffer only such inconveniences +as go naturally with the experience of being kidnapped. And try to +realize this, that being kidnapped isn't such a terrible thing if you +are in the custody of gentlemen kidnappers. That's what we +are--gentlemen kidnappers. All we ask of you is that you prove +yourselves to be what gentlemen kidnappers prefer above all others, +namely, real ladylike prisoners. + +"Now," he added after a pause during which he surveyed his audience as +if to determine the effect of his words; "as soon as the two young +ladies who were so unfortunate as to make the mistake of connecting a +tragic prospect with this affair have fully recovered, we will +proceed." + +"That fellow is disguised," declared Marion in a whisper to the girls +nearest her. "In fact, all of them are. Observe that every one of them +wears a beard, moustache or short side whiskers. Watch their eyes and +mouths and every expression on their faces so that we may be able to +identify them if we are ever called upon to do so." + +"Now, girls," said the spokesman with well simulated gentleness, "no +more of that. We don't want to be unduly rude with you, but if there +is any more whispering, we'll have to resort to measures that will +make it impossible. Now, I think you are all ready, so just follow +the leader and some of us will bring up the rear. We will proceed +first into the basement." + +Tremblingly the twelve Camp Fire Girls followed two of the men down +the cellar steps. It was evident to them that resistance would be +worse than useless. A single blow from the fist of one of those +powerful men would stun any of the girls, if it did not knock her +unconscious. In fact their captors could make quick work of them if +necessary, and, cooped up as they were in this isolated prison, they +could scarcely hope to send forth an effective cry of distress before +they were rendered physically incapable of sounding further alarm. + +All of the "gentlemen kidnappers" were supplied with electric flash +lights, with which they illuminated the cellar and revealed to their +captives a hole three feet in diameter in the ground floor and +seemingly a flight of steps leading downward. + +"Don't get scared, young ladies," advised the "gentlemanly leader" of +the "gentleman kidnappers" softly. "That hole is merely the mouth of +an old coal mine. We will conduct you through the mine to the other +end, which is concealed from public view at a distance, and there we +will find four automobiles waiting for you. Lead the way, comrad +kidnappers." + +The two head men descended into the hole, and the girls followed +Indian file. The spokesman and one other man descended last as a rear +guard. One of the men remained in the cellar with "Mrs. Eddy" and +together they hurriedly replaced the old door over the mouth of the +mine, shoveled some loose earth over this and then covered the earth +with eight or ten thicknesses of scrap lumber loosely tossed in a +heap. + +Meanwhile the girls, guided by the lights ahead and aided by the two +lights behind, which were directed helpfully along their path, made +their way laboriously down the slope and along the many-angled gallery +to the opening at the other side of Holly Hill, as the high, rounded +elevation on and around which the city was built was called. Under +different circumstances undoubtedly they would have been much +interested in this experience as a subterranean exploration. And they +had all the time they might need for such exploration, for the dusk of +evening had not yet developed into darkness and they had to wait in +the mine over an hour before it was deemed safe to venture out with +the captives. + +Near the opening at the foot of the bluff behind the abandoned flour +mill, gags were tied tightly over the girls' mouths and their hands +were bound in front of them, and they were assisted one by one down a +gradual, but rough, incline and into the waiting machines. Snow +falling in millions of huge flakes, a fact that evidently caused the +kidnappers more worry than the possibility of detection by persons in +the vicinity, for remarks escaped some of them relative to the +importance of haste before the roads became impassable to automobiles. +But the storm served them one good purpose if it menaced them in +another respect. It rendered the darkness of the night more +impenetrable and kept the streets almost free of pedestrians. +Moreover, the plotters were well supplied with means and methods of +guarding against escape or rescue. The gags and cloth manacles were so +well made that one might have suspected them of being products of a +manual training school of burglars' wives. During the passage from the +mine to the automobiles each of the girls wore a shawl thrown over her +head and pinned close in front, thus concealing both the gags and the +manacled condition of their hands. + +At last they were all in the machines, each of which was in charge of +a driver. Three of the girls were put into each automobile and one of +the men got in with them to see that their conduct was as per +scheduled program. Then the start was made. + +On, on they went, out into the country and along a road that Marion +knew led into the heart of the mountains. She could see the dim, +shadowy form of High Peak in the distance. Meanwhile, as she peered +out eagerly into the darkness with an irrational longing for rescue +from some miraculous source--for this was the only kind of rescue +that seemed possible under the circumstances--she kept working at the +bonds about her wrists and the gag in her mouth slyly and without +obvious effort, until with joy she realized that she was at least +partly successful. + +"I am certain I could shove that thing right out of my mouth and give +the most piercing scream ever heard if somebody would only come along +and hear me," she told herself. + +The snow kept on falling heavily, much to the alarm of the kidnappers +and the joy of the kidnapped, but the automobiles reached the +mountains before there was any serious delay. It looked indeed as if +the trip would be successful from the point of view of the captors of +the Camp Fire Girls. But at last the snow became so deep that the +girls could feel that the automobiles were laboring under almost +insurmountable difficulties. Marion heard several curses uttered by +the chauffeur, and the man inside the car echoed them once or twice. +Finally the automobile came to a full stop and the driver could force +it along no further. A consultation, with all three of the men taking +part, was held. + +In the midst of their debate, something happened that changed the +aspect of things almost as completely as might have been accomplished +if Marion's dream of a miraculous rescue had been realized. Other +persons were on the scene and they were talking to the driver, +inquiring if they could be of any assistance. + +"We're a patrol of Boy Scouts," one of the new arrivals said. "We've +lost our way, but that doesn't need hinder our helping you out of your +scrape. Maybe you can direct us how to find our way back." + +Marion never felt a more intense thrill in her life than she felt at +the sound of that voice. She looked out of the window and saw a group +of eight or ten boys, each of them carrying a gun, close to the +automobile. + +With an effort that had behind it all of the power of the most joyous +impulse of her life, she swung her bound clinched fists right through +the pane of glass, pushed the gag from her mouth, and shouted: + +"Clifford! Clifford! This is Marion. All of us girls are being +kidnapped by these men. Shoot these rascals and shoot to kill." + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THIRTEEN GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS. + + +Marion's plea for aid did not reach Clifford and the other Boy Scouts +to whom it was addressed without interruption. The latter half of it +came in jerked and disjointed phrases, and the tone of utterance was +one of extreme fear and distress. Clifford and Ernie Hunter, the +leader of the patrol, although amazed beyond description, realized +that this appeal for assistance was no idle one, and it was up to them +to do something quickly or action on their part might soon be too +late. + +"You boys take care of the men in front, and Clif and I will settle +this affair back here," Ernie shouted. "Don't let them escape." + +With these words, the patrol leader seized the latch of the nearest +auto door and pressed down on it. As he did this, the door flew open +with a heavy swing, and Ernie jumped aside just in time to ward off a +body-lunge blow from the fist of a man who sprang out of the machine +like a beast leaping with all fours. + +In less time than it takes to tell it, two of the men had broken +through the cordon of Boy Scouts around the automobile and disappeared +in the darkness. The third, Mr. Stanlock's chauffeur, was not so +desperately courageous. The menace of two or three gun muzzles held +within a few feet of his face was more than he cared to oppose, so he +remained a prisoner. + +"Look out, boys," called out Hazel Edwards. "There are three more +automobiles coming along behind with desperate men in them. Each of +those autos has three girl prisoners in charge of two men, one of them +the driver." + +"Miles, you and Hal and Jerry stay here and guard the prisoner and +protect the girls against those rascals if they return," Ernie +directed. "The rest of us will run back a short distance and meet the +next machine before they suspect something wrong." + +As he finished speaking, Ernie led the way, followed by four other +boys, back through the snow twenty or thirty yards, and then stopped +and listened. A short distance further, they heard a sound the cause +of which could not be mistaken. It was the rapid, pulsating chug-chug +of an automobile engine. They waited a few minutes, but it appeared to +be coming no nearer. + +"The snow has stopped this one, too," said Clifford. "Come on and +we'll give them a surprise." + +A few paces farther brought the boys in view of a machine with the +engine running idle and no driver visible in front. Naturally this +made them suspicious and a halt was called for a little +circumspection. Then, carefully, cautiously, they advanced toward the +automobile, keeping nervous watch on all sides to avoid a surprise. + +They reached the machine, which they had been able to locate by the +noise of the engine, and found it also deserted, save for the three +prisoners, bound and gagged, in the car. While the other four in the +party of rescuers kept watch against a surprise, Clifford cut the +bonds on the wrists of the girls and removed the gags from their +mouths. + +"Where did the villains in charge of this car go?" was the first +question he put to the released prisoners. + +"They skipped," replied Violet Munday. "Two men who had been in the +machine ahead came back and said the game was up, that they were +discovered by a force of Boy Scouts armed with guns and they couldn't +afford to put up a fight, for even if they won, the whole country +would be aroused and they couldn't hope to carry out their original +plans. They went back to warn the other men. No doubt you'll find the +other machines abandoned, too." + +"All right," said Ernie; "you girls stay here in the car and keep +warm. We'll be back as soon as we can find the others." + +The boys found the other two automobiles also abandoned and released +six more Camp Fire prisoners. + +"Now let's return and get the head auto started back first," Ernie +proposed. + +This plan was adopted. Arrived at the machine in which Marion, Hazel +and Julietta had been prison-passengers, they found a new and +important development in affairs. Jake, the chauffeur, had confessed. +He had offered to conduct the boys to Helen's place of detention and +effect her release if the boys would let him go. It was less than half +a mile away. The boys agreed. Clifford suggested that the girls remain +in the automobile while the Scouts made the proposed raid, but they +objected strenuously. + +In a short time the rest of the girls were brought forward, informed +of the plan, and the start was made. All of the girls insisted on +taking part in the expedition. In less than half an hour they were at +the door of Helen's prison, where Jake gave the "open sesame" knock. + +An uncouth woman opened the door. Behind her stood a man, who proved +to be her husband. Jake pushed the astonished pair aside, and went +directly to the side of the room opposite the entrance and lifted a +bar across a door opening into another department. As he opened this +door, Marion rushed forward and was first to greet a slender, +pale-faced girl, who stepped out eagerly toward her rescuers. + +"Helen!" cried the girls in a chorus. + +Jake slipped out and was seen no more. + + * * * * * + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +A SLEIGHRIDE HOME. + + +That was a meeting not soon to be forgotten. It was a signal for the +casting away of every element of secrecy, and Helen told her story. + +She told the story of her brother, of his sickness when a child, of +the resultant distortion of his character into that of a man of +strange and incongruous genius and weakness, and of the embarrassment +he had caused her and her mother. He, it was, she said, who had +written the skull-and-cross-bones letter. + +"Who wrote the other anonymous letter that you received at the +Institute?" Hazel Edwards inquired. + +"I don't know," Helen replied with a faint smile. "Perhaps these boys +can answer that question." + +"I must plead guilty to that," announced Clifford, advancing with a +bow. + +"But what's the surprise you were going to spring?" inquired Ruth +Hazelton, mischievously. "Is this it?" + +"Now, never you mind," said Clifford. "Things didn't go just right. +This kidnapping affair interfered with our plans, and they are hereby +called off. We didn't want you to know we were here." + +Two of the boys had been dispatched as messengers to Hollyhill for +vehicles to take the girls back to Marion's home. About 2 o'clock in +the morning Mr. Stanlock, several of his neighbors, and three +policemen, led by the two Scout messengers, burst into the room and +announced that they had brought three bob-sleds to give them all a +sleighride. + +And a glorious sleighride home it was for all except the two +prisoners, whom the police took into custody. + + * * * * * + +The story of the CAMP FIRE GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS is told, all but the +subtitle, "A Christmas Success Against Odds." There was a real success +in store for them. The police made a raid, but found that the criminal +element that had gained a throttle hold on the labor organization in +the mines had cleared out so clean that not a living vestige of them +could be discovered. The way was now clear, and the Camp Fire Girls +carried out their original plans, successfully and much to the benefit +of the poverty stricken families of the strikers. + +But the history of Flamingo Camp Fire is by no means complete with +this narrative. It seemed to be a peculiar lot of these girls to +become associated or in touch with events of novel, interesting, and +sometimes thrilling character, and those who would follow their +further experiences along these lines should read the second volume of +this series, entitled: + +CAMP FIRE GIRLS IN THE COUNTRY; + +or + +The Secret Aunt Hannah Forgot. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Campfire Girls in the Allegheny +Mountains, by Stella M. 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