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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/6895-h.zip b/6895-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..2451717 --- /dev/null +++ b/6895-h.zip diff --git a/6895-h/6895-h.htm b/6895-h/6895-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4697969 --- /dev/null +++ b/6895-h/6895-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8199 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.1//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml11/DTD/xhtml11.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en"> + +<head> + +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> + +<title> +The Project Gutenberg E-text of The Camp Fire Girls Go Motoring, by Hildegard G. Frey +</title> + +<style type="text/css"> +body { color: black; + background: white; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-left: 10%; + font-family: "Times New Roman", serif; + text-align: justify } + +p {text-indent: 4% } + +p.noindent {text-indent: 0% } + +p.t1 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 200%; + text-align: center } + +p.t2 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 150%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: center } + +p.t3b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 100%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t4 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + text-align: center } + +p.t4b {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + font-weight: bold; + text-align: center } + +p.t5 {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 60%; + text-align: center } + +h1 { text-align: center } +h2 { text-align: center } +h3 { text-align: center } +h4 { text-align: center } +h5 { text-align: center } + +p.poem {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; } + +p.contents {text-indent: -3%; + margin-left: 5% } + +p.thought {text-indent: 0% ; + letter-spacing: 4em ; + text-align: center } + +p.letter {text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.footnote {text-indent: 0% ; + font-size: 80%; + margin-left: 10% ; + margin-right: 10% } + +p.transnote {text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.intro {font-size: 90% ; + text-indent: -5% ; + margin-left: 5% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.quote {text-indent: 4% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +p.finis { font-size: larger ; + text-align: center ; + text-indent: 0% ; + margin-left: 0% ; + margin-right: 0% } + +</style> + +</head> + +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Campfire Girls Go Motoring, by Hildegard G. Frey + +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: The Campfire Girls Go Motoring + or, Along the Road that Leads the Way + +Author: Hildegard G. Frey + +Posting Date: March 20, 2014 [EBook #6895] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 9, 2003 +Last Updated: May 25, 2006 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Folland, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p class="t3"> +[Illustration: "YES, I AM RUNNING AWAY," SAID THE GIRL IN A TONE OF +DESPERATION.] +</p> + +<h1> +<br /><br /><br /> +The Camp Fire Girls Go Motoring +</h1> + +<p class="t3"> +OR +</p> + +<p class="t3b"> +Along the Road that Leads the Way +</p> + +<p><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t2"> +By HILDEGARD G. FREY +</p> + +<p class="t3"> +AUTHOR OF +<br /> +"The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods," "The Camp Fire Girls at<br /> +School," "The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="t2"> + THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING<br /> +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap01"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER I. +</h3> + +<p> +It is at Nyoda's bidding that I am writing the story of our automobile +trip last September. She declared it was really too good to keep to +ourselves, and as I was official reporter of the Winnebagos anyway, it +was no more nor less than my solemn duty. Sahwah says that the only +thing which was lacking about our adventures was that we didn't have a +ride in a patrol wagon, but then Sahwah always did incline to the +spectacular. And the whole train of events hinged on a commonplace +circumstance which is in itself hardly worth recording; namely, that +tan khaki was all the rage for outing suits last summer. But then, many +an empire has fallen for a still slighter cause. +</p> + +<p> +The night after we came home from Onoway House and shortly before we +started on that never-to-be-forgotten trip, I was sitting at the window +watching the evening stars come out one after another. That line of +Longfellow's came into my mind: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven,<br /> + Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +That quotation set me to thinking about Evangeline and the tragedy of +her never finding her lover. Could it be possible, I thought, that two +people could come so near to finding each other and yet be just too +late? Not in these days of long distance telephones, I said to myself. +As I looked out dreamily into the mild September twilight, I idly +watched two little girls chasing each other around the voting booth +that stood on the corner. They kept dodging around the four sides, +playing cat and mouse, and trying to catch each other by means of every +trick they could think of. One would go a little way and then stop and +listen for the footsteps of the other; then she would double back and +go the other way, and thus they kept it up, never coming face to face. +I stopped dreaming and gave them my entire attention; I was beginning +to feel a thrill of suspense as to which one would finally outwit the +other and overtake her. The darkness deepened; more stars came out; the +moon rose; still the exciting game did not come to a finish. Finally, a +woman came out on the porch of the house on the corner and called, +"Emma! Mary! Come in now." They never caught each other. +</p> + +<p> +When I was elected reporter on the trip to keep a record of the +interesting things we saw, so we wouldn't forget them when we came to +write the Count, Nyoda said jokingly, "You'd better take an extra +note-book along, Migwan, for we might possibly have some adventures on +the road." +</p> + +<p> +I answered, "We've had all the adventures this last summer that can +possibly fall to the lot of one set of human beings, and I suppose all +the rest of our lives will seem dull and uninteresting by comparison." +</p> + +<p> +I presume Fate heard that remark of mine just as she did that other one +last summer when I observed to Hinpoha that we were going to have such +a quiet time at Onoway House, and sat up and chuckled on the knees of +the gods. In the light of future events it seems to me that it couldn't +have done less than kick its heels against that Knee and have hysterics. +</p> + +<p> +As I was in the Glow-worm all the time, of course, I was an eye witness +to the things which happened to our party only; but the other girls +have told their tale so many times that it seems as if I had actually +experienced their adventures myself, and so will write everything down +as if I had seen it, without stopping to say Gladys said this or +Hinpoha told me that. It makes a better story so, Nyoda says. +</p> + +<p> +After Gladys's father had told us we might take the two automobiles and +go on a trip by ourselves, he gave us a road map and told us to go +anywhere we liked within a radius of five hundred miles and he would +pay all the bills, provided, we planned and carried out the whole trip +by ourselves, and did not keep telegraphing home for advice unless we +got into serious trouble. All such little troubles as breakdowns, +hotels and traffic rules we were to manage by ourselves. He has a +theory that Gladys should learn to be self-reliant and means to give +her every opportunity to develop resourcefulness. He thinks she has +improved wonderfully since joining the Winnebagos and considered this +motor trip a good way of testing how much she can do for herself. +Gladys scoffed at the idea of wiring home for help when Nyoda was +along, for Nyoda has toured a great deal and once drove her uncle's car +home from Los Angeles when he broke his arm. Gladys's father knew full +well that Nyoda was perfectly capable of engineering the trip or he +never would have proposed it in the first place, but he never can +resist the temptation to tease Gladys, and kept on inquiring anxiously +if she knew which side of the road to stop on and where to go to buy +gas. Gladys, who had driven her own car for three years! Finally, he +offered to bet that we would be wiring home for advice before the end +of the trip and Gladys took him up on it. The outcome was that if we +returned safe and sound without calling for help Mr. Evans would build +us a permanent Lodge in which to hold our Winnebago meetings. Gladys +danced a whole figure dance for joy, for in her mind the Lodge was as +good as built. +</p> + +<p> +How we did pore over that road map, trying to make up our minds where +to go! Nyoda wanted to go to Cincinnati and Gladys wanted to go to +Chicago, and the arguments each one put up for her cause were +side-splitting. Finally, they decided to settle it by a set of tennis. +They played all afternoon and couldn't get a set. We finally intervened +and dragged them from the court in the name of humanity, for the sun +was scorching and we were afraid they would be doing the Sun Dance as +Ophelia did if we didn't rescue them. The score was then 44-44 in +games. So now that neither side had the advantage of the other we did +as we did the time we named the raft at Onoway House—joined forces. We +decided to go both to Cincinnati and Chicago. +</p> + +<p> +As we finally made it out, the route was like this: Cleveland to +Chicago by way of Toledo and Ft. Wayne; Chicago to Indianapolis; +Indianapolis to Louisville. Here Hinpoha got a look at the map and +wanted to know if we couldn't take in Vincennes, because she had been +crazy to see the place since reading Alice of Old Vincennes. So to +humor her we included Vincennes on the road to Louisville, although it +was quite a bit out of the way. Then from Louisville we planned to go +up to Cincinnati and see the Rookwood Pottery that Nyoda is so crazy +about and come back home through Dayton, Springfield and Columbus. We +were all very well pleased with ourselves when we had the route mapped +out at last, and none of us were sorry that Nyoda and Gladys couldn't +agree on Cincinnati or Chicago and had to compromise and take in both. +</p> + +<p> +Then, when it was decided where we were going, came the no less +important question of what we were to wear on the road. We decided on +our khaki-colored hiking-suits as the shade that would show the dust +the least, and our soft tan regulation Camp Fire hats, with green motor +veils. Besides being eminently sensible the combination was wonderfully +pretty, as even critical Hinpoha, who, at first wanted us to wear smart +white and blue suits, had to admit. It seemed to me the most fitting +thing in the world for a group of Camp Fire Girls to sally forth +dressed in wood brown and green, the colors of nature which in my mind +should be the chosen colors of the whole organization. +</p> + +<p> +We had a discussion about goggles and Gladys and Hinpoha declared +flatly that they wouldn't disfigure their faces with them, but Nyoda +made us all get them whether we wanted to wear them all the time or +not. Nyoda is an advocate of Preparedness. It was this spirit that +prompted her to make me take an extra note-book along, not the +premonition that there was going to be something to put into it. Nyoda +doesn't believe in premonitions since she didn't have any the time she +and Gladys got into the blue automobile with the cane streamer that +awful day in May. +</p> + +<p> +Then there came the weighty matter of the names of the two cars. I will +skip the discussion and merely announce the result. The big, brown car +which Gladys was to drive was christened the Striped Beetle, on account +of the black and gold stripes, and the black car was called the +Glow-worm, because that's what it reminds you of when it comes down the +road at night with the lamps lighted and the body invisible in the +darkness. Nyoda was to be at the helm, or rather at the wheel, of the +Glow-worm. +</p> + +<p> +In order that no feelings might be involved in any way over which car +we other girls traveled in, Nyoda, Solomon-like, proposed that she and +Gladys play "John Kempo" for us. (That isn't spelled right, but no +matter.) Gladys won Hinpoha, Chapa and Medmangi, and Nyoda won Sahwah, +Nakwisi and myself. Thus the die was cast and my fortunes linked with +those of the Glow-worm. +</p> + +<p> +I don't remember ever being so supremely happy as I was the night +before we were to start. All my troubles seemed over for good. The +summer venture had been a success and the doors of college stood wide +open to receive me when the time came. The awful weight of poverty +which had sat on my shoulders last year, and had made my school days +more of a nightmare than anything else was lifted, and here was I, +"Migwan, the Penpusher", actually about to start out on an automobile +trip such as I had often heard described by more fortunate friends, but +had never hoped to experience myself. We were all over at Hinpoha's +house that night, because Aunt Phoebe had just come back with the +Doctor and they wanted to see us. +</p> + +<p> +"And you be careful of your bones, Missis Sahwah!" said the Doctor, +playfully shaking his finger at her. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you going if it rains?" asked Aunt Phoebe. +</p> + +<p> +The possibility of rain had never occurred to us, as the only picture +we had seen in our mind's eye had been country roads gleaming in the +sunshine, but Gladys said scornfully that she would like to be shown +the group of Camp Fire Girls who would let themselves be put off by +rain. +</p> + +<p> +"Let's build a Rain Jinx," said Sahwah, who always has the most +whimsical inspirations. +</p> + +<p> +"A what?" asked Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"A Rain Jinx," said Sahwah, warming to the idea. "A 'doings' to scare +away the Rain Bird and the Thunder Bird." +</p> + +<p> +As the foundation for her Rain Jinx she took Hinpoha's Latin book, +which she declared was the driest thing in existence. On top of that +she piled other books which were nearly as dry until she had a sort of +altar. Then she proceeded to sacrifice all the rubbers, rain-coats and +umbrellas she could find, as a propitiatory offering to the Rain Bird. +Thoroughly in the mood for such nonsense, now she proceeded to chant +weird chants around the altar to protect us from all sorts of things on +the road; to soften the hearts of traffic policemen; to keep the tires +from bursting, and the machinery from cutting up capers. It was the +most ridiculous performance I have ever seen and Aunt Phoebe and the +Doctor laughed themselves almost sick over it. I laughed so myself that +I could not take notes on what she was saying and so can't let you +laugh at it for yourselves. As a reporter I'm afraid I'm not an +unqualified success. +</p> + +<p> +In the midst of that "Vestal Virgin" business—Sahwah was flourishing a +chamois vest to give us the idea of <i>vestal</i>—Nyoda walked in. There +was only one low lamp burning in order to carry out Sahwah's idea of +what a Rain Jinx ceremony should be like, and Nyoda couldn't clearly +make out the objects in the room. +</p> + +<p> +"Look out for the Rain Jinx!" called Sahwah, warningly. "If you touch +it it will bring us bad luck instead of good." +</p> + +<p> +But it was too late. Nyoda had stumbled over the pile of things on the +floor, and in falling sent the elements of the Rain Jinx flying in all +directions. Hinpoha flew to light the light and Sahwah picked Nyoda up +out of the mess and set her in a chair, while the rest of us collected +the scattered articles and tidied up the room, and Sahwah painted in +lurid colors to Nyoda the dire consequences of her crime, and made her +give her famous "Wimmen Sufferage" speech as an act of atonement. +</p> + +<p> +The Rain Bird must have forgiven her on the strength of that speech, +for there never was such a perfect blue and gold day as the morning we +started out. I have already told you how we were divided up in the +cars. Gladys in the Striped Beetle went first, carrying with her +Hinpoha, Chapa and Medmangi, and Nyoda drove the Glow-worm right behind +her with Sahwah, Nakwisi and myself. Hinpoha insisted upon bringing Mr. +Bob, her black cocker spaniel, along as a mascot. Of course, everybody +wanted to sit beside the driver and we had to compromise by planning to +change seats every hour to give us all a chance. We all carried our +cameras in our hands to be ready to snap anything worth while as it +came along, and beside that Nakwisi had her spy-glass along as usual +and I had my reporter's note-book. In honor of my being reporter they +let me sit beside Nyoda at the start. +</p> + +<p> +Nakwisi couldn't wait until we got under way and bounced up and down on +the seat with impatience. "What's the matter with you?" said Sahwah, +"You're a regular <i>starting-crank</i>!" +</p> + +<p> +"That will do, Sahwah," said Nyoda, with mock severity. "I want it +distinctly understood that anybody who indulges in puns on this trip is +going to get out and walk." +</p> + +<p> +With that threat she settled herself behind the wheel and turned on the +gasoline, or whatever it is you do to start a car. Thus we started off, +like modern day Innocents Abroad, with the Winnebago banner across the +back of each car, and our green veils fluttering in the breeze. Mr. +Evans waved the paper on which the bet was recorded significantly, and +shouted "Remember!" in a sepulchral tone, and it was plain to be seen +he was sure he would win the bet. He even tempted Fate so far as to +throw an old rubber after us as we departed, instead of an old shoe, to +bring us luck according to the Rain Jinx. It landed in the tonneau of +our car and Sahwah pounced upon it as a favorable omen and kept it for +a mascot. +</p> + +<p> +With a great cheering and waving of handkerchiefs we were off. The +Striped Beetle was just ahead of us in all the glory of its new coat of +paint and its bright banner, and I couldn't help thrilling with pride +to think that I, for once, belonged to such a gay company, I, who all +my life had to be content with shabby things. I suppose we must have +cut quite a figure with our tan suits all alike and our green veils, +for people stopped to look at us as we passed through the streets. It +was not long before we were outside the city limits and running along +the western road toward Toledo. +</p> + +<p> +I always did think September was the prettiest month in which to go +through the country in the lake region on account of the grapes. The +vineyards stretched for miles along the road and the air was sweet with +the perfume of the purple fruit. There were wide corn-fields, too, that +made me think of the poem: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Up from the meadows rich with corn,<br /> + Clear in the cool September morn—"<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Oh, there never was such a beautiful country as America, nor such a +happy girl as I! In one place someone had planted a long strip of +brilliant red geraniums through the middle of a green field and the +effect was too gorgeous for description. (I'm glad I noted all those +things and put them down on the first part of the trip, for afterwards +I scarcely thought of looking at the scenery.) +</p> + +<p> +The girls in the car ahead kept shouting back at us and trying to make +up a song about the Striped Beetle, and, of course, we had resurrected +the one-time popular "Glow-worm" song and made the hills and dales +resound with the air of the chorus: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer,<br /> + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer,<br /> + Lead us lest too far we wander,<br /> + Love's sweet voice is calling yonder;<br /> + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer,<br /> + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer,<br /> + Light the path, below, above,<br /> + And lead us on to love!"<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Then there would come a chorus of derision from the Striped Beetles, +who politely inquired which one of us expected to be led to her Prince +Charming by that mechanical Glow-worm; and flung back our chorus in a +parody: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer,<br /> + Till the Law makes you put on the dimmer!"<br /> +</p> + +<p> +Then we christened the horn of the Striped Beetle "Love", because that +was the only "sweet voice" we heard calling yonder. I don't believe I +ever had such a good time as I did on the road to Toledo. We got there +about noon and went to a large restaurant for dinner. Even there people +looked up from their tables as we eight girls came in, dressed in our +wood brown and green costumes, and we heard several low-voiced remarks, +"They're probably Camp Fire Girls." +</p> + +<p> +We had a great deal of fun at dinner where we all sat at one big table. +Sahwah and Hinpoha sat at the two ends and got into a dispute as to +which end was the head of the table. "Stop quarreling about it, you +ridiculous children," said Nyoda. "'Wherever Magregor sits—' you know +the rest." +</p> + +<p> +While she was speaking I saw a tourist at another table, dressed in a +long dust coat and wearing monstrous goggles that covered the entire +upper half of his face and made him look like a frog, lean forward as +if to catch every word. Nyoda is perfectly stunning in her motor suit +and I couldn't blame the man for admiring her, but we did want Nyoda to +ourselves on this trip, and the thought of having men mixed up in it +put a damper on my spirits. I suppose Nyoda will leave us for a man +sometime, but the thought always makes me ill. I came out of my little +reverie to find that Gladys had appropriated my glass of water and +Sahwah and Hinpoha were still disputing about being the head of the +table. Finally, we jokingly advised Sahwah to ask the waiter, and she +promptly took us up and did it, and found that Hinpoha was the head. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to have the head at the next place we eat," Sahwah declared, +owning her defeat with as good grace as she could. And Fate winked +solemnly and began to slide off the knees of the gods. +</p> + +<p> +From Toledo to Ft. Wayne, our next stop, there were two routes, the +northern one through Bryan and the southern one through Napoleon and +Defiance. As there didn't seem to be much difference between them we +played "John Kempo" and the northern route won, two out of three. As we +were threading our way through the streets of the town, an old woman +tried to cross the street just in front of the Glow-worm. Nyoda sounded +the horn warningly but the noise seemed to confuse her. She got across +the middle of the street in safety and Nyoda quickened up a bit, when +the woman lost her head and started back for the side she had come +from. She darted right in front of the Glow-worm, and although Nyoda +turned aside sharply, the one fender just grazed her and she fell down +in the street. Of course, a crowd collected and we had to stop and get +out and help her to the sidewalk where we made sure she was not hurt. +Nyoda finally took her in tow and piloted her across the street to the +place where she wanted to go. +</p> + +<p> +When the excitement was over and the crowd had dispersed we returned to +the car and Nyoda started up once more. Then for the first time we +noticed that the Striped Beetle was nowhere in sight. Apparently Gladys +had not noticed our stopping in the confusion of the busy street and +had gone on ahead without us. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap02"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER II. +</h3> + +<p> +Gladys, as the leader, had the road map with her with the route marked +out which we were to follow. We hastened to the end of the street, +expecting to catch sight of the Striped Beetle just around the corner, +but it was nowhere to be seen. We stopped at a store and asked if they +had seen it come by and they said, yes, it had just passed and had +turned to the left up —th Street. We followed swiftly, thinking to +come upon the girls each moment, but there was no sign of them. +</p> + +<p> +"They surely have discovered by this time that we are not behind them +and must be waiting for us," said Nyoda. "I can't understand it." +</p> + +<p> +"Gladys is probably trying to see if we can trail her through the city +to the motor road," said Sahwah. "You know how much we talked about +being self-reliant? We'll probably find her where the road branches out +from the city, waiting with a stop watch to see how long it took us to +find her." +</p> + +<p> +"We'll get there," said Nyoda grimly, her sporting blood up. +</p> + +<p> +Everywhere along the road people told us about the brown car that had +gone just ahead of us and pointed out the direction it had taken. Every +time we turned a corner we expected to hear the laughter of the girls +who were leading us such a merry chase, but we didn't. Soon we were out +of the city and on the country road once more, and we were quite a bit +puzzled not to find them waiting for us. We certainly thought the joke +was to have ended here. But a man walking along the road had seen the +car go by half an hour before. +</p> + +<p> +"Half an hour!" we echoed. "Gladys must have been speeding to have +gotten so far ahead of us." Of course, the Striped Beetle is a +six-cylinder car and more powerful than the Glow-worm, which is a four, +and then they hadn't stopped at every corner to ask the way, so it +wasn't so strange after all that Gladys was so far ahead. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll make some speed on this road," said Nyoda resolutely, "and if we +don't catch Lady Gladys before she gets to Ft. Wayne, I'll know the +reason why. This is the road to Bryan, isn't it?" she asked, with her +hand on the starting-lever. +</p> + +<p> +"No," said the man. "This here road goes through Napoleon and Defiance. +It gets to Ft. Wayne all right, but it doesn't go through Bryan." +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda stopped in surprise. "The southern route?" she said, wonderingly. +"Why, we decided on the northern. Whatever could have made Gladys +change her mind without letting us know? Are you sure it was a brown +car with four girls dressed just like us?" +</p> + +<p> +The man was positive. It was the suits and the veils all alike that had +caught his eye in the first place. He didn't generally remember much +about the cars that went past. There were too many of them. But these +girls looked so fine in their tan suits that he just had to look twice +at them. They were laughing fit to kill and all waved their +handkerchiefs at him as they passed. +</p> + +<p> +We looked at each other in astonishment. It was undoubtedly the Striped +Beetle that was going along the southern route and we couldn't +understand it. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you suppose," I said, "that Gladys could have misunderstood when +you were playing 'John Kempo' and thought it was the southern route +that won?" +</p> + +<p> +"She must have," said Nyoda. "It's not impossible. We were all laughing +and talking so much nonsense at the time that it was hard to think +straight. But it doesn't make any difference," she added, "this route +is as good as the northern, and we are right behind them and I mean to +catch up before we get to Ft. Wayne." I knew what Nyoda was thinking +about. The man had said the girls in the car were laughing fit to kill, +and that looked very much as if there were some joke on foot. We knew +very well they were running away from us and were going to lead us a +chase to Ft. Wayne. +</p> + +<p> +As we started off in pursuit I looked around from the tonneau, where I +was then sitting, and saw a red roadster not far behind us. There was +one man in it and he was the Frog I had seen goggling at Nyoda in the +dining-room at Toledo. +</p> + +<p> +We were not so terribly surprised when we did not find the Striped +Beetle at Napoleon where we stopped for gasoline. We knew now that they +would not let us catch them before we got to Ft. Wayne. We inquired at +the service station and found that the brown car had stopped for +gasoline nearly an hour before. Clearly they were not losing any time +on the road. Neither were we gaining on them at that rate. Nyoda looked +thoughtful as she started out once more. I knew she was meditating a +lecture for Gladys when she caught up with her, about running away from +us. Nyoda was responsible for the welfare of seven girls and how could +she fulfil her trust if she had only three under her eye? And I knew as +well as I knew anything that Gladys would forfeit her right to be +leader by that little prank and for the rest of the trip would follow +meekly along behind us. Nyoda would never in the world stand for her +going off like that. But by the puzzled frown on her face I knew that +she didn't understand it any more than I did. Gladys was the last one +in the world to do such a thing. There must be some reason. +</p> + +<p> +From my seat I could see that the Frog, who had also stopped for +gasoline when we did, was not far behind us. The car he was in looked +like a racing car, with a very long hood in front, and he could easily +have gotten ahead of us. I wondered for a long time why he did not do +so, and then suddenly I had a premonition. He was following us, or +rather Nyoda. Something had told me when I first saw him that we should +see him again. I made a horrible face at him behind my veil and wished +something would happen to his car. +</p> + +<p> +As we were passing through the village of S—— a chicken started up +right under our front wheels, uttering a startled and startling squawk. +Nyoda swerved to one side and ran squarely into a tree. There was a +bump and a grating sound somewhere beneath us and then the nice +cheerful humming of the motor stopped. Nyoda got out of the car to see +what had been damaged. +</p> + +<p> +"As far as I can see, only the lamp bracket is bent," she said, but +when she tried to start the car again it wouldn't start. +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe the driving spider has caught the flywheel," said Sahwah, trying +to be funny. +</p> + +<p> +Just then the red roadster did pass us, going slowly, and the Frog kept +his eyes riveted on Nyoda all the while. She never looked at him. She +had unbuttoned the roof over the engine and was poking her fingers down +into the dragon's mouth, but undoubtedly the trouble wasn't there. +There was a repair shop not far away—all of the towns along the +touring routes which have an eye to business have some sort of one—and +Nyoda repaired thither and fetched a man who tinkered knowingly with +the regions underneath the Glow-worm and then reported in a dust choked +voice that one of the gears was "on the blink". Just what part of a +car's vital organs a gear is I don't know, but I judged it was an +important one because Nyoda looked serious. +</p> + +<p> +"What will we do?" she said, tragically. +</p> + +<p> +"Can fix you up in the shop," said the man, wiping his forehead with a +blue and white handkerchief. "We have a dismantled car of the same make +there and can take a gear out of that." +</p> + +<p> +So the Glow-worm was trundled up the street into the shop, and we were +told that the damage would be fixed by the next morning. The next +morning! We looked at each other in consternation. +</p> + +<p> +"But we must get to Ft. Wayne to-night," said Nyoda, in a tone of +finality. +</p> + +<p> +"Sorry, ladies," said the foreman of the repair shop, "but it can't be +done." Then we realized that we would have to stay in S—— all night. +Here was a pretty mess. And Gladys and Hinpoha and the other two +waiting for us in Ft. Wayne. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll have to let them know," said Nyoda. "They'll worry when they see +we're not coming." +</p> + +<p> +"Let them worry," said Sahwah, darkly. "It serves them right for what +they did to us." +</p> + +<p> +But, of course, we had to let them know. So Nyoda wired the little +hotel where we had planned to stay—and what a good time we were going +to have!—and told the girls to stay there for the night and to please +wait for us in the morning and not leave us again. Of course, the +message was much more condensed than that, but Nyoda got it all in. +</p> + +<p> +Then there was nothing else for us to do but make the best of a bad +bargain and hunt up the one hotel in S—— and prepare to spend the +night. But when we got there it was crowded. There was a big wedding in +town that night, we were informed, and the out-of-town guests had +filled the hotel. They were already two in a room and there was no hope +of doubling up. Seeing our dismay at this news, the clerk bethought +himself of a woman in the village who had a very large house and often +let rooms to tourists when the hotel was full. She had once been very +wealthy, but had lost everything but the house and now made her living +by keeping boarders. +</p> + +<p> +We thanked him and hurried off to the address to which he had directed +us. We were very hot and tired and dusty and amazingly hungry. It was +already six o'clock in the evening, and with the difference in time +between our city and this we had been on the road a long day. We were +glad after all that the hotel had not been able to accommodate us when +we saw this house. The hotel was on the main street and the rooms must +have been small and stuffy; anything but comfortable on this hot night. +But this house stood far back from the street in an immense shady yard, +one of those enormous brick houses that well-to-do people were fond of +building about thirty-five years ago, with large rooms and high +ceilings and enough space inside them to quarter a regiment. We blessed +the good fortune which had led our feet to this hospitable looking +door, which, in times gone by, must have opened to admit throngs of +distinguished people. +</p> + +<p> +There was no door-bell, but a big bronze knocker, and in answer to it a +young girl, presumably the "hired girl", let us into the hall. She took +our coming as a matter of course, so we judged they were prepared for +tourists that day, knowing that the hotel was full on account of the +wedding. Without a word she led us up-stairs and we breathed a sigh of +relief when we thought of a bath and supper. The house must have been +the home of fashionable people in its time, for the furnishings, though +old, were still luxurious. The carpet on the stairs was still thick and +soft to our feet, and the curtains I could see on the windows were of a +fine quality. At the head of the stairs there was an oil painting of a +woman in the dress of a by-gone day. The servant opened the door of a +room at the front end of the long up-stairs hall and we passed in. +</p> + +<p> +We had known instinctively as soon as we entered the place that the +lady of the house was a woman of refinement and culture, +notwithstanding the reduced circumstances which made it necessary for +her to rent out rooms in this big mansion of a house in order to make +her living. "I should think she'd rent it or sell it," said practical +Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +"She probably can't bear to part with these things, which remind her of +her former life," I said, sentimentally. +</p> + +<p> +We were all anxious to see the woman who had been the mistress of so +much splendor in days gone by and could not give up the house. The +bedroom we were shown to was luxurious compared to what I had been used +to at home. The bed was a mahogany four-poster covered with a spread of +lace, and the rug on the floor was a faded oriental. Opening out of the +bedroom was a bath with a shower and we made a dash to get under the +cooling flood. I have never seen such towels as were stacked up on that +little white table in the bathroom. They were all heavily embroidered +with initials and the fringe on them was every bit of six inches long. +</p> + +<p> +"The fringe for me!" exclaimed Sahwah, when she saw them. She seized a +whole pile of them at once, using only the fringe for drying, and +putting on affected aristocratic airs that made us shriek with +laughter. We had been dressing all over the two rooms and the floor was +strewn with towels and articles of clothing. Suddenly the door of the +bedroom opened and a woman stood in the room. She was a gray-haired +woman of about fifty, very handsome and proud-looking, and dressed in a +gown of plum-colored satin. She said nothing; just looked at us. I +glanced around at the others. There was Sahwah, her kimono wrapped +loosely around her, patting her feet dry with the fringe of a dozen +towels; Nyoda stood in front of the dressing-table with a towel wrapped +around her, combing her hair: I was sitting on the floor putting my +shoes on, while through the bathroom door came the sounds of the shower +turned on full force, with an occasional shriek from Nakwisi when she +got it too cold. Suddenly I felt unaccountably foolish. Nyoda and +Sahwah looked up and saw the woman the next instant. She stood looking +at us, her eyes nearly popping out of her head, her face purple, +leaning against the foot of the bed for support. Nobody said a word. As +Sahwah expressed it afterward, "Silence reigned, and we stood there in +the rain." +</p> + +<p> +"How did—how did you get in?" the woman gasped faintly, after a +silence of a full minute. We knew something was wrong. We could feel it +in the marrow of our bones. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda, holding her towel closely around her, answered in as dignified a +manner as possible. "We were directed to your house from the hotel as a +place where we could spend the night, and your maid admitted us and +brought us in here. Is there anything the matter?" +</p> + +<p> +The woman stood staring as if fascinated at the towels which were lying +all over the floor. At that moment Nakwisi opened the door of the bath +and emerged in her dressing-gown, the open door behind her revealing +splashes of water all over the room and more towels on the floor. The +woman put her hand to her throat as if she were choking. She tried to +speak but evidently could not. +</p> + +<p> +"Isn't this Mrs. Butler's house?" asked Nyoda, with growing misgiving. +"Don't you take in tourists when the hotel is filled?" +</p> + +<p> +The woman swallowed convulsively and found her voice. "No," she said, +emphatically, "this is not Mrs. Butler's house, and I don't take in +tourists when the hotel is filled. This is the McAlpine residence and +my husband is State Senator McAlpine. My daughter is getting married +to-night and we have a houseful of wedding guests. We had two special +trains, one from Chicago and one from New York, bringing guests. If my +maid let you in she thought you were some of them." Then she looked +around the room and seemed on the verge of apoplexy once more. "But how +did you get in here?" she cried, wildly. "This is the bridal chamber!" +</p> + +<p> +I suddenly felt weak in the back-bone, and thought my head was going to +drop into my lap. The towel fell from Nyoda's shoulders and she stood +there like a statue with her long hair around her. Sahwah stopped still +with her foot on the stool and the handful of towels in her hand. For +one moment we remained as if turned to stone and then Sahwah buried her +face in the towels with a muffled shriek. If embarrassment ever killed +people I know not one of us would have survived. Nyoda apologised +profusely for our intrusion, which, after all, was not our fault, as we +soon found. The hotel man had told us number 65 South Vine Street when +it was number 65 North Vine Street he had meant. +</p> + +<p> +We got dressed faster than we ever had before in our lives and packed +up our scattered belongings, leaving the rooms nearly as tidy as they +were when we came in. Mrs. McAlpine had withdrawn into the next room, +and through the closed door we could hear the sound of excited talking +and knew that she was telling the story to someone. When she had +finished we heard a man's voice raised in a regular bellow. Evidently +it had struck him as funny. +</p> + +<p> +"No!" we heard him chortle. "You don't mean it! Got put into the bridal +chamber, ha, ha! When you wouldn't let me put a foot into it! Took a +bath and used up all the wedding towels that you wouldn't even let me +touch! Oh, ha! ha! ha!" The very house seemed to shake with the +violence of his mirth. Senator McAlpine, for we judged it was he, must +have had a sense of humor. "Where are they?" we heard him shout. "Let +me see them!" +</p> + +<p> +But at the thought of facing that battery of laughter we fled in haste. +Feeling unutterably small and ridiculous, we crept down-stairs and out +of the front door, past numbers of people who were arriving. Once out +on the sidewalk we leaned against the ornamental iron fence and laughed +until we cried. The more we thought about it the funnier it seemed. +What a tale we would have to tell the other girls when we met them in +the morning! +</p> + +<p> +As we had had our bath there only remained supper, and we certainly did +justice to it when we finally arrived at Mrs. Butler's house on North +Vine Street. It was after eight o'clock and we were ravenous. The rooms +we had in that house, while they were nothing compared to what we +almost had, were still very comfortable, and we were in such high +spirits that any place at all would have looked good to us. Our long +day in the open air had made us sleepy and it was not long before we +were all touring in the Car of Dreams. +</p> + +<p> +While we were eating breakfast in Mrs. Butler's big, airy dining-room +we heard a boy arrive at the kitchen door and ask for the "automobile +ladies." He had been sent out from the telegraph office and the hotel +clerk had told him where we were. He handed Nyoda a message. As she +read it a surprised and puzzled look came into her face. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it, Nyoda?" we all cried. +</p> + +<p> +She handed us the bit of yellow paper. It was what is called a service +message from the telegraph company, and read: "Message sent Gladys +Evans Potter Hotel Ft. Wayne undelivered. No such party registered." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap03"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER III. +</h3> + +<p> +We stared in open-mouthed astonishment. Gladys and the others not in +Ft. Wayne? If they weren't there, where were they? We were expecting to +join them this very morning. Nyoda came to a sensible conclusion first, +as she always does, "Where are they?" she repeated. "Why, stranded in +some place along the road, just as we are, of course. We're not the +only ones that can have accidents. I thought Gladys would get into some +trouble or other at the rate she was driving that car. I hope none of +them got hurt, but it serves them right if they did have a hold-up of +some kind. And I hope the trouble, whatever it is, keeps them tied up +until we overtake them. We must ask at every village whether the +Striped Beetle is there. Wouldn't we laugh to see them standing around +some garage waiting impatiently for the damage to be mended?" +</p> + +<p> +It was nine o'clock before the Glow-worm was in running order again and +we were ready to take the road once more. Since being towed into the +repair shop the night before we had seen nothing of the Frog, and I +concluded that he had gone on his way and would cross our path no more. +But we had not gone many miles on the road when I saw the now familiar +roadster traveling leisurely along behind us. I mentioned the fact +casually to Nyoda as I was sitting beside her, and while she made no +comment whatever, I noticed that she began gradually to increase the +pace of the car. As yet neither of us had hinted at our unspoken +antagonism to this persistent follower—for Nyoda was antagonistic to +him, because I noticed that she bit her lip in an annoyed way when she +saw him again. After all, he might not be following us. He certainly +had every right in the world to be traveling in the general direction +of Chicago over the public highway at the same time we were making our +trip. +</p> + +<p> +And yet—why did he stay all night in S—— when there was nothing the +matter with his car, and when accommodations were so very scarce. We +hadn't the least idea where he had stayed, but he must have been in +S—— all night or he couldn't have followed us out in the morning. +Even that fact, which might have been a coincidence, did not convince +me so much that he was following us as my own intuition did. And I have +learned by experience to respect those intuitions. Out of a whole +dining-room full that man had been the only one who had attracted my +attention, and I felt antagonistic toward him instantly. I had the same +feeling when I saw him behind us on the road to Napoleon. And the worst +part of it was that he had done absolutely nothing to make me feel that +way toward him. He hadn't been impertinent, in fact, he had never said +a single word to any of us! All he had done was to stare searchingly at +Nyoda through that goggle mask of his. There was nothing the matter +with his looks, goodness knows. All we could see under the big goggles +were part of a nose and a brown mustache and they looked harmless +enough. Then why did Nyoda and I both have the same feeling toward him? +</p> + +<p> +We inquired carefully all the way, but nowhere did we come upon any +trace of the Striped Beetle. At several places they had seen the brown +car go by the day before and at one place it had stopped for gasoline, +but no one knew of any repairs that had been made on it. The thing +began to loom up like a puzzle. If the Striped Beetle had not been +delayed by accident why had not Gladys arrived in Ft. Wayne the night +before as per schedule. +</p> + +<p> +"Possibly they did arrive all right, and didn't go to a hotel because +you weren't with them," suggested Sahwah. "Gladys may have friends +there and they may have stayed with them." That fact was so very +probable that we ceased to worry about the girls, trusting that the +whole thing would be made clear when we got to Ft. Wayne. +</p> + +<p> +We were in Indiana now, running through beautiful farm country, with +occasional tiny villages. Sahwah made up a game, estimating the number +of windmills we would see in a certain time and then counting them as +we passed to see how near she came to being right. As we were keeping a +sharp lookout on each side of the road so as not to miss any, we saw a +girl running across a field toward the road just ahead of us. She was +waving her arms and we looked to see whom or what she was waving at, +but there was nothing in sight. +</p> + +<p> +"I actually believe she's waving at us!" said Sahwah. There was no +mistake about it. The girl stood still in the road waiting for us to +come up and motioned us to stop. We did so. She stood and looked at us +for a minute as if she were afraid to speak. I looked back to see if +the Frog was gaining on us. The red roadster had disappeared. The girl +who stood before us looked about eighteen or twenty. She wore a plain +suit of dark blue cloth with a long skirt down to the ground and a +white sailor hat with a veil draped around it that covered her face. In +her hand she held a small traveling bag. She looked beseechingly from +one to the other of us and then her eyes came back to Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +"Could you—would you—will you take me to Decatur?" she faltered. +"I'll pay you whatever you think it's worth," she added hastily. Now +Decatur was out of our course altogether, some miles to the south. We +were hurrying to Ft. Wayne to find out what had become of Gladys and +why our telegram had come back unanswered. But this girl was plainly in +trouble. Through the veil we could see that her face looked haggard and +her eyes were big and staring. She looked frightened to death. No girl +in trouble ever came to Nyoda in vain. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you want to go to Decatur very badly?" she asked, gently. +</p> + +<p> +"I must go," said the girl, earnestly. "I have to catch a train there, +the train for Louisville." She checked herself when she had said that +and looked around as if afraid she had been overheard. +</p> + +<p> +"But why go to Decatur?" asked Nyoda. "You can get the Louisville train +in Ft. Wayne. We are going directly to Ft. Wayne and are nearer there +now than Decatur. We will be very glad to take you along." +</p> + +<p> +But at the mention of Ft. Wayne the girl shrank back. "No, no, not +there," she said in evident terror. "They—they would be watching for +me there." +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda looked at the girl keenly. She must have seen what we did not. +"My dear," she said, in a big sister tone, "are you running away from +home?" +</p> + +<p> +The girl started and looked haunted. "Yes, I am running away," she said +in a tone of desperation, "but I'm not running away from home. I'm +running back home. Home to my mother." She looked over her shoulder at +a house set far back from the road. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me about it," said Nyoda, with that smile of hers that never +fails to win a confidence. The girl looked into Nyoda's eyes and did +not look away again. It's the way everybody does. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm Margery Anderson," she said. "You know now who I am and why I'm +running away." +</p> + +<p> +Yes, we all knew. The papers all over had been full of the fight Mr. +and Mrs. Anderson, who were separated, had been making to get +possession of their daughter Margery. The law had given her to her +mother, but she had been kidnapped twice by her father and the last +that had been published about her was that she was in the keeping of an +uncle, who was hiding her from her mother. But the papers had said that +Margery was only thirteen years old. This girl looked older. +</p> + +<p> +"My uncle wants to take me to Japan, where I'll never see my mother +again," she said. "I want my mother!" she finished with a very childish +sob. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda got out of the car and put her arm around her. "You shall go to +your mother, my dear," she said. "We'll take you to Decatur." +</p> + +<p> +In walking to the car Margery fell all over the long skirt she was +wearing, and then we realized that she was dressed up in someone else's +clothes to make herself look older. She was only thirteen after all. +Nyoda had been able to observe this right away when she had looked at +her closely. She was as straight and as slender as a boy and the jacket +modeled for an older woman hung on her as on a pole. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know the road to Decatur?" asked Nyoda. Margery said that she +did, and told Nyoda how to turn. Our arrival in Ft. Wayne would be +delayed an hour or so by going to Decatur, but none of us minded. We +were all keenly interested in this much talked of young girl and were +anxious to see her get to her mother before her uncle could stop her. +Who would not have done the same thing in our place? +</p> + +<p> +"What time does the Louisville train leave Decatur?" asked Nyoda, +looking at her watch. +</p> + +<p> +"Eleven-thirty," said Margery. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda put the watch back hastily and increased the speed of the car. +She did not say what time it was and none of us asked her, thinking +that the time might be short and Margery would be worried for fear we +would not make it. We knew Nyoda would make it if she possibly could do +so. Margery looked at her inquiringly, and Nyoda answered with a bright +reassuring smile. Once Nyoda and I caught each other looking behind at +the same moment and we each smiled faintly. The red roadster was +nowhere in sight. By making this detour to Decatur while it was delayed +on the road we had undoubtedly thrown it off the track. +</p> + +<p> +We could not have been many miles from Decatur when a shot startled us. +We all looked around expecting to see Margery's uncle after us, but it +was only the bursting of a tire. Only the bursting of a tire! But to +this day I hold that that tire did not burst of its own accord. Fate +deliberately jabbed a pin into it. We carried an extra and with the +help of a farmer who was passing we jacked up the Glow-worm in a hurry +and put on its new gum shoe, Margery walked up and down the road +nervously during the process. I suppose the minutes seemed like hours +to her. +</p> + +<p> +I beguiled the time by scribbling verses in my note-book to celebrate +the occasion: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Tires, brand new tires, I know not what they mean,<br /> + Freshly inflated from the Free Air pump,<br /> + Giving no warning of their base designs,<br /> + Scatter in air with a terrific bang,<br /> + And all upon a sudden are no more.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Sweeter it is than dreams of paradise<br /> + To ride with friends beside one in one's car,<br /> + O'er sunlit roads; past fields of waving grain.<br /> + Bitter it is as drops of greenest gall,<br /> + To blow a tire, and sit there in the sun."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +At this juncture the exchange of tires was completed and we were off +once more. I saw Nyoda look at her watch. +</p> + +<p> +"What time is it?" asked Margery. +</p> + +<p> +"My watch has stopped," answered Nyoda. There was a clock on the corner +of two streets in the next village we passed through and the hands +pointed to eleven. This would give us plenty of time. We were not far +from Decatur. We all breathed a sigh of relief, for we had been afraid +that the bursting of the tire had caused us to miss the train. Nyoda +calculated closely and announced that we would have time to stop and +buy gasoline. She was not sure whether we had enough to make Decatur or +not, and it would be a shame to go dry outside the very walls of Rome, +she said. It took the young boy in charge of the place where they sold +the gasoline some minutes to fill our tank, as he was only looking +after the place while the proprietor was out and he was awkward. It was +ten minutes after eleven when we got under way again. Nyoda set her +watch by the clock. +</p> + +<p> +When we got into Decatur we had an unpleasant surprise. All the clocks +we came to said ten minutes to twelve. The other clock we had seen had +been half an hour slow. We hurried to the station in the hope that the +train was late, but there was no such luck. It had been on time for +once. Margery sank down on the seat in the waiting-room and looked at +us with wide frightened eyes. Clearly she was appealing to Nyoda to +tell her what to do. +</p> + +<p> +"When is the next train to Louisville?" Nyoda inquired at the ticket +window. +</p> + +<p> +"None until to-morrow noon," was the reply. +</p> + +<p> +Margery looked so dismayed that Nyoda said hastily, "Why won't you go +to Ft. Wayne and get the train there? The fast trains that don't stop +here stop there and you can get one later in the day." +</p> + +<p> +But Margery looked more frightened than ever. "I can't go to Ft. +Wayne," she said. "My uncle would expect me to go there and would have +the station watched. That's why I wanted to go to Decatur. They would +never think of looking there for me. What shall I do. I know I'll never +get to mother!" +</p> + +<p> +She looked so young and babyish and helpless that Nyoda made up her +mind on the spot that she was not the kind of girl who could be left on +her own resources. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me," she said, "does your mother expect you to-morrow?" +</p> + +<p> +Margery shook her head. "She doesn't even know that I'm coming." +</p> + +<p> +"Then," said Nyoda decidedly, "I'm not going to leave you to find your +way there alone. We will be going through Louisville in a few days and +you're going to stay right with us until we get there. Your uncle will +probably be having trains watched and would never think of you in an +automobile. It is the best solution of the problem. We'll get you a +dress and veil like the other girls and everyone will think you are one +of our party. In that case you don't need to be afraid to go to Ft. +Wayne, where we must stop, as we will not go near a railway station." +</p> + +<p> +Margery agreed to this plan with such an air of relief that it was +plain to be seen what an ordeal it had been for her to try to travel +alone. +</p> + +<p> +With this delay of having to go to Decatur it was past noon before we +got to Ft. Wayne. Once there we were at a loss how to proceed to find +the Striped Beetle and the girls. I believe everyone of us confidently +expected to find them waiting for us at some point where the road +entered the city, and it threw us off our bearings to find they were +not there. Even Nyoda was plainly puzzled what to do. We found the +little Potter Hotel where we were to have stayed and asked to see the +register. It was possible that the girls had been there after all in +spite of the telegram not having been delivered. Telegrams have failed +to connect before. But they had not been there. If they had stayed with +friends we did not know where they were now. It was a riddle. Not +getting any light on the subject we decided to eat our dinner before we +looked farther. +</p> + +<p> +We checked our cameras and the man at the checking counter looked at us +closely when we came up. There was no one else there and he seemed +inclined to be talkative. +</p> + +<p> +"There was a party just like you here yesterday," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"What do you mean by 'just like us?'" we asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Same clothes," he answered. "Four girls in tan suits and green veils +and one in a blue suit and white veil." +</p> + +<p> +We all looked at each other. The four girls were evidently ours, but +who was the one in blue? +</p> + +<p> +"What time were they here?" we asked. +</p> + +<p> +"About five o'clock yesterday afternoon," he answered. "They checked +some things here and then went into the dining-room." +</p> + +<p> +Five o'clock was the time we should all have reached Ft. Wayne if +things had gone right. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you any idea where they have gone now?" we asked, eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +"They were on their way to Chicago, going through Ligonier," answered +the man. "I heard them talking about it. They seemed to be in a great +hurry and were only in the dining-room about fifteen minutes. The one +in blue kept telling them to make haste." +</p> + +<p> +"The plot thickens," said Sahwah. "Gladys is mixed up in some adventure +of her own, apparently. She's not running away from us for the fun of +the thing, you can rest assured. I never thought so from the first. +She's probably taking some distressed damsel to Chicago in a grand rush +and counts on us to trust her until we catch up with her and hear the +explanation." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," agreed Nyoda, "she must have had some urgent reason for acting +so, that's a foregone conclusion." +</p> + +<p> +"It's a <i>four gone</i> one all right," said Sahwah, but Nyoda's mind was +too busy with wondering about Gladys to notice the pun. +</p> + +<p> +"I think the best thing to do is to follow them as fast as we can," +said Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +"I think so too," said Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +Puzzled as we were about Gladys's strange behavior, we were yet +relieved of all anxiety about the Striped Beetle and its passengers. +The girls were on their way to Chicago by way of Ligonier, the way we +had planned in the beginning, and had undoubtedly not fallen by the +wayside. We did wait long enough in Ft. Wayne to buy Margery a suit and +veil just like ours and were surprised and gratified to find that we +could get a suit exactly like ours down to the last button. +</p> + +<p> +"Who do you suppose the girl in blue is with Gladys?" we asked each +other, as we took the road again. But, of course, no one could answer +this. +</p> + +<p> +I was sitting in the front seat beside Nyoda. We had not gone very far +on the way when I saw her knit her brows in a frown and heard her +mutter to herself, "I thought we had lost you!" At the same time she +increased the speed of the car. Naturally, I looked ahead in the +direction in which she was looking, but there was nothing in sight. +Then I looked behind. About a hundred yards behind us was the red +roadster with the Frog calmly sitting at the wheel. How did Nyoda know +he was there? She had not turned around since we had left Ft. Wayne. +</p> + +<p> +"Have you an eye in the back of your head?" I asked, curiously. +</p> + +<p> +"No, but I have one in the back of my collar," she answered, trying to +hide her annoyance in a joke. "I just had a feeling he was there," she +added. +</p> + +<p> +This time I actually had a chill when I saw him. There was something +terrifying in that figure always following us, never coming any nearer, +never saying anything, but yet, never losing sight of us. Those +mask-like goggles and the cap he wore pulled low over his face made him +look like one of the creatures you see in a bad dream. +</p> + +<p> +We had spent so much time in Ft. Wayne looking for a suit for Margery +that it was four o'clock before we finally got under way. The morning +had been fine, but the afternoon was misty and chilly. It must have +rained not long before, for the road was muddy. We did not make such +very good time, for the car began to act badly, and it was soon evident +that something was wrong. We began to run slowly. Involuntarily, I +glanced around to see how much the roadster was gaining on us. It had +slowed down too and was going at exactly our pace. By this time the +other girls could not help noticing that it was following us. Margery +crouched in the seat and clung to Sahwah's arm. She was sure it was her +uncle after her, and then I had to explain that the Frog had been +following us all the way from Toledo, before we had taken her in. +</p> + +<p> +We had expected to make Ligonier in a very short time and reach South +Bend before night, but as things turned out we never got there at all. +Somewhere between Ligonier and Goshen, at a little town called +Wellsville, the poor Glow-worm must have been taken with awful pains in +its insides, for it began to pant and gasp like a creature in misery, +and utter little squeals of distress. There was nothing left to do but +hunt up the one garage in town, which fortunately had a repair shop in +connection with it, and get someone to look at the engine. I don't +pretend to know anything about the machinery of the car, so I haven't +the slightest idea what was the matter, but the man talked knowingly +about magnetos and carburetors and said he could have the trouble fixed +by eight o'clock in the evening. We were vexed that it should take so +long, because we had expected to make South Bend early in the evening, +but there was no help for it, so we repaired to the hotel next +door—"hotel" by courtesy, for it was nothing more than a wayside +inn—for supper. +</p> + +<p> +It was raining a fine drizzle, and, as we did not care to walk around +in it, after supper we sat in the stuffy parlor and tried to pass away +the hours until the Glow-worm would be cured of its sickness and we +could resume our journey. The carpet on the floor was a mixture of +hideous red and pink roses on a green background. I can see that carpet +yet. It was a Brussels, and Sahwah kept referring to it as one of the +Belgian Atrocities. There was a larger room opening out of the parlor +in which we sat, a sort of general reception and smoking-room combined. +There was an old square piano out there and some young man was banging +ragtime on it, while half a dozen others leaned over it and roared out +songs in several different keys at once. All around the room sat men, +smoking until the air was blue, and talking in loud voices, or shouting +snatches of the songs. They seemed a rather noisy lot and from the +scraps of conversation we heard we judged that they had come from +somewhere to attend the September horse races which were being held in +the neighborhood. At any rate, the hotel was swarming with them and we +were glad that we were to get out of there by eight o'clock and did not +have to stay all night. Once one of them walked into the parlor where +we sat and said "Good evenin', ladies," in an impertinent sort of way, +but we all froze him up with a glance and he went out without saying +anything more to us. We saw him cross the other room toward a door at +the farther side, and, as he crossed the floor we saw someone else get +up from a chair in the corner of the room and go out after him. The +second man was right under a light and we recognized the Frog, still +with his goggles and cap on. Soon there came a loud uproar from the +invisible room and unmistakable sounds of scuffling. We waited to hear +no more. If there was going to be a quarrel in that hotel we did not +wish to see any of it. We ran out in the rain and went into the garage +where the man was working on the Glow-worm. The quarrel we had fled +from didn't amount to anything after all, I suppose, for in a few +minutes we heard the men back at their singing. +</p> + +<p> +It was now nearly eight o'clock and we looked anxiously from time to +time at the Glow-worm to see if it was nearly finished, but some of the +parts were scattered out on the floor and the man was wrenching away at +what was left in the car and did not seem to be in any hurry to put the +others back. At eight o'clock it was not done and Nyoda asked him how +soon it would be. +</p> + +<p> +"Not before nine or nine-thirty, Miss," replied the man. +</p> + +<p> +The rain had stopped and we walked up and down the main street for the +next two hours, stopping in at the garage every time we passed, in the +vain hope that the work was finished and we could go on. But it was not +to be so. It was half past ten before it was finally ready and that was +too late to start. We realized that we would have to stay in that inn +all night, much as we were disinclined to do so. The racket was still +in full blast when we returned and were shown to rooms. We had to go up +on the third floor because the other rooms were all taken by the +racketers. The ceiling sloped down on our heads and the windows were +small and the furniture was exceedingly cheap, but it was a place to +stay and that was the main thing. +</p> + +<p> +"There's only one quilt on my bed," said Nakwisi rather disdainfully, +"and I don't believe that has more than an eighth of an inch of batting +in it." +</p> + +<p> +"I think an eighth of an inch is a pretty good batting average for a +hotel quilt," giggled Sahwah, whose spirits nothing can dampen. +</p> + +<p> +We made up our minds to get up at six o'clock and get a good early +start the next morning. As things turned out we got a much earlier +start than we had anticipated. Margery didn't like the room at all and +cried while she was undressing, and Nyoda had to pet her and make a +fuss over her before she would lie down in the bed. I couldn't help +wondering just what Nyoda would have done to one of us if we had cried +about that hotel room. But then Margery isn't a Winnebago, and that +makes a lot of difference. +</p> + +<p> +We went to sleep with the banging of the piano and the sound of the +songs floating up from downstairs, and each of us puzzling about the +appearance of the Frog and wondering why he hadn't approached us in the +parlor if he were really trying to make our acquaintance. Possibly he +meant to, later, only we upset his plan by going out when we did, I +reflected. It really had been rather an eventful day, I thought, even +if we hadn't made much progress with our trip. Think of spending a +whole day in going a distance that should have consumed at the most +only a few hours! We really must get an early start to-morrow and make +Chicago in good time, or be laughed at for running a lame duck race, I +thought as I dropped off to sleep. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap04"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER IV. +</h3> + +<p> +I woke up with the strangest feeling I have ever had in my life. I +remember dreaming that we had left the door open, and all the tobacco +smoke from below had floated up into the room and was choking me. When +I first awoke I thought that the racketers were still at it below, for +from somewhere there came a horrible din. There was the sound of many +voices shouting unintelligible things, when suddenly above the roar one +voice shrieked out "Fire!" Then I knew. The room was filled with smoke, +dense and choking. +</p> + +<p> +"Wake up!" I shouted, shaking Sahwah, who was sleeping with me. I +dragged her out of bed and we two ran into the other room where Nyoda +and Nakwisi and Margery were sleeping. The smoke was still thicker +there and I believe they must have been nearly suffocated. We had hard +work rousing them. Above the shouts of the people in the street below +we could hear an ominous crackling that increased every minute. At +first I was so frightened I could hardly move. It was the first time I +had ever been in a burning building. The time the tepee burned we were +out of it in one jump, before we had realized what had happened. I +shudder yet, when I hear crackling wood. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda's voice roused me to action. She had regained her wits and was +cool-headed as usual. Margery clung to her and screamed and she shook +her and told her to be quiet. +</p> + +<p> +"Carry out your clothes if you can find them, girls," she said calmly, +"but don't wait to put anything on." +</p> + +<p> +We groped through the smoke and found our clothes on the chair beside +the bed, and gathering them up went out into the hall. The hotel was +old-fashioned, with a long, narrow wooden hallway running the entire +length of the up-stairs, crossed in places by other halls. Somewhere +along that hall was the stairway; we had a dim remembrance of the +direction from which we had come up the night before. We had to grope +our way along by keeping our hands on the wall, for the smoke was so +thick that it was impossible to see a step before us. We reached the +stairs at last. After one look we jumped back in alarm. The whole +stairway was one mass of leaping flames. I have never seen such a +dreadful sight. We groped our way back toward our rooms, which were at +the front of the building, intending to lean out of the windows and +shout for help from below. But we lost our way in the smoke and could +not find the way back. There we were, caught like rats in a trap, with +the flames beginning to come through the floor in places, and the smoke +rolling around us in blinding, suffocating clouds. There was no escape, +then. We were to perish in this hotel blaze. Would we ever be +identified? How soon would they know at home? All these things flashed +through my mind as we stood there in the midst of that awful nightmare. +</p> + +<p> +Suddenly something appeared out of the smoke close beside us, something +white and ghostlike. Then a voice spoke. "Follow me, girls," it said, +and we knew that the ghost was a man with a towel tied over his face. +"All of you get in line behind your mother," said the voice thickly, +"and each one hold onto the one in front of you. Don't let go, or +you'll be lost and I can't watch you." +</p> + +<p> +We didn't even smile at his thinking Nyoda was our mother. With the +military precision we have learned from long practice of doing things +together, we formed in a goose line behind Nyoda, each one gripping +tightly the hand of the one ahead of her, and thus we began to move +forward. After what seemed a hundred years, but could not have been +more than five minutes, we felt a gust of fresh air blowing on us, and +knew that we were standing beside an open window. +</p> + +<p> +"This window looks out on the roof of the second story at the back of +the building," said the voice, "and it's an easy drop to the roof." +</p> + +<p> +We had to take his word for it, for the smoke obscured everything so +that we did not know whether we were going to drop three feet or +thirty. The air coming in the window blew the smoke away from our faces +for a moment and we got a breath, or otherwise I am afraid we would +have strangled on the verge of being rescued. Without a moment's +hesitation the hands that belonged to the towel and the voice seized +Nyoda and swung her out of the window as if she had been a feather, and +in a moment her "All right" told that she had landed safely on the +roof. One by one he took us in the same manner. We were still in a +dangerous position, for there was fire under us, although the worst +blaze was at the front of the building, and as far as we could see +there were no ladders anywhere around waiting to take us down. +</p> + +<p> +"Confound these one-horse country towns, anyway", we heard the voice +mutter, "that can't support a decent Fire Department. +</p> + +<p> +"Here," he shouted to the gaping crowd below who were watching the few +that were trying to fight the flames with garden hoses, "bring +blankets, hurry!" +</p> + +<p> +It was rather a thrilling moment when we stood on that burning building +waiting for the blankets to come into which we were to jump. Now that I +look back at it I think we must have been a funny sight, for while we +stood there we threw on our jackets over our night-dresses and held the +rest of our belongings in our hands. With all the rest of her +impedimenta Nyoda had rescued her camera, Nakwisi her spy-glass and I +my note-book, and they gave us an odd, jaunty tourist appearance which +must have been amusing. Well, the people came running with blankets and +held them for us to jump and we jumped, although we had to throw +Margery down. She stood there trembling, afraid to jump and there was +no time to argue the necessity of prompt action. We gathered up our +possessions from the people to whom we had tossed them and hastened +into a near-by house where we got ourselves dressed. +</p> + +<p> +Our rescuer had jumped right after us, and by the time we had picked +ourselves up and got our breath back enough to thank him he had +vanished from the scene. He must have been the proprietor, we judged, +for he knew the inside of the hotel so well. Possibly he went back to +rescue some more of his patrons. +</p> + +<p> +After we were dressed we returned to the scene of the fire, which had +drawn people from all the country around, in the usual half-dressed +state in which people go to midnight fires. Of course, there was no +hope of saving the building, for the few thin streams of water that +were playing on it went up in steam as soon as they touched the blaze. +The walls fell in with terrifying crashes and the roof caved in like a +pasteboard box. It had been nothing but a dry shell of a building and +burned like tinder. +</p> + +<p> +"It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good," said Sahwah, giggling +nervously, "that piano is a hopeless ruin and the people around here +won't have to listen to it any more. And even if they do rebuild the +hotel they can never get another piano like it, for there aren't two +such tin pans in existence." +</p> + +<p> +After the rain had stopped that night a fog had settled down and the +glare of the flames through the mist made a weird lurid scene that I +shall never forget. All this time the wind had been from the east, +which drove the flames toward an open square where they could set +nothing else afire, but suddenly it veered to the west, and showers of +burning brands began to fall on the roof of the garage where the +Glow-worm was standing. The scanty water force was then turned to save +this building and we had several anxious moments until the wind shifted +again. +</p> + +<p> +"How foolish I was not to have taken the car out immediately," said +Nyoda. Other people were hurrying to the spot to rescue their cars and +we also went over. The interior of the place had not been damaged by +the small blazes which had been kindled on the roof, though I tremble +to think what might have happened if the gasoline stored inside had +exploded. Thankful that fortune had favored us so far in this night of +accident, we took our way among the other cars in the place to where +the Glow-worm had stood. Then we rubbed our eyes and looked at each +other. For where the Glow-worm had been when we left the place the +night before there was an empty space. A hasty search through the +place, which was not very large, revealed that the car was gone. +Frantically we rushed after the proprietor, who was standing in the +doorway watching the grand spectacle next door. He knew nothing about +the matter. The car had been there when he closed up that night, but as +soon as the fire broke out people had been coming for their cars and +the place had been open. He was much excited over it and declared that +such a thing had never happened before as long as he had been in +business, but then, he added, neither had the hotel ever burned down +before. +</p> + +<p> +To say that we were dismayed was putting it mildly. To have your own +car stolen is bad enough, but when it is a car belonging to someone +else who has kindly loaned it to you to take a pleasure trip in, it is +ten times worse. Nyoda had promised to bring the car back in safety and +she was almost beside herself at the thought of its being stolen. None +of us ever felt like facing Mr. Evans again. We reproached ourselves a +thousand times that we had not gone for the Glow-worm immediately upon +getting out of the burning building, without waiting to dress or stand +around and watch the walls fall. We searched vainly through the line of +motors moving up and down the street for the familiar black body and +yellow lamps of the Glow-worm. +</p> + +<p> +Discouraged and heartsick over this new calamity, we retired to the +park-like square on the other side of the hotel to talk things over and +lay out our course of action. Through the trees in the square we could +see something moving along the road, and, by a sudden glare from the +fire we made out the Glow-worm, proceeding slowly and silently in the +opposite direction, and the man at the wheel was the Frog! We all +darted after him, shouting "Stop thief!" at the top of our voices. The +Frog turned around in the seat, saw us streaming across the square, and +evidently decided that the chase was too hot, for he jammed on the +brakes and jumped from the car, leaving the motor still running. He ran +into a clump of shrubbery and disappeared from sight. +</p> + +<p> +We were too glad to get the car back to hunt for the thief and bring +him to justice. In our relief from the dismay of the moment before we +were ready to hug the old Glow-worm. +</p> + +<p> +"Girls," said Nyoda, "what do you say to starting out for South Bend +this very minute? I don't believe any of us could sleep any more +to-night even if we had a place to do it, which is extremely doubtful. +It's positive folly to leave this car standing around here any longer. +That garage man is too much interested in the fire to take care of his +business. We have no belongings to go back after, for everything we +left in the hotel is lost." +</p> + +<p> +We were thankful then that we had carried so little hand luggage, for +beyond a few toilet articles which could easily be replaced at the next +town we had lost nothing. The trunk with our extra clothes was carried +on the car. We agreed to Nyoda's proposal eagerly. Sleep for the rest +of the night was out of the question and we might as well be driving as +not. It would be a good way to get an appetite for breakfast, we all +agreed. +</p> + +<p> +"Jump in, girls," said Nyoda, taking her place behind the wheel. "You +sit up here with me, Margery." +</p> + +<p> +Then we had the second shock of the evening. Margery was nowhere to be +seen! We were all sure that she had been there just a moment ago, +clinging to Sahwah's arm and squealing, although we could not remember +whether she had been with us when we ran across the park after the +Glow-worm or not. +</p> + +<p> +"She has gotten separated from us in the crowd," said Nyoda. "You girls +run and find her while I stay here and watch the car." +</p> + +<p> +We hunted everywhere, high and low, asking everybody we met, but there +was no trace of her. Finally, we ran into the garage man and thought it +only fair to tell him that we had found the car. He was much overjoyed +at the fact and listened sympathetically when we told him we had lost +Margery. +</p> + +<p> +"Did she have on a tan suit like yours?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," we answered eagerly, "have you seen her?" +</p> + +<p> +"I saw a girl in a tan suit driving away just a minute ago with a man +in a red roadster," he answered. +</p> + +<p> +"What did the man look like?" we asked. +</p> + +<p> +"I can't tell you much about his looks," replied the garage man. "He +wore great big green goggles that covered up half of his face. Looked +just like a frog." +</p> + +<p> +We looked at each other in dismay. The Frog had run off with Margery! +We ran in haste to tell the news to Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +"It's queer," she said. "He must be one of her relations after all, +though I surely thought he had begun to follow us from Toledo. But it +might have been only a coincidence that he was behind us then, for +after all he never said anything to us." +</p> + +<p> +"But why did he take our car first, if it was Margery he was after all +the while?" I asked. +</p> + +<p> +"So we couldn't follow him," said Sahwah, with startling +clear-sightedness. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda, who doesn't believe in premonitions, had one then. "I don't +believe he's a relative of hers at all," she said, flatly. "I have a +feeling in my bones that he isn't. I also have a feeling that something +has happened to Margery which it is our business to investigate." +</p> + +<p> +In less time than it takes to tell about it we had inquired the +direction taken by the driver of the red roadster and had started in +pursuit. The fog was closing in on us thicker than ever and the +Glow-worm's eyes shone dimly through the white curtain. We could not go +ahead at full speed because we had to proceed slowly and carefully. The +fact that the road was exceptionally good along here was the only thing +that kept us from accident, I suppose. If we had struck some of the +holes that we did a distance back— +</p> + +<p> +We were divided between joy over the fact that the Frog couldn't go any +faster than we were going in that fog and so couldn't use his powerful +car to his advantage, and the fear that he would slip off into some +side road without our noticing it and so escape us. The fog naturally +muffled all sounds, but we recognized at last the steady throbbing of a +motor ahead of us on the road and knew that we were on the trail of the +fugitives. We didn't know whether the Frog knew we were after him or +not, but it seemed to us that the throbs began to grow fainter after a +time as if the car were getting farther away. Finally, they stopped +altogether and we began to realize that after all we had not much +chance to catch up with that powerful car. +</p> + +<p> +"They're leaving us behind," said Sahwah, in a disappointed tone +</p> + +<p> +The next instant we crashed full into a car that was standing still in +the road and which loomed out of the fog with the suddenness of an +apparition. Nyoda had jammed on the emergency brake a half minute +before we struck or there would have been a worse smash. As it was the +Glow-worm was shaken from end to end and I can imagine what the stalled +car felt like. +</p> + +<p> +We experienced all the thrills of the heroines in the moving picture +plays when we ran into that car and expected to see the grotesque face +of the Frog in the light of our lamps, with the terrified Margery +near-by. The next minute showed us our mistake. The man who was +standing beside his car in the road, when we had torpedoed it from the +rear was not the Frog. It was a man we had never seen before. He was +all alone. The automobile was not the red roadster, but a limousine. +</p> + +<p> +We all sprang out to see what damage had been done the Glow-worm. We +were relieved to find it not so terrible after all. Nyoda had given the +steering-wheel a sharp twist the instant she saw she was going to +strike something, and the car glanced to one side, so that it was the +right front wheel and fender that actually struck. The limousine was in +worse shape. Our wheel had jammed into its rear wheel and torn it off, +while the side of the Glow-worm had scraped across the hack of the +bigger car, splintering the wood in places. Every window in the +limousine had been broken by the shock. +</p> + +<p> +The driver of the battered car stood and looked gloomily at the havoc +we had wrought. +</p> + +<p> +"Can't you look where you're going?" he burst out angrily. +</p> + +<p> +"You didn't have your tail lamp lit," replied Nyoda calmly, "and we +couldn't see you in the fog. I tried to turn out but it was too late." +</p> + +<p> +"It's true," said the man, pacifically. "It's my fault, or rather the +fault of the car. I couldn't make the lights burn. That's why I was +standing here. I was afraid to go ahead in the fog." +</p> + +<p> +Then I suppose he was afraid that we could bring suit against him for +the damage done to the Glow-worm because he was standing in the road +without any lights, for he left the limousine and came and looked +carefully at what had happened to us. He was much relieved when he saw +it was no worse. The front wheel wobbled tipsily and the fender was +torn off, but these it appeared were not mortal wounds. His eye went +back from our car to his. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a good thing no one was riding in the back," he said +thoughtfully, looking at the shattered windows. At that very moment a +wail rose from somewhere, coming apparently from the inside of the +limousine. Startled, he leaped over and pulled the door open. He turned +a pocket flash into the car and we could all see that there was +somebody lying on the floor half under the seat. It was a girl in a tan +suit. When the light was flashed into her face she looked up and saw +us. Then she sat up. It was Margery. +</p> + +<p> +"Margery!" exclaimed Nyoda. "What are you doing here?" +</p> + +<p> +Margery got out of the tipping car and ran to Nyoda and hung on her +arm. She was trembling so she could hardly stand. She looked from one +to the other of us with big frightened eyes. The owner of the limousine +regarded her in wide-eyed astonishment. +</p> + +<p> +"How did you get into that car?" asked Nyoda, gently. +</p> + +<p> +"I hid in it," said Margery. "In the garage. And he," she pointed to +the man, "drove away and I was afraid to come out." +</p> + +<p> +"What made you hide in the car?" asked Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +Margery gave a quick glance around. "I saw my uncle," she said in a +half whisper. "He was looking at the fire. He didn't see me. I ran away +and hid in the garage and when people began coming for their cars I was +afraid they would find me and I got into this one. Pretty soon my uncle +came into the garage. I was down on the floor of the limousine and he +didn't see me. Just then the driver got up in front and began to take +the car out, but I didn't dare open the door and come out. He drove +away with me and I didn't know what to do, so I stayed in. Then the car +stopped on the road and I was going to get out and run away when the +other car came up behind and ran into us. I was afraid it was my uncle +and didn't even come out when the car nearly fell over. But I was +frightened and cried and you heard me and opened the door." +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me," said Nyoda, "was your uncle the man with the goggles?" +</p> + +<p> +"No," answered Margery, "he wasn't. My uncle is a little, thin man with +gray hair." +</p> + +<p> +"It's a mercy you weren't hurt," said Nyoda, thinking with a shudder of +the blow we had dealt the limousine. "You did get cut," she cried, +turning the flashlight full on her face. The blood was running down her +cheek from a cut in her forehead and her arm was also bleeding. We tied +her up with strips of handkerchiefs and set her on the back seat of the +Glow-worm. +</p> + +<p> +The owner of the limousine decided to leave it there and come for it in +the morning, and, as our engine was not hurt we thought best to drive +on. The man offered to pay for having our wheel fixed and the fender +put on again and seemed dreadfully afraid we were going to sue him. He +gave us his name and address and told us to send the bill to him. He +lived in the neighborhood and could find his way home on foot. +</p> + +<p> +After he had disappeared in the fog and the Glow-worm was once more +proceeding on her journey, we suddenly realized that we did not know +where we were nor in which direction we were going. We were not on the +road to Chicago, we knew, because the road we had followed out of +Wellsville in pursuit of the Frog had gone off at right angles to that +road. At the time we had thought only of finding out what had become of +Margery and had followed him blindly. The fog was getting thicker +instead of thinner and it was impossible to see anything like a sign +post. A sharp east wind was blowing that chilled us to the bone. It was +rather a dismal situation we found ourselves in. Of all kinds of bad +weather I hate fog the worst. It makes me feel as if I had lost my last +friend. Nyoda hadn't any idea where she was going, but she kept the car +moving slowly, hoping that we would come to a town pretty soon. We +sounded the horn constantly to warn any other vehicles on the road and +Nakwisi offered to sit in front and keep a lookout with her telescope. +</p> + +<p> +"Telescope!" said Sahwah, scornfully. "What you want is a +collide-o-scope!" Whereupon we all pinched her for making a pun and +went on shivering. +</p> + +<p> +Just when we got off the road I don't know, but gradually we became +aware that it was not hard earth we were riding over but something that +swished under the wheels like long grass. +</p> + +<p> +"We're in a field!" cried Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda turned the car around and we went a few yards, expecting to get +back into the road every minute. Then suddenly the car began to go down +hill very rapidly, and at the bottom there was a grand splash, and we +found ourselves up to the wheel hubs in water. We had run into a stream +of some kind. The bottom was soft mud and to keep from sinking we had +to go on across. Luckily it was shallow and not very wide and the water +did not come inside the car. Margery screamed all the way across and we +had a rather breathless few minutes, until we came out on the farther +bank. Once on dry land again Nyoda stopped the car and flatly refused +to drive another inch. We were off the road, we had no idea where we +were, and there was too much danger of running into things in the fog. +None of us dared to think what might have happened if that river had +been deep. +</p> + +<p> +So here we were stranded, at about two o'clock in the morning, in a +field nobody knew where, by a road whose direction we could not even +guess, with a thick mantle of fog rolling around us as dense as the +smoke had been a few hours before. Could it have been only a few hours +before that we came near burning to death? And now we were in nearly as +much danger of freezing to death. Fire and dampness all in one night! +It certainly was a varied experience. +</p> + +<p> +And the cold was no joke. It pierced the very marrow of our bones. We +were not dressed for any such weather as that. We had had two blankets +in the car but there was only one left when we recovered it from the +Frog. Sahwah suggested that we join hands around the Glow-worm and sing +"When the mists have rolled away". +</p> + +<p> +"You'll have to get out and walk around, if you don't want to catch +cold," said Nyoda. We walked up and down for a while, each with a hand +on the other's shoulder so as not to get separated and lost in the fog. +This walk soon turned into a snake dance and then a war dance around +the Glow-worm. It must have been a weird sight if anyone had seen us, +ghostly figures flitting about in the illumined fog around the car. I +suppose they would have taken us for dancing nymphs or +will-o'-the-wisps, or some other creatures which inhabit the swamps. +</p> + +<p> +We really became hilarious as we danced, although it was a serious +business of keeping warm, and on the whole I would not have missed that +night for anything. I adore unusual experiences and I'm sure not many +people have been stalled in a fog when on an automobile trip and have +had to spend the night dancing to keep warm. Margery didn't see the +funny side of it, and you really couldn't blame her, poor thing, for it +was all her fault that we were in this mess and she had been so badly +frightened earlier in the night and then so shaken up when the +Glow-worm ran into the limousine. +</p> + +<p> +She didn't want to dance to keep warm and sat shivering in the car with +the one blanket around her, except when Nyoda made her get out and +exercise. +</p> + +<p> +Morning came at last and when the sun rose the fog lifted. We found +ourselves in the middle of a field some distance from the road, near +the stream into which we had plunged the night before. We must have +been off the road for some time before we noticed it. The place where +we had run off was where the road turned and we had kept on straight +ahead instead of turning. We got out of the field and followed the +road. It was not a regular automobile road and was not sign-posted. We +did not know whether we had gone north or south from Wellsville the +night before. The fog had us completely turned around. By the position +of the sun, the road extended toward the south. How far we had come we +could not tell. We thought of going back to Wellsville and striking the +main road again, but then Nyoda decided that by finding a road which +ran toward the west we could strike the other trunk line route that +went up to South Bend by way of Rochester and Plymouth. We did not want +to make Wellsville again if we could possibly help it, for fear we +would run into Margery's uncle. +</p> + +<p> +That ride to Rochester was more like a bad dream than anything else. As +I have said, we were not on the main automobile road, and we soon got +into such ruts and mud holes as I have never seen. In places the road +was strewn with stones and we were nearly shaken to pieces going over +them. It was not long before we came to a sound asleep little townlet, +but we didn't have the heart to wake it up and ask it its name, so we +went on to the next. It was then about six in the morning and a few +people were stirring in the main street. We found by inquiry that we +were in the town of Byron and that by turning to the west beyond the +schoolhouse we would strike a road which eventually led to Rochester. +"Eventually" was the right word. It certainly was not "directly". It +twisted and turned and ended up in fields; it wound back and forth upon +itself like a serpent; it dissolved in places into a lake of mud. We +didn't go very fast because we were afraid the wobbly wheel would +wobble off. Hungry as we were we decided to wait until we reached +Rochester before getting breakfast, so we could put the car into the +repair shop the first thing and save time. We staved off the keenest +pangs of hunger by plundering an apple tree that dangled its ripe fruit +invitingly over the road, and I haven't tasted anything so delicious +before or since as those Wohelo apples, as we named them. +</p> + +<p> +The poor Glow-worm minus the one fender looked like a glow-worm with +one wing off and the wobbling wheel gave it a tipsy appearance. Nyoda +frowned as she drove; I know she hated the spectacle we made. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Needles and pins, needles and pins,<br /> + When a girl drives an auto her trouble begins,"<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +spouted Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +"Aren't we nearly there?" sighed Nakwisi, as she came back to the seat +after rising to the occasion of a bump. +</p> + +<p> +"Long est via ad Tipperarium", replied Sahwah, and then bit her tongue +as we struck a hole in the road. +</p> + +<p> +The morning was beautiful after the foggy night and our spirits soared +as we traveled along in the sunshine, singing "Along the Road that +Leads the Way". But it was not long before there was a fly in the +ointment. Turning around one of the innumerable curves in the road we +saw the red roadster proceeding leisurely ahead of us. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap05"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER V. +</h3> + +<p> +As far as we could make out there was only one person in the car and +that was the driver, and if he had left the scene of the burning hotel +with a girl in a tan suit she was no longer with him. I think Nyoda +would have turned aside into some by-road if there had been such a +thing in sight, but there wasn't. The Frog turned around in the seat +and saw us coming. That action seemed to rouse Nyoda to fury. Two red +spots burned in her cheeks and her eyes snapped. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to overtake him," she said with a sudden resolution, "and +ask him pointblank why he is always following us." +</p> + +<p> +At that she put on speed and went forward as fast as the wobbling wheel +would allow. But no sooner had she done this than a surprising thing +happened. The Frog looked around again, saw us gaining on him, and then +the red roadster shot forward with many times the speed of ours and +disappeared around a bend in the road. +</p> + +<p> +"He's running away from us!" exclaimed Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +"He may be afraid we are going to make it unpleasant for him for +stealing the Glow-worm," said Nyoda. "But," she added, "I can't +understand why he has ventured near us at all since that episode. You +would expect him to put as much space as possible between himself and +us." +</p> + +<p> +"He probably didn't know we were following him," said Sahwah, shrewdly. +</p> + +<p> +But the whole conduct of the Frog since the beginning was such a puzzle +that we could make neither head nor tail out of it, so we gave it up +and turned our attention to the scenery. Behind us a motorcycle was +chugging along with a noise all out of proportion to the size of the +vehicle, and we amused ourselves by wondering what would happen if it +should try to pass us on the narrow road, with a sharp drop into a +small lake on one side and a swamp on the other. But the rider +evidently had more caution than we generally credit to motorcyclists +and made no attempt to pass us, so we were not treated to the spectacle +of a man and a motorcycle turning a somersault into the lake or +sprawling in the marsh. +</p> + +<p> +We certainly were ready for our long delayed breakfast when we finally +got to Rochester, after giving the Glow-worm into the hands of the +doctor once more. The poor Glow-worm! She never had such a strenuous +trip before or after. The man on the motorcycle came into the repair +shop while we were there to have something done to his engine, and he +listened with interest while we were telling the repair man how we had +run into the limousine in the fog. He looked at Margery curiously and I +wonder if he noticed that her suit did not fit her by several inches. +But Nyoda says men are not very observant about such things. +</p> + +<p> +He was a good-looking, light-haired young man, and he stared at us with +a frank interest that could not be called impertinent. I believe there +is a sort of freemasonry between motor tourists, especially when they +are having motor troubles, that makes it seem perfectly all right to +talk to strangers. When the young man asked where we were from and +where we were going we answered politely that we were on our way to +Chicago by way of Plymouth and LaPorte. (We had decided not to go to +South Bend at all, as it was out of the way of the route we were now +traveling.) Nyoda added that we hoped to make Chicago before night. +Here Sahwah advised her to rap on wood. We had planned to make it +before nightfall once before. When we told about the fire the young man +agreed that we certainly had had adventures a-plenty. He ended up by +telling us a good restaurant where we could get breakfast (he evidently +had been in town before) and we hastened to find it, leaving him +explaining to the repairman what was the matter with his motorcycle. +</p> + +<p> +While we were eating breakfast we saw him pass on the opposite side of +the street and enter a building which bore the sign of the telegraph +company. I couldn't help wishing that we knew his name and would meet +him again on the trip, he seemed such a pleasant chap. I am always on +the lookout for romantic possibilities in everything. +</p> + +<p> +The Glow-worm was to be ready to appear in polite society sometime in +the afternoon and we had nothing to do but kill time until then. There +were no picture shows open in the morning so the only thing left for us +to do was to go for a walk through the town. It was terribly hot, +nearly ninety in the shade, and what it was out in the sun we could +only surmise. Margery wanted to keep her veil down because she was +afraid of meeting people, and Sahwah thought it would appear strange if +only she were veiled and suggested that we all keep ours down, but they +nearly stifled us. So we compromised on wearing the tinted driving +goggles, which really were a relief from the glare of the sun, even if +they did look affected on the street, as Nakwisi said. I'm afraid we +didn't have our usual blithe spirit of Joyous Venture, as we walked up +and down the streets of the town, looking, as Sahwah said, "for +something to look at". The frequency with which the Glow-worm was being +laid up for repairs was beginning to get on our nerves. Sahwah remarked +that if we had set out to walk to Chicago we would have been there long +ago, and that the rate at which we were progressing reminded her of +that gymnasium exercise known as "running in place", where you use up +enough energy to cross the county and are just as tired as if you had +gone that far, while in reality you haven't gotten away from the spot. +</p> + +<p> +Nakwisi stood up on a little rise of ground and focused her spy-glass +in the direction of Chicago and said she had better try to get a look +at the Forbidden City from there because she might never get any nearer. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda had torn her green veil on her hatpin and the wind had whipped +the loose ends out until they looked ragged and she was frankly cross. +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "When lovely woman stoops to folly,<br /> + And learns too late that veils do fray—"<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +chanted Sahwah, trying to be funny, but no one even laughed at her. We +were too much exhausted from the heat and too busy wiping the +perspiration out of our eyes. +</p> + +<p> +As a town of that size must necessarily come to an end soon, we found +ourselves after a while, beyond its limits and on a country road. We +saw a great tree spreading out its shady branches at no great distance +and made for it. With various sighs and puffs of satisfaction we sank +down in the grass and made ourselves comfortable. Of all the sights we +had seen so far on our trip the sight of that tree gave us the most +pleasure. We had not sat there very long when a young man passed us in +the road. He was the light-haired young man we had seen in the repair +shop. He lifted his hat as he passed but he did not say anything. He +was on foot, from which we judged that he also had some time to kill +while his motorcycle was being fixed. +</p> + +<p> +We did not sit long under that tree after all. First, Sahwah discovered +that she was sitting next to a convention hall of gigantic red ants and +a number of the delegates had gone on sight-seeing excursions up her +sleeves and into her low shoes, which naturally caused some commotion. +Then a spider let himself down on a web directly in front of Margery's +face and threw her into hysterics. And then the mosquitoes descended, +the way the Latin book says the Roman soldiers did, "as many thousands +as ever came down from old Mycaenae", and after that there was no +peace. We slapped them away with leaves for a time but there were too +many for us, so in sheer self-defense, we got up and began to walk back +to town. The only thing we had to be thankful for so far was that the +Frog had apparently vanished from the scene. +</p> + +<p> +We went back to the little restaurant where we had eaten our breakfast +and ordered dinner. We had our choice between boiled fish and fried +steak and we all took steak except Margery, who wanted fish. The heat +had taken away our appetites, all but Margery's, and she ate heartily. +Dinner over, we went out into the heat once more. We went up to see if +the picture show was open yet, for the thought of a comfortable seat +away from the sun and with an electric fan near, was becoming more +alluring every minute. It was open and we passed in with sighs of joy. +Somewhere along the middle of the performance, Sahwah, who was sitting +next to me, gave me a nudge and pointed to the other side of the house. +There sat the Frog, as big as life. +</p> + +<p> +"I should think he'd smother in those goggles," whispered Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +At the same time Nakwisi, who was on the other side of me, also nudged +me and told me to look around a few minutes later so it wouldn't look +as if she had called my attention. After a short interval I looked. +There sat the motorcyclist directly behind us. How I did wish we could +tell him about the Frog and how he was always following us around, why, +we could not guess. +</p> + +<p> +Before the picture was finished Nyoda thought it was time to go and get +the Glow-worm, which should be finished by that time. But when we got +out into the sun again Margery began to feel dizzy and sick. We were +perplexed what to do. This little country town was not like the big +city where there are rest rooms in every big store. We finally decided +to get a room at the hotel, which was near-by. But here as everywhere, +that miserable Jinx had raised an obstacle against us. There was a +rural church conference going on in town that week and, of course, the +hotel was filled to overflowing. Delegates with white and gold badges +were standing around everywhere and there was not a room to be had. +</p> + +<p> +Margery sat down in the parlor awhile and then said she felt somewhat +better, but she still looked so white that Nyoda refused to set out +with her in the car. As in S——, the clerk gave us the name of a woman +near-by who would let us have a room if we wanted it, and after a while +we went up there. We wanted Margery to lie down on a bed for a while. +But no sooner were we there than she was taken with terrible pains. +Thoroughly alarmed, Nyoda went across the street where a doctor's sign +swung on a post before a house and brought him over. Margery was very +ill by this time and the doctor said she had symptoms of ptomaine +poisoning. He asked what she had eaten for dinner. At the mention of +fish he nodded his head gravely. Eating fish with the thermometer at +ninety-five degrees is a somewhat hazardous proceeding, he remarked. +How glad we all were then that we had taken the steak, even if it was +tough! The doctor gave Margery some medicine and said we needn't worry +because she wouldn't get any worse, and left us with a few more remarks +about eating fish in a restaurant in hot weather. +</p> + +<p> +Margery was more distressed about having delayed our start than she was +over her own discomfort, so we had to make light of it, even though we +were dismayed ourselves. Now the Glow-worm was ready and we were not! I +couldn't help feeling that it had been no ordinary fish from the +near-by lake that Margery had eaten, but one of the fateful fishes of +the zodiac itself, especially prepared for the occasion. For it soon +became evident that we could not leave town that night. Margery was +feeling better, but was still too weak for automobile traveling. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda knit her brows for some time. "I'll have to wire Chicago," she +said, thoughtfully. Gladys and the others must be there by this time. +</p> + +<p> +I walked over to the telegraph office with her and stood beside her +while she wrote the message: "Held in Rochester to-night on account +sickness. Address Forty-three Main Street." She directed it to Gladys +at the Carrie Wentworth Inn, the new Women's Hotel where we were to +stay in Chicago. She read it out loud to me, counting over the words. +As we turned away from the window-desk someone turned and went out just +ahead of us. It was the motorcyclist. +</p> + +<p> +Margery was sleeping when we returned, and we sat down beside the bed +and read the paper we had bought at the corner stand. Nyoda gave a +smothered exclamation as she read and pointed to an article which said +that both Margery Anderson's father and uncle were scouring the country +for her, and the uncle was accusing the father of having spirited her +away. The paper said that private detectives were trying to trace her. +Then it was that we remembered the mysterious reappearance of the Frog. +We hadn't much doubt that he was a detective. But if he were a +detective, why had he attempted to steal the Glow-worm? The only reason +could have been the one which Sahwah suggested, namely, that he wanted +to cut us off from following him. He had probably carried away the +wrong girl in the excitement of the fire and did not discover his +mistake until later and then had let her go. This accounted for the +fact that there was no girl in the red roadster when it loomed up ahead +of us in the road that morning. +</p> + +<p> +But why had he run away from us when we tried to overtake him? That was +a baffling question, and the only way we could explain it was that he +was afraid we would accuse him of theft. That he had not gone very far +away from us was shown by the way he had appeared in the picture +theatre that afternoon. But if he was a detective, why did he not +boldly march up to Margery and attempt to take her away from us? +</p> + +<p> +Between the heat and the puzzle we were reduced to a frazzle. We +carefully hid the paper so Margery wouldn't see it when she woke up and +went down to supper. The house was on a corner and it seemed to me, as +I sat at the table that I saw the Frog walking down the side street. +But it was growing dark and I was not sure, so I said nothing about it. +Margery was very weak when she woke up and still unable to eat +anything, and I believe she had a touch of sunstroke along with her +ptomaine poisoning. She was clearly not a strong girl. The room seemed +stuffy and close and we fanned her to make her feel cooler. But we were +still thankful that we were not in the hotel, with its crowd of +delegates and its band continually playing. +</p> + +<p> +Sahwah was telling that joke about the man thinking the car was empty, +when all the while there was a miss in the motor and a "dutchman" in +the back seat, when there came a rap on the door and the lady of the +house came in. A minute later we were all looking at each other in +bewildered astonishment. <i>She had asked us to leave the house.</i> +</p> + +<p> +"But we've engaged the rooms for the night," said Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +That made no difference. We could have our money back. She had changed +her mind about letting the rooms. +</p> + +<p> +"You certainly can't think of turning this sick girl out of the house!" +exclaimed Nyoda, incredulously. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Moffat's face did not change in the least. She looked from one to +the other of us with a steely glitter in her eye, which was a great +change from the professional hospitality of her manner when she had let +the rooms. "People aren't always as sick as they make folks believe," +she said, sourly. +</p> + +<p> +"You certainly don't doubt that this girl is sick!" said Nyoda, in +desperation. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not saying I doubt anything," replied Mrs. Moffat. "I said I +didn't want you to have the rooms to-night and I meant it." +</p> + +<p> +"Will you please come outside and explain yourself," said Nyoda, "where +it won't excite this sick girl?" +</p> + +<p> +They went down-stairs to the lower hall, where Nyoda argued and pleaded +to be told the meaning of Mrs. Moffat's strange attitude toward us, but +she got no satisfaction. Mrs. Moffat would say nothing more than that +she had a reputation to keep up. When Nyoda defied her to put Margery +out Mrs. Moffat said grandiloquently that her son was on the police +force (I suppose she meant he was <i>the</i> police force) and we would see +what she could do. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda, at her wit's end, was trying to think of what to say next when +there was a rap on the door and a small boy arrived with a note, which +he would not give into Mrs. Moffat's hand. He just held it up so she +could see what was on the outside. It was addressed to "The +black-haired automobile lady". This, of course, was Nyoda and the boy +was perfectly satisfied to give her the note once he had looked at her. +Wonderingly she unfolded it. It contained only one line: "Go 22 Spring +Street." It was signed "A fellow tourist." Nyoda turned to ask the boy +who had given him the note, but he had disappeared. +</p> + +<p> +22 Spring Street. Spring Street was one block down Main Street. Nyoda +called me to go with her and we went to 22 Spring Street. A perfectly +dear old lady came to the door and, when we asked if she could keep us +all night, she said she would be delighted to. She asked such few +questions that I have a suspicion that she knew all about us already +from the motorcyclist, for we had no doubt that it was he who had sent +Nyoda the note. How he knew Mrs. Moffat was trying to put us out was +beyond us, unless he had been passing the open front door and overheard +her conversation, which had not been in low tones by any means. As the +new place was so near we got Margery over without any trouble and shook +the dust of Mrs. Moffat's house from our feet disdainfully, if still +completely in the dark as to why it should be so. +</p> + +<p> +What had caused the change in her manner toward us? She had been +perfectly cordial at the supper table and asked how we liked the beds. +Something had evidently occurred while we sat upstairs, but what it was +we could not guess. Then, like a flash, I remembered having seen the +Frog sauntering past the house while we were eating supper. Had he gone +to Mrs. Moffat with some story about us which had caused her to put us +out? It sounded like a moving picture plot, and yet we all realized the +possibility of it. We were simply dazed with the events of the day and +evening by the time we reached the new rooms and had put Margery to bed. +</p> + +<p> +"What a record we are setting this week!" said Sahwah. "First night we +wandered into a Congressman's house by mistake and were put out; second +night we got burned out of a hotel and finished by getting lost in the +fog; third night we are put out of a lodging house for some mysterious +reason. There aren't enough more things that can happen to us to last +the week out." Which showed all that Sahwah knew about it. +</p> + +<p> +When we had simmered down to something near normal again we realized +that we would need the trunk which was carried on the Glow-worm. Nyoda +drove the Glow-worm over and we carried the trunk up-stairs while she +ran the car back to the garage. It was heavier than we expected and we +were pretty well winded when we set it down on the floor of our room. +</p> + +<p> +"Won't I be glad to see my dressing-gown again," said Sahwah, sucking +her thumb, which had gotten under the trunk when it was set down. "This +dress shrank when it got drenched in the fog last night and the +collar's too tight." +</p> + +<p> +"Slippers are what appeal to me," I sighed, wishing Nyoda would hurry +back with the key. My shoes had been soaked in mud which had dried and +left them stiff, and walking around all day on the scorching sidewalks +had about parboiled my feet. Nyoda returned just then and opened the +trunk without delay, while we crowded around to seize upon our +wished-for belongings as soon as possible. +</p> + +<p> +But when the cover was tilted back we fell over in as much surprise as +if a jack-in-the-box had sprung out at us. Instead of Sahwah's red +dressing-gown on top as we had expected there were rows and rows of +bottles. We stared stupidly, not knowing whether to believe our eyes or +not. +</p> + +<p> +"You've got the wrong trunk!" we cried to Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda went post-haste back to the garage. When she came back she wore a +puzzled look. "The garage man declares that was the trunk that came +with the Glow-worm," she said, in a dazed voice. "He says it was never +removed from the rack, as all the work was on the front wheel and front +fender." +</p> + +<p> +Sahwah took one of the bottles from the trunk and held it up. It +contained some fluid guaranteed to make the hair stay in curl in the +dampest weather. There was a bright yellow label halfway around it that +bore the classic slogan, "One touch of Curline makes the whole world +kink." Sahwah began to giggle hysterically. At any other time we would +all have laughed heartily over that ridiculous trademark, but just now +we were too much concerned with the loss of our things to feel like +laughing. +</p> + +<p> +"No wonder the trunk was so heavy," said Sahwah, rubbing her arms at +the remembrance of that climb up the stairs. +</p> + +<p> +We searched our memories for the events of the previous day and tried +to remember just where the trunk had been all the while. Then we +remembered the scene of the fire and the fact that the Glow-worm might +have been unguarded for some time in the garage. The trunk had been +taken off the rack the day before when the repairs were made, because +they had some work to do on the tail lamp bracket, and I heard the man +say the trunk was in the way. This trunk with the bottles was the same +on the outside as ours with the exception of Gladys's initials, and it +might have been put onto the rack of the Glow-worm by mistake when the +repairs were finished. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda lost no time in getting the proprietor of the garage at +Wellsville on the long distance phone. When she returned this time she +was entirely cheerful again. "He says there's another trunk just like +it in the garage," she said. "He didn't know whom it belonged to. I +told him to send it to us by express and it will be here in the +morning. We will send this one back to him, for the rightful owner will +be coming back after it." +</p> + +<p> +"Whatever would anyone want with a trunkful of this stuff?" asked +Sahwah, curiously. +</p> + +<p> +"Probably a traveling salesman," suggested Nyoda. She took the bottle +from Sahwah's hand and put it back into its place in the trunk. "One +touch of Curline makes the whole world kink," she mused. "Well, 'one +touch of Curline' has put a 'kink' in our retiring arrangements, all +right." +</p> + +<p> +She locked up the trunk with our key, which fitted the lock perfectly, +remarking as she did so that locks weren't quite as useful as they +might be, since other people's keys fitted them. The rest of the night +passed peacefully, and we were so tired out from having had scarcely +any sleep the previous night that we sank to slumber as soon as we +touched the pillows. +</p> + +<p> +In the morning we took the stranger's trunk to the express office and +called for ours. We hailed that six-sided thing of boards and leather +as though it had been a long lost friend and cheered it lustily when it +was set down in our room. We could easily see where the garage man had +made the mistake in giving us the salesman's trunk, for the two were +identical. We opened ours up to see if our belongings were still +intact. It took us a few minutes to realize the import of what we +found. There, apparently, was our trunk, but the things in it were not +ours. <i>They belonged to the other girls.</i> There was Gladys's pink silk +crepe kimono; and Hinpoha's blue one; there were Gladys's Turkish +slippers with the turned up toes; there were Hinpoha's stockings, +plainly marked with her name. +</p> + +<p> +We stared at each other with something like fear in our eyes. The thing +was so uncanny. Gladys's trunk had not been in the garage when we +arrived; it must have come after we left; and yet, <i>the Striped Beetle +had gone on to Chicago ahead of us</i>! +</p> + +<p> +The thing was monstrous; incredible. Had the fairies been playing +tricks on us? We stood gazing with fascinated eyes at the open trunk +which stood in our midst like a silent portent. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap06"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VI. +</h3> + +<p> +For the second time Nyoda got the garage man at Wellsville on the long +distance phone. This conference only deepened the puzzle. He declared +solemnly that no car even remotely resembling the Striped Beetle had +been in his establishment and no party of girls such as we described. +He was as much in the dark as we were about the trunk. Had we been +carrying Gladys's trunk ever since we left home? we asked ourselves. +No, for we had opened ours several times on the road. We gave it up +when the puzzle threatened to addle our brains, and prepared to start +away on our journey. Margery felt well again and ready to travel. We +were standing in the street around the Glow-worm, and through gaps +between houses we could see Mrs. Moffat's house down on Main Street. We +saw a boy in the uniform of a telegraph messenger come along Main +Street and stop at her house. +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe the Frog's sending her some more mysterious messages," said +Sahwah, idly. +</p> + +<p> +But in a moment the boy ran down the steps again and retraced his steps +up Main Street. As he passed the street where we were he looked down, +and then he came toward us. "Which one is Miss Elizabeth Kent?" he +asked. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda stepped forward and he handed her the telegraph envelope. Nyoda +tore it open and a look of blank astonishment came over her face as she +read. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" we all chorused. +</p> + +<p> +"Read it," she said. +</p> + +<p> +This is what we read: "Where on earth are you? Wait Rochester for us. +Coming to-day noon. Gladys." +</p> + +<p> +It was sent from Indianapolis! +</p> + +<p> +We looked at each other dazedly. Gladys in Indianapolis? What was she +doing there? Indianapolis was far out of our way, miles to the south. +With the main roads marked as they were it was impossible for her to +have gotten lost. Then on the heels of this question came another one; +if Gladys had gotten side-tracked and had fallen behind us on the road, +who had passed ahead of us along the northern route to Chicago whom we +had been blindly following? How had Gladys in Indianapolis received the +telegram we had sent to Chicago, giving our address in Rochester? If +Gladys had not come along the northern route, how came her trunk to be +in Wellsville? It was a Chinese puzzle no matter which way you looked +at it, and as Sahwah remarked, not being Chinamen we had no cue. But we +sighed with relief at the thought that Gladys and the rest would be +with us at noon and the mystery would all come to an end. Till noon +then, we would possess our souls in patience. +</p> + +<p> +To kill time we decided to look around at some of the stores. To the +city bred the small town store is as much of a curiosity as the big +city store is to the country bred. Most people think that the +department store is a product of the big city, but I think it is a +development of the general store of the country town. We found a place +where they sold everything from handkerchiefs to plows, and wandered +about happily, looking at farm implements whose use we did not even +guess, and wonderful displays of crockery and printed calico. We seemed +to create quite a sensation when we came in although there were other +people in the store. The proprietor came forward hurriedly and asked us +what we wanted. A strange look came into his face when we said we just +came in to look around. He and his wife and the two or three clerks in +the place all looked at each other, but they said no more. But as we +moved up one aisle and down another he was always right at our elbow, +and he never seemed to take his eyes from us. I picked up a pile of +handkerchiefs to look them over, thinking I might buy some, as mine +were in the lost trunk nobody knew where, but they were all cotton and +I despise cotton handkerchiefs. As I put them down again and passed on +I saw the proprietor pick them up and although he turned his back to us +I could see that he was counting them. +</p> + +<p> +We became conscious of a chill in the air. It seemed that everybody in +the place was watching us with suspicious eyes. With one accord we +moved toward the door and stepped out into the street, where we faced +each other questioningly. What was this baffling thing that we were +running up against of late? The people around here seemed to know +something about us which we did not know ourselves. Last night our +landlady for no satisfactory reason had put us out of her house, and +here were the store people plainly suspicious of us. Was Margery the +cause of it? She had not come with us this morning, as she thought it +would be wiser to stay in her room. But even if they knew about Margery +we would hardly have expected them to act this way. Why did they make +no attempt to take her away from us? +</p> + +<p> +Everywhere we turned we came against a wall of mystery. Was the Frog at +the bottom of it? But why did he always loiter in the background and +never openly molest us? There was something more terrifying about this +silent, skulking foe than there would have been about an armed +highwayman. So far to-day he had not appeared, but we did not doubt +that he was lurking in the shadows somewhere. As we stood there we saw +the motorcyclist walking down from the upper end of the street in our +direction. +</p> + +<p> +"Let's wait until he comes up and thank him for telling us about the +other rooms," suggested Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +So we stood still and waited. But no sooner had he seen us standing +there on the sidewalk than he paused suddenly, turned abruptly and went +up a side street. +</p> + +<p> +"Even he is avoiding us!" said Sahwah. "What on earth can be the +reason?" +</p> + +<p> +We wished with all our hearts for noon, when Gladys would come and we +could get out of this wretched town. But there were still two hours +until then. We decided to go into another store and see if they would +treat us the same way. They did, only perhaps a little more so. The +proprietor followed us around like a shadow and heaved an audible sigh +of relief when we went out. Utterly disgusted, we went back to Margery. +The time passed heavily until noon and then we went out on Main Street +to watch for the arrival of the Striped Beetle. The events and +accidents we were ready to pour out to the coming girls were enough to +fill a volume, and we were sure that nothing they would have to tell +would match our story of the fire and the night in the fog. +</p> + +<p> +The telegram had said they would come at noon and we were to wait for +them. Noon came and went; one o'clock; two o'clock; and like the Blue +Alsatian Mountains, we were still watching and waiting. There was no +sign of the Striped Beetle. The sun beat down mercilessly on the +glaring earth and we grew faint and dizzy straining our eyes up the +road. It was several degrees hotter than the day before. We ate our +dinner in squads, one squad eating while the other did sentinel duty. +We beguiled the time by singing "Wait for the Wagon", "Waiting at the +Church ", and every other song we knew on the subject. People looked at +us curiously as we sat in a row on a low stone wall. One man asked us +if we were waiting for the circus parade, because if we were we had our +dates mixed; the circus was not due until the next day. The afternoon +advanced; carful after carful of tourists came down the dusty road, but +none of them the ones we so eagerly awaited. Margery had refused to sit +there where everyone could see her, and stayed in her room, and we took +turns sitting with her. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you sure we didn't dream that telegram?" asked Sahwah wearily, at +half past three. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda shook her head. "It's real, all right," she answered. "I have it +here in my coat pocket." +</p> + +<p> +"Let me see it again," said Sahwah, "and see at what time it was sent." +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda put her hand into her pocket. When she brought it out again she +held to the light, not the yellow telegraph form, but a queer, bluish +beetle-like thing. She stared at it with amazed eyes and we were all +too much astonished to speak. +</p> + +<p> +"What is it?" asked Sahwah, finding her voice first. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a scarab." answered Nyoda, "the ancient Egyptian figure of a +beetle. There are several in the museum at home." +</p> + +<p> +We passed it from hand to hand with growing wonder and admiration. But +how came it into Nyoda's coat pocket? Was this also a part of the +witchcraft that had sent Gladys's trunk to us so mysteriously? +</p> + +<p> +"Curiouser and Curiouser," said Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +"Are you sure you didn't pick it up somewhere without knowing it?" I +asked. "People sometimes do those things absent-mindedly, you know. I +came home from down-town once with a gold-handled umbrella and I hadn't +the slightest notion of where I got it. And the next day there was a +notice in the paper, 'Will the young lady who took the gold-handled +umbrella from the wash-room of Levy & Strauss's yesterday afternoon +please return same to the office? She was recognized and followed.' And +I couldn't remember being in the wash-room of Levy & Strauss's at all!" +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda racked her brain. "It's impossible," she said. "I haven't been +anywhere since noon but up to that restaurant and Sahwah and I sat +alone at a table. There wasn't anything belonging to anyone else near +us." +</p> + +<p> +"You didn't get it this morning when we were looking through the +stores?" I asked. +</p> + +<p> +"No," said Nyoda, "I didn't. It wasn't there when I started up to +dinner. Besides," she added, "that scarab never came from a store in +this town. Things like that are handled by dealers in curios in large +cities, and by private collectors." Her brow was puckered into a +bewildered frown. +</p> + +<p> +"However it got there," she said, "it doesn't belong there and I have +no right to keep it. I'm going to turn it over to the police, and if +anybody reports the loss to them they will find it intact." +</p> + +<p> +As we stood there looking at the curious scarab in Nyoda's hands a +motorcycle putt-putted past in a cloud of dust and we recognized our +light-haired friend apparently leaving town. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll never get a chance to thank him for that address!" I said, half +regretfully. Little did we think that the only decent thing fate did +for us on that trip was to withhold that chance! +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda and I went in search of the police station, leaving Sahwah and +Nakwisi sitting and watching for the Striped Beetle. It was only Sahwah +who was doing any watching out, however, for Nakwisi was looking +through her spy-glass at the clouds. After some inquiry we found the +police station. When Nyoda told her story about finding the scarab in +her pocket, the policeman in charge looked at her with a peculiar +expression and a wise grin. But when she wanted to leave it there he +waved her away. +</p> + +<p> +"Wouldn't have it around here for a farm," he declared. "Lady left a +necklace here once: said she found it in the road. The next night the +police station burned down and the necklace disappeared. We just got +this new station and it nearly broke the town and we can't have any +more accidents. You take it on to the next town and tell 'em you didn't +find it till you got there, see?" Half angry and half amused at this +dauntless representative of the law we went back to the girls, with the +mysterious scarab still in the pocket of Nyoda's coat. If only we had +followed Sahwah's joking advice and stuck it on an ornamental shrub +near us to startle passers-by and left it there! +</p> + +<p> +"Something must have happened to the Striped Beetle," said Nyoda in a +worried way, when we had exhausted our patience with waiting. "I don't +know but what it would be a good idea to set out in the direction of +Indianapolis and try to find them. We will surely come upon a trace of +them somewhere." +</p> + +<p> +"What strikes me queer," said Sahwah, "is, if Gladys knows our address +and wired that she would be here at noon, why she didn't wire again +when she found she couldn't get here. She might know we would begin to +tear our hair when she didn't appear." +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda began to look uneasy. "That's what makes me think something has +happened to her," she said. "Somehow I always have visions of the +Striped Beetle lying smashed up somewhere and our girls being carried +to a hospital. I can't get it out of my mind. Something has happened to +Gladys which has kept her from wiring and it is our duty to find out +what it is." +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe she did wire and they didn't deliver it to us," suggested +Sahwah. Nyoda and I promptly went up to the telegraph office and +inquired if any later message had come for us. Nothing had, we were +told. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda made up her mind at once. She consulted the road map she had +bought after the marked one had gone with Gladys and looked at the +route to Indianapolis. "If any message comes to this office for us, +kindly forward it to the office at Kokomo," she directed. "We will stop +there and inquire." +</p> + +<p> +We got into the Glow-worm without delay, picked up Margery from the +house, piled the other girls into the car and shook the dust of +Rochester (it was nearly a foot thick) from our tires. I looked around +every little while from my seat in the tonneau to see if the Frog was +following us, but there was no sign of him. In fact, I may as well tell +you now, that we had seen the last of him until we saw him in such an +amazing attitude two days later. +</p> + +<p> +Driving gave us a little relief from the heat, for the motion of the +car created a little breeze, although there was none of any other kind +stirring. I think if we had sat out in that hot street any longer I +should have been overcome. It was bad enough in the car, for the dust +rose up in choking whirls until we could taste it. I have never known +such a hot day before or since, although I have seen the thermometer +higher; but that day the air seemed to be minus its breathing qualities +and we gasped like fish out of water. We kept a close watch on Margery +for signs of collapse, but she seemed to be bearing up pretty well; I +suppose it was because she had not been sitting out on Main Street for +four hours. +</p> + +<p> +"I wouldn't be surprised if we had a thunder shower to-night," said +Nyoda, scanning a bank of apoplectic-looking clouds that were lying low +over the distant horizon. +</p> + +<p> +"I hope so," I replied. "Anything to break this heat. The air over the +street looks like the heat waves over the radiator." I could not help +wishing fervently that Gladys had chosen a cool breezy day to get lost +on. +</p> + +<p> +We stopped at so many places and asked if they had seen a brown car +with black stripes carrying four girls in tan suits that our voices +became husky on those words. Sahwah suggested that we print our inquiry +on a pennant and fasten it across the front of the car. But nowhere was +there a sign or a trace of the car for which we were seeking. People +had seen brown cars, but no girls in them, and they had seen tan coats +in black or red cars, but nowhere was the tan and brown in combination. +</p> + +<p> +Looking for a needle in a haystack has several advantages over looking +for an automobile on a hundred mile stretch of road. For one thing, +there is only one haystack, so you are pretty sure of finding your +needle there if you look long enough; whereas there were several roads +to Indianapolis; and for another thing, your needle is stationary and +not traveling through the haystack, so you are reasonably sure when you +have ascertained that it is not in a certain part of the haystack that +it will not be there at a later time; whereas the Striped Beetle might +be moving from place to place, in which case we were going to have a +lively time catching up with it. +</p> + +<p> +Especially did we inquire if there had been any accidents. Once we had +a scare; we were told that a brown car had been struck by a suburban +car that morning and several girls seriously injured. The injured ones +had been taken to a hospital in Indianapolis, but the automobile was in +a repair shop in the village of D——. We hastened to D—— and elbowed +our way through the crowd in front of the repair shop to see the wreck +of the car and sighed with relief when we saw it was not the Striped +Beetle. One door was still intact and that bore the monogram DPS in +large block letters. +</p> + +<p> +If Fate has anything to do with the color of paint, or rather, if the +color of paint has anything to do with Fate, brown must be an unlucky +shade to paint a car. The number of brown cars which had come to grief +along that road was unbelievable. In another place one had turned +turtle on a bridge and thrown its passengers into the river beneath, +but those passengers were all men, we were told, and we did not stop to +investigate further. One woman told a story of having seen four girls +walking along the road almost frantic because their car had been stolen +while they got out to look at something in a field, and we thought +these might possibly be our girls. Hinpoha is crazy about calves and if +she saw a calf in a field she would not only go over and pet it +herself, but drag all the others along too. When asked to describe +their dresses the woman said vaguely that they had had on some light +kind of coats or suits, she couldn't remember which, and she wasn't +sure about the veils. They might have been green for all she knew, but +she always had been color blind and hated to make a definite statement +because she had been fooled on more than one occasion. Where the girls +were now she did not know; she thought they were walking to the nearest +town to notify the police. +</p> + +<p> +While there was nothing definite about this information it was just +enough to tantalize us, and we wondered if the Striped Beetle really +had been stolen and the girls were wandering about in distress. We +strained our imaginations trying to picture what had happened to Gladys +that she did not appear in Rochester, and conjured up all sorts of +circumstances to account for it. But I doubt if an imagination as rich +as the mine of Ophir could have guessed at the truth, so I don't see +how we can be blamed for missing it entirely. +</p> + +<p> +The clouds that had been reclining along the horizon all afternoon +began to mount and deepen in color, and the occasional mutterings of +thunder became more frequent. From being oppressive the air became +stifling and we were all on the verge of collapse. The fatigue of +getting out of the car so often to follow up things that looked like +clues was beginning to tell on us. And the suspense was worse than +anything else. Up to now, when we thought that Gladys was on the road +ahead of us and we would catch up with her in Chicago, we had +cheerfully put up with all the mishaps which had befallen us, for none +of them turned out seriously and we were entirely light-hearted. But +now we were really worried about Gladys. Her not appearing after she +had wired us that she was coming began to take on a sinister meaning. +It is much easier to live through mishaps yourself than imagine them +happening to someone else. +</p> + +<p> +Taken altogether, that afternoon's trip is one on which I like to put +the soft pedal when harking back in memory. And happy for us then that +we did not know what it was going to end in. The sky behind us had +turned inky black and it became evident that the storm which was coming +would be no ordinary one. A wind sprang up that increased in velocity +with a peculiar moaning sound. A strange light was in the air that made +the white farm houses and barns gleam sharply against the dark sky. +Nyoda looked with some anxiety at the lowering clouds. +</p> + +<p> +"I think it would be a wise plan to make the next town before that +storm breaks loose," she observed, thoughtfully. "You know the storm +curtains don't fasten tightly on the one side, and if we're caught +we're going to be drenched." +</p> + +<p> +The next town was Kokomo, about ten miles away, where we were to stop +at the telegraph office and see if there was a message from Gladys. +Then began a race the like of which I have never seen before. It was +the speed of man matched against the speed of the storm gods. Behind us +the storm was breaking; we could see the grey wall of the rain in the +distance; the wind was rising to a tornado and the thunder claps seemed +to split the earth open. And there we were, scudding along before it, +like a tiny craft fleeing from a tidal wave. The Glow-worm bore us +onward like a gallant steed, and I compared our headlong flight with +the King of Denmark's ride when his Rose of the Isles lay dying. +</p> + +<p> +"Think of something cheerful," said Sahwah, crossly; "Gladys isn't +lying at the point of death." +</p> + +<p> +After all, the comparison didn't hold good, for the King's steed +reached his destination and the Glow-worm didn't. We had been so taken +up with our search for Gladys that we had neglected to supply the life +blood to our iron steed, namely, gasoline, and we came to a dead stop +in the road four or five miles from town. Our exclamations of disgust +were still hovering in the air when the storm struck us. As Sahwah has +always described it, "And then the water came down at Lodore." I could +devote several pages to the fury of that rainfall, but what is the use +of taking up the reader's time when her own imagination will supply the +details? Just imagine the worst storm you were ever caught in, or ever +saw anyone else caught in, and multiply it by two or three times and +you have our situation. +</p> + +<p> +With a shriek of delight the wind seized the loose end of the storm +curtain and tore the whole curtain from the car with one neat pull. +When we last saw that storm curtain it was traveling eastward at the +rate of sixty miles an hour. In one minute we were all as wet as if we +had fallen off the dock at home. We abandoned the car and ran for the +shelter of a big tree near-by. We were no sooner under its spreading +branches when, with a sound like the crack of doom, lightning struck it +and it went crashing to earth in the opposite direction from us. We +didn't stop to reflect what would have happened to us if it had fallen +in our direction, but made for the open road where there was nothing +but the sky to fall on us, which it was doing as hard as it could. +</p> + +<p> +We were just wondering how long it would take the inside of the +Glow-worm to dry out, and whether rain made spots on the leather when a +closed limousine came along the road. The driver, in rubber coat and +cap, stopped his car and asked if he could be of assistance. Nyoda, +suddenly conscious that the color was running out of her dripping veil +all over her face, put her hand in her pocket to find her handkerchief +and wipe her face. Along with the handkerchief out fell the curious +scarab which we had forgotten in the search for Gladys. The man eyed it +intently as Nyoda put it back into her pocket. A change seemed to have +come over him. Before he was merely an automobile driver offering help +to a stranded motorist, but now he acted like a minion in the presence +of a queen. He touched his hat with the greatest respect, got down from +his seat in a hurry and opened the door of the limousine. +</p> + +<p> +"Get in quickly," he said, and we did, glad of the glass enclosed +shelter from the downpour. With deft motions he fastened the Glow-worm +behind the limousine with a tow line and then sent his car rolling down +the road at a rapid pace. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap07"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VII. +</h3> + +<p> +We had not proceeded very far up the road when the car turned into a +long winding driveway of gravel, bordered on either side by well kept +lawns and trim trees. We could see that much through the windows of the +car when the rain would cease its furious whirling against the glass +for a moment. Soon we came to a stop under a wide sheltering +porte-cochere, and the driver got down and opened the door +ceremoniously. It was quite dark, but we could see that the house at +which we had stopped was an immense mansion, probably the country home +of some millionaire. +</p> + +<p> +"I will see that the tanks are filled in good time," said the +chauffeur, touching his hand to his cap. He had been driving without +gloves, and I noticed that the little finger on both of his hands was +turned inward at the second joint. I believe that is what brother Tom +calls a baseball finger. +</p> + +<p> +Just then the door of the house opened and a trim looking maid appeared +and greeted the chauffeur familiarly as "Heinie". He replied by a wink +and a series of movements with his eyebrows which threw the maid into a +spasm of amusement. Then he started the limousine, with the Glow-worm +still in tow, around the side of the house, presumably toward the +garage, although from where we stood we saw no building. The maid held +the door open for us and we stepped into an entry paved with marble. +</p> + +<p> +"If we could stay here a few minutes until the rain is over—" began +Nyoda. For no reason at all the maid began to giggle violently. I +suppose she was still amused over the grimaces of the chauffeur. It +takes so little to amuse some people. +</p> + +<p> +"Come this way," she said, and led the way from the entry into a hall +and up a flight of stairs. There was a big triple window on the landing +and as we passed the rain was dashing against it so violently that we +thought the glass must give way. Severe as the storm had been when we +were caught in it, it was twice as bad now, and we gave a thankful sigh +that we were under shelter, and blessed the gasoline for giving out +when it did, for if it hadn't we must have been overtaken on the road +and would have missed this chance of getting in the dry. We went +up-stairs as quickly as possible so as not to drip on the rich carpet +that covered the steps. The maid threw open the door into the most +luxurious bedchamber I have ever seen. It was clear that we were in the +house of a very wealthy man. Another maid was in the room which we +entered and she looked at us five dripping refugees with a stare of +curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +"Some friends who were caught in the rain," explained the maid who had +acted as our guide. "Come, get them some dry clothes." +</p> + +<p> +The two of them bustled about laying out things for us to put on, and +for the first time in my life I was waited on by a maid. The first one, +whom the other addressed as Carrie, was inclined to be talkative, and +sympathized noisily with our drenched state. She was quite pretty, with +rosy cheeks and black hair and black eyes. There was something odd +about her appearance at first and upon looking at her closely I +discovered this odd appearance came from the fact that her eyes did not +seem to be on a level. But she was very deft in her movements and had +our wet garments hung up on hangers and spread out before the little +grate fire in no time. I felt a passing envy for the woman who was the +mistress of this maid and who did not have to worry whether she threw +her clothes in a heap on the floor or not, as she would always find +them properly taken care of when she wanted them again. Taking care of +my clothes is the greatest trial of my life. +</p> + +<p> +The other maid spoke not at all; she seemed newer at her job and obeyed +the directions of the first meekly and in silence. Carrie picked up +Nyoda's soaked coat and shook it, and as she did so the scarab flew out +of the pocket and fell to the floor. She hastily picked it up and held +it in her hand for an instant, turning it over and looking at it +curiously. I saw her glance sidewise at Agnes, the other maid, who +stood with her back to us putting Nyoda's shoes onto trees; then she +looked boldly at Nyoda and deliberately winked one eye! Nyoda looked at +her with a puzzled frown. Carrie became all meekness and deference in a +moment; she laid the scarab down on the table beside Nyoda's purse and +went about her duties without raising her eyes. +</p> + +<p> +In a moment she left the room and we sat listening to the rain beating +against the panes and wondering when it would stop and how soon our +clothes would be dry so we could resume our journey. Agnes went out +presently and when she came back she carried a tray full of cups of +steaming broth and a plate of sandwiches. We were very thankful for +this favor, as we were beginning to feel chilled through. Getting +drenched that way when we were so hot was bad enough, but the wind that +accompanied the shower was decidedly cool and we were pretty +uncomfortable by the time we were picked up. +</p> + +<p> +"To whom are we indebted for this hospitality?" asked Nyoda of Agnes. +</p> + +<p> +"Ma'm?" said Agnes. +</p> + +<p> +"In whose house are we?" asked Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +"This is the home of Simon McClure," answered Agnes. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh-oh!" we said altogether. The name of Simon McClure was a household +word with us. It was his yacht that had sprung a leak and gone down the +summer before just as it was on the point of winning the cup race. We +had all heard about this millionaire sportsman and his horses, dogs and +boats. Well, we were not sorry, after all, that the heat had ended up +in a shower. It was worth a drenching to be taken into such a house. +I'm afraid our anxiety about Gladys faded a little in the enjoyment of +our unique position. The rain had gradually subsided from a cloudburst +into a steady downpour and we trembled to think what the road would be +like. In our mind's eye we saw ourselves stuck up to the hubs in yellow +clay from which it would require the pulling power of a locomotive to +release us. +</p> + +<p> +I suppose Carrie must have told her mistress of our presence, for after +one of her absences from the room she said that Mrs. McClure had said +we were welcome to stay all night if we wished. We looked at each other +with rather comical expressions. To our widely varying list of night's +lodgings there was about to be added one more, as different from the +rest as they had been from each other. One more adventure was to be +added to our already long list! But even then we did not guess that +this one was to surpass all the others as the glare of a rocket +outshines the glimmer of a match! +</p> + +<p> +Carrie returned again presently and after looking at Agnes steadily for +a minute, with a peculiar expression in her black eyes she turned to +Nyoda and said respectfully that Mrs. McClure was giving a fancy dress +ball that night and, as several of the invited guests had been +prevented from coming at the last moment, which would spoil the number +for a certain march figure she had planned, she wanted to know if we +would mind attending the ball in their places. She begged us to excuse +her for not coming in to speak to us herself, but she was in the hands +of her hair-dresser. +</p> + +<p> +Would we mind attending the ball! Did things ever happen to other +people the way they happened to us? And such a ball as the McClures +would give would be like a page out of the Arabian Nights to us, who +knew nothing of high society. +</p> + +<p> +"But what could we wear?" asked Sahwah, always the first to come to +earth and see the practical side of the question. +</p> + +<p> +Carrie flashed her a sparkling look from her black eyes, giggled, and +then shifted her gaze to Agnes, whom she watched narrowly. Agnes looked +indifferent, both at her and at us. The stony expression on Agnes's +face began to puzzle me; I wondered if there was any mystery about her. +Carrie finally took her eyes from Agnes's face and allowed them to +travel around the room to where our touring suits hung up to dry. "The +automobile suits," she suggested respectfully, "and the veils, and the +goggles—You could masque as a party of tourists. The clothes are quite +dry." +</p> + +<p> +Our spirits revived again, for the thought that we might have to miss +this grand opportunity of witnessing a gorgeous spectacle because we +had nothing to wear had sent our hearts down into our shoes. +</p> + +<p> +Carrie was summoned away then by a soft purring little buzzer and +directed Agnes to help us dress. I must say that we made very nice +looking tourists in our tan suits and green veils. Agnes had the suits +pressed until there were no wrinkles left in them and arranged our +veils with a practised hand. All the while we were dressing we could +hear automobiles driving up under the porte-cochere, and guests +arriving, and we were in a fever of anticipation. Strains of music +floated up from below, together with the subdued hum of many voices. We +judged from the direction of the sounds that the ballroom was on the +first floor. +</p> + +<p> +It was after ten o'clock when we were finally ready and Carrie appeared +in the door for us. She took us down another stairway into a vast hall +filled with paintings and statuary, where a man in a dark blue suit and +silver braid (I suppose that's what you'd call a footman in livery), +stood stiffly as the statues around him. Carrie said something to him +in a low tone (I presume she was explaining our presence without cards +of invitation, such as he was collecting from the other guests), and he +looked at us with an impassive eye and nodded his head. He was a very +homely man with an exceedingly red nose with one bright blue vein +running across it that gave him somewhat of a singular appearance. I +remember thinking that if I were his mistress I should set him to +working in the garden where nobody could see him, instead of posting +him in the front hall to admit the guests. +</p> + +<p> +After Carrie had turned us over to the Nose with the Vein she went +up-stairs again and the man slid back a door on the left side of the +hall. We found ourselves in the ballroom and in the midst of a scene as +bewildering as it was gorgeous. Of course, our first thought had been +to find our hostess and make ourselves known, but there was no way of +telling which one Mrs. McClure was. Everybody was masked and frolicking +around and there didn't seem to be anyone doing the duty of a hostess +whom we could suspect of being Mrs. McClure. Later on we discovered +that there was a reception-room off at the other end of the ballroom +where Mrs. McClure had been receiving her guests, but at the time we +saw nothing but the shifting masses of light and color around us, that +resolved themselves into kings and queens and princes and Indians and +turbaned Hindoos and pirates and Turks and peasants and fairies. The +orchestra was playing the opening bars of a waltz and the dancers were +seeking partners. We withdrew into a corner behind a large palm to look +on. To our surprise and somewhat to our embarrassment we were asked to +dance before the waltz was over. My partner was a Scottish highlander +and a good dancer, and he evidently thought I belonged in the set who +were the guests at this ball, because he kept pointing out different +people and asking if I thought they were this one or that one. I did +not speak much, however, and do not think he ever guessed that I was +not a friend of Mrs. McClure's, was an outsider at the ball, and was, +in fact, the mere tourist I was supposed to represent. I thought, +however, I might get one piece of information out of him. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't see Mrs. McClure," I said, looking over the dancing couples. +Then it was that the Highlander told me about the reception-room at the +other side of the conservatory that opened out of the ballroom, where +Mrs. McClure was. I mentally thanked him for this piece of information +and purposed to tell Nyoda about it as soon as the dance was over. But +when that dance came to a close we were claimed by other partners for +the next, and so on, and we did not get out of the ballroom. +</p> + +<p> +The memory of that ball is like some queer oriental dream and even +while we were in the midst of it I had to pinch myself to make sure +that I was awake and the things around me were real. But the events +that followed were real enough for anyone to know that they were not +dreaming. There came an intermission in the dancing at last, and we +five found ourselves in the glassed-in sun parlor opening from the +ballroom while somebody was going for ices for us. As it happened we +were the only ones in that little room, for the bigger conservatory +next to it was a more popular resting-place. Sitting there waiting we +began to talk about the scarab and the queer effect it seemed to have +had on the chauffeur. +</p> + +<p> +"Let me look at it again," said I. I was utterly fascinated by the +thing. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda put her hand in the pocket of her coat where she had put the +scarab for safe keeping, and drew out, not the odd-looking beetle, but +something that flashed in the light like a thousand rain-drops in the +sunshine. It was a diamond necklace, with a diamond pendant at the end, +the stones arranged in the form of a cross. The thing blazed in Nyoda's +hand like liquid fire running down over her fingers, and we fairly +blinked as we looked at it. We were too astonished to say a word and +simply stared at it as if we were hypnotised. +</p> + +<p> +"Girls," said Nyoda in a horrified tone, "there's something queer going +on here and we're mixed up in it. The sooner we get out of this house +the better. There's a gang of thieves at work at this ball—there +usually are at these big affairs—and unless we want to find ourselves +drawn into a net from which we can't escape easily we'll have to run +for it." +</p> + +<p> +It was a good thing that the sun parlor was empty and the crush around +the table where the ices were being served kept our friends from +returning. Nyoda put the necklace into a jardinier containing a +monstrous fern and we looked around for a way out. We thought we would +slip out to the garage and get the Glow-worm. The sun parlor must have +had a door leading to the outside, but it was so full of plants in pots +and jardiniers that if there was a door it was covered up. We fled back +into the conservatory, where couples were sitting all over, but there +was no outside door from there. After that we got into a library filled +with people playing cards at tables. We were looking anxiously around +for a door into the hall which led to the porte-cochere entrance when +we saw the maid Carrie come into the room with a tray full of glasses. +When she saw us standing there she came up to us and under the pretense +of offering us refreshments she whispered: "You are looking for the way +out? Follow me." +</p> + +<p> +We followed her across the room and out the door at the opposite side, +which opened into a small reception-room. There stood the footman with +the vein in his nose and without a word he led the way through various +rooms and hallways to the porte-cochere entrance. We passed out +quickly, and to our surprise there stood the Glow-worm under the +porte-cochere with the lamps all lighted and the tanks filled. In a +moment we were speeding down that driveway again and out into the +midnight. The events of the evening were whirling through our heads. As +yet we could make neither head nor tail to them. Bit by bit we began to +see the significance of things, although, of course, the whole story +was not clear to us until a day later, when things came to a head and +the resulting explosion cleared up all mysteries. +</p> + +<p> +This much we did understand, however, that someone had stolen a diamond +necklace from one of the guests at the ball and expected us to get away +with it. Also that the servants must have been in the plot, for how +else had our get away been made so easy? And how came the Glow-worm to +be standing at the door ready to drive away? +</p> + +<p> +We laughed when we thought of the diamond necklace which they had +supposed was safe in our possession, lying in the jardinier in the sun +parlor. We fancied the commotion that would take place when the owner +discovered its loss, and the equal dismay in the breasts of the +conspirators when it was found in the jardinier. +</p> + +<p> +But here we were again, without a place to spend the night, when we had +expected to sleep in such luxurious beds. With one accord we decided to +drive all night and put as much distance between us and the house as +possible. We were constantly afraid that we were being pursued as it +was, and strained our ears for the throb of a motor behind us that +would tell of the chase. We did not make very fast headway, for the +roads were abominable after the storm. In places we went through +regular lakes and the water was thrown into the car by the wheels, so +that we were drenched a second time, as well as spattered with mud from +head to foot. Then we came to a hold-up altogether. In one place a +small stream had risen from the flood and carried away the bridge by +which we were supposed to cross. The water was too deep to drive +through and we had to turn back and find another road. Then our +troubles began in earnest. +</p> + +<p> +The main road had been bad enough, but these side roads full of deep +wagon ruts and mud holes were ten times worse. It would have been a +problem to drive through there by daylight, but after dark it was a +nightmare. Our electric head lamps were dim that night for some reason +or other and only partly showed up the bad places, and several times I +thought we were going to upset. The drizzling rain was still falling +and we were soaked and uncomfortable. After a time we gave up trying to +find another bridge to cross the stream and get back on the main road +and frankly owned that we were lost. Once in a while we saw the dark +outline of a farmhouse far back from the road, but we hesitated to wake +up the people at that time of night and ask our way. +</p> + +<p> +Margery complained of the feeling of her wet coat and Sahwah suggested +that we all sing "How Dry I Am", and see if there was anything in +mental suggestion. So we stopped still at the cross-roads and sang +hoarsely in the rain and darkness like disconsolate frogs. The starter +refused to work when we wanted to go on again and Nyoda had to get out +in the mud and crank the engine. +</p> + +<p> +"She stoops to crank her," said Sahwah, but none of us had the ambition +to pinch her for making a pun. +</p> + +<p> +We were apparently traveling through the country in a sort of Roman key +pattern, up one road and down another without getting any nearer to the +town for which we imagined we were headed. Suddenly something white +loomed up before us which proved to be the gate of a fence; we were +evidently on private property. Sahwah got out to open it but she could +not do it alone, so both Nakwisi and I jumped out to help her. The mud +was piled up so high under the gate that it was all we could do to +swing it back. The Glow-worm passed through slowly and we closed the +gate again. Just then a gust of wind sent down a heavy shower of drops +from a near-by tree and we ran hastily for the shelter of the car. +Nyoda started immediately and we found ourselves in the main road once +more. The gust of wind continued and blew our veils into our faces and +made us screw our eyes shut. In such fashion did we travel down the +king's highway, and if ever my ardor for automobile touring was +dampened, it was then. For a long time nobody had a word to say, not +even irrepressible Sahwah. Each one of us sat apart wrapped in our own +gloomy thoughts. Finally Nakwisi spoke. +</p> + +<p> +"Does the water run down over the tip of your nose if your nose turns +up? Sahwah, yours turns up, will you look and see which way the +rain-drops are going?" +</p> + +<p> +There was no answer. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, don't answer, if you don't want to," said Nakwisi, rather +crossly. We took our veils down from our eyes and looked around to see +the cause of this unusual silence on Sahwah's part. Then we got the +second big shock of the evening. <i>Sahwah was not in the car!</i> She had +vanished utterly, silently, mysteriously, into the rainy darkness! +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap08"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER VIII. +</h3> + +<p> +If I were an experienced writer of fiction I would know how to weave +all the various odds and ends of my story into the telling so as to +keep the action moving forward all the time, with all parts nicely +balanced. But as it is, I am afraid that I have been trying to tell it +all at once and am getting it rather one-sided. So far I have told only +what happened to us girls in the Glow-worm, and I fear that the reader +will have forgotten by this time that there were eight girls who +started out on the trip instead of four. So now I am going to carry you +back to a point almost at the beginning of the story; the point where +we almost struck the old woman and where the Striped Beetle vanished +from sight. As I said before, I am going to tell the story just as if I +had been along and seen everything, without stopping to quote Gladys or +Hinpoha or Medmangi or Chapa. +</p> + +<p> +You will remember that we were proceeding westward through Toledo at +the time and the Striped Beetle was in the lead. Hinpoha sat in the +front seat with Gladys, holding Mr. Bob in her lap. The street was +crowded with vehicles and Gladys was driving carefully. A wagon loaded +almost to the sky with barrels threatened to fall over on them and they +had a narrow squeeze to get through between it and the curb. Some small +boys on the sidewalk shouted at the driver of the wagon and he shouted +back; a street car trying to make headway on a track from which a sand +wagon refused to move itself raised an ear-splitting racket with its +alarm bell; the noise was so deafening that the girls put their hands +over their ears and did not take them down again until Gladys had +turned a corner into a quieter street. They had turned another corner +before they discovered that the Glow-worm was not right behind them. +Gladys merely stopped the car and waited for us to come up. +</p> + +<p> +"They're probably caught in that line of wagons and trucks on T—— +Street," said Gladys, when we did not come immediately. "I hope their +engine didn't stall on that corner." +</p> + +<p> +The minutes passed and we did not appear. +</p> + +<p> +"Run down to the corner and see what is keeping them," said Gladys to +Chapa and Medmangi. The two girls got out and retraced their steps. But +nowhere did they see the Glow-worm. Puzzled, they returned to Gladys +and she promptly turned the Striped Beetle around and drove back +through the streets the way she had come. The Glow-worm had apparently +vanished off the face of the earth. Inquiry at frequent points brought +out the fact that the Glow-worm had knocked down an old woman (that is +the way such things are exaggerated) and had gone on again. Their +asking which way it had gone started an argument which ended in a fist +fight, for the two small boys they asked each maintained stoutly that +it had gone in a different direction. Then the mother of the boys ran +out from a grocery store to see what the racket was about and seizing +them by the back of their necks she shook them apart, boxing their +ears. When the cause of the argument was made known to her she settled +it in an emphatic manner by pointing with a fat forefinger down the +street. +</p> + +<p> +"They went that way," she declared. "Four girls in tan suits and green +veils just like yours." +</p> + +<p> +They took her word for it and started in pursuit of the Glow-worm, +expecting to come upon it at every turn, their wonder growing +momentarily. They could not understand why Nyoda had ceased to follow +them and was taking a route which was not marked in the route book. +They inquired at numerous places and found that we had passed just +ahead of them. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't blame Nyoda for going this way," said Gladys, "it's lots +quieter than the other way; sort of back streets. She probably turned +off when the jam occurred on T—— Street and thought we saw her and +followed. It seems a little strange that she didn't wait for us to come +up, though." +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Bob, our long-eared mascot, had a most angelic disposition, but +nevertheless, he knew when he was outraged, and when a yellow cur of no +special breed and no breeding at all snarled impudently at him from the +curb he jumped through Hinpoha's restraining arms with the intention of +chewing up the insolent one. The yellow dog saw him coming and, turning +tail, he fled yelping up a side street. Hinpoha shouted commands in +vain; Mr. Bob had set out to put his teeth into that yellow dog and he +would not be turned aside from his purpose. Gladys stopped the car and +Hinpoha ran after Mr. Bob. The yellow cur knew his neighborhood and +turned into an alley just as Mr. Bob nearly had him. Mr. Bob, with +Hinpoha hard after him, also turned into the alley. The back door of an +empty store offered the fugitive a safe refuge and he darted inside. So +did Mr. Bob, growling ferociously, and so did Hinpoha, panting for +breath and holding her hand to her side. From the back room of the +store the dogs passed to the front and Mr. Bob caught the yellow dog in +a tight corner behind a counter. For all he had run in such a cowardly +fashion the yellow dog was a good fighter and the battle which occurred +when the two clinched frightened Hinpoha out of her wits. She seized an +old broom which was standing against the wall and ran behind the +counter to beat them apart. In the darkness behind the counter she +almost fell over something on the floor, and the broom clattered out of +her hand. In her astonishment she forgot the fighting dogs. The thing +she had fallen over and which she had, at first, thought was a sack of +something, stirred and huddled up against the wall and Hinpoha heard +the sharp intaking of a breath. Then she made out the form of a girl; a +girl in a blue suit sitting on the floor with her hands over her face. +</p> + +<p> +"Did—did the dogs frighten you?" asked Hinpoha. The girl dropped her +hands and looked up quickly. Just then the yellow dog broke away from +Mr. Bob and retreated through the back door. Mr. Bob, who had evidently +derived honorable satisfaction from the encounter, came over to Hinpoha +and subsided at her feet. With a look of wonder Hinpoha turned to the +girl crouching on the floor. She had moved into the light from a window +and Hinpoha could see that fear was written all over her face. It was a +girl about eighteen years old with a round cherubic countenance, framed +in fluffy light hair, wide open guileless blue eyes, with an expression +as innocent as a baby's. Just now the eyes were swimming in tears. +</p> + +<p> +"You are in trouble?" asked Hinpoha, with ready sympathy. +</p> + +<p> +The girl reached out her hand and took hold of Hinpoha's jacket as a +child holds on to its mother, in spite of the fact that she was +evidently older than Hinpoha. Hinpoha caught her hand and held it +tightly. +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me about it," she said, gently. +</p> + +<p> +The girl gulped down a big sob and wiped her eyes. "I'm—I'm hiding," +she said, in a shaky voice. +</p> + +<p> +"Hiding from what?" asked Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"From—from the man I work for," said the girl. "He said I stole +something and I didn't, and he says he can have me arrested," she said +with fresh sobs. +</p> + +<p> +"But how can anyone have you arrested if you didn't steal anything?" +asked Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know," answered the girl, "but I'm afraid he will." She cried +for a moment and then collected herself and went on. "My name is Pearl +Baxter," she said. "I used to live on a farm down state with my mother +and then she died and I came here to the city and went to work in an +office. I was the only girl in the office and I knew the combination of +the safe. A few days ago Mr. Sawyer, that's one of the men I work for, +asked me to get certain papers out of the safe, and when I went there I +couldn't find them. He made an awful fuss and said I had taken them. +They were bonds, if you know what they are. He said he would have me +arrested. I believe his son took them because he knew they were there. +When the other partner of the firm found they were gone he insisted on +having the office searched and the bonds were found in my desk drawer. +They would not believe me when I said I did not put them there. That +was yesterday and I ran away and hid here all night and I'm afraid to +go out for fear they will get me." +</p> + +<p> +She broke down again and wept into her handkerchief. Tender-hearted +Hinpoha was ready to weep in sympathy. "You poor thing!" she exclaimed. +"Have you no friends who would help you?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +The girl shook her head. "I don't know anybody up here," she said. +"I've only been working here three months." +</p> + +<p> +For Hinpoha there was always one court of last resort. That was Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +"You come along with me," she said. "I know somebody who can tell you +what to do." +</p> + +<p> +She led the girl out to the Striped Beetle and told her story to the +other girls. They all agreed that the only thing to do was to take her +to Nyoda as quickly as possible. She sat in the tonneau of the car +between Chapa and Medmangi with her veil tied down over her face, +through which she peered nervously to the right and left as the car +moved on through the streets. Gladys's brow was drawn up into a frown +of perplexity as corner after corner was turned and they still did not +come upon the Glow-worm. Boys playing in the street told them that it +had gone past over fifteen minutes before. Hinpoha anxiously wished for +a sight of the familiar car so that Pearl could be turned over to Nyoda +very soon. +</p> + +<p> +"It's like a game of Hare and Hounds," said Chapa from the back seat +"Nyoda is the hare and we are the hounds. She's probably doing it on +purpose to see how well we can trail her to the city limits. You know +how fond she is of putting us to unexpected tests." +</p> + +<p> +"I'll make it," said Gladys, determinedly. +</p> + +<p> +Several times she consulted her route book and then she laughed. "The +joke is on Nyoda after all," she said. "This way leads to the southern +route and not the northern, and they'll have the pleasure of crossing +the city again. Won't we have the laugh on them, though, when we meet +them at the city limits?" +</p> + +<p> +But the Glow-worm was not waiting for them at the city limits and they +were much surprised to learn that it had traveled on over the road to +the west. "The southern route?" asked Gladys, wonderingly, "I can't +imagine what Nyoda is doing. I'm sure she understood we were to take +the northern. It's all right, of course, because there is no great +difference in the routes, they each lead to Ft. Wayne, but I can't +imagine why she changed without telling us." +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe she couldn't stop the car," said Hinpoha, beginning to giggle. +"It's happened before. The fellow next door to us bought a motorcycle +and got it started and couldn't stop it again and he whizzed up and +down the city until the gas gave out, and there were eleven policemen +chasing him before he got through." +</p> + +<p> +The picture of the Glow-worm traveling across country with the bit +between its teeth, carrying its passengers willy-nilly over the wrong +road, was so funny that they all laughed aloud, in spite of the +improbability of it. +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe she'll make us trail her all the way to Ft. Wayne," said Gladys, +musingly. "It's really our fault for losing her; we should have kept a +better lookout. But it's a cold day when the Striped Beetle can't catch +up with the Glow-worm." And Gladys put on full speed ahead. +</p> + +<p> +Hinpoha was not worrying much about us and our disappearance; her +thoughts were taken up with Pearl and her night in the empty storeroom. +Hinpoha always takes other people's troubles so to heart. +</p> + +<p> +At Napoleon they stopped for gasoline and learned that the Glow-worm +had passed some time before and had also stopped for gasoline. +</p> + +<p> +For the most part Pearl sat silent, turning her head every little while +to watch the road behind them. She was that +pink-and-white-doll-baby-helpless-in-emergency type of girl who ought +never be allowed away from home without a guardian. After they had been +traveling awhile she leaned back against the seat and looked so white +and faint that the girls became alarmed. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you feel ill?" asked Medmangi, feeling her pulse with a practised +hand. Medmangi is going to be a doctor and is in her element when she +has a patient to attend to. Pearl opened her big blue eyes languidly. +</p> + +<p> +"I just got light-headed," she said, in a weak voice. "I think maybe +it's because I'm—I'm hungry." +</p> + +<p> +"Why didn't we think of it before?" asked Hinpoha, filled with +self-reproach. "We might have known you hadn't had anything to eat +since yesterday if you stayed in that storeroom all night. We'll stop +in this village and get you something." +</p> + +<p> +"I'd rather you wouldn't," said Pearl, in a somewhat embarrassed +manner. "I really don't want anything to eat." +</p> + +<p> +"Not want anything to eat!" echoed Hinpoha. "Why don't you want to eat +if you're hungry?" +</p> + +<p> +"You see," answered Pearl, still more embarrassed, "when I, when I ran +away, I didn't stop to take my purse and I haven't any money to pay—" +</p> + +<p> +"That's nonsense," said Gladys, firmly. "You have got to let us help +you. It isn't any more than you would do for someone in the same +position." +</p> + +<p> +They stopped and got her something to eat and the others drank pop to +keep her company. In spite of her being as hungry as she must have been +Pearl did not eat very much; her trouble had evidently taken away her +appetite. The girls exerted themselves to cheer her and assured her +that everything would come out all right as soon as they found Nyoda +and got her advice. +</p> + +<p> +Somebody must have been moving a crockery store in the neighborhood and +dropped it in the middle of the road, for, as they were passing through +the outskirts of the little village where they had stopped they ran +into a regular field of broken china. Gladys stopped short when she saw +it, but it was too late, they were already in the midst of it. Both the +front tires breathed their last. I think it should be made a criminal +offense to leave things like that in the road. But then maybe the man +carrying the china was knocked down by an automobile in the first +place, and left the pieces in order to get revenge on some member of +the auto driving fraternity. Ever since then I have been wondering how +many of our calamities are brought down upon us by our best friends. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys backed out of the mess and set about repairing the damage. The +Striped Beetle carried two extra tires done up in a nice shiny cover +all ready for emergency, but for some reason or other Gladys couldn't +get the old tires off. It seems the demountable rims refused to +demount, or whatever it is they are expected to do when you take a tire +off. +</p> + +<p> +Don't expect me to get the details straight or I shall throw up the job +of reporter right here. I never could see through the workings of a +motor car. I am like the Indian who had the automobile explained to him +until he knew every part like a brother and then, when asked if he +understood it, he replied that he understood all but one thing and that +was what made it go without horses. So if the reader, who knows a car +from A to Z, will kindly forbear to smile when I muddle things up, I +will be her debtor forever. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys saw that she would have to have help in getting those tires off +and began scanning the horizon for a man. There are times when a man is +a most useful member of society. There was not a man on the horizon at +that time, though, and the only promising thing was a house set far +back from the road in a grove of trees, and with a vegetable garden +running down to the road. They had already left the village behind and +habitations were scarce. Gladys went up to the house and returned in a +short while with a man, who wrestled with the tires awhile and then +proposed driving the car into the yard in the shade of the trees, as +the sun was scorching hot in the road. Gladys accepted the invitation +with alacrity. +</p> + +<p> +While the Striped Beetle was holding up its poor cut front shoes for +the man to take off the girls strolled over to the pump for a drink. A +tired-looking woman, holding a fretful baby in her arms, came to the +door and asked the girls to come up on the porch and sit down until the +exchange of tires was made. Medmangi promptly offered to hold the baby +while the woman finished her work. With a sigh of relief the woman +handed her the baby. +</p> + +<p> +"Such a time I've had with him to-day," she said, mopping her forehead. +"He's cried steady since morning. He acts sick and he's got a fever." +</p> + +<p> +Medmangi took the fretful child and endeavored to soothe him while his +mother went about her work. Hinpoha, who is crazy about babies, +insisted on holding him half the time, but neither of them could make +him stop crying. A three year old girl, red-faced and heavy-eyed, as if +she had recently awakened from sleep, peered shyly through the screen +door and Chapa coaxed her to come out and sit in her lap. The mother +came to the door every few minutes to tell us how thankful she was for +the relief. +</p> + +<p> +The relief promised to be one of considerable length, for the Striped +Beetle steadfastly refused to put on its new tires. At last, the man +proposed going after another man who lived down the road to help him. +Gladys joined us on the porch while he was gone and helped amuse the +babies. Still the little fellow cried. Medmangi explored for pins with +a skilled hand but there was nothing sticking into him. Neither did he +appear to be teething. +</p> + +<p> +"There's something the matter with this baby," she said to the mother, +when next she came to the door. "Hadn't you better have a doctor?" +</p> + +<p> +The woman came out on the porch and looked down at the child in a +worried way. "I sent my husband to town for the doctor this morning," +she said, "but he had gone out into the country on a call and would not +be back until late to-night. The next nearest doctor is in B——; +that's eight miles away and we have no horse. So we'll have to wait +until Dr. Lane gets back from the country." +</p> + +<p> +"Wouldn't you like to have me drive over and get the doctor from B—— +as soon as the tires are on?" asked Gladys. Gladys is always the one to +offer the helping hand. +</p> + +<p> +"Would you?" asked the woman, eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +"I would be very glad to," said Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +The man came back with his friend and between the two of them they +managed to get the Striped Beetle shod anew. Gladys drove off to B——, +leaving Chapa and Medmangi and Pearl and Hinpoha on the porch with the +babies and taking Mrs. Martin with her. She had seen Mrs. Martin give a +wistful glance toward the big car and surmised rightly that she had few +chances to go automobile riding. They were back in less than an hour +saying that the doctor would be right along, and he appeared presently +in a dusty roadster with another man beside him, probably a friend. +</p> + +<p> +I suppose everybody has been taught from childhood that virtue is its +own reward and one good turn deserves another. But once in awhile they +discover that the reward of virtue is just as apt to be trouble as not, +and that one good turn can unscrew the lid of a whole canful of +calamities. Thus it was that Gladys's generous offer to fetch the +doctor from B—— ended up in disaster for all five of us. For the +doctor examined the fretful baby and the heavy-eyed little girl and +announced that they both had scarlet fever. +</p> + +<p> +Scarlet fever! The girls looked at each other in dismay. Not one of +them had had it. And they had all handled both the babies; Medmangi had +hung over the little boy most of the time. +</p> + +<p> +"If we have ourselves disinfected," said Medmangi, as they moved +hastily toward the car, "there won't be much danger of our getting it. +Scarlet fever isn't really contagious in the first stages." +</p> + +<p> +"Stay right where you are," said the doctor, in a tone of authority. +"No one must leave this house. You are all under quarantine." +</p> + +<p> +"But we can't stay here," said Gladys. "We're touring and only stopped +here." +</p> + +<p> +"That makes no difference," said the doctor. He was a very young doctor +and had recently been appointed health officer in his district. There +was a serious epidemic of scarlet fever in that part of the state which +it was almost impossible to check because people would not keep to +themselves when they had it in the house. Young Dr. Caxton had made up +his mind that the next case that was reported would be as rigidly +quarantined as they were in the big cities. And automobile tourists +would be the very ones to spread the infection abroad through the +countryside. He was determined to hold them there at all costs. +</p> + +<p> +They argued and pleaded in vain; he was obdurate. He had brought a +friend with him in the car and he proceeded to station him as guard +over the house to see that no one left it. Oh yes, he would see to it +that they got all necessary supplies; they would suffer no hardship, +but, on no account, would a member of that household set a foot off the +grounds. He ordered the babies put to bed and the curtains taken down +in that room and the rugs taken out. Mrs. Martin obeyed his orders in a +flutter of distress. She was frightened because her children had the +scarlet fever and worried half to death at the predicament her passing +guests were in. She had been so grateful to Gladys for taking her along +in the automobile to B——. +</p> + +<p> +But her distress over it was nothing compared to theirs. To be held up +in the midst of a tour and quarantined with a scarlet fever case! +Whatever was to become of them? If Nyoda were only there! +</p> + +<p> +"Now you'll have to telegraph your father," said Chapa. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys's face was drawn with distress. "Mother would be frightened to +death if she knew about it," she said. "I don't believe I'll tell her +yet. I'll wait until I hear from Nyoda." +</p> + +<p> +"How will we get word to Nyoda?" asked Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"Ft. Wayne," answered Gladys. "We were to stay there to-night and she +must be there by this time." +</p> + +<p> +"You'll send a wire for us?" she asked the doctor beseechingly. +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly," he answered, amiably. "Any service—" +</p> + +<p> +But Gladys cut him short. He was plainly enjoying the situation. The +doctor departed with his horrid shiny little case and the message in +his pocket and left the guard to watch the house. The first thing he +did was to take something out of the Striped Beetle—I don't know +what—so Gladys couldn't start it and make a dash for liberty. Gladys +was ready to cry with rage at this high handed act, but that was all +the good it did her. +</p> + +<p> +"Well, there's one thing about it," said Hinpoha, who was far more +philosophical than the rest, "if we have to stay prisoners here we +might as well get busy and help Mrs. Martin. It's no fun to have five +people quartered on you when there are two sick children in the house." +Medmangi was already in the sick room giving medicine and drinks of +water in an accomplished manner. It seems that the Winnebagos have a +specialist in every line. +</p> + +<p> +The others went down to the kitchen and finished paring the peaches +which Mrs. Martin had been trying to can. +</p> + +<p> +Later in the evening the guard slipped an envelope through the screen +door. It was a telegram. It was signed by the telegraph company and +read: "Yours date addressed Elizabeth Kent Potter Hotel Ft. Wayne +undelivered. Party not registered." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap09"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER IX. +</h3> + +<p> +The girls were entirely at sea at not reaching Nyoda at Ft. Wayne. They +had counted so confidently upon her advice to help them out of the +difficulty in which they found themselves. Being lost from her was the +worst calamity they could conceive of. They were very much puzzled and +a little hurt that she should have run away and left them as she did. +It was so unlike Nyoda. On all other expeditions she had kept them +under her eye every minute, like the careful Guardian she was. None of +them slept much that night for worrying over the strange predicament +they were in. Besides that they had to sleep three in a bed. Gladys +made up her mind to wire her father in the morning when the doctor came. +</p> + +<p> +When they looked out of the door in the morning the guard of the day +before was gone and a new one had taken his place. Evidently Dr. Caxton +was going to do the job thoroughly. Towards noon a buggy drove into the +yard and a white-haired man got out and came up on the porch. He +carried a shabby medicine case. +</p> + +<p> +"Why, Dr. Lane!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin cordially, when she saw him. +</p> + +<p> +"You left a call for me yesterday when I was out in the country," said +Dr. Lane, in a pleasant voice. "I did not get in until early this +morning. What's the trouble?" +</p> + +<p> +"It's the children," said Mrs. Martin. "They've got scarlet fever. I +was so worried about Bobby yesterday that I sent for Dr. Caxton from +B——. We'll have to keep him now, I suppose, but do you want to look +at them anyhow? Mary doesn't want to take her medicine, and maybe you +could—" +</p> + +<p> +"Certainly I'll go up and see them," said Dr. Lane. He was the kind of +man you would love to have for your grandfather. His pockets bulged +suspiciously as though they contained bags of lemon drops or peanuts. +Talking cheerfully all the while he entered the sick room and looked at +the patients. +</p> + +<p> +"So Dr. Caxton said they had scarlet fever!" he said, musingly. +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Mrs. Martin. +</p> + +<p> +"Scarlet fever your grandmother!" returned Dr. Lane. "They've got +prickly heat. If Dr. Caxton called that scarlet fever, what would he +call a real case of scarlet fever?" +</p> + +<p> +A minute later the man on guard heard a laugh that almost shook the +windows of the house. Not long after that he was pedaling down the road +on the bicycle that had brought him, very red in the face and very hot +under the collar. The quarantine ended right then and there. Whether +Dr. Caxton came again or not we never found out, for the girls left +immediately. They sped over the road to Ft. Wayne as fast as the +Striped Beetle could carry them. They went to the Potter Hotel and +naturally discovered that we had not stayed there. I believe they had +held to the hope all the time that we had arrived after the telegram +had gone back undelivered. They stood around irresolutely until the +check man to whom we had talked spied them and told them that we had +left not half an hour before and were on our way to Chicago by way of +Ligonier. They could hardly believe their ears when they heard that +Nyoda had gone off and left them the second time. But as they were so +close behind us the only thing for them to do was to follow. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys stopped at a service station and had the Striped Beetle's +carburetor adjusted, or something that sounded like that, and then +started post-haste on the road to Chicago. Pearl looked from one to the +other of the girls with fear and suspicion in her face. "Is there—is +there really such a person as you say you are taking me to see, or are +you taking me somewhere else?" she faltered. +</p> + +<p> +And the girls had a hard time convincing her that Nyoda was not a myth, +although they began to wonder if she had not turned into one. Gradually +Pearl began to thaw out under their persistent cordiality and was +really not such a bad companion after all. She still furtively watched +the road behind them as if she feared pursuit, but some of the scared +rabbit look was going out of her eyes when she began to realize that +the width of a whole state lay between her and her persecutors and they +had absolutely no clue to her whereabouts. She repeatedly expressed her +amazement that a group of girls so young had the courage to travel by +themselves in an automobile, and were not frightened to death to have +gotten separated from their chaperon, but were calmly following her up +as fast as they were able. +</p> + +<p> +She was much interested when she heard they were Camp Fire Girls, and +wanted to know all about the Winnebago doings. +</p> + +<p> +"I wish I could have belonged to something like that in the city where +I worked," she said with a sigh, "maybe I wouldn't have been so +lonesome all the time. And I would have had a Guardian—is that what +you call her?—to go to when I got into trouble." +</p> + +<p> +"Maybe you'll get into a group yet," said Hinpoha, optimistically. +"There are some in the city where you live." +</p> + +<p> +Pearl was as great a curiosity to them as they were to her. How any +girl of eighteen could be so babyish and helpless as she was was a +revelation to them. Everyone of them wished devoutly that she could +become a Winnebago so they could make something out of her. Hinpoha +began making plans right away. +</p> + +<p> +"As long as you have no people and it doesn't matter where you work, +why couldn't you come to Cleveland and find work, and possibly join our +group?" she suggested. "I'm sure Nyoda would take you in. When Migwan +goes to college she won't be able to attend the meetings regularly and +there will be a vacant place. Couldn't you?" she cried, warming to her +plan, and the rest of the girls voiced their approval. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, do you suppose I could?" asked Pearl timidly, clasping her hands +before her in a nervous manner. "Oh, I never could do it. I'm afraid to +go to a bigger city for fear I'll get into trouble again. And I never +could do the things you girls do, I just never could." And she looked +at them with appealing helplessness in her big blue eyes. +</p> + +<p> +"Nonsense," said Hinpoha, "you can do anything you want to if you only +think you can do it." And she told her a marvelous tale of how I earned +the money to go to college when things seemed determined to go against +me. Which is all perfectly nonsensical; the chance of earning money to +go to college fell right into my lap. Pearl only opened her eyes wider +at Hinpoha's recital and answered with a sigh, "Oh, I never could do +it!" +</p> + +<p> +The girls went on happily planning how they would take her back to +Cleveland with them and make her one of the Winnebagos. +</p> + +<p> +They had to slow up the Striped Beetle along the road for a cow and a +calf that were monopolizing the right of way and Hinpoha decided to +take a picture of them. "Oh, this film's finished," she said +impatiently, examining her camera. "I'll have to stop and reload. Oh, +Gladys, do you mind if I open the trunk here on the road? My extra +films are all in there." +</p> + +<p> +"Go ahead and open it," said Gladys good-naturedly, handing her the key. +</p> + +<p> +Hinpoha got out and went behind the machine to get her film from the +trunk, all the while calling out to the cow and her calf in a friendly +and coaxing manner not to walk away before she could take them. But she +stopped suddenly in the midst of a persuasive "Here, bossy, stay here," +to utter a surprised exclamation. +</p> + +<p> +"What's the matter?" asked Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"There isn't any trunk here." cried Hinpoha. "It's gone!" +</p> + +<p> +Consternation reigned in the Striped Beetle. The trunk, containing all +their extra clothes, had vanished from the rack at the back of the car! +</p> + +<p> +"And my scarf was in it," said Hinpoha, ready to cry with distress, +"that mother sent me from Italy!" +</p> + +<p> +"Don't worry, we'll get it again," said Gladys soothingly, although she +was as much dismayed herself. "Where did we have it last? We had it in +Ft. Wayne, I know, because we opened it there. It must have been taken +off in the service station where we had the carburetor adjusted. We'll +have to go back and see if it's there." +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly they turned around and drove swiftly back to Ft. Wayne. +Inquiries at the service station at first brought out nothing, because +the proprietor declared that the trunk had not been touched—whoever +heard of taking off a trunk to adjust a carburetor? But a repairman +coming in just then, heard the talk about the trunk and said he was the +man who had made the adjustment on the car and he noticed that the +trunk rack seemed to be sagging and took off the trunk to fix it. He +had not put the trunk on again, because just then he had been called to +help install new gears in a car for a man who was in a great hurry and +had called one of the helpers to put on the trunk and fill the tank. +The helper was called and admitted that he had put a trunk on a car, +but it was not the Striped Beetle; it was a similar car owned by a man +who was driving to Indianapolis. He had thought the trunk belonged to +him. +</p> + +<p> +The girls looked at each other tragically. Their trunk on the road to +Indianapolis! +</p> + +<p> +"How long ago did he start?" asked Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"About an hour," answered the repairman. +</p> + +<p> +"We'll have to go after him," said Gladys, resolutely. "We need that +trunk. Can you tell us what the man's name is?" +</p> + +<p> +"Hansen," replied the repairman. "George Hansen. Driving seven +passenger touring car, brown, with black streamer and gold striping. He +was driving to Indianapolis over the road that goes through Huntington, +Marion and Anderson; I heard him talking about it. That's one of the +main roads out of here. You ought to be able to overtake him on the +way; he's a slow driver and his motor was missing pretty badly. +Wouldn't let me fix it though, because it would take too long and he +wanted to get to Indianapolis in time to see the races. He lives there, +so you ought to be able to find him; runs some kind of a store." +</p> + +<p> +He poured out his information eagerly; he seemed anxious to do anything +he could to aid in the recovery of the trunk, since he had put it on +the wrong car. "Funny how well it fitted that other rack!" he said. But +Gladys says there is nothing peculiar about that because the two cars, +being the same make, had the same style rack, and the trunk was the +ordinary one carried by automobilists. +</p> + +<p> +She hastily looked up the route to Indianapolis and started in pursuit +of the unconscious thief. It was then nearly five o'clock in the +evening. They really did not have much hope of catching the other car +on the way, since it had an hour's start, but they were confident of +recovering the trunk in Indianapolis, where they could find out the +man's address and follow him to his home. Fortune played into their +hands in that they found good roads all the way and had no breakdowns, +and sometime after eight they reached Indianapolis. There were half a +dozen George Hansens in the telephone book, four of whom were away on +automobile trips. But further inquiry brought out the fact that one of +them did own a seven passenger brown W—— car. He was expected home +that evening, but had not yet arrived. His wife (it was she who was +talking) was very sorry about the trunk, but if it had been placed on +the rack of her husband's car it would undoubtedly arrive when he did. +He would probably come home during the night, as he was very anxious to +see the races, which were to take place the next two days. Would they +call later? +</p> + +<p> +Somewhere on the road they had passed him, but it was too late now to +wonder where. The only thing to do was to wait until he came. At ten +o'clock he had not arrived yet. The girls went down to the Young +Women's Christian Association, where they could spend the night. Gladys +concluded that Nyoda must be told if possible where they were, and +judging that she had reached Chicago by that time she wired the Carrie +Wentworth Inn, where they had planned to stay that night, telling what +had happened and saying she would arrive in Chicago the next day. +</p> + +<p> +They called the Hansen home the first thing in the morning and learned +to their dismay that Mr. Hansen had not yet returned. But he was +expected any minute and Hinpoha would not hear of leaving without the +trunk. Shortly afterward their telegram came back undelivered from the +Carrie Wentworth Inn in Chicago, with the notation, "Party not +registered." That threw them into a state of bewilderment, but Gladys, +after thinking hard and long about the matter, remarked that the +Glow-worm had a habit of breaking down at inconvenient times and that +probably accounted for our not having reached Chicago the night before. +</p> + +<p> +Every half hour they called up the Hansen home to find out if Mr. +Hansen had returned and every time they received a negative answer. +Finally, Hinpoha suggested that they drive out to his house and sit on +the curbstone where they could see him coming, before they spent all +their substance in a riotous feeding of nickels into the public +telephone. Which they proceeded to do. But their vigil was vain, for he +came not and it became apparent that they must either depart without +the trunk or stay there another night. Gladys was for going on and +having it sent after them, but Hinpoha refused to budge until she had +seen that scarf with her own eyes. Accordingly, they sent another wire +to the Carrie Wentworth Inn, thinking surely Nyoda must have arrived by +that time, and stayed a second night in Indianapolis. +</p> + +<p> +The next morning they received the news that Mr. Hansen had arrived, +but alas, he had brought no trunk with him. He knew nothing about the +matter at all. He could remember no trunk being on the back of his car +when he left the repair shop in Ft. Wayne, but then, he had not looked +particularly. He had made several stops on the way home on business—he +was a traveling salesman—and that was how they had passed him on the +road. The car had stood for a time in a dozen different places, the +trunk could easily have been stolen, and he had never known the +difference. Possibly they could hold the repair shop responsible. +</p> + +<p> +The girls were much downcast at this news, especially Hinpoha, on +account of the scarf that had been the last gift of her mother. Where +was the trunk now? It might be anywhere between the north and south +poles in that length of time. Gladys's only hope was now that it had +been mislaid and not stolen, and that it would fall into the hands of +some honest person who would ferret out the owner. +</p> + +<p> +They were just about to start out for Chicago again when they were +handed a telegram. It was from the Carrie Wentworth Inn and was dated +midnight of the night before. It read: "Wire from party you want says +address Forty-three Main Street Rochester Indiana." +</p> + +<p> +That wire threw them into great perplexity. What were Nyoda and the +girls doing in Rochester, when they had been on the road to Chicago two +days before? +</p> + +<p> +"The Glow-worm is more like a flea than a glow-worm," said Hinpoha. +"It's never where you expect to find it. I really believe Nyoda has +lost control of the car and it is taking her wherever it wants to." +</p> + +<p> +Gladys was consulting the route book. "Rochester is on the direct road +to Indianapolis," she said. "We can make the run in a few hours. I'm +going to wire Nyoda that we're coming and she should wait for us." +</p> + +<p> +So she sent the wire we received that morning in Rochester: +</p> + +<p> +"Where on earth are you? Wait Rochester for us. Coming to-day noon." +</p> + +<p> +That was Friday, the day of the big races in Indianapolis. The town was +full of people. Tourists from all over managed to make the city just at +that time, and the streets were crowded with motor cars of every +description. Gladys looked sharply at every car they passed on the way +out of the city to see if her trunk was on the back of any of them, but +in vain. +</p> + +<p> +"I suppose I'll never see that scarf again," said Hinpoha, sadly. +</p> + +<p> +Pearl looked a little enviously at the women who came to town in their +big fine cars with drivers and bull dogs. "It must be lovely to be rich +and taken care of," she said, with a sigh. +</p> + +<p> +Pearl was the kind of a girl who should have been born to a life of +luxurious ease. She certainly had no backbone to fight her own battles +in the world. She was a Clinger, who would curl around the nearest +support like a morning glory vine. She didn't seem to have any more +spirit than an oyster. Hinpoha, still imbued with the idea of taking +her in hand and making a Winnebago out of her, kept trying to draw her +out with an idea of finding out what her possibilities were. It was +rather a matter of pride with us that each one of the Winnebagos +excelled in some particular thing. When Hinpoha asked her what her +favorite play was she answered that she had never been to the theater +and considered it wicked. She opened her eyes in disapproval when +Hinpoha mentioned motion pictures. Hinpoha had been on the verge of +launching out on our escapade with the film company the summer before, +but checked herself hastily. She also suppressed the fact that I had +written scenarios, which fact Hinpoha glories in a great deal more than +I do and which she generally sprinkles into people's dishes on every +occasion. The fact that Gladys danced in public seemed to shock her +beyond words. Clearly she was unworldly to the point of narrowness, and +Hinpoha began to reflect that, after all, she might be somewhat of a +wet blanket on the Winnebago doings if she came and joined the group. +Pearl showed such marked disapproval of Gladys when she remarked that +she wished her father were in town so they could have gone to the races +that an awkward silence fell on the group. No topic of conversation +seemed safe to venture upon. +</p> + +<p> +They were driving along country roads now and in one place they crossed +a small river with the most gorgeous early autumn flowers growing along +its banks. They caught Hinpoha's color-loving eye and she must get out +and wander among them. Gladys and Chapa and Medmangi decided that they +too would like a stroll beside the river, after sitting in the car so +long. Pearl did not care to get out; she offered to stay in the car and +hold the purses of the other girls until they returned. The four girls +walked along the stream, admiring the flowers, but not picking any, +because they would only fade and wither and if left on the stems they +would give pleasure to hundreds of people. Now and then they dabbled +their fingers in the cool water. +</p> + +<p> +"It's such a temptation to go wading," sighed Hinpoha, who never will +grow up and be dignified if she lives to be a hundred. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys was afraid Hinpoha would yield to the temptation if it stared +her in the face too long, and announced that it was time to be under +way. Reluctantly, Hinpoha tore herself away from the river and followed +Gladys to the road. +</p> + +<p> +What a rude ending that little wayside idyll was destined to have! +</p> + +<p> +For when they returned to the road where they had left the Striped +Beetle there was nothing but empty air. Car, Pearl, and four purses, +containing every cent the girls had with them, had vanished! +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap10"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER X. +</h3> + +<p> +At first the girls could not believe their eyes. But it was all too +true. The deep tracks in the dust of the road showing the well-known +prints of the Striped Beetle's tires told beyond a doubt that the car +had gone on and left them. +</p> + +<p> +"But I never heard it start!" said Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"It was the murmuring of your old brook, Hinpoha, that you were raving +about," said Chapa, "that filled our ears." +</p> + +<p> +It took them actual minutes to realize that Pearl, the spineless +clinging doll-faced girl they had befriended, had sold them out. +</p> + +<p> +"And we took her for such a baby!" said Hinpoha, in bewilderment. +</p> + +<p> +"Who would ever dream she could drive a car?" gasped Gladys. "She was +afraid to toot the horn." To lose your automobile in the midst of a +tour must be like having your horse shot under you. One minute you're +en route and the next minute you're rooted, if the reader will forgive +a very lame pun. And the spot where the Striped Beetle had been +(figuratively) shot from under the girls could not have been selected +better if it had been made to order for a writer of melodrama. There +was not a house in sight nor a telephone wire. The dust in the road was +three inches deep and the temperature must have been close to a +hundred. They were at least five miles from the nearest town. Chapa +looked at Medmangi, Medmangi looked at Hinpoha, and Hinpoha looked at +Gladys. Gladys, having no one else to look at, scratched her head and +thought. +</p> + +<p> +"Well," she said finally, "we can't stay here all day. We might as well +walk to the nearest town and tell the police. They may be able to trace +the car. It was stolen once before and they found it in a town forty +miles away." +</p> + +<p> +Whenever anyone mentions that walk in the heat the four girls begin to +pant and fan themselves with one accord. They had gone about three +miles when they came upon the Striped Beetle standing in the road, +abandoned. With a cry of joy the girls threw themselves upon it. The +cause for its abandonment soon came to light. The gasoline tank was +empty. Otherwise it was undamaged. But before it could join the +innumerable caravan again it must have gasoline, and naturally there +was none growing on the bushes. +</p> + +<p> +"You two sit in the car and see that no one else runs away with it," +said Gladys to Medmangi and Chapa, "and Hinpoha and I will go for +gasoline." +</p> + +<p> +It was not until they had finished the two miles to town and stood by a +gasoline station that they remembered that they had no money. The +gasoline man firmly refused to give them any gas unless they paid for +it. Gladys was aghast. Hinpoha leaned wearily against a post and mopped +her hot face. Hinpoha suffers more from the heat than the rest of us. +</p> + +<p> +"Pretty tough to be dead broke, aint it, lady?" asked a grimy urchin, +who had been an interested witness of Gladys's discomfiture. +</p> + +<p> +"Worse to be alive and broke," jeered another one. Gladys's face was +crimson with heat and embarrassment. She turned and walked rapidly away +from the place, followed by Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"You'll have to wire home for money now," said Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"And lose the bet," said Gladys, disconsolately. "And father'll laugh +his head off to think how neatly we were beaten. +</p> + +<p> +"I know what I'll do," she said, resolutely. "I'll not wire him at all. +I'll wire the bank where I have my own money and have them wire me +some." +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, she hunted up the telegraph office and sent a wire collect +to her bank, feeling much pleased with herself at the idea of having +found a way out without calling on her father for aid. +</p> + +<p> +The telegraph office was in the railway station and she and Hinpoha sat +down after sending the wire and waited for the ship to come in, +wondering what the other girls would think when they failed to come +back with the gasoline. It was past dinnertime but there was no dinner +for them as long as they had no money. From jaunty tourist to penniless +pauper in two hours is quite a change. An hour passed; two hours, but +no gold-laden message came over the wire. Hinpoha had been chewing her +fingers for the last hour. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, please stop that," cried Gladys irritably, "you make me nervous. +You remind me of a cannibal." +</p> + +<p> +"Isn't there a poem about 'My beautiful Cannibalee?" returned Hinpoha. +"I'll go out and eat grass if that will make you feel any better," she +continued. She strolled outdoors, leaving Gladys listening to the +clickety-click of the telegraph instrument and growing more nervous +every minute. Presently Hinpoha came back and said she couldn't stand +it outside at all because there was a crate of melons and a box of eggs +on the station platform, and she was afraid she wouldn't have the +strength to resist if she stayed out there with them. +</p> + +<p> +"And it's going to rain," she announced. "You ought to see the sky +toward the west." +</p> + +<p> +And then the darkness began to make itself felt; not the blue darkness +of twilight, but the black darkness of thunder clouds through which +zig-zags of lightning began to stab. A baby, waiting in the station +with its mother for the train, began to wail with fright and Hinpoha +forgot her hunger in an effort to amuse him. Then the storm broke. The +train roared in just as it began and mingled its noise with the +thunder. Hardly had it disappeared up the track when there came a crash +of thunder that shook the station to its foundations, followed by a +dazzling sheet of blue light, and then the telegraph operator bounded +out of his little enclosure, white with fear. His instrument had been +struck, as well as the wires on the outside of the building and the +roof began to burn. Gladys and Hinpoha rushed out into the rain +regardless of their unprotected state and found shelter in a near-by +shed, from which they watched the progress of what might well be taken +for a second deluge. +</p> + +<p> +"If the water rises much higher in the road we won't need any +gasoline," remarked Hinpoha. "The Striped Beetle will float." +</p> + +<p> +"I only hope the girls got the storm curtains buttoned down in time," +Gladys kept saying over and over again. +</p> + +<p> +"If it starts to float," persisted Hinpoha, "do you suppose it will +come this way, or will they have to steer it? Would the steering-wheel +be any good, I wonder, or would they have to have a rudder? Oh," she +said brightly, "now I know what they mean by the expression 'turning +turtle'. It happens in cases of flood; the car turns turtle and swims +home. If it only turned into turtle soup," she sighed. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys looked up suddenly. "What time was it when we sent that wire to +my bank?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"A quarter after one," replied Hinpoha, promptly. "I heard a clock +chiming somewhere. And I calculated that I would just about last until +you got an answer." +</p> + +<p> +"A quarter after one," repeated Gladys. "That's Central time. That was +a quarter after two Cleveland time. The bank closes at two o'clock. +They probably never sent me any money!" +</p> + +<p> +"Now you'll have to wire your father after all," said Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +For answer Gladys pointed to the blackened telegraph pole which was +lying with its many arms stretched out across the roof of the station. +There would be no wires sent out that day. +</p> + +<p> +By the time the rain had ceased the darkness of the thunder clouds had +been succeeded by the darkness of night, and Hinpoha and Gladys took +their way wearily back over the flooded road to where the Striped +Beetle stood. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you have to dig a well first, before you got that gasoline?" +called Chapa, as they approached. (They <i>had</i> put down the storm +curtains, Gladys noted.) +</p> + +<p> +Gladys made her announcement briefly and they all settled down to gloom. +</p> + +<p> +"Talk about being shipwrecked on a desert island," said Hinpoha. "I +think one can get beautifully shipwrecked on the inhabited mainland. We +are experiencing all the thrills of Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss +family Robinson combined." +</p> + +<p> +"We haven't any Man Friday," observed Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"What good would he be if we had him?" inquired Hinpoha, gloomily. +</p> + +<p> +"He could act as chauffeur," replied Gladys, "and supply the modern +flavor." +</p> + +<p> +"This is Friday, too," remarked Medmangi. +</p> + +<p> +"That's why the car won't start," said Hinpoha, "it won't start +anything on Friday." +</p> + +<p> +"Couldn't we dig for oil?" suggested Chapa. "We're in the oil belt. +There must be all kinds of gasoline in the earth under our very feet, +and we languishing on top of it! It's like the stories where the man +perishes of thirst in the desert right on top of the water hole." +</p> + +<p> +"We really and truly are Robinson Crusoe-like," said Gladys, looking +out at the flooded fields and deserted road. +</p> + +<p> +"Robinson Crusoe had the advantage of us in one thing," said Hinpoha, +returning to her main theme. "He had a corn-stalk, and clams, and +things." +</p> + +<p> +"'If we only had some ham, we could have some ham and eggs, if we only +had some eggs,'" quoted Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"Here's where the Slave of the Lamp would come in handy," sighed +Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"You might rub the lamp," said Gladys, pointing to the tail light, "and +maybe the Slave will appear." +</p> + +<p> +"I want baked potatoes on my order," said Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"And I want broiled chicken," said Chapa. +</p> + +<p> +Hinpoha got down and solemnly rubbed the tail lamp of the Striped +Beetle, exclaiming, "Slave, appear!" +</p> + +<p> +Something black bounded out of the darkness at the side of the road and +landed at her feet. It was Mr. Bob, who had gone off for exercise. He +carried something in his mouth which he laid decorously on the ground +beside her. She stooped to look at it. It was an apple. +</p> + +<p> +The girls all shouted. Hinpoha straightened up. "Girls," she said +solemnly, "coming shadows cast their events before, I mean, coming +events cast their shadows before. Where there's honey you'll find bees, +and where there's apples you'll find trees. The famine is over, and now +for the feast." +</p> + +<p> +She led the way down the road with Chapa and Medmangi on either side. +They found the tree, close beside the road, and loaded with fruit. They +filled their pockets for Gladys and returned to the Striped Beetle, and +then for some time, as Hinpoha said, "Nothing was heard in the air but +the hurrying munch of the greening." +</p> + +<p> +"It must be a disadvantage to be a negro," remarked Hinpoha +reflectively, "you can't tell the difference when they're clean." +</p> + +<p> +"May I ask," inquired Gladys politely, "just what it was that caused +you to make that remark at this time?" +</p> + +<p> +"Greening apples," returned Hinpoha, calmly. "You can't tell which are +ripe and which are green." +</p> + +<p> +"You can tell by the seeds," said Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"All seeds are black by night," returned Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"Not changing the subject," said Chapa, "but where are we going to stay +to-night?" +</p> + +<p> +"You're not <i>going</i> to stay," replied Hinpoha, "you're staying. Right +here. The Inn of the Striped Beetle. +</p> + +<p> + "Under the wide and starry sky<br /> + Fold up the seats and let us lie!"<br /> +</p> + +<p> +"We'll sleep with the raggle taggle gypsies, O!" added Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"I want a fire," said Hinpoha. "We always have a fire when we sleep +out." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, build one in a puddle, if you can," said Gladys. "Your hair will +be the only blaze we have to-night." +</p> + +<p> +Chapa and Medmangi stood up together on the running-board and began to +sing dolefully, +</p> + +<p> + "Forsaken, forsaken, forsaken, am I,<br /> + Like the bones at a banquet, all men pass me by."<br /> +</p> + +<p> +"I wish a few would pass by," said Gladys, "By the way, have you +noticed that not a single car or wagon has passed through here since +we've been stranded? I thought this was the main road." +</p> + +<p> +"If this is the main road," said Hinpoha, "I'd hate to be stranded on a +by-path." +</p> + +<p> +Of course, the girls did not know then that the storm had washed out +the bridges on either side of them and the roadway had been closed to +traffic. They sat peering into the darkness like Columbus looking for +land and wondering why no one came along to whom they could appeal for +a tow into the village. The moon shone, a slender sickle in the west +that Gladys said reminded her of the thin slices of melon they used to +serve for breakfast at Miss Russell's school. +</p> + +<p> +"I think it looks more like a toe nail," said Hinpoha, squinting +sidewise at it. +</p> + +<p> +"Don't look at it squarely, it'll bring you bad luck," said Chapa. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm not looking at it," said Hinpoha, "it's looking at me." +</p> + +<p> +"Where does the man in the moon go when it turns into a sickle?" asked +Medmangi. +</p> + +<p> +"That doesn't worry me half so much as where Pearl went with my silver +mesh bag," said Gladys. That brought them all down to earth again and +back to the cause of their predicament, and the moon turned into a +yellow banana and fell off the sky counter while they voiced their +indignation. And, of course, they all turned on Hinpoha for being taken +in by her in the first place, and Hinpoha vented her irritation on Mr. +Bob, who was sitting with his head on her knee in a lover-like attitude. +</p> + +<p> +"It's all your fault that we are in this mess," she said to him, +crossly. "If you hadn't jumped out of the car after that yellow dog and +chased him into the empty store I wouldn't have had to go after you, +and if I hadn't gone after you I would never have discovered Pearl and +brought her along with us. It's the last time I'll ever travel with +you." Mr. Bob, feeling the reproach in her tone, crept away with his +head down. +</p> + +<p> +"O come, let's not quarrel about whose fault it was," said Gladys. "It +isn't the first time people have been taken in." +</p> + +<p> +"We seem to be left out, rather than taken in," murmured Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"You're unusually brilliant to-night," remarked Chapa. "It must have +been the apples, because on an ordinary diet you never say anything +bright." +</p> + +<p> +"Is that so?" said Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"Look at the stars," said Gladys hastily, "aren't they brilliant +to-night?" +</p> + +<p> +"Almost as brilliant as Hin—" began Chapa. +</p> + +<p> +"If we sit up late enough," said Gladys, cutting in on Chapa's remark, +"we may see some of the winter stars. I actually believe there's Orion +now." +</p> + +<p> +"And the Twins," cried Hinpoha, forgetting her momentary offended +feeling in the interest of her discovery. +</p> + +<p> +"And Sirius and the Bull and the River," added Gladys. "It's just like +getting a peep at the actors in their dressing-rooms before it is time +for them to come out on the stage, to see the winter stars now." +</p> + +<p> +"I hate to look at the stars so much," said Hinpoha, dolefully. "They +make me feel so small." +</p> + +<p> +"I should think that anything that made you feel small would—" +</p> + +<p> +Gladys again interrupted the flow of Chapa's wit, directed this time +against Hinpoha's bulk. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm going to bed," she announced. There was a scramble for the robes +and for comfortable places in the tonneau, and it took much adjusting +and readjusting before there was anything resembling quiet in the +bedchamber of the Striped Beetle. But weariness can snore even on the +floor boards of a car and that long walk over the road had done its +work for at least two of the girls. The last thing they heard was +Hinpoha drowsily spouting: +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Let me sleep in a car by the side of the road,<br /> + Where the hop toads are croaking near-by,<br /> + With Medmangi's camera between my knees stowed,<br /> + And Gladys's foot in my eye!"<br /> +</p> + +<p> +And then, when they were all nicely settled and had dropped off to +sleep, Hinpoha had the nightmare and screamed the most blood-curdling +screams and cried out that the apple tree was hugging her to death, +which sounded nonsensical, but was really suggestive. For, in the +morning she discovered that green apples are gone but not forgotten +when used as an article of diet and sat doubled up in silent agony on +the floor of the car and announced she was dying. +</p> + +<p> +"It serves you right," said Medmangi, in her best doctor manner. "You +were in such a hurry to eat them that you ate every one that came along +without waiting to find out whether it was ripe or not. The rest of us +stuck to the ripe ones and we're all right." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, the unripe ones are sticking to me," groaned Hinpoha, unhappily. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Bob laid his head on her knee with an air of sympathy. Where +Hinpoha is concerned he never stops to think whether the sympathy is +deserved or not. +</p> + +<p> +"What family do apples belong to, anyway?" asked Gladys idly, seeing it +was time to turn Medmangi aside from preaching to Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"Not my family," said Chapa, "we're all peaches." +</p> + +<p> +"Forget-me-not family," said Hinpoha, with another groan. +</p> + +<p> +They ate more apples for breakfast, except Hinpoha, who pretended not +to see when they offered them to her. Then Gladys decided to walk to +town again to see what cheer there was there. +</p> + +<p> +"Up, up, Hinpoha," she cried, "and join me in my morning stroll." +</p> + +<p> +"You should say 'Double up, Hinpoha', like 'double up Lucy'," said +Chapa, and then dodged as Hinpoha's hand reached out for her hair. +</p> + +<p> +Hinpoha tried to stand up, but immediately sat down again, and Chapa +went to town with Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +They sat and watched the repairmen fixing the wires of the telegraph +and, after a while, the messages began to pour in again. And one of +them was the one that brought joy to Gladys's soul and as soon as the +formalities were gone through she had actual money once more. They +bought enough gasoline to bring the Striped Beetle in and returned to +the anchored ones in triumph. They found that during their absence +Hinpoha had manufactured a large "For Rent" sign and hung it on the +front of the car, intending, as she said, to go into business and rent +out the car at a dollar an hour until they had enough money to proceed. +</p> + +<p> +"How were you intending to rent it out without any gasoline to run it?" +inquired Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"Make them pay in advance," replied Hinpoha. +</p> + +<p> +"With the constant stream of foot-sore pedestrians over this road it +would no doubt have been profitable," said Gladys, scanning the road up +and down. There was not a living being in sight. But Gladys knew the +reason now, for she had seen the washout. +</p> + +<p> +To get the Striped Beetle back to town they had to drive through +private property to reach the other road. After eating breakfast—the +first real meal they had had since the morning before—they set out +once more for Rochester to meet Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +"So it's money makes the Striped Beetle go," said Hinpoha reflectively, +as they sped along. "And I had been thinking all the while it was +gasoline." +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap11"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XI. +</h3> + +<p> +When the gust of wind overtook us that night while Sahwah and Nakwisi +and I were struggling to shut the gate we had run against in the +darkness, Nakwisi and I jumped into the Glow-worm in haste and we all +thought Sahwah was in too. But in running for the car she slipped in +the mud and fell flat on her face in the puddle. By the time she had +picked herself up and wiped the mud out of her eyes the Glow-worm was +gone. Slopping along in the pools of water she ran shouting down the +road. She could hear the engine of the Glow-worm throbbing in the +distance; then the sound began to die away. She knew then that they had +not yet noticed her absence, but they must presently and would return +for her. So she set out in the direction in which the car had vanished, +going, as she supposed, to meet them. The road was so dark she could +not see her hand in front of her eyes, and what with the wind moaning +mournfully and the rain falling all around her, it was rather a dismal +walk. On one side of her was a stretch of swamp where frogs glumped and +piped in every known key. Sahwah is not nervous, however, and to her +the voice of a frog is simply the voice of a frog and not the wail of a +banshee, and anyway, her mind was occupied with pulling her feet out of +the mud in the road and setting them in again. And she was straining +her ears for the sound of the Glow-worm, and all other noises made +little or no impression on her. +</p> + +<p> +It seemed to her that it was high time the others had missed her and +were coming back to pick her up. "Probably stuck in the mud somewhere," +was her consoling thought, "and I'll come upon them if I keep going far +enough." +</p> + +<p> +And so she kept on pulling her feet out of the mud and setting them in +again. By and by the road narrowed down until it seemed no more than a +path, and then without warning it ended abruptly against a building. +Sahwah had been looking at her feet and not into the distance, and due +to the force of inertia which we learned about in the Physics class, +which keeps people going once they have started, she did not stop as +soon as the road did and ran her nose smartly against the building, +which proved to be a barn, Sahwah drew back with a start, rubbing her +injured nose. Gradually, the fact dawned on her that she was lost. She +looked for the road from which she had strayed, but it seemed to have +rolled itself up and departed. The croaking of the frogs came from +everywhere and she could not locate the swamp. She walked around for +awhile, and finally, did walk into the swamp, but there was no road +anywhere near. There was water, water, everywhere. Sahwah, who had once +declared she could never get enough of water, got enough of it that +night. +</p> + +<p> +She thought of the wicked uncle brook in <i>Undine</i> which had risen up +and covered the land, and she wondered if something of the kind had not +happened again. She railed inwardly against the darkness of the country +roads and wished with all her heart for the lighted byways of the city, +with their rows of cheerful lights on posts and their frequent catch +basins that were capable of subduing the most rampant uncle brook. +Several times more she fell, and once she stepped into a puddle over +her shoe-tops. Then she fell against a fence and tore her skirt. Then, +when she was sure she had found the road again she ran plump into the +barn again, from a different side this time. A window frame minus a +window told that the barn was empty and with a grunt of utter disgust +at the wetness of the world in general, Sahwah climbed in and stood on +a dry floor. She made up her mind to stay there until the sound of the +engine would tell her that the Glow-worm had come for her. As the time +went by and no familiar throbbing rose on the air, she began to have +cold chills when she realized that we might not yet have noticed her +absence, and might be miles away by that time. +</p> + +<p> +"At any rate," she decided, "I'm going to stay in here until it stops +raining. If I get any wetter somebody'll take me for a sponge." She +took off her jacket and wrung the water out of it and then wrung the +water from the tail of her skirt, where it had been dripping on her +ankles. Luckily she could not see herself in the darkness, for the +green color from her veil had run in streaks all over her face and she +looked like a savage painted for the war-path. +</p> + +<p> +A half hour drizzled by and then she heard the most welcome sound in +the world, the honk of the Glow-worm's horn. Then she saw the glimmer +of the headlights coming toward her out of the distance. And the +strangest part of it was that the road was in just the opposite +direction from where she thought it was. She climbed out of the barn +window and ran toward the lights, landing in a puddle in the road with +a mighty splash. The next minute the lights were full on her and the +car came to a sudden stop. +</p> + +<p> +"You will run off and leave me, will you?" she called, running forward. +Then she paused. The driver at the wheel was not Nyoda, but a man. +There was no one else in the car. +</p> + +<p> +"Excuse me," she said, stepping back. "I thought you were friends of +mine." And the car moved on. +</p> + +<p> +But if Sahwah had not found the Glow-worm she had, at least, found the +road, and she made up her mind not to lose it again until she had come +upon the others. Dawn found her still trudging along, very wet, very +muddy, very tired and very much puzzled. For she had not come upon the +Glow-worm stuck in the mud as she had expected. +</p> + +<p> +The rain had stopped and the sun was opening a watery eye on the +horizon. The east wind was rising and ushering in the day. The frogs +ceased croaking and the birds began to twitter. It was a morning to +delight the soul, that is, any but a lonely soul which was wandering +around, wet to the knees, unutterably weary, separated from its kindred +souls, and without a cent of money. Sahwah had left her purse in the +Glow-worm. By the position of the sun she discovered that she was +traveling toward the west. The events of the night before were like a +dream in her mind. The storm, the ball, the finding of the necklace in +Nyoda's pocket and the flight in the rain were all jumbled together. +She sat down on a stone by the roadside to think things over, and let +down her damp hair to fly in the wind. For once in her life Sahwah was +at a loss what to do next. So she sat still and waited for inspiration. +The sun dried her hair and her coat and the mud on her shoes. The wild +asters along the road craned their necks to get a look at this great +muddy creature that sat in their midst, and a bird or two paused +inquiringly before her. +</p> + +<p> +"I shall sit here," she said aloud, quoting the Frog Footman in <i>Alice +in Wonderland</i>, "till tomorrow, or next day, maybe." It suddenly seemed +to Sahwah as if she would like nothing better than to sit there +forever. The stone she was sitting on was so soft and comfortable, and +the sun was so warm and pleasant and the breeze was so soft and +caressing. The song of the birds became very loud and clear; then it +began to melt away. Sahwah's head nodded; then she slid off the stone +and lay full length in the grass, sleeping as soundly as a babe in its +cradle. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. and Mrs. James Watterson of Chicago were motoring back to their +home from the races in Indianapolis. The night before the Indianapolis +papers had been full of the disappearance of Margery Anderson and the +efforts her uncle was making to recover her. He even offered a reward +for information concerning her whereabouts. The papers said he had gone +to Chicago to follow up a clue. Mrs. Watterson had read every word of +the article with great interest. She did not know the Andersons and she +was not particularly interested in them and their troubles, but she had +nothing else to do at the moment, her husband having gone out and left +her alone in the hotel, so she read and reread the details of the +affair until she knew them by heart. +</p> + +<p> +The next morning, on their way north, they came upon Sahwah sleeping in +the road. "Somebody dead or hurt here," exclaimed Mr. Watterson, and he +stopped the car and jumped out. Sahwah's face was streaked with green +from the soaked veil and she looked absolutely ghastly. And her arm was +twisted under her head in the peculiar position in which Sahwah always +sleeps, so that it looked as if she had fallen on it. +</p> + +<p> +"Her heart's beating," announced Mr. Watterson, after investigating. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Watterson came out and also looked Sahwah over. A handkerchief was +dangling half out of the pocket of Sahwah's coat and a name written on +it in indelible ink caught the woman's eye. That name was <i>Margery +Anderson</i>. Sahwah had gotten something into her eye the day before, and +not having a handkerchief handy—Sahwah never has when she wants +one—Margery had handed her one of hers. At the sight of that name Mrs. +Watterson was in a flutter of excitement. The story in the newspaper +was fresh in her mind. "It's that Anderson girl!" she exclaimed, +holding up the handkerchief. +</p> + +<p> +Quickly they lifted Sahwah, still sleeping, into the car. They thought +she was unconscious and I believe their idea was to take her to the +next house they came to. But, of course, as soon as the car started +Sahwah woke up and looked with a gasp of surprise into the faces near +her. At first when she felt the throb of the engine under her she had +thought she was in the Glow-worm. Mr. and Mrs. Watterson were as +surprised as she was. They had not expected her to come to life in just +that manner. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, Sahwah wanted to know where she was and whither she was +going. +</p> + +<p> +"You are going to your friends, my dear," replied Mrs. Watterson. +</p> + +<p> +"Do you know where they are?" asked Sahwah, wondering how they had come +upon the whereabouts of the Glow-worm. Mrs. Watterson merely smiled +ambiguously. Sahwah looked at her with instant suspicion. "Who are +you?" she demanded. "And where are you taking me?" Mrs. Watterson +smiled again, somewhat uncertainly this time. There is something about +Sahwah's direct gaze that is a trifle disconcerting. +</p> + +<p> +"I am a friend of your uncle's"—she told the falsehood glibly—"and I +am taking you back to him." +</p> + +<p> +"My uncle?" echoed Sahwah, wonderingly. "Taking me back to him?" She +was completely at sea. Mrs. Watterson did not answer. She looked away, +over the green fields they were passing. She was having visions of the +reward. +</p> + +<p> +Sahwah clutched her arm. "I don't believe it," she said. "I don't know +you. Stop the car and let me out." Mr. Watterson drove a little faster. +Sahwah rose in the seat and looked as if she were about to cast herself +headlong from the car. Mrs. Watterson took a firm hold of her coat and +pulled her back into the seat. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit right where you are, Margery Anderson!" she said. "We will let you +out when we turn you over to your uncle in Chicago and not before." +</p> + +<p> +Sahwah looked petrified. Margery Anderson! "You've made a mistake," she +said. "I'm not Margery Anderson." +</p> + +<p> +"Don't tell lies, my dear," said Mrs. Watterson. "You are Margery +Anderson." And she drew the handkerchief from Sahwah's pocket and held +it before her eyes with a triumphant flourish. Sahwah was so overcome +with astonishment that she could not speak for a moment and it was just +as well that she could not, or she might have explained how she came to +be carrying Margery's handkerchief and that would have revealed the +whereabouts of the real Margery. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Watterson was triumphantly quoting from the newspaper article: +"Tall, slender, brown eyes and hair, one upper front tooth shorter than +the remainder of the row—" +</p> + +<p> +Sahwah, while actually resembling Margery no more than red-haired +Hinpoha did, yet fitted the description perfectly! +</p> + +<p> +An idea had come into Sahwah's mind. She abandoned her half-formed plan +of jumping from the car the moment it should slow up for any reason. +Since these people insisted that she was Margery Anderson in spite of +all she could say to the contrary, well and good, there was so much +less chance of Margery's being discovered. After all the trouble they +had taken so far to return the girl to her mother it would never do for +her to betray her. So she sat silent under Mrs. Watterson's fire of +cross questioning as to where she had been since running away, which +Mrs. Watterson took for conclusive proof that she was Margery. +</p> + +<p> +"Did you say my—my uncle was in Chicago?" Sahwah asked at last. +</p> + +<p> +Mrs. Watterson replied affirmatively. Sahwah was inwardly jubilant but +the expression of her face never altered. It was all right as long as +they were taking her to Chicago. Once confronted with Margery's uncle, +if he were there, the truth would come out and she would be free to go +as she pleased. Then she could go directly to the Carrie Wentworth Inn +and await the arrival of the others. She chuckled to herself, as she +pictured the meeting between this man and woman and Margery's uncle and +their discomfiture when they discovered that they had bagged the wrong +bird. Sahwah is keen on humorous situations. +</p> + +<p> +But how was Nyoda to know that she was safe in Chicago? She might spend +endless time looking for her, nearly wild with anxiety, thinking some +misfortune had befallen her. Sahwah puzzled awhile and then her +originality came to her rescue. Somewhere on this very road Nyoda had +vanished the night before, and she herself had walked, as she supposed, +in a straight line from the gate. She did not know that the light of +the strange automobile she had seen from the barn had lured her across +to an entirely different road. Well then, she reflected, it was +reasonable to believe that Nyoda would be making inquiries for her +along this road. Very well, she would drop a clue. With the swiftness +of chain lightning she whipped her little address book out of her +pocket and wrote on a leaf: +</p> + +<p> +"To those interested: +</p> + +<p> +Picked up by tourists. On way to Carrie Wentworth Inn, Chicago. +</p> + +<p> +Sarah Ann Brewster." +</p> + +<p> +For obvious reasons she made no mention of having been mistaken for +Margery Anderson. +</p> + +<p> +She tied the address book in the corner of her green veil while Mrs. +Watterson looked on curiously. Then she tied the veil around her hat to +give it weight and threw it out of the car into the road just in front +of a house. The green veil shone like a headlight and could not fail to +attract attention. Thus someone would get the information that would +eventually reach Nyoda. Then, Sahwah-like, having overcome her +perplexities, she settled down to enjoy her trip. Surely a worse fate +might have befallen her, she decided, after being lost from her +companions, than to wake up and find herself being hurried toward the +city which had been her destination in the first place. +</p> + +<p> +At that time Sahwah thought that the fates were kind to her, but ever +since she has declared that they had a special grudge against her in +making her miss the spectacular finish of our trip to Chicago. Sahwah, +who was the only one who would really have enjoyed that exciting ride, +was doomed to a personally conducted tour. I consider it unfair myself. +But was there a single feature about the whole trip that was as it +should have been? +</p> + +<p> +Sahwah's ride to Chicago was tame enough although the circumstances of +it were rather melodramatic. She did not make any thrilling escape such +as jumping from the moving car onto a passing train the way they do in +the movies, or shrieking that she was being abducted and, as a result, +being rescued by a handsome young man who became infatuated with her on +the spot and declared himself willing to wait the weary years until she +was grown up, when he could claim her for his own. That was the trouble +with our adventures all the way through; while they were thrilling +enough at the time they were happening, they lacked the quality that is +in all book adventures, that of having any permanent after-effects. +While there were several men mixed up in our trip none of us came home +with our fate sealed, that is, none of us but—— +</p> + +<p> +But I am rambling again. It is as hard for me to keep on the main track +of my story as it was for the Glow-worm to stay on the sign-posted +highway. If I am not careful I will be telling the end of it somewhere +along the middle, and that would be rather confusing for the reader who +likes to turn to the back of the book to see how things come out before +beginning the story. Nyoda said I should put a notice in the +frontispiece saying that the end was on page so-and-so instead of the +last chapter, and save such readers the trouble of hunting for it. As +it is, I am afraid the last chapter will be crowded with afterthought +incidents which I forgot to put in as I went along, and which should +really be part of the story. But after all, I suppose it is immaterial +in what order they come, for, by the time the reader has finished the +book she will have them all, which is no more than she would have done +if they had all been fitted together in the proper order. And she +always has the privilege of rearranging them to suit herself. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Watterson, as well as his wife, had doubtless been picturing to +himself the dramatic moment in Mr. Anderson's office, when his niece +should be turned over to him. He began to look important and +self-conscious as they entered the city. Both he and his wife looked at +the people around them in the street with a +you-don't-know-whom-we-have-in-this-car expression, while Sahwah put on +a very doleful countenance. Secretly she could hardly wait for the +meeting to take place. They crossed the city and began threading their +way through the down-town streets, crowded with the traffic of a busy +week afternoon. Mr. Watterson, thinking of the coming interview on +Michigan Avenue, failed to notice that a traffic policeman was waving +peremptorily for him to back up from a crowded corner. The result was +that he became involved in the line of vehicles which was coming +through from the cross street and rammed an electric coupe containing +two ladies and a poodle. The coupe tipped over onto the curb and the +ladies were badly shaken and the poodle was cut by flying glass, or the +ladies were cut by the flying poodle, I forget which. Mr. Watterson and +his party emerged from the crush under the escort of a police officer +who directed the finish of the tour. Their destination was the police +station. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap12"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XII. +</h3> + +<p> +"What a tale of adventure we will have to tell Nyoda when we find her," +said Gladys, as the Striped Beetle followed its nose Rochesterward. "It +will make Sahwah green with envy. She is always so eager for adventure. +And there never was such a combination as we have experienced. First, +we picked up a girl in trouble, then we got quarantined; next, we lost +our trunk and followed a man all the way to Indianapolis, thinking that +he had it, which he didn't; then we were robbed of all our money and +the Striped Beetle at one fell swoop, and were stranded on a country +road without a cent or a drop of gas and had to spend the night in the +car. There certainly never was such a chapter of events. The Count for +the next Ceremonial will be a regular book. +</p> + +<p> +"I wonder what the girls in Rochester have been doing all this time +while they have been waiting for us?" +</p> + +<p> +"Migwan's writing poetry, of course," said Hinpoha, "and Sahwah's +getting into mischief and Nakwisi's staring into space through her +spy-glass. It's easy enough to guess what they are doing." +</p> + +<p> +"Well, anyway, they know why we were delayed," said Chapa. "You got a +second wire off to Nyoda before the storm?" +</p> + +<p> +"Yes," said Gladys, "I sent it right after I wired for money." +</p> + +<p> +Hinpoha sat silent for a long time. "A penny for your thoughts," said +Gladys. "I can't help thinking about the scarf," said Hinpoha. "I +brought it along because I was afraid something would happen to it if I +left it behind, and here we had to lose it on the way. I would rather +lose anything than that." And she sighed and looked so woe-begone that +it quite affected the spirits of the others. +</p> + +<p> +"Nyoda can help us find the trunk," said Gladys confidently, thinking +with relief as they neared Rochester that Nyoda would soon be at the +helm of the expedition again. This thought filled them all with so much +cheer that even Hinpoha brightened up. She ceased thinking about the +scarf and looked at the flying landscape. +</p> + +<p> +"As a sight-seeing trip this has been somewhat of a failure," she said. +"And I had intended making so many sketches of the interesting things +we saw on the way to put into the Count, but the only thing that comes +to my mind now is the picture of ourselves, always standing around +wondering what to do next." +</p> + +<p> +"You might draw a picture of the pain you had from eating green +apples," suggested Chapa. +</p> + +<p> +"That pain was about the only real thing about the whole trip," said +Hinpoha. "All the rest seems like a dream." +</p> + +<p> +Hinpoha began idly sketching herself running away from a large apple on +legs which was pursuing her. And that is the only picture we have of +the whole trip! +</p> + +<p> +The girls got to Rochester about noon and went immediately to Number 43 +Main Street. Mrs. Moffat came to the door and when she saw the girls in +tan suits and green veils she closed it all but a crack. +</p> + +<p> +"My rooms are all taken," she said, coldly. +</p> + +<p> +"We don't want rooms, we want someone who is staying here," said +Gladys. "Is Miss Kent here with three girls?" +</p> + +<p> +"No, she isn't," said Mrs. Moffat "They came here as bold as brass, but +you can bet they didn't stay long after I found out about them. Do you +belong to her company, too? You're dressed just like the rest of them." +</p> + +<p> +"Why yes, we belong to her party," said Gladys, bewildered beyond words +at this reception. "Will you please tell us what—" +</p> + +<p> +But Mrs. Moffat closed the door in their faces with a resounding bang +and no amount of ringing would induce her to open it again. The girls +were simply staggered. What could be the meaning of the woman's words? +"You can bet they didn't stay long after I found out about them." After +she found out what about us? When had we left the house and where were +we now? They stood around the Striped Beetle irresolutely. +</p> + +<p> +"If she only hadn't shut the door in our faces before we could ask some +more questions!" said Gladys. "I don't suppose it would do any good to +try again; she'd do the same thing a second time." +</p> + +<p> +Just then a small boy came whistling down the street and Gladys had an +idea. Getting the girls quickly into the car she drove down to meet +him. When they met him they were well away from the house. Gladys +called him to her. "I'll give you ten cents," she said, "if you'll go +to Number 43 Main Street and ask the lady where the girls in the tan +suits, who stayed at her house, went when they left. Maybe you had +better go around to the back door," she added. +</p> + +<p> +"Give me the ten cents first," said the boy, squinting his eyes +shrewdly. +</p> + +<p> +"Not until you bring back the answer," said Gladys. "I won't go unless +you give me a nickel first," he maintained, firmly. Gladys gave him the +nickel and he departed in the direction of Number 43. Still keeping out +of sight of the house, they awaited his return. In five minutes he was +back. +</p> + +<p> +"She says she doesn't know where they went," he said, speaking in an +unnecessarily loud voice, the way young boys do. "She says she doesn't +keep track of rogues. Where's the other nickel?" +</p> + +<p> +Stupefied, Gladys gave it to him and he ran off down the street "What +did he say?" she gasped. "She doesn't keep track of rogues? She turned +them out of the house when she found out about them? Whatever has +happened? What made her think the girls were rogues? And where did they +go?" +</p> + +<p> +They were standing almost within a stone's throw of Number 22 Spring +Street, where we had gone from Mrs. Moffat's, but, of course, there was +no sign on the house to tell them we had been there. +</p> + +<p> +"Well," said Gladys, "they were here in Rochester, that much we know, +and perhaps they are here yet. Somebody must have seen them. Where do +you think we had better go to inquire?" +</p> + +<p> +"Do you see a candy store anywhere?" asked Hinpoha. "Sahwah would +surely have to buy some candy if she saw any. Whenever I lose her +downtown at home I go straight to the nearest candy store, and I +invariably find her, standing on one foot and unable to make up her +mind whether she should buy chocolates or Boston wafers." +</p> + +<p> +Accordingly, they visited each of the three candy stores on Main +Street, and Hinpoha bought a mixed collection of stale chocolates and +peppermint drops while they were making their inquiries, but they came +out about as wise as they went in. The tan quartet they were seeking +had evidently not invested in candy. "Sahwah's either reformed or short +of cash," said Hinpoha, decidedly. Which half of that statement was +true at that particular moment the reader already knows. +</p> + +<p> +Next, they reached the "department" store which carried everything from +handkerchiefs to plows. The proprietor started when they entered and +looked keenly at their suits. To their questions about the other four +he replied that he hadn't seen them, and if he had he wouldn't know +where they were now. +</p> + +<p> +"What a queer thing to say!" exclaimed Gladys, when they were outside +once more. "'If he had seen them he wouldn't know where they were now.' +It sounds almost like what the woman said, 'She didn't keep track of +rogues.' What on earth has happened?" +</p> + +<p> +While they were standing there the boy to whom they had given the dime +came walking by again. He walked past several times, and finally he +stood still near them. "Say," he called, "will you give me another dime +if I tell you something?" He was very red-headed and very freckled, and +his eyes were screwed up in an unpleasant squint which might have been +dishonesty and might have been the effect of sunlight, but, at any +rate, they weren't much taken with his looks. Still, he might be honest +after all. +</p> + +<p> +"What do you know?" parried Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"I saw the girls you're looking for," he said. +</p> + +<p> +"Where?" asked Gladys, eagerly. +</p> + +<p> +"Give me the ten cents first," he demanded. Gladys gave him a dime. +"They had their car fixed at the garage over there," he said. "They +came in with a lamp and a fender smashed. I was in the garage and I saw +them. They were talking to a young fellow on a motor-bike. Afterward, I +seen them leaving town and pretty soon I seen the fellow starting after +them." +</p> + +<p> +"What day was that?" asked Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"It was Thursday morning when they came in," he said, "and it was +Friday afternoon when they went out." +</p> + +<p> +Friday afternoon! And that was Saturday! The girls hastened over to the +garage and inquired about the Glow-worm. +</p> + +<p> +"There was a car like that in here Thursday morning," agreed the +proprietor. "The right headlight and the right front fender were +broken. They had run into a limousine in the fog the night before. I +had it all fixed up by three in the afternoon and they came and got the +car, but pretty soon they brought it back and said they weren't going +to leave town that night. One of the girls was sick, they said. They +got it the next morning and I haven't seen them since. But I heard them +tell a young fellow that came in to get his motorcycle looked over that +they were going to Chicago. By the way, you say there were four girls +in tan suits. There were five when they brought the car in in the +morning." +</p> + +<p> +Well might the girls be puzzled by the three things they had found out +that day. +</p> + +<p> +First. Nyoda and the other girls were considered rogues by the woman at +Number 43 Main Street. +</p> + +<p> +Second. There were five girls in the Glow-worm instead of four. +</p> + +<p> +Third. Nyoda had gone on to Chicago instead of waiting for them as they +had requested in their message and had left no word for them. +</p> + +<p> +"It's as clear as mud," said Hinpoha, who was plunged into deepest +gloom again, now that Nyoda was not there and there was no one to +advise them what to do about the trunk. +</p> + +<p> +"Did she get our telegram?" wondered Gladys. "We might go down to the +office and find out if it was delivered." +</p> + +<p> +The first one was delivered, they were informed. The messenger boy who +had delivered it (the company had only two) was in at the time and he +testified that he had gone to Number 43 Main Street and was told that +the parties had left, and he was on his way back to the office when he +saw them standing in the road beside the automobile and gave it to +them. He knew them because he had been delivering a message in the +hotel the day before when they had come there and asked for rooms, and +he had overheard the clerk telling them to go to Number 43 Main Street +because the hotel was filled with convention delegates. He also said +that there were five girls in the party instead of four. But no second +telegram had been received at the office. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys rubbed her head wearily. The puzzle was getting deeper all the +while. For the hundredth time she wondered what could have induced +Nyoda to keep running away from them like that. Nyoda, who was the +chaperon of the party, and who had promised her mother that she would +never let the girls out of her sight! +</p> + +<p> +"Well, if Nyoda's gone to Chicago," she said, "there's nothing left for +us to do but go too, although I don't know what to make of it." +</p> + +<p> +So, puzzled and perplexed, they looked up the route to Chicago from +Rochester and set out to follow it. +</p> + +<p> +"We aren't very good hounds in this game," sighed Hinpoha, "or we'd +have run down our hare before this." +</p> + +<p> +"But it's such an uncommonly fast hare," sighed Gladys. "And it leaves +such amazing and apparently contradictory footprints." +</p> + +<p> +"Hi," said Chapa, "look at the crowd in this town. What do you suppose +has happened?" In fact, the streets of the village through which they +were passing were choked with vehicles of every kind and the sidewalks +were crowded with people. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a band," said Hinpoha, "I hear the music." +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Bob began to quiver with excitement and whine, and Hinpoha caught +him firmly by the collar and held him so he could not jump out again. +</p> + +<p> +"It's a circus parade!" cried Gladys. And sure enough, it was. From a +side street the crimson and gold wagons began to stream into the main +street. +</p> + +<p> +How it happened they were never able to tell, but the next thing they +knew they were in the line of the parade and were being swept along +with the procession. They could not turn out because the street was too +narrow. They had to keep going along, behind a huge towering wagon with +pictures of ferocious wild beasts painted on its sides, which drew +shrieks of excitement from the children on the sidewalk, and just ahead +of the line of elephants. Gladys slowed the car down to a crawl and +wondered every minute if she could keep it going so slowly. They could +easily be taken for a part of the circus, for the Striped Beetle is +rather a conspicuous car outside of the fact that it had the Winnebago +banner draped across the back, and besides the girls were all dressed +alike. +</p> + +<p> +"What do you suppose they are?" they heard one small boy shout at +another. +</p> + +<p> +"Look like snake charmers," answered the second. Hinpoha giggled. +"That's meant for you, Gladys," she said. "Tain't either snake +charmers," said a third small boy. "It's the fat lady." And he pointed +directly at Hinpoha. Gladys laughed so she nearly lost control of the +car while Hinpoha turned fiery red. +</p> + +<p> +Without warning the elephant directly behind them thrust his trunk into +the car and picked up Medmangi's camera, to the immense delight of the +crowd on the sidewalk. After much prodding from his rider he released +it again, dropping it safely into Medmangi's lap. All the rest of the +ride Medmangi kept her head over her shoulder so she could watch what +the beast was doing. He kept blinking at her knowingly, and every few +minutes he would extend his trunk toward the car in a playful manner +and send her into a panic, and then he would drop it decorously to the +ground like a limp piece of hose, with a sound in his throat that +resembled a chuckle. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor beast," she said, after watching him plod rather wearily along +for several blocks, "a circus life is no snap." +</p> + +<p> +"He's better off than we are," said Hinpoha crossly, "for he has his +trunk, and that's more than we have." Hinpoha's temper had been +slightly ruffled by her having been mistaken for the fat lady. +</p> + +<p> +"We'd still have our trunk if we carried it in the front the way he +does, instead of in the back," said Medmangi. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Bob was nearly barking his head off at the shouting boys, and about +drove the girls frantic with his noise. Gladys's hands were shaking as +she held on to the steering-wheel, while Hinpoha vainly tried to +silence him. Chapa dared Medmangi to reach out her hand and touch the +elephant's trunk and she did so. The elephant sneezed a sneeze that +nearly unseated his rider and blew Chapa's hat off. Medmangi screamed +and ducked under the seat, thinking that the beast was about to attack +her. Gladys turned around to see what she was screaming at and just +then the red and gold mountain ahead of her stood still for a minute, +with the result that she bumped into it. It resounded with a hollow +clang and something inside set up a fearful roaring like a whole jungle +full of wild beasts. Then the small boys shouted worse than ever and +the perspiration stood out on Gladys's forehead. +</p> + +<p> +"Stop that dog barking, or I shall go wild," she said. +</p> + +<p> +After numerous ineffectual commands and shakes, Hinpoha rolled Mr. Bob +in one of the robes, which nearly smothered him, but produced the +desired result. Save for a few smothered growls and "oofs" nothing more +was heard from him. +</p> + +<p> +Then, as Hinpoha always said afterward, after the parade the real +circus began. The man-killing anaconda got loose. How it happened no +one ever found out, but the first thing anybody knew, there he was, +tearing down the middle of the street like an express train. "How does +he go so fast without wheels?" gasped Gladys, as he shot by them. +</p> + +<p> +Then there was a scene of pandemonium. The crowd tried to scatter, but +it was packed in so closely between the buildings and the street that +there was no place to scatter to. Most of the stores had been closed in +honor of the greatest show on earth, and the thieves that accompanied +it and the people found only locked doors when they tried to enter the +stores. Shrieks filled the air. The whole line of elephants began +trumpeting. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, if we could only get out of this," cried Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +The next minute they were out of it, but in a manner they had not +foreseen. For down from one of the painted wagons a man leaped directly +into the Striped Beetle, picked Gladys up as if she had been a feather, +lifted her over the back of the seat into the tonneau and took the +wheel himself. Round went the Striped Beetle into the side street +through a gap in the line of wagons and after the snake. The scattering +of the people told the trail it was taking, and a low cloud of dust +lengthening rapidly along the road showed that it was still in the +middle of the street. Up one street and down another they flew, as fast +as the Striped Beetle would go, with the snake always a length ahead of +them. At last, it darted across the sidewalk, up the front walk of a +brick mansion, up the front steps and in at the open front door. +</p> + +<p> +Wild screams from within indicated that his presence had been observed. +The next instant two maids tried to issue from the door at the same +instant and stuck there in the doorway, fighting to get out, until both +were shot out as from the mouth of a cannon by the impact of the body +of a man, coming behind them down the stairs. They rolled down the +steps, picked themselves up, and rushed out of the gate and up the +street, closely followed by the man in shirt sleeves, shouting wildly +that it was only a drop he had taken for his rheumatism, but he would +never take another. Shaken and breathless as they were, the girls +laughed until they cried at the trail of superstitious terror left by +the man-killing anaconda. The man who had taken such cool possession of +the Striped Beetle jumped out and followed the snake into the house. +When he returned some five minutes later the man-eater was wrapped +around his body in great coils. Gladys got one look at the monster +which the man evidently intended placing in the car, and then she was +over the back of the seat and behind the steering-wheel, and the +Striped Beetle went gliding off down the street. +</p> + +<p> +"There's one thing I object to being, and that's careful mover of a +circus," she said through her teeth. She was still too breathless to +talk properly. "I'd just as soon take the man back to his wagon, but I +won't sit beside a snake. There's nothing in the etiquette book about +how to behave toward them and I'm afraid I might do the wrong thing and +rouse his ire." +</p> + +<p> +We were well into the country before she slackened her dizzy pace and +the circus and the man-killing anaconda were left far behind. Hinpoha +was still giggling about the man who thought he was seeing snakes and +had forgotten all about poor Mr. Bob, who was still wrapped in his +muffling blanket. A convulsive movement of the roll in her arms brought +her back to earth and she undid the bundle in time to save him from +being completely smothered. All the rest of the trip Mr. Bob retired +under the seat every time anyone touched that blanket. +</p> + +<p> +Later in the afternoon they stopped for gasoline and while the tank was +being filled were entertained by the loud-voiced conversation of two +men who were standing against the wall of the gasoline station. +</p> + +<p> +"But I tell you it isn't my trunk," said the first, "and I'm not going +to carry it. The rear end of the car hits the bumpers now every time we +strike a bump in the road and I won't have any unnecessary weight back +there." +</p> + +<p> +"Oh say, be a good sport and carry it," said the second man. "It's a +good looking trunk and I can get something for it when we get back to +the city. But I hate to pay express on it." +</p> + +<p> +"How did you get it, anyway?" asked the first man. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys, who had pricked up her ears at the word "trunk" and was +intently listening to the above conversation, was disappointed in not +hearing the end of it. For, with the question just recorded the two men +moved across the street toward a car which stood there. Just then the +tank of the Striped Beetle was filled and they were released. Gladys +steered across the street just as the engine of the other car started +up. But she had caught a glimpse of the trunk under discussion, +standing on the unoccupied rear seat of the car, and there, full in the +sunlight, were the initials GME, Cleveland, O. Without a doubt it was +her trunk. +</p> + +<p> +The other car gained speed rapidly and began to draw away from them. +Gladys put the Striped Beetle on its mettle and followed. They passed +through several towns at the same high rate of speed, never gaining on +the car ahead of them until it stopped in front of a hotel in one +place. Gladys also stopped. She jumped out of the car and was alongside +the other before either man was out. She began without preliminary. +"Excuse me," she said, "but we have lost our trunk from our car and the +one you have is exactly like it. Would you mind telling me whether it +is your own or not?" The two men looked at each other. +</p> + +<p> +One of them, the one who had objected to carrying the trunk, flushed +red and looked uncomfortable. As he was driving the car it was to him +that Gladys had addressed her remarks. +</p> + +<p> +"It's not mine," he answered. "It belongs to Mr. Johnson, this +gentleman here." +</p> + +<p> +"Yes, it's mine," said the man referred to, as if daring her to dispute +his statement. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys was nonplused. There was something queer about their possession +of the trunk she knew from the conversation she had overheard. +</p> + +<p> +"You say your name is Johnson?" she asked. "Then how does it come that +you have the initials GME—my initials—on your trunk?" +</p> + +<p> +The man glared at her in silence. A crowd began to gather around them +on the sidewalk. A policeman elbowed his way to the front. "What's the +matter here?" he asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Lady says the man stole her trunk," replied one of the bystanders. +</p> + +<p> +Gladys grew hot all over when she heard that, because she had not said +a word about the man's having stolen the trunk, although that thought +was uppermost in her mind. +</p> + +<p> +"How about it?" asked the policeman. +</p> + +<p> +"It's none of your business," growled the man addressed as Mr. Johnson. +"That's my trunk, whether those are my initials or not. It was given me +in exchange for something else." +</p> + +<p> +"But I believe it's mine," said Gladys, looking helplessly around the +circle of faces. "It was stolen off our car in Ft. Wayne." +</p> + +<p> +"It was no such thing," said Mr. Johnson, hotly. "We'll soon find out," +said the policeman. "What was in your trunk, lady?" +</p> + +<p> +Gladys described several articles which were inside, and mentioned that +it was lined with grey and had the same initials on the inside of the +cover. +</p> + +<p> +"Open the trunk," said the Solomon in brass buttons. +</p> + +<p> +Mr. Johnson had no key, which was another suspicious fact. Gladys +produced her key and unlocked the trunk. It was absolutely empty. There +was the grey lining all right and the initials on the inside of the +cover, GME, Cleveland, O. +</p> + +<p> +"Disposed of the contents," said a voice from the sidewalk. +</p> + +<p> +Hinpoha, who had been on a pinnacle of hope for her scarf ever since +they had recognized the trunk, slumped into despair again when she saw +that it was empty. +</p> + +<p> +"Is that your trunk, lady?" asked the policeman. +</p> + +<p> +"It looks like it," said Gladys. +</p> + +<p> +"It answered her description all right," said the voice in the circle. +</p> + +<p> +"Where did you get the trunk and from whom?" asked the policeman of Mr. +Johnson. +</p> + +<p> +"None of your business," replied that individual, with a savage look. +"But it's mine, I tell you." +</p> + +<p> +Here his companion pulled out his watch and uttered an exclamation. +</p> + +<p> +"Give her the trunk and come along," he said, in a stage whisper. +"We'll never make it if we stand here bantering all day." +</p> + +<p> +Scowling like a thundercloud, Mr. Johnson gave the trunk a savage kick +as it stood on the sidewalk and got back into the car, snapping out +that it was his and never would have given it up if he wasn't in such a +tearing hurry. The grey car glided away in a cloud of dust and the +policeman lifted the trunk to the rack of the Striped Beetle. +</p> + +<p> +"Fellow stole it, all right," rose the murmurs on every side, "or he +wouldn't have been so willing to give it up. Probably threw the +contents away. Well, you've got the trunk, lady, and that's worth more +than what was in it." +</p> + +<p> +Hinpoha could not agree with this, of course. That scarf was worth more +in her eyes than the price of a dozen trunks, and she was not very much +overjoyed at having the trunk returned without the scarf, for it was +certain now that the contents were stolen and would never be recovered. +</p> + +<p> +They arrived in Chicago during the afternoon and went directly to the +Carrie Wentworth Inn. As they got out at the curb a man lounged down +from the doorway and approached them. "You are under arrest," he said, +quietly. +</p> + +<p> +"Arrest!" gasped Gladys, thinking of all the traffic rules she might +have broken in crossing the busy corner they just passed. "What for? +And who are you, anyway, you're not a policeman." +</p> + +<p> +The man opened his coat and showed an official badge. "I'm a policeman +all right, you'll find," he said, calmly. +</p> + +<p> +"What have we done?" gasped Gladys. The trunk was in her mind now. What +if it were not theirs after all and they were to be accused of stealing +it! +</p> + +<p> +"You are wanted in connection with an attempt to steal a diamond +necklace from the home of Simon McClure," said the detective, for such +he was. +</p> + +<p> +"What?" said Gladys, in sheer amazement. "I never heard of such a +person." +</p> + +<p> +"Tell that to the police," said the man facetiously, "and in the +meantime, just come along with me." He got into the car and motion them +to follow. Too much dazed to resist, they obeyed. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap13"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIII. +</h3> + +<p> +Sahwah's vanishing from the car was so uncanny and mysterious that, for +a few minutes, we could think of nothing but a supernatural agency. The +wind was like the wail of a banshee, and to our excited eyes the mist +wraiths hovering over the swamp were like dancing figures. The croaking +of the frogs was suddenly full of menace. They were not real frogs +croaking down there in the mud; they were evil spirits dwelling in the +swamp and they held the secret of Sahwah's disappearance. Shudders ran +up and down our spines and the perspiration began to break out in our +faces. +</p> + +<p> +"Did Sahwah get into the car again after she helped you open the gate?" +asked Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +At the sound of her voice our fear of the supernatural vanished and we +were back to reality again. We were lost on a lonely road, it is true, +but it was a (more or less) solid dirt road in the misty mid-region of +Indiana, and not a ghoul-haunted pathway in the misty mid-region of +Weir. +</p> + +<p> +We all declared Sahwah had gotten into the car. +</p> + +<p> +"She couldn't have," maintained Nyoda. "We haven't stopped since then +and she couldn't have fallen out while we were going without making a +splash that would have sent the water over the car." +</p> + +<p> +"It's nearly a foot deep most of the way." We thought hard about the +circumstances attendant upon our getting back into the car and it came +to us that we were not positive, after all, that Sahwah had been with +us. +</p> + +<p> +"That wind—don't you remember?" said Nakwisi. "It whipped the corner +of my veil into my eye and I couldn't open it again for some time after +we started." +</p> + +<p> +I remembered the wind. It had wrapped my veil around my face so that I +couldn't see anything, and in my blindness I had slammed the door on my +finger, and the pain made me forget everything else. It hadn't been a +propitious time to count noses. I had dropped into the corner of the +seat trying to get my finger into my mouth through the folds of my +veil, and the effort not to cry out with pain made me faint. I had not +even noticed when the car started. Margery was on the front seat with +Nyoda and they had thought, of course, that Sahwah was in the back with +Nakwisi and me. Well, it was evident that she wasn't. +</p> + +<p> +"Poor Sahwah," said Nyoda. "Such a night to be waiting at the gate!" +</p> + +<p class="poem"> + "Backward, turn backward, Glow-worm, in your flight,<br /> + Rescue poor Sahwah from her muddy plight!"<br /> +</p> + +<p class="noindent"> +I spouted. +</p> + +<p> +Which was easier said than done. That road was built for traveling +ahead and not for turning. On one side was the swamp and on the other a +steep drop off into a lake. +</p> + +<p> +"We're in the straight and narrow path all right," said Nyoda, viewing +the landscape. Then she sarcastically began to quote from a well-known +automobile advertisement which emphasized the superiority of a long +wheel base, whatever that is. "The Glow-worm simply won't make the +turn," she said. "Here's one instance when the worm won't turn." +</p> + +<p> +"It's a long worm that knows no turning," I misquoted. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda tried again, and this time, with its rear wheels in the swamp and +its front lamps hanging over the precipice, the Glow-worm did turn. We +were limp as rags from the strain by the time we were safely back in +the road. I had been trying to make up my mind which would do the least +damage to my clothes, landing in the swamp or in the lake, and had just +about decided on the lake as the lesser of the two evils, as I couldn't +get much wetter anyhow, when Nyoda called out, "It's all over." +</p> + +<p> +"If you're speaking of the mud it certainly is all over," I said, +feeling of the spatters on the back of the seat. +</p> + +<p> +"Mud baths are hygienic," said Nyoda drily, if anyone can be said to +speak drily when they are dripping at every corner. "Be a sport if you +can't be a philosopher." Which statement contained food for reflection, +as they say in books. +</p> + +<p> +We made our way slowly and splashily back to the mud-wreathed gate, +alas, we shoved sir—Gracious! I'm tobogganing into a quotation again! +But, like the girl in the poem when the lover comes back to the gate +after many years, Sahwah wasn't there. We called, oh, how we did call! +With voices as hoarse as the frogs in the swamp. +</p> + +<p> +"We might as well stop calling," said Nyoda, disgustedly. "She won't be +able to tell the difference between us and the frogs." +</p> + +<p> +But we kept on calling just the same and a hideous echo from somewhere +threw our words back at us in a broken, mocking answer. That was all. +We were paralyzed with fear that Sahwah had wandered into the swamp or +had fallen over the precipice in the dark into the lake. We turned the +lights of the car on the swamp for a long distance, but saw nothing. +</p> + +<p> +I shuddered until my teeth chattered at that lonely stretch of marsh. +Given the choice between a graveyard at night and a swamp, I think I +should take the graveyard. The nice friendly ghosts that sit on +tombstones are so much more cheerful than the nameless and shapeless +Things that flit over a swamp at night. The yellow circle thrown by the +Glow-worm's lamps was the only thing that linked us to earth and +reason. Within that circle the mysterious shadows melted and no spirits +dared dance. Then without warning the yellow circle dimmed and +vanished, and left us completely at the mercy of the Shapes. The lights +had gone out on the Glow-worm. +</p> + +<p> +"Probably short circuited," we heard Nyoda's voice say. "Where was +Moses when the light went out?" I asked, trying to be cheerful. +</p> + +<p> +Margery trembled and clung to Nyoda. The swamp now seemed a living +thing that clutched at us with hands. And somewhere in that darkness +that pressed around us Sahwah was wandering around lost, or perhaps +lying helpless in the water. It is not my intention to dwell on the +unpleasant features of our trip any more than I have to. But somehow +that night stands out more clearly in my memory than any of the other +events. Nyoda says it is because I am gifted, or rather cursed, with a +constructive imagination, and see and hear things that aren't there. I +suppose it is true, because I can see whole armies marching in the sky, +and boats and horses and dragons, when the other girls only see clouds. +But I know I heard sounds in that swamp that night that weren't +earthly; voices that sang tunes and children that cried, and things +that fiddled and shrieked and sobbed and laughed and whispered and +gurgled and moaned. +</p> + +<p> +Our hunt for Sahwah had to be given up because without lights we dared +not venture forth on the road for fear of running into the swamp. +</p> + +<p> +"Sit up in front, Migwan, and be the headlight; you're bright enough," +said Nyoda, cheerfully. +</p> + +<p> +"I'm having an eclipse to-night," I replied. +</p> + +<p> +So we sat still in the Glow-worm not far from the gate which had been +the fountain and origin of all the trouble and wished fervently, not +for Blucher or night, but for Sahwah or morning. And the reader knows +which one of them came. +</p> + +<p> +The rain stopped about dawn and the east began to redden and then we +knew there was going to be a sunrise. I have been glad to see many +things in my life; but I never was so glad to see anything, as I was, +when the sun began to rise that morning after the night of water. +Viewed in the magic light of morning, the road was not so bad, while +the lake, rippling in the wind, was a thing of beauty, and the swamp +was merely a swamp. The gate was right at the corner of a fence which +enclosed a very large farm. We could just barely see the house and barn +in the distance, set up on a sort of hill. The property ended on this +end at the gate, and just beyond it began the descent to the lake. How +we had gotten inside that fence the night before we never found out. We +must have crossed that entire farm in the darkness on a private road +which we mistook for the main road. +</p> + +<p> +In the broad light of day we descended the steep way down to the lake +and examined every foot of ground around it. It was all soft mud and if +Sahwah had been down there she must have left traces of some kind. But +the surface was unbroken save for a few tracks of birds. Clearly, she +had not fallen over the edge. Where, then, had she gone. The mud around +the gate was such soup that no footprints could be seen. Oh, if the +gate could only speak! +</p> + +<p> +"Could she have possibly found her way up to that farmhouse?" I asked. +"I don't see how she ever did it in the dark, but still it's a +possibility." +</p> + +<p> +So we dragged the gate open again and drove up to the farmhouse. The +men were just starting to work in the fields. It must be nice to work +where you can see the earth wake up every morning. There are times when +I simply long to be a milkmaid. A lean, sun-burned woman was washing +clothes out under the trees and she looked up in surprise when we +appeared. No, Sahwah had not been there. The mystery was still a +mystery. But from the height of the farmhouse we saw what we had not +seen from the level of the road, and that was that there was another +road running parallel to the one we had been on, skirting the swamp on +the other side and bordered by thick trees. From the gate we had +thought that those trees grew in the swamp, as we could not see the +road beyond it. Sahwah must have blundered into that road in the +darkness, we concluded, and thought she was going after us. +</p> + +<p> +We found a narrow lane leading to it, covered with water for most of +its length, and there, sure enough, we saw deep footprints in the new +road. We followed these, expecting to come upon her sitting in the +wayside every minute. But the footprints went on. There were no houses +along here; the only building we passed was an empty red barn covered +over with tobacco advertisements. A little farther on the road ran into +a highway and so did the footprints. A little beyond the turn Nyoda +spied something lying in the road. How she managed to see it is beyond +me, but Nyoda has eyes like a hawk. It was a button from Sahwah's coat. +Sahwah's button-shedding habit is very useful as a clue. +</p> + +<p> +"Here is a button; Sahwah can't be very far now," said Nyoda, +cheerfully. A sign post we passed said "Lafayette 20 miles." At last we +knew where we were. Deep ruts in the road showed where a car had passed +just ahead of us. Then all of a sudden the footprints came to a stop; +ended abruptly in the road, as if Sahwah had suddenly soared up into +the air. There was a low stone where the footprints came to a stop and +around it the mud was all trampled down. +</p> + +<p> +At first we were frightened to death, thinking that Sahwah had been +attacked and carried off. But the footprints did not lead anywhere. "Of +course, they don't," said Nyoda. "Whoever made them got into that car +and Sahwah did too. It's the car that's traveling ahead of us. It +stopped and picked Sahwah up." (Just how literally Sahwah had been +"picked up" we did not guess.) +</p> + +<p> +"What will we do now?" asked Nakwisi. +</p> + +<p> +"Follow the car," replied Nyoda. +</p> + +<p> +"It sounds like Cadmus and 'follow the cow'," said I. +</p> + +<p> +So we followed the ruts. The sun was up fair and warm by this time and +we were beginning to dry off beautifully. I took off my soaked shoes +and tied them out on the mud guard where they could bake. Nakwisi went +me one better in the scheme of decoration and hung hers on the lamp +bracket. Then we hung up our wet coats where they could fly in the +wind. Margery was cold all the time and we let her have the exclusive +use of the one robe, and the rest of us took turns being wrapped in the +Winnebago banner. It was blanket shaped and made of heavy felt and +served the purpose admirably. In a moment of forethought Sahwah had +taken it down from the back of the car just before we were caught in +the storm, and so it had escaped being soaked also. +</p> + +<p> +"This is traveling <i>de luxe</i>" said I, stretching out my stockinged feet +on the foot rail, and wiggling my cramped toes. +</p> + +<p> +"I don't know about de looks," said Nyoda with a twinkle, "but as long +as no one sees you it doesn't matter." +</p> + +<p> +"Who's making puns now?" inquired Nakwisi, severely. +</p> + +<p> +"What's this in the road?" asked Nyoda presently, as we came upon a +bundle of bright green. +</p> + +<p> +We stopped and picked it up. "It's a veil just like ours, and a hat," +said Nyoda. "It's Sahwah's veil and hat!" she exclaimed, looking in the +hatband where Sahwah's name was written. Then she discovered something +tied in the veil. It was Sahwah's address book and on the first page +was scrawled a message: +</p> + +<p> +"To those interested: +</p> + +<p> +Picked up by tourists. On way to Carrie Wentworth Inn, Chicago. +</p> + +<p> +SARAH ANN BREWSTER." +</p> + +<p> +Beside the signature was the familiar Sunfish which is Sahwah's symbol. +There was no doubt about the note being genuine. Besides, it could only +be quick-witted Sahwah who would think of leaving a blaze in the road +on the slender chance that we would be coming along that way. How it +smoothed everything out! Not knowing that we were so close behind her, +Sahwah had had a chance to go on to Chicago, and would simply go to our +hotel and wait until we came! What a long headed one Sahwah was, to be +sure! We could have played hide and seek with each other around those +roads for days and never found each other, the way the children did +around the voting booth, but by clearing out altogether and going to +our place of rendezvous she knew the chances of our meeting were much +greater. How she had managed to find tourists who were on the way to +Chicago was a piece of luck which could only have befallen Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +"I think the best thing for us to do is to hunt some breakfast and then +make for Chicago as fast as we can," said Nyoda. "I've been thinking +that that would be the best way to find the others. We don't seem to +have been very successful in running around the country after them, and +if they managed to get the wire we sent to Chicago the other day they +will probably find us if we go there too." +</p> + +<p> +"Did Gladys start out with us, or didn't she?" asked Nakwisi, +thoughtfully. "I think sometimes it was all a delusion, and there were +no more than four of us at the start." +</p> + +<p> +"Sometimes I think so too," I agreed. Was the Striped Beetle a myth? We +had almost forgotten our original quest in the chase after Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +We still debated uncertainly whether we had better go back to +Indianapolis and hunt for Gladys, now that we were reasonably certain +where Sahwah was, or go on to Chicago and make sure of her, at least. +There were so many arguments on both sides that we could come to no +decision and so we flipped a coin for it. Chicago won and the die was +cast. The next move was breakfast and a place to clean up. We looked as +though we had been fished out of the lake. Breakfast we would find in +the town of Lafayette, which we were approaching. But we faltered by +the wayside as usual. Whether or not that had any bearing on what +happened later I don't know, but Nyoda says it would have been the same +anyway, only different. Which is rather a neat little phrase, after +all, in spite of being impure English. To me our stop over was simply +another move in the game of checkers Fate was playing with us as +counters. +</p> + +<p> +The thing which caused us to falter by the wayside before we reached +Lafayette was a sign on a big, old-fashioned farmhouse near the road +which read: +</p> + +<p> +TOURISTS TOOK IN Meals 35 cents +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda couldn't resist the delicious humor of it. She stopped before the +door. "You aren't going to stop here, are you?" I inquired. +</p> + +<p> +"I want to be 'took in'," declared Nyoda. "Just as if all the other +places don't do the same thing; only they aren't quite so frank about +it. I want to see the creator of that sign. So we drove into the big, +shady yard and parked the panting Glow-worm at the end of the long +drive under arching trees. Then we went up on the side porch and +knocked at the screen door while a black cat inspected us drowsily from +the cushioned depths of a porch chair. A bustling, red-faced woman came +to the door. +</p> + +<p> +"We're tourists," said Nyoda, "and we want to be took in. We want +breakfast." +</p> + +<p> +"Come in an' set on the table," said the woman, and we knew we had +found the author of the "Tourists Took In" sign. +</p> + +<p> +Upon our asking for water and soap we were directed to a room on the +second floor where a bowl and pitcher stood on a wash-stand and a towel +hung over a chair. +</p> + +<p> +"After having had such a dose of water last night I didn't think I'd +ever care to wash again," said Nakwisi, "but that wash bowl's the best +thing I've seen yet this morning. Hurry up and give me my turn." +</p> + +<p> +I got through as quickly as possible to stop her clamoring, and while +she scrubbed and primped I strolled over to the window, which +overlooked the road in front of the house. The high spots were already +drying in the warm wind. As I stood there I saw a speck coming down the +road which gradually grew to the proportions of a man on a motorcycle +exceeding the speed limit by about ten miles. He came to a stop in +front of the house with such a jerk that I thought he would pitch off +onto his head. He leaned the motorcycle against the porch and came up +the steps, and as he did so I recognized the light-haired young man +that had been in Rochester when we were. I must say it gave me a little +thrill of pleasure to see him again. +</p> + +<p> +The woman had evidently gone to the door in answer to his knock, for we +heard her voice the next instant. Every word came up distinctly through +the open window. +</p> + +<p> +"Are there five young ladies in tan suits here?" he demanded. The woman +was evidently offended at his curt manner. "What business is it of +yours?" she asked, in a harsh voice. +</p> + +<p> +"See here," he said sternly, "if you're in league with them and are +trying to hide them you'll get into trouble. They're wanted by the +police, and I'm here to arrest them." +</p> + +<p> +We looked at each other thunderstruck. Wanted by the police! It was all +a part of the strange mystery that had been surrounding us for the last +few days. Could they be after us on account of the necklace? +</p> + +<p> +"Tell me at once," persisted the man, "are they here, or did they go +by?" +</p> + +<p> +The woman evidently saw visions of her four breakfasts remaining +uneaten and consequently un-paid for if she delivered us up, and tried +to parley. "There's no such people here," she said brazenly, "they went +by over an hour ago." +</p> + +<p> +"They did nothing of the kind," said the young man, "they turned in +here. I saw them across the field where the road turns." +</p> + +<p> +"You can come in an' set in the parlor," said the woman firmly, "an' +don't you set a foot in the rest of the house, an' I'll bring them to +you." +</p> + +<p> +We heard the front door open and close; then a movement in the room +below us and the squeak of a chair as somebody sat down. Then we heard +the door shut and the footsteps of the woman toward the back part of +the house. +</p> + +<p> +"I believe she locked him in," said Nyoda, laughing in the midst of her +bewilderment, "and she doesn't mean to produce us until we've paid for +that breakfast. It's too bad to disappoint her, but necessity comes +before choice." +</p> + +<p> +"What do you mean to do?" I asked. +</p> + +<p> +Margery was as pale as a ghost. "It's my uncle after me," she gasped. +"Oh, don't let them get me!" +</p> + +<p> +I was too stupefied to say another word. That the nice young man with +the light hair should turn out to be a police agent after us was too +much for my comprehension. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda held up her hand for us to be silent and led us on tiptoe into a +room which opened off at one side of the hall. She led us to the +window, and we could see that it overlooked the yard on the other side +from the dining-room and, that it opened out on a porch roof. A little +way off we saw the Glow-worm standing under the trees. Nyoda crept out +of the window and swung herself down to the ground by means of a flower +trellis and we followed, helping Margery. Then we raced across the yard +to the Glow-worm and started it just as a car drove by tooting its horn +for dear life so that the sound of our engine was drowned in the noise. +</p> + +<p> +We reached the road without going past the house and Nyoda opened the +throttle wide. The last glimpse we had of the house where the tourists +were "took in" was of a motorcycle leaning up against the porch. Our +one thought was to get Margery safely to Chicago before the detective +got her and took her back to her uncle. Nyoda had friends in Chicago +who would take Margery in until she could go safely to Louisville in +the event we could not take her with us. We knew that it would not be +long before the man on the motorcycle would find out that we had +escaped and would take the road after us, and we must not lose a +minute. Lafayette flew by our eyes a mere line of stores and houses; we +hardly slackened our speed going through, and then we began the long +run northward to Chicago. We saw people turn to look at us as we rushed +along, and then their faces blurred and vanished from sight. Now and +then a chicken flew up right under the very wheels and once we ran over +one. But we went on, on, unheeding. Then we struck a stretch of soft +road and thought for a minute we were going to get stuck. +</p> + +<p> +"Would you get through any better if you threw me overboard?" asked +Nakwisi. "I'm pretty heavy." Nyoda only smiled and put on more speed +and we went through. Margery's face was chalk white and her eyes were +wide with fear; but excited as I was, I was enjoying the flight +immensely. This was life. I thought of all the famous rides in history +that I used to thrill over; <i>Paul Revere's Ride, How they Brought the +Good News from Ghent to Aix, Tam o' Shanter's Famous Ride</i>, and all the +others. Sahwah will regret to her dying day that she missed it. +</p> + +<p> +Halfway to Chicago, Nakwisi, who was keeping a sharp lookout with her +spy-glass, reported that there was a motorcycle chasing us about half a +mile behind. The Glow-worm leapt forward a trifle faster under Nyoda's +steady hand, but she never flicked an eyelash. Nyoda is simply a marvel +of self-control in an emergency. +</p> + +<p> +Soon we could all see the pursuer without the aid of the glass. He was +gaining on us rapidly. We were approaching a railroad crossing and +there was a train coming. If we had to wait until it went by we would +be overtaken surely. Nyoda measured the distance between the train and +the crossing with a swift eye and put on the last bit of speed of which +the Glow-worm was capable. We bumped across the tracks just as the +gates were beginning to go down. A minute later the way behind us was +cut off by one of those interminably long, slow moving freight trains, +and one the other side of the barrier was the impotent pursuer. +</p> + +<p> +But the time gained by this lucky incident merely postponed the +inevitable end of the chase. When did a loaded car ever outrun a +motorcycle? We watched him approaching, helpless to ward off the thing +which was coming, yet running on at the top of our speed, hoping +against hope that his gas would give out or he would run into +something. But none of these things happened and he drew alongside of +us and caught hold of the fender. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda slowed down and came to a stop. "What do you want?" she asked, +haughtily. +</p> + +<p> +"Your little game is up," said the man, quietly. +</p> + +<p> +Nyoda faced him bravely, determined not to give Margery up without a +struggle. "Will you kindly tell me what you mean?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +The motorcyclist grinned. "Don't try to play off innocent," he said, +severely. "You know as well as I do what I mean. But it isn't you I'm +after most," he continued. "It's this one," and he pointed to Margery. +Margery buried her face in Nyoda's arm. Nyoda saw it was no use. "Are +you looking for Margery Anderson?" she asked. +</p> + +<p> +"Margery Anderson!" said the man, with another grin. "That's a new one +on me. But she changes so often there's no keeping track of her. She +may be Margery Anderson now, but the one I'm after is Sal Jordan, +better known as 'Light Fingered Sal', the slickest pickpocket and +shoplifter between New York and San Francisco." +</p> + +<p> +We all stared at him open-mouthed. "Oh, you may have forgotten about +it," he said sarcastically, "but I'll refresh your memory." He was +speaking to Margery now. "After you robbed that jewelry store in Toledo +you got away with such a narrow squeak that the doors of the police +station almost closed on you. Your friends didn't dare show themselves +in town, so they went riding around in an automobile, pretending they +were tourists, and you joined them out in the country somewhere. I've +had my eye on you ever since you left Ft. Wayne. But we had word you +were going to Indianapolis to carry on another little piece of business +and I thought I'd let you go free awhile and catch you with the goods +on. But you gave me the slip and didn't go, and I must say you've led +me a fine chase. But it's all over now and you'll go along with me to +Chicago like a little lamb with all your pretty friends." +</p> + +<p> +He looked us over carefully. "Where's the other one?" he asked, +suddenly. "There were five of you before. Great Scott!" he exclaimed. +"You've sent her back to Indianapolis. Pretty cute, Sal, but it won't +do any good. They're watching for her." +</p> + +<p> +We sat petrified, looking at Margery. She had collapsed on the seat +with her face in her hands—the very picture of Admission of Guilt. +"Margery!" cried Nyoda, "is it true?" +</p> + +<p> +But Margery shook her head. "I don't know anything about it," she said. +</p> + +<p> +"You're mistaken," said Nyoda cooly to the man, "we know nothing +whatever about this Sal person." Just then she drew her hand from her +pocket with a convulsive movement, and out flew the scarab at the man's +feet. He picked it up with a triumphant movement. +</p> + +<p> +"Oh, no, you don't know anything about it," he said. "But you are +carrying Sal's scarab, which is the countersign between the members of +her gang. As I mentioned before, your little game is up." +</p> + +<p> +"Margery!" said Nyoda the second time, "is it true?" But Margery buried +her face in her hands and said nothing. +</p> + +<p> +Our thoughts went whirling in somersaults. The girl we had picked up +was not Margery, but "Light Fingered Sal", a pickpocket! +</p> + +<p> +The appearance of the scarab and the scene at the ball when Nyoda had +found the necklace in her pocket came over us like a flash. What dupes +we had been never to suspect the truth before! +</p> + +<p> +The procession moved on again with the motorcyclist keeping hold of the +fender. Thus it was that we came into Chicago, under police escort, and +were chaperoned up the steps of the police station. +</p> + +<p> +Once inside, we blinked around with greater wonder than we had at +anything which had happened so far. +</p> + +<p> +Against the wall were standing in a row: Gladys, Chapa, Medmangi, +Hinpoha, Sahwah between a strange man and woman, four young women we +had never seen before but who wore suits and veils exactly like ours, +and a girl in a blue suit. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p><a id="chap14"></a></p> +<h3> +CHAPTER XIV. +</h3> + +<p> +Before we had finished staring at each other in stupefied surprise the +door opened again, and a woman ran in, at the sight of whom "Sal" +darted forward and threw herself into her arms. +</p> + +<p> +"Margery!" cried the newcomer. +</p> + +<p> +"Mother!" cried the girl. +</p> + +<p> +A few steps behind the woman came a man and he looked coldly at the +two. "You have forestalled us, I see, Mrs. Anderson," he said, coldly. +The girl was Margery Anderson after all! I shall never forget the +expression on the light-haired detective's face when he saw Margery +rush into that woman's arms. He turned all shades of red and purple and +looked ready to burst. +</p> + +<p> +"Confound that Sal!" we heard him mutter under his breath. "She's given +us the slip again." +</p> + +<p> +Then we happened to look at Sahwah and the two people with whom she was +standing. Sahwah was doubled up with laughter and the man and woman +were as surprised looking as the detective. The man reminded me of +nothing so much as a collapsed balloon. +</p> + +<p> +It was the queerest police station scene anyone could imagine. Instead +of making charges against us the various policemen and detectives all +looked bewildered and uncertain how to proceed. Everybody looked at +everybody else; and everybody waited to see what would happen next. And +things kept right on happening. The door opened a second time and an +officer came in leading a young woman in a stylish blue suit. Her +appearance seemed to create a profound sensation with Gladys and +Hinpoha and Chapa and Medmangi; they all uttered an exclamation at once +and started forward. The one in blue looked at them and then burst into +a mocking laugh. The four unknown girls dressed like us and the other +one in blue seemed to be good friends of hers for they hailed each +other familiarly. +</p> + +<p> +"The game's up, dearies," said the newcomer, gaily. "My, but I did have +the good time, though, playing the abused little maiden. Took you in +beautifully, didn't I?" she said over her shoulder to Gladys. "Maybe +Sal can't act like an angel when she wants to!" +</p> + +<p> +"Light Fingered Sal!" exclaimed the detective who had brought us in, +staring at her fascinated. "And all the rest of your company! Can't +really blame me for getting on the wrong scent," he remarked, looking +from them to us. "The only description I had was the suits and they are +identical. Well, you're safe home, Sal, safe home at last," he added, +with a grin. Sal and her companions were taken out then and we saw them +no more. +</p> + +<p> +Then we heard the officer who had brought her in tell his tale to the +detective. A man in an automobile had come to him that morning and said +he had been robbed of his pocketbook and watch by a young woman he had +picked up on the road. He had run into her and knocked her down and was +taking her to her home. After he had put her down at the address she +gave him he discovered that his property was missing and returned to +the house, but could get no answer to his ring. The officer took note +of the address and promised to keep an eye on the place. Later on he +saw a young woman come out of the house and enter a near-by pawn shop. +He followed her and saw that she was pawning the watch whose +description had been given him. He arrested her and discovered she was +the famous Light Fingered Sal, whom the police of a dozen cities were +looking for. The house was searched, but the other inmates had fled. +But it seems that they were fleeing in an automobile and went several +miles beyond the speed limit with the result that they were brought +into the station, where their real identity was established. They were +the four tourists in tan and the one in blue, whom we had blindly +followed out of Toledo, thinking they were Gladys and the other girls +in the Striped Beetle. Sal still had the man's purse in her pocket when +she was brought into the station and the owner was notified of that +fact while we stood there. +</p> + +<p> +Again, it was these friends of Sal's who had been ahead of us at the +hotel in Ft. Wayne, whom the check man had told us about and who had +left for Chicago by way of Ligonier. Together with Sal, they had +committed some daring thefts in Toledo stores, and when the police had +almost caught them they had escaped in an automobile. There had been no +time to wait for Sal; they trusted her to join them somewhere along the +road. The police were so hot on her trail that she had to spend the +night in the empty storeroom where Hinpoha had found her, waiting until +after dark that night to venture out. Then Mr. Bob had blundered in on +her hiding-place, followed by Hinpoha. Sal saw her chance of working on +Hinpoha's sympathies and so getting out of Toledo, and how she +accomplished it we already know. She told her a well fabricated tale of +being accused wrongfully of taking a paper from the office safe, and +played the role of the helpless country girl in the city, with the +result that the girls took her in tow and set out to find Nyoda. She +assumed airs of helplessness until they did not think her capable of +lacing her own shoes. All the while she was keeping a sharp lookout for +the police along the road. At the same time she found out that the +girls were carrying all their money in their handbags. +</p> + +<p> +At first, she had intended staying with them until she got to Chicago, +as that was her destination, but the losing of the trunk made them go +to Indianapolis, where the automobile races had drawn great crowds from +everywhere. She was sorely tempted to break away from the girls there +and slip into the crowd, where she could gather a rich harvest; but she +had been afraid that the police would be watching for her and decided +that the prudent thing would be to go to Chicago. But after they had +actually left Indianapolis and she began to think of what she had +missed, she wished she had stayed there. She blinded the girls to her +real character by pretending to know nothing about any kind of worldly +pleasure and amusement, and acted as though she disapproved of +everything gay, and Gladys had remarked somewhat loftily that when she +had seen a little more of life she would not be so narrow in her views! +</p> + +<p> +Then the girls had seen the flowers growing beside the river and had +gotten out of the car to walk among them, leaving her to sit in the car +and hold their purses. It was as if opportunity had fallen directly +into her lap. The lure of the crowd at Indianapolis was too strong and +she started to drive back, leaving the girls minus their money and +their car. But some distance down the road the car had come to a stop +and she could not make it go on. She did not know that the gasoline had +given out. She abandoned it in the road and walked across country until +she came to the electric line, which she had taken into Indianapolis. +She had a narrow escape from the police there and took the train for +Chicago. There she had been run into by the man in the automobile and +her fertile brain had whispered to her to feign injury and have him +take her home. While she was in the car she had managed to get the +watch and purse. Later she tried to pawn the watch and was caught. +</p> + +<p> +The detective, who had started out from Toledo after her had never seen +her or her companions and had somehow gotten onto our trail and +believed we were the ones. He had made no attempt to arrest us when he +first came up with us, because he believed there were still others in +her crowd and he wanted to wait until she joined them in Chicago and so +get a bigger catch in his net, when he finally drew it in. He had +waited around Rochester simply on our account; there had been nothing +the matter with his motorcycle at all. We had told him ourselves we +were going to Chicago, and then he had heard Nyoda telegraphing to +friends at the Carrie Wentworth Inn there. He had told Mrs. Moffat to +keep a close watch on us because we were dangerous characters, and she +had promptly put us out of the house. The news spread through the town +like wild-fire that there was a gang of pickpockets there and wherever +we went we were watched. That accounted for the queer actions of the +various storekeepers. But then, who had given us the address of 22 +Spring Street when Mrs. Moffat had turned us out? That point still +remained to be cleared up. +</p> + +<p> +When we abruptly left town in the direction of Indianapolis the +detective had followed us, but the storm had thrown him off our track. +He had come across us the next day near Lafayette and had made up his +mind to hold on to us that time. Our headlong flight when we became +aware of his presence drove all doubt away as to our being the ones, +and then when he had seen the scarab the last link was forged in the +chain which held us. +</p> + +<p> +The timely arrest of Sal and her companions and the arrival of +Margery's mother had naturally wrought sad havoc with the charges upon +which we had all been brought into the station, and instead of feeling +like criminals we all sat around and talked as if we were perfectly at +home in a police station. The facts I am telling you somewhat in order +all came out bit by bit and sometimes everybody talked at once, so it +would be useless to try to put it down just the way it was said. +</p> + +<p> +When Nyoda finally got the floor, she told about the finding of the +scarab and about our being taken into the McClure home and sent down to +the ballroom where she later found the diamond necklace in her pocket. +This tale created a profound sensation and now it was the turn of the +detective who had brought in Gladys and those girls to look foolish. +The police asked us the minutest details about the appearance of the +servants who had admitted us. We told about the maid Carrie with the +black eyes which were not the same height and one of the detectives +nodded his head eagerly. "Black-Eyed Susan," he said. "She's one of the +crowd we're after." He also recognized the footman with the blue vein +in his nose and the chauffeur with the crooked fingers. We were praised +highly for having observed those little things. +</p> + +<p> +Then it was that we found the solution of the mystery which had been +tantalizing us since the night of the ball, and which we thought we had +found when we believed Margery to be Sal. That diamond robbery had been +skilfully planned as soon as the invitations for the ball were sent. +Three of the crowd were in the employ of Mrs. McClure. It happened that +these three did not know Sal and her intimates personally. They had +been instructed that on the evening of the ball five young women would +arrive in an automobile. They were to be admitted into the house and +gotten into the ballroom. Carrie was to do the actual robbery, slipping +the necklace into the pocket of one of the five. They would then leave +the ballroom and ride away. Their automobile was to be kept in +readiness at the door and the way made clear when the time came. The +mark of identification of these five was to be a certain scarab which +one would carry in her pocket. Naturally, when Nyoda had dropped the +scarab out of her pocket that day the chauffeur had taken us for the +five. The rest you know. +</p> + +<p> +The only hitch in their plans had been the maid Agnes. Carrie had an +idea that she suspected her for some reason or other and was afraid she +would think there was something strange in our being admitted into the +house and made ready for the ball. She had therefore taken advantage of +our drenched condition to pretend that we were merely seeking shelter +from the storm. Then, in Agnes's hearing, she had come in and said that +Mrs. McClure wanted us to attend the ball. That made everything regular +in Agnes's eyes and apparently cleared Carrie of connivance. +</p> + +<p> +The person who had put the scarab into Nyoda's pocket had been still +another member of the crowd who had gotten on the trail of the wrong +ones. He was to drop it into the pocket of one of the five girls in +motor costumes who would be at the Ft. Wayne hotel at a certain time. +The real ones found themselves too closely watched by the police to +attempt the diamond robbery, and abandoned it, heading straight for +Chicago. Thus they went through Ft. Wayne a day before they were +expected and did not stop. We came on the day they were expected and +got away before he could give it to us. He, therefore, trailed us to +Rochester and dropped it into Nyoda's pocket when she sat in the +restaurant eating lunch. +</p> + +<p> +Of course, we did not find out everyone of these facts in the police +station that day, although I am telling them as if we did. One of Sal's +companions later turned state's evidence and it was from her statement +that we got the whole story. When the scarab was produced everybody +crowded around it curiously. It was one which was stolen from a private +collection in Boston some time before, and occasional rumors had leaked +out about it's being used as a sign of identification between members +of the gang who were so scattered that they did not all know each other. +</p> + +<p> +The light-haired detective left in a great hurry to get the three +servants in the McClure home. I might say right here, however, that he +never got them, for they had fled on the finding of the necklace in the +jardinier, fearing an investigation. +</p> + +<p> +There was so much that happened that afternoon in the police station +that I really don't know what to tell first. I suppose the reader has +been wondering all the time what has become of Margery Anderson and how +it happened that her mother appeared on the scene just at that time. It +seems that she was in Chicago on business and had gone to the office of +her brother-in-law, Margery's uncle. He was out and she was waiting for +him. While she was there she heard the stenographer take a message over +the telephone to the effect that Margery was in the police station, and +leaving the office hurriedly she had gone right down, determined to get +there before Margery's uncle did. She found Margery as we already know, +not in the company of the man and woman, as she had expected, but with +us three. When Margery's uncle finally received the message he also +hastened to the station, but it was too late. Margery was with her +mother and he could not take her away again. +</p> + +<p> +Sahwah came over and stood by us, breaking into giggles every few +minutes at the discomfiture of Mr. and Mrs. Watterson, in spite of her +heroic efforts to keep a straight face. Her captors left the station +very red and uncomfortable after their little business with the police +was over. +</p> + +<p> +By the time all our stories were told we were good friends with the +police lieutenant and all the officers standing around, who were +inclined to be pleased with us because we had helped bring Sal and her +crowd into their hands. This would be a feather in their cap, although, +of course, we would get no official credit. +</p> + +<p> +Finally, there were only Nyoda and the seven Winnebagos left in the +station, and when one of the officers offered to show us around Nyoda +accepted the invitation gladly. She is always anxious that we should +see as much as possible. Nyoda stood and talked to the matron a long +time while we went on through, and when we came back she was invisible. +We waited awhile, but she did not appear. +</p> + +<p> +"She's probably waiting for us out in the room where the fat one is," +said Sahwah. "The fat one" was her disrespectful way of referring to +the police chief. (Sahwah saw me writing this down and corrected me, +saying that he wasn't the chief; he was a lieutenant, because we were +in a branch station, but I have always thought of him as chief.) So we +moved back toward the "main reception-room". +</p> + +<p> +"What's in there?" asked Sahwah, pointing to a closed door. Sahwah, +like the Elephant's Child, was filled with 'satiable' curiosity. +</p> + +<p> +"It's the matron's room," answered the row of brass buttons, who was +guiding us. +</p> + +<p> +"May we look in?" asked Sahwah. +</p> + +<p> +"May if you like," answered the row of buttons. +</p> + +<p> +Sahwah quietly opened the door and we looked in. We looked in and we +kept on looking. In fact, we couldn't have taken our eyes away if we +had wanted to. For there in that matron's office—the matron was not +there—stood Nyoda, and there stood the Frog, <i>and he had his arms +around her and he was kissing her</i>! +</p> + +<p> +By the time we had gotten our breath back again they were miles apart, +nearly the whole width of the carpet runner, and the Frog had his +goggles off and explanations were in full swing. The Frog was Sherry, +Nyoda's camp serenader of the summer before. They had been +corresponding ever since and he had been to see her several times, +although we did not know it. They had been almost engaged at the +beginning of the summer and then they quarreled and Nyoda sent him away. +</p> + +<p> +He was touring the country all by himself in a mood of great dejection +and happened to see us in the dining-room at Toledo. He followed so he +could be near her. His big goggles and the mustache he had grown during +the summer were an effectual disguise. He had kept a respectful +distance, afraid to make himself known, for fear Nyoda would order him +off. So he had followed us and it was a merry chase we had led him, I +must say. When the impudent young man had spoken to us in the hotel +parlor at Wellsville he had promptly called him down for it and that +had caused the uproar we had heard when we ran out to the garage. +Later, he had led us out of the burning hotel to the back window where +we made our escape. Then, while we were in the house dressing, he had +gone to get the Glow-worm out of the threatened garage. He was driving +it across the park to a place of safety when we had seen him and +thought he was stealing the car. He wouldn't even take advantage of the +great service he had rendered us in piloting us through the burning +building to present himself to Nyoda. When we thought he was making off +with Margery he was taking a girl to her home in the next town. It +seemed that everything conspired to make the poor man appear the +villain when he was in reality the hero. +</p> + +<p> +He thought he had lost us that night in the fog, but the next morning +he turned around and there we were behind him. When Nyoda tried to +overtake him, he fled. But he had followed us to Rochester and it had +been he who had given us the address of the woman on Spring Street +after Mrs. Moffat had turned us out. He had heard Nyoda arguing with +Mrs. Moffat at the front door and thought it was about the price of the +rooms; he did not know that we were in any such predicament as we were. +</p> + +<p> +He had found out that we intended going to Chicago and when we +disappeared so suddenly from the town he thought we had gone there and +had followed, but did not overtake us. Inside the city he had run into +Light Fingered Sal and while charitably taking her to her home, as he +supposed, she had relieved him of his watch and his money. He had +notified the police and some time later had been summoned to the —th +precinct station to recover his property. There he had seen Nyoda in +the matrons' office. What happened between that time and the moment +when Sahwah opened the door was never made public, but it was evidently +highly satisfactory to him. +</p> + +<p> +There remains but one more tangled thread to straighten out. That +concerns the trunks. We did not find out the truth until long after. +Gladys's trunk had actually been put onto Mr. Hansen's car in Ft. +Wayne, but he had lost it on the way and it was picked up by a man who +went through Wellsville the night of the fire. In the excitement it was +left in the garage, where it was found by the proprietor and sent us in +answer to our description. The one which we had left in Wellsville was +taken by the salesman of the Curline stuff and returned to Gladys's +address several weeks later, rather battered on the outside, but still +intact as to contents. Gladys was aghast when she thought of the trunk +she had forcibly wrested from the man on the road. She left it there in +the police station in the hope that the real owner would get it some +day. That was the last we ever heard of it. Whether the man had +actually stolen it, and who the initials GME of Cleveland referred to +we never found out. +</p> + +<p> +The reason Gladys's second wire to us in Rochester was not received was +that she had absent-mindedly written Rochester, N. Y., instead of +Rochester, Ind. +</p> + +<p> +Well, as far as adventures are concerned, the tale of our trip is told. +The rest was uneventful and the telling of it would be uninteresting, +as it would consist mainly of descriptions of scenery and places, which +the reader already knows by heart from other books. Sherry hinted +strongly that a red car would be a great addition to our color scheme, +but Nyoda firmly refused to let him come with us. She had enough to +look after when she had us, she insisted, without trying to keep him +out of mischief. Besides, ours was a strictly family party and he was +not one of the family—yet. So he meekly continued his journey to +Denver as originally planned, while we went south to Louisville. +</p> + +<p> +Then once more we followed "along the road that leads the way," the +yellow road unwinding like a ribbon under our wheels, but this time we +didn't build any Rain Jinx before we started. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /></p> + +<p class="finis"> +THE END. +</p> + +<p><br /><br /><br /><br /></p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Campfire Girls Go Motoring, by +Hildegard G. 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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: The Campfire Girls Go Motoring + or, Along the Road that Leads the Way + +Author: Hildegard G. Frey + +Posting Date: March 20, 2014 [EBook #6895] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 9, 2003 +Last Updated: May 25, 2006 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Folland, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. HTML version by Al Haines. + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "YES, I AM RUNNING AWAY," SAID THE GIRL IN A TONE OF +DESPERATION.] + + + + +The Camp Fire Girls Go Motoring + +OR + +Along the Road that Leads the Way + + + +By HILDEGARD G. FREY + +AUTHOR OF + +"The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods," "The Camp Fire Girls at +School," "The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House." + + + + + THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +It is at Nyoda's bidding that I am writing the story of our automobile +trip last September. She declared it was really too good to keep to +ourselves, and as I was official reporter of the Winnebagos anyway, it +was no more nor less than my solemn duty. Sahwah says that the only +thing which was lacking about our adventures was that we didn't have a +ride in a patrol wagon, but then Sahwah always did incline to the +spectacular. And the whole train of events hinged on a commonplace +circumstance which is in itself hardly worth recording; namely, that +tan khaki was all the rage for outing suits last summer. But then, many +an empire has fallen for a still slighter cause. + +The night after we came home from Onoway House and shortly before we +started on that never-to-be-forgotten trip, I was sitting at the window +watching the evening stars come out one after another. That line of +Longfellow's came into my mind: + + "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, + Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels." + +That quotation set me to thinking about Evangeline and the tragedy of +her never finding her lover. Could it be possible, I thought, that two +people could come so near to finding each other and yet be just too +late? Not in these days of long distance telephones, I said to myself. +As I looked out dreamily into the mild September twilight, I idly +watched two little girls chasing each other around the voting booth +that stood on the corner. They kept dodging around the four sides, +playing cat and mouse, and trying to catch each other by means of every +trick they could think of. One would go a little way and then stop and +listen for the footsteps of the other; then she would double back and +go the other way, and thus they kept it up, never coming face to face. +I stopped dreaming and gave them my entire attention; I was beginning +to feel a thrill of suspense as to which one would finally outwit the +other and overtake her. The darkness deepened; more stars came out; the +moon rose; still the exciting game did not come to a finish. Finally, a +woman came out on the porch of the house on the corner and called, +"Emma! Mary! Come in now." They never caught each other. + +When I was elected reporter on the trip to keep a record of the +interesting things we saw, so we wouldn't forget them when we came to +write the Count, Nyoda said jokingly, "You'd better take an extra +note-book along, Migwan, for we might possibly have some adventures on +the road." + +I answered, "We've had all the adventures this last summer that can +possibly fall to the lot of one set of human beings, and I suppose all +the rest of our lives will seem dull and uninteresting by comparison." + +I presume Fate heard that remark of mine just as she did that other one +last summer when I observed to Hinpoha that we were going to have such +a quiet time at Onoway House, and sat up and chuckled on the knees of +the gods. In the light of future events it seems to me that it couldn't +have done less than kick its heels against that Knee and have hysterics. + +As I was in the Glow-worm all the time, of course, I was an eye witness +to the things which happened to our party only; but the other girls +have told their tale so many times that it seems as if I had actually +experienced their adventures myself, and so will write everything down +as if I had seen it, without stopping to say Gladys said this or +Hinpoha told me that. It makes a better story so, Nyoda says. + +After Gladys's father had told us we might take the two automobiles and +go on a trip by ourselves, he gave us a road map and told us to go +anywhere we liked within a radius of five hundred miles and he would +pay all the bills, provided, we planned and carried out the whole trip +by ourselves, and did not keep telegraphing home for advice unless we +got into serious trouble. All such little troubles as breakdowns, +hotels and traffic rules we were to manage by ourselves. He has a +theory that Gladys should learn to be self-reliant and means to give +her every opportunity to develop resourcefulness. He thinks she has +improved wonderfully since joining the Winnebagos and considered this +motor trip a good way of testing how much she can do for herself. +Gladys scoffed at the idea of wiring home for help when Nyoda was +along, for Nyoda has toured a great deal and once drove her uncle's car +home from Los Angeles when he broke his arm. Gladys's father knew full +well that Nyoda was perfectly capable of engineering the trip or he +never would have proposed it in the first place, but he never can +resist the temptation to tease Gladys, and kept on inquiring anxiously +if she knew which side of the road to stop on and where to go to buy +gas. Gladys, who had driven her own car for three years! Finally, he +offered to bet that we would be wiring home for advice before the end +of the trip and Gladys took him up on it. The outcome was that if we +returned safe and sound without calling for help Mr. Evans would build +us a permanent Lodge in which to hold our Winnebago meetings. Gladys +danced a whole figure dance for joy, for in her mind the Lodge was as +good as built. + +How we did pore over that road map, trying to make up our minds where +to go! Nyoda wanted to go to Cincinnati and Gladys wanted to go to +Chicago, and the arguments each one put up for her cause were +side-splitting. Finally, they decided to settle it by a set of tennis. +They played all afternoon and couldn't get a set. We finally intervened +and dragged them from the court in the name of humanity, for the sun +was scorching and we were afraid they would be doing the Sun Dance as +Ophelia did if we didn't rescue them. The score was then 44-44 in +games. So now that neither side had the advantage of the other we did +as we did the time we named the raft at Onoway House--joined forces. We +decided to go both to Cincinnati and Chicago. + +As we finally made it out, the route was like this: Cleveland to +Chicago by way of Toledo and Ft. Wayne; Chicago to Indianapolis; +Indianapolis to Louisville. Here Hinpoha got a look at the map and +wanted to know if we couldn't take in Vincennes, because she had been +crazy to see the place since reading Alice of Old Vincennes. So to +humor her we included Vincennes on the road to Louisville, although it +was quite a bit out of the way. Then from Louisville we planned to go +up to Cincinnati and see the Rookwood Pottery that Nyoda is so crazy +about and come back home through Dayton, Springfield and Columbus. We +were all very well pleased with ourselves when we had the route mapped +out at last, and none of us were sorry that Nyoda and Gladys couldn't +agree on Cincinnati or Chicago and had to compromise and take in both. + +Then, when it was decided where we were going, came the no less +important question of what we were to wear on the road. We decided on +our khaki-colored hiking-suits as the shade that would show the dust +the least, and our soft tan regulation Camp Fire hats, with green motor +veils. Besides being eminently sensible the combination was wonderfully +pretty, as even critical Hinpoha, who, at first wanted us to wear smart +white and blue suits, had to admit. It seemed to me the most fitting +thing in the world for a group of Camp Fire Girls to sally forth +dressed in wood brown and green, the colors of nature which in my mind +should be the chosen colors of the whole organization. + +We had a discussion about goggles and Gladys and Hinpoha declared +flatly that they wouldn't disfigure their faces with them, but Nyoda +made us all get them whether we wanted to wear them all the time or +not. Nyoda is an advocate of Preparedness. It was this spirit that +prompted her to make me take an extra note-book along, not the +premonition that there was going to be something to put into it. Nyoda +doesn't believe in premonitions since she didn't have any the time she +and Gladys got into the blue automobile with the cane streamer that +awful day in May. + +Then there came the weighty matter of the names of the two cars. I will +skip the discussion and merely announce the result. The big, brown car +which Gladys was to drive was christened the Striped Beetle, on account +of the black and gold stripes, and the black car was called the +Glow-worm, because that's what it reminds you of when it comes down the +road at night with the lamps lighted and the body invisible in the +darkness. Nyoda was to be at the helm, or rather at the wheel, of the +Glow-worm. + +In order that no feelings might be involved in any way over which car +we other girls traveled in, Nyoda, Solomon-like, proposed that she and +Gladys play "John Kempo" for us. (That isn't spelled right, but no +matter.) Gladys won Hinpoha, Chapa and Medmangi, and Nyoda won Sahwah, +Nakwisi and myself. Thus the die was cast and my fortunes linked with +those of the Glow-worm. + +I don't remember ever being so supremely happy as I was the night +before we were to start. All my troubles seemed over for good. The +summer venture had been a success and the doors of college stood wide +open to receive me when the time came. The awful weight of poverty +which had sat on my shoulders last year, and had made my school days +more of a nightmare than anything else was lifted, and here was I, +"Migwan, the Penpusher", actually about to start out on an automobile +trip such as I had often heard described by more fortunate friends, but +had never hoped to experience myself. We were all over at Hinpoha's +house that night, because Aunt Phoebe had just come back with the +Doctor and they wanted to see us. + +"And you be careful of your bones, Missis Sahwah!" said the Doctor, +playfully shaking his finger at her. + +"Are you going if it rains?" asked Aunt Phoebe. + +The possibility of rain had never occurred to us, as the only picture +we had seen in our mind's eye had been country roads gleaming in the +sunshine, but Gladys said scornfully that she would like to be shown +the group of Camp Fire Girls who would let themselves be put off by +rain. + +"Let's build a Rain Jinx," said Sahwah, who always has the most +whimsical inspirations. + +"A what?" asked Gladys. + +"A Rain Jinx," said Sahwah, warming to the idea. "A 'doings' to scare +away the Rain Bird and the Thunder Bird." + +As the foundation for her Rain Jinx she took Hinpoha's Latin book, +which she declared was the driest thing in existence. On top of that +she piled other books which were nearly as dry until she had a sort of +altar. Then she proceeded to sacrifice all the rubbers, rain-coats and +umbrellas she could find, as a propitiatory offering to the Rain Bird. +Thoroughly in the mood for such nonsense, now she proceeded to chant +weird chants around the altar to protect us from all sorts of things on +the road; to soften the hearts of traffic policemen; to keep the tires +from bursting, and the machinery from cutting up capers. It was the +most ridiculous performance I have ever seen and Aunt Phoebe and the +Doctor laughed themselves almost sick over it. I laughed so myself that +I could not take notes on what she was saying and so can't let you +laugh at it for yourselves. As a reporter I'm afraid I'm not an +unqualified success. + +In the midst of that "Vestal Virgin" business--Sahwah was flourishing a +chamois vest to give us the idea of _vestal_--Nyoda walked in. There +was only one low lamp burning in order to carry out Sahwah's idea of +what a Rain Jinx ceremony should be like, and Nyoda couldn't clearly +make out the objects in the room. + +"Look out for the Rain Jinx!" called Sahwah, warningly. "If you touch +it it will bring us bad luck instead of good." + +But it was too late. Nyoda had stumbled over the pile of things on the +floor, and in falling sent the elements of the Rain Jinx flying in all +directions. Hinpoha flew to light the light and Sahwah picked Nyoda up +out of the mess and set her in a chair, while the rest of us collected +the scattered articles and tidied up the room, and Sahwah painted in +lurid colors to Nyoda the dire consequences of her crime, and made her +give her famous "Wimmen Sufferage" speech as an act of atonement. + +The Rain Bird must have forgiven her on the strength of that speech, +for there never was such a perfect blue and gold day as the morning we +started out. I have already told you how we were divided up in the +cars. Gladys in the Striped Beetle went first, carrying with her +Hinpoha, Chapa and Medmangi, and Nyoda drove the Glow-worm right behind +her with Sahwah, Nakwisi and myself. Hinpoha insisted upon bringing Mr. +Bob, her black cocker spaniel, along as a mascot. Of course, everybody +wanted to sit beside the driver and we had to compromise by planning to +change seats every hour to give us all a chance. We all carried our +cameras in our hands to be ready to snap anything worth while as it +came along, and beside that Nakwisi had her spy-glass along as usual +and I had my reporter's note-book. In honor of my being reporter they +let me sit beside Nyoda at the start. + +Nakwisi couldn't wait until we got under way and bounced up and down on +the seat with impatience. "What's the matter with you?" said Sahwah, +"You're a regular _starting-crank_!" + +"That will do, Sahwah," said Nyoda, with mock severity. "I want it +distinctly understood that anybody who indulges in puns on this trip is +going to get out and walk." + +With that threat she settled herself behind the wheel and turned on the +gasoline, or whatever it is you do to start a car. Thus we started off, +like modern day Innocents Abroad, with the Winnebago banner across the +back of each car, and our green veils fluttering in the breeze. Mr. +Evans waved the paper on which the bet was recorded significantly, and +shouted "Remember!" in a sepulchral tone, and it was plain to be seen +he was sure he would win the bet. He even tempted Fate so far as to +throw an old rubber after us as we departed, instead of an old shoe, to +bring us luck according to the Rain Jinx. It landed in the tonneau of +our car and Sahwah pounced upon it as a favorable omen and kept it for +a mascot. + +With a great cheering and waving of handkerchiefs we were off. The +Striped Beetle was just ahead of us in all the glory of its new coat of +paint and its bright banner, and I couldn't help thrilling with pride +to think that I, for once, belonged to such a gay company, I, who all +my life had to be content with shabby things. I suppose we must have +cut quite a figure with our tan suits all alike and our green veils, +for people stopped to look at us as we passed through the streets. It +was not long before we were outside the city limits and running along +the western road toward Toledo. + +I always did think September was the prettiest month in which to go +through the country in the lake region on account of the grapes. The +vineyards stretched for miles along the road and the air was sweet with +the perfume of the purple fruit. There were wide corn-fields, too, that +made me think of the poem: + + "Up from the meadows rich with corn, + Clear in the cool September morn--" + +Oh, there never was such a beautiful country as America, nor such a +happy girl as I! In one place someone had planted a long strip of +brilliant red geraniums through the middle of a green field and the +effect was too gorgeous for description. (I'm glad I noted all those +things and put them down on the first part of the trip, for afterwards +I scarcely thought of looking at the scenery.) + +The girls in the car ahead kept shouting back at us and trying to make +up a song about the Striped Beetle, and, of course, we had resurrected +the one-time popular "Glow-worm" song and made the hills and dales +resound with the air of the chorus: + + "Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Lead us lest too far we wander, + Love's sweet voice is calling yonder; + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Light the path, below, above, + And lead us on to love!" + +Then there would come a chorus of derision from the Striped Beetles, +who politely inquired which one of us expected to be led to her Prince +Charming by that mechanical Glow-worm; and flung back our chorus in a +parody: + + "Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Till the Law makes you put on the dimmer!" + +Then we christened the horn of the Striped Beetle "Love", because that +was the only "sweet voice" we heard calling yonder. I don't believe I +ever had such a good time as I did on the road to Toledo. We got there +about noon and went to a large restaurant for dinner. Even there people +looked up from their tables as we eight girls came in, dressed in our +wood brown and green costumes, and we heard several low-voiced remarks, +"They're probably Camp Fire Girls." + +We had a great deal of fun at dinner where we all sat at one big table. +Sahwah and Hinpoha sat at the two ends and got into a dispute as to +which end was the head of the table. "Stop quarreling about it, you +ridiculous children," said Nyoda. "'Wherever Magregor sits--' you know +the rest." + +While she was speaking I saw a tourist at another table, dressed in a +long dust coat and wearing monstrous goggles that covered the entire +upper half of his face and made him look like a frog, lean forward as +if to catch every word. Nyoda is perfectly stunning in her motor suit +and I couldn't blame the man for admiring her, but we did want Nyoda to +ourselves on this trip, and the thought of having men mixed up in it +put a damper on my spirits. I suppose Nyoda will leave us for a man +sometime, but the thought always makes me ill. I came out of my little +reverie to find that Gladys had appropriated my glass of water and +Sahwah and Hinpoha were still disputing about being the head of the +table. Finally, we jokingly advised Sahwah to ask the waiter, and she +promptly took us up and did it, and found that Hinpoha was the head. + +"I'm going to have the head at the next place we eat," Sahwah declared, +owning her defeat with as good grace as she could. And Fate winked +solemnly and began to slide off the knees of the gods. + +From Toledo to Ft. Wayne, our next stop, there were two routes, the +northern one through Bryan and the southern one through Napoleon and +Defiance. As there didn't seem to be much difference between them we +played "John Kempo" and the northern route won, two out of three. As we +were threading our way through the streets of the town, an old woman +tried to cross the street just in front of the Glow-worm. Nyoda sounded +the horn warningly but the noise seemed to confuse her. She got across +the middle of the street in safety and Nyoda quickened up a bit, when +the woman lost her head and started back for the side she had come +from. She darted right in front of the Glow-worm, and although Nyoda +turned aside sharply, the one fender just grazed her and she fell down +in the street. Of course, a crowd collected and we had to stop and get +out and help her to the sidewalk where we made sure she was not hurt. +Nyoda finally took her in tow and piloted her across the street to the +place where she wanted to go. + +When the excitement was over and the crowd had dispersed we returned to +the car and Nyoda started up once more. Then for the first time we +noticed that the Striped Beetle was nowhere in sight. Apparently Gladys +had not noticed our stopping in the confusion of the busy street and +had gone on ahead without us. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Gladys, as the leader, had the road map with her with the route marked +out which we were to follow. We hastened to the end of the street, +expecting to catch sight of the Striped Beetle just around the corner, +but it was nowhere to be seen. We stopped at a store and asked if they +had seen it come by and they said, yes, it had just passed and had +turned to the left up --th Street. We followed swiftly, thinking to +come upon the girls each moment, but there was no sign of them. + +"They surely have discovered by this time that we are not behind them +and must be waiting for us," said Nyoda. "I can't understand it." + +"Gladys is probably trying to see if we can trail her through the city +to the motor road," said Sahwah. "You know how much we talked about +being self-reliant? We'll probably find her where the road branches out +from the city, waiting with a stop watch to see how long it took us to +find her." + +"We'll get there," said Nyoda grimly, her sporting blood up. + +Everywhere along the road people told us about the brown car that had +gone just ahead of us and pointed out the direction it had taken. Every +time we turned a corner we expected to hear the laughter of the girls +who were leading us such a merry chase, but we didn't. Soon we were out +of the city and on the country road once more, and we were quite a bit +puzzled not to find them waiting for us. We certainly thought the joke +was to have ended here. But a man walking along the road had seen the +car go by half an hour before. + +"Half an hour!" we echoed. "Gladys must have been speeding to have +gotten so far ahead of us." Of course, the Striped Beetle is a +six-cylinder car and more powerful than the Glow-worm, which is a four, +and then they hadn't stopped at every corner to ask the way, so it +wasn't so strange after all that Gladys was so far ahead. + +"We'll make some speed on this road," said Nyoda resolutely, "and if we +don't catch Lady Gladys before she gets to Ft. Wayne, I'll know the +reason why. This is the road to Bryan, isn't it?" she asked, with her +hand on the starting-lever. + +"No," said the man. "This here road goes through Napoleon and Defiance. +It gets to Ft. Wayne all right, but it doesn't go through Bryan." + +Nyoda stopped in surprise. "The southern route?" she said, wonderingly. +"Why, we decided on the northern. Whatever could have made Gladys +change her mind without letting us know? Are you sure it was a brown +car with four girls dressed just like us?" + +The man was positive. It was the suits and the veils all alike that had +caught his eye in the first place. He didn't generally remember much +about the cars that went past. There were too many of them. But these +girls looked so fine in their tan suits that he just had to look twice +at them. They were laughing fit to kill and all waved their +handkerchiefs at him as they passed. + +We looked at each other in astonishment. It was undoubtedly the Striped +Beetle that was going along the southern route and we couldn't +understand it. + +"Do you suppose," I said, "that Gladys could have misunderstood when +you were playing 'John Kempo' and thought it was the southern route +that won?" + +"She must have," said Nyoda. "It's not impossible. We were all laughing +and talking so much nonsense at the time that it was hard to think +straight. But it doesn't make any difference," she added, "this route +is as good as the northern, and we are right behind them and I mean to +catch up before we get to Ft. Wayne." I knew what Nyoda was thinking +about. The man had said the girls in the car were laughing fit to kill, +and that looked very much as if there were some joke on foot. We knew +very well they were running away from us and were going to lead us a +chase to Ft. Wayne. + +As we started off in pursuit I looked around from the tonneau, where I +was then sitting, and saw a red roadster not far behind us. There was +one man in it and he was the Frog I had seen goggling at Nyoda in the +dining-room at Toledo. + +We were not so terribly surprised when we did not find the Striped +Beetle at Napoleon where we stopped for gasoline. We knew now that they +would not let us catch them before we got to Ft. Wayne. We inquired at +the service station and found that the brown car had stopped for +gasoline nearly an hour before. Clearly they were not losing any time +on the road. Neither were we gaining on them at that rate. Nyoda looked +thoughtful as she started out once more. I knew she was meditating a +lecture for Gladys when she caught up with her, about running away from +us. Nyoda was responsible for the welfare of seven girls and how could +she fulfil her trust if she had only three under her eye? And I knew as +well as I knew anything that Gladys would forfeit her right to be +leader by that little prank and for the rest of the trip would follow +meekly along behind us. Nyoda would never in the world stand for her +going off like that. But by the puzzled frown on her face I knew that +she didn't understand it any more than I did. Gladys was the last one +in the world to do such a thing. There must be some reason. + +From my seat I could see that the Frog, who had also stopped for +gasoline when we did, was not far behind us. The car he was in looked +like a racing car, with a very long hood in front, and he could easily +have gotten ahead of us. I wondered for a long time why he did not do +so, and then suddenly I had a premonition. He was following us, or +rather Nyoda. Something had told me when I first saw him that we should +see him again. I made a horrible face at him behind my veil and wished +something would happen to his car. + +As we were passing through the village of S---- a chicken started up +right under our front wheels, uttering a startled and startling squawk. +Nyoda swerved to one side and ran squarely into a tree. There was a +bump and a grating sound somewhere beneath us and then the nice +cheerful humming of the motor stopped. Nyoda got out of the car to see +what had been damaged. + +"As far as I can see, only the lamp bracket is bent," she said, but +when she tried to start the car again it wouldn't start. + +"Maybe the driving spider has caught the flywheel," said Sahwah, trying +to be funny. + +Just then the red roadster did pass us, going slowly, and the Frog kept +his eyes riveted on Nyoda all the while. She never looked at him. She +had unbuttoned the roof over the engine and was poking her fingers down +into the dragon's mouth, but undoubtedly the trouble wasn't there. +There was a repair shop not far away--all of the towns along the +touring routes which have an eye to business have some sort of one--and +Nyoda repaired thither and fetched a man who tinkered knowingly with +the regions underneath the Glow-worm and then reported in a dust choked +voice that one of the gears was "on the blink". Just what part of a +car's vital organs a gear is I don't know, but I judged it was an +important one because Nyoda looked serious. + +"What will we do?" she said, tragically. + +"Can fix you up in the shop," said the man, wiping his forehead with a +blue and white handkerchief. "We have a dismantled car of the same make +there and can take a gear out of that." + +So the Glow-worm was trundled up the street into the shop, and we were +told that the damage would be fixed by the next morning. The next +morning! We looked at each other in consternation. + +"But we must get to Ft. Wayne to-night," said Nyoda, in a tone of +finality. + +"Sorry, ladies," said the foreman of the repair shop, "but it can't be +done." Then we realized that we would have to stay in S---- all night. +Here was a pretty mess. And Gladys and Hinpoha and the other two +waiting for us in Ft. Wayne. + +"We'll have to let them know," said Nyoda. "They'll worry when they see +we're not coming." + +"Let them worry," said Sahwah, darkly. "It serves them right for what +they did to us." + +But, of course, we had to let them know. So Nyoda wired the little +hotel where we had planned to stay--and what a good time we were going +to have!--and told the girls to stay there for the night and to please +wait for us in the morning and not leave us again. Of course, the +message was much more condensed than that, but Nyoda got it all in. + +Then there was nothing else for us to do but make the best of a bad +bargain and hunt up the one hotel in S---- and prepare to spend the +night. But when we got there it was crowded. There was a big wedding in +town that night, we were informed, and the out-of-town guests had +filled the hotel. They were already two in a room and there was no hope +of doubling up. Seeing our dismay at this news, the clerk bethought +himself of a woman in the village who had a very large house and often +let rooms to tourists when the hotel was full. She had once been very +wealthy, but had lost everything but the house and now made her living +by keeping boarders. + +We thanked him and hurried off to the address to which he had directed +us. We were very hot and tired and dusty and amazingly hungry. It was +already six o'clock in the evening, and with the difference in time +between our city and this we had been on the road a long day. We were +glad after all that the hotel had not been able to accommodate us when +we saw this house. The hotel was on the main street and the rooms must +have been small and stuffy; anything but comfortable on this hot night. +But this house stood far back from the street in an immense shady yard, +one of those enormous brick houses that well-to-do people were fond of +building about thirty-five years ago, with large rooms and high +ceilings and enough space inside them to quarter a regiment. We blessed +the good fortune which had led our feet to this hospitable looking +door, which, in times gone by, must have opened to admit throngs of +distinguished people. + +There was no door-bell, but a big bronze knocker, and in answer to it a +young girl, presumably the "hired girl", let us into the hall. She took +our coming as a matter of course, so we judged they were prepared for +tourists that day, knowing that the hotel was full on account of the +wedding. Without a word she led us up-stairs and we breathed a sigh of +relief when we thought of a bath and supper. The house must have been +the home of fashionable people in its time, for the furnishings, though +old, were still luxurious. The carpet on the stairs was still thick and +soft to our feet, and the curtains I could see on the windows were of a +fine quality. At the head of the stairs there was an oil painting of a +woman in the dress of a by-gone day. The servant opened the door of a +room at the front end of the long up-stairs hall and we passed in. + +We had known instinctively as soon as we entered the place that the +lady of the house was a woman of refinement and culture, +notwithstanding the reduced circumstances which made it necessary for +her to rent out rooms in this big mansion of a house in order to make +her living. "I should think she'd rent it or sell it," said practical +Sahwah. + +"She probably can't bear to part with these things, which remind her of +her former life," I said, sentimentally. + +We were all anxious to see the woman who had been the mistress of so +much splendor in days gone by and could not give up the house. The +bedroom we were shown to was luxurious compared to what I had been used +to at home. The bed was a mahogany four-poster covered with a spread of +lace, and the rug on the floor was a faded oriental. Opening out of the +bedroom was a bath with a shower and we made a dash to get under the +cooling flood. I have never seen such towels as were stacked up on that +little white table in the bathroom. They were all heavily embroidered +with initials and the fringe on them was every bit of six inches long. + +"The fringe for me!" exclaimed Sahwah, when she saw them. She seized a +whole pile of them at once, using only the fringe for drying, and +putting on affected aristocratic airs that made us shriek with +laughter. We had been dressing all over the two rooms and the floor was +strewn with towels and articles of clothing. Suddenly the door of the +bedroom opened and a woman stood in the room. She was a gray-haired +woman of about fifty, very handsome and proud-looking, and dressed in a +gown of plum-colored satin. She said nothing; just looked at us. I +glanced around at the others. There was Sahwah, her kimono wrapped +loosely around her, patting her feet dry with the fringe of a dozen +towels; Nyoda stood in front of the dressing-table with a towel wrapped +around her, combing her hair: I was sitting on the floor putting my +shoes on, while through the bathroom door came the sounds of the shower +turned on full force, with an occasional shriek from Nakwisi when she +got it too cold. Suddenly I felt unaccountably foolish. Nyoda and +Sahwah looked up and saw the woman the next instant. She stood looking +at us, her eyes nearly popping out of her head, her face purple, +leaning against the foot of the bed for support. Nobody said a word. As +Sahwah expressed it afterward, "Silence reigned, and we stood there in +the rain." + +"How did--how did you get in?" the woman gasped faintly, after a +silence of a full minute. We knew something was wrong. We could feel it +in the marrow of our bones. + +Nyoda, holding her towel closely around her, answered in as dignified a +manner as possible. "We were directed to your house from the hotel as a +place where we could spend the night, and your maid admitted us and +brought us in here. Is there anything the matter?" + +The woman stood staring as if fascinated at the towels which were lying +all over the floor. At that moment Nakwisi opened the door of the bath +and emerged in her dressing-gown, the open door behind her revealing +splashes of water all over the room and more towels on the floor. The +woman put her hand to her throat as if she were choking. She tried to +speak but evidently could not. + +"Isn't this Mrs. Butler's house?" asked Nyoda, with growing misgiving. +"Don't you take in tourists when the hotel is filled?" + +The woman swallowed convulsively and found her voice. "No," she said, +emphatically, "this is not Mrs. Butler's house, and I don't take in +tourists when the hotel is filled. This is the McAlpine residence and +my husband is State Senator McAlpine. My daughter is getting married +to-night and we have a houseful of wedding guests. We had two special +trains, one from Chicago and one from New York, bringing guests. If my +maid let you in she thought you were some of them." Then she looked +around the room and seemed on the verge of apoplexy once more. "But how +did you get in here?" she cried, wildly. "This is the bridal chamber!" + +I suddenly felt weak in the back-bone, and thought my head was going to +drop into my lap. The towel fell from Nyoda's shoulders and she stood +there like a statue with her long hair around her. Sahwah stopped still +with her foot on the stool and the handful of towels in her hand. For +one moment we remained as if turned to stone and then Sahwah buried her +face in the towels with a muffled shriek. If embarrassment ever killed +people I know not one of us would have survived. Nyoda apologised +profusely for our intrusion, which, after all, was not our fault, as we +soon found. The hotel man had told us number 65 South Vine Street when +it was number 65 North Vine Street he had meant. + +We got dressed faster than we ever had before in our lives and packed +up our scattered belongings, leaving the rooms nearly as tidy as they +were when we came in. Mrs. McAlpine had withdrawn into the next room, +and through the closed door we could hear the sound of excited talking +and knew that she was telling the story to someone. When she had +finished we heard a man's voice raised in a regular bellow. Evidently +it had struck him as funny. + +"No!" we heard him chortle. "You don't mean it! Got put into the bridal +chamber, ha, ha! When you wouldn't let me put a foot into it! Took a +bath and used up all the wedding towels that you wouldn't even let me +touch! Oh, ha! ha! ha!" The very house seemed to shake with the +violence of his mirth. Senator McAlpine, for we judged it was he, must +have had a sense of humor. "Where are they?" we heard him shout. "Let +me see them!" + +But at the thought of facing that battery of laughter we fled in haste. +Feeling unutterably small and ridiculous, we crept down-stairs and out +of the front door, past numbers of people who were arriving. Once out +on the sidewalk we leaned against the ornamental iron fence and laughed +until we cried. The more we thought about it the funnier it seemed. +What a tale we would have to tell the other girls when we met them in +the morning! + +As we had had our bath there only remained supper, and we certainly did +justice to it when we finally arrived at Mrs. Butler's house on North +Vine Street. It was after eight o'clock and we were ravenous. The rooms +we had in that house, while they were nothing compared to what we +almost had, were still very comfortable, and we were in such high +spirits that any place at all would have looked good to us. Our long +day in the open air had made us sleepy and it was not long before we +were all touring in the Car of Dreams. + +While we were eating breakfast in Mrs. Butler's big, airy dining-room +we heard a boy arrive at the kitchen door and ask for the "automobile +ladies." He had been sent out from the telegraph office and the hotel +clerk had told him where we were. He handed Nyoda a message. As she +read it a surprised and puzzled look came into her face. + +"What is it, Nyoda?" we all cried. + +She handed us the bit of yellow paper. It was what is called a service +message from the telegraph company, and read: "Message sent Gladys +Evans Potter Hotel Ft. Wayne undelivered. No such party registered." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +We stared in open-mouthed astonishment. Gladys and the others not in +Ft. Wayne? If they weren't there, where were they? We were expecting to +join them this very morning. Nyoda came to a sensible conclusion first, +as she always does, "Where are they?" she repeated. "Why, stranded in +some place along the road, just as we are, of course. We're not the +only ones that can have accidents. I thought Gladys would get into some +trouble or other at the rate she was driving that car. I hope none of +them got hurt, but it serves them right if they did have a hold-up of +some kind. And I hope the trouble, whatever it is, keeps them tied up +until we overtake them. We must ask at every village whether the +Striped Beetle is there. Wouldn't we laugh to see them standing around +some garage waiting impatiently for the damage to be mended?" + +It was nine o'clock before the Glow-worm was in running order again and +we were ready to take the road once more. Since being towed into the +repair shop the night before we had seen nothing of the Frog, and I +concluded that he had gone on his way and would cross our path no more. +But we had not gone many miles on the road when I saw the now familiar +roadster traveling leisurely along behind us. I mentioned the fact +casually to Nyoda as I was sitting beside her, and while she made no +comment whatever, I noticed that she began gradually to increase the +pace of the car. As yet neither of us had hinted at our unspoken +antagonism to this persistent follower--for Nyoda was antagonistic to +him, because I noticed that she bit her lip in an annoyed way when she +saw him again. After all, he might not be following us. He certainly +had every right in the world to be traveling in the general direction +of Chicago over the public highway at the same time we were making our +trip. + +And yet--why did he stay all night in S---- when there was nothing the +matter with his car, and when accommodations were so very scarce. We +hadn't the least idea where he had stayed, but he must have been in +S---- all night or he couldn't have followed us out in the morning. +Even that fact, which might have been a coincidence, did not convince +me so much that he was following us as my own intuition did. And I have +learned by experience to respect those intuitions. Out of a whole +dining-room full that man had been the only one who had attracted my +attention, and I felt antagonistic toward him instantly. I had the same +feeling when I saw him behind us on the road to Napoleon. And the worst +part of it was that he had done absolutely nothing to make me feel that +way toward him. He hadn't been impertinent, in fact, he had never said +a single word to any of us! All he had done was to stare searchingly at +Nyoda through that goggle mask of his. There was nothing the matter +with his looks, goodness knows. All we could see under the big goggles +were part of a nose and a brown mustache and they looked harmless +enough. Then why did Nyoda and I both have the same feeling toward him? + +We inquired carefully all the way, but nowhere did we come upon any +trace of the Striped Beetle. At several places they had seen the brown +car go by the day before and at one place it had stopped for gasoline, +but no one knew of any repairs that had been made on it. The thing +began to loom up like a puzzle. If the Striped Beetle had not been +delayed by accident why had not Gladys arrived in Ft. Wayne the night +before as per schedule. + +"Possibly they did arrive all right, and didn't go to a hotel because +you weren't with them," suggested Sahwah. "Gladys may have friends +there and they may have stayed with them." That fact was so very +probable that we ceased to worry about the girls, trusting that the +whole thing would be made clear when we got to Ft. Wayne. + +We were in Indiana now, running through beautiful farm country, with +occasional tiny villages. Sahwah made up a game, estimating the number +of windmills we would see in a certain time and then counting them as +we passed to see how near she came to being right. As we were keeping a +sharp lookout on each side of the road so as not to miss any, we saw a +girl running across a field toward the road just ahead of us. She was +waving her arms and we looked to see whom or what she was waving at, +but there was nothing in sight. + +"I actually believe she's waving at us!" said Sahwah. There was no +mistake about it. The girl stood still in the road waiting for us to +come up and motioned us to stop. We did so. She stood and looked at us +for a minute as if she were afraid to speak. I looked back to see if +the Frog was gaining on us. The red roadster had disappeared. The girl +who stood before us looked about eighteen or twenty. She wore a plain +suit of dark blue cloth with a long skirt down to the ground and a +white sailor hat with a veil draped around it that covered her face. In +her hand she held a small traveling bag. She looked beseechingly from +one to the other of us and then her eyes came back to Nyoda. + +"Could you--would you--will you take me to Decatur?" she faltered. +"I'll pay you whatever you think it's worth," she added hastily. Now +Decatur was out of our course altogether, some miles to the south. We +were hurrying to Ft. Wayne to find out what had become of Gladys and +why our telegram had come back unanswered. But this girl was plainly in +trouble. Through the veil we could see that her face looked haggard and +her eyes were big and staring. She looked frightened to death. No girl +in trouble ever came to Nyoda in vain. + +"Do you want to go to Decatur very badly?" she asked, gently. + +"I must go," said the girl, earnestly. "I have to catch a train there, +the train for Louisville." She checked herself when she had said that +and looked around as if afraid she had been overheard. + +"But why go to Decatur?" asked Nyoda. "You can get the Louisville train +in Ft. Wayne. We are going directly to Ft. Wayne and are nearer there +now than Decatur. We will be very glad to take you along." + +But at the mention of Ft. Wayne the girl shrank back. "No, no, not +there," she said in evident terror. "They--they would be watching for +me there." + +Nyoda looked at the girl keenly. She must have seen what we did not. +"My dear," she said, in a big sister tone, "are you running away from +home?" + +The girl started and looked haunted. "Yes, I am running away," she said +in a tone of desperation, "but I'm not running away from home. I'm +running back home. Home to my mother." She looked over her shoulder at +a house set far back from the road. + +"Tell me about it," said Nyoda, with that smile of hers that never +fails to win a confidence. The girl looked into Nyoda's eyes and did +not look away again. It's the way everybody does. + +"I'm Margery Anderson," she said. "You know now who I am and why I'm +running away." + +Yes, we all knew. The papers all over had been full of the fight Mr. +and Mrs. Anderson, who were separated, had been making to get +possession of their daughter Margery. The law had given her to her +mother, but she had been kidnapped twice by her father and the last +that had been published about her was that she was in the keeping of an +uncle, who was hiding her from her mother. But the papers had said that +Margery was only thirteen years old. This girl looked older. + +"My uncle wants to take me to Japan, where I'll never see my mother +again," she said. "I want my mother!" she finished with a very childish +sob. + +Nyoda got out of the car and put her arm around her. "You shall go to +your mother, my dear," she said. "We'll take you to Decatur." + +In walking to the car Margery fell all over the long skirt she was +wearing, and then we realized that she was dressed up in someone else's +clothes to make herself look older. She was only thirteen after all. +Nyoda had been able to observe this right away when she had looked at +her closely. She was as straight and as slender as a boy and the jacket +modeled for an older woman hung on her as on a pole. + +"Do you know the road to Decatur?" asked Nyoda. Margery said that she +did, and told Nyoda how to turn. Our arrival in Ft. Wayne would be +delayed an hour or so by going to Decatur, but none of us minded. We +were all keenly interested in this much talked of young girl and were +anxious to see her get to her mother before her uncle could stop her. +Who would not have done the same thing in our place? + +"What time does the Louisville train leave Decatur?" asked Nyoda, +looking at her watch. + +"Eleven-thirty," said Margery. + +Nyoda put the watch back hastily and increased the speed of the car. +She did not say what time it was and none of us asked her, thinking +that the time might be short and Margery would be worried for fear we +would not make it. We knew Nyoda would make it if she possibly could do +so. Margery looked at her inquiringly, and Nyoda answered with a bright +reassuring smile. Once Nyoda and I caught each other looking behind at +the same moment and we each smiled faintly. The red roadster was +nowhere in sight. By making this detour to Decatur while it was delayed +on the road we had undoubtedly thrown it off the track. + +We could not have been many miles from Decatur when a shot startled us. +We all looked around expecting to see Margery's uncle after us, but it +was only the bursting of a tire. Only the bursting of a tire! But to +this day I hold that that tire did not burst of its own accord. Fate +deliberately jabbed a pin into it. We carried an extra and with the +help of a farmer who was passing we jacked up the Glow-worm in a hurry +and put on its new gum shoe, Margery walked up and down the road +nervously during the process. I suppose the minutes seemed like hours +to her. + +I beguiled the time by scribbling verses in my note-book to celebrate +the occasion: + + "Tires, brand new tires, I know not what they mean, + Freshly inflated from the Free Air pump, + Giving no warning of their base designs, + Scatter in air with a terrific bang, + And all upon a sudden are no more. + + "Sweeter it is than dreams of paradise + To ride with friends beside one in one's car, + O'er sunlit roads; past fields of waving grain. + Bitter it is as drops of greenest gall, + To blow a tire, and sit there in the sun." + +At this juncture the exchange of tires was completed and we were off +once more. I saw Nyoda look at her watch. + +"What time is it?" asked Margery. + +"My watch has stopped," answered Nyoda. There was a clock on the corner +of two streets in the next village we passed through and the hands +pointed to eleven. This would give us plenty of time. We were not far +from Decatur. We all breathed a sigh of relief, for we had been afraid +that the bursting of the tire had caused us to miss the train. Nyoda +calculated closely and announced that we would have time to stop and +buy gasoline. She was not sure whether we had enough to make Decatur or +not, and it would be a shame to go dry outside the very walls of Rome, +she said. It took the young boy in charge of the place where they sold +the gasoline some minutes to fill our tank, as he was only looking +after the place while the proprietor was out and he was awkward. It was +ten minutes after eleven when we got under way again. Nyoda set her +watch by the clock. + +When we got into Decatur we had an unpleasant surprise. All the clocks +we came to said ten minutes to twelve. The other clock we had seen had +been half an hour slow. We hurried to the station in the hope that the +train was late, but there was no such luck. It had been on time for +once. Margery sank down on the seat in the waiting-room and looked at +us with wide frightened eyes. Clearly she was appealing to Nyoda to +tell her what to do. + +"When is the next train to Louisville?" Nyoda inquired at the ticket +window. + +"None until to-morrow noon," was the reply. + +Margery looked so dismayed that Nyoda said hastily, "Why won't you go +to Ft. Wayne and get the train there? The fast trains that don't stop +here stop there and you can get one later in the day." + +But Margery looked more frightened than ever. "I can't go to Ft. +Wayne," she said. "My uncle would expect me to go there and would have +the station watched. That's why I wanted to go to Decatur. They would +never think of looking there for me. What shall I do. I know I'll never +get to mother!" + +She looked so young and babyish and helpless that Nyoda made up her +mind on the spot that she was not the kind of girl who could be left on +her own resources. + +"Tell me," she said, "does your mother expect you to-morrow?" + +Margery shook her head. "She doesn't even know that I'm coming." + +"Then," said Nyoda decidedly, "I'm not going to leave you to find your +way there alone. We will be going through Louisville in a few days and +you're going to stay right with us until we get there. Your uncle will +probably be having trains watched and would never think of you in an +automobile. It is the best solution of the problem. We'll get you a +dress and veil like the other girls and everyone will think you are one +of our party. In that case you don't need to be afraid to go to Ft. +Wayne, where we must stop, as we will not go near a railway station." + +Margery agreed to this plan with such an air of relief that it was +plain to be seen what an ordeal it had been for her to try to travel +alone. + +With this delay of having to go to Decatur it was past noon before we +got to Ft. Wayne. Once there we were at a loss how to proceed to find +the Striped Beetle and the girls. I believe everyone of us confidently +expected to find them waiting for us at some point where the road +entered the city, and it threw us off our bearings to find they were +not there. Even Nyoda was plainly puzzled what to do. We found the +little Potter Hotel where we were to have stayed and asked to see the +register. It was possible that the girls had been there after all in +spite of the telegram not having been delivered. Telegrams have failed +to connect before. But they had not been there. If they had stayed with +friends we did not know where they were now. It was a riddle. Not +getting any light on the subject we decided to eat our dinner before we +looked farther. + +We checked our cameras and the man at the checking counter looked at us +closely when we came up. There was no one else there and he seemed +inclined to be talkative. + +"There was a party just like you here yesterday," he said. + +"What do you mean by 'just like us?'" we asked. + +"Same clothes," he answered. "Four girls in tan suits and green veils +and one in a blue suit and white veil." + +We all looked at each other. The four girls were evidently ours, but +who was the one in blue? + +"What time were they here?" we asked. + +"About five o'clock yesterday afternoon," he answered. "They checked +some things here and then went into the dining-room." + +Five o'clock was the time we should all have reached Ft. Wayne if +things had gone right. + +"Have you any idea where they have gone now?" we asked, eagerly. + +"They were on their way to Chicago, going through Ligonier," answered +the man. "I heard them talking about it. They seemed to be in a great +hurry and were only in the dining-room about fifteen minutes. The one +in blue kept telling them to make haste." + +"The plot thickens," said Sahwah. "Gladys is mixed up in some adventure +of her own, apparently. She's not running away from us for the fun of +the thing, you can rest assured. I never thought so from the first. +She's probably taking some distressed damsel to Chicago in a grand rush +and counts on us to trust her until we catch up with her and hear the +explanation." + +"Yes," agreed Nyoda, "she must have had some urgent reason for acting +so, that's a foregone conclusion." + +"It's a _four gone_ one all right," said Sahwah, but Nyoda's mind was +too busy with wondering about Gladys to notice the pun. + +"I think the best thing to do is to follow them as fast as we can," +said Sahwah. + +"I think so too," said Nyoda. + +Puzzled as we were about Gladys's strange behavior, we were yet +relieved of all anxiety about the Striped Beetle and its passengers. +The girls were on their way to Chicago by way of Ligonier, the way we +had planned in the beginning, and had undoubtedly not fallen by the +wayside. We did wait long enough in Ft. Wayne to buy Margery a suit and +veil just like ours and were surprised and gratified to find that we +could get a suit exactly like ours down to the last button. + +"Who do you suppose the girl in blue is with Gladys?" we asked each +other, as we took the road again. But, of course, no one could answer +this. + +I was sitting in the front seat beside Nyoda. We had not gone very far +on the way when I saw her knit her brows in a frown and heard her +mutter to herself, "I thought we had lost you!" At the same time she +increased the speed of the car. Naturally, I looked ahead in the +direction in which she was looking, but there was nothing in sight. +Then I looked behind. About a hundred yards behind us was the red +roadster with the Frog calmly sitting at the wheel. How did Nyoda know +he was there? She had not turned around since we had left Ft. Wayne. + +"Have you an eye in the back of your head?" I asked, curiously. + +"No, but I have one in the back of my collar," she answered, trying to +hide her annoyance in a joke. "I just had a feeling he was there," she +added. + +This time I actually had a chill when I saw him. There was something +terrifying in that figure always following us, never coming any nearer, +never saying anything, but yet, never losing sight of us. Those +mask-like goggles and the cap he wore pulled low over his face made him +look like one of the creatures you see in a bad dream. + +We had spent so much time in Ft. Wayne looking for a suit for Margery +that it was four o'clock before we finally got under way. The morning +had been fine, but the afternoon was misty and chilly. It must have +rained not long before, for the road was muddy. We did not make such +very good time, for the car began to act badly, and it was soon evident +that something was wrong. We began to run slowly. Involuntarily, I +glanced around to see how much the roadster was gaining on us. It had +slowed down too and was going at exactly our pace. By this time the +other girls could not help noticing that it was following us. Margery +crouched in the seat and clung to Sahwah's arm. She was sure it was her +uncle after her, and then I had to explain that the Frog had been +following us all the way from Toledo, before we had taken her in. + +We had expected to make Ligonier in a very short time and reach South +Bend before night, but as things turned out we never got there at all. +Somewhere between Ligonier and Goshen, at a little town called +Wellsville, the poor Glow-worm must have been taken with awful pains in +its insides, for it began to pant and gasp like a creature in misery, +and utter little squeals of distress. There was nothing left to do but +hunt up the one garage in town, which fortunately had a repair shop in +connection with it, and get someone to look at the engine. I don't +pretend to know anything about the machinery of the car, so I haven't +the slightest idea what was the matter, but the man talked knowingly +about magnetos and carburetors and said he could have the trouble fixed +by eight o'clock in the evening. We were vexed that it should take so +long, because we had expected to make South Bend early in the evening, +but there was no help for it, so we repaired to the hotel next +door--"hotel" by courtesy, for it was nothing more than a wayside +inn--for supper. + +It was raining a fine drizzle, and, as we did not care to walk around +in it, after supper we sat in the stuffy parlor and tried to pass away +the hours until the Glow-worm would be cured of its sickness and we +could resume our journey. The carpet on the floor was a mixture of +hideous red and pink roses on a green background. I can see that carpet +yet. It was a Brussels, and Sahwah kept referring to it as one of the +Belgian Atrocities. There was a larger room opening out of the parlor +in which we sat, a sort of general reception and smoking-room combined. +There was an old square piano out there and some young man was banging +ragtime on it, while half a dozen others leaned over it and roared out +songs in several different keys at once. All around the room sat men, +smoking until the air was blue, and talking in loud voices, or shouting +snatches of the songs. They seemed a rather noisy lot and from the +scraps of conversation we heard we judged that they had come from +somewhere to attend the September horse races which were being held in +the neighborhood. At any rate, the hotel was swarming with them and we +were glad that we were to get out of there by eight o'clock and did not +have to stay all night. Once one of them walked into the parlor where +we sat and said "Good evenin', ladies," in an impertinent sort of way, +but we all froze him up with a glance and he went out without saying +anything more to us. We saw him cross the other room toward a door at +the farther side, and, as he crossed the floor we saw someone else get +up from a chair in the corner of the room and go out after him. The +second man was right under a light and we recognized the Frog, still +with his goggles and cap on. Soon there came a loud uproar from the +invisible room and unmistakable sounds of scuffling. We waited to hear +no more. If there was going to be a quarrel in that hotel we did not +wish to see any of it. We ran out in the rain and went into the garage +where the man was working on the Glow-worm. The quarrel we had fled +from didn't amount to anything after all, I suppose, for in a few +minutes we heard the men back at their singing. + +It was now nearly eight o'clock and we looked anxiously from time to +time at the Glow-worm to see if it was nearly finished, but some of the +parts were scattered out on the floor and the man was wrenching away at +what was left in the car and did not seem to be in any hurry to put the +others back. At eight o'clock it was not done and Nyoda asked him how +soon it would be. + +"Not before nine or nine-thirty, Miss," replied the man. + +The rain had stopped and we walked up and down the main street for the +next two hours, stopping in at the garage every time we passed, in the +vain hope that the work was finished and we could go on. But it was not +to be so. It was half past ten before it was finally ready and that was +too late to start. We realized that we would have to stay in that inn +all night, much as we were disinclined to do so. The racket was still +in full blast when we returned and were shown to rooms. We had to go up +on the third floor because the other rooms were all taken by the +racketers. The ceiling sloped down on our heads and the windows were +small and the furniture was exceedingly cheap, but it was a place to +stay and that was the main thing. + +"There's only one quilt on my bed," said Nakwisi rather disdainfully, +"and I don't believe that has more than an eighth of an inch of batting +in it." + +"I think an eighth of an inch is a pretty good batting average for a +hotel quilt," giggled Sahwah, whose spirits nothing can dampen. + +We made up our minds to get up at six o'clock and get a good early +start the next morning. As things turned out we got a much earlier +start than we had anticipated. Margery didn't like the room at all and +cried while she was undressing, and Nyoda had to pet her and make a +fuss over her before she would lie down in the bed. I couldn't help +wondering just what Nyoda would have done to one of us if we had cried +about that hotel room. But then Margery isn't a Winnebago, and that +makes a lot of difference. + +We went to sleep with the banging of the piano and the sound of the +songs floating up from downstairs, and each of us puzzling about the +appearance of the Frog and wondering why he hadn't approached us in the +parlor if he were really trying to make our acquaintance. Possibly he +meant to, later, only we upset his plan by going out when we did, I +reflected. It really had been rather an eventful day, I thought, even +if we hadn't made much progress with our trip. Think of spending a +whole day in going a distance that should have consumed at the most +only a few hours! We really must get an early start to-morrow and make +Chicago in good time, or be laughed at for running a lame duck race, I +thought as I dropped off to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +I woke up with the strangest feeling I have ever had in my life. I +remember dreaming that we had left the door open, and all the tobacco +smoke from below had floated up into the room and was choking me. When +I first awoke I thought that the racketers were still at it below, for +from somewhere there came a horrible din. There was the sound of many +voices shouting unintelligible things, when suddenly above the roar one +voice shrieked out "Fire!" Then I knew. The room was filled with smoke, +dense and choking. + +"Wake up!" I shouted, shaking Sahwah, who was sleeping with me. I +dragged her out of bed and we two ran into the other room where Nyoda +and Nakwisi and Margery were sleeping. The smoke was still thicker +there and I believe they must have been nearly suffocated. We had hard +work rousing them. Above the shouts of the people in the street below +we could hear an ominous crackling that increased every minute. At +first I was so frightened I could hardly move. It was the first time I +had ever been in a burning building. The time the tepee burned we were +out of it in one jump, before we had realized what had happened. I +shudder yet, when I hear crackling wood. + +Nyoda's voice roused me to action. She had regained her wits and was +cool-headed as usual. Margery clung to her and screamed and she shook +her and told her to be quiet. + +"Carry out your clothes if you can find them, girls," she said calmly, +"but don't wait to put anything on." + +We groped through the smoke and found our clothes on the chair beside +the bed, and gathering them up went out into the hall. The hotel was +old-fashioned, with a long, narrow wooden hallway running the entire +length of the up-stairs, crossed in places by other halls. Somewhere +along that hall was the stairway; we had a dim remembrance of the +direction from which we had come up the night before. We had to grope +our way along by keeping our hands on the wall, for the smoke was so +thick that it was impossible to see a step before us. We reached the +stairs at last. After one look we jumped back in alarm. The whole +stairway was one mass of leaping flames. I have never seen such a +dreadful sight. We groped our way back toward our rooms, which were at +the front of the building, intending to lean out of the windows and +shout for help from below. But we lost our way in the smoke and could +not find the way back. There we were, caught like rats in a trap, with +the flames beginning to come through the floor in places, and the smoke +rolling around us in blinding, suffocating clouds. There was no escape, +then. We were to perish in this hotel blaze. Would we ever be +identified? How soon would they know at home? All these things flashed +through my mind as we stood there in the midst of that awful nightmare. + +Suddenly something appeared out of the smoke close beside us, something +white and ghostlike. Then a voice spoke. "Follow me, girls," it said, +and we knew that the ghost was a man with a towel tied over his face. +"All of you get in line behind your mother," said the voice thickly, +"and each one hold onto the one in front of you. Don't let go, or +you'll be lost and I can't watch you." + +We didn't even smile at his thinking Nyoda was our mother. With the +military precision we have learned from long practice of doing things +together, we formed in a goose line behind Nyoda, each one gripping +tightly the hand of the one ahead of her, and thus we began to move +forward. After what seemed a hundred years, but could not have been +more than five minutes, we felt a gust of fresh air blowing on us, and +knew that we were standing beside an open window. + +"This window looks out on the roof of the second story at the back of +the building," said the voice, "and it's an easy drop to the roof." + +We had to take his word for it, for the smoke obscured everything so +that we did not know whether we were going to drop three feet or +thirty. The air coming in the window blew the smoke away from our faces +for a moment and we got a breath, or otherwise I am afraid we would +have strangled on the verge of being rescued. Without a moment's +hesitation the hands that belonged to the towel and the voice seized +Nyoda and swung her out of the window as if she had been a feather, and +in a moment her "All right" told that she had landed safely on the +roof. One by one he took us in the same manner. We were still in a +dangerous position, for there was fire under us, although the worst +blaze was at the front of the building, and as far as we could see +there were no ladders anywhere around waiting to take us down. + +"Confound these one-horse country towns, anyway", we heard the voice +mutter, "that can't support a decent Fire Department. + +"Here," he shouted to the gaping crowd below who were watching the few +that were trying to fight the flames with garden hoses, "bring +blankets, hurry!" + +It was rather a thrilling moment when we stood on that burning building +waiting for the blankets to come into which we were to jump. Now that I +look back at it I think we must have been a funny sight, for while we +stood there we threw on our jackets over our night-dresses and held the +rest of our belongings in our hands. With all the rest of her +impedimenta Nyoda had rescued her camera, Nakwisi her spy-glass and I +my note-book, and they gave us an odd, jaunty tourist appearance which +must have been amusing. Well, the people came running with blankets and +held them for us to jump and we jumped, although we had to throw +Margery down. She stood there trembling, afraid to jump and there was +no time to argue the necessity of prompt action. We gathered up our +possessions from the people to whom we had tossed them and hastened +into a near-by house where we got ourselves dressed. + +Our rescuer had jumped right after us, and by the time we had picked +ourselves up and got our breath back enough to thank him he had +vanished from the scene. He must have been the proprietor, we judged, +for he knew the inside of the hotel so well. Possibly he went back to +rescue some more of his patrons. + +After we were dressed we returned to the scene of the fire, which had +drawn people from all the country around, in the usual half-dressed +state in which people go to midnight fires. Of course, there was no +hope of saving the building, for the few thin streams of water that +were playing on it went up in steam as soon as they touched the blaze. +The walls fell in with terrifying crashes and the roof caved in like a +pasteboard box. It had been nothing but a dry shell of a building and +burned like tinder. + +"It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good," said Sahwah, giggling +nervously, "that piano is a hopeless ruin and the people around here +won't have to listen to it any more. And even if they do rebuild the +hotel they can never get another piano like it, for there aren't two +such tin pans in existence." + +After the rain had stopped that night a fog had settled down and the +glare of the flames through the mist made a weird lurid scene that I +shall never forget. All this time the wind had been from the east, +which drove the flames toward an open square where they could set +nothing else afire, but suddenly it veered to the west, and showers of +burning brands began to fall on the roof of the garage where the +Glow-worm was standing. The scanty water force was then turned to save +this building and we had several anxious moments until the wind shifted +again. + +"How foolish I was not to have taken the car out immediately," said +Nyoda. Other people were hurrying to the spot to rescue their cars and +we also went over. The interior of the place had not been damaged by +the small blazes which had been kindled on the roof, though I tremble +to think what might have happened if the gasoline stored inside had +exploded. Thankful that fortune had favored us so far in this night of +accident, we took our way among the other cars in the place to where +the Glow-worm had stood. Then we rubbed our eyes and looked at each +other. For where the Glow-worm had been when we left the place the +night before there was an empty space. A hasty search through the +place, which was not very large, revealed that the car was gone. +Frantically we rushed after the proprietor, who was standing in the +doorway watching the grand spectacle next door. He knew nothing about +the matter. The car had been there when he closed up that night, but as +soon as the fire broke out people had been coming for their cars and +the place had been open. He was much excited over it and declared that +such a thing had never happened before as long as he had been in +business, but then, he added, neither had the hotel ever burned down +before. + +To say that we were dismayed was putting it mildly. To have your own +car stolen is bad enough, but when it is a car belonging to someone +else who has kindly loaned it to you to take a pleasure trip in, it is +ten times worse. Nyoda had promised to bring the car back in safety and +she was almost beside herself at the thought of its being stolen. None +of us ever felt like facing Mr. Evans again. We reproached ourselves a +thousand times that we had not gone for the Glow-worm immediately upon +getting out of the burning building, without waiting to dress or stand +around and watch the walls fall. We searched vainly through the line of +motors moving up and down the street for the familiar black body and +yellow lamps of the Glow-worm. + +Discouraged and heartsick over this new calamity, we retired to the +park-like square on the other side of the hotel to talk things over and +lay out our course of action. Through the trees in the square we could +see something moving along the road, and, by a sudden glare from the +fire we made out the Glow-worm, proceeding slowly and silently in the +opposite direction, and the man at the wheel was the Frog! We all +darted after him, shouting "Stop thief!" at the top of our voices. The +Frog turned around in the seat, saw us streaming across the square, and +evidently decided that the chase was too hot, for he jammed on the +brakes and jumped from the car, leaving the motor still running. He ran +into a clump of shrubbery and disappeared from sight. + +We were too glad to get the car back to hunt for the thief and bring +him to justice. In our relief from the dismay of the moment before we +were ready to hug the old Glow-worm. + +"Girls," said Nyoda, "what do you say to starting out for South Bend +this very minute? I don't believe any of us could sleep any more +to-night even if we had a place to do it, which is extremely doubtful. +It's positive folly to leave this car standing around here any longer. +That garage man is too much interested in the fire to take care of his +business. We have no belongings to go back after, for everything we +left in the hotel is lost." + +We were thankful then that we had carried so little hand luggage, for +beyond a few toilet articles which could easily be replaced at the next +town we had lost nothing. The trunk with our extra clothes was carried +on the car. We agreed to Nyoda's proposal eagerly. Sleep for the rest +of the night was out of the question and we might as well be driving as +not. It would be a good way to get an appetite for breakfast, we all +agreed. + +"Jump in, girls," said Nyoda, taking her place behind the wheel. "You +sit up here with me, Margery." + +Then we had the second shock of the evening. Margery was nowhere to be +seen! We were all sure that she had been there just a moment ago, +clinging to Sahwah's arm and squealing, although we could not remember +whether she had been with us when we ran across the park after the +Glow-worm or not. + +"She has gotten separated from us in the crowd," said Nyoda. "You girls +run and find her while I stay here and watch the car." + +We hunted everywhere, high and low, asking everybody we met, but there +was no trace of her. Finally, we ran into the garage man and thought it +only fair to tell him that we had found the car. He was much overjoyed +at the fact and listened sympathetically when we told him we had lost +Margery. + +"Did she have on a tan suit like yours?" he asked. + +"Yes," we answered eagerly, "have you seen her?" + +"I saw a girl in a tan suit driving away just a minute ago with a man +in a red roadster," he answered. + +"What did the man look like?" we asked. + +"I can't tell you much about his looks," replied the garage man. "He +wore great big green goggles that covered up half of his face. Looked +just like a frog." + +We looked at each other in dismay. The Frog had run off with Margery! +We ran in haste to tell the news to Nyoda. + +"It's queer," she said. "He must be one of her relations after all, +though I surely thought he had begun to follow us from Toledo. But it +might have been only a coincidence that he was behind us then, for +after all he never said anything to us." + +"But why did he take our car first, if it was Margery he was after all +the while?" I asked. + +"So we couldn't follow him," said Sahwah, with startling +clear-sightedness. + +Nyoda, who doesn't believe in premonitions, had one then. "I don't +believe he's a relative of hers at all," she said, flatly. "I have a +feeling in my bones that he isn't. I also have a feeling that something +has happened to Margery which it is our business to investigate." + +In less time than it takes to tell about it we had inquired the +direction taken by the driver of the red roadster and had started in +pursuit. The fog was closing in on us thicker than ever and the +Glow-worm's eyes shone dimly through the white curtain. We could not go +ahead at full speed because we had to proceed slowly and carefully. The +fact that the road was exceptionally good along here was the only thing +that kept us from accident, I suppose. If we had struck some of the +holes that we did a distance back-- + +We were divided between joy over the fact that the Frog couldn't go any +faster than we were going in that fog and so couldn't use his powerful +car to his advantage, and the fear that he would slip off into some +side road without our noticing it and so escape us. The fog naturally +muffled all sounds, but we recognized at last the steady throbbing of a +motor ahead of us on the road and knew that we were on the trail of the +fugitives. We didn't know whether the Frog knew we were after him or +not, but it seemed to us that the throbs began to grow fainter after a +time as if the car were getting farther away. Finally, they stopped +altogether and we began to realize that after all we had not much +chance to catch up with that powerful car. + +"They're leaving us behind," said Sahwah, in a disappointed tone + +The next instant we crashed full into a car that was standing still in +the road and which loomed out of the fog with the suddenness of an +apparition. Nyoda had jammed on the emergency brake a half minute +before we struck or there would have been a worse smash. As it was the +Glow-worm was shaken from end to end and I can imagine what the stalled +car felt like. + +We experienced all the thrills of the heroines in the moving picture +plays when we ran into that car and expected to see the grotesque face +of the Frog in the light of our lamps, with the terrified Margery +near-by. The next minute showed us our mistake. The man who was +standing beside his car in the road, when we had torpedoed it from the +rear was not the Frog. It was a man we had never seen before. He was +all alone. The automobile was not the red roadster, but a limousine. + +We all sprang out to see what damage had been done the Glow-worm. We +were relieved to find it not so terrible after all. Nyoda had given the +steering-wheel a sharp twist the instant she saw she was going to +strike something, and the car glanced to one side, so that it was the +right front wheel and fender that actually struck. The limousine was in +worse shape. Our wheel had jammed into its rear wheel and torn it off, +while the side of the Glow-worm had scraped across the hack of the +bigger car, splintering the wood in places. Every window in the +limousine had been broken by the shock. + +The driver of the battered car stood and looked gloomily at the havoc +we had wrought. + +"Can't you look where you're going?" he burst out angrily. + +"You didn't have your tail lamp lit," replied Nyoda calmly, "and we +couldn't see you in the fog. I tried to turn out but it was too late." + +"It's true," said the man, pacifically. "It's my fault, or rather the +fault of the car. I couldn't make the lights burn. That's why I was +standing here. I was afraid to go ahead in the fog." + +Then I suppose he was afraid that we could bring suit against him for +the damage done to the Glow-worm because he was standing in the road +without any lights, for he left the limousine and came and looked +carefully at what had happened to us. He was much relieved when he saw +it was no worse. The front wheel wobbled tipsily and the fender was +torn off, but these it appeared were not mortal wounds. His eye went +back from our car to his. + +"It's a good thing no one was riding in the back," he said +thoughtfully, looking at the shattered windows. At that very moment a +wail rose from somewhere, coming apparently from the inside of the +limousine. Startled, he leaped over and pulled the door open. He turned +a pocket flash into the car and we could all see that there was +somebody lying on the floor half under the seat. It was a girl in a tan +suit. When the light was flashed into her face she looked up and saw +us. Then she sat up. It was Margery. + +"Margery!" exclaimed Nyoda. "What are you doing here?" + +Margery got out of the tipping car and ran to Nyoda and hung on her +arm. She was trembling so she could hardly stand. She looked from one +to the other of us with big frightened eyes. The owner of the limousine +regarded her in wide-eyed astonishment. + +"How did you get into that car?" asked Nyoda, gently. + +"I hid in it," said Margery. "In the garage. And he," she pointed to +the man, "drove away and I was afraid to come out." + +"What made you hide in the car?" asked Nyoda. + +Margery gave a quick glance around. "I saw my uncle," she said in a +half whisper. "He was looking at the fire. He didn't see me. I ran away +and hid in the garage and when people began coming for their cars I was +afraid they would find me and I got into this one. Pretty soon my uncle +came into the garage. I was down on the floor of the limousine and he +didn't see me. Just then the driver got up in front and began to take +the car out, but I didn't dare open the door and come out. He drove +away with me and I didn't know what to do, so I stayed in. Then the car +stopped on the road and I was going to get out and run away when the +other car came up behind and ran into us. I was afraid it was my uncle +and didn't even come out when the car nearly fell over. But I was +frightened and cried and you heard me and opened the door." + +"Tell me," said Nyoda, "was your uncle the man with the goggles?" + +"No," answered Margery, "he wasn't. My uncle is a little, thin man with +gray hair." + +"It's a mercy you weren't hurt," said Nyoda, thinking with a shudder of +the blow we had dealt the limousine. "You did get cut," she cried, +turning the flashlight full on her face. The blood was running down her +cheek from a cut in her forehead and her arm was also bleeding. We tied +her up with strips of handkerchiefs and set her on the back seat of the +Glow-worm. + +The owner of the limousine decided to leave it there and come for it in +the morning, and, as our engine was not hurt we thought best to drive +on. The man offered to pay for having our wheel fixed and the fender +put on again and seemed dreadfully afraid we were going to sue him. He +gave us his name and address and told us to send the bill to him. He +lived in the neighborhood and could find his way home on foot. + +After he had disappeared in the fog and the Glow-worm was once more +proceeding on her journey, we suddenly realized that we did not know +where we were nor in which direction we were going. We were not on the +road to Chicago, we knew, because the road we had followed out of +Wellsville in pursuit of the Frog had gone off at right angles to that +road. At the time we had thought only of finding out what had become of +Margery and had followed him blindly. The fog was getting thicker +instead of thinner and it was impossible to see anything like a sign +post. A sharp east wind was blowing that chilled us to the bone. It was +rather a dismal situation we found ourselves in. Of all kinds of bad +weather I hate fog the worst. It makes me feel as if I had lost my last +friend. Nyoda hadn't any idea where she was going, but she kept the car +moving slowly, hoping that we would come to a town pretty soon. We +sounded the horn constantly to warn any other vehicles on the road and +Nakwisi offered to sit in front and keep a lookout with her telescope. + +"Telescope!" said Sahwah, scornfully. "What you want is a +collide-o-scope!" Whereupon we all pinched her for making a pun and +went on shivering. + +Just when we got off the road I don't know, but gradually we became +aware that it was not hard earth we were riding over but something that +swished under the wheels like long grass. + +"We're in a field!" cried Sahwah. + +Nyoda turned the car around and we went a few yards, expecting to get +back into the road every minute. Then suddenly the car began to go down +hill very rapidly, and at the bottom there was a grand splash, and we +found ourselves up to the wheel hubs in water. We had run into a stream +of some kind. The bottom was soft mud and to keep from sinking we had +to go on across. Luckily it was shallow and not very wide and the water +did not come inside the car. Margery screamed all the way across and we +had a rather breathless few minutes, until we came out on the farther +bank. Once on dry land again Nyoda stopped the car and flatly refused +to drive another inch. We were off the road, we had no idea where we +were, and there was too much danger of running into things in the fog. +None of us dared to think what might have happened if that river had +been deep. + +So here we were stranded, at about two o'clock in the morning, in a +field nobody knew where, by a road whose direction we could not even +guess, with a thick mantle of fog rolling around us as dense as the +smoke had been a few hours before. Could it have been only a few hours +before that we came near burning to death? And now we were in nearly as +much danger of freezing to death. Fire and dampness all in one night! +It certainly was a varied experience. + +And the cold was no joke. It pierced the very marrow of our bones. We +were not dressed for any such weather as that. We had had two blankets +in the car but there was only one left when we recovered it from the +Frog. Sahwah suggested that we join hands around the Glow-worm and sing +"When the mists have rolled away". + +"You'll have to get out and walk around, if you don't want to catch +cold," said Nyoda. We walked up and down for a while, each with a hand +on the other's shoulder so as not to get separated and lost in the fog. +This walk soon turned into a snake dance and then a war dance around +the Glow-worm. It must have been a weird sight if anyone had seen us, +ghostly figures flitting about in the illumined fog around the car. I +suppose they would have taken us for dancing nymphs or +will-o'-the-wisps, or some other creatures which inhabit the swamps. + +We really became hilarious as we danced, although it was a serious +business of keeping warm, and on the whole I would not have missed that +night for anything. I adore unusual experiences and I'm sure not many +people have been stalled in a fog when on an automobile trip and have +had to spend the night dancing to keep warm. Margery didn't see the +funny side of it, and you really couldn't blame her, poor thing, for it +was all her fault that we were in this mess and she had been so badly +frightened earlier in the night and then so shaken up when the +Glow-worm ran into the limousine. + +She didn't want to dance to keep warm and sat shivering in the car with +the one blanket around her, except when Nyoda made her get out and +exercise. + +Morning came at last and when the sun rose the fog lifted. We found +ourselves in the middle of a field some distance from the road, near +the stream into which we had plunged the night before. We must have +been off the road for some time before we noticed it. The place where +we had run off was where the road turned and we had kept on straight +ahead instead of turning. We got out of the field and followed the +road. It was not a regular automobile road and was not sign-posted. We +did not know whether we had gone north or south from Wellsville the +night before. The fog had us completely turned around. By the position +of the sun, the road extended toward the south. How far we had come we +could not tell. We thought of going back to Wellsville and striking the +main road again, but then Nyoda decided that by finding a road which +ran toward the west we could strike the other trunk line route that +went up to South Bend by way of Rochester and Plymouth. We did not want +to make Wellsville again if we could possibly help it, for fear we +would run into Margery's uncle. + +That ride to Rochester was more like a bad dream than anything else. As +I have said, we were not on the main automobile road, and we soon got +into such ruts and mud holes as I have never seen. In places the road +was strewn with stones and we were nearly shaken to pieces going over +them. It was not long before we came to a sound asleep little townlet, +but we didn't have the heart to wake it up and ask it its name, so we +went on to the next. It was then about six in the morning and a few +people were stirring in the main street. We found by inquiry that we +were in the town of Byron and that by turning to the west beyond the +schoolhouse we would strike a road which eventually led to Rochester. +"Eventually" was the right word. It certainly was not "directly". It +twisted and turned and ended up in fields; it wound back and forth upon +itself like a serpent; it dissolved in places into a lake of mud. We +didn't go very fast because we were afraid the wobbly wheel would +wobble off. Hungry as we were we decided to wait until we reached +Rochester before getting breakfast, so we could put the car into the +repair shop the first thing and save time. We staved off the keenest +pangs of hunger by plundering an apple tree that dangled its ripe fruit +invitingly over the road, and I haven't tasted anything so delicious +before or since as those Wohelo apples, as we named them. + +The poor Glow-worm minus the one fender looked like a glow-worm with +one wing off and the wobbling wheel gave it a tipsy appearance. Nyoda +frowned as she drove; I know she hated the spectacle we made. + + "Needles and pins, needles and pins, + When a girl drives an auto her trouble begins," + +spouted Sahwah. + +"Aren't we nearly there?" sighed Nakwisi, as she came back to the seat +after rising to the occasion of a bump. + +"Long est via ad Tipperarium", replied Sahwah, and then bit her tongue +as we struck a hole in the road. + +The morning was beautiful after the foggy night and our spirits soared +as we traveled along in the sunshine, singing "Along the Road that +Leads the Way". But it was not long before there was a fly in the +ointment. Turning around one of the innumerable curves in the road we +saw the red roadster proceeding leisurely ahead of us. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +As far as we could make out there was only one person in the car and +that was the driver, and if he had left the scene of the burning hotel +with a girl in a tan suit she was no longer with him. I think Nyoda +would have turned aside into some by-road if there had been such a +thing in sight, but there wasn't. The Frog turned around in the seat +and saw us coming. That action seemed to rouse Nyoda to fury. Two red +spots burned in her cheeks and her eyes snapped. + +"I'm going to overtake him," she said with a sudden resolution, "and +ask him pointblank why he is always following us." + +At that she put on speed and went forward as fast as the wobbling wheel +would allow. But no sooner had she done this than a surprising thing +happened. The Frog looked around again, saw us gaining on him, and then +the red roadster shot forward with many times the speed of ours and +disappeared around a bend in the road. + +"He's running away from us!" exclaimed Sahwah. + +"He may be afraid we are going to make it unpleasant for him for +stealing the Glow-worm," said Nyoda. "But," she added, "I can't +understand why he has ventured near us at all since that episode. You +would expect him to put as much space as possible between himself and +us." + +"He probably didn't know we were following him," said Sahwah, shrewdly. + +But the whole conduct of the Frog since the beginning was such a puzzle +that we could make neither head nor tail out of it, so we gave it up +and turned our attention to the scenery. Behind us a motorcycle was +chugging along with a noise all out of proportion to the size of the +vehicle, and we amused ourselves by wondering what would happen if it +should try to pass us on the narrow road, with a sharp drop into a +small lake on one side and a swamp on the other. But the rider +evidently had more caution than we generally credit to motorcyclists +and made no attempt to pass us, so we were not treated to the spectacle +of a man and a motorcycle turning a somersault into the lake or +sprawling in the marsh. + +We certainly were ready for our long delayed breakfast when we finally +got to Rochester, after giving the Glow-worm into the hands of the +doctor once more. The poor Glow-worm! She never had such a strenuous +trip before or after. The man on the motorcycle came into the repair +shop while we were there to have something done to his engine, and he +listened with interest while we were telling the repair man how we had +run into the limousine in the fog. He looked at Margery curiously and I +wonder if he noticed that her suit did not fit her by several inches. +But Nyoda says men are not very observant about such things. + +He was a good-looking, light-haired young man, and he stared at us with +a frank interest that could not be called impertinent. I believe there +is a sort of freemasonry between motor tourists, especially when they +are having motor troubles, that makes it seem perfectly all right to +talk to strangers. When the young man asked where we were from and +where we were going we answered politely that we were on our way to +Chicago by way of Plymouth and LaPorte. (We had decided not to go to +South Bend at all, as it was out of the way of the route we were now +traveling.) Nyoda added that we hoped to make Chicago before night. +Here Sahwah advised her to rap on wood. We had planned to make it +before nightfall once before. When we told about the fire the young man +agreed that we certainly had had adventures a-plenty. He ended up by +telling us a good restaurant where we could get breakfast (he evidently +had been in town before) and we hastened to find it, leaving him +explaining to the repairman what was the matter with his motorcycle. + +While we were eating breakfast we saw him pass on the opposite side of +the street and enter a building which bore the sign of the telegraph +company. I couldn't help wishing that we knew his name and would meet +him again on the trip, he seemed such a pleasant chap. I am always on +the lookout for romantic possibilities in everything. + +The Glow-worm was to be ready to appear in polite society sometime in +the afternoon and we had nothing to do but kill time until then. There +were no picture shows open in the morning so the only thing left for us +to do was to go for a walk through the town. It was terribly hot, +nearly ninety in the shade, and what it was out in the sun we could +only surmise. Margery wanted to keep her veil down because she was +afraid of meeting people, and Sahwah thought it would appear strange if +only she were veiled and suggested that we all keep ours down, but they +nearly stifled us. So we compromised on wearing the tinted driving +goggles, which really were a relief from the glare of the sun, even if +they did look affected on the street, as Nakwisi said. I'm afraid we +didn't have our usual blithe spirit of Joyous Venture, as we walked up +and down the streets of the town, looking, as Sahwah said, "for +something to look at". The frequency with which the Glow-worm was being +laid up for repairs was beginning to get on our nerves. Sahwah remarked +that if we had set out to walk to Chicago we would have been there long +ago, and that the rate at which we were progressing reminded her of +that gymnasium exercise known as "running in place", where you use up +enough energy to cross the county and are just as tired as if you had +gone that far, while in reality you haven't gotten away from the spot. + +Nakwisi stood up on a little rise of ground and focused her spy-glass +in the direction of Chicago and said she had better try to get a look +at the Forbidden City from there because she might never get any nearer. + +Nyoda had torn her green veil on her hatpin and the wind had whipped +the loose ends out until they looked ragged and she was frankly cross. + + "When lovely woman stoops to folly, + And learns too late that veils do fray--" + +chanted Sahwah, trying to be funny, but no one even laughed at her. We +were too much exhausted from the heat and too busy wiping the +perspiration out of our eyes. + +As a town of that size must necessarily come to an end soon, we found +ourselves after a while, beyond its limits and on a country road. We +saw a great tree spreading out its shady branches at no great distance +and made for it. With various sighs and puffs of satisfaction we sank +down in the grass and made ourselves comfortable. Of all the sights we +had seen so far on our trip the sight of that tree gave us the most +pleasure. We had not sat there very long when a young man passed us in +the road. He was the light-haired young man we had seen in the repair +shop. He lifted his hat as he passed but he did not say anything. He +was on foot, from which we judged that he also had some time to kill +while his motorcycle was being fixed. + +We did not sit long under that tree after all. First, Sahwah discovered +that she was sitting next to a convention hall of gigantic red ants and +a number of the delegates had gone on sight-seeing excursions up her +sleeves and into her low shoes, which naturally caused some commotion. +Then a spider let himself down on a web directly in front of Margery's +face and threw her into hysterics. And then the mosquitoes descended, +the way the Latin book says the Roman soldiers did, "as many thousands +as ever came down from old Mycaenae", and after that there was no +peace. We slapped them away with leaves for a time but there were too +many for us, so in sheer self-defense, we got up and began to walk back +to town. The only thing we had to be thankful for so far was that the +Frog had apparently vanished from the scene. + +We went back to the little restaurant where we had eaten our breakfast +and ordered dinner. We had our choice between boiled fish and fried +steak and we all took steak except Margery, who wanted fish. The heat +had taken away our appetites, all but Margery's, and she ate heartily. +Dinner over, we went out into the heat once more. We went up to see if +the picture show was open yet, for the thought of a comfortable seat +away from the sun and with an electric fan near, was becoming more +alluring every minute. It was open and we passed in with sighs of joy. +Somewhere along the middle of the performance, Sahwah, who was sitting +next to me, gave me a nudge and pointed to the other side of the house. +There sat the Frog, as big as life. + +"I should think he'd smother in those goggles," whispered Sahwah. + +At the same time Nakwisi, who was on the other side of me, also nudged +me and told me to look around a few minutes later so it wouldn't look +as if she had called my attention. After a short interval I looked. +There sat the motorcyclist directly behind us. How I did wish we could +tell him about the Frog and how he was always following us around, why, +we could not guess. + +Before the picture was finished Nyoda thought it was time to go and get +the Glow-worm, which should be finished by that time. But when we got +out into the sun again Margery began to feel dizzy and sick. We were +perplexed what to do. This little country town was not like the big +city where there are rest rooms in every big store. We finally decided +to get a room at the hotel, which was near-by. But here as everywhere, +that miserable Jinx had raised an obstacle against us. There was a +rural church conference going on in town that week and, of course, the +hotel was filled to overflowing. Delegates with white and gold badges +were standing around everywhere and there was not a room to be had. + +Margery sat down in the parlor awhile and then said she felt somewhat +better, but she still looked so white that Nyoda refused to set out +with her in the car. As in S----, the clerk gave us the name of a woman +near-by who would let us have a room if we wanted it, and after a while +we went up there. We wanted Margery to lie down on a bed for a while. +But no sooner were we there than she was taken with terrible pains. +Thoroughly alarmed, Nyoda went across the street where a doctor's sign +swung on a post before a house and brought him over. Margery was very +ill by this time and the doctor said she had symptoms of ptomaine +poisoning. He asked what she had eaten for dinner. At the mention of +fish he nodded his head gravely. Eating fish with the thermometer at +ninety-five degrees is a somewhat hazardous proceeding, he remarked. +How glad we all were then that we had taken the steak, even if it was +tough! The doctor gave Margery some medicine and said we needn't worry +because she wouldn't get any worse, and left us with a few more remarks +about eating fish in a restaurant in hot weather. + +Margery was more distressed about having delayed our start than she was +over her own discomfort, so we had to make light of it, even though we +were dismayed ourselves. Now the Glow-worm was ready and we were not! I +couldn't help feeling that it had been no ordinary fish from the +near-by lake that Margery had eaten, but one of the fateful fishes of +the zodiac itself, especially prepared for the occasion. For it soon +became evident that we could not leave town that night. Margery was +feeling better, but was still too weak for automobile traveling. + +Nyoda knit her brows for some time. "I'll have to wire Chicago," she +said, thoughtfully. Gladys and the others must be there by this time. + +I walked over to the telegraph office with her and stood beside her +while she wrote the message: "Held in Rochester to-night on account +sickness. Address Forty-three Main Street." She directed it to Gladys +at the Carrie Wentworth Inn, the new Women's Hotel where we were to +stay in Chicago. She read it out loud to me, counting over the words. +As we turned away from the window-desk someone turned and went out just +ahead of us. It was the motorcyclist. + +Margery was sleeping when we returned, and we sat down beside the bed +and read the paper we had bought at the corner stand. Nyoda gave a +smothered exclamation as she read and pointed to an article which said +that both Margery Anderson's father and uncle were scouring the country +for her, and the uncle was accusing the father of having spirited her +away. The paper said that private detectives were trying to trace her. +Then it was that we remembered the mysterious reappearance of the Frog. +We hadn't much doubt that he was a detective. But if he were a +detective, why had he attempted to steal the Glow-worm? The only reason +could have been the one which Sahwah suggested, namely, that he wanted +to cut us off from following him. He had probably carried away the +wrong girl in the excitement of the fire and did not discover his +mistake until later and then had let her go. This accounted for the +fact that there was no girl in the red roadster when it loomed up ahead +of us in the road that morning. + +But why had he run away from us when we tried to overtake him? That was +a baffling question, and the only way we could explain it was that he +was afraid we would accuse him of theft. That he had not gone very far +away from us was shown by the way he had appeared in the picture +theatre that afternoon. But if he was a detective, why did he not +boldly march up to Margery and attempt to take her away from us? + +Between the heat and the puzzle we were reduced to a frazzle. We +carefully hid the paper so Margery wouldn't see it when she woke up and +went down to supper. The house was on a corner and it seemed to me, as +I sat at the table that I saw the Frog walking down the side street. +But it was growing dark and I was not sure, so I said nothing about it. +Margery was very weak when she woke up and still unable to eat +anything, and I believe she had a touch of sunstroke along with her +ptomaine poisoning. She was clearly not a strong girl. The room seemed +stuffy and close and we fanned her to make her feel cooler. But we were +still thankful that we were not in the hotel, with its crowd of +delegates and its band continually playing. + +Sahwah was telling that joke about the man thinking the car was empty, +when all the while there was a miss in the motor and a "dutchman" in +the back seat, when there came a rap on the door and the lady of the +house came in. A minute later we were all looking at each other in +bewildered astonishment. _She had asked us to leave the house._ + +"But we've engaged the rooms for the night," said Nyoda. + +That made no difference. We could have our money back. She had changed +her mind about letting the rooms. + +"You certainly can't think of turning this sick girl out of the house!" +exclaimed Nyoda, incredulously. + +Mrs. Moffat's face did not change in the least. She looked from one to +the other of us with a steely glitter in her eye, which was a great +change from the professional hospitality of her manner when she had let +the rooms. "People aren't always as sick as they make folks believe," +she said, sourly. + +"You certainly don't doubt that this girl is sick!" said Nyoda, in +desperation. + +"I'm not saying I doubt anything," replied Mrs. Moffat. "I said I +didn't want you to have the rooms to-night and I meant it." + +"Will you please come outside and explain yourself," said Nyoda, "where +it won't excite this sick girl?" + +They went down-stairs to the lower hall, where Nyoda argued and pleaded +to be told the meaning of Mrs. Moffat's strange attitude toward us, but +she got no satisfaction. Mrs. Moffat would say nothing more than that +she had a reputation to keep up. When Nyoda defied her to put Margery +out Mrs. Moffat said grandiloquently that her son was on the police +force (I suppose she meant he was _the_ police force) and we would see +what she could do. + +Nyoda, at her wit's end, was trying to think of what to say next when +there was a rap on the door and a small boy arrived with a note, which +he would not give into Mrs. Moffat's hand. He just held it up so she +could see what was on the outside. It was addressed to "The +black-haired automobile lady". This, of course, was Nyoda and the boy +was perfectly satisfied to give her the note once he had looked at her. +Wonderingly she unfolded it. It contained only one line: "Go 22 Spring +Street." It was signed "A fellow tourist." Nyoda turned to ask the boy +who had given him the note, but he had disappeared. + +22 Spring Street. Spring Street was one block down Main Street. Nyoda +called me to go with her and we went to 22 Spring Street. A perfectly +dear old lady came to the door and, when we asked if she could keep us +all night, she said she would be delighted to. She asked such few +questions that I have a suspicion that she knew all about us already +from the motorcyclist, for we had no doubt that it was he who had sent +Nyoda the note. How he knew Mrs. Moffat was trying to put us out was +beyond us, unless he had been passing the open front door and overheard +her conversation, which had not been in low tones by any means. As the +new place was so near we got Margery over without any trouble and shook +the dust of Mrs. Moffat's house from our feet disdainfully, if still +completely in the dark as to why it should be so. + +What had caused the change in her manner toward us? She had been +perfectly cordial at the supper table and asked how we liked the beds. +Something had evidently occurred while we sat upstairs, but what it was +we could not guess. Then, like a flash, I remembered having seen the +Frog sauntering past the house while we were eating supper. Had he gone +to Mrs. Moffat with some story about us which had caused her to put us +out? It sounded like a moving picture plot, and yet we all realized the +possibility of it. We were simply dazed with the events of the day and +evening by the time we reached the new rooms and had put Margery to bed. + +"What a record we are setting this week!" said Sahwah. "First night we +wandered into a Congressman's house by mistake and were put out; second +night we got burned out of a hotel and finished by getting lost in the +fog; third night we are put out of a lodging house for some mysterious +reason. There aren't enough more things that can happen to us to last +the week out." Which showed all that Sahwah knew about it. + +When we had simmered down to something near normal again we realized +that we would need the trunk which was carried on the Glow-worm. Nyoda +drove the Glow-worm over and we carried the trunk up-stairs while she +ran the car back to the garage. It was heavier than we expected and we +were pretty well winded when we set it down on the floor of our room. + +"Won't I be glad to see my dressing-gown again," said Sahwah, sucking +her thumb, which had gotten under the trunk when it was set down. "This +dress shrank when it got drenched in the fog last night and the +collar's too tight." + +"Slippers are what appeal to me," I sighed, wishing Nyoda would hurry +back with the key. My shoes had been soaked in mud which had dried and +left them stiff, and walking around all day on the scorching sidewalks +had about parboiled my feet. Nyoda returned just then and opened the +trunk without delay, while we crowded around to seize upon our +wished-for belongings as soon as possible. + +But when the cover was tilted back we fell over in as much surprise as +if a jack-in-the-box had sprung out at us. Instead of Sahwah's red +dressing-gown on top as we had expected there were rows and rows of +bottles. We stared stupidly, not knowing whether to believe our eyes or +not. + +"You've got the wrong trunk!" we cried to Nyoda. + +Nyoda went post-haste back to the garage. When she came back she wore a +puzzled look. "The garage man declares that was the trunk that came +with the Glow-worm," she said, in a dazed voice. "He says it was never +removed from the rack, as all the work was on the front wheel and front +fender." + +Sahwah took one of the bottles from the trunk and held it up. It +contained some fluid guaranteed to make the hair stay in curl in the +dampest weather. There was a bright yellow label halfway around it that +bore the classic slogan, "One touch of Curline makes the whole world +kink." Sahwah began to giggle hysterically. At any other time we would +all have laughed heartily over that ridiculous trademark, but just now +we were too much concerned with the loss of our things to feel like +laughing. + +"No wonder the trunk was so heavy," said Sahwah, rubbing her arms at +the remembrance of that climb up the stairs. + +We searched our memories for the events of the previous day and tried +to remember just where the trunk had been all the while. Then we +remembered the scene of the fire and the fact that the Glow-worm might +have been unguarded for some time in the garage. The trunk had been +taken off the rack the day before when the repairs were made, because +they had some work to do on the tail lamp bracket, and I heard the man +say the trunk was in the way. This trunk with the bottles was the same +on the outside as ours with the exception of Gladys's initials, and it +might have been put onto the rack of the Glow-worm by mistake when the +repairs were finished. + +Nyoda lost no time in getting the proprietor of the garage at +Wellsville on the long distance phone. When she returned this time she +was entirely cheerful again. "He says there's another trunk just like +it in the garage," she said. "He didn't know whom it belonged to. I +told him to send it to us by express and it will be here in the +morning. We will send this one back to him, for the rightful owner will +be coming back after it." + +"Whatever would anyone want with a trunkful of this stuff?" asked +Sahwah, curiously. + +"Probably a traveling salesman," suggested Nyoda. She took the bottle +from Sahwah's hand and put it back into its place in the trunk. "One +touch of Curline makes the whole world kink," she mused. "Well, 'one +touch of Curline' has put a 'kink' in our retiring arrangements, all +right." + +She locked up the trunk with our key, which fitted the lock perfectly, +remarking as she did so that locks weren't quite as useful as they +might be, since other people's keys fitted them. The rest of the night +passed peacefully, and we were so tired out from having had scarcely +any sleep the previous night that we sank to slumber as soon as we +touched the pillows. + +In the morning we took the stranger's trunk to the express office and +called for ours. We hailed that six-sided thing of boards and leather +as though it had been a long lost friend and cheered it lustily when it +was set down in our room. We could easily see where the garage man had +made the mistake in giving us the salesman's trunk, for the two were +identical. We opened ours up to see if our belongings were still +intact. It took us a few minutes to realize the import of what we +found. There, apparently, was our trunk, but the things in it were not +ours. _They belonged to the other girls._ There was Gladys's pink silk +crepe kimono; and Hinpoha's blue one; there were Gladys's Turkish +slippers with the turned up toes; there were Hinpoha's stockings, +plainly marked with her name. + +We stared at each other with something like fear in our eyes. The thing +was so uncanny. Gladys's trunk had not been in the garage when we +arrived; it must have come after we left; and yet, _the Striped Beetle +had gone on to Chicago ahead of us_! + +The thing was monstrous; incredible. Had the fairies been playing +tricks on us? We stood gazing with fascinated eyes at the open trunk +which stood in our midst like a silent portent. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +For the second time Nyoda got the garage man at Wellsville on the long +distance phone. This conference only deepened the puzzle. He declared +solemnly that no car even remotely resembling the Striped Beetle had +been in his establishment and no party of girls such as we described. +He was as much in the dark as we were about the trunk. Had we been +carrying Gladys's trunk ever since we left home? we asked ourselves. +No, for we had opened ours several times on the road. We gave it up +when the puzzle threatened to addle our brains, and prepared to start +away on our journey. Margery felt well again and ready to travel. We +were standing in the street around the Glow-worm, and through gaps +between houses we could see Mrs. Moffat's house down on Main Street. We +saw a boy in the uniform of a telegraph messenger come along Main +Street and stop at her house. + +"Maybe the Frog's sending her some more mysterious messages," said +Sahwah, idly. + +But in a moment the boy ran down the steps again and retraced his steps +up Main Street. As he passed the street where we were he looked down, +and then he came toward us. "Which one is Miss Elizabeth Kent?" he +asked. + +Nyoda stepped forward and he handed her the telegraph envelope. Nyoda +tore it open and a look of blank astonishment came over her face as she +read. + +"What is it?" we all chorused. + +"Read it," she said. + +This is what we read: "Where on earth are you? Wait Rochester for us. +Coming to-day noon. Gladys." + +It was sent from Indianapolis! + +We looked at each other dazedly. Gladys in Indianapolis? What was she +doing there? Indianapolis was far out of our way, miles to the south. +With the main roads marked as they were it was impossible for her to +have gotten lost. Then on the heels of this question came another one; +if Gladys had gotten side-tracked and had fallen behind us on the road, +who had passed ahead of us along the northern route to Chicago whom we +had been blindly following? How had Gladys in Indianapolis received the +telegram we had sent to Chicago, giving our address in Rochester? If +Gladys had not come along the northern route, how came her trunk to be +in Wellsville? It was a Chinese puzzle no matter which way you looked +at it, and as Sahwah remarked, not being Chinamen we had no cue. But we +sighed with relief at the thought that Gladys and the rest would be +with us at noon and the mystery would all come to an end. Till noon +then, we would possess our souls in patience. + +To kill time we decided to look around at some of the stores. To the +city bred the small town store is as much of a curiosity as the big +city store is to the country bred. Most people think that the +department store is a product of the big city, but I think it is a +development of the general store of the country town. We found a place +where they sold everything from handkerchiefs to plows, and wandered +about happily, looking at farm implements whose use we did not even +guess, and wonderful displays of crockery and printed calico. We seemed +to create quite a sensation when we came in although there were other +people in the store. The proprietor came forward hurriedly and asked us +what we wanted. A strange look came into his face when we said we just +came in to look around. He and his wife and the two or three clerks in +the place all looked at each other, but they said no more. But as we +moved up one aisle and down another he was always right at our elbow, +and he never seemed to take his eyes from us. I picked up a pile of +handkerchiefs to look them over, thinking I might buy some, as mine +were in the lost trunk nobody knew where, but they were all cotton and +I despise cotton handkerchiefs. As I put them down again and passed on +I saw the proprietor pick them up and although he turned his back to us +I could see that he was counting them. + +We became conscious of a chill in the air. It seemed that everybody in +the place was watching us with suspicious eyes. With one accord we +moved toward the door and stepped out into the street, where we faced +each other questioningly. What was this baffling thing that we were +running up against of late? The people around here seemed to know +something about us which we did not know ourselves. Last night our +landlady for no satisfactory reason had put us out of her house, and +here were the store people plainly suspicious of us. Was Margery the +cause of it? She had not come with us this morning, as she thought it +would be wiser to stay in her room. But even if they knew about Margery +we would hardly have expected them to act this way. Why did they make +no attempt to take her away from us? + +Everywhere we turned we came against a wall of mystery. Was the Frog at +the bottom of it? But why did he always loiter in the background and +never openly molest us? There was something more terrifying about this +silent, skulking foe than there would have been about an armed +highwayman. So far to-day he had not appeared, but we did not doubt +that he was lurking in the shadows somewhere. As we stood there we saw +the motorcyclist walking down from the upper end of the street in our +direction. + +"Let's wait until he comes up and thank him for telling us about the +other rooms," suggested Sahwah. + +So we stood still and waited. But no sooner had he seen us standing +there on the sidewalk than he paused suddenly, turned abruptly and went +up a side street. + +"Even he is avoiding us!" said Sahwah. "What on earth can be the +reason?" + +We wished with all our hearts for noon, when Gladys would come and we +could get out of this wretched town. But there were still two hours +until then. We decided to go into another store and see if they would +treat us the same way. They did, only perhaps a little more so. The +proprietor followed us around like a shadow and heaved an audible sigh +of relief when we went out. Utterly disgusted, we went back to Margery. +The time passed heavily until noon and then we went out on Main Street +to watch for the arrival of the Striped Beetle. The events and +accidents we were ready to pour out to the coming girls were enough to +fill a volume, and we were sure that nothing they would have to tell +would match our story of the fire and the night in the fog. + +The telegram had said they would come at noon and we were to wait for +them. Noon came and went; one o'clock; two o'clock; and like the Blue +Alsatian Mountains, we were still watching and waiting. There was no +sign of the Striped Beetle. The sun beat down mercilessly on the +glaring earth and we grew faint and dizzy straining our eyes up the +road. It was several degrees hotter than the day before. We ate our +dinner in squads, one squad eating while the other did sentinel duty. +We beguiled the time by singing "Wait for the Wagon", "Waiting at the +Church ", and every other song we knew on the subject. People looked at +us curiously as we sat in a row on a low stone wall. One man asked us +if we were waiting for the circus parade, because if we were we had our +dates mixed; the circus was not due until the next day. The afternoon +advanced; carful after carful of tourists came down the dusty road, but +none of them the ones we so eagerly awaited. Margery had refused to sit +there where everyone could see her, and stayed in her room, and we took +turns sitting with her. + +"Are you sure we didn't dream that telegram?" asked Sahwah wearily, at +half past three. + +Nyoda shook her head. "It's real, all right," she answered. "I have it +here in my coat pocket." + +"Let me see it again," said Sahwah, "and see at what time it was sent." + +Nyoda put her hand into her pocket. When she brought it out again she +held to the light, not the yellow telegraph form, but a queer, bluish +beetle-like thing. She stared at it with amazed eyes and we were all +too much astonished to speak. + +"What is it?" asked Sahwah, finding her voice first. + +"It's a scarab." answered Nyoda, "the ancient Egyptian figure of a +beetle. There are several in the museum at home." + +We passed it from hand to hand with growing wonder and admiration. But +how came it into Nyoda's coat pocket? Was this also a part of the +witchcraft that had sent Gladys's trunk to us so mysteriously? + +"Curiouser and Curiouser," said Sahwah. + +"Are you sure you didn't pick it up somewhere without knowing it?" I +asked. "People sometimes do those things absent-mindedly, you know. I +came home from down-town once with a gold-handled umbrella and I hadn't +the slightest notion of where I got it. And the next day there was a +notice in the paper, 'Will the young lady who took the gold-handled +umbrella from the wash-room of Levy & Strauss's yesterday afternoon +please return same to the office? She was recognized and followed.' And +I couldn't remember being in the wash-room of Levy & Strauss's at all!" + +Nyoda racked her brain. "It's impossible," she said. "I haven't been +anywhere since noon but up to that restaurant and Sahwah and I sat +alone at a table. There wasn't anything belonging to anyone else near +us." + +"You didn't get it this morning when we were looking through the +stores?" I asked. + +"No," said Nyoda, "I didn't. It wasn't there when I started up to +dinner. Besides," she added, "that scarab never came from a store in +this town. Things like that are handled by dealers in curios in large +cities, and by private collectors." Her brow was puckered into a +bewildered frown. + +"However it got there," she said, "it doesn't belong there and I have +no right to keep it. I'm going to turn it over to the police, and if +anybody reports the loss to them they will find it intact." + +As we stood there looking at the curious scarab in Nyoda's hands a +motorcycle putt-putted past in a cloud of dust and we recognized our +light-haired friend apparently leaving town. + +"We'll never get a chance to thank him for that address!" I said, half +regretfully. Little did we think that the only decent thing fate did +for us on that trip was to withhold that chance! + +Nyoda and I went in search of the police station, leaving Sahwah and +Nakwisi sitting and watching for the Striped Beetle. It was only Sahwah +who was doing any watching out, however, for Nakwisi was looking +through her spy-glass at the clouds. After some inquiry we found the +police station. When Nyoda told her story about finding the scarab in +her pocket, the policeman in charge looked at her with a peculiar +expression and a wise grin. But when she wanted to leave it there he +waved her away. + +"Wouldn't have it around here for a farm," he declared. "Lady left a +necklace here once: said she found it in the road. The next night the +police station burned down and the necklace disappeared. We just got +this new station and it nearly broke the town and we can't have any +more accidents. You take it on to the next town and tell 'em you didn't +find it till you got there, see?" Half angry and half amused at this +dauntless representative of the law we went back to the girls, with the +mysterious scarab still in the pocket of Nyoda's coat. If only we had +followed Sahwah's joking advice and stuck it on an ornamental shrub +near us to startle passers-by and left it there! + +"Something must have happened to the Striped Beetle," said Nyoda in a +worried way, when we had exhausted our patience with waiting. "I don't +know but what it would be a good idea to set out in the direction of +Indianapolis and try to find them. We will surely come upon a trace of +them somewhere." + +"What strikes me queer," said Sahwah, "is, if Gladys knows our address +and wired that she would be here at noon, why she didn't wire again +when she found she couldn't get here. She might know we would begin to +tear our hair when she didn't appear." + +Nyoda began to look uneasy. "That's what makes me think something has +happened to her," she said. "Somehow I always have visions of the +Striped Beetle lying smashed up somewhere and our girls being carried +to a hospital. I can't get it out of my mind. Something has happened to +Gladys which has kept her from wiring and it is our duty to find out +what it is." + +"Maybe she did wire and they didn't deliver it to us," suggested +Sahwah. Nyoda and I promptly went up to the telegraph office and +inquired if any later message had come for us. Nothing had, we were +told. + +Nyoda made up her mind at once. She consulted the road map she had +bought after the marked one had gone with Gladys and looked at the +route to Indianapolis. "If any message comes to this office for us, +kindly forward it to the office at Kokomo," she directed. "We will stop +there and inquire." + +We got into the Glow-worm without delay, picked up Margery from the +house, piled the other girls into the car and shook the dust of +Rochester (it was nearly a foot thick) from our tires. I looked around +every little while from my seat in the tonneau to see if the Frog was +following us, but there was no sign of him. In fact, I may as well tell +you now, that we had seen the last of him until we saw him in such an +amazing attitude two days later. + +Driving gave us a little relief from the heat, for the motion of the +car created a little breeze, although there was none of any other kind +stirring. I think if we had sat out in that hot street any longer I +should have been overcome. It was bad enough in the car, for the dust +rose up in choking whirls until we could taste it. I have never known +such a hot day before or since, although I have seen the thermometer +higher; but that day the air seemed to be minus its breathing qualities +and we gasped like fish out of water. We kept a close watch on Margery +for signs of collapse, but she seemed to be bearing up pretty well; I +suppose it was because she had not been sitting out on Main Street for +four hours. + +"I wouldn't be surprised if we had a thunder shower to-night," said +Nyoda, scanning a bank of apoplectic-looking clouds that were lying low +over the distant horizon. + +"I hope so," I replied. "Anything to break this heat. The air over the +street looks like the heat waves over the radiator." I could not help +wishing fervently that Gladys had chosen a cool breezy day to get lost +on. + +We stopped at so many places and asked if they had seen a brown car +with black stripes carrying four girls in tan suits that our voices +became husky on those words. Sahwah suggested that we print our inquiry +on a pennant and fasten it across the front of the car. But nowhere was +there a sign or a trace of the car for which we were seeking. People +had seen brown cars, but no girls in them, and they had seen tan coats +in black or red cars, but nowhere was the tan and brown in combination. + +Looking for a needle in a haystack has several advantages over looking +for an automobile on a hundred mile stretch of road. For one thing, +there is only one haystack, so you are pretty sure of finding your +needle there if you look long enough; whereas there were several roads +to Indianapolis; and for another thing, your needle is stationary and +not traveling through the haystack, so you are reasonably sure when you +have ascertained that it is not in a certain part of the haystack that +it will not be there at a later time; whereas the Striped Beetle might +be moving from place to place, in which case we were going to have a +lively time catching up with it. + +Especially did we inquire if there had been any accidents. Once we had +a scare; we were told that a brown car had been struck by a suburban +car that morning and several girls seriously injured. The injured ones +had been taken to a hospital in Indianapolis, but the automobile was in +a repair shop in the village of D----. We hastened to D---- and elbowed +our way through the crowd in front of the repair shop to see the wreck +of the car and sighed with relief when we saw it was not the Striped +Beetle. One door was still intact and that bore the monogram DPS in +large block letters. + +If Fate has anything to do with the color of paint, or rather, if the +color of paint has anything to do with Fate, brown must be an unlucky +shade to paint a car. The number of brown cars which had come to grief +along that road was unbelievable. In another place one had turned +turtle on a bridge and thrown its passengers into the river beneath, +but those passengers were all men, we were told, and we did not stop to +investigate further. One woman told a story of having seen four girls +walking along the road almost frantic because their car had been stolen +while they got out to look at something in a field, and we thought +these might possibly be our girls. Hinpoha is crazy about calves and if +she saw a calf in a field she would not only go over and pet it +herself, but drag all the others along too. When asked to describe +their dresses the woman said vaguely that they had had on some light +kind of coats or suits, she couldn't remember which, and she wasn't +sure about the veils. They might have been green for all she knew, but +she always had been color blind and hated to make a definite statement +because she had been fooled on more than one occasion. Where the girls +were now she did not know; she thought they were walking to the nearest +town to notify the police. + +While there was nothing definite about this information it was just +enough to tantalize us, and we wondered if the Striped Beetle really +had been stolen and the girls were wandering about in distress. We +strained our imaginations trying to picture what had happened to Gladys +that she did not appear in Rochester, and conjured up all sorts of +circumstances to account for it. But I doubt if an imagination as rich +as the mine of Ophir could have guessed at the truth, so I don't see +how we can be blamed for missing it entirely. + +The clouds that had been reclining along the horizon all afternoon +began to mount and deepen in color, and the occasional mutterings of +thunder became more frequent. From being oppressive the air became +stifling and we were all on the verge of collapse. The fatigue of +getting out of the car so often to follow up things that looked like +clues was beginning to tell on us. And the suspense was worse than +anything else. Up to now, when we thought that Gladys was on the road +ahead of us and we would catch up with her in Chicago, we had +cheerfully put up with all the mishaps which had befallen us, for none +of them turned out seriously and we were entirely light-hearted. But +now we were really worried about Gladys. Her not appearing after she +had wired us that she was coming began to take on a sinister meaning. +It is much easier to live through mishaps yourself than imagine them +happening to someone else. + +Taken altogether, that afternoon's trip is one on which I like to put +the soft pedal when harking back in memory. And happy for us then that +we did not know what it was going to end in. The sky behind us had +turned inky black and it became evident that the storm which was coming +would be no ordinary one. A wind sprang up that increased in velocity +with a peculiar moaning sound. A strange light was in the air that made +the white farm houses and barns gleam sharply against the dark sky. +Nyoda looked with some anxiety at the lowering clouds. + +"I think it would be a wise plan to make the next town before that +storm breaks loose," she observed, thoughtfully. "You know the storm +curtains don't fasten tightly on the one side, and if we're caught +we're going to be drenched." + +The next town was Kokomo, about ten miles away, where we were to stop +at the telegraph office and see if there was a message from Gladys. +Then began a race the like of which I have never seen before. It was +the speed of man matched against the speed of the storm gods. Behind us +the storm was breaking; we could see the grey wall of the rain in the +distance; the wind was rising to a tornado and the thunder claps seemed +to split the earth open. And there we were, scudding along before it, +like a tiny craft fleeing from a tidal wave. The Glow-worm bore us +onward like a gallant steed, and I compared our headlong flight with +the King of Denmark's ride when his Rose of the Isles lay dying. + +"Think of something cheerful," said Sahwah, crossly; "Gladys isn't +lying at the point of death." + +After all, the comparison didn't hold good, for the King's steed +reached his destination and the Glow-worm didn't. We had been so taken +up with our search for Gladys that we had neglected to supply the life +blood to our iron steed, namely, gasoline, and we came to a dead stop +in the road four or five miles from town. Our exclamations of disgust +were still hovering in the air when the storm struck us. As Sahwah has +always described it, "And then the water came down at Lodore." I could +devote several pages to the fury of that rainfall, but what is the use +of taking up the reader's time when her own imagination will supply the +details? Just imagine the worst storm you were ever caught in, or ever +saw anyone else caught in, and multiply it by two or three times and +you have our situation. + +With a shriek of delight the wind seized the loose end of the storm +curtain and tore the whole curtain from the car with one neat pull. +When we last saw that storm curtain it was traveling eastward at the +rate of sixty miles an hour. In one minute we were all as wet as if we +had fallen off the dock at home. We abandoned the car and ran for the +shelter of a big tree near-by. We were no sooner under its spreading +branches when, with a sound like the crack of doom, lightning struck it +and it went crashing to earth in the opposite direction from us. We +didn't stop to reflect what would have happened to us if it had fallen +in our direction, but made for the open road where there was nothing +but the sky to fall on us, which it was doing as hard as it could. + +We were just wondering how long it would take the inside of the +Glow-worm to dry out, and whether rain made spots on the leather when a +closed limousine came along the road. The driver, in rubber coat and +cap, stopped his car and asked if he could be of assistance. Nyoda, +suddenly conscious that the color was running out of her dripping veil +all over her face, put her hand in her pocket to find her handkerchief +and wipe her face. Along with the handkerchief out fell the curious +scarab which we had forgotten in the search for Gladys. The man eyed it +intently as Nyoda put it back into her pocket. A change seemed to have +come over him. Before he was merely an automobile driver offering help +to a stranded motorist, but now he acted like a minion in the presence +of a queen. He touched his hat with the greatest respect, got down from +his seat in a hurry and opened the door of the limousine. + +"Get in quickly," he said, and we did, glad of the glass enclosed +shelter from the downpour. With deft motions he fastened the Glow-worm +behind the limousine with a tow line and then sent his car rolling down +the road at a rapid pace. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +We had not proceeded very far up the road when the car turned into a +long winding driveway of gravel, bordered on either side by well kept +lawns and trim trees. We could see that much through the windows of the +car when the rain would cease its furious whirling against the glass +for a moment. Soon we came to a stop under a wide sheltering +porte-cochere, and the driver got down and opened the door +ceremoniously. It was quite dark, but we could see that the house at +which we had stopped was an immense mansion, probably the country home +of some millionaire. + +"I will see that the tanks are filled in good time," said the +chauffeur, touching his hand to his cap. He had been driving without +gloves, and I noticed that the little finger on both of his hands was +turned inward at the second joint. I believe that is what brother Tom +calls a baseball finger. + +Just then the door of the house opened and a trim looking maid appeared +and greeted the chauffeur familiarly as "Heinie". He replied by a wink +and a series of movements with his eyebrows which threw the maid into a +spasm of amusement. Then he started the limousine, with the Glow-worm +still in tow, around the side of the house, presumably toward the +garage, although from where we stood we saw no building. The maid held +the door open for us and we stepped into an entry paved with marble. + +"If we could stay here a few minutes until the rain is over--" began +Nyoda. For no reason at all the maid began to giggle violently. I +suppose she was still amused over the grimaces of the chauffeur. It +takes so little to amuse some people. + +"Come this way," she said, and led the way from the entry into a hall +and up a flight of stairs. There was a big triple window on the landing +and as we passed the rain was dashing against it so violently that we +thought the glass must give way. Severe as the storm had been when we +were caught in it, it was twice as bad now, and we gave a thankful sigh +that we were under shelter, and blessed the gasoline for giving out +when it did, for if it hadn't we must have been overtaken on the road +and would have missed this chance of getting in the dry. We went +up-stairs as quickly as possible so as not to drip on the rich carpet +that covered the steps. The maid threw open the door into the most +luxurious bedchamber I have ever seen. It was clear that we were in the +house of a very wealthy man. Another maid was in the room which we +entered and she looked at us five dripping refugees with a stare of +curiosity. + +"Some friends who were caught in the rain," explained the maid who had +acted as our guide. "Come, get them some dry clothes." + +The two of them bustled about laying out things for us to put on, and +for the first time in my life I was waited on by a maid. The first one, +whom the other addressed as Carrie, was inclined to be talkative, and +sympathized noisily with our drenched state. She was quite pretty, with +rosy cheeks and black hair and black eyes. There was something odd +about her appearance at first and upon looking at her closely I +discovered this odd appearance came from the fact that her eyes did not +seem to be on a level. But she was very deft in her movements and had +our wet garments hung up on hangers and spread out before the little +grate fire in no time. I felt a passing envy for the woman who was the +mistress of this maid and who did not have to worry whether she threw +her clothes in a heap on the floor or not, as she would always find +them properly taken care of when she wanted them again. Taking care of +my clothes is the greatest trial of my life. + +The other maid spoke not at all; she seemed newer at her job and obeyed +the directions of the first meekly and in silence. Carrie picked up +Nyoda's soaked coat and shook it, and as she did so the scarab flew out +of the pocket and fell to the floor. She hastily picked it up and held +it in her hand for an instant, turning it over and looking at it +curiously. I saw her glance sidewise at Agnes, the other maid, who +stood with her back to us putting Nyoda's shoes onto trees; then she +looked boldly at Nyoda and deliberately winked one eye! Nyoda looked at +her with a puzzled frown. Carrie became all meekness and deference in a +moment; she laid the scarab down on the table beside Nyoda's purse and +went about her duties without raising her eyes. + +In a moment she left the room and we sat listening to the rain beating +against the panes and wondering when it would stop and how soon our +clothes would be dry so we could resume our journey. Agnes went out +presently and when she came back she carried a tray full of cups of +steaming broth and a plate of sandwiches. We were very thankful for +this favor, as we were beginning to feel chilled through. Getting +drenched that way when we were so hot was bad enough, but the wind that +accompanied the shower was decidedly cool and we were pretty +uncomfortable by the time we were picked up. + +"To whom are we indebted for this hospitality?" asked Nyoda of Agnes. + +"Ma'm?" said Agnes. + +"In whose house are we?" asked Nyoda. + +"This is the home of Simon McClure," answered Agnes. + +"Oh-oh!" we said altogether. The name of Simon McClure was a household +word with us. It was his yacht that had sprung a leak and gone down the +summer before just as it was on the point of winning the cup race. We +had all heard about this millionaire sportsman and his horses, dogs and +boats. Well, we were not sorry, after all, that the heat had ended up +in a shower. It was worth a drenching to be taken into such a house. +I'm afraid our anxiety about Gladys faded a little in the enjoyment of +our unique position. The rain had gradually subsided from a cloudburst +into a steady downpour and we trembled to think what the road would be +like. In our mind's eye we saw ourselves stuck up to the hubs in yellow +clay from which it would require the pulling power of a locomotive to +release us. + +I suppose Carrie must have told her mistress of our presence, for after +one of her absences from the room she said that Mrs. McClure had said +we were welcome to stay all night if we wished. We looked at each other +with rather comical expressions. To our widely varying list of night's +lodgings there was about to be added one more, as different from the +rest as they had been from each other. One more adventure was to be +added to our already long list! But even then we did not guess that +this one was to surpass all the others as the glare of a rocket +outshines the glimmer of a match! + +Carrie returned again presently and after looking at Agnes steadily for +a minute, with a peculiar expression in her black eyes she turned to +Nyoda and said respectfully that Mrs. McClure was giving a fancy dress +ball that night and, as several of the invited guests had been +prevented from coming at the last moment, which would spoil the number +for a certain march figure she had planned, she wanted to know if we +would mind attending the ball in their places. She begged us to excuse +her for not coming in to speak to us herself, but she was in the hands +of her hair-dresser. + +Would we mind attending the ball! Did things ever happen to other +people the way they happened to us? And such a ball as the McClures +would give would be like a page out of the Arabian Nights to us, who +knew nothing of high society. + +"But what could we wear?" asked Sahwah, always the first to come to +earth and see the practical side of the question. + +Carrie flashed her a sparkling look from her black eyes, giggled, and +then shifted her gaze to Agnes, whom she watched narrowly. Agnes looked +indifferent, both at her and at us. The stony expression on Agnes's +face began to puzzle me; I wondered if there was any mystery about her. +Carrie finally took her eyes from Agnes's face and allowed them to +travel around the room to where our touring suits hung up to dry. "The +automobile suits," she suggested respectfully, "and the veils, and the +goggles--You could masque as a party of tourists. The clothes are quite +dry." + +Our spirits revived again, for the thought that we might have to miss +this grand opportunity of witnessing a gorgeous spectacle because we +had nothing to wear had sent our hearts down into our shoes. + +Carrie was summoned away then by a soft purring little buzzer and +directed Agnes to help us dress. I must say that we made very nice +looking tourists in our tan suits and green veils. Agnes had the suits +pressed until there were no wrinkles left in them and arranged our +veils with a practised hand. All the while we were dressing we could +hear automobiles driving up under the porte-cochere, and guests +arriving, and we were in a fever of anticipation. Strains of music +floated up from below, together with the subdued hum of many voices. We +judged from the direction of the sounds that the ballroom was on the +first floor. + +It was after ten o'clock when we were finally ready and Carrie appeared +in the door for us. She took us down another stairway into a vast hall +filled with paintings and statuary, where a man in a dark blue suit and +silver braid (I suppose that's what you'd call a footman in livery), +stood stiffly as the statues around him. Carrie said something to him +in a low tone (I presume she was explaining our presence without cards +of invitation, such as he was collecting from the other guests), and he +looked at us with an impassive eye and nodded his head. He was a very +homely man with an exceedingly red nose with one bright blue vein +running across it that gave him somewhat of a singular appearance. I +remember thinking that if I were his mistress I should set him to +working in the garden where nobody could see him, instead of posting +him in the front hall to admit the guests. + +After Carrie had turned us over to the Nose with the Vein she went +up-stairs again and the man slid back a door on the left side of the +hall. We found ourselves in the ballroom and in the midst of a scene as +bewildering as it was gorgeous. Of course, our first thought had been +to find our hostess and make ourselves known, but there was no way of +telling which one Mrs. McClure was. Everybody was masked and frolicking +around and there didn't seem to be anyone doing the duty of a hostess +whom we could suspect of being Mrs. McClure. Later on we discovered +that there was a reception-room off at the other end of the ballroom +where Mrs. McClure had been receiving her guests, but at the time we +saw nothing but the shifting masses of light and color around us, that +resolved themselves into kings and queens and princes and Indians and +turbaned Hindoos and pirates and Turks and peasants and fairies. The +orchestra was playing the opening bars of a waltz and the dancers were +seeking partners. We withdrew into a corner behind a large palm to look +on. To our surprise and somewhat to our embarrassment we were asked to +dance before the waltz was over. My partner was a Scottish highlander +and a good dancer, and he evidently thought I belonged in the set who +were the guests at this ball, because he kept pointing out different +people and asking if I thought they were this one or that one. I did +not speak much, however, and do not think he ever guessed that I was +not a friend of Mrs. McClure's, was an outsider at the ball, and was, +in fact, the mere tourist I was supposed to represent. I thought, +however, I might get one piece of information out of him. + +"I don't see Mrs. McClure," I said, looking over the dancing couples. +Then it was that the Highlander told me about the reception-room at the +other side of the conservatory that opened out of the ballroom, where +Mrs. McClure was. I mentally thanked him for this piece of information +and purposed to tell Nyoda about it as soon as the dance was over. But +when that dance came to a close we were claimed by other partners for +the next, and so on, and we did not get out of the ballroom. + +The memory of that ball is like some queer oriental dream and even +while we were in the midst of it I had to pinch myself to make sure +that I was awake and the things around me were real. But the events +that followed were real enough for anyone to know that they were not +dreaming. There came an intermission in the dancing at last, and we +five found ourselves in the glassed-in sun parlor opening from the +ballroom while somebody was going for ices for us. As it happened we +were the only ones in that little room, for the bigger conservatory +next to it was a more popular resting-place. Sitting there waiting we +began to talk about the scarab and the queer effect it seemed to have +had on the chauffeur. + +"Let me look at it again," said I. I was utterly fascinated by the +thing. + +Nyoda put her hand in the pocket of her coat where she had put the +scarab for safe keeping, and drew out, not the odd-looking beetle, but +something that flashed in the light like a thousand rain-drops in the +sunshine. It was a diamond necklace, with a diamond pendant at the end, +the stones arranged in the form of a cross. The thing blazed in Nyoda's +hand like liquid fire running down over her fingers, and we fairly +blinked as we looked at it. We were too astonished to say a word and +simply stared at it as if we were hypnotised. + +"Girls," said Nyoda in a horrified tone, "there's something queer going +on here and we're mixed up in it. The sooner we get out of this house +the better. There's a gang of thieves at work at this ball--there +usually are at these big affairs--and unless we want to find ourselves +drawn into a net from which we can't escape easily we'll have to run +for it." + +It was a good thing that the sun parlor was empty and the crush around +the table where the ices were being served kept our friends from +returning. Nyoda put the necklace into a jardinier containing a +monstrous fern and we looked around for a way out. We thought we would +slip out to the garage and get the Glow-worm. The sun parlor must have +had a door leading to the outside, but it was so full of plants in pots +and jardiniers that if there was a door it was covered up. We fled back +into the conservatory, where couples were sitting all over, but there +was no outside door from there. After that we got into a library filled +with people playing cards at tables. We were looking anxiously around +for a door into the hall which led to the porte-cochere entrance when +we saw the maid Carrie come into the room with a tray full of glasses. +When she saw us standing there she came up to us and under the pretense +of offering us refreshments she whispered: "You are looking for the way +out? Follow me." + +We followed her across the room and out the door at the opposite side, +which opened into a small reception-room. There stood the footman with +the vein in his nose and without a word he led the way through various +rooms and hallways to the porte-cochere entrance. We passed out +quickly, and to our surprise there stood the Glow-worm under the +porte-cochere with the lamps all lighted and the tanks filled. In a +moment we were speeding down that driveway again and out into the +midnight. The events of the evening were whirling through our heads. As +yet we could make neither head nor tail to them. Bit by bit we began to +see the significance of things, although, of course, the whole story +was not clear to us until a day later, when things came to a head and +the resulting explosion cleared up all mysteries. + +This much we did understand, however, that someone had stolen a diamond +necklace from one of the guests at the ball and expected us to get away +with it. Also that the servants must have been in the plot, for how +else had our get away been made so easy? And how came the Glow-worm to +be standing at the door ready to drive away? + +We laughed when we thought of the diamond necklace which they had +supposed was safe in our possession, lying in the jardinier in the sun +parlor. We fancied the commotion that would take place when the owner +discovered its loss, and the equal dismay in the breasts of the +conspirators when it was found in the jardinier. + +But here we were again, without a place to spend the night, when we had +expected to sleep in such luxurious beds. With one accord we decided to +drive all night and put as much distance between us and the house as +possible. We were constantly afraid that we were being pursued as it +was, and strained our ears for the throb of a motor behind us that +would tell of the chase. We did not make very fast headway, for the +roads were abominable after the storm. In places we went through +regular lakes and the water was thrown into the car by the wheels, so +that we were drenched a second time, as well as spattered with mud from +head to foot. Then we came to a hold-up altogether. In one place a +small stream had risen from the flood and carried away the bridge by +which we were supposed to cross. The water was too deep to drive +through and we had to turn back and find another road. Then our +troubles began in earnest. + +The main road had been bad enough, but these side roads full of deep +wagon ruts and mud holes were ten times worse. It would have been a +problem to drive through there by daylight, but after dark it was a +nightmare. Our electric head lamps were dim that night for some reason +or other and only partly showed up the bad places, and several times I +thought we were going to upset. The drizzling rain was still falling +and we were soaked and uncomfortable. After a time we gave up trying to +find another bridge to cross the stream and get back on the main road +and frankly owned that we were lost. Once in a while we saw the dark +outline of a farmhouse far back from the road, but we hesitated to wake +up the people at that time of night and ask our way. + +Margery complained of the feeling of her wet coat and Sahwah suggested +that we all sing "How Dry I Am", and see if there was anything in +mental suggestion. So we stopped still at the cross-roads and sang +hoarsely in the rain and darkness like disconsolate frogs. The starter +refused to work when we wanted to go on again and Nyoda had to get out +in the mud and crank the engine. + +"She stoops to crank her," said Sahwah, but none of us had the ambition +to pinch her for making a pun. + +We were apparently traveling through the country in a sort of Roman key +pattern, up one road and down another without getting any nearer to the +town for which we imagined we were headed. Suddenly something white +loomed up before us which proved to be the gate of a fence; we were +evidently on private property. Sahwah got out to open it but she could +not do it alone, so both Nakwisi and I jumped out to help her. The mud +was piled up so high under the gate that it was all we could do to +swing it back. The Glow-worm passed through slowly and we closed the +gate again. Just then a gust of wind sent down a heavy shower of drops +from a near-by tree and we ran hastily for the shelter of the car. +Nyoda started immediately and we found ourselves in the main road once +more. The gust of wind continued and blew our veils into our faces and +made us screw our eyes shut. In such fashion did we travel down the +king's highway, and if ever my ardor for automobile touring was +dampened, it was then. For a long time nobody had a word to say, not +even irrepressible Sahwah. Each one of us sat apart wrapped in our own +gloomy thoughts. Finally Nakwisi spoke. + +"Does the water run down over the tip of your nose if your nose turns +up? Sahwah, yours turns up, will you look and see which way the +rain-drops are going?" + +There was no answer. + +"Well, don't answer, if you don't want to," said Nakwisi, rather +crossly. We took our veils down from our eyes and looked around to see +the cause of this unusual silence on Sahwah's part. Then we got the +second big shock of the evening. _Sahwah was not in the car!_ She had +vanished utterly, silently, mysteriously, into the rainy darkness! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +If I were an experienced writer of fiction I would know how to weave +all the various odds and ends of my story into the telling so as to +keep the action moving forward all the time, with all parts nicely +balanced. But as it is, I am afraid that I have been trying to tell it +all at once and am getting it rather one-sided. So far I have told only +what happened to us girls in the Glow-worm, and I fear that the reader +will have forgotten by this time that there were eight girls who +started out on the trip instead of four. So now I am going to carry you +back to a point almost at the beginning of the story; the point where +we almost struck the old woman and where the Striped Beetle vanished +from sight. As I said before, I am going to tell the story just as if I +had been along and seen everything, without stopping to quote Gladys or +Hinpoha or Medmangi or Chapa. + +You will remember that we were proceeding westward through Toledo at +the time and the Striped Beetle was in the lead. Hinpoha sat in the +front seat with Gladys, holding Mr. Bob in her lap. The street was +crowded with vehicles and Gladys was driving carefully. A wagon loaded +almost to the sky with barrels threatened to fall over on them and they +had a narrow squeeze to get through between it and the curb. Some small +boys on the sidewalk shouted at the driver of the wagon and he shouted +back; a street car trying to make headway on a track from which a sand +wagon refused to move itself raised an ear-splitting racket with its +alarm bell; the noise was so deafening that the girls put their hands +over their ears and did not take them down again until Gladys had +turned a corner into a quieter street. They had turned another corner +before they discovered that the Glow-worm was not right behind them. +Gladys merely stopped the car and waited for us to come up. + +"They're probably caught in that line of wagons and trucks on T---- +Street," said Gladys, when we did not come immediately. "I hope their +engine didn't stall on that corner." + +The minutes passed and we did not appear. + +"Run down to the corner and see what is keeping them," said Gladys to +Chapa and Medmangi. The two girls got out and retraced their steps. But +nowhere did they see the Glow-worm. Puzzled, they returned to Gladys +and she promptly turned the Striped Beetle around and drove back +through the streets the way she had come. The Glow-worm had apparently +vanished off the face of the earth. Inquiry at frequent points brought +out the fact that the Glow-worm had knocked down an old woman (that is +the way such things are exaggerated) and had gone on again. Their +asking which way it had gone started an argument which ended in a fist +fight, for the two small boys they asked each maintained stoutly that +it had gone in a different direction. Then the mother of the boys ran +out from a grocery store to see what the racket was about and seizing +them by the back of their necks she shook them apart, boxing their +ears. When the cause of the argument was made known to her she settled +it in an emphatic manner by pointing with a fat forefinger down the +street. + +"They went that way," she declared. "Four girls in tan suits and green +veils just like yours." + +They took her word for it and started in pursuit of the Glow-worm, +expecting to come upon it at every turn, their wonder growing +momentarily. They could not understand why Nyoda had ceased to follow +them and was taking a route which was not marked in the route book. +They inquired at numerous places and found that we had passed just +ahead of them. + +"I don't blame Nyoda for going this way," said Gladys, "it's lots +quieter than the other way; sort of back streets. She probably turned +off when the jam occurred on T---- Street and thought we saw her and +followed. It seems a little strange that she didn't wait for us to come +up, though." + +Mr. Bob, our long-eared mascot, had a most angelic disposition, but +nevertheless, he knew when he was outraged, and when a yellow cur of no +special breed and no breeding at all snarled impudently at him from the +curb he jumped through Hinpoha's restraining arms with the intention of +chewing up the insolent one. The yellow dog saw him coming and, turning +tail, he fled yelping up a side street. Hinpoha shouted commands in +vain; Mr. Bob had set out to put his teeth into that yellow dog and he +would not be turned aside from his purpose. Gladys stopped the car and +Hinpoha ran after Mr. Bob. The yellow cur knew his neighborhood and +turned into an alley just as Mr. Bob nearly had him. Mr. Bob, with +Hinpoha hard after him, also turned into the alley. The back door of an +empty store offered the fugitive a safe refuge and he darted inside. So +did Mr. Bob, growling ferociously, and so did Hinpoha, panting for +breath and holding her hand to her side. From the back room of the +store the dogs passed to the front and Mr. Bob caught the yellow dog in +a tight corner behind a counter. For all he had run in such a cowardly +fashion the yellow dog was a good fighter and the battle which occurred +when the two clinched frightened Hinpoha out of her wits. She seized an +old broom which was standing against the wall and ran behind the +counter to beat them apart. In the darkness behind the counter she +almost fell over something on the floor, and the broom clattered out of +her hand. In her astonishment she forgot the fighting dogs. The thing +she had fallen over and which she had, at first, thought was a sack of +something, stirred and huddled up against the wall and Hinpoha heard +the sharp intaking of a breath. Then she made out the form of a girl; a +girl in a blue suit sitting on the floor with her hands over her face. + +"Did--did the dogs frighten you?" asked Hinpoha. The girl dropped her +hands and looked up quickly. Just then the yellow dog broke away from +Mr. Bob and retreated through the back door. Mr. Bob, who had evidently +derived honorable satisfaction from the encounter, came over to Hinpoha +and subsided at her feet. With a look of wonder Hinpoha turned to the +girl crouching on the floor. She had moved into the light from a window +and Hinpoha could see that fear was written all over her face. It was a +girl about eighteen years old with a round cherubic countenance, framed +in fluffy light hair, wide open guileless blue eyes, with an expression +as innocent as a baby's. Just now the eyes were swimming in tears. + +"You are in trouble?" asked Hinpoha, with ready sympathy. + +The girl reached out her hand and took hold of Hinpoha's jacket as a +child holds on to its mother, in spite of the fact that she was +evidently older than Hinpoha. Hinpoha caught her hand and held it +tightly. + +"Tell me about it," she said, gently. + +The girl gulped down a big sob and wiped her eyes. "I'm--I'm hiding," +she said, in a shaky voice. + +"Hiding from what?" asked Hinpoha. + +"From--from the man I work for," said the girl. "He said I stole +something and I didn't, and he says he can have me arrested," she said +with fresh sobs. + +"But how can anyone have you arrested if you didn't steal anything?" +asked Hinpoha. + +"I don't know," answered the girl, "but I'm afraid he will." She cried +for a moment and then collected herself and went on. "My name is Pearl +Baxter," she said. "I used to live on a farm down state with my mother +and then she died and I came here to the city and went to work in an +office. I was the only girl in the office and I knew the combination of +the safe. A few days ago Mr. Sawyer, that's one of the men I work for, +asked me to get certain papers out of the safe, and when I went there I +couldn't find them. He made an awful fuss and said I had taken them. +They were bonds, if you know what they are. He said he would have me +arrested. I believe his son took them because he knew they were there. +When the other partner of the firm found they were gone he insisted on +having the office searched and the bonds were found in my desk drawer. +They would not believe me when I said I did not put them there. That +was yesterday and I ran away and hid here all night and I'm afraid to +go out for fear they will get me." + +She broke down again and wept into her handkerchief. Tender-hearted +Hinpoha was ready to weep in sympathy. "You poor thing!" she exclaimed. +"Have you no friends who would help you?" she asked. + +The girl shook her head. "I don't know anybody up here," she said. +"I've only been working here three months." + +For Hinpoha there was always one court of last resort. That was Nyoda. + +"You come along with me," she said. "I know somebody who can tell you +what to do." + +She led the girl out to the Striped Beetle and told her story to the +other girls. They all agreed that the only thing to do was to take her +to Nyoda as quickly as possible. She sat in the tonneau of the car +between Chapa and Medmangi with her veil tied down over her face, +through which she peered nervously to the right and left as the car +moved on through the streets. Gladys's brow was drawn up into a frown +of perplexity as corner after corner was turned and they still did not +come upon the Glow-worm. Boys playing in the street told them that it +had gone past over fifteen minutes before. Hinpoha anxiously wished for +a sight of the familiar car so that Pearl could be turned over to Nyoda +very soon. + +"It's like a game of Hare and Hounds," said Chapa from the back seat +"Nyoda is the hare and we are the hounds. She's probably doing it on +purpose to see how well we can trail her to the city limits. You know +how fond she is of putting us to unexpected tests." + +"I'll make it," said Gladys, determinedly. + +Several times she consulted her route book and then she laughed. "The +joke is on Nyoda after all," she said. "This way leads to the southern +route and not the northern, and they'll have the pleasure of crossing +the city again. Won't we have the laugh on them, though, when we meet +them at the city limits?" + +But the Glow-worm was not waiting for them at the city limits and they +were much surprised to learn that it had traveled on over the road to +the west. "The southern route?" asked Gladys, wonderingly, "I can't +imagine what Nyoda is doing. I'm sure she understood we were to take +the northern. It's all right, of course, because there is no great +difference in the routes, they each lead to Ft. Wayne, but I can't +imagine why she changed without telling us." + +"Maybe she couldn't stop the car," said Hinpoha, beginning to giggle. +"It's happened before. The fellow next door to us bought a motorcycle +and got it started and couldn't stop it again and he whizzed up and +down the city until the gas gave out, and there were eleven policemen +chasing him before he got through." + +The picture of the Glow-worm traveling across country with the bit +between its teeth, carrying its passengers willy-nilly over the wrong +road, was so funny that they all laughed aloud, in spite of the +improbability of it. + +"Maybe she'll make us trail her all the way to Ft. Wayne," said Gladys, +musingly. "It's really our fault for losing her; we should have kept a +better lookout. But it's a cold day when the Striped Beetle can't catch +up with the Glow-worm." And Gladys put on full speed ahead. + +Hinpoha was not worrying much about us and our disappearance; her +thoughts were taken up with Pearl and her night in the empty storeroom. +Hinpoha always takes other people's troubles so to heart. + +At Napoleon they stopped for gasoline and learned that the Glow-worm +had passed some time before and had also stopped for gasoline. + +For the most part Pearl sat silent, turning her head every little while +to watch the road behind them. She was that +pink-and-white-doll-baby-helpless-in-emergency type of girl who ought +never be allowed away from home without a guardian. After they had been +traveling awhile she leaned back against the seat and looked so white +and faint that the girls became alarmed. + +"Do you feel ill?" asked Medmangi, feeling her pulse with a practised +hand. Medmangi is going to be a doctor and is in her element when she +has a patient to attend to. Pearl opened her big blue eyes languidly. + +"I just got light-headed," she said, in a weak voice. "I think maybe +it's because I'm--I'm hungry." + +"Why didn't we think of it before?" asked Hinpoha, filled with +self-reproach. "We might have known you hadn't had anything to eat +since yesterday if you stayed in that storeroom all night. We'll stop +in this village and get you something." + +"I'd rather you wouldn't," said Pearl, in a somewhat embarrassed +manner. "I really don't want anything to eat." + +"Not want anything to eat!" echoed Hinpoha. "Why don't you want to eat +if you're hungry?" + +"You see," answered Pearl, still more embarrassed, "when I, when I ran +away, I didn't stop to take my purse and I haven't any money to pay--" + +"That's nonsense," said Gladys, firmly. "You have got to let us help +you. It isn't any more than you would do for someone in the same +position." + +They stopped and got her something to eat and the others drank pop to +keep her company. In spite of her being as hungry as she must have been +Pearl did not eat very much; her trouble had evidently taken away her +appetite. The girls exerted themselves to cheer her and assured her +that everything would come out all right as soon as they found Nyoda +and got her advice. + +Somebody must have been moving a crockery store in the neighborhood and +dropped it in the middle of the road, for, as they were passing through +the outskirts of the little village where they had stopped they ran +into a regular field of broken china. Gladys stopped short when she saw +it, but it was too late, they were already in the midst of it. Both the +front tires breathed their last. I think it should be made a criminal +offense to leave things like that in the road. But then maybe the man +carrying the china was knocked down by an automobile in the first +place, and left the pieces in order to get revenge on some member of +the auto driving fraternity. Ever since then I have been wondering how +many of our calamities are brought down upon us by our best friends. + +Gladys backed out of the mess and set about repairing the damage. The +Striped Beetle carried two extra tires done up in a nice shiny cover +all ready for emergency, but for some reason or other Gladys couldn't +get the old tires off. It seems the demountable rims refused to +demount, or whatever it is they are expected to do when you take a tire +off. + +Don't expect me to get the details straight or I shall throw up the job +of reporter right here. I never could see through the workings of a +motor car. I am like the Indian who had the automobile explained to him +until he knew every part like a brother and then, when asked if he +understood it, he replied that he understood all but one thing and that +was what made it go without horses. So if the reader, who knows a car +from A to Z, will kindly forbear to smile when I muddle things up, I +will be her debtor forever. + +Gladys saw that she would have to have help in getting those tires off +and began scanning the horizon for a man. There are times when a man is +a most useful member of society. There was not a man on the horizon at +that time, though, and the only promising thing was a house set far +back from the road in a grove of trees, and with a vegetable garden +running down to the road. They had already left the village behind and +habitations were scarce. Gladys went up to the house and returned in a +short while with a man, who wrestled with the tires awhile and then +proposed driving the car into the yard in the shade of the trees, as +the sun was scorching hot in the road. Gladys accepted the invitation +with alacrity. + +While the Striped Beetle was holding up its poor cut front shoes for +the man to take off the girls strolled over to the pump for a drink. A +tired-looking woman, holding a fretful baby in her arms, came to the +door and asked the girls to come up on the porch and sit down until the +exchange of tires was made. Medmangi promptly offered to hold the baby +while the woman finished her work. With a sigh of relief the woman +handed her the baby. + +"Such a time I've had with him to-day," she said, mopping her forehead. +"He's cried steady since morning. He acts sick and he's got a fever." + +Medmangi took the fretful child and endeavored to soothe him while his +mother went about her work. Hinpoha, who is crazy about babies, +insisted on holding him half the time, but neither of them could make +him stop crying. A three year old girl, red-faced and heavy-eyed, as if +she had recently awakened from sleep, peered shyly through the screen +door and Chapa coaxed her to come out and sit in her lap. The mother +came to the door every few minutes to tell us how thankful she was for +the relief. + +The relief promised to be one of considerable length, for the Striped +Beetle steadfastly refused to put on its new tires. At last, the man +proposed going after another man who lived down the road to help him. +Gladys joined us on the porch while he was gone and helped amuse the +babies. Still the little fellow cried. Medmangi explored for pins with +a skilled hand but there was nothing sticking into him. Neither did he +appear to be teething. + +"There's something the matter with this baby," she said to the mother, +when next she came to the door. "Hadn't you better have a doctor?" + +The woman came out on the porch and looked down at the child in a +worried way. "I sent my husband to town for the doctor this morning," +she said, "but he had gone out into the country on a call and would not +be back until late to-night. The next nearest doctor is in B----; +that's eight miles away and we have no horse. So we'll have to wait +until Dr. Lane gets back from the country." + +"Wouldn't you like to have me drive over and get the doctor from B---- +as soon as the tires are on?" asked Gladys. Gladys is always the one to +offer the helping hand. + +"Would you?" asked the woman, eagerly. + +"I would be very glad to," said Gladys. + +The man came back with his friend and between the two of them they +managed to get the Striped Beetle shod anew. Gladys drove off to B----, +leaving Chapa and Medmangi and Pearl and Hinpoha on the porch with the +babies and taking Mrs. Martin with her. She had seen Mrs. Martin give a +wistful glance toward the big car and surmised rightly that she had few +chances to go automobile riding. They were back in less than an hour +saying that the doctor would be right along, and he appeared presently +in a dusty roadster with another man beside him, probably a friend. + +I suppose everybody has been taught from childhood that virtue is its +own reward and one good turn deserves another. But once in awhile they +discover that the reward of virtue is just as apt to be trouble as not, +and that one good turn can unscrew the lid of a whole canful of +calamities. Thus it was that Gladys's generous offer to fetch the +doctor from B---- ended up in disaster for all five of us. For the +doctor examined the fretful baby and the heavy-eyed little girl and +announced that they both had scarlet fever. + +Scarlet fever! The girls looked at each other in dismay. Not one of +them had had it. And they had all handled both the babies; Medmangi had +hung over the little boy most of the time. + +"If we have ourselves disinfected," said Medmangi, as they moved +hastily toward the car, "there won't be much danger of our getting it. +Scarlet fever isn't really contagious in the first stages." + +"Stay right where you are," said the doctor, in a tone of authority. +"No one must leave this house. You are all under quarantine." + +"But we can't stay here," said Gladys. "We're touring and only stopped +here." + +"That makes no difference," said the doctor. He was a very young doctor +and had recently been appointed health officer in his district. There +was a serious epidemic of scarlet fever in that part of the state which +it was almost impossible to check because people would not keep to +themselves when they had it in the house. Young Dr. Caxton had made up +his mind that the next case that was reported would be as rigidly +quarantined as they were in the big cities. And automobile tourists +would be the very ones to spread the infection abroad through the +countryside. He was determined to hold them there at all costs. + +They argued and pleaded in vain; he was obdurate. He had brought a +friend with him in the car and he proceeded to station him as guard +over the house to see that no one left it. Oh yes, he would see to it +that they got all necessary supplies; they would suffer no hardship, +but, on no account, would a member of that household set a foot off the +grounds. He ordered the babies put to bed and the curtains taken down +in that room and the rugs taken out. Mrs. Martin obeyed his orders in a +flutter of distress. She was frightened because her children had the +scarlet fever and worried half to death at the predicament her passing +guests were in. She had been so grateful to Gladys for taking her along +in the automobile to B----. + +But her distress over it was nothing compared to theirs. To be held up +in the midst of a tour and quarantined with a scarlet fever case! +Whatever was to become of them? If Nyoda were only there! + +"Now you'll have to telegraph your father," said Chapa. + +Gladys's face was drawn with distress. "Mother would be frightened to +death if she knew about it," she said. "I don't believe I'll tell her +yet. I'll wait until I hear from Nyoda." + +"How will we get word to Nyoda?" asked Hinpoha. + +"Ft. Wayne," answered Gladys. "We were to stay there to-night and she +must be there by this time." + +"You'll send a wire for us?" she asked the doctor beseechingly. + +"Certainly," he answered, amiably. "Any service--" + +But Gladys cut him short. He was plainly enjoying the situation. The +doctor departed with his horrid shiny little case and the message in +his pocket and left the guard to watch the house. The first thing he +did was to take something out of the Striped Beetle--I don't know +what--so Gladys couldn't start it and make a dash for liberty. Gladys +was ready to cry with rage at this high handed act, but that was all +the good it did her. + +"Well, there's one thing about it," said Hinpoha, who was far more +philosophical than the rest, "if we have to stay prisoners here we +might as well get busy and help Mrs. Martin. It's no fun to have five +people quartered on you when there are two sick children in the house." +Medmangi was already in the sick room giving medicine and drinks of +water in an accomplished manner. It seems that the Winnebagos have a +specialist in every line. + +The others went down to the kitchen and finished paring the peaches +which Mrs. Martin had been trying to can. + +Later in the evening the guard slipped an envelope through the screen +door. It was a telegram. It was signed by the telegraph company and +read: "Yours date addressed Elizabeth Kent Potter Hotel Ft. Wayne +undelivered. Party not registered." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The girls were entirely at sea at not reaching Nyoda at Ft. Wayne. They +had counted so confidently upon her advice to help them out of the +difficulty in which they found themselves. Being lost from her was the +worst calamity they could conceive of. They were very much puzzled and +a little hurt that she should have run away and left them as she did. +It was so unlike Nyoda. On all other expeditions she had kept them +under her eye every minute, like the careful Guardian she was. None of +them slept much that night for worrying over the strange predicament +they were in. Besides that they had to sleep three in a bed. Gladys +made up her mind to wire her father in the morning when the doctor came. + +When they looked out of the door in the morning the guard of the day +before was gone and a new one had taken his place. Evidently Dr. Caxton +was going to do the job thoroughly. Towards noon a buggy drove into the +yard and a white-haired man got out and came up on the porch. He +carried a shabby medicine case. + +"Why, Dr. Lane!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin cordially, when she saw him. + +"You left a call for me yesterday when I was out in the country," said +Dr. Lane, in a pleasant voice. "I did not get in until early this +morning. What's the trouble?" + +"It's the children," said Mrs. Martin. "They've got scarlet fever. I +was so worried about Bobby yesterday that I sent for Dr. Caxton from +B----. We'll have to keep him now, I suppose, but do you want to look +at them anyhow? Mary doesn't want to take her medicine, and maybe you +could--" + +"Certainly I'll go up and see them," said Dr. Lane. He was the kind of +man you would love to have for your grandfather. His pockets bulged +suspiciously as though they contained bags of lemon drops or peanuts. +Talking cheerfully all the while he entered the sick room and looked at +the patients. + +"So Dr. Caxton said they had scarlet fever!" he said, musingly. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Martin. + +"Scarlet fever your grandmother!" returned Dr. Lane. "They've got +prickly heat. If Dr. Caxton called that scarlet fever, what would he +call a real case of scarlet fever?" + +A minute later the man on guard heard a laugh that almost shook the +windows of the house. Not long after that he was pedaling down the road +on the bicycle that had brought him, very red in the face and very hot +under the collar. The quarantine ended right then and there. Whether +Dr. Caxton came again or not we never found out, for the girls left +immediately. They sped over the road to Ft. Wayne as fast as the +Striped Beetle could carry them. They went to the Potter Hotel and +naturally discovered that we had not stayed there. I believe they had +held to the hope all the time that we had arrived after the telegram +had gone back undelivered. They stood around irresolutely until the +check man to whom we had talked spied them and told them that we had +left not half an hour before and were on our way to Chicago by way of +Ligonier. They could hardly believe their ears when they heard that +Nyoda had gone off and left them the second time. But as they were so +close behind us the only thing for them to do was to follow. + +Gladys stopped at a service station and had the Striped Beetle's +carburetor adjusted, or something that sounded like that, and then +started post-haste on the road to Chicago. Pearl looked from one to the +other of the girls with fear and suspicion in her face. "Is there--is +there really such a person as you say you are taking me to see, or are +you taking me somewhere else?" she faltered. + +And the girls had a hard time convincing her that Nyoda was not a myth, +although they began to wonder if she had not turned into one. Gradually +Pearl began to thaw out under their persistent cordiality and was +really not such a bad companion after all. She still furtively watched +the road behind them as if she feared pursuit, but some of the scared +rabbit look was going out of her eyes when she began to realize that +the width of a whole state lay between her and her persecutors and they +had absolutely no clue to her whereabouts. She repeatedly expressed her +amazement that a group of girls so young had the courage to travel by +themselves in an automobile, and were not frightened to death to have +gotten separated from their chaperon, but were calmly following her up +as fast as they were able. + +She was much interested when she heard they were Camp Fire Girls, and +wanted to know all about the Winnebago doings. + +"I wish I could have belonged to something like that in the city where +I worked," she said with a sigh, "maybe I wouldn't have been so +lonesome all the time. And I would have had a Guardian--is that what +you call her?--to go to when I got into trouble." + +"Maybe you'll get into a group yet," said Hinpoha, optimistically. +"There are some in the city where you live." + +Pearl was as great a curiosity to them as they were to her. How any +girl of eighteen could be so babyish and helpless as she was was a +revelation to them. Everyone of them wished devoutly that she could +become a Winnebago so they could make something out of her. Hinpoha +began making plans right away. + +"As long as you have no people and it doesn't matter where you work, +why couldn't you come to Cleveland and find work, and possibly join our +group?" she suggested. "I'm sure Nyoda would take you in. When Migwan +goes to college she won't be able to attend the meetings regularly and +there will be a vacant place. Couldn't you?" she cried, warming to her +plan, and the rest of the girls voiced their approval. + +"Oh, do you suppose I could?" asked Pearl timidly, clasping her hands +before her in a nervous manner. "Oh, I never could do it. I'm afraid to +go to a bigger city for fear I'll get into trouble again. And I never +could do the things you girls do, I just never could." And she looked +at them with appealing helplessness in her big blue eyes. + +"Nonsense," said Hinpoha, "you can do anything you want to if you only +think you can do it." And she told her a marvelous tale of how I earned +the money to go to college when things seemed determined to go against +me. Which is all perfectly nonsensical; the chance of earning money to +go to college fell right into my lap. Pearl only opened her eyes wider +at Hinpoha's recital and answered with a sigh, "Oh, I never could do +it!" + +The girls went on happily planning how they would take her back to +Cleveland with them and make her one of the Winnebagos. + +They had to slow up the Striped Beetle along the road for a cow and a +calf that were monopolizing the right of way and Hinpoha decided to +take a picture of them. "Oh, this film's finished," she said +impatiently, examining her camera. "I'll have to stop and reload. Oh, +Gladys, do you mind if I open the trunk here on the road? My extra +films are all in there." + +"Go ahead and open it," said Gladys good-naturedly, handing her the key. + +Hinpoha got out and went behind the machine to get her film from the +trunk, all the while calling out to the cow and her calf in a friendly +and coaxing manner not to walk away before she could take them. But she +stopped suddenly in the midst of a persuasive "Here, bossy, stay here," +to utter a surprised exclamation. + +"What's the matter?" asked Gladys. + +"There isn't any trunk here." cried Hinpoha. "It's gone!" + +Consternation reigned in the Striped Beetle. The trunk, containing all +their extra clothes, had vanished from the rack at the back of the car! + +"And my scarf was in it," said Hinpoha, ready to cry with distress, +"that mother sent me from Italy!" + +"Don't worry, we'll get it again," said Gladys soothingly, although she +was as much dismayed herself. "Where did we have it last? We had it in +Ft. Wayne, I know, because we opened it there. It must have been taken +off in the service station where we had the carburetor adjusted. We'll +have to go back and see if it's there." + +Accordingly they turned around and drove swiftly back to Ft. Wayne. +Inquiries at the service station at first brought out nothing, because +the proprietor declared that the trunk had not been touched--whoever +heard of taking off a trunk to adjust a carburetor? But a repairman +coming in just then, heard the talk about the trunk and said he was the +man who had made the adjustment on the car and he noticed that the +trunk rack seemed to be sagging and took off the trunk to fix it. He +had not put the trunk on again, because just then he had been called to +help install new gears in a car for a man who was in a great hurry and +had called one of the helpers to put on the trunk and fill the tank. +The helper was called and admitted that he had put a trunk on a car, +but it was not the Striped Beetle; it was a similar car owned by a man +who was driving to Indianapolis. He had thought the trunk belonged to +him. + +The girls looked at each other tragically. Their trunk on the road to +Indianapolis! + +"How long ago did he start?" asked Gladys. + +"About an hour," answered the repairman. + +"We'll have to go after him," said Gladys, resolutely. "We need that +trunk. Can you tell us what the man's name is?" + +"Hansen," replied the repairman. "George Hansen. Driving seven +passenger touring car, brown, with black streamer and gold striping. He +was driving to Indianapolis over the road that goes through Huntington, +Marion and Anderson; I heard him talking about it. That's one of the +main roads out of here. You ought to be able to overtake him on the +way; he's a slow driver and his motor was missing pretty badly. +Wouldn't let me fix it though, because it would take too long and he +wanted to get to Indianapolis in time to see the races. He lives there, +so you ought to be able to find him; runs some kind of a store." + +He poured out his information eagerly; he seemed anxious to do anything +he could to aid in the recovery of the trunk, since he had put it on +the wrong car. "Funny how well it fitted that other rack!" he said. But +Gladys says there is nothing peculiar about that because the two cars, +being the same make, had the same style rack, and the trunk was the +ordinary one carried by automobilists. + +She hastily looked up the route to Indianapolis and started in pursuit +of the unconscious thief. It was then nearly five o'clock in the +evening. They really did not have much hope of catching the other car +on the way, since it had an hour's start, but they were confident of +recovering the trunk in Indianapolis, where they could find out the +man's address and follow him to his home. Fortune played into their +hands in that they found good roads all the way and had no breakdowns, +and sometime after eight they reached Indianapolis. There were half a +dozen George Hansens in the telephone book, four of whom were away on +automobile trips. But further inquiry brought out the fact that one of +them did own a seven passenger brown W---- car. He was expected home +that evening, but had not yet arrived. His wife (it was she who was +talking) was very sorry about the trunk, but if it had been placed on +the rack of her husband's car it would undoubtedly arrive when he did. +He would probably come home during the night, as he was very anxious to +see the races, which were to take place the next two days. Would they +call later? + +Somewhere on the road they had passed him, but it was too late now to +wonder where. The only thing to do was to wait until he came. At ten +o'clock he had not arrived yet. The girls went down to the Young +Women's Christian Association, where they could spend the night. Gladys +concluded that Nyoda must be told if possible where they were, and +judging that she had reached Chicago by that time she wired the Carrie +Wentworth Inn, where they had planned to stay that night, telling what +had happened and saying she would arrive in Chicago the next day. + +They called the Hansen home the first thing in the morning and learned +to their dismay that Mr. Hansen had not yet returned. But he was +expected any minute and Hinpoha would not hear of leaving without the +trunk. Shortly afterward their telegram came back undelivered from the +Carrie Wentworth Inn in Chicago, with the notation, "Party not +registered." That threw them into a state of bewilderment, but Gladys, +after thinking hard and long about the matter, remarked that the +Glow-worm had a habit of breaking down at inconvenient times and that +probably accounted for our not having reached Chicago the night before. + +Every half hour they called up the Hansen home to find out if Mr. +Hansen had returned and every time they received a negative answer. +Finally, Hinpoha suggested that they drive out to his house and sit on +the curbstone where they could see him coming, before they spent all +their substance in a riotous feeding of nickels into the public +telephone. Which they proceeded to do. But their vigil was vain, for he +came not and it became apparent that they must either depart without +the trunk or stay there another night. Gladys was for going on and +having it sent after them, but Hinpoha refused to budge until she had +seen that scarf with her own eyes. Accordingly, they sent another wire +to the Carrie Wentworth Inn, thinking surely Nyoda must have arrived by +that time, and stayed a second night in Indianapolis. + +The next morning they received the news that Mr. Hansen had arrived, +but alas, he had brought no trunk with him. He knew nothing about the +matter at all. He could remember no trunk being on the back of his car +when he left the repair shop in Ft. Wayne, but then, he had not looked +particularly. He had made several stops on the way home on business--he +was a traveling salesman--and that was how they had passed him on the +road. The car had stood for a time in a dozen different places, the +trunk could easily have been stolen, and he had never known the +difference. Possibly they could hold the repair shop responsible. + +The girls were much downcast at this news, especially Hinpoha, on +account of the scarf that had been the last gift of her mother. Where +was the trunk now? It might be anywhere between the north and south +poles in that length of time. Gladys's only hope was now that it had +been mislaid and not stolen, and that it would fall into the hands of +some honest person who would ferret out the owner. + +They were just about to start out for Chicago again when they were +handed a telegram. It was from the Carrie Wentworth Inn and was dated +midnight of the night before. It read: "Wire from party you want says +address Forty-three Main Street Rochester Indiana." + +That wire threw them into great perplexity. What were Nyoda and the +girls doing in Rochester, when they had been on the road to Chicago two +days before? + +"The Glow-worm is more like a flea than a glow-worm," said Hinpoha. +"It's never where you expect to find it. I really believe Nyoda has +lost control of the car and it is taking her wherever it wants to." + +Gladys was consulting the route book. "Rochester is on the direct road +to Indianapolis," she said. "We can make the run in a few hours. I'm +going to wire Nyoda that we're coming and she should wait for us." + +So she sent the wire we received that morning in Rochester: + +"Where on earth are you? Wait Rochester for us. Coming to-day noon." + +That was Friday, the day of the big races in Indianapolis. The town was +full of people. Tourists from all over managed to make the city just at +that time, and the streets were crowded with motor cars of every +description. Gladys looked sharply at every car they passed on the way +out of the city to see if her trunk was on the back of any of them, but +in vain. + +"I suppose I'll never see that scarf again," said Hinpoha, sadly. + +Pearl looked a little enviously at the women who came to town in their +big fine cars with drivers and bull dogs. "It must be lovely to be rich +and taken care of," she said, with a sigh. + +Pearl was the kind of a girl who should have been born to a life of +luxurious ease. She certainly had no backbone to fight her own battles +in the world. She was a Clinger, who would curl around the nearest +support like a morning glory vine. She didn't seem to have any more +spirit than an oyster. Hinpoha, still imbued with the idea of taking +her in hand and making a Winnebago out of her, kept trying to draw her +out with an idea of finding out what her possibilities were. It was +rather a matter of pride with us that each one of the Winnebagos +excelled in some particular thing. When Hinpoha asked her what her +favorite play was she answered that she had never been to the theater +and considered it wicked. She opened her eyes in disapproval when +Hinpoha mentioned motion pictures. Hinpoha had been on the verge of +launching out on our escapade with the film company the summer before, +but checked herself hastily. She also suppressed the fact that I had +written scenarios, which fact Hinpoha glories in a great deal more than +I do and which she generally sprinkles into people's dishes on every +occasion. The fact that Gladys danced in public seemed to shock her +beyond words. Clearly she was unworldly to the point of narrowness, and +Hinpoha began to reflect that, after all, she might be somewhat of a +wet blanket on the Winnebago doings if she came and joined the group. +Pearl showed such marked disapproval of Gladys when she remarked that +she wished her father were in town so they could have gone to the races +that an awkward silence fell on the group. No topic of conversation +seemed safe to venture upon. + +They were driving along country roads now and in one place they crossed +a small river with the most gorgeous early autumn flowers growing along +its banks. They caught Hinpoha's color-loving eye and she must get out +and wander among them. Gladys and Chapa and Medmangi decided that they +too would like a stroll beside the river, after sitting in the car so +long. Pearl did not care to get out; she offered to stay in the car and +hold the purses of the other girls until they returned. The four girls +walked along the stream, admiring the flowers, but not picking any, +because they would only fade and wither and if left on the stems they +would give pleasure to hundreds of people. Now and then they dabbled +their fingers in the cool water. + +"It's such a temptation to go wading," sighed Hinpoha, who never will +grow up and be dignified if she lives to be a hundred. + +Gladys was afraid Hinpoha would yield to the temptation if it stared +her in the face too long, and announced that it was time to be under +way. Reluctantly, Hinpoha tore herself away from the river and followed +Gladys to the road. + +What a rude ending that little wayside idyll was destined to have! + +For when they returned to the road where they had left the Striped +Beetle there was nothing but empty air. Car, Pearl, and four purses, +containing every cent the girls had with them, had vanished! + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +At first the girls could not believe their eyes. But it was all too +true. The deep tracks in the dust of the road showing the well-known +prints of the Striped Beetle's tires told beyond a doubt that the car +had gone on and left them. + +"But I never heard it start!" said Gladys. + +"It was the murmuring of your old brook, Hinpoha, that you were raving +about," said Chapa, "that filled our ears." + +It took them actual minutes to realize that Pearl, the spineless +clinging doll-faced girl they had befriended, had sold them out. + +"And we took her for such a baby!" said Hinpoha, in bewilderment. + +"Who would ever dream she could drive a car?" gasped Gladys. "She was +afraid to toot the horn." To lose your automobile in the midst of a +tour must be like having your horse shot under you. One minute you're +en route and the next minute you're rooted, if the reader will forgive +a very lame pun. And the spot where the Striped Beetle had been +(figuratively) shot from under the girls could not have been selected +better if it had been made to order for a writer of melodrama. There +was not a house in sight nor a telephone wire. The dust in the road was +three inches deep and the temperature must have been close to a +hundred. They were at least five miles from the nearest town. Chapa +looked at Medmangi, Medmangi looked at Hinpoha, and Hinpoha looked at +Gladys. Gladys, having no one else to look at, scratched her head and +thought. + +"Well," she said finally, "we can't stay here all day. We might as well +walk to the nearest town and tell the police. They may be able to trace +the car. It was stolen once before and they found it in a town forty +miles away." + +Whenever anyone mentions that walk in the heat the four girls begin to +pant and fan themselves with one accord. They had gone about three +miles when they came upon the Striped Beetle standing in the road, +abandoned. With a cry of joy the girls threw themselves upon it. The +cause for its abandonment soon came to light. The gasoline tank was +empty. Otherwise it was undamaged. But before it could join the +innumerable caravan again it must have gasoline, and naturally there +was none growing on the bushes. + +"You two sit in the car and see that no one else runs away with it," +said Gladys to Medmangi and Chapa, "and Hinpoha and I will go for +gasoline." + +It was not until they had finished the two miles to town and stood by a +gasoline station that they remembered that they had no money. The +gasoline man firmly refused to give them any gas unless they paid for +it. Gladys was aghast. Hinpoha leaned wearily against a post and mopped +her hot face. Hinpoha suffers more from the heat than the rest of us. + +"Pretty tough to be dead broke, aint it, lady?" asked a grimy urchin, +who had been an interested witness of Gladys's discomfiture. + +"Worse to be alive and broke," jeered another one. Gladys's face was +crimson with heat and embarrassment. She turned and walked rapidly away +from the place, followed by Hinpoha. + +"You'll have to wire home for money now," said Hinpoha. + +"And lose the bet," said Gladys, disconsolately. "And father'll laugh +his head off to think how neatly we were beaten. + +"I know what I'll do," she said, resolutely. "I'll not wire him at all. +I'll wire the bank where I have my own money and have them wire me +some." + +Accordingly, she hunted up the telegraph office and sent a wire collect +to her bank, feeling much pleased with herself at the idea of having +found a way out without calling on her father for aid. + +The telegraph office was in the railway station and she and Hinpoha sat +down after sending the wire and waited for the ship to come in, +wondering what the other girls would think when they failed to come +back with the gasoline. It was past dinnertime but there was no dinner +for them as long as they had no money. From jaunty tourist to penniless +pauper in two hours is quite a change. An hour passed; two hours, but +no gold-laden message came over the wire. Hinpoha had been chewing her +fingers for the last hour. + +"Oh, please stop that," cried Gladys irritably, "you make me nervous. +You remind me of a cannibal." + +"Isn't there a poem about 'My beautiful Cannibalee?" returned Hinpoha. +"I'll go out and eat grass if that will make you feel any better," she +continued. She strolled outdoors, leaving Gladys listening to the +clickety-click of the telegraph instrument and growing more nervous +every minute. Presently Hinpoha came back and said she couldn't stand +it outside at all because there was a crate of melons and a box of eggs +on the station platform, and she was afraid she wouldn't have the +strength to resist if she stayed out there with them. + +"And it's going to rain," she announced. "You ought to see the sky +toward the west." + +And then the darkness began to make itself felt; not the blue darkness +of twilight, but the black darkness of thunder clouds through which +zig-zags of lightning began to stab. A baby, waiting in the station +with its mother for the train, began to wail with fright and Hinpoha +forgot her hunger in an effort to amuse him. Then the storm broke. The +train roared in just as it began and mingled its noise with the +thunder. Hardly had it disappeared up the track when there came a crash +of thunder that shook the station to its foundations, followed by a +dazzling sheet of blue light, and then the telegraph operator bounded +out of his little enclosure, white with fear. His instrument had been +struck, as well as the wires on the outside of the building and the +roof began to burn. Gladys and Hinpoha rushed out into the rain +regardless of their unprotected state and found shelter in a near-by +shed, from which they watched the progress of what might well be taken +for a second deluge. + +"If the water rises much higher in the road we won't need any +gasoline," remarked Hinpoha. "The Striped Beetle will float." + +"I only hope the girls got the storm curtains buttoned down in time," +Gladys kept saying over and over again. + +"If it starts to float," persisted Hinpoha, "do you suppose it will +come this way, or will they have to steer it? Would the steering-wheel +be any good, I wonder, or would they have to have a rudder? Oh," she +said brightly, "now I know what they mean by the expression 'turning +turtle'. It happens in cases of flood; the car turns turtle and swims +home. If it only turned into turtle soup," she sighed. + +Gladys looked up suddenly. "What time was it when we sent that wire to +my bank?" she asked. + +"A quarter after one," replied Hinpoha, promptly. "I heard a clock +chiming somewhere. And I calculated that I would just about last until +you got an answer." + +"A quarter after one," repeated Gladys. "That's Central time. That was +a quarter after two Cleveland time. The bank closes at two o'clock. +They probably never sent me any money!" + +"Now you'll have to wire your father after all," said Hinpoha. + +For answer Gladys pointed to the blackened telegraph pole which was +lying with its many arms stretched out across the roof of the station. +There would be no wires sent out that day. + +By the time the rain had ceased the darkness of the thunder clouds had +been succeeded by the darkness of night, and Hinpoha and Gladys took +their way wearily back over the flooded road to where the Striped +Beetle stood. + +"Did you have to dig a well first, before you got that gasoline?" +called Chapa, as they approached. (They _had_ put down the storm +curtains, Gladys noted.) + +Gladys made her announcement briefly and they all settled down to gloom. + +"Talk about being shipwrecked on a desert island," said Hinpoha. "I +think one can get beautifully shipwrecked on the inhabited mainland. We +are experiencing all the thrills of Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss +family Robinson combined." + +"We haven't any Man Friday," observed Gladys. + +"What good would he be if we had him?" inquired Hinpoha, gloomily. + +"He could act as chauffeur," replied Gladys, "and supply the modern +flavor." + +"This is Friday, too," remarked Medmangi. + +"That's why the car won't start," said Hinpoha, "it won't start +anything on Friday." + +"Couldn't we dig for oil?" suggested Chapa. "We're in the oil belt. +There must be all kinds of gasoline in the earth under our very feet, +and we languishing on top of it! It's like the stories where the man +perishes of thirst in the desert right on top of the water hole." + +"We really and truly are Robinson Crusoe-like," said Gladys, looking +out at the flooded fields and deserted road. + +"Robinson Crusoe had the advantage of us in one thing," said Hinpoha, +returning to her main theme. "He had a corn-stalk, and clams, and +things." + +"'If we only had some ham, we could have some ham and eggs, if we only +had some eggs,'" quoted Gladys. + +"Here's where the Slave of the Lamp would come in handy," sighed +Hinpoha. + +"You might rub the lamp," said Gladys, pointing to the tail light, "and +maybe the Slave will appear." + +"I want baked potatoes on my order," said Gladys. + +"And I want broiled chicken," said Chapa. + +Hinpoha got down and solemnly rubbed the tail lamp of the Striped +Beetle, exclaiming, "Slave, appear!" + +Something black bounded out of the darkness at the side of the road and +landed at her feet. It was Mr. Bob, who had gone off for exercise. He +carried something in his mouth which he laid decorously on the ground +beside her. She stooped to look at it. It was an apple. + +The girls all shouted. Hinpoha straightened up. "Girls," she said +solemnly, "coming shadows cast their events before, I mean, coming +events cast their shadows before. Where there's honey you'll find bees, +and where there's apples you'll find trees. The famine is over, and now +for the feast." + +She led the way down the road with Chapa and Medmangi on either side. +They found the tree, close beside the road, and loaded with fruit. They +filled their pockets for Gladys and returned to the Striped Beetle, and +then for some time, as Hinpoha said, "Nothing was heard in the air but +the hurrying munch of the greening." + +"It must be a disadvantage to be a negro," remarked Hinpoha +reflectively, "you can't tell the difference when they're clean." + +"May I ask," inquired Gladys politely, "just what it was that caused +you to make that remark at this time?" + +"Greening apples," returned Hinpoha, calmly. "You can't tell which are +ripe and which are green." + +"You can tell by the seeds," said Gladys. + +"All seeds are black by night," returned Hinpoha. + +"Not changing the subject," said Chapa, "but where are we going to stay +to-night?" + +"You're not _going_ to stay," replied Hinpoha, "you're staying. Right +here. The Inn of the Striped Beetle. + + "Under the wide and starry sky + Fold up the seats and let us lie!" + +"We'll sleep with the raggle taggle gypsies, O!" added Gladys. + +"I want a fire," said Hinpoha. "We always have a fire when we sleep +out." + +"Well, build one in a puddle, if you can," said Gladys. "Your hair will +be the only blaze we have to-night." + +Chapa and Medmangi stood up together on the running-board and began to +sing dolefully, + + "Forsaken, forsaken, forsaken, am I, + Like the bones at a banquet, all men pass me by." + +"I wish a few would pass by," said Gladys, "By the way, have you +noticed that not a single car or wagon has passed through here since +we've been stranded? I thought this was the main road." + +"If this is the main road," said Hinpoha, "I'd hate to be stranded on a +by-path." + +Of course, the girls did not know then that the storm had washed out +the bridges on either side of them and the roadway had been closed to +traffic. They sat peering into the darkness like Columbus looking for +land and wondering why no one came along to whom they could appeal for +a tow into the village. The moon shone, a slender sickle in the west +that Gladys said reminded her of the thin slices of melon they used to +serve for breakfast at Miss Russell's school. + +"I think it looks more like a toe nail," said Hinpoha, squinting +sidewise at it. + +"Don't look at it squarely, it'll bring you bad luck," said Chapa. + +"I'm not looking at it," said Hinpoha, "it's looking at me." + +"Where does the man in the moon go when it turns into a sickle?" asked +Medmangi. + +"That doesn't worry me half so much as where Pearl went with my silver +mesh bag," said Gladys. That brought them all down to earth again and +back to the cause of their predicament, and the moon turned into a +yellow banana and fell off the sky counter while they voiced their +indignation. And, of course, they all turned on Hinpoha for being taken +in by her in the first place, and Hinpoha vented her irritation on Mr. +Bob, who was sitting with his head on her knee in a lover-like attitude. + +"It's all your fault that we are in this mess," she said to him, +crossly. "If you hadn't jumped out of the car after that yellow dog and +chased him into the empty store I wouldn't have had to go after you, +and if I hadn't gone after you I would never have discovered Pearl and +brought her along with us. It's the last time I'll ever travel with +you." Mr. Bob, feeling the reproach in her tone, crept away with his +head down. + +"O come, let's not quarrel about whose fault it was," said Gladys. "It +isn't the first time people have been taken in." + +"We seem to be left out, rather than taken in," murmured Hinpoha. + +"You're unusually brilliant to-night," remarked Chapa. "It must have +been the apples, because on an ordinary diet you never say anything +bright." + +"Is that so?" said Hinpoha. + +"Look at the stars," said Gladys hastily, "aren't they brilliant +to-night?" + +"Almost as brilliant as Hin--" began Chapa. + +"If we sit up late enough," said Gladys, cutting in on Chapa's remark, +"we may see some of the winter stars. I actually believe there's Orion +now." + +"And the Twins," cried Hinpoha, forgetting her momentary offended +feeling in the interest of her discovery. + +"And Sirius and the Bull and the River," added Gladys. "It's just like +getting a peep at the actors in their dressing-rooms before it is time +for them to come out on the stage, to see the winter stars now." + +"I hate to look at the stars so much," said Hinpoha, dolefully. "They +make me feel so small." + +"I should think that anything that made you feel small would--" + +Gladys again interrupted the flow of Chapa's wit, directed this time +against Hinpoha's bulk. + +"I'm going to bed," she announced. There was a scramble for the robes +and for comfortable places in the tonneau, and it took much adjusting +and readjusting before there was anything resembling quiet in the +bedchamber of the Striped Beetle. But weariness can snore even on the +floor boards of a car and that long walk over the road had done its +work for at least two of the girls. The last thing they heard was +Hinpoha drowsily spouting: + + "Let me sleep in a car by the side of the road, + Where the hop toads are croaking near-by, + With Medmangi's camera between my knees stowed, + And Gladys's foot in my eye!" + +And then, when they were all nicely settled and had dropped off to +sleep, Hinpoha had the nightmare and screamed the most blood-curdling +screams and cried out that the apple tree was hugging her to death, +which sounded nonsensical, but was really suggestive. For, in the +morning she discovered that green apples are gone but not forgotten +when used as an article of diet and sat doubled up in silent agony on +the floor of the car and announced she was dying. + +"It serves you right," said Medmangi, in her best doctor manner. "You +were in such a hurry to eat them that you ate every one that came along +without waiting to find out whether it was ripe or not. The rest of us +stuck to the ripe ones and we're all right." + +"Well, the unripe ones are sticking to me," groaned Hinpoha, unhappily. + +Mr. Bob laid his head on her knee with an air of sympathy. Where +Hinpoha is concerned he never stops to think whether the sympathy is +deserved or not. + +"What family do apples belong to, anyway?" asked Gladys idly, seeing it +was time to turn Medmangi aside from preaching to Hinpoha. + +"Not my family," said Chapa, "we're all peaches." + +"Forget-me-not family," said Hinpoha, with another groan. + +They ate more apples for breakfast, except Hinpoha, who pretended not +to see when they offered them to her. Then Gladys decided to walk to +town again to see what cheer there was there. + +"Up, up, Hinpoha," she cried, "and join me in my morning stroll." + +"You should say 'Double up, Hinpoha', like 'double up Lucy'," said +Chapa, and then dodged as Hinpoha's hand reached out for her hair. + +Hinpoha tried to stand up, but immediately sat down again, and Chapa +went to town with Gladys. + +They sat and watched the repairmen fixing the wires of the telegraph +and, after a while, the messages began to pour in again. And one of +them was the one that brought joy to Gladys's soul and as soon as the +formalities were gone through she had actual money once more. They +bought enough gasoline to bring the Striped Beetle in and returned to +the anchored ones in triumph. They found that during their absence +Hinpoha had manufactured a large "For Rent" sign and hung it on the +front of the car, intending, as she said, to go into business and rent +out the car at a dollar an hour until they had enough money to proceed. + +"How were you intending to rent it out without any gasoline to run it?" +inquired Gladys. + +"Make them pay in advance," replied Hinpoha. + +"With the constant stream of foot-sore pedestrians over this road it +would no doubt have been profitable," said Gladys, scanning the road up +and down. There was not a living being in sight. But Gladys knew the +reason now, for she had seen the washout. + +To get the Striped Beetle back to town they had to drive through +private property to reach the other road. After eating breakfast--the +first real meal they had had since the morning before--they set out +once more for Rochester to meet Nyoda. + +"So it's money makes the Striped Beetle go," said Hinpoha reflectively, +as they sped along. "And I had been thinking all the while it was +gasoline." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +When the gust of wind overtook us that night while Sahwah and Nakwisi +and I were struggling to shut the gate we had run against in the +darkness, Nakwisi and I jumped into the Glow-worm in haste and we all +thought Sahwah was in too. But in running for the car she slipped in +the mud and fell flat on her face in the puddle. By the time she had +picked herself up and wiped the mud out of her eyes the Glow-worm was +gone. Slopping along in the pools of water she ran shouting down the +road. She could hear the engine of the Glow-worm throbbing in the +distance; then the sound began to die away. She knew then that they had +not yet noticed her absence, but they must presently and would return +for her. So she set out in the direction in which the car had vanished, +going, as she supposed, to meet them. The road was so dark she could +not see her hand in front of her eyes, and what with the wind moaning +mournfully and the rain falling all around her, it was rather a dismal +walk. On one side of her was a stretch of swamp where frogs glumped and +piped in every known key. Sahwah is not nervous, however, and to her +the voice of a frog is simply the voice of a frog and not the wail of a +banshee, and anyway, her mind was occupied with pulling her feet out of +the mud in the road and setting them in again. And she was straining +her ears for the sound of the Glow-worm, and all other noises made +little or no impression on her. + +It seemed to her that it was high time the others had missed her and +were coming back to pick her up. "Probably stuck in the mud somewhere," +was her consoling thought, "and I'll come upon them if I keep going far +enough." + +And so she kept on pulling her feet out of the mud and setting them in +again. By and by the road narrowed down until it seemed no more than a +path, and then without warning it ended abruptly against a building. +Sahwah had been looking at her feet and not into the distance, and due +to the force of inertia which we learned about in the Physics class, +which keeps people going once they have started, she did not stop as +soon as the road did and ran her nose smartly against the building, +which proved to be a barn, Sahwah drew back with a start, rubbing her +injured nose. Gradually, the fact dawned on her that she was lost. She +looked for the road from which she had strayed, but it seemed to have +rolled itself up and departed. The croaking of the frogs came from +everywhere and she could not locate the swamp. She walked around for +awhile, and finally, did walk into the swamp, but there was no road +anywhere near. There was water, water, everywhere. Sahwah, who had once +declared she could never get enough of water, got enough of it that +night. + +She thought of the wicked uncle brook in _Undine_ which had risen up +and covered the land, and she wondered if something of the kind had not +happened again. She railed inwardly against the darkness of the country +roads and wished with all her heart for the lighted byways of the city, +with their rows of cheerful lights on posts and their frequent catch +basins that were capable of subduing the most rampant uncle brook. +Several times more she fell, and once she stepped into a puddle over +her shoe-tops. Then she fell against a fence and tore her skirt. Then, +when she was sure she had found the road again she ran plump into the +barn again, from a different side this time. A window frame minus a +window told that the barn was empty and with a grunt of utter disgust +at the wetness of the world in general, Sahwah climbed in and stood on +a dry floor. She made up her mind to stay there until the sound of the +engine would tell her that the Glow-worm had come for her. As the time +went by and no familiar throbbing rose on the air, she began to have +cold chills when she realized that we might not yet have noticed her +absence, and might be miles away by that time. + +"At any rate," she decided, "I'm going to stay in here until it stops +raining. If I get any wetter somebody'll take me for a sponge." She +took off her jacket and wrung the water out of it and then wrung the +water from the tail of her skirt, where it had been dripping on her +ankles. Luckily she could not see herself in the darkness, for the +green color from her veil had run in streaks all over her face and she +looked like a savage painted for the war-path. + +A half hour drizzled by and then she heard the most welcome sound in +the world, the honk of the Glow-worm's horn. Then she saw the glimmer +of the headlights coming toward her out of the distance. And the +strangest part of it was that the road was in just the opposite +direction from where she thought it was. She climbed out of the barn +window and ran toward the lights, landing in a puddle in the road with +a mighty splash. The next minute the lights were full on her and the +car came to a sudden stop. + +"You will run off and leave me, will you?" she called, running forward. +Then she paused. The driver at the wheel was not Nyoda, but a man. +There was no one else in the car. + +"Excuse me," she said, stepping back. "I thought you were friends of +mine." And the car moved on. + +But if Sahwah had not found the Glow-worm she had, at least, found the +road, and she made up her mind not to lose it again until she had come +upon the others. Dawn found her still trudging along, very wet, very +muddy, very tired and very much puzzled. For she had not come upon the +Glow-worm stuck in the mud as she had expected. + +The rain had stopped and the sun was opening a watery eye on the +horizon. The east wind was rising and ushering in the day. The frogs +ceased croaking and the birds began to twitter. It was a morning to +delight the soul, that is, any but a lonely soul which was wandering +around, wet to the knees, unutterably weary, separated from its kindred +souls, and without a cent of money. Sahwah had left her purse in the +Glow-worm. By the position of the sun she discovered that she was +traveling toward the west. The events of the night before were like a +dream in her mind. The storm, the ball, the finding of the necklace in +Nyoda's pocket and the flight in the rain were all jumbled together. +She sat down on a stone by the roadside to think things over, and let +down her damp hair to fly in the wind. For once in her life Sahwah was +at a loss what to do next. So she sat still and waited for inspiration. +The sun dried her hair and her coat and the mud on her shoes. The wild +asters along the road craned their necks to get a look at this great +muddy creature that sat in their midst, and a bird or two paused +inquiringly before her. + +"I shall sit here," she said aloud, quoting the Frog Footman in _Alice +in Wonderland_, "till tomorrow, or next day, maybe." It suddenly seemed +to Sahwah as if she would like nothing better than to sit there +forever. The stone she was sitting on was so soft and comfortable, and +the sun was so warm and pleasant and the breeze was so soft and +caressing. The song of the birds became very loud and clear; then it +began to melt away. Sahwah's head nodded; then she slid off the stone +and lay full length in the grass, sleeping as soundly as a babe in its +cradle. + +Mr. and Mrs. James Watterson of Chicago were motoring back to their +home from the races in Indianapolis. The night before the Indianapolis +papers had been full of the disappearance of Margery Anderson and the +efforts her uncle was making to recover her. He even offered a reward +for information concerning her whereabouts. The papers said he had gone +to Chicago to follow up a clue. Mrs. Watterson had read every word of +the article with great interest. She did not know the Andersons and she +was not particularly interested in them and their troubles, but she had +nothing else to do at the moment, her husband having gone out and left +her alone in the hotel, so she read and reread the details of the +affair until she knew them by heart. + +The next morning, on their way north, they came upon Sahwah sleeping in +the road. "Somebody dead or hurt here," exclaimed Mr. Watterson, and he +stopped the car and jumped out. Sahwah's face was streaked with green +from the soaked veil and she looked absolutely ghastly. And her arm was +twisted under her head in the peculiar position in which Sahwah always +sleeps, so that it looked as if she had fallen on it. + +"Her heart's beating," announced Mr. Watterson, after investigating. + +Mrs. Watterson came out and also looked Sahwah over. A handkerchief was +dangling half out of the pocket of Sahwah's coat and a name written on +it in indelible ink caught the woman's eye. That name was _Margery +Anderson_. Sahwah had gotten something into her eye the day before, and +not having a handkerchief handy--Sahwah never has when she wants +one--Margery had handed her one of hers. At the sight of that name Mrs. +Watterson was in a flutter of excitement. The story in the newspaper +was fresh in her mind. "It's that Anderson girl!" she exclaimed, +holding up the handkerchief. + +Quickly they lifted Sahwah, still sleeping, into the car. They thought +she was unconscious and I believe their idea was to take her to the +next house they came to. But, of course, as soon as the car started +Sahwah woke up and looked with a gasp of surprise into the faces near +her. At first when she felt the throb of the engine under her she had +thought she was in the Glow-worm. Mr. and Mrs. Watterson were as +surprised as she was. They had not expected her to come to life in just +that manner. + +Of course, Sahwah wanted to know where she was and whither she was +going. + +"You are going to your friends, my dear," replied Mrs. Watterson. + +"Do you know where they are?" asked Sahwah, wondering how they had come +upon the whereabouts of the Glow-worm. Mrs. Watterson merely smiled +ambiguously. Sahwah looked at her with instant suspicion. "Who are +you?" she demanded. "And where are you taking me?" Mrs. Watterson +smiled again, somewhat uncertainly this time. There is something about +Sahwah's direct gaze that is a trifle disconcerting. + +"I am a friend of your uncle's"--she told the falsehood glibly--"and I +am taking you back to him." + +"My uncle?" echoed Sahwah, wonderingly. "Taking me back to him?" She +was completely at sea. Mrs. Watterson did not answer. She looked away, +over the green fields they were passing. She was having visions of the +reward. + +Sahwah clutched her arm. "I don't believe it," she said. "I don't know +you. Stop the car and let me out." Mr. Watterson drove a little faster. +Sahwah rose in the seat and looked as if she were about to cast herself +headlong from the car. Mrs. Watterson took a firm hold of her coat and +pulled her back into the seat. + +"Sit right where you are, Margery Anderson!" she said. "We will let you +out when we turn you over to your uncle in Chicago and not before." + +Sahwah looked petrified. Margery Anderson! "You've made a mistake," she +said. "I'm not Margery Anderson." + +"Don't tell lies, my dear," said Mrs. Watterson. "You are Margery +Anderson." And she drew the handkerchief from Sahwah's pocket and held +it before her eyes with a triumphant flourish. Sahwah was so overcome +with astonishment that she could not speak for a moment and it was just +as well that she could not, or she might have explained how she came to +be carrying Margery's handkerchief and that would have revealed the +whereabouts of the real Margery. + +Mrs. Watterson was triumphantly quoting from the newspaper article: +"Tall, slender, brown eyes and hair, one upper front tooth shorter than +the remainder of the row--" + +Sahwah, while actually resembling Margery no more than red-haired +Hinpoha did, yet fitted the description perfectly! + +An idea had come into Sahwah's mind. She abandoned her half-formed plan +of jumping from the car the moment it should slow up for any reason. +Since these people insisted that she was Margery Anderson in spite of +all she could say to the contrary, well and good, there was so much +less chance of Margery's being discovered. After all the trouble they +had taken so far to return the girl to her mother it would never do for +her to betray her. So she sat silent under Mrs. Watterson's fire of +cross questioning as to where she had been since running away, which +Mrs. Watterson took for conclusive proof that she was Margery. + +"Did you say my--my uncle was in Chicago?" Sahwah asked at last. + +Mrs. Watterson replied affirmatively. Sahwah was inwardly jubilant but +the expression of her face never altered. It was all right as long as +they were taking her to Chicago. Once confronted with Margery's uncle, +if he were there, the truth would come out and she would be free to go +as she pleased. Then she could go directly to the Carrie Wentworth Inn +and await the arrival of the others. She chuckled to herself, as she +pictured the meeting between this man and woman and Margery's uncle and +their discomfiture when they discovered that they had bagged the wrong +bird. Sahwah is keen on humorous situations. + +But how was Nyoda to know that she was safe in Chicago? She might spend +endless time looking for her, nearly wild with anxiety, thinking some +misfortune had befallen her. Sahwah puzzled awhile and then her +originality came to her rescue. Somewhere on this very road Nyoda had +vanished the night before, and she herself had walked, as she supposed, +in a straight line from the gate. She did not know that the light of +the strange automobile she had seen from the barn had lured her across +to an entirely different road. Well then, she reflected, it was +reasonable to believe that Nyoda would be making inquiries for her +along this road. Very well, she would drop a clue. With the swiftness +of chain lightning she whipped her little address book out of her +pocket and wrote on a leaf: + +"To those interested: + +Picked up by tourists. On way to Carrie Wentworth Inn, Chicago. + +Sarah Ann Brewster." + +For obvious reasons she made no mention of having been mistaken for +Margery Anderson. + +She tied the address book in the corner of her green veil while Mrs. +Watterson looked on curiously. Then she tied the veil around her hat to +give it weight and threw it out of the car into the road just in front +of a house. The green veil shone like a headlight and could not fail to +attract attention. Thus someone would get the information that would +eventually reach Nyoda. Then, Sahwah-like, having overcome her +perplexities, she settled down to enjoy her trip. Surely a worse fate +might have befallen her, she decided, after being lost from her +companions, than to wake up and find herself being hurried toward the +city which had been her destination in the first place. + +At that time Sahwah thought that the fates were kind to her, but ever +since she has declared that they had a special grudge against her in +making her miss the spectacular finish of our trip to Chicago. Sahwah, +who was the only one who would really have enjoyed that exciting ride, +was doomed to a personally conducted tour. I consider it unfair myself. +But was there a single feature about the whole trip that was as it +should have been? + +Sahwah's ride to Chicago was tame enough although the circumstances of +it were rather melodramatic. She did not make any thrilling escape such +as jumping from the moving car onto a passing train the way they do in +the movies, or shrieking that she was being abducted and, as a result, +being rescued by a handsome young man who became infatuated with her on +the spot and declared himself willing to wait the weary years until she +was grown up, when he could claim her for his own. That was the trouble +with our adventures all the way through; while they were thrilling +enough at the time they were happening, they lacked the quality that is +in all book adventures, that of having any permanent after-effects. +While there were several men mixed up in our trip none of us came home +with our fate sealed, that is, none of us but---- + +But I am rambling again. It is as hard for me to keep on the main track +of my story as it was for the Glow-worm to stay on the sign-posted +highway. If I am not careful I will be telling the end of it somewhere +along the middle, and that would be rather confusing for the reader who +likes to turn to the back of the book to see how things come out before +beginning the story. Nyoda said I should put a notice in the +frontispiece saying that the end was on page so-and-so instead of the +last chapter, and save such readers the trouble of hunting for it. As +it is, I am afraid the last chapter will be crowded with afterthought +incidents which I forgot to put in as I went along, and which should +really be part of the story. But after all, I suppose it is immaterial +in what order they come, for, by the time the reader has finished the +book she will have them all, which is no more than she would have done +if they had all been fitted together in the proper order. And she +always has the privilege of rearranging them to suit herself. + +Mr. Watterson, as well as his wife, had doubtless been picturing to +himself the dramatic moment in Mr. Anderson's office, when his niece +should be turned over to him. He began to look important and +self-conscious as they entered the city. Both he and his wife looked at +the people around them in the street with a +you-don't-know-whom-we-have-in-this-car expression, while Sahwah put on +a very doleful countenance. Secretly she could hardly wait for the +meeting to take place. They crossed the city and began threading their +way through the down-town streets, crowded with the traffic of a busy +week afternoon. Mr. Watterson, thinking of the coming interview on +Michigan Avenue, failed to notice that a traffic policeman was waving +peremptorily for him to back up from a crowded corner. The result was +that he became involved in the line of vehicles which was coming +through from the cross street and rammed an electric coupe containing +two ladies and a poodle. The coupe tipped over onto the curb and the +ladies were badly shaken and the poodle was cut by flying glass, or the +ladies were cut by the flying poodle, I forget which. Mr. Watterson and +his party emerged from the crush under the escort of a police officer +who directed the finish of the tour. Their destination was the police +station. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +"What a tale of adventure we will have to tell Nyoda when we find her," +said Gladys, as the Striped Beetle followed its nose Rochesterward. "It +will make Sahwah green with envy. She is always so eager for adventure. +And there never was such a combination as we have experienced. First, +we picked up a girl in trouble, then we got quarantined; next, we lost +our trunk and followed a man all the way to Indianapolis, thinking that +he had it, which he didn't; then we were robbed of all our money and +the Striped Beetle at one fell swoop, and were stranded on a country +road without a cent or a drop of gas and had to spend the night in the +car. There certainly never was such a chapter of events. The Count for +the next Ceremonial will be a regular book. + +"I wonder what the girls in Rochester have been doing all this time +while they have been waiting for us?" + +"Migwan's writing poetry, of course," said Hinpoha, "and Sahwah's +getting into mischief and Nakwisi's staring into space through her +spy-glass. It's easy enough to guess what they are doing." + +"Well, anyway, they know why we were delayed," said Chapa. "You got a +second wire off to Nyoda before the storm?" + +"Yes," said Gladys, "I sent it right after I wired for money." + +Hinpoha sat silent for a long time. "A penny for your thoughts," said +Gladys. "I can't help thinking about the scarf," said Hinpoha. "I +brought it along because I was afraid something would happen to it if I +left it behind, and here we had to lose it on the way. I would rather +lose anything than that." And she sighed and looked so woe-begone that +it quite affected the spirits of the others. + +"Nyoda can help us find the trunk," said Gladys confidently, thinking +with relief as they neared Rochester that Nyoda would soon be at the +helm of the expedition again. This thought filled them all with so much +cheer that even Hinpoha brightened up. She ceased thinking about the +scarf and looked at the flying landscape. + +"As a sight-seeing trip this has been somewhat of a failure," she said. +"And I had intended making so many sketches of the interesting things +we saw on the way to put into the Count, but the only thing that comes +to my mind now is the picture of ourselves, always standing around +wondering what to do next." + +"You might draw a picture of the pain you had from eating green +apples," suggested Chapa. + +"That pain was about the only real thing about the whole trip," said +Hinpoha. "All the rest seems like a dream." + +Hinpoha began idly sketching herself running away from a large apple on +legs which was pursuing her. And that is the only picture we have of +the whole trip! + +The girls got to Rochester about noon and went immediately to Number 43 +Main Street. Mrs. Moffat came to the door and when she saw the girls in +tan suits and green veils she closed it all but a crack. + +"My rooms are all taken," she said, coldly. + +"We don't want rooms, we want someone who is staying here," said +Gladys. "Is Miss Kent here with three girls?" + +"No, she isn't," said Mrs. Moffat "They came here as bold as brass, but +you can bet they didn't stay long after I found out about them. Do you +belong to her company, too? You're dressed just like the rest of them." + +"Why yes, we belong to her party," said Gladys, bewildered beyond words +at this reception. "Will you please tell us what--" + +But Mrs. Moffat closed the door in their faces with a resounding bang +and no amount of ringing would induce her to open it again. The girls +were simply staggered. What could be the meaning of the woman's words? +"You can bet they didn't stay long after I found out about them." After +she found out what about us? When had we left the house and where were +we now? They stood around the Striped Beetle irresolutely. + +"If she only hadn't shut the door in our faces before we could ask some +more questions!" said Gladys. "I don't suppose it would do any good to +try again; she'd do the same thing a second time." + +Just then a small boy came whistling down the street and Gladys had an +idea. Getting the girls quickly into the car she drove down to meet +him. When they met him they were well away from the house. Gladys +called him to her. "I'll give you ten cents," she said, "if you'll go +to Number 43 Main Street and ask the lady where the girls in the tan +suits, who stayed at her house, went when they left. Maybe you had +better go around to the back door," she added. + +"Give me the ten cents first," said the boy, squinting his eyes +shrewdly. + +"Not until you bring back the answer," said Gladys. "I won't go unless +you give me a nickel first," he maintained, firmly. Gladys gave him the +nickel and he departed in the direction of Number 43. Still keeping out +of sight of the house, they awaited his return. In five minutes he was +back. + +"She says she doesn't know where they went," he said, speaking in an +unnecessarily loud voice, the way young boys do. "She says she doesn't +keep track of rogues. Where's the other nickel?" + +Stupefied, Gladys gave it to him and he ran off down the street "What +did he say?" she gasped. "She doesn't keep track of rogues? She turned +them out of the house when she found out about them? Whatever has +happened? What made her think the girls were rogues? And where did they +go?" + +They were standing almost within a stone's throw of Number 22 Spring +Street, where we had gone from Mrs. Moffat's, but, of course, there was +no sign on the house to tell them we had been there. + +"Well," said Gladys, "they were here in Rochester, that much we know, +and perhaps they are here yet. Somebody must have seen them. Where do +you think we had better go to inquire?" + +"Do you see a candy store anywhere?" asked Hinpoha. "Sahwah would +surely have to buy some candy if she saw any. Whenever I lose her +downtown at home I go straight to the nearest candy store, and I +invariably find her, standing on one foot and unable to make up her +mind whether she should buy chocolates or Boston wafers." + +Accordingly, they visited each of the three candy stores on Main +Street, and Hinpoha bought a mixed collection of stale chocolates and +peppermint drops while they were making their inquiries, but they came +out about as wise as they went in. The tan quartet they were seeking +had evidently not invested in candy. "Sahwah's either reformed or short +of cash," said Hinpoha, decidedly. Which half of that statement was +true at that particular moment the reader already knows. + +Next, they reached the "department" store which carried everything from +handkerchiefs to plows. The proprietor started when they entered and +looked keenly at their suits. To their questions about the other four +he replied that he hadn't seen them, and if he had he wouldn't know +where they were now. + +"What a queer thing to say!" exclaimed Gladys, when they were outside +once more. "'If he had seen them he wouldn't know where they were now.' +It sounds almost like what the woman said, 'She didn't keep track of +rogues.' What on earth has happened?" + +While they were standing there the boy to whom they had given the dime +came walking by again. He walked past several times, and finally he +stood still near them. "Say," he called, "will you give me another dime +if I tell you something?" He was very red-headed and very freckled, and +his eyes were screwed up in an unpleasant squint which might have been +dishonesty and might have been the effect of sunlight, but, at any +rate, they weren't much taken with his looks. Still, he might be honest +after all. + +"What do you know?" parried Gladys. + +"I saw the girls you're looking for," he said. + +"Where?" asked Gladys, eagerly. + +"Give me the ten cents first," he demanded. Gladys gave him a dime. +"They had their car fixed at the garage over there," he said. "They +came in with a lamp and a fender smashed. I was in the garage and I saw +them. They were talking to a young fellow on a motor-bike. Afterward, I +seen them leaving town and pretty soon I seen the fellow starting after +them." + +"What day was that?" asked Gladys. + +"It was Thursday morning when they came in," he said, "and it was +Friday afternoon when they went out." + +Friday afternoon! And that was Saturday! The girls hastened over to the +garage and inquired about the Glow-worm. + +"There was a car like that in here Thursday morning," agreed the +proprietor. "The right headlight and the right front fender were +broken. They had run into a limousine in the fog the night before. I +had it all fixed up by three in the afternoon and they came and got the +car, but pretty soon they brought it back and said they weren't going +to leave town that night. One of the girls was sick, they said. They +got it the next morning and I haven't seen them since. But I heard them +tell a young fellow that came in to get his motorcycle looked over that +they were going to Chicago. By the way, you say there were four girls +in tan suits. There were five when they brought the car in in the +morning." + +Well might the girls be puzzled by the three things they had found out +that day. + +First. Nyoda and the other girls were considered rogues by the woman at +Number 43 Main Street. + +Second. There were five girls in the Glow-worm instead of four. + +Third. Nyoda had gone on to Chicago instead of waiting for them as they +had requested in their message and had left no word for them. + +"It's as clear as mud," said Hinpoha, who was plunged into deepest +gloom again, now that Nyoda was not there and there was no one to +advise them what to do about the trunk. + +"Did she get our telegram?" wondered Gladys. "We might go down to the +office and find out if it was delivered." + +The first one was delivered, they were informed. The messenger boy who +had delivered it (the company had only two) was in at the time and he +testified that he had gone to Number 43 Main Street and was told that +the parties had left, and he was on his way back to the office when he +saw them standing in the road beside the automobile and gave it to +them. He knew them because he had been delivering a message in the +hotel the day before when they had come there and asked for rooms, and +he had overheard the clerk telling them to go to Number 43 Main Street +because the hotel was filled with convention delegates. He also said +that there were five girls in the party instead of four. But no second +telegram had been received at the office. + +Gladys rubbed her head wearily. The puzzle was getting deeper all the +while. For the hundredth time she wondered what could have induced +Nyoda to keep running away from them like that. Nyoda, who was the +chaperon of the party, and who had promised her mother that she would +never let the girls out of her sight! + +"Well, if Nyoda's gone to Chicago," she said, "there's nothing left for +us to do but go too, although I don't know what to make of it." + +So, puzzled and perplexed, they looked up the route to Chicago from +Rochester and set out to follow it. + +"We aren't very good hounds in this game," sighed Hinpoha, "or we'd +have run down our hare before this." + +"But it's such an uncommonly fast hare," sighed Gladys. "And it leaves +such amazing and apparently contradictory footprints." + +"Hi," said Chapa, "look at the crowd in this town. What do you suppose +has happened?" In fact, the streets of the village through which they +were passing were choked with vehicles of every kind and the sidewalks +were crowded with people. + +"It's a band," said Hinpoha, "I hear the music." + +Mr. Bob began to quiver with excitement and whine, and Hinpoha caught +him firmly by the collar and held him so he could not jump out again. + +"It's a circus parade!" cried Gladys. And sure enough, it was. From a +side street the crimson and gold wagons began to stream into the main +street. + +How it happened they were never able to tell, but the next thing they +knew they were in the line of the parade and were being swept along +with the procession. They could not turn out because the street was too +narrow. They had to keep going along, behind a huge towering wagon with +pictures of ferocious wild beasts painted on its sides, which drew +shrieks of excitement from the children on the sidewalk, and just ahead +of the line of elephants. Gladys slowed the car down to a crawl and +wondered every minute if she could keep it going so slowly. They could +easily be taken for a part of the circus, for the Striped Beetle is +rather a conspicuous car outside of the fact that it had the Winnebago +banner draped across the back, and besides the girls were all dressed +alike. + +"What do you suppose they are?" they heard one small boy shout at +another. + +"Look like snake charmers," answered the second. Hinpoha giggled. +"That's meant for you, Gladys," she said. "Tain't either snake +charmers," said a third small boy. "It's the fat lady." And he pointed +directly at Hinpoha. Gladys laughed so she nearly lost control of the +car while Hinpoha turned fiery red. + +Without warning the elephant directly behind them thrust his trunk into +the car and picked up Medmangi's camera, to the immense delight of the +crowd on the sidewalk. After much prodding from his rider he released +it again, dropping it safely into Medmangi's lap. All the rest of the +ride Medmangi kept her head over her shoulder so she could watch what +the beast was doing. He kept blinking at her knowingly, and every few +minutes he would extend his trunk toward the car in a playful manner +and send her into a panic, and then he would drop it decorously to the +ground like a limp piece of hose, with a sound in his throat that +resembled a chuckle. + +"Poor beast," she said, after watching him plod rather wearily along +for several blocks, "a circus life is no snap." + +"He's better off than we are," said Hinpoha crossly, "for he has his +trunk, and that's more than we have." Hinpoha's temper had been +slightly ruffled by her having been mistaken for the fat lady. + +"We'd still have our trunk if we carried it in the front the way he +does, instead of in the back," said Medmangi. + +Mr. Bob was nearly barking his head off at the shouting boys, and about +drove the girls frantic with his noise. Gladys's hands were shaking as +she held on to the steering-wheel, while Hinpoha vainly tried to +silence him. Chapa dared Medmangi to reach out her hand and touch the +elephant's trunk and she did so. The elephant sneezed a sneeze that +nearly unseated his rider and blew Chapa's hat off. Medmangi screamed +and ducked under the seat, thinking that the beast was about to attack +her. Gladys turned around to see what she was screaming at and just +then the red and gold mountain ahead of her stood still for a minute, +with the result that she bumped into it. It resounded with a hollow +clang and something inside set up a fearful roaring like a whole jungle +full of wild beasts. Then the small boys shouted worse than ever and +the perspiration stood out on Gladys's forehead. + +"Stop that dog barking, or I shall go wild," she said. + +After numerous ineffectual commands and shakes, Hinpoha rolled Mr. Bob +in one of the robes, which nearly smothered him, but produced the +desired result. Save for a few smothered growls and "oofs" nothing more +was heard from him. + +Then, as Hinpoha always said afterward, after the parade the real +circus began. The man-killing anaconda got loose. How it happened no +one ever found out, but the first thing anybody knew, there he was, +tearing down the middle of the street like an express train. "How does +he go so fast without wheels?" gasped Gladys, as he shot by them. + +Then there was a scene of pandemonium. The crowd tried to scatter, but +it was packed in so closely between the buildings and the street that +there was no place to scatter to. Most of the stores had been closed in +honor of the greatest show on earth, and the thieves that accompanied +it and the people found only locked doors when they tried to enter the +stores. Shrieks filled the air. The whole line of elephants began +trumpeting. + +"Oh, if we could only get out of this," cried Gladys. + +The next minute they were out of it, but in a manner they had not +foreseen. For down from one of the painted wagons a man leaped directly +into the Striped Beetle, picked Gladys up as if she had been a feather, +lifted her over the back of the seat into the tonneau and took the +wheel himself. Round went the Striped Beetle into the side street +through a gap in the line of wagons and after the snake. The scattering +of the people told the trail it was taking, and a low cloud of dust +lengthening rapidly along the road showed that it was still in the +middle of the street. Up one street and down another they flew, as fast +as the Striped Beetle would go, with the snake always a length ahead of +them. At last, it darted across the sidewalk, up the front walk of a +brick mansion, up the front steps and in at the open front door. + +Wild screams from within indicated that his presence had been observed. +The next instant two maids tried to issue from the door at the same +instant and stuck there in the doorway, fighting to get out, until both +were shot out as from the mouth of a cannon by the impact of the body +of a man, coming behind them down the stairs. They rolled down the +steps, picked themselves up, and rushed out of the gate and up the +street, closely followed by the man in shirt sleeves, shouting wildly +that it was only a drop he had taken for his rheumatism, but he would +never take another. Shaken and breathless as they were, the girls +laughed until they cried at the trail of superstitious terror left by +the man-killing anaconda. The man who had taken such cool possession of +the Striped Beetle jumped out and followed the snake into the house. +When he returned some five minutes later the man-eater was wrapped +around his body in great coils. Gladys got one look at the monster +which the man evidently intended placing in the car, and then she was +over the back of the seat and behind the steering-wheel, and the +Striped Beetle went gliding off down the street. + +"There's one thing I object to being, and that's careful mover of a +circus," she said through her teeth. She was still too breathless to +talk properly. "I'd just as soon take the man back to his wagon, but I +won't sit beside a snake. There's nothing in the etiquette book about +how to behave toward them and I'm afraid I might do the wrong thing and +rouse his ire." + +We were well into the country before she slackened her dizzy pace and +the circus and the man-killing anaconda were left far behind. Hinpoha +was still giggling about the man who thought he was seeing snakes and +had forgotten all about poor Mr. Bob, who was still wrapped in his +muffling blanket. A convulsive movement of the roll in her arms brought +her back to earth and she undid the bundle in time to save him from +being completely smothered. All the rest of the trip Mr. Bob retired +under the seat every time anyone touched that blanket. + +Later in the afternoon they stopped for gasoline and while the tank was +being filled were entertained by the loud-voiced conversation of two +men who were standing against the wall of the gasoline station. + +"But I tell you it isn't my trunk," said the first, "and I'm not going +to carry it. The rear end of the car hits the bumpers now every time we +strike a bump in the road and I won't have any unnecessary weight back +there." + +"Oh say, be a good sport and carry it," said the second man. "It's a +good looking trunk and I can get something for it when we get back to +the city. But I hate to pay express on it." + +"How did you get it, anyway?" asked the first man. + +Gladys, who had pricked up her ears at the word "trunk" and was +intently listening to the above conversation, was disappointed in not +hearing the end of it. For, with the question just recorded the two men +moved across the street toward a car which stood there. Just then the +tank of the Striped Beetle was filled and they were released. Gladys +steered across the street just as the engine of the other car started +up. But she had caught a glimpse of the trunk under discussion, +standing on the unoccupied rear seat of the car, and there, full in the +sunlight, were the initials GME, Cleveland, O. Without a doubt it was +her trunk. + +The other car gained speed rapidly and began to draw away from them. +Gladys put the Striped Beetle on its mettle and followed. They passed +through several towns at the same high rate of speed, never gaining on +the car ahead of them until it stopped in front of a hotel in one +place. Gladys also stopped. She jumped out of the car and was alongside +the other before either man was out. She began without preliminary. +"Excuse me," she said, "but we have lost our trunk from our car and the +one you have is exactly like it. Would you mind telling me whether it +is your own or not?" The two men looked at each other. + +One of them, the one who had objected to carrying the trunk, flushed +red and looked uncomfortable. As he was driving the car it was to him +that Gladys had addressed her remarks. + +"It's not mine," he answered. "It belongs to Mr. Johnson, this +gentleman here." + +"Yes, it's mine," said the man referred to, as if daring her to dispute +his statement. + +Gladys was nonplused. There was something queer about their possession +of the trunk she knew from the conversation she had overheard. + +"You say your name is Johnson?" she asked. "Then how does it come that +you have the initials GME--my initials--on your trunk?" + +The man glared at her in silence. A crowd began to gather around them +on the sidewalk. A policeman elbowed his way to the front. "What's the +matter here?" he asked. + +"Lady says the man stole her trunk," replied one of the bystanders. + +Gladys grew hot all over when she heard that, because she had not said +a word about the man's having stolen the trunk, although that thought +was uppermost in her mind. + +"How about it?" asked the policeman. + +"It's none of your business," growled the man addressed as Mr. Johnson. +"That's my trunk, whether those are my initials or not. It was given me +in exchange for something else." + +"But I believe it's mine," said Gladys, looking helplessly around the +circle of faces. "It was stolen off our car in Ft. Wayne." + +"It was no such thing," said Mr. Johnson, hotly. "We'll soon find out," +said the policeman. "What was in your trunk, lady?" + +Gladys described several articles which were inside, and mentioned that +it was lined with grey and had the same initials on the inside of the +cover. + +"Open the trunk," said the Solomon in brass buttons. + +Mr. Johnson had no key, which was another suspicious fact. Gladys +produced her key and unlocked the trunk. It was absolutely empty. There +was the grey lining all right and the initials on the inside of the +cover, GME, Cleveland, O. + +"Disposed of the contents," said a voice from the sidewalk. + +Hinpoha, who had been on a pinnacle of hope for her scarf ever since +they had recognized the trunk, slumped into despair again when she saw +that it was empty. + +"Is that your trunk, lady?" asked the policeman. + +"It looks like it," said Gladys. + +"It answered her description all right," said the voice in the circle. + +"Where did you get the trunk and from whom?" asked the policeman of Mr. +Johnson. + +"None of your business," replied that individual, with a savage look. +"But it's mine, I tell you." + +Here his companion pulled out his watch and uttered an exclamation. + +"Give her the trunk and come along," he said, in a stage whisper. +"We'll never make it if we stand here bantering all day." + +Scowling like a thundercloud, Mr. Johnson gave the trunk a savage kick +as it stood on the sidewalk and got back into the car, snapping out +that it was his and never would have given it up if he wasn't in such a +tearing hurry. The grey car glided away in a cloud of dust and the +policeman lifted the trunk to the rack of the Striped Beetle. + +"Fellow stole it, all right," rose the murmurs on every side, "or he +wouldn't have been so willing to give it up. Probably threw the +contents away. Well, you've got the trunk, lady, and that's worth more +than what was in it." + +Hinpoha could not agree with this, of course. That scarf was worth more +in her eyes than the price of a dozen trunks, and she was not very much +overjoyed at having the trunk returned without the scarf, for it was +certain now that the contents were stolen and would never be recovered. + +They arrived in Chicago during the afternoon and went directly to the +Carrie Wentworth Inn. As they got out at the curb a man lounged down +from the doorway and approached them. "You are under arrest," he said, +quietly. + +"Arrest!" gasped Gladys, thinking of all the traffic rules she might +have broken in crossing the busy corner they just passed. "What for? +And who are you, anyway, you're not a policeman." + +The man opened his coat and showed an official badge. "I'm a policeman +all right, you'll find," he said, calmly. + +"What have we done?" gasped Gladys. The trunk was in her mind now. What +if it were not theirs after all and they were to be accused of stealing +it! + +"You are wanted in connection with an attempt to steal a diamond +necklace from the home of Simon McClure," said the detective, for such +he was. + +"What?" said Gladys, in sheer amazement. "I never heard of such a +person." + +"Tell that to the police," said the man facetiously, "and in the +meantime, just come along with me." He got into the car and motion them +to follow. Too much dazed to resist, they obeyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Sahwah's vanishing from the car was so uncanny and mysterious that, for +a few minutes, we could think of nothing but a supernatural agency. The +wind was like the wail of a banshee, and to our excited eyes the mist +wraiths hovering over the swamp were like dancing figures. The croaking +of the frogs was suddenly full of menace. They were not real frogs +croaking down there in the mud; they were evil spirits dwelling in the +swamp and they held the secret of Sahwah's disappearance. Shudders ran +up and down our spines and the perspiration began to break out in our +faces. + +"Did Sahwah get into the car again after she helped you open the gate?" +asked Nyoda. + +At the sound of her voice our fear of the supernatural vanished and we +were back to reality again. We were lost on a lonely road, it is true, +but it was a (more or less) solid dirt road in the misty mid-region of +Indiana, and not a ghoul-haunted pathway in the misty mid-region of +Weir. + +We all declared Sahwah had gotten into the car. + +"She couldn't have," maintained Nyoda. "We haven't stopped since then +and she couldn't have fallen out while we were going without making a +splash that would have sent the water over the car." + +"It's nearly a foot deep most of the way." We thought hard about the +circumstances attendant upon our getting back into the car and it came +to us that we were not positive, after all, that Sahwah had been with +us. + +"That wind--don't you remember?" said Nakwisi. "It whipped the corner +of my veil into my eye and I couldn't open it again for some time after +we started." + +I remembered the wind. It had wrapped my veil around my face so that I +couldn't see anything, and in my blindness I had slammed the door on my +finger, and the pain made me forget everything else. It hadn't been a +propitious time to count noses. I had dropped into the corner of the +seat trying to get my finger into my mouth through the folds of my +veil, and the effort not to cry out with pain made me faint. I had not +even noticed when the car started. Margery was on the front seat with +Nyoda and they had thought, of course, that Sahwah was in the back with +Nakwisi and me. Well, it was evident that she wasn't. + +"Poor Sahwah," said Nyoda. "Such a night to be waiting at the gate!" + + "Backward, turn backward, Glow-worm, in your flight, + Rescue poor Sahwah from her muddy plight!" + +I spouted. + +Which was easier said than done. That road was built for traveling +ahead and not for turning. On one side was the swamp and on the other a +steep drop off into a lake. + +"We're in the straight and narrow path all right," said Nyoda, viewing +the landscape. Then she sarcastically began to quote from a well-known +automobile advertisement which emphasized the superiority of a long +wheel base, whatever that is. "The Glow-worm simply won't make the +turn," she said. "Here's one instance when the worm won't turn." + +"It's a long worm that knows no turning," I misquoted. + +Nyoda tried again, and this time, with its rear wheels in the swamp and +its front lamps hanging over the precipice, the Glow-worm did turn. We +were limp as rags from the strain by the time we were safely back in +the road. I had been trying to make up my mind which would do the least +damage to my clothes, landing in the swamp or in the lake, and had just +about decided on the lake as the lesser of the two evils, as I couldn't +get much wetter anyhow, when Nyoda called out, "It's all over." + +"If you're speaking of the mud it certainly is all over," I said, +feeling of the spatters on the back of the seat. + +"Mud baths are hygienic," said Nyoda drily, if anyone can be said to +speak drily when they are dripping at every corner. "Be a sport if you +can't be a philosopher." Which statement contained food for reflection, +as they say in books. + +We made our way slowly and splashily back to the mud-wreathed gate, +alas, we shoved sir--Gracious! I'm tobogganing into a quotation again! +But, like the girl in the poem when the lover comes back to the gate +after many years, Sahwah wasn't there. We called, oh, how we did call! +With voices as hoarse as the frogs in the swamp. + +"We might as well stop calling," said Nyoda, disgustedly. "She won't be +able to tell the difference between us and the frogs." + +But we kept on calling just the same and a hideous echo from somewhere +threw our words back at us in a broken, mocking answer. That was all. +We were paralyzed with fear that Sahwah had wandered into the swamp or +had fallen over the precipice in the dark into the lake. We turned the +lights of the car on the swamp for a long distance, but saw nothing. + +I shuddered until my teeth chattered at that lonely stretch of marsh. +Given the choice between a graveyard at night and a swamp, I think I +should take the graveyard. The nice friendly ghosts that sit on +tombstones are so much more cheerful than the nameless and shapeless +Things that flit over a swamp at night. The yellow circle thrown by the +Glow-worm's lamps was the only thing that linked us to earth and +reason. Within that circle the mysterious shadows melted and no spirits +dared dance. Then without warning the yellow circle dimmed and +vanished, and left us completely at the mercy of the Shapes. The lights +had gone out on the Glow-worm. + +"Probably short circuited," we heard Nyoda's voice say. "Where was +Moses when the light went out?" I asked, trying to be cheerful. + +Margery trembled and clung to Nyoda. The swamp now seemed a living +thing that clutched at us with hands. And somewhere in that darkness +that pressed around us Sahwah was wandering around lost, or perhaps +lying helpless in the water. It is not my intention to dwell on the +unpleasant features of our trip any more than I have to. But somehow +that night stands out more clearly in my memory than any of the other +events. Nyoda says it is because I am gifted, or rather cursed, with a +constructive imagination, and see and hear things that aren't there. I +suppose it is true, because I can see whole armies marching in the sky, +and boats and horses and dragons, when the other girls only see clouds. +But I know I heard sounds in that swamp that night that weren't +earthly; voices that sang tunes and children that cried, and things +that fiddled and shrieked and sobbed and laughed and whispered and +gurgled and moaned. + +Our hunt for Sahwah had to be given up because without lights we dared +not venture forth on the road for fear of running into the swamp. + +"Sit up in front, Migwan, and be the headlight; you're bright enough," +said Nyoda, cheerfully. + +"I'm having an eclipse to-night," I replied. + +So we sat still in the Glow-worm not far from the gate which had been +the fountain and origin of all the trouble and wished fervently, not +for Blucher or night, but for Sahwah or morning. And the reader knows +which one of them came. + +The rain stopped about dawn and the east began to redden and then we +knew there was going to be a sunrise. I have been glad to see many +things in my life; but I never was so glad to see anything, as I was, +when the sun began to rise that morning after the night of water. +Viewed in the magic light of morning, the road was not so bad, while +the lake, rippling in the wind, was a thing of beauty, and the swamp +was merely a swamp. The gate was right at the corner of a fence which +enclosed a very large farm. We could just barely see the house and barn +in the distance, set up on a sort of hill. The property ended on this +end at the gate, and just beyond it began the descent to the lake. How +we had gotten inside that fence the night before we never found out. We +must have crossed that entire farm in the darkness on a private road +which we mistook for the main road. + +In the broad light of day we descended the steep way down to the lake +and examined every foot of ground around it. It was all soft mud and if +Sahwah had been down there she must have left traces of some kind. But +the surface was unbroken save for a few tracks of birds. Clearly, she +had not fallen over the edge. Where, then, had she gone. The mud around +the gate was such soup that no footprints could be seen. Oh, if the +gate could only speak! + +"Could she have possibly found her way up to that farmhouse?" I asked. +"I don't see how she ever did it in the dark, but still it's a +possibility." + +So we dragged the gate open again and drove up to the farmhouse. The +men were just starting to work in the fields. It must be nice to work +where you can see the earth wake up every morning. There are times when +I simply long to be a milkmaid. A lean, sun-burned woman was washing +clothes out under the trees and she looked up in surprise when we +appeared. No, Sahwah had not been there. The mystery was still a +mystery. But from the height of the farmhouse we saw what we had not +seen from the level of the road, and that was that there was another +road running parallel to the one we had been on, skirting the swamp on +the other side and bordered by thick trees. From the gate we had +thought that those trees grew in the swamp, as we could not see the +road beyond it. Sahwah must have blundered into that road in the +darkness, we concluded, and thought she was going after us. + +We found a narrow lane leading to it, covered with water for most of +its length, and there, sure enough, we saw deep footprints in the new +road. We followed these, expecting to come upon her sitting in the +wayside every minute. But the footprints went on. There were no houses +along here; the only building we passed was an empty red barn covered +over with tobacco advertisements. A little farther on the road ran into +a highway and so did the footprints. A little beyond the turn Nyoda +spied something lying in the road. How she managed to see it is beyond +me, but Nyoda has eyes like a hawk. It was a button from Sahwah's coat. +Sahwah's button-shedding habit is very useful as a clue. + +"Here is a button; Sahwah can't be very far now," said Nyoda, +cheerfully. A sign post we passed said "Lafayette 20 miles." At last we +knew where we were. Deep ruts in the road showed where a car had passed +just ahead of us. Then all of a sudden the footprints came to a stop; +ended abruptly in the road, as if Sahwah had suddenly soared up into +the air. There was a low stone where the footprints came to a stop and +around it the mud was all trampled down. + +At first we were frightened to death, thinking that Sahwah had been +attacked and carried off. But the footprints did not lead anywhere. "Of +course, they don't," said Nyoda. "Whoever made them got into that car +and Sahwah did too. It's the car that's traveling ahead of us. It +stopped and picked Sahwah up." (Just how literally Sahwah had been +"picked up" we did not guess.) + +"What will we do now?" asked Nakwisi. + +"Follow the car," replied Nyoda. + +"It sounds like Cadmus and 'follow the cow'," said I. + +So we followed the ruts. The sun was up fair and warm by this time and +we were beginning to dry off beautifully. I took off my soaked shoes +and tied them out on the mud guard where they could bake. Nakwisi went +me one better in the scheme of decoration and hung hers on the lamp +bracket. Then we hung up our wet coats where they could fly in the +wind. Margery was cold all the time and we let her have the exclusive +use of the one robe, and the rest of us took turns being wrapped in the +Winnebago banner. It was blanket shaped and made of heavy felt and +served the purpose admirably. In a moment of forethought Sahwah had +taken it down from the back of the car just before we were caught in +the storm, and so it had escaped being soaked also. + +"This is traveling _de luxe_" said I, stretching out my stockinged feet +on the foot rail, and wiggling my cramped toes. + +"I don't know about de looks," said Nyoda with a twinkle, "but as long +as no one sees you it doesn't matter." + +"Who's making puns now?" inquired Nakwisi, severely. + +"What's this in the road?" asked Nyoda presently, as we came upon a +bundle of bright green. + +We stopped and picked it up. "It's a veil just like ours, and a hat," +said Nyoda. "It's Sahwah's veil and hat!" she exclaimed, looking in the +hatband where Sahwah's name was written. Then she discovered something +tied in the veil. It was Sahwah's address book and on the first page +was scrawled a message: + +"To those interested: + +Picked up by tourists. On way to Carrie Wentworth Inn, Chicago. + +SARAH ANN BREWSTER." + +Beside the signature was the familiar Sunfish which is Sahwah's symbol. +There was no doubt about the note being genuine. Besides, it could only +be quick-witted Sahwah who would think of leaving a blaze in the road +on the slender chance that we would be coming along that way. How it +smoothed everything out! Not knowing that we were so close behind her, +Sahwah had had a chance to go on to Chicago, and would simply go to our +hotel and wait until we came! What a long headed one Sahwah was, to be +sure! We could have played hide and seek with each other around those +roads for days and never found each other, the way the children did +around the voting booth, but by clearing out altogether and going to +our place of rendezvous she knew the chances of our meeting were much +greater. How she had managed to find tourists who were on the way to +Chicago was a piece of luck which could only have befallen Sahwah. + +"I think the best thing for us to do is to hunt some breakfast and then +make for Chicago as fast as we can," said Nyoda. "I've been thinking +that that would be the best way to find the others. We don't seem to +have been very successful in running around the country after them, and +if they managed to get the wire we sent to Chicago the other day they +will probably find us if we go there too." + +"Did Gladys start out with us, or didn't she?" asked Nakwisi, +thoughtfully. "I think sometimes it was all a delusion, and there were +no more than four of us at the start." + +"Sometimes I think so too," I agreed. Was the Striped Beetle a myth? We +had almost forgotten our original quest in the chase after Sahwah. + +We still debated uncertainly whether we had better go back to +Indianapolis and hunt for Gladys, now that we were reasonably certain +where Sahwah was, or go on to Chicago and make sure of her, at least. +There were so many arguments on both sides that we could come to no +decision and so we flipped a coin for it. Chicago won and the die was +cast. The next move was breakfast and a place to clean up. We looked as +though we had been fished out of the lake. Breakfast we would find in +the town of Lafayette, which we were approaching. But we faltered by +the wayside as usual. Whether or not that had any bearing on what +happened later I don't know, but Nyoda says it would have been the same +anyway, only different. Which is rather a neat little phrase, after +all, in spite of being impure English. To me our stop over was simply +another move in the game of checkers Fate was playing with us as +counters. + +The thing which caused us to falter by the wayside before we reached +Lafayette was a sign on a big, old-fashioned farmhouse near the road +which read: + +TOURISTS TOOK IN Meals 35 cents + +Nyoda couldn't resist the delicious humor of it. She stopped before the +door. "You aren't going to stop here, are you?" I inquired. + +"I want to be 'took in'," declared Nyoda. "Just as if all the other +places don't do the same thing; only they aren't quite so frank about +it. I want to see the creator of that sign. So we drove into the big, +shady yard and parked the panting Glow-worm at the end of the long +drive under arching trees. Then we went up on the side porch and +knocked at the screen door while a black cat inspected us drowsily from +the cushioned depths of a porch chair. A bustling, red-faced woman came +to the door. + +"We're tourists," said Nyoda, "and we want to be took in. We want +breakfast." + +"Come in an' set on the table," said the woman, and we knew we had +found the author of the "Tourists Took In" sign. + +Upon our asking for water and soap we were directed to a room on the +second floor where a bowl and pitcher stood on a wash-stand and a towel +hung over a chair. + +"After having had such a dose of water last night I didn't think I'd +ever care to wash again," said Nakwisi, "but that wash bowl's the best +thing I've seen yet this morning. Hurry up and give me my turn." + +I got through as quickly as possible to stop her clamoring, and while +she scrubbed and primped I strolled over to the window, which +overlooked the road in front of the house. The high spots were already +drying in the warm wind. As I stood there I saw a speck coming down the +road which gradually grew to the proportions of a man on a motorcycle +exceeding the speed limit by about ten miles. He came to a stop in +front of the house with such a jerk that I thought he would pitch off +onto his head. He leaned the motorcycle against the porch and came up +the steps, and as he did so I recognized the light-haired young man +that had been in Rochester when we were. I must say it gave me a little +thrill of pleasure to see him again. + +The woman had evidently gone to the door in answer to his knock, for we +heard her voice the next instant. Every word came up distinctly through +the open window. + +"Are there five young ladies in tan suits here?" he demanded. The woman +was evidently offended at his curt manner. "What business is it of +yours?" she asked, in a harsh voice. + +"See here," he said sternly, "if you're in league with them and are +trying to hide them you'll get into trouble. They're wanted by the +police, and I'm here to arrest them." + +We looked at each other thunderstruck. Wanted by the police! It was all +a part of the strange mystery that had been surrounding us for the last +few days. Could they be after us on account of the necklace? + +"Tell me at once," persisted the man, "are they here, or did they go +by?" + +The woman evidently saw visions of her four breakfasts remaining +uneaten and consequently un-paid for if she delivered us up, and tried +to parley. "There's no such people here," she said brazenly, "they went +by over an hour ago." + +"They did nothing of the kind," said the young man, "they turned in +here. I saw them across the field where the road turns." + +"You can come in an' set in the parlor," said the woman firmly, "an' +don't you set a foot in the rest of the house, an' I'll bring them to +you." + +We heard the front door open and close; then a movement in the room +below us and the squeak of a chair as somebody sat down. Then we heard +the door shut and the footsteps of the woman toward the back part of +the house. + +"I believe she locked him in," said Nyoda, laughing in the midst of her +bewilderment, "and she doesn't mean to produce us until we've paid for +that breakfast. It's too bad to disappoint her, but necessity comes +before choice." + +"What do you mean to do?" I asked. + +Margery was as pale as a ghost. "It's my uncle after me," she gasped. +"Oh, don't let them get me!" + +I was too stupefied to say another word. That the nice young man with +the light hair should turn out to be a police agent after us was too +much for my comprehension. + +Nyoda held up her hand for us to be silent and led us on tiptoe into a +room which opened off at one side of the hall. She led us to the +window, and we could see that it overlooked the yard on the other side +from the dining-room and, that it opened out on a porch roof. A little +way off we saw the Glow-worm standing under the trees. Nyoda crept out +of the window and swung herself down to the ground by means of a flower +trellis and we followed, helping Margery. Then we raced across the yard +to the Glow-worm and started it just as a car drove by tooting its horn +for dear life so that the sound of our engine was drowned in the noise. + +We reached the road without going past the house and Nyoda opened the +throttle wide. The last glimpse we had of the house where the tourists +were "took in" was of a motorcycle leaning up against the porch. Our +one thought was to get Margery safely to Chicago before the detective +got her and took her back to her uncle. Nyoda had friends in Chicago +who would take Margery in until she could go safely to Louisville in +the event we could not take her with us. We knew that it would not be +long before the man on the motorcycle would find out that we had +escaped and would take the road after us, and we must not lose a +minute. Lafayette flew by our eyes a mere line of stores and houses; we +hardly slackened our speed going through, and then we began the long +run northward to Chicago. We saw people turn to look at us as we rushed +along, and then their faces blurred and vanished from sight. Now and +then a chicken flew up right under the very wheels and once we ran over +one. But we went on, on, unheeding. Then we struck a stretch of soft +road and thought for a minute we were going to get stuck. + +"Would you get through any better if you threw me overboard?" asked +Nakwisi. "I'm pretty heavy." Nyoda only smiled and put on more speed +and we went through. Margery's face was chalk white and her eyes were +wide with fear; but excited as I was, I was enjoying the flight +immensely. This was life. I thought of all the famous rides in history +that I used to thrill over; _Paul Revere's Ride, How they Brought the +Good News from Ghent to Aix, Tam o' Shanter's Famous Ride_, and all the +others. Sahwah will regret to her dying day that she missed it. + +Halfway to Chicago, Nakwisi, who was keeping a sharp lookout with her +spy-glass, reported that there was a motorcycle chasing us about half a +mile behind. The Glow-worm leapt forward a trifle faster under Nyoda's +steady hand, but she never flicked an eyelash. Nyoda is simply a marvel +of self-control in an emergency. + +Soon we could all see the pursuer without the aid of the glass. He was +gaining on us rapidly. We were approaching a railroad crossing and +there was a train coming. If we had to wait until it went by we would +be overtaken surely. Nyoda measured the distance between the train and +the crossing with a swift eye and put on the last bit of speed of which +the Glow-worm was capable. We bumped across the tracks just as the +gates were beginning to go down. A minute later the way behind us was +cut off by one of those interminably long, slow moving freight trains, +and one the other side of the barrier was the impotent pursuer. + +But the time gained by this lucky incident merely postponed the +inevitable end of the chase. When did a loaded car ever outrun a +motorcycle? We watched him approaching, helpless to ward off the thing +which was coming, yet running on at the top of our speed, hoping +against hope that his gas would give out or he would run into +something. But none of these things happened and he drew alongside of +us and caught hold of the fender. + +Nyoda slowed down and came to a stop. "What do you want?" she asked, +haughtily. + +"Your little game is up," said the man, quietly. + +Nyoda faced him bravely, determined not to give Margery up without a +struggle. "Will you kindly tell me what you mean?" she asked. + +The motorcyclist grinned. "Don't try to play off innocent," he said, +severely. "You know as well as I do what I mean. But it isn't you I'm +after most," he continued. "It's this one," and he pointed to Margery. +Margery buried her face in Nyoda's arm. Nyoda saw it was no use. "Are +you looking for Margery Anderson?" she asked. + +"Margery Anderson!" said the man, with another grin. "That's a new one +on me. But she changes so often there's no keeping track of her. She +may be Margery Anderson now, but the one I'm after is Sal Jordan, +better known as 'Light Fingered Sal', the slickest pickpocket and +shoplifter between New York and San Francisco." + +We all stared at him open-mouthed. "Oh, you may have forgotten about +it," he said sarcastically, "but I'll refresh your memory." He was +speaking to Margery now. "After you robbed that jewelry store in Toledo +you got away with such a narrow squeak that the doors of the police +station almost closed on you. Your friends didn't dare show themselves +in town, so they went riding around in an automobile, pretending they +were tourists, and you joined them out in the country somewhere. I've +had my eye on you ever since you left Ft. Wayne. But we had word you +were going to Indianapolis to carry on another little piece of business +and I thought I'd let you go free awhile and catch you with the goods +on. But you gave me the slip and didn't go, and I must say you've led +me a fine chase. But it's all over now and you'll go along with me to +Chicago like a little lamb with all your pretty friends." + +He looked us over carefully. "Where's the other one?" he asked, +suddenly. "There were five of you before. Great Scott!" he exclaimed. +"You've sent her back to Indianapolis. Pretty cute, Sal, but it won't +do any good. They're watching for her." + +We sat petrified, looking at Margery. She had collapsed on the seat +with her face in her hands--the very picture of Admission of Guilt. +"Margery!" cried Nyoda, "is it true?" + +But Margery shook her head. "I don't know anything about it," she said. + +"You're mistaken," said Nyoda cooly to the man, "we know nothing +whatever about this Sal person." Just then she drew her hand from her +pocket with a convulsive movement, and out flew the scarab at the man's +feet. He picked it up with a triumphant movement. + +"Oh, no, you don't know anything about it," he said. "But you are +carrying Sal's scarab, which is the countersign between the members of +her gang. As I mentioned before, your little game is up." + +"Margery!" said Nyoda the second time, "is it true?" But Margery buried +her face in her hands and said nothing. + +Our thoughts went whirling in somersaults. The girl we had picked up +was not Margery, but "Light Fingered Sal", a pickpocket! + +The appearance of the scarab and the scene at the ball when Nyoda had +found the necklace in her pocket came over us like a flash. What dupes +we had been never to suspect the truth before! + +The procession moved on again with the motorcyclist keeping hold of the +fender. Thus it was that we came into Chicago, under police escort, and +were chaperoned up the steps of the police station. + +Once inside, we blinked around with greater wonder than we had at +anything which had happened so far. + +Against the wall were standing in a row: Gladys, Chapa, Medmangi, +Hinpoha, Sahwah between a strange man and woman, four young women we +had never seen before but who wore suits and veils exactly like ours, +and a girl in a blue suit. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Before we had finished staring at each other in stupefied surprise the +door opened again, and a woman ran in, at the sight of whom "Sal" +darted forward and threw herself into her arms. + +"Margery!" cried the newcomer. + +"Mother!" cried the girl. + +A few steps behind the woman came a man and he looked coldly at the +two. "You have forestalled us, I see, Mrs. Anderson," he said, coldly. +The girl was Margery Anderson after all! I shall never forget the +expression on the light-haired detective's face when he saw Margery +rush into that woman's arms. He turned all shades of red and purple and +looked ready to burst. + +"Confound that Sal!" we heard him mutter under his breath. "She's given +us the slip again." + +Then we happened to look at Sahwah and the two people with whom she was +standing. Sahwah was doubled up with laughter and the man and woman +were as surprised looking as the detective. The man reminded me of +nothing so much as a collapsed balloon. + +It was the queerest police station scene anyone could imagine. Instead +of making charges against us the various policemen and detectives all +looked bewildered and uncertain how to proceed. Everybody looked at +everybody else; and everybody waited to see what would happen next. And +things kept right on happening. The door opened a second time and an +officer came in leading a young woman in a stylish blue suit. Her +appearance seemed to create a profound sensation with Gladys and +Hinpoha and Chapa and Medmangi; they all uttered an exclamation at once +and started forward. The one in blue looked at them and then burst into +a mocking laugh. The four unknown girls dressed like us and the other +one in blue seemed to be good friends of hers for they hailed each +other familiarly. + +"The game's up, dearies," said the newcomer, gaily. "My, but I did have +the good time, though, playing the abused little maiden. Took you in +beautifully, didn't I?" she said over her shoulder to Gladys. "Maybe +Sal can't act like an angel when she wants to!" + +"Light Fingered Sal!" exclaimed the detective who had brought us in, +staring at her fascinated. "And all the rest of your company! Can't +really blame me for getting on the wrong scent," he remarked, looking +from them to us. "The only description I had was the suits and they are +identical. Well, you're safe home, Sal, safe home at last," he added, +with a grin. Sal and her companions were taken out then and we saw them +no more. + +Then we heard the officer who had brought her in tell his tale to the +detective. A man in an automobile had come to him that morning and said +he had been robbed of his pocketbook and watch by a young woman he had +picked up on the road. He had run into her and knocked her down and was +taking her to her home. After he had put her down at the address she +gave him he discovered that his property was missing and returned to +the house, but could get no answer to his ring. The officer took note +of the address and promised to keep an eye on the place. Later on he +saw a young woman come out of the house and enter a near-by pawn shop. +He followed her and saw that she was pawning the watch whose +description had been given him. He arrested her and discovered she was +the famous Light Fingered Sal, whom the police of a dozen cities were +looking for. The house was searched, but the other inmates had fled. +But it seems that they were fleeing in an automobile and went several +miles beyond the speed limit with the result that they were brought +into the station, where their real identity was established. They were +the four tourists in tan and the one in blue, whom we had blindly +followed out of Toledo, thinking they were Gladys and the other girls +in the Striped Beetle. Sal still had the man's purse in her pocket when +she was brought into the station and the owner was notified of that +fact while we stood there. + +Again, it was these friends of Sal's who had been ahead of us at the +hotel in Ft. Wayne, whom the check man had told us about and who had +left for Chicago by way of Ligonier. Together with Sal, they had +committed some daring thefts in Toledo stores, and when the police had +almost caught them they had escaped in an automobile. There had been no +time to wait for Sal; they trusted her to join them somewhere along the +road. The police were so hot on her trail that she had to spend the +night in the empty storeroom where Hinpoha had found her, waiting until +after dark that night to venture out. Then Mr. Bob had blundered in on +her hiding-place, followed by Hinpoha. Sal saw her chance of working on +Hinpoha's sympathies and so getting out of Toledo, and how she +accomplished it we already know. She told her a well fabricated tale of +being accused wrongfully of taking a paper from the office safe, and +played the role of the helpless country girl in the city, with the +result that the girls took her in tow and set out to find Nyoda. She +assumed airs of helplessness until they did not think her capable of +lacing her own shoes. All the while she was keeping a sharp lookout for +the police along the road. At the same time she found out that the +girls were carrying all their money in their handbags. + +At first, she had intended staying with them until she got to Chicago, +as that was her destination, but the losing of the trunk made them go +to Indianapolis, where the automobile races had drawn great crowds from +everywhere. She was sorely tempted to break away from the girls there +and slip into the crowd, where she could gather a rich harvest; but she +had been afraid that the police would be watching for her and decided +that the prudent thing would be to go to Chicago. But after they had +actually left Indianapolis and she began to think of what she had +missed, she wished she had stayed there. She blinded the girls to her +real character by pretending to know nothing about any kind of worldly +pleasure and amusement, and acted as though she disapproved of +everything gay, and Gladys had remarked somewhat loftily that when she +had seen a little more of life she would not be so narrow in her views! + +Then the girls had seen the flowers growing beside the river and had +gotten out of the car to walk among them, leaving her to sit in the car +and hold their purses. It was as if opportunity had fallen directly +into her lap. The lure of the crowd at Indianapolis was too strong and +she started to drive back, leaving the girls minus their money and +their car. But some distance down the road the car had come to a stop +and she could not make it go on. She did not know that the gasoline had +given out. She abandoned it in the road and walked across country until +she came to the electric line, which she had taken into Indianapolis. +She had a narrow escape from the police there and took the train for +Chicago. There she had been run into by the man in the automobile and +her fertile brain had whispered to her to feign injury and have him +take her home. While she was in the car she had managed to get the +watch and purse. Later she tried to pawn the watch and was caught. + +The detective, who had started out from Toledo after her had never seen +her or her companions and had somehow gotten onto our trail and +believed we were the ones. He had made no attempt to arrest us when he +first came up with us, because he believed there were still others in +her crowd and he wanted to wait until she joined them in Chicago and so +get a bigger catch in his net, when he finally drew it in. He had +waited around Rochester simply on our account; there had been nothing +the matter with his motorcycle at all. We had told him ourselves we +were going to Chicago, and then he had heard Nyoda telegraphing to +friends at the Carrie Wentworth Inn there. He had told Mrs. Moffat to +keep a close watch on us because we were dangerous characters, and she +had promptly put us out of the house. The news spread through the town +like wild-fire that there was a gang of pickpockets there and wherever +we went we were watched. That accounted for the queer actions of the +various storekeepers. But then, who had given us the address of 22 +Spring Street when Mrs. Moffat had turned us out? That point still +remained to be cleared up. + +When we abruptly left town in the direction of Indianapolis the +detective had followed us, but the storm had thrown him off our track. +He had come across us the next day near Lafayette and had made up his +mind to hold on to us that time. Our headlong flight when we became +aware of his presence drove all doubt away as to our being the ones, +and then when he had seen the scarab the last link was forged in the +chain which held us. + +The timely arrest of Sal and her companions and the arrival of +Margery's mother had naturally wrought sad havoc with the charges upon +which we had all been brought into the station, and instead of feeling +like criminals we all sat around and talked as if we were perfectly at +home in a police station. The facts I am telling you somewhat in order +all came out bit by bit and sometimes everybody talked at once, so it +would be useless to try to put it down just the way it was said. + +When Nyoda finally got the floor, she told about the finding of the +scarab and about our being taken into the McClure home and sent down to +the ballroom where she later found the diamond necklace in her pocket. +This tale created a profound sensation and now it was the turn of the +detective who had brought in Gladys and those girls to look foolish. +The police asked us the minutest details about the appearance of the +servants who had admitted us. We told about the maid Carrie with the +black eyes which were not the same height and one of the detectives +nodded his head eagerly. "Black-Eyed Susan," he said. "She's one of the +crowd we're after." He also recognized the footman with the blue vein +in his nose and the chauffeur with the crooked fingers. We were praised +highly for having observed those little things. + +Then it was that we found the solution of the mystery which had been +tantalizing us since the night of the ball, and which we thought we had +found when we believed Margery to be Sal. That diamond robbery had been +skilfully planned as soon as the invitations for the ball were sent. +Three of the crowd were in the employ of Mrs. McClure. It happened that +these three did not know Sal and her intimates personally. They had +been instructed that on the evening of the ball five young women would +arrive in an automobile. They were to be admitted into the house and +gotten into the ballroom. Carrie was to do the actual robbery, slipping +the necklace into the pocket of one of the five. They would then leave +the ballroom and ride away. Their automobile was to be kept in +readiness at the door and the way made clear when the time came. The +mark of identification of these five was to be a certain scarab which +one would carry in her pocket. Naturally, when Nyoda had dropped the +scarab out of her pocket that day the chauffeur had taken us for the +five. The rest you know. + +The only hitch in their plans had been the maid Agnes. Carrie had an +idea that she suspected her for some reason or other and was afraid she +would think there was something strange in our being admitted into the +house and made ready for the ball. She had therefore taken advantage of +our drenched condition to pretend that we were merely seeking shelter +from the storm. Then, in Agnes's hearing, she had come in and said that +Mrs. McClure wanted us to attend the ball. That made everything regular +in Agnes's eyes and apparently cleared Carrie of connivance. + +The person who had put the scarab into Nyoda's pocket had been still +another member of the crowd who had gotten on the trail of the wrong +ones. He was to drop it into the pocket of one of the five girls in +motor costumes who would be at the Ft. Wayne hotel at a certain time. +The real ones found themselves too closely watched by the police to +attempt the diamond robbery, and abandoned it, heading straight for +Chicago. Thus they went through Ft. Wayne a day before they were +expected and did not stop. We came on the day they were expected and +got away before he could give it to us. He, therefore, trailed us to +Rochester and dropped it into Nyoda's pocket when she sat in the +restaurant eating lunch. + +Of course, we did not find out everyone of these facts in the police +station that day, although I am telling them as if we did. One of Sal's +companions later turned state's evidence and it was from her statement +that we got the whole story. When the scarab was produced everybody +crowded around it curiously. It was one which was stolen from a private +collection in Boston some time before, and occasional rumors had leaked +out about it's being used as a sign of identification between members +of the gang who were so scattered that they did not all know each other. + +The light-haired detective left in a great hurry to get the three +servants in the McClure home. I might say right here, however, that he +never got them, for they had fled on the finding of the necklace in the +jardinier, fearing an investigation. + +There was so much that happened that afternoon in the police station +that I really don't know what to tell first. I suppose the reader has +been wondering all the time what has become of Margery Anderson and how +it happened that her mother appeared on the scene just at that time. It +seems that she was in Chicago on business and had gone to the office of +her brother-in-law, Margery's uncle. He was out and she was waiting for +him. While she was there she heard the stenographer take a message over +the telephone to the effect that Margery was in the police station, and +leaving the office hurriedly she had gone right down, determined to get +there before Margery's uncle did. She found Margery as we already know, +not in the company of the man and woman, as she had expected, but with +us three. When Margery's uncle finally received the message he also +hastened to the station, but it was too late. Margery was with her +mother and he could not take her away again. + +Sahwah came over and stood by us, breaking into giggles every few +minutes at the discomfiture of Mr. and Mrs. Watterson, in spite of her +heroic efforts to keep a straight face. Her captors left the station +very red and uncomfortable after their little business with the police +was over. + +By the time all our stories were told we were good friends with the +police lieutenant and all the officers standing around, who were +inclined to be pleased with us because we had helped bring Sal and her +crowd into their hands. This would be a feather in their cap, although, +of course, we would get no official credit. + +Finally, there were only Nyoda and the seven Winnebagos left in the +station, and when one of the officers offered to show us around Nyoda +accepted the invitation gladly. She is always anxious that we should +see as much as possible. Nyoda stood and talked to the matron a long +time while we went on through, and when we came back she was invisible. +We waited awhile, but she did not appear. + +"She's probably waiting for us out in the room where the fat one is," +said Sahwah. "The fat one" was her disrespectful way of referring to +the police chief. (Sahwah saw me writing this down and corrected me, +saying that he wasn't the chief; he was a lieutenant, because we were +in a branch station, but I have always thought of him as chief.) So we +moved back toward the "main reception-room". + +"What's in there?" asked Sahwah, pointing to a closed door. Sahwah, +like the Elephant's Child, was filled with 'satiable' curiosity. + +"It's the matron's room," answered the row of brass buttons, who was +guiding us. + +"May we look in?" asked Sahwah. + +"May if you like," answered the row of buttons. + +Sahwah quietly opened the door and we looked in. We looked in and we +kept on looking. In fact, we couldn't have taken our eyes away if we +had wanted to. For there in that matron's office--the matron was not +there--stood Nyoda, and there stood the Frog, _and he had his arms +around her and he was kissing her_! + +By the time we had gotten our breath back again they were miles apart, +nearly the whole width of the carpet runner, and the Frog had his +goggles off and explanations were in full swing. The Frog was Sherry, +Nyoda's camp serenader of the summer before. They had been +corresponding ever since and he had been to see her several times, +although we did not know it. They had been almost engaged at the +beginning of the summer and then they quarreled and Nyoda sent him away. + +He was touring the country all by himself in a mood of great dejection +and happened to see us in the dining-room at Toledo. He followed so he +could be near her. His big goggles and the mustache he had grown during +the summer were an effectual disguise. He had kept a respectful +distance, afraid to make himself known, for fear Nyoda would order him +off. So he had followed us and it was a merry chase we had led him, I +must say. When the impudent young man had spoken to us in the hotel +parlor at Wellsville he had promptly called him down for it and that +had caused the uproar we had heard when we ran out to the garage. +Later, he had led us out of the burning hotel to the back window where +we made our escape. Then, while we were in the house dressing, he had +gone to get the Glow-worm out of the threatened garage. He was driving +it across the park to a place of safety when we had seen him and +thought he was stealing the car. He wouldn't even take advantage of the +great service he had rendered us in piloting us through the burning +building to present himself to Nyoda. When we thought he was making off +with Margery he was taking a girl to her home in the next town. It +seemed that everything conspired to make the poor man appear the +villain when he was in reality the hero. + +He thought he had lost us that night in the fog, but the next morning +he turned around and there we were behind him. When Nyoda tried to +overtake him, he fled. But he had followed us to Rochester and it had +been he who had given us the address of the woman on Spring Street +after Mrs. Moffat had turned us out. He had heard Nyoda arguing with +Mrs. Moffat at the front door and thought it was about the price of the +rooms; he did not know that we were in any such predicament as we were. + +He had found out that we intended going to Chicago and when we +disappeared so suddenly from the town he thought we had gone there and +had followed, but did not overtake us. Inside the city he had run into +Light Fingered Sal and while charitably taking her to her home, as he +supposed, she had relieved him of his watch and his money. He had +notified the police and some time later had been summoned to the --th +precinct station to recover his property. There he had seen Nyoda in +the matrons' office. What happened between that time and the moment +when Sahwah opened the door was never made public, but it was evidently +highly satisfactory to him. + +There remains but one more tangled thread to straighten out. That +concerns the trunks. We did not find out the truth until long after. +Gladys's trunk had actually been put onto Mr. Hansen's car in Ft. +Wayne, but he had lost it on the way and it was picked up by a man who +went through Wellsville the night of the fire. In the excitement it was +left in the garage, where it was found by the proprietor and sent us in +answer to our description. The one which we had left in Wellsville was +taken by the salesman of the Curline stuff and returned to Gladys's +address several weeks later, rather battered on the outside, but still +intact as to contents. Gladys was aghast when she thought of the trunk +she had forcibly wrested from the man on the road. She left it there in +the police station in the hope that the real owner would get it some +day. That was the last we ever heard of it. Whether the man had +actually stolen it, and who the initials GME of Cleveland referred to +we never found out. + +The reason Gladys's second wire to us in Rochester was not received was +that she had absent-mindedly written Rochester, N. Y., instead of +Rochester, Ind. + +Well, as far as adventures are concerned, the tale of our trip is told. +The rest was uneventful and the telling of it would be uninteresting, +as it would consist mainly of descriptions of scenery and places, which +the reader already knows by heart from other books. Sherry hinted +strongly that a red car would be a great addition to our color scheme, +but Nyoda firmly refused to let him come with us. She had enough to +look after when she had us, she insisted, without trying to keep him +out of mischief. Besides, ours was a strictly family party and he was +not one of the family--yet. So he meekly continued his journey to +Denver as originally planned, while we went south to Louisville. + +Then once more we followed "along the road that leads the way," the +yellow road unwinding like a ribbon under our wheels, but this time we +didn't build any Rain Jinx before we started. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Campfire Girls Go Motoring, by +Hildegard G. Frey + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING *** + +***** This file should be named 6895.txt or 6895.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/8/9/6895/ + +Produced by Anne Folland, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. 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Frey + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6895] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 9, 2003] +[Date last updated: May 25, 2006] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMPFIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING *** + + + + +Produced by Anne Folland, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +[Illustration: "YES, I AM RUNNING AWAY," SAID THE GIRL IN A TONE OF +DESPERATION.] + + + + +The Camp Fire Girls Go Motoring + +OR + +Along the Road that Leads the Way + + + +By HILDEGARD G. FREY + +AUTHOR OF + +"The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods," "The Camp Fire Girls at +School," "The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House." + + + + + THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +It is at Nyoda's bidding that I am writing the story of our automobile +trip last September. She declared it was really too good to keep to +ourselves, and as I was official reporter of the Winnebagos anyway, it +was no more nor less than my solemn duty. Sahwah says that the only +thing which was lacking about our adventures was that we didn't have a +ride in a patrol wagon, but then Sahwah always did incline to the +spectacular. And the whole train of events hinged on a commonplace +circumstance which is in itself hardly worth recording; namely, that +tan khaki was all the rage for outing suits last summer. But then, many +an empire has fallen for a still slighter cause. + +The night after we came home from Onoway House and shortly before we +started on that never-to-be-forgotten trip, I was sitting at the window +watching the evening stars come out one after another. That line of +Longfellow's came into my mind: + + "Silently, one by one, in the infinite meadows of heaven, + Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels." + +That quotation set me to thinking about Evangeline and the tragedy of +her never finding her lover. Could it be possible, I thought, that two +people could come so near to finding each other and yet be just too +late? Not in these days of long distance telephones, I said to myself. +As I looked out dreamily into the mild September twilight, I idly +watched two little girls chasing each other around the voting booth +that stood on the corner. They kept dodging around the four sides, +playing cat and mouse, and trying to catch each other by means of every +trick they could think of. One would go a little way and then stop and +listen for the footsteps of the other; then she would double back and +go the other way, and thus they kept it up, never coming face to face. +I stopped dreaming and gave them my entire attention; I was beginning +to feel a thrill of suspense as to which one would finally outwit the +other and overtake her. The darkness deepened; more stars came out; the +moon rose; still the exciting game did not come to a finish. Finally, a +woman came out on the porch of the house on the corner and called, +"Emma! Mary! Come in now." They never caught each other. + +When I was elected reporter on the trip to keep a record of the +interesting things we saw, so we wouldn't forget them when we came to +write the Count, Nyoda said jokingly, "You'd better take an extra note- +book along, Migwan, for we might possibly have some adventures on the +road." + +I answered, "We've had all the adventures this last summer that can +possibly fall to the lot of one set of human beings, and I suppose all +the rest of our lives will seem dull and uninteresting by comparison." + +I presume Fate heard that remark of mine just as she did that other one +last summer when I observed to Hinpoha that we were going to have such +a quiet time at Onoway House, and sat up and chuckled on the knees of +the gods. In the light of future events it seems to me that it couldn't +have done less than kick its heels against that Knee and have +hysterics. + +As I was in the Glow-worm all the time, of course, I was an eye witness +to the things which happened to our party only; but the other girls +have told their tale so many times that it seems as if I had actually +experienced their adventures myself, and so will write everything down +as if I had seen it, without stopping to say Gladys said this or +Hinpoha told me that. It makes a better story so, Nyoda says. + +After Gladys's father had told us we might take the two automobiles and +go on a trip by ourselves, he gave us a road map and told us to go +anywhere we liked within a radius of five hundred miles and he would +pay all the bills, provided, we planned and carried out the whole trip +by ourselves, and did not keep telegraphing home for advice unless we +got into serious trouble. All such little troubles as breakdowns, +hotels and traffic rules we were to manage by ourselves. He has a +theory that Gladys should learn to be self-reliant and means to give +her every opportunity to develop resourcefulness. He thinks she has +improved wonderfully since joining the Winnebagos and considered this +motor trip a good way of testing how much she can do for herself. +Gladys scoffed at the idea of wiring home for help when Nyoda was +along, for Nyoda has toured a great deal and once drove her uncle's car +home from Los Angeles when he broke his arm. Gladys's father knew full +well that Nyoda was perfectly capable of engineering the trip or he +never would have proposed it in the first place, but he never can +resist the temptation to tease Gladys, and kept on inquiring anxiously +if she knew which side of the road to stop on and where to go to buy +gas. Gladys, who had driven her own car for three years! Finally, he +offered to bet that we would be wiring home for advice before the end +of the trip and Gladys took him up on it. The outcome was that if we +returned safe and sound without calling for help Mr. Evans would build +us a permanent Lodge in which to hold our Winnebago meetings. Gladys +danced a whole figure dance for joy, for in her mind the Lodge was as +good as built. + +How we did pore over that road map, trying to make up our minds where +to go! Nyoda wanted to go to Cincinnati and Gladys wanted to go to +Chicago, and the arguments each one put up for her cause were side- +splitting. Finally, they decided to settle it by a set of tennis. They +played all afternoon and couldn't get a set. We finally intervened and +dragged them from the court in the name of humanity, for the sun was +scorching and we were afraid they would be doing the Sun Dance as +Ophelia did if we didn't rescue them. The score was then 44-44 in +games. So now that neither side had the advantage of the other we did +as we did the time we named the raft at Onoway House--joined forces. We +decided to go both to Cincinnati and Chicago. + +As we finally made it out, the route was like this: Cleveland to +Chicago by way of Toledo and Ft. Wayne; Chicago to Indianapolis; +Indianapolis to Louisville. Here Hinpoha got a look at the map and +wanted to know if we couldn't take in Vincennes, because she had been +crazy to see the place since reading Alice of Old Vincennes. So to +humor her we included Vincennes on the road to Louisville, although it +was quite a bit out of the way. Then from Louisville we planned to go +up to Cincinnati and see the Rookwood Pottery that Nyoda is so crazy +about and come back home through Dayton, Springfield and Columbus. We +were all very well pleased with ourselves when we had the route mapped +out at last, and none of us were sorry that Nyoda and Gladys couldn't +agree on Cincinnati or Chicago and had to compromise and take in both. + +Then, when it was decided where we were going, came the no less +important question of what we were to wear on the road. We decided on +our khaki-colored hiking-suits as the shade that would show the dust +the least, and our soft tan regulation Camp Fire hats, with green motor +veils. Besides being eminently sensible the combination was wonderfully +pretty, as even critical Hinpoha, who, at first wanted us to wear smart +white and blue suits, had to admit. It seemed to me the most fitting +thing in the world for a group of Camp Fire Girls to sally forth +dressed in wood brown and green, the colors of nature which in my mind +should be the chosen colors of the whole organization. + +We had a discussion about goggles and Gladys and Hinpoha declared +flatly that they wouldn't disfigure their faces with them, but Nyoda +made us all get them whether we wanted to wear them all the time or +not. Nyoda is an advocate of Preparedness. It was this spirit that +prompted her to make me take an extra note-book along, not the +premonition that there was going to be something to put into it. Nyoda +doesn't believe in premonitions since she didn't have any the time she +and Gladys got into the blue automobile with the cane streamer that +awful day in May. + +Then there came the weighty matter of the names of the two cars. I will +skip the discussion and merely announce the result. The big, brown car +which Gladys was to drive was christened the Striped Beetle, on account +of the black and gold stripes, and the black car was called the Glow- +worm, because that's what it reminds you of when it comes down the road +at night with the lamps lighted and the body invisible in the darkness. +Nyoda was to be at the helm, or rather at the wheel, of the Glow-worm. + +In order that no feelings might be involved in any way over which car +we other girls traveled in, Nyoda, Solomon-like, proposed that she and +Gladys play "John Kempo" for us. (That isn't spelled right, but no +matter.) Gladys won Hinpoha, Chapa and Medmangi, and Nyoda won Sahwah, +Nakwisi and myself. Thus the die was cast and my fortunes linked with +those of the Glow-worm. + +I don't remember ever being so supremely happy as I was the night +before we were to start. All my troubles seemed over for good. The +summer venture had been a success and the doors of college stood wide +open to receive me when the time came. The awful weight of poverty +which had sat on my shoulders last year, and had made my school days +more of a nightmare than anything else was lifted, and here was I, +"Migwan, the Penpusher", actually about to start out on an automobile +trip such as I had often heard described by more fortunate friends, but +had never hoped to experience myself. We were all over at Hinpoha's +house that night, because Aunt Phoebe had just come back with the +Doctor and they wanted to see us. + +"And you be careful of your bones, Missis Sahwah!" said the Doctor, +playfully shaking his finger at her. + +"Are you going if it rains?" asked Aunt Phoebe. + +The possibility of rain had never occurred to us, as the only picture +we had seen in our mind's eye had been country roads gleaming in the +sunshine, but Gladys said scornfully that she would like to be shown +the group of Camp Fire Girls who would let themselves be put off by +rain. + +"Let's build a Rain Jinx," said Sahwah, who always has the most +whimsical inspirations. + +"A what?" asked Gladys. + +"A Rain Jinx," said Sahwah, warming to the idea. "A 'doings' to scare +away the Rain Bird and the Thunder Bird." + +As the foundation for her Rain Jinx she took Hinpoha's Latin book, +which she declared was the driest thing in existence. On top of that +she piled other books which were nearly as dry until she had a sort of +altar. Then she proceeded to sacrifice all the rubbers, rain-coats and +umbrellas she could find, as a propitiatory offering to the Rain Bird. +Thoroughly in the mood for such nonsense, now she proceeded to chant +weird chants around the altar to protect us from all sorts of things on +the road; to soften the hearts of traffic policemen; to keep the tires +from bursting, and the machinery from cutting up capers. It was the +most ridiculous performance I have ever seen and Aunt Phoebe and the +Doctor laughed themselves almost sick over it. I laughed so myself that +I could not take notes on what she was saying and so can't let you +laugh at it for yourselves. As a reporter I'm afraid I'm not an +unqualified success. + +In the midst of that "Vestal Virgin" business--Sahwah was flourishing a +chamois vest to give us the idea of _vestal_--Nyoda walked in. +There was only one low lamp burning in order to carry out Sahwah's idea +of what a Rain Jinx ceremony should be like, and Nyoda couldn't clearly +make out the objects in the room. + +"Look out for the Rain Jinx!" called Sahwah, warningly. "If you touch +it it will bring us bad luck instead of good." + +But it was too late. Nyoda had stumbled over the pile of things on the +floor, and in falling sent the elements of the Rain Jinx flying in all +directions. Hinpoha flew to light the light and Sahwah picked Nyoda up +out of the mess and set her in a chair, while the rest of us collected +the scattered articles and tidied up the room, and Sahwah painted in +lurid colors to Nyoda the dire consequences of her crime, and made her +give her famous "Wimmen Sufferage" speech as an act of atonement. + +The Rain Bird must have forgiven her on the strength of that speech, +for there never was such a perfect blue and gold day as the morning we +started out. I have already told you how we were divided up in the +cars. Gladys in the Striped Beetle went first, carrying with her Hinpoha, +Chapa and Medmangi, and Nyoda drove the Glow-worm right behind her +with Sahwah, Nakwisi and myself. Hinpoha insisted upon bringing Mr. Bob, +her black cocker spaniel, along as a mascot. Of course, everybody +wanted to sit beside the driver and we had to compromise by planning to +change seats every hour to give us all a chance. We all carried our +cameras in our hands to be ready to snap anything worth while as it came +along, and beside that Nakwisi had her spy-glass along as usual and I +had my reporter's note-book. In honor of my being reporter they let me +sit beside Nyoda at the start. + +Nakwisi couldn't wait until we got under way and bounced up and down on +the seat with impatience. "What's the matter with you?" said Sahwah, +"You're a regular _starting-crank_!" + +"That will do, Sahwah," said Nyoda, with mock severity. "I want it +distinctly understood that anybody who indulges in puns on this trip is +going to get out and walk." + +With that threat she settled herself behind the wheel and turned on the +gasoline, or whatever it is you do to start a car. Thus we started off, +like modern day Innocents Abroad, with the Winnebago banner across the +back of each car, and our green veils fluttering in the breeze. Mr. +Evans waved the paper on which the bet was recorded significantly, and +shouted "Remember!" in a sepulchral tone, and it was plain to be seen +he was sure he would win the bet. He even tempted Fate so far as to +throw an old rubber after us as we departed, instead of an old shoe, to +bring us luck according to the Rain Jinx. It landed in the tonneau of +our car and Sahwah pounced upon it as a favorable omen and kept it for +a mascot. + +With a great cheering and waving of handkerchiefs we were off. The +Striped Beetle was just ahead of us in all the glory of its new coat of +paint and its bright banner, and I couldn't help thrilling with pride +to think that I, for once, belonged to such a gay company, I, who all +my life had to be content with shabby things. I suppose we must have +cut quite a figure with our tan suits all alike and our green veils, +for people stopped to look at us as we passed through the streets. It +was not long before we were outside the city limits and running along +the western road toward Toledo. + +I always did think September was the prettiest month in which to go +through the country in the lake region on account of the grapes. The +vineyards stretched for miles along the road and the air was sweet with +the perfume of the purple fruit. There were wide corn-fields, too, that +made me think of the poem: + + "Up from the meadows rich with corn, + Clear in the cool September morn--" + +Oh, there never was such a beautiful country as America, nor such a +happy girl as I! In one place someone had planted a long strip of +brilliant red geraniums through the middle of a green field and the +effect was too gorgeous for description. (I'm glad I noted all those +things and put them down on the first part of the trip, for afterwards +I scarcely thought of looking at the scenery.) + +The girls in the car ahead kept shouting back at us and trying to make +up a song about the Striped Beetle, and, of course, we had resurrected +the one-time popular "Glow-worm" song and made the hills and dales +resound with the air of the chorus: + + "Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Lead us lest too far we wander, + Love's sweet voice is calling yonder; + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Light the path, below, above, + And lead us on to love!" + +Then there would come a chorus of derision from the Striped Beetles, +who politely inquired which one of us expected to be led to her Prince +Charming by that mechanical Glow-worm; and flung back our chorus in a +parody: + + "Shine, little Glow-worm, glimmer, + Till the Law makes you put on the dimmer!" + +Then we christened the horn of the Striped Beetle "Love", because that +was the only "sweet voice" we heard calling yonder. I don't believe I +ever had such a good time as I did on the road to Toledo. We got there +about noon and went to a large restaurant for dinner. Even there people +looked up from their tables as we eight girls came in, dressed in our +wood brown and green costumes, and we heard several low-voiced remarks, +"They're probably Camp Fire Girls." + +We had a great deal of fun at dinner where we all sat at one big table. +Sahwah and Hinpoha sat at the two ends and got into a dispute as to +which end was the head of the table. "Stop quarreling about it, you +ridiculous children," said Nyoda. "'Wherever Magregor sits--' you know +the rest." + +While she was speaking I saw a tourist at another table, dressed in a +long dust coat and wearing monstrous goggles that covered the entire +upper half of his face and made him look like a frog, lean forward as +if to catch every word. Nyoda is perfectly stunning in her motor suit +and I couldn't blame the man for admiring her, but we did want Nyoda to +ourselves on this trip, and the thought of having men mixed up in it +put a damper on my spirits. I suppose Nyoda will leave us for a man +sometime, but the thought always makes me ill. I came out of my little +reverie to find that Gladys had appropriated my glass of water and +Sahwah and Hinpoha were still disputing about being the head of the +table. Finally, we jokingly advised Sahwah to ask the waiter, and she +promptly took us up and did it, and found that Hinpoha was the head. + +"I'm going to have the head at the next place we eat," Sahwah declared, +owning her defeat with as good grace as she could. And Fate winked +solemnly and began to slide off the knees of the gods. + +From Toledo to Ft. Wayne, our next stop, there were two routes, the +northern one through Bryan and the southern one through Napoleon and +Defiance. As there didn't seem to be much difference between them we +played "John Kempo" and the northern route won, two out of three. As we +were threading our way through the streets of the town, an old woman +tried to cross the street just in front of the Glow-worm. Nyoda sounded +the horn warningly but the noise seemed to confuse her. She got across +the middle of the street in safety and Nyoda quickened up a bit, when +the woman lost her head and started back for the side she had come +from. She darted right in front of the Glow-worm, and although Nyoda +turned aside sharply, the one fender just grazed her and she fell down +in the street. Of course, a crowd collected and we had to stop and get +out and help her to the sidewalk where we made sure she was not hurt. +Nyoda finally took her in tow and piloted her across the street to the +place where she wanted to go. + +When the excitement was over and the crowd had dispersed we returned to +the car and Nyoda started up once more. Then for the first time we +noticed that the Striped Beetle was nowhere in sight. Apparently Gladys +had not noticed our stopping in the confusion of the busy street and +had gone on ahead without us. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Gladys, as the leader, had the road map with her with the route marked +out which we were to follow. We hastened to the end of the street, +expecting to catch sight of the Striped Beetle just around the corner, +but it was nowhere to be seen. We stopped at a store and asked if they +had seen it come by and they said, yes, it had just passed and had +turned to the left up --th Street. We followed swiftly, thinking to +come upon the girls each moment, but there was no sign of them. + +"They surely have discovered by this time that we are not behind them +and must be waiting for us," said Nyoda. "I can't understand it." + +"Gladys is probably trying to see if we can trail her through the city +to the motor road," said Sahwah. "You know how much we talked about +being self-reliant? We'll probably find her where the road branches out +from the city, waiting with a stop watch to see how long it took us to +find her." + +"We'll get there," said Nyoda grimly, her sporting blood up. + +Everywhere along the road people told us about the brown car that had +gone just ahead of us and pointed out the direction it had taken. Every +time we turned a corner we expected to hear the laughter of the girls +who were leading us such a merry chase, but we didn't. Soon we were out +of the city and on the country road once more, and we were quite a bit +puzzled not to find them waiting for us. We certainly thought the joke +was to have ended here. But a man walking along the road had seen the +car go by half an hour before. + +"Half an hour!" we echoed. "Gladys must have been speeding to have +gotten so far ahead of us." Of course, the Striped Beetle is a six- +cylinder car and more powerful than the Glow-worm, which is a four, and +then they hadn't stopped at every corner to ask the way, so it wasn't +so strange after all that Gladys was so far ahead. + +"We'll make some speed on this road," said Nyoda resolutely, "and if we +don't catch Lady Gladys before she gets to Ft. Wayne, I'll know the +reason why. This is the road to Bryan, isn't it?" she asked, with her +hand on the starting-lever. + +"No," said the man. "This here road goes through Napoleon and Defiance. +It gets to Ft. Wayne all right, but it doesn't go through Bryan." + +Nyoda stopped in surprise. "The southern route?" she said, wonderingly. +"Why, we decided on the northern. Whatever could have made Gladys +change her mind without letting us know? Are you sure it was a brown +car with four girls dressed just like us?" + +The man was positive. It was the suits and the veils all alike that had +caught his eye in the first place. He didn't generally remember much +about the cars that went past. There were too many of them. But these +girls looked so fine in their tan suits that he just had to look twice +at them. They were laughing fit to kill and all waved their +handkerchiefs at him as they passed. + +We looked at each other in astonishment. It was undoubtedly the Striped +Beetle that was going along the southern route and we couldn't +understand it. + +"Do you suppose," I said, "that Gladys could have misunderstood when +you were playing 'John Kempo' and thought it was the southern route +that won?" + +"She must have," said Nyoda. "It's not impossible. We were all laughing +and talking so much nonsense at the time that it was hard to think +straight. But it doesn't make any difference," she added, "this route +is as good as the northern, and we are right behind them and I mean to +catch up before we get to Ft. Wayne." I knew what Nyoda was thinking +about. The man had said the girls in the car were laughing fit to kill, +and that looked very much as if there were some joke on foot. We knew +very well they were running away from us and were going to lead us a +chase to Ft. Wayne. + +As we started off in pursuit I looked around from the tonneau, where I +was then sitting, and saw a red roadster not far behind us. There was +one man in it and he was the Frog I had seen goggling at Nyoda in the +dining-room at Toledo. + +We were not so terribly surprised when we did not find the Striped +Beetle at Napoleon where we stopped for gasoline. We knew now that they +would not let us catch them before we got to Ft. Wayne. We inquired at +the service station and found that the brown car had stopped for +gasoline nearly an hour before. Clearly they were not losing any time +on the road. Neither were we gaining on them at that rate. Nyoda looked +thoughtful as she started out once more. I knew she was meditating a +lecture for Gladys when she caught up with her, about running away from +us. Nyoda was responsible for the welfare of seven girls and how could +she fulfil her trust if she had only three under her eye? And I knew as +well as I knew anything that Gladys would forfeit her right to be +leader by that little prank and for the rest of the trip would follow +meekly along behind us. Nyoda would never in the world stand for her +going off like that. But by the puzzled frown on her face I knew that +she didn't understand it any more than I did. Gladys was the last one +in the world to do such a thing. There must be some reason. + +From my seat I could see that the Frog, who had also stopped for +gasoline when we did, was not far behind us. The car he was in looked +like a racing car, with a very long hood in front, and he could easily +have gotten ahead of us. I wondered for a long time why he did not do +so, and then suddenly I had a premonition. He was following us, or +rather Nyoda. Something had told me when I first saw him that we should +see him again. I made a horrible face at him behind my veil and wished +something would happen to his car. + +As we were passing through the village of S---- a chicken started up +right under our front wheels, uttering a startled and startling squawk. +Nyoda swerved to one side and ran squarely into a tree. There was a +bump and a grating sound somewhere beneath us and then the nice +cheerful humming of the motor stopped. Nyoda got out of the car to see +what had been damaged. + +"As far as I can see, only the lamp bracket is bent," she said, but +when she tried to start the car again it wouldn't start. + +"Maybe the driving spider has caught the flywheel," said Sahwah, trying +to be funny. + +Just then the red roadster did pass us, going slowly, and the Frog kept +his eyes riveted on Nyoda all the while. She never looked at him. She +had unbuttoned the roof over the engine and was poking her fingers down +into the dragon's mouth, but undoubtedly the trouble wasn't there. +There was a repair shop not far away--all of the towns along the +touring routes which have an eye to business have some sort of one--and +Nyoda repaired thither and fetched a man who tinkered knowingly with +the regions underneath the Glow-worm and then reported in a dust choked +voice that one of the gears was "on the blink". Just what part of a +car's vital organs a gear is I don't know, but I judged it was an +important one because Nyoda looked serious. + +"What will we do?" she said, tragically. + +"Can fix you up in the shop," said the man, wiping his forehead with a +blue and white handkerchief. "We have a dismantled car of the same make +there and can take a gear out of that." + +So the Glow-worm was trundled up the street into the shop, and we were +told that the damage would be fixed by the next morning. The next +morning! We looked at each other in consternation. + +"But we must get to Ft. Wayne to-night," said Nyoda, in a tone of +finality. + +"Sorry, ladies," said the foreman of the repair shop, "but it can't be +done." Then we realized that we would have to stay in S---- all night. +Here was a pretty mess. And Gladys and Hinpoha and the other two +waiting for us in Ft. Wayne. + +"We'll have to let them know," said Nyoda. "They'll worry when they see +we're not coming." + +"Let them worry," said Sahwah, darkly. "It serves them right for what +they did to us." + +But, of course, we had to let them know. So Nyoda wired the little +hotel where we had planned to stay--and what a good time we were going +to have!--and told the girls to stay there for the night and to please +wait for us in the morning and not leave us again. Of course, the +message was much more condensed than that, but Nyoda got it all in. + +Then there was nothing else for us to do but make the best of a bad +bargain and hunt up the one hotel in S---- and prepare to spend the +night. But when we got there it was crowded. There was a big wedding in +town that night, we were informed, and the out-of-town guests had +filled the hotel. They were already two in a room and there was no hope +of doubling up. Seeing our dismay at this news, the clerk bethought +himself of a woman in the village who had a very large house and often +let rooms to tourists when the hotel was full. She had once been very +wealthy, but had lost everything but the house and now made her living +by keeping boarders. + +We thanked him and hurried off to the address to which he had directed +us. We were very hot and tired and dusty and amazingly hungry. It was +already six o'clock in the evening, and with the difference in time +between our city and this we had been on the road a long day. We were +glad after all that the hotel had not been able to accommodate us when +we saw this house. The hotel was on the main street and the rooms must +have been small and stuffy; anything but comfortable on this hot night. +But this house stood far back from the street in an immense shady yard, +one of those enormous brick houses that well-to-do people were fond of +building about thirty-five years ago, with large rooms and high +ceilings and enough space inside them to quarter a regiment. We blessed +the good fortune which had led our feet to this hospitable looking +door, which, in times gone by, must have opened to admit throngs of +distinguished people. + +There was no door-bell, but a big bronze knocker, and in answer to it a +young girl, presumably the "hired girl", let us into the hall. She took +our coming as a matter of course, so we judged they were prepared for +tourists that day, knowing that the hotel was full on account of the +wedding. Without a word she led us up-stairs and we breathed a sigh of +relief when we thought of a bath and supper. The house must have been +the home of fashionable people in its time, for the furnishings, though +old, were still luxurious. The carpet on the stairs was still thick and +soft to our feet, and the curtains I could see on the windows were of a +fine quality. At the head of the stairs there was an oil painting of a +woman in the dress of a by-gone day. The servant opened the door of a +room at the front end of the long up-stairs hall and we passed in. + +We had known instinctively as soon as we entered the place that the +lady of the house was a woman of refinement and culture, +notwithstanding the reduced circumstances which made it necessary for +her to rent out rooms in this big mansion of a house in order to make +her living. "I should think she'd rent it or sell it," said practical +Sahwah. + +"She probably can't bear to part with these things, which remind her of +her former life," I said, sentimentally. + +We were all anxious to see the woman who had been the mistress of so +much splendor in days gone by and could not give up the house. The +bedroom we were shown to was luxurious compared to what I had been used +to at home. The bed was a mahogany four-poster covered with a spread of +lace, and the rug on the floor was a faded oriental. Opening out of the +bedroom was a bath with a shower and we made a dash to get under the +cooling flood. I have never seen such towels as were stacked up on that +little white table in the bathroom. They were all heavily embroidered +with initials and the fringe on them was every bit of six inches long. + +"The fringe for me!" exclaimed Sahwah, when she saw them. She seized a +whole pile of them at once, using only the fringe for drying, and +putting on affected aristocratic airs that made us shriek with +laughter. We had been dressing all over the two rooms and the floor was +strewn with towels and articles of clothing. Suddenly the door of the +bedroom opened and a woman stood in the room. She was a gray-haired +woman of about fifty, very handsome and proud-looking, and dressed in a +gown of plum-colored satin. She said nothing; just looked at us. I +glanced around at the others. There was Sahwah, her kimono wrapped +loosely around her, patting her feet dry with the fringe of a dozen +towels; Nyoda stood in front of the dressing-table with a towel wrapped +around her, combing her hair: I was sitting on the floor putting my +shoes on, while through the bathroom door came the sounds of the shower +turned on full force, with an occasional shriek from Nakwisi when she +got it too cold. Suddenly I felt unaccountably foolish. Nyoda and +Sahwah looked up and saw the woman the next instant. She stood looking +at us, her eyes nearly popping out of her head, her face purple, +leaning against the foot of the bed for support. Nobody said a word. As +Sahwah expressed it afterward, "Silence reigned, and we stood there in +the rain." + +"How did--how did you get in?" the woman gasped faintly, after a +silence of a full minute. We knew something was wrong. We could feel it +in the marrow of our bones. + +Nyoda, holding her towel closely around her, answered in as dignified a +manner as possible. "We were directed to your house from the hotel as a +place where we could spend the night, and your maid admitted us and +brought us in here. Is there anything the matter?" + +The woman stood staring as if fascinated at the towels which were lying +all over the floor. At that moment Nakwisi opened the door of the bath +and emerged in her dressing-gown, the open door behind her revealing +splashes of water all over the room and more towels on the floor. The +woman put her hand to her throat as if she were choking. She tried to +speak but evidently could not. + +"Isn't this Mrs. Butler's house?" asked Nyoda, with growing misgiving. +"Don't you take in tourists when the hotel is filled?" + +The woman swallowed convulsively and found her voice. "No," she said, +emphatically, "this is not Mrs. Butler's house, and I don't take in +tourists when the hotel is filled. This is the McAlpine residence and +my husband is State Senator McAlpine. My daughter is getting married +to-night and we have a houseful of wedding guests. We had two special +trains, one from Chicago and one from New York, bringing guests. If my +maid let you in she thought you were some of them." Then she looked +around the room and seemed on the verge of apoplexy once more. "But how +did you get in here?" she cried, wildly. "This is the bridal chamber!" + +I suddenly felt weak in the back-bone, and thought my head was going to +drop into my lap. The towel fell from Nyoda's shoulders and she stood +there like a statue with her long hair around her. Sahwah stopped still +with her foot on the stool and the handful of towels in her hand. For +one moment we remained as if turned to stone and then Sahwah buried her +face in the towels with a muffled shriek. If embarrassment ever killed +people I know not one of us would have survived. Nyoda apologised +profusely for our intrusion, which, after all, was not our fault, as we +soon found. The hotel man had told us number 65 South Vine Street when +it was number 65 North Vine Street he had meant. + +We got dressed faster than we ever had before in our lives and packed +up our scattered belongings, leaving the rooms nearly as tidy as they +were when we came in. Mrs. McAlpine had withdrawn into the next room, +and through the closed door we could hear the sound of excited talking +and knew that she was telling the story to someone. When she had +finished we heard a man's voice raised in a regular bellow. Evidently +it had struck him as funny. + +"No!" we heard him chortle. "You don't mean it! Got put into the bridal +chamber, ha, ha! When you wouldn't let me put a foot into it! Took a +bath and used up all the wedding towels that you wouldn't even let me +touch! Oh, ha! ha! ha!" The very house seemed to shake with the +violence of his mirth. Senator McAlpine, for we judged it was he, must +have had a sense of humor. "Where are they?" we heard him shout. "Let +me see them!" + +But at the thought of facing that battery of laughter we fled in haste. +Feeling unutterably small and ridiculous, we crept down-stairs and out +of the front door, past numbers of people who were arriving. Once out +on the sidewalk we leaned against the ornamental iron fence and laughed +until we cried. The more we thought about it the funnier it seemed. +What a tale we would have to tell the other girls when we met them in +the morning! + +As we had had our bath there only remained supper, and we certainly did +justice to it when we finally arrived at Mrs. Butler's house on North +Vine Street. It was after eight o'clock and we were ravenous. The rooms +we had in that house, while they were nothing compared to what we +almost had, were still very comfortable, and we were in such high +spirits that any place at all would have looked good to us. Our long +day in the open air had made us sleepy and it was not long before we +were all touring in the Car of Dreams. + +While we were eating breakfast in Mrs. Butler's big, airy dining-room +we heard a boy arrive at the kitchen door and ask for the "automobile +ladies." He had been sent out from the telegraph office and the hotel +clerk had told him where we were. He handed Nyoda a message. As she +read it a surprised and puzzled look came into her face. + +"What is it, Nyoda?" we all cried. + +She handed us the bit of yellow paper. It was what is called a service +message from the telegraph company, and read: "Message sent Gladys +Evans Potter Hotel Ft. Wayne undelivered. No such party registered." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +We stared in open-mouthed astonishment. Gladys and the others not in +Ft. Wayne? If they weren't there, where were they? We were expecting to +join them this very morning. Nyoda came to a sensible conclusion first, +as she always does, "Where are they?" she repeated. "Why, stranded in +some place along the road, just as we are, of course. We're not the +only ones that can have accidents. I thought Gladys would get into some +trouble or other at the rate she was driving that car. I hope none of +them got hurt, but it serves them right if they did have a hold-up of +some kind. And I hope the trouble, whatever it is, keeps them tied up +until we overtake them. We must ask at every village whether the +Striped Beetle is there. Wouldn't we laugh to see them standing around +some garage waiting impatiently for the damage to be mended?" + +It was nine o'clock before the Glow-worm was in running order again and +we were ready to take the road once more. Since being towed into the +repair shop the night before we had seen nothing of the Frog, and I +concluded that he had gone on his way and would cross our path no more. +But we had not gone many miles on the road when I saw the now familiar +roadster traveling leisurely along behind us. I mentioned the fact +casually to Nyoda as I was sitting beside her, and while she made no +comment whatever, I noticed that she began gradually to increase the +pace of the car. As yet neither of us had hinted at our unspoken +antagonism to this persistent follower--for Nyoda was antagonistic to +him, because I noticed that she bit her lip in an annoyed way when she +saw him again. After all, he might not be following us. He certainly +had every right in the world to be traveling in the general direction +of Chicago over the public highway at the same time we were making our +trip. + +And yet--why did he stay all night in S---- when there was nothing the +matter with his car, and when accommodations were so very scarce. We +hadn't the least idea where he had stayed, but he must have been in +S---- all night or he couldn't have followed us out in the morning. Even +that fact, which might have been a coincidence, did not convince me so +much that he was following us as my own intuition did. And I have +learned by experience to respect those intuitions. Out of a whole +dining-room full that man had been the only one who had attracted my +attention, and I felt antagonistic toward him instantly. I had the same +feeling when I saw him behind us on the road to Napoleon. And the worst +part of it was that he had done absolutely nothing to make me feel that +way toward him. He hadn't been impertinent, in fact, he had never said +a single word to any of us! All he had done was to stare searchingly at +Nyoda through that goggle mask of his. There was nothing the matter +with his looks, goodness knows. All we could see under the big goggles +were part of a nose and a brown mustache and they looked harmless +enough. Then why did Nyoda and I both have the same feeling toward him? + +We inquired carefully all the way, but nowhere did we come upon any +trace of the Striped Beetle. At several places they had seen the brown +car go by the day before and at one place it had stopped for gasoline, +but no one knew of any repairs that had been made on it. The thing +began to loom up like a puzzle. If the Striped Beetle had not been +delayed by accident why had not Gladys arrived in Ft. Wayne the night +before as per schedule. + +"Possibly they did arrive all right, and didn't go to a hotel because +you weren't with them," suggested Sahwah. "Gladys may have friends +there and they may have stayed with them." That fact was so very +probable that we ceased to worry about the girls, trusting that the +whole thing would be made clear when we got to Ft. Wayne. + +We were in Indiana now, running through beautiful farm country, with +occasional tiny villages. Sahwah made up a game, estimating the number +of windmills we would see in a certain time and then counting them as +we passed to see how near she came to being right. As we were keeping a +sharp lookout on each side of the road so as not to miss any, we saw a +girl running across a field toward the road just ahead of us. She was +waving her arms and we looked to see whom or what she was waving at, +but there was nothing in sight. + +"I actually believe she's waving at us!" said Sahwah. There was no +mistake about it. The girl stood still in the road waiting for us to +come up and motioned us to stop. We did so. She stood and looked at us +for a minute as if she were afraid to speak. I looked back to see if +the Frog was gaining on us. The red roadster had disappeared. The girl +who stood before us looked about eighteen or twenty. She wore a plain +suit of dark blue cloth with a long skirt down to the ground and a +white sailor hat with a veil draped around it that covered her face. In +her hand she held a small traveling bag. She looked beseechingly from +one to the other of us and then her eyes came back to Nyoda. + +"Could you--would you--will you take me to Decatur?" she faltered. +"I'll pay you whatever you think it's worth," she added hastily. Now +Decatur was out of our course altogether, some miles to the south. We +were hurrying to Ft. Wayne to find out what had become of Gladys and +why our telegram had come back unanswered. But this girl was plainly in +trouble. Through the veil we could see that her face looked haggard and +her eyes were big and staring. She looked frightened to death. No girl +in trouble ever came to Nyoda in vain. + +"Do you want to go to Decatur very badly?" she asked, gently. + +"I must go," said the girl, earnestly. "I have to catch a train there, +the train for Louisville." She checked herself when she had said that +and looked around as if afraid she had been overheard. + +"But why go to Decatur?" asked Nyoda. "You can get the Louisville train +in Ft. Wayne. We are going directly to Ft. Wayne and are nearer there +now than Decatur. We will be very glad to take you along." + +But at the mention of Ft. Wayne the girl shrank back. "No, no, not +there," she said in evident terror. "They--they would be watching for +me there." + +Nyoda looked at the girl keenly. She must have seen what we did not. +"My dear," she said, in a big sister tone, "are you running away from +home?" + +The girl started and looked haunted. "Yes, I am running away," she said +in a tone of desperation, "but I'm not running away from home. I'm +running back home. Home to my mother." She looked over her shoulder at +a house set far back from the road. + +"Tell me about it," said Nyoda, with that smile of hers that never +fails to win a confidence. The girl looked into Nyoda's eyes and did +not look away again. It's the way everybody does. + +"I'm Margery Anderson," she said. "You know now who I am and why I'm +running away." + +Yes, we all knew. The papers all over had been full of the fight Mr. +and Mrs. Anderson, who were separated, had been making to get +possession of their daughter Margery. The law had given her to her +mother, but she had been kidnapped twice by her father and the last +that had been published about her was that she was in the keeping of an +uncle, who was hiding her from her mother. But the papers had said that +Margery was only thirteen years old. This girl looked older. + +"My uncle wants to take me to Japan, where I'll never see my mother +again," she said. "I want my mother!" she finished with a very childish +sob. + +Nyoda got out of the car and put her arm around her. "You shall go to +your mother, my dear," she said. "We'll take you to Decatur." + +In walking to the car Margery fell all over the long skirt she was +wearing, and then we realized that she was dressed up in someone else's +clothes to make herself look older. She was only thirteen after all. +Nyoda had been able to observe this right away when she had looked at +her closely. She was as straight and as slender as a boy and the jacket +modeled for an older woman hung on her as on a pole. + +"Do you know the road to Decatur?" asked Nyoda. Margery said that she +did, and told Nyoda how to turn. Our arrival in Ft. Wayne would be +delayed an hour or so by going to Decatur, but none of us minded. We +were all keenly interested in this much talked of young girl and were +anxious to see her get to her mother before her uncle could stop her. +Who would not have done the same thing in our place? + +"What time does the Louisville train leave Decatur?" asked Nyoda, +looking at her watch. + +"Eleven-thirty," said Margery. + +Nyoda put the watch back hastily and increased the speed of the car. +She did not say what time it was and none of us asked her, thinking +that the time might be short and Margery would be worried for fear we +would not make it. We knew Nyoda would make it if she possibly could do +so. Margery looked at her inquiringly, and Nyoda answered with a bright +reassuring smile. Once Nyoda and I caught each other looking behind at +the same moment and we each smiled faintly. The red roadster was +nowhere in sight. By making this detour to Decatur while it was delayed +on the road we had undoubtedly thrown it off the track. + +We could not have been many miles from Decatur when a shot startled us. +We all looked around expecting to see Margery's uncle after us, but it +was only the bursting of a tire. Only the bursting of a tire! But to +this day I hold that that tire did not burst of its own accord. Fate +deliberately jabbed a pin into it. We carried an extra and with the +help of a farmer who was passing we jacked up the Glow-worm in a hurry +and put on its new gum shoe, Margery walked up and down the road +nervously during the process. I suppose the minutes seemed like hours +to her. + +I beguiled the time by scribbling verses in my note-book to celebrate +the occasion: + + "Tires, brand new tires, I know not what they mean, + Freshly inflated from the Free Air pump, + Giving no warning of their base designs, + Scatter in air with a terrific bang, + And all upon a sudden are no more. + + "Sweeter it is than dreams of paradise + To ride with friends beside one in one's car, + O'er sunlit roads; past fields of waving grain. + Bitter it is as drops of greenest gall, + To blow a tire, and sit there in the sun." + +At this juncture the exchange of tires was completed and we were off +once more. I saw Nyoda look at her watch. + +"What time is it?" asked Margery. + +"My watch has stopped," answered Nyoda. There was a clock on the corner +of two streets in the next village we passed through and the hands +pointed to eleven. This would give us plenty of time. We were not far +from Decatur. We all breathed a sigh of relief, for we had been afraid +that the bursting of the tire had caused us to miss the train. Nyoda +calculated closely and announced that we would have time to stop and +buy gasoline. She was not sure whether we had enough to make Decatur or +not, and it would be a shame to go dry outside the very walls of Rome, +she said. It took the young boy in charge of the place where they sold +the gasoline some minutes to fill our tank, as he was only looking +after the place while the proprietor was out and he was awkward. It was +ten minutes after eleven when we got under way again. Nyoda set her +watch by the clock. + +When we got into Decatur we had an unpleasant surprise. All the clocks +we came to said ten minutes to twelve. The other clock we had seen had +been half an hour slow. We hurried to the station in the hope that the +train was late, but there was no such luck. It had been on time for +once. Margery sank down on the seat in the waiting-room and looked at +us with wide frightened eyes. Clearly she was appealing to Nyoda to +tell her what to do. + +"When is the next train to Louisville?" Nyoda inquired at the ticket +window. + +"None until to-morrow noon," was the reply. + +Margery looked so dismayed that Nyoda said hastily, "Why won't you go +to Ft. Wayne and get the train there? The fast trains that don't stop +here stop there and you can get one later in the day." + +But Margery looked more frightened than ever. "I can't go to Ft. +Wayne," she said. "My uncle would expect me to go there and would have +the station watched. That's why I wanted to go to Decatur. They would +never think of looking there for me. What shall I do. I know I'll never +get to mother!" + +She looked so young and babyish and helpless that Nyoda made up her +mind on the spot that she was not the kind of girl who could be left on +her own resources. + +"Tell me," she said, "does your mother expect you to-morrow?" + +Margery shook her head. "She doesn't even know that I'm coming." + +"Then," said Nyoda decidedly, "I'm not going to leave you to find your +way there alone. We will be going through Louisville in a few days and +you're going to stay right with us until we get there. Your uncle will +probably be having trains watched and would never think of you in an +automobile. It is the best solution of the problem. We'll get you a +dress and veil like the other girls and everyone will think you are one +of our party. In that case you don't need to be afraid to go to Ft. +Wayne, where we must stop, as we will not go near a railway station." + +Margery agreed to this plan with such an air of relief that it was +plain to be seen what an ordeal it had been for her to try to travel +alone. + +With this delay of having to go to Decatur it was past noon before we +got to Ft. Wayne. Once there we were at a loss how to proceed to find +the Striped Beetle and the girls. I believe everyone of us confidently +expected to find them waiting for us at some point where the road +entered the city, and it threw us off our bearings to find they were +not there. Even Nyoda was plainly puzzled what to do. We found the +little Potter Hotel where we were to have stayed and asked to see the +register. It was possible that the girls had been there after all in +spite of the telegram not having been delivered. Telegrams have failed +to connect before. But they had not been there. If they had stayed with +friends we did not know where they were now. It was a riddle. Not +getting any light on the subject we decided to eat our dinner before we +looked farther. + +We checked our cameras and the man at the checking counter looked at us +closely when we came up. There was no one else there and he seemed +inclined to be talkative. + +"There was a party just like you here yesterday," he said. + +"What do you mean by 'just like us?'" we asked. + +"Same clothes," he answered. "Four girls in tan suits and green veils +and one in a blue suit and white veil." + +We all looked at each other. The four girls were evidently ours, but +who was the one in blue? + +"What time were they here?" we asked. + +"About five o'clock yesterday afternoon," he answered. "They checked +some things here and then went into the dining-room." + +Five o'clock was the time we should all have reached Ft. Wayne if +things had gone right. + +"Have you any idea where they have gone now?" we asked, eagerly. + +"They were on their way to Chicago, going through Ligonier," answered +the man. "I heard them talking about it. They seemed to be in a great +hurry and were only in the dining-room about fifteen minutes. The one +in blue kept telling them to make haste." + +"The plot thickens," said Sahwah. "Gladys is mixed up in some adventure +of her own, apparently. She's not running away from us for the fun of +the thing, you can rest assured. I never thought so from the first. +She's probably taking some distressed damsel to Chicago in a grand rush +and counts on us to trust her until we catch up with her and hear the +explanation." + +"Yes," agreed Nyoda, "she must have had some urgent reason for acting +so, that's a foregone conclusion." + +"It's a _four gone_ one all right," said Sahwah, but Nyoda's mind +was too busy with wondering about Gladys to notice the pun. + +"I think the best thing to do is to follow them as fast as we can," +said Sahwah. + +"I think so too," said Nyoda. + +Puzzled as we were about Gladys's strange behavior, we were yet +relieved of all anxiety about the Striped Beetle and its passengers. +The girls were on their way to Chicago by way of Ligonier, the way we +had planned in the beginning, and had undoubtedly not fallen by the +wayside. We did wait long enough in Ft. Wayne to buy Margery a suit and +veil just like ours and were surprised and gratified to find that we +could get a suit exactly like ours down to the last button. + +"Who do you suppose the girl in blue is with Gladys?" we asked each +other, as we took the road again. But, of course, no one could answer +this. + +I was sitting in the front seat beside Nyoda. We had not gone very far +on the way when I saw her knit her brows in a frown and heard her +mutter to herself, "I thought we had lost you!" At the same time she +increased the speed of the car. Naturally, I looked ahead in the +direction in which she was looking, but there was nothing in sight. +Then I looked behind. About a hundred yards behind us was the red +roadster with the Frog calmly sitting at the wheel. How did Nyoda know +he was there? She had not turned around since we had left Ft. Wayne. + +"Have you an eye in the back of your head?" I asked, curiously. + +"No, but I have one in the back of my collar," she answered, trying to +hide her annoyance in a joke. "I just had a feeling he was there," she +added. + +This time I actually had a chill when I saw him. There was something +terrifying in that figure always following us, never coming any nearer, +never saying anything, but yet, never losing sight of us. Those mask- +like goggles and the cap he wore pulled low over his face made him look +like one of the creatures you see in a bad dream. + +We had spent so much time in Ft. Wayne looking for a suit for Margery +that it was four o'clock before we finally got under way. The morning +had been fine, but the afternoon was misty and chilly. It must have +rained not long before, for the road was muddy. We did not make such +very good time, for the car began to act badly, and it was soon evident +that something was wrong. We began to run slowly. Involuntarily, I +glanced around to see how much the roadster was gaining on us. It had +slowed down too and was going at exactly our pace. By this time the +other girls could not help noticing that it was following us. Margery +crouched in the seat and clung to Sahwah's arm. She was sure it was her +uncle after her, and then I had to explain that the Frog had been +following us all the way from Toledo, before we had taken her in. + +We had expected to make Ligonier in a very short time and reach South +Bend before night, but as things turned out we never got there at all. +Somewhere between Ligonier and Goshen, at a little town called +Wellsville, the poor Glow-worm must have been taken with awful pains +in its insides, for it began to pant and gasp like a creature in +misery, and utter little squeals of distress. There was nothing left to +do but hunt up the one garage in town, which fortunately had a repair +shop in connection with it, and get someone to look at the engine. I +don't pretend to know anything about the machinery of the car, so I +haven't the slightest idea what was the matter, but the man talked +knowingly about magnetos and carburetors and said he could have the +trouble fixed by eight o'clock in the evening. We were vexed that it +should take so long, because we had expected to make South Bend early +in the evening, but there was no help for it, so we repaired to the +hotel next door--"hotel" by courtesy, for it was nothing more than a +wayside inn--for supper. + +It was raining a fine drizzle, and, as we did not care to walk around +in it, after supper we sat in the stuffy parlor and tried to pass away +the hours until the Glow-worm would be cured of its sickness and we +could resume our journey. The carpet on the floor was a mixture of +hideous red and pink roses on a green background. I can see that carpet +yet. It was a Brussels, and Sahwah kept referring to it as one of the +Belgian Atrocities. There was a larger room opening out of the parlor +in which we sat, a sort of general reception and smoking-room combined. +There was an old square piano out there and some young man was banging +ragtime on it, while half a dozen others leaned over it and roared out +songs in several different keys at once. All around the room sat men, +smoking until the air was blue, and talking in loud voices, or shouting +snatches of the songs. They seemed a rather noisy lot and from the +scraps of conversation we heard we judged that they had come from +somewhere to attend the September horse races which were being held in +the neighborhood. At any rate, the hotel was swarming with them and we +were glad that we were to get out of there by eight o'clock and did not +have to stay all night. Once one of them walked into the parlor where +we sat and said "Good evenin', ladies," in an impertinent sort of way, +but we all froze him up with a glance and he went out without saying +anything more to us. We saw him cross the other room toward a door at +the farther side, and, as he crossed the floor we saw someone else get +up from a chair in the corner of the room and go out after him. The +second man was right under a light and we recognized the Frog, still +with his goggles and cap on. Soon there came a loud uproar from the +invisible room and unmistakable sounds of scuffling. We waited to hear +no more. If there was going to be a quarrel in that hotel we did not +wish to see any of it. We ran out in the rain and went into the garage +where the man was working on the Glow-worm. The quarrel we had fled +from didn't amount to anything after all, I suppose, for in a few +minutes we heard the men back at their singing. + +It was now nearly eight o'clock and we looked anxiously from time to +time at the Glow-worm to see if it was nearly finished, but some of the +parts were scattered out on the floor and the man was wrenching away at +what was left in the car and did not seem to be in any hurry to put the +others back. At eight o'clock it was not done and Nyoda asked him how +soon it would be. + +"Not before nine or nine-thirty, Miss," replied the man. + +The rain had stopped and we walked up and down the main street for the +next two hours, stopping in at the garage every time we passed, in the +vain hope that the work was finished and we could go on. But it was not +to be so. It was half past ten before it was finally ready and that was +too late to start. We realized that we would have to stay in that inn +all night, much as we were disinclined to do so. The racket was still +in full blast when we returned and were shown to rooms. We had to go up +on the third floor because the other rooms were all taken by the +racketers. The ceiling sloped down on our heads and the windows were +small and the furniture was exceedingly cheap, but it was a place to +stay and that was the main thing. + +"There's only one quilt on my bed," said Nakwisi rather disdainfully, +"and I don't believe that has more than an eighth of an inch of batting +in it." + +"I think an eighth of an inch is a pretty good batting average for a +hotel quilt," giggled Sahwah, whose spirits nothing can dampen. + +We made up our minds to get up at six o'clock and get a good early +start the next morning. As things turned out we got a much earlier +start than we had anticipated. Margery didn't like the room at all and +cried while she was undressing, and Nyoda had to pet her and make a +fuss over her before she would lie down in the bed. I couldn't help +wondering just what Nyoda would have done to one of us if we had cried +about that hotel room. But then Margery isn't a Winnebago, and that +makes a lot of difference. + +We went to sleep with the banging of the piano and the sound of the +songs floating up from downstairs, and each of us puzzling about the +appearance of the Frog and wondering why he hadn't approached us in the +parlor if he were really trying to make our acquaintance. Possibly he +meant to, later, only we upset his plan by going out when we did, I +reflected. It really had been rather an eventful day, I thought, even +if we hadn't made much progress with our trip. Think of spending a +whole day in going a distance that should have consumed at the most +only a few hours! We really must get an early start to-morrow and make +Chicago in good time, or be laughed at for running a lame duck race, I +thought as I dropped off to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +I woke up with the strangest feeling I have ever had in my life. I +remember dreaming that we had left the door open, and all the tobacco +smoke from below had floated up into the room and was choking me. When +I first awoke I thought that the racketers were still at it below, for +from somewhere there came a horrible din. There was the sound of many +voices shouting unintelligible things, when suddenly above the roar one +voice shrieked out "Fire!" Then I knew. The room was filled with smoke, +dense and choking. + +"Wake up!" I shouted, shaking Sahwah, who was sleeping with me. I +dragged her out of bed and we two ran into the other room where Nyoda +and Nakwisi and Margery were sleeping. The smoke was still thicker +there and I believe they must have been nearly suffocated. We had hard +work rousing them. Above the shouts of the people in the street below +we could hear an ominous crackling that increased every minute. At +first I was so frightened I could hardly move. It was the first time I +had ever been in a burning building. The time the tepee burned we were +out of it in one jump, before we had realized what had happened. I +shudder yet, when I hear crackling wood. + +Nyoda's voice roused me to action. She had regained her wits and was +cool-headed as usual. Margery clung to her and screamed and she shook +her and told her to be quiet. + +"Carry out your clothes if you can find them, girls," she said calmly, +"but don't wait to put anything on." + +We groped through the smoke and found our clothes on the chair beside +the bed, and gathering them up went out into the hall. The hotel was +old-fashioned, with a long, narrow wooden hallway running the entire +length of the up-stairs, crossed in places by other halls. Somewhere +along that hall was the stairway; we had a dim remembrance of the +direction from which we had come up the night before. We had to grope +our way along by keeping our hands on the wall, for the smoke was so +thick that it was impossible to see a step before us. We reached the +stairs at last. After one look we jumped back in alarm. The whole +stairway was one mass of leaping flames. I have never seen such a +dreadful sight. We groped our way back toward our rooms, which were at +the front of the building, intending to lean out of the windows and +shout for help from below. But we lost our way in the smoke and could +not find the way back. There we were, caught like rats in a trap, with +the flames beginning to come through the floor in places, and the smoke +rolling around us in blinding, suffocating clouds. There was no escape, +then. We were to perish in this hotel blaze. Would we ever be +identified? How soon would they know at home? All these things flashed +through my mind as we stood there in the midst of that awful nightmare. + +Suddenly something appeared out of the smoke close beside us, something +white and ghostlike. Then a voice spoke. "Follow me, girls," it said, +and we knew that the ghost was a man with a towel tied over his face. +"All of you get in line behind your mother," said the voice thickly, +"and each one hold onto the one in front of you. Don't let go, or +you'll be lost and I can't watch you." + +We didn't even smile at his thinking Nyoda was our mother. With the +military precision we have learned from long practice of doing things +together, we formed in a goose line behind Nyoda, each one gripping +tightly the hand of the one ahead of her, and thus we began to move +forward. After what seemed a hundred years, but could not have been +more than five minutes, we felt a gust of fresh air blowing on us, and +knew that we were standing beside an open window. + +"This window looks out on the roof of the second story at the back of +the building," said the voice, "and it's an easy drop to the roof." + +We had to take his word for it, for the smoke obscured everything so +that we did not know whether we were going to drop three feet or +thirty. The air coming in the window blew the smoke away from our faces +for a moment and we got a breath, or otherwise I am afraid we would +have strangled on the verge of being rescued. Without a moment's +hesitation the hands that belonged to the towel and the voice seized +Nyoda and swung her out of the window as if she had been a feather, and +in a moment her "All right" told that she had landed safely on the +roof. One by one he took us in the same manner. We were still in a +dangerous position, for there was fire under us, although the worst +blaze was at the front of the building, and as far as we could see +there were no ladders anywhere around waiting to take us down. + +"Confound these one-horse country towns, anyway", we heard the voice +mutter, "that can't support a decent Fire Department. + +"Here," he shouted to the gaping crowd below who were watching the few +that were trying to fight the flames with garden hoses, "bring +blankets, hurry!" + +It was rather a thrilling moment when we stood on that burning building +waiting for the blankets to come into which we were to jump. Now that I +look back at it I think we must have been a funny sight, for while we +stood there we threw on our jackets over our night-dresses and held the +rest of our belongings in our hands. With all the rest of her +impedimenta Nyoda had rescued her camera, Nakwisi her spy-glass and I +my note-book, and they gave us an odd, jaunty tourist appearance which +must have been amusing. Well, the people came running with blankets and +held them for us to jump and we jumped, although we had to throw +Margery down. She stood there trembling, afraid to jump and there was +no time to argue the necessity of prompt action. We gathered up our +possessions from the people to whom we had tossed them and hastened +into a near-by house where we got ourselves dressed. + +Our rescuer had jumped right after us, and by the time we had picked +ourselves up and got our breath back enough to thank him he had +vanished from the scene. He must have been the proprietor, we judged, +for he knew the inside of the hotel so well. Possibly he went back to +rescue some more of his patrons. + +After we were dressed we returned to the scene of the fire, which had +drawn people from all the country around, in the usual half-dressed +state in which people go to midnight fires. Of course, there was no +hope of saving the building, for the few thin streams of water that +were playing on it went up in steam as soon as they touched the blaze. +The walls fell in with terrifying crashes and the roof caved in like a +pasteboard box. It had been nothing but a dry shell of a building and +burned like tinder. + +"It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good," said Sahwah, giggling +nervously, "that piano is a hopeless ruin and the people around here +won't have to listen to it any more. And even if they do rebuild the +hotel they can never get another piano like it, for there aren't two +such tin pans in existence." + +After the rain had stopped that night a fog had settled down and the +glare of the flames through the mist made a weird lurid scene that I +shall never forget. All this time the wind had been from the east, +which drove the flames toward an open square where they could set +nothing else afire, but suddenly it veered to the west, and showers of +burning brands began to fall on the roof of the garage where the Glow- +worm was standing. The scanty water force was then turned to save this +building and we had several anxious moments until the wind shifted +again. + +"How foolish I was not to have taken the car out immediately," said +Nyoda. Other people were hurrying to the spot to rescue their cars and +we also went over. The interior of the place had not been damaged by +the small blazes which had been kindled on the roof, though I tremble +to think what might have happened if the gasoline stored inside had +exploded. Thankful that fortune had favored us so far in this night of +accident, we took our way among the other cars in the place to where +the Glow-worm had stood. Then we rubbed our eyes and looked at each +other. For where the Glow-worm had been when we left the place the +night before there was an empty space. A hasty search through the +place, which was not very large, revealed that the car was gone. +Frantically we rushed after the proprietor, who was standing in the +doorway watching the grand spectacle next door. He knew nothing about +the matter. The car had been there when he closed up that night, but as +soon as the fire broke out people had been coming for their cars and +the place had been open. He was much excited over it and declared that +such a thing had never happened before as long as he had been in +business, but then, he added, neither had the hotel ever burned down +before. + +To say that we were dismayed was putting it mildly. To have your own +car stolen is bad enough, but when it is a car belonging to someone +else who has kindly loaned it to you to take a pleasure trip in, it is +ten times worse. Nyoda had promised to bring the car back in safety and +she was almost beside herself at the thought of its being stolen. None +of us ever felt like facing Mr. Evans again. We reproached ourselves a +thousand times that we had not gone for the Glow-worm immediately upon +getting out of the burning building, without waiting to dress or stand +around and watch the walls fall. We searched vainly through the line of +motors moving up and down the street for the familiar black body and +yellow lamps of the Glow-worm. + +Discouraged and heartsick over this new calamity, we retired to the +park-like square on the other side of the hotel to talk things over and +lay out our course of action. Through the trees in the square we could +see something moving along the road, and, by a sudden glare from the +fire we made out the Glow-worm, proceeding slowly and silently in the +opposite direction, and the man at the wheel was the Frog! We all +darted after him, shouting "Stop thief!" at the top of our voices. The +Frog turned around in the seat, saw us streaming across the square, and +evidently decided that the chase was too hot, for he jammed on the +brakes and jumped from the car, leaving the motor still running. He ran +into a clump of shrubbery and disappeared from sight. + +We were too glad to get the car back to hunt for the thief and bring +him to justice. In our relief from the dismay of the moment before we +were ready to hug the old Glow-worm. + +"Girls," said Nyoda, "what do you say to starting out for South Bend +this very minute? I don't believe any of us could sleep any more to- +night even if we had a place to do it, which is extremely doubtful. +It's positive folly to leave this car standing around here any longer. +That garage man is too much interested in the fire to take care of his +business. We have no belongings to go back after, for everything we +left in the hotel is lost." + +We were thankful then that we had carried so little hand luggage, for +beyond a few toilet articles which could easily be replaced at the next +town we had lost nothing. The trunk with our extra clothes was carried +on the car. We agreed to Nyoda's proposal eagerly. Sleep for the rest +of the night was out of the question and we might as well be driving as +not. It would be a good way to get an appetite for breakfast, we all +agreed. + +"Jump in, girls," said Nyoda, taking her place behind the wheel. "You +sit up here with me, Margery." + +Then we had the second shock of the evening. Margery was nowhere to be +seen! We were all sure that she had been there just a moment ago, +clinging to Sahwah's arm and squealing, although we could not remember +whether she had been with us when we ran across the park after the +Glow-worm or not. + +"She has gotten separated from us in the crowd," said Nyoda. "You girls +run and find her while I stay here and watch the car." + +We hunted everywhere, high and low, asking everybody we met, but there +was no trace of her. Finally, we ran into the garage man and thought it +only fair to tell him that we had found the car. He was much overjoyed +at the fact and listened sympathetically when we told him we had lost +Margery. + +"Did she have on a tan suit like yours?" he asked. + +"Yes," we answered eagerly, "have you seen her?" + +"I saw a girl in a tan suit driving away just a minute ago with a man +in a red roadster," he answered. + +"What did the man look like?" we asked. + +"I can't tell you much about his looks," replied the garage man. "He +wore great big green goggles that covered up half of his face. Looked +just like a frog." + +We looked at each other in dismay. The Frog had run off with Margery! +We ran in haste to tell the news to Nyoda. + +"It's queer," she said. "He must be one of her relations after all, +though I surely thought he had begun to follow us from Toledo. But it +might have been only a coincidence that he was behind us then, for +after all he never said anything to us." + +"But why did he take our car first, if it was Margery he was after all +the while?" I asked. + +"So we couldn't follow him," said Sahwah, with startling clear- +sightedness. + +Nyoda, who doesn't believe in premonitions, had one then. "I don't +believe he's a relative of hers at all," she said, flatly. "I have a +feeling in my bones that he isn't. I also have a feeling that something +has happened to Margery which it is our business to investigate." + +In less time than it takes to tell about it we had inquired the +direction taken by the driver of the red roadster and had started in +pursuit. The fog was closing in on us thicker than ever and the Glow- +worm's eyes shone dimly through the white curtain. We could not go +ahead at full speed because we had to proceed slowly and carefully. The +fact that the road was exceptionally good along here was the only thing +that kept us from accident, I suppose. If we had struck some of the +holes that we did a distance back-- + +We were divided between joy over the fact that the Frog couldn't go any +faster than we were going in that fog and so couldn't use his powerful +car to his advantage, and the fear that he would slip off into some +side road without our noticing it and so escape us. The fog naturally +muffled all sounds, but we recognized at last the steady throbbing of a +motor ahead of us on the road and knew that we were on the trail of the +fugitives. We didn't know whether the Frog knew we were after him or +not, but it seemed to us that the throbs began to grow fainter after a +time as if the car were getting farther away. Finally, they stopped +altogether and we began to realize that after all we had not much +chance to catch up with that powerful car. + +"They're leaving us behind," said Sahwah, in a disappointed tone + +The next instant we crashed full into a car that was standing still in +the road and which loomed out of the fog with the suddenness of an +apparition. Nyoda had jammed on the emergency brake a half minute +before we struck or there would have been a worse smash. As it was the +Glow-worm was shaken from end to end and I can imagine what the stalled +car felt like. + +We experienced all the thrills of the heroines in the moving picture +plays when we ran into that car and expected to see the grotesque face +of the Frog in the light of our lamps, with the terrified Margery near- +by. The next minute showed us our mistake. The man who was standing +beside his car in the road, when we had torpedoed it from the rear was +not the Frog. It was a man we had never seen before. He was all alone. +The automobile was not the red roadster, but a limousine. + +We all sprang out to see what damage had been done the Glow-worm. We +were relieved to find it not so terrible after all. Nyoda had given the +steering-wheel a sharp twist the instant she saw she was going to +strike something, and the car glanced to one side, so that it was the +right front wheel and fender that actually struck. The limousine was in +worse shape. Our wheel had jammed into its rear wheel and torn it off, +while the side of the Glow-worm had scraped across the hack of the +bigger car, splintering the wood in places. Every window in the +limousine had been broken by the shock. + +The driver of the battered car stood and looked gloomily at the havoc +we had wrought. + +"Can't you look where you're going?" he burst out angrily. + +"You didn't have your tail lamp lit," replied Nyoda calmly, "and we +couldn't see you in the fog. I tried to turn out but it was too late." + +"It's true," said the man, pacifically. "It's my fault, or rather the +fault of the car. I couldn't make the lights burn. That's why I was +standing here. I was afraid to go ahead in the fog." + +Then I suppose he was afraid that we could bring suit against him for +the damage done to the Glow-worm because he was standing in the road +without any lights, for he left the limousine and came and looked +carefully at what had happened to us. He was much relieved when he saw +it was no worse. The front wheel wobbled tipsily and the fender was +torn off, but these it appeared were not mortal wounds. His eye went +back from our car to his. + +"It's a good thing no one was riding in the back," he said +thoughtfully, looking at the shattered windows. At that very moment a +wail rose from somewhere, coming apparently from the inside of the +limousine. Startled, he leaped over and pulled the door open. He turned +a pocket flash into the car and we could all see that there was +somebody lying on the floor half under the seat. It was a girl in a tan +suit. When the light was flashed into her face she looked up and saw +us. Then she sat up. It was Margery. + +"Margery!" exclaimed Nyoda. "What are you doing here?" + +Margery got out of the tipping car and ran to Nyoda and hung on her +arm. She was trembling so she could hardly stand. She looked from one +to the other of us with big frightened eyes. The owner of the limousine +regarded her in wide-eyed astonishment. + +"How did you get into that car?" asked Nyoda, gently. + +"I hid in it," said Margery. "In the garage. And he," she pointed to +the man, "drove away and I was afraid to come out." + +"What made you hide in the car?" asked Nyoda. + +Margery gave a quick glance around. "I saw my uncle," she said in a +half whisper. "He was looking at the fire. He didn't see me. I ran away +and hid in the garage and when people began coming for their cars I was +afraid they would find me and I got into this one. Pretty soon my uncle +came into the garage. I was down on the floor of the limousine and he +didn't see me. Just then the driver got up in front and began to take +the car out, but I didn't dare open the door and come out. He drove +away with me and I didn't know what to do, so I stayed in. Then the car +stopped on the road and I was going to get out and run away when the +other car came up behind and ran into us. I was afraid it was my uncle +and didn't even come out when the car nearly fell over. But I was +frightened and cried and you heard me and opened the door." + +"Tell me," said Nyoda, "was your uncle the man with the goggles?" + +"No," answered Margery, "he wasn't. My uncle is a little, thin man with +gray hair." + +"It's a mercy you weren't hurt," said Nyoda, thinking with a shudder of +the blow we had dealt the limousine. "You did get cut," she cried, +turning the flashlight full on her face. The blood was running down her +cheek from a cut in her forehead and her arm was also bleeding. We tied +her up with strips of handkerchiefs and set her on the back seat of the +Glow-worm. + +The owner of the limousine decided to leave it there and come for it in +the morning, and, as our engine was not hurt we thought best to drive +on. The man offered to pay for having our wheel fixed and the fender +put on again and seemed dreadfully afraid we were going to sue him. He +gave us his name and address and told us to send the bill to him. He +lived in the neighborhood and could find his way home on foot. + +After he had disappeared in the fog and the Glow-worm was once more +proceeding on her journey, we suddenly realized that we did not know +where we were nor in which direction we were going. We were not on the +road to Chicago, we knew, because the road we had followed out of +Wellsville in pursuit of the Frog had gone off at right angles to that +road. At the time we had thought only of finding out what had become of +Margery and had followed him blindly. The fog was getting thicker +instead of thinner and it was impossible to see anything like a sign +post. A sharp east wind was blowing that chilled us to the bone. It was +rather a dismal situation we found ourselves in. Of all kinds of bad +weather I hate fog the worst. It makes me feel as if I had lost my last +friend. Nyoda hadn't any idea where she was going, but she kept the car +moving slowly, hoping that we would come to a town pretty soon. We +sounded the horn constantly to warn any other vehicles on the road and +Nakwisi offered to sit in front and keep a lookout with her telescope. + +"Telescope!" said Sahwah, scornfully. "What you want is a collide-o- +scope!" Whereupon we all pinched her for making a pun and went on +shivering. + +Just when we got off the road I don't know, but gradually we became +aware that it was not hard earth we were riding over but something that +swished under the wheels like long grass. + +"We're in a field!" cried Sahwah. + +Nyoda turned the car around and we went a few yards, expecting to get +back into the road every minute. Then suddenly the car began to go down +hill very rapidly, and at the bottom there was a grand splash, and we +found ourselves up to the wheel hubs in water. We had run into a stream +of some kind. The bottom was soft mud and to keep from sinking we had +to go on across. Luckily it was shallow and not very wide and the water +did not come inside the car. Margery screamed all the way across and we +had a rather breathless few minutes, until we came out on the farther +bank. Once on dry land again Nyoda stopped the car and flatly refused +to drive another inch. We were off the road, we had no idea where we +were, and there was too much danger of running into things in the fog. +None of us dared to think what might have happened if that river had +been deep. + +So here we were stranded, at about two o'clock in the morning, in a +field nobody knew where, by a road whose direction we could not even +guess, with a thick mantle of fog rolling around us as dense as the +smoke had been a few hours before. Could it have been only a few hours +before that we came near burning to death? And now we were in nearly as +much danger of freezing to death. Fire and dampness all in one night! +It certainly was a varied experience. + +And the cold was no joke. It pierced the very marrow of our bones. We +were not dressed for any such weather as that. We had had two blankets +in the car but there was only one left when we recovered it from the +Frog. Sahwah suggested that we join hands around the Glow-worm and sing +"When the mists have rolled away". + +"You'll have to get out and walk around, if you don't want to catch +cold," said Nyoda. We walked up and down for a while, each with a hand +on the other's shoulder so as not to get separated and lost in the fog. +This walk soon turned into a snake dance and then a war dance around +the Glow-worm. It must have been a weird sight if anyone had seen us, +ghostly figures flitting about in the illumined fog around the car. I +suppose they would have taken us for dancing nymphs or will-o'-the- +wisps, or some other creatures which inhabit the swamps. + +We really became hilarious as we danced, although it was a serious +business of keeping warm, and on the whole I would not have missed that +night for anything. I adore unusual experiences and I'm sure not many +people have been stalled in a fog when on an automobile trip and have +had to spend the night dancing to keep warm. Margery didn't see the +funny side of it, and you really couldn't blame her, poor thing, for it +was all her fault that we were in this mess and she had been so badly +frightened earlier in the night and then so shaken up when the Glow- +worm ran into the limousine. + +She didn't want to dance to keep warm and sat shivering in the car with +the one blanket around her, except when Nyoda made her get out and +exercise. + +Morning came at last and when the sun rose the fog lifted. We found +ourselves in the middle of a field some distance from the road, near +the stream into which we had plunged the night before. We must have +been off the road for some time before we noticed it. The place where +we had run off was where the road turned and we had kept on straight +ahead instead of turning. We got out of the field and followed the +road. It was not a regular automobile road and was not sign-posted. We +did not know whether we had gone north or south from Wellsville the +night before. The fog had us completely turned around. By the position +of the sun, the road extended toward the south. How far we had come we +could not tell. We thought of going back to Wellsville and striking the +main road again, but then Nyoda decided that by finding a road which +ran toward the west we could strike the other trunk line route that +went up to South Bend by way of Rochester and Plymouth. We did not want +to make Wellsville again if we could possibly help it, for fear we +would run into Margery's uncle. + +That ride to Rochester was more like a bad dream than anything else. As +I have said, we were not on the main automobile road, and we soon got +into such ruts and mud holes as I have never seen. In places the road +was strewn with stones and we were nearly shaken to pieces going over +them. It was not long before we came to a sound asleep little townlet, +but we didn't have the heart to wake it up and ask it its name, so we +went on to the next. It was then about six in the morning and a few +people were stirring in the main street. We found by inquiry that we +were in the town of Byron and that by turning to the west beyond the +schoolhouse we would strike a road which eventually led to Rochester. +"Eventually" was the right word. It certainly was not "directly". It +twisted and turned and ended up in fields; it wound back and forth upon +itself like a serpent; it dissolved in places into a lake of mud. We +didn't go very fast because we were afraid the wobbly wheel would +wobble off. Hungry as we were we decided to wait until we reached +Rochester before getting breakfast, so we could put the car into the +repair shop the first thing and save time. We staved off the keenest +pangs of hunger by plundering an apple tree that dangled its ripe fruit +invitingly over the road, and I haven't tasted anything so delicious +before or since as those Wohelo apples, as we named them. + +The poor Glow-worm minus the one fender looked like a glow-worm with +one wing off and the wobbling wheel gave it a tipsy appearance. Nyoda +frowned as she drove; I know she hated the spectacle we made. + + "Needles and pins, needles and pins, + When a girl drives an auto her trouble begins," + +spouted Sahwah. + +"Aren't we nearly there?" sighed Nakwisi, as she came back to the seat +after rising to the occasion of a bump. + +"Long est via ad Tipperarium", replied Sahwah, and then bit her tongue +as we struck a hole in the road. + +The morning was beautiful after the foggy night and our spirits soared +as we traveled along in the sunshine, singing "Along the Road that +Leads the Way". But it was not long before there was a fly in the +ointment. Turning around one of the innumerable curves in the road we +saw the red roadster proceeding leisurely ahead of us. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +As far as we could make out there was only one person in the car and +that was the driver, and if he had left the scene of the burning hotel +with a girl in a tan suit she was no longer with him. I think Nyoda +would have turned aside into some by-road if there had been such a +thing in sight, but there wasn't. The Frog turned around in the seat +and saw us coming. That action seemed to rouse Nyoda to fury. Two red +spots burned in her cheeks and her eyes snapped. + +"I'm going to overtake him," she said with a sudden resolution, "and +ask him pointblank why he is always following us." + +At that she put on speed and went forward as fast as the wobbling wheel +would allow. But no sooner had she done this than a surprising thing +happened. The Frog looked around again, saw us gaining on him, and then +the red roadster shot forward with many times the speed of ours and +disappeared around a bend in the road. + +"He's running away from us!" exclaimed Sahwah. + +"He may be afraid we are going to make it unpleasant for him for +stealing the Glow-worm," said Nyoda. "But," she added, "I can't +understand why he has ventured near us at all since that episode. You +would expect him to put as much space as possible between himself and +us." + +"He probably didn't know we were following him," said Sahwah, shrewdly. + +But the whole conduct of the Frog since the beginning was such a puzzle +that we could make neither head nor tail out of it, so we gave it up +and turned our attention to the scenery. Behind us a motorcycle was +chugging along with a noise all out of proportion to the size of the +vehicle, and we amused ourselves by wondering what would happen if it +should try to pass us on the narrow road, with a sharp drop into a +small lake on one side and a swamp on the other. But the rider +evidently had more caution than we generally credit to motorcyclists +and made no attempt to pass us, so we were not treated to the spectacle +of a man and a motorcycle turning a somersault into the lake or +sprawling in the marsh. + +We certainly were ready for our long delayed breakfast when we finally +got to Rochester, after giving the Glow-worm into the hands of the +doctor once more. The poor Glow-worm! She never had such a strenuous +trip before or after. The man on the motorcycle came into the repair +shop while we were there to have something done to his engine, and he +listened with interest while we were telling the repair man how we had +run into the limousine in the fog. He looked at Margery curiously and I +wonder if he noticed that her suit did not fit her by several inches. +But Nyoda says men are not very observant about such things. + +He was a good-looking, light-haired young man, and he stared at us with +a frank interest that could not be called impertinent. I believe there +is a sort of freemasonry between motor tourists, especially when they +are having motor troubles, that makes it seem perfectly all right to +talk to strangers. When the young man asked where we were from and +where we were going we answered politely that we were on our way to +Chicago by way of Plymouth and LaPorte. (We had decided not to go to +South Bend at all, as it was out of the way of the route we were now +traveling.) Nyoda added that we hoped to make Chicago before night. +Here Sahwah advised her to rap on wood. We had planned to make it +before nightfall once before. When we told about the fire the young man +agreed that we certainly had had adventures a-plenty. He ended up by +telling us a good restaurant where we could get breakfast (he evidently +had been in town before) and we hastened to find it, leaving him +explaining to the repairman what was the matter with his motorcycle. + +While we were eating breakfast we saw him pass on the opposite side of +the street and enter a building which bore the sign of the telegraph +company. I couldn't help wishing that we knew his name and would meet +him again on the trip, he seemed such a pleasant chap. I am always on +the lookout for romantic possibilities in everything. + +The Glow-worm was to be ready to appear in polite society sometime in +the afternoon and we had nothing to do but kill time until then. There +were no picture shows open in the morning so the only thing left for us +to do was to go for a walk through the town. It was terribly hot, +nearly ninety in the shade, and what it was out in the sun we could +only surmise. Margery wanted to keep her veil down because she was +afraid of meeting people, and Sahwah thought it would appear strange if +only she were veiled and suggested that we all keep ours down, but they +nearly stifled us. So we compromised on wearing the tinted driving +goggles, which really were a relief from the glare of the sun, even if +they did look affected on the street, as Nakwisi said. I'm afraid we +didn't have our usual blithe spirit of Joyous Venture, as we walked up +and down the streets of the town, looking, as Sahwah said, "for +something to look at". The frequency with which the Glow-worm was being +laid up for repairs was beginning to get on our nerves. Sahwah remarked +that if we had set out to walk to Chicago we would have been there long +ago, and that the rate at which we were progressing reminded her of +that gymnasium exercise known as "running in place", where you use up +enough energy to cross the county and are just as tired as if you had +gone that far, while in reality you haven't gotten away from the spot. + +Nakwisi stood up on a little rise of ground and focused her spy-glass +in the direction of Chicago and said she had better try to get a look +at the Forbidden City from there because she might never get any +nearer. + +Nyoda had torn her green veil on her hatpin and the wind had whipped +the loose ends out until they looked ragged and she was frankly cross. + + "When lovely woman stoops to folly, + And learns too late that veils do fray--" + +chanted Sahwah, trying to be funny, but no one even laughed at her. We +were too much exhausted from the heat and too busy wiping the +perspiration out of our eyes. + +As a town of that size must necessarily come to an end soon, we found +ourselves after a while, beyond its limits and on a country road. We +saw a great tree spreading out its shady branches at no great distance +and made for it. With various sighs and puffs of satisfaction we sank +down in the grass and made ourselves comfortable. Of all the sights we +had seen so far on our trip the sight of that tree gave us the most +pleasure. We had not sat there very long when a young man passed us in +the road. He was the light-haired young man we had seen in the repair +shop. He lifted his hat as he passed but he did not say anything. He +was on foot, from which we judged that he also had some time to kill +while his motorcycle was being fixed. + +We did not sit long under that tree after all. First, Sahwah discovered +that she was sitting next to a convention hall of gigantic red ants and +a number of the delegates had gone on sight-seeing excursions up her +sleeves and into her low shoes, which naturally caused some commotion. +Then a spider let himself down on a web directly in front of Margery's +face and threw her into hysterics. And then the mosquitoes descended, +the way the Latin book says the Roman soldiers did, "as many thousands +as ever came down from old Mycaenae", and after that there was no +peace. We slapped them away with leaves for a time but there were too +many for us, so in sheer self-defense, we got up and began to walk back +to town. The only thing we had to be thankful for so far was that the +Frog had apparently vanished from the scene. + +We went back to the little restaurant where we had eaten our breakfast +and ordered dinner. We had our choice between boiled fish and fried +steak and we all took steak except Margery, who wanted fish. The heat +had taken away our appetites, all but Margery's, and she ate heartily. +Dinner over, we went out into the heat once more. We went up to see if +the picture show was open yet, for the thought of a comfortable seat +away from the sun and with an electric fan near, was becoming more +alluring every minute. It was open and we passed in with sighs of joy. +Somewhere along the middle of the performance, Sahwah, who was sitting +next to me, gave me a nudge and pointed to the other side of the house. +There sat the Frog, as big as life. + +"I should think he'd smother in those goggles," whispered Sahwah. + +At the same time Nakwisi, who was on the other side of me, also nudged +me and told me to look around a few minutes later so it wouldn't look +as if she had called my attention. After a short interval I looked. +There sat the motorcyclist directly behind us. How I did wish we could +tell him about the Frog and how he was always following us around, why, +we could not guess. + +Before the picture was finished Nyoda thought it was time to go and get +the Glow-worm, which should be finished by that time. But when we got +out into the sun again Margery began to feel dizzy and sick. We were +perplexed what to do. This little country town was not like the big +city where there are rest rooms in every big store. We finally decided +to get a room at the hotel, which was near-by. But here as everywhere, +that miserable Jinx had raised an obstacle against us. There was a +rural church conference going on in town that week and, of course, the +hotel was filled to overflowing. Delegates with white and gold badges +were standing around everywhere and there was not a room to be had. + +Margery sat down in the parlor awhile and then said she felt somewhat +better, but she still looked so white that Nyoda refused to set out +with her in the car. As in S----, the clerk gave us the name of a woman +near-by who would let us have a room if we wanted it, and after a while +we went up there. We wanted Margery to lie down on a bed for a while. +But no sooner were we there than she was taken with terrible pains. +Thoroughly alarmed, Nyoda went across the street where a doctor's sign +swung on a post before a house and brought him over. Margery was very +ill by this time and the doctor said she had symptoms of ptomaine +poisoning. He asked what she had eaten for dinner. At the mention of +fish he nodded his head gravely. Eating fish with the thermometer at +ninety-five degrees is a somewhat hazardous proceeding, he remarked. +How glad we all were then that we had taken the steak, even if it was +tough! The doctor gave Margery some medicine and said we needn't worry +because she wouldn't get any worse, and left us with a few more remarks +about eating fish in a restaurant in hot weather. + +Margery was more distressed about having delayed our start than she was +over her own discomfort, so we had to make light of it, even though we +were dismayed ourselves. Now the Glow-worm was ready and we were not! I +couldn't help feeling that it had been no ordinary fish from the near- +by lake that Margery had eaten, but one of the fateful fishes of the +zodiac itself, especially prepared for the occasion. For it soon became +evident that we could not leave town that night. Margery was feeling +better, but was still too weak for automobile traveling. + +Nyoda knit her brows for some time. "I'll have to wire Chicago," she +said, thoughtfully. Gladys and the others must be there by this time. + +I walked over to the telegraph office with her and stood beside her +while she wrote the message: "Held in Rochester to-night on account +sickness. Address Forty-three Main Street." She directed it to Gladys +at the Carrie Wentworth Inn, the new Women's Hotel where we were to +stay in Chicago. She read it out loud to me, counting over the words. +As we turned away from the window-desk someone turned and went out just +ahead of us. It was the motorcyclist. + +Margery was sleeping when we returned, and we sat down beside the bed +and read the paper we had bought at the corner stand. Nyoda gave a +smothered exclamation as she read and pointed to an article which said +that both Margery Anderson's father and uncle were scouring the country +for her, and the uncle was accusing the father of having spirited her +away. The paper said that private detectives were trying to trace her. +Then it was that we remembered the mysterious reappearance of the Frog. +We hadn't much doubt that he was a detective. But if he were a +detective, why had he attempted to steal the Glow-worm? The only reason +could have been the one which Sahwah suggested, namely, that he wanted +to cut us off from following him. He had probably carried away the +wrong girl in the excitement of the fire and did not discover his +mistake until later and then had let her go. This accounted for the +fact that there was no girl in the red roadster when it loomed up ahead +of us in the road that morning. + +But why had he run away from us when we tried to overtake him? That was +a baffling question, and the only way we could explain it was that he +was afraid we would accuse him of theft. That he had not gone very far +away from us was shown by the way he had appeared in the picture +theatre that afternoon. But if he was a detective, why did he not +boldly march up to Margery and attempt to take her away from us? + +Between the heat and the puzzle we were reduced to a frazzle. We +carefully hid the paper so Margery wouldn't see it when she woke up and +went down to supper. The house was on a corner and it seemed to me, as +I sat at the table that I saw the Frog walking down the side street. +But it was growing dark and I was not sure, so I said nothing about it. +Margery was very weak when she woke up and still unable to eat +anything, and I believe she had a touch of sunstroke along with her +ptomaine poisoning. She was clearly not a strong girl. The room seemed +stuffy and close and we fanned her to make her feel cooler. But we were +still thankful that we were not in the hotel, with its crowd of +delegates and its band continually playing. + +Sahwah was telling that joke about the man thinking the car was empty, +when all the while there was a miss in the motor and a "dutchman" in +the back seat, when there came a rap on the door and the lady of the +house came in. A minute later we were all looking at each other in +bewildered astonishment. _She had asked us to leave the house._ + +"But we've engaged the rooms for the night," said Nyoda. + +That made no difference. We could have our money back. She had changed +her mind about letting the rooms. + +"You certainly can't think of turning this sick girl out of the house!" +exclaimed Nyoda, incredulously. + +Mrs. Moffat's face did not change in the least. She looked from one to +the other of us with a steely glitter in her eye, which was a great +change from the professional hospitality of her manner when she had let +the rooms. "People aren't always as sick as they make folks believe," +she said, sourly. + +"You certainly don't doubt that this girl is sick!" said Nyoda, in +desperation. + +"I'm not saying I doubt anything," replied Mrs. Moffat. "I said I +didn't want you to have the rooms to-night and I meant it." + +"Will you please come outside and explain yourself," said Nyoda, "where +it won't excite this sick girl?" + +They went down-stairs to the lower hall, where Nyoda argued and pleaded +to be told the meaning of Mrs. Moffat's strange attitude toward us, but +she got no satisfaction. Mrs. Moffat would say nothing more than that +she had a reputation to keep up. When Nyoda defied her to put Margery +out Mrs. Moffat said grandiloquently that her son was on the police +force (I suppose she meant he was _the_ police force) and we would +see what she could do. + +Nyoda, at her wit's end, was trying to think of what to say next when +there was a rap on the door and a small boy arrived with a note, which +he would not give into Mrs. Moffat's hand. He just held it up so she +could see what was on the outside. It was addressed to "The black- +haired automobile lady". This, of course, was Nyoda and the boy was +perfectly satisfied to give her the note once he had looked at her. +Wonderingly she unfolded it. It contained only one line: "Go 22 Spring +Street." It was signed "A fellow tourist." Nyoda turned to ask the boy +who had given him the note, but he had disappeared. + +22 Spring Street. Spring Street was one block down Main Street. Nyoda +called me to go with her and we went to 22 Spring Street. A perfectly +dear old lady came to the door and, when we asked if she could keep us +all night, she said she would be delighted to. She asked such few +questions that I have a suspicion that she knew all about us already +from the motorcyclist, for we had no doubt that it was he who had sent +Nyoda the note. How he knew Mrs. Moffat was trying to put us out was +beyond us, unless he had been passing the open front door and overheard +her conversation, which had not been in low tones by any means. As the +new place was so near we got Margery over without any trouble and shook +the dust of Mrs. Moffat's house from our feet disdainfully, if still +completely in the dark as to why it should be so. + +What had caused the change in her manner toward us? She had been +perfectly cordial at the supper table and asked how we liked the beds. +Something had evidently occurred while we sat upstairs, but what it was +we could not guess. Then, like a flash, I remembered having seen the +Frog sauntering past the house while we were eating supper. Had he gone +to Mrs. Moffat with some story about us which had caused her to put us +out? It sounded like a moving picture plot, and yet we all realized the +possibility of it. We were simply dazed with the events of the day and +evening by the time we reached the new rooms and had put Margery to +bed. + +"What a record we are setting this week!" said Sahwah. "First night we +wandered into a Congressman's house by mistake and were put out; second +night we got burned out of a hotel and finished by getting lost in the +fog; third night we are put out of a lodging house for some mysterious +reason. There aren't enough more things that can happen to us to last +the week out." Which showed all that Sahwah knew about it. + +When we had simmered down to something near normal again we realized +that we would need the trunk which was carried on the Glow-worm. Nyoda +drove the Glow-worm over and we carried the trunk up-stairs while she +ran the car back to the garage. It was heavier than we expected and we +were pretty well winded when we set it down on the floor of our room. + +"Won't I be glad to see my dressing-gown again," said Sahwah, sucking +her thumb, which had gotten under the trunk when it was set down. "This +dress shrank when it got drenched in the fog last night and the +collar's too tight." + +"Slippers are what appeal to me," I sighed, wishing Nyoda would hurry +back with the key. My shoes had been soaked in mud which had dried and +left them stiff, and walking around all day on the scorching sidewalks +had about parboiled my feet. Nyoda returned just then and opened the +trunk without delay, while we crowded around to seize upon our wished- +for belongings as soon as possible. + +But when the cover was tilted back we fell over in as much surprise as +if a jack-in-the-box had sprung out at us. Instead of Sahwah's red +dressing-gown on top as we had expected there were rows and rows of +bottles. We stared stupidly, not knowing whether to believe our eyes or +not. + +"You've got the wrong trunk!" we cried to Nyoda. + +Nyoda went post-haste back to the garage. When she came back she wore a +puzzled look. "The garage man declares that was the trunk that came +with the Glow-worm," she said, in a dazed voice. "He says it was never +removed from the rack, as all the work was on the front wheel and front +fender." + +Sahwah took one of the bottles from the trunk and held it up. It +contained some fluid guaranteed to make the hair stay in curl in the +dampest weather. There was a bright yellow label halfway around it that +bore the classic slogan, "One touch of Curline makes the whole world +kink." Sahwah began to giggle hysterically. At any other time we would +all have laughed heartily over that ridiculous trademark, but just now +we were too much concerned with the loss of our things to feel like +laughing. + +"No wonder the trunk was so heavy," said Sahwah, rubbing her arms at +the remembrance of that climb up the stairs. + +We searched our memories for the events of the previous day and tried +to remember just where the trunk had been all the while. Then we +remembered the scene of the fire and the fact that the Glow-worm might +have been unguarded for some time in the garage. The trunk had been +taken off the rack the day before when the repairs were made, because +they had some work to do on the tail lamp bracket, and I heard the man +say the trunk was in the way. This trunk with the bottles was the same +on the outside as ours with the exception of Gladys's initials, and it +might have been put onto the rack of the Glow-worm by mistake when the +repairs were finished. + +Nyoda lost no time in getting the proprietor of the garage at +Wellsville on the long distance phone. When she returned this time she +was entirely cheerful again. "He says there's another trunk just like +it in the garage," she said. "He didn't know whom it belonged to. I +told him to send it to us by express and it will be here in the +morning. We will send this one back to him, for the rightful owner will +be coming back after it." + +"Whatever would anyone want with a trunkful of this stuff?" asked Sahwah, +curiously. + +"Probably a traveling salesman," suggested Nyoda. She took the bottle +from Sahwah's hand and put it back into its place in the trunk. "One +touch of Curline makes the whole world kink," she mused. "Well, 'one +touch of Curline' has put a 'kink' in our retiring arrangements, all +right." + +She locked up the trunk with our key, which fitted the lock perfectly, +remarking as she did so that locks weren't quite as useful as they +might be, since other people's keys fitted them. The rest of the night +passed peacefully, and we were so tired out from having had scarcely +any sleep the previous night that we sank to slumber as soon as we +touched the pillows. + +In the morning we took the stranger's trunk to the express office and +called for ours. We hailed that six-sided thing of boards and leather +as though it had been a long lost friend and cheered it lustily when it +was set down in our room. We could easily see where the garage man had +made the mistake in giving us the salesman's trunk, for the two were +identical. We opened ours up to see if our belongings were still +intact. It took us a few minutes to realize the import of what we +found. There, apparently, was our trunk, but the things in it were not +ours. _They belonged to the other girls. _There was Gladys's pink +silk crepe kimono; and Hinpoha's blue one; there were Gladys's Turkish +slippers with the turned up toes; there were Hinpoha's stockings, +plainly marked with her name. + +We stared at each other with something like fear in our eyes. The thing +was so uncanny. Gladys's trunk had not been in the garage when we +arrived; it must have come after we left; and yet, _the Striped +Beetle had gone on to Chicago ahead of us_! + +The thing was monstrous; incredible. Had the fairies been playing +tricks on us? We stood gazing with fascinated eyes at the open trunk +which stood in our midst like a silent portent. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +For the second time Nyoda got the garage man at Wellsville on the long +distance phone. This conference only deepened the puzzle. He declared +solemnly that no car even remotely resembling the Striped Beetle had +been in his establishment and no party of girls such as we described. +He was as much in the dark as we were about the trunk. Had we been +carrying Gladys's trunk ever since we left home? we asked ourselves. +No, for we had opened ours several times on the road. We gave it up +when the puzzle threatened to addle our brains, and prepared to start +away on our journey. Margery felt well again and ready to travel. We +were standing in the street around the Glow-worm, and through gaps +between houses we could see Mrs. Moffat's house down on Main Street. We +saw a boy in the uniform of a telegraph messenger come along Main +Street and stop at her house. + +"Maybe the Frog's sending her some more mysterious messages," said +Sahwah, idly. + +But in a moment the boy ran down the steps again and retraced his steps +up Main Street. As he passed the street where we were he looked down, +and then he came toward us. "Which one is Miss Elizabeth Kent?" he +asked. + +Nyoda stepped forward and he handed her the telegraph envelope. Nyoda +tore it open and a look of blank astonishment came over her face as she +read. + +"What is it?" we all chorused. + +"Read it," she said. + +This is what we read: "Where on earth are you? Wait Rochester for us. +Coming to-day noon. Gladys." + +It was sent from Indianapolis! + +We looked at each other dazedly. Gladys in Indianapolis? What was she +doing there? Indianapolis was far out of our way, miles to the south. +With the main roads marked as they were it was impossible for her to +have gotten lost. Then on the heels of this question came another one; +if Gladys had gotten side-tracked and had fallen behind us on the road, +who had passed ahead of us along the northern route to Chicago whom we +had been blindly following? How had Gladys in Indianapolis received the +telegram we had sent to Chicago, giving our address in Rochester? If +Gladys had not come along the northern route, how came her trunk to be +in Wellsville? It was a Chinese puzzle no matter which way you looked +at it, and as Sahwah remarked, not being Chinamen we had no cue. But we +sighed with relief at the thought that Gladys and the rest would be +with us at noon and the mystery would all come to an end. Till noon +then, we would possess our souls in patience. + +To kill time we decided to look around at some of the stores. To the +city bred the small town store is as much of a curiosity as the big +city store is to the country bred. Most people think that the +department store is a product of the big city, but I think it is a +development of the general store of the country town. We found a place +where they sold everything from handkerchiefs to plows, and wandered +about happily, looking at farm implements whose use we did not even +guess, and wonderful displays of crockery and printed calico. We seemed +to create quite a sensation when we came in although there were other +people in the store. The proprietor came forward hurriedly and asked us +what we wanted. A strange look came into his face when we said we just +came in to look around. He and his wife and the two or three clerks in +the place all looked at each other, but they said no more. But as we +moved up one aisle and down another he was always right at our elbow, +and he never seemed to take his eyes from us. I picked up a pile of +handkerchiefs to look them over, thinking I might buy some, as mine +were in the lost trunk nobody knew where, but they were all cotton and +I despise cotton handkerchiefs. As I put them down again and passed on +I saw the proprietor pick them up and although he turned his back to us +I could see that he was counting them. + +We became conscious of a chill in the air. It seemed that everybody in +the place was watching us with suspicious eyes. With one accord we +moved toward the door and stepped out into the street, where we faced +each other questioningly. What was this baffling thing that we were +running up against of late? The people around here seemed to know +something about us which we did not know ourselves. Last night our +landlady for no satisfactory reason had put us out of her house, and +here were the store people plainly suspicious of us. Was Margery the +cause of it? She had not come with us this morning, as she thought it +would be wiser to stay in her room. But even if they knew about Margery +we would hardly have expected them to act this way. Why did they make +no attempt to take her away from us? + +Everywhere we turned we came against a wall of mystery. Was the Frog at +the bottom of it? But why did he always loiter in the background and +never openly molest us? There was something more terrifying about this +silent, skulking foe than there would have been about an armed +highwayman. So far to-day he had not appeared, but we did not doubt +that he was lurking in the shadows somewhere. As we stood there we saw +the motorcyclist walking down from the upper end of the street in our +direction. + +"Let's wait until he comes up and thank him for telling us about the +other rooms," suggested Sahwah. + +So we stood still and waited. But no sooner had he seen us standing +there on the sidewalk than he paused suddenly, turned abruptly and went +up a side street. + +"Even he is avoiding us!" said Sahwah. "What on earth can be the +reason?" + +We wished with all our hearts for noon, when Gladys would come and we +could get out of this wretched town. But there were still two hours +until then. We decided to go into another store and see if they would +treat us the same way. They did, only perhaps a little more so. The +proprietor followed us around like a shadow and heaved an audible sigh +of relief when we went out. Utterly disgusted, we went back to Margery. +The time passed heavily until noon and then we went out on Main Street +to watch for the arrival of the Striped Beetle. The events and +accidents we were ready to pour out to the coming girls were enough to +fill a volume, and we were sure that nothing they would have to tell +would match our story of the fire and the night in the fog. + +The telegram had said they would come at noon and we were to wait for +them. Noon came and went; one o'clock; two o'clock; and like the Blue +Alsatian Mountains, we were still watching and waiting. There was no +sign of the Striped Beetle. The sun beat down mercilessly on the +glaring earth and we grew faint and dizzy straining our eyes up the +road. It was several degrees hotter than the day before. We ate our +dinner in squads, one squad eating while the other did sentinel duty. +We beguiled the time by singing "Wait for the Wagon", "Waiting at the +Church ", and every other song we knew on the subject. People looked at +us curiously as we sat in a row on a low stone wall. One man asked us +if we were waiting for the circus parade, because if we were we had our +dates mixed; the circus was not due until the next day. The afternoon +advanced; carful after carful of tourists came down the dusty road, but +none of them the ones we so eagerly awaited. Margery had refused to sit +there where everyone could see her, and stayed in her room, and we took +turns sitting with her. + +"Are you sure we didn't dream that telegram?" asked Sahwah wearily, at +half past three. + +Nyoda shook her head. "It's real, all right," she answered. "I have it +here in my coat pocket." + +"Let me see it again," said Sahwah, "and see at what time it was sent." + +Nyoda put her hand into her pocket. When she brought it out again she +held to the light, not the yellow telegraph form, but a queer, bluish +beetle-like thing. She stared at it with amazed eyes and we were all +too much astonished to speak. + +"What is it?" asked Sahwah, finding her voice first. + +"It's a scarab." answered Nyoda, "the ancient Egyptian figure of a +beetle. There are several in the museum at home." + +We passed it from hand to hand with growing wonder and admiration. But +how came it into Nyoda's coat pocket? Was this also a part of the +witchcraft that had sent Gladys's trunk to us so mysteriously? + +"Curiouser and Curiouser," said Sahwah. + +"Are you sure you didn't pick it up somewhere without knowing it?" I +asked. "People sometimes do those things absent-mindedly, you know. I +came home from down-town once with a gold-handled umbrella and I hadn't +the slightest notion of where I got it. And the next day there was a +notice in the paper, 'Will the young lady who took the gold-handled +umbrella from the wash-room of Levy & Strauss's yesterday afternoon +please return same to the office? She was recognized and followed.' And +I couldn't remember being in the wash-room of Levy & Strauss's at all!" + +Nyoda racked her brain. "It's impossible," she said. "I haven't been +anywhere since noon but up to that restaurant and Sahwah and I sat +alone at a table. There wasn't anything belonging to anyone else near +us." + +"You didn't get it this morning when we were looking through the +stores?" I asked. + +"No," said Nyoda, "I didn't. It wasn't there when I started up to +dinner. Besides," she added, "that scarab never came from a store in +this town. Things like that are handled by dealers in curios in large +cities, and by private collectors." Her brow was puckered into a +bewildered frown. + +"However it got there," she said, "it doesn't belong there and I have +no right to keep it. I'm going to turn it over to the police, and if +anybody reports the loss to them they will find it intact." + +As we stood there looking at the curious scarab in Nyoda's hands a +motorcycle putt-putted past in a cloud of dust and we recognized our +light-haired friend apparently leaving town. + +"We'll never get a chance to thank him for that address!" I said, half +regretfully. Little did we think that the only decent thing fate did +for us on that trip was to withhold that chance! + +Nyoda and I went in search of the police station, leaving Sahwah and +Nakwisi sitting and watching for the Striped Beetle. It was only Sahwah +who was doing any watching out, however, for Nakwisi was looking +through her spy-glass at the clouds. After some inquiry we found the +police station. When Nyoda told her story about finding the scarab in +her pocket, the policeman in charge looked at her with a peculiar +expression and a wise grin. But when she wanted to leave it there he +waved her away. + +"Wouldn't have it around here for a farm," he declared. "Lady left a +necklace here once: said she found it in the road. The next night the +police station burned down and the necklace disappeared. We just got +this new station and it nearly broke the town and we can't have any +more accidents. You take it on to the next town and tell 'em you didn't +find it till you got there, see?" Half angry and half amused at this +dauntless representative of the law we went back to the girls, with the +mysterious scarab still in the pocket of Nyoda's coat. If only we had +followed Sahwah's joking advice and stuck it on an ornamental shrub +near us to startle passers-by and left it there! + +"Something must have happened to the Striped Beetle," said Nyoda in a +worried way, when we had exhausted our patience with waiting. "I don't +know but what it would be a good idea to set out in the direction of +Indianapolis and try to find them. We will surely come upon a trace of +them somewhere." + +"What strikes me queer," said Sahwah, "is, if Gladys knows our address +and wired that she would be here at noon, why she didn't wire again +when she found she couldn't get here. She might know we would begin to +tear our hair when she didn't appear." + +Nyoda began to look uneasy. "That's what makes me think something has +happened to her," she said. "Somehow I always have visions of the +Striped Beetle lying smashed up somewhere and our girls being carried +to a hospital. I can't get it out of my mind. Something has happened to +Gladys which has kept her from wiring and it is our duty to find out +what it is." + +"Maybe she did wire and they didn't deliver it to us," suggested +Sahwah. Nyoda and I promptly went up to the telegraph office and +inquired if any later message had come for us. Nothing had, we were +told. + +Nyoda made up her mind at once. She consulted the road map she had +bought after the marked one had gone with Gladys and looked at the +route to Indianapolis. "If any message comes to this office for us, +kindly forward it to the office at Kokomo," she directed. "We will stop +there and inquire." + +We got into the Glow-worm without delay, picked up Margery from the +house, piled the other girls into the car and shook the dust of +Rochester (it was nearly a foot thick) from our tires. I looked around +every little while from my seat in the tonneau to see if the Frog was +following us, but there was no sign of him. In fact, I may as well tell +you now, that we had seen the last of him until we saw him in such an +amazing attitude two days later. + +Driving gave us a little relief from the heat, for the motion of the +car created a little breeze, although there was none of any other kind +stirring. I think if we had sat out in that hot street any longer I +should have been overcome. It was bad enough in the car, for the dust +rose up in choking whirls until we could taste it. I have never known +such a hot day before or since, although I have seen the thermometer +higher; but that day the air seemed to be minus its breathing qualities +and we gasped like fish out of water. We kept a close watch on Margery +for signs of collapse, but she seemed to be bearing up pretty well; I +suppose it was because she had not been sitting out on Main Street for +four hours. + +"I wouldn't be surprised if we had a thunder shower to-night," said +Nyoda, scanning a bank of apoplectic-looking clouds that were lying low +over the distant horizon. + +"I hope so," I replied. "Anything to break this heat. The air over the +street looks like the heat waves over the radiator." I could not help +wishing fervently that Gladys had chosen a cool breezy day to get lost +on. + +We stopped at so many places and asked if they had seen a brown car +with black stripes carrying four girls in tan suits that our voices +became husky on those words. Sahwah suggested that we print our inquiry +on a pennant and fasten it across the front of the car. But nowhere was +there a sign or a trace of the car for which we were seeking. People +had seen brown cars, but no girls in them, and they had seen tan coats +in black or red cars, but nowhere was the tan and brown in combination. + +Looking for a needle in a haystack has several advantages over looking +for an automobile on a hundred mile stretch of road. For one thing, +there is only one haystack, so you are pretty sure of finding your +needle there if you look long enough; whereas there were several roads +to Indianapolis; and for another thing, your needle is stationary and +not traveling through the haystack, so you are reasonably sure when you +have ascertained that it is not in a certain part of the haystack that +it will not be there at a later time; whereas the Striped Beetle might +be moving from place to place, in which case we were going to have a +lively time catching up with it. + +Especially did we inquire if there had been any accidents. Once we had +a scare; we were told that a brown car had been struck by a suburban +car that morning and several girls seriously injured. The injured ones +had been taken to a hospital in Indianapolis, but the automobile was in +a repair shop in the village of D----. We hastened to D---- and elbowed +our way through the crowd in front of the repair shop to see the wreck +of the car and sighed with relief when we saw it was not the Striped +Beetle. One door was still intact and that bore the monogram DPS in +large block letters. + +If Fate has anything to do with the color of paint, or rather, if the +color of paint has anything to do with Fate, brown must be an unlucky +shade to paint a car. The number of brown cars which had come to grief +along that road was unbelievable. In another place one had turned +turtle on a bridge and thrown its passengers into the river beneath, +but those passengers were all men, we were told, and we did not stop to +investigate further. One woman told a story of having seen four girls +walking along the road almost frantic because their car had been stolen +while they got out to look at something in a field, and we thought +these might possibly be our girls. Hinpoha is crazy about calves and if +she saw a calf in a field she would not only go over and pet it +herself, but drag all the others along too. When asked to describe +their dresses the woman said vaguely that they had had on some light +kind of coats or suits, she couldn't remember which, and she wasn't +sure about the veils. They might have been green for all she knew, but +she always had been color blind and hated to make a definite statement +because she had been fooled on more than one occasion. Where the girls +were now she did not know; she thought they were walking to the nearest +town to notify the police. + +While there was nothing definite about this information it was just +enough to tantalize us, and we wondered if the Striped Beetle really +had been stolen and the girls were wandering about in distress. We +strained our imaginations trying to picture what had happened to Gladys +that she did not appear in Rochester, and conjured up all sorts of +circumstances to account for it. But I doubt if an imagination as rich +as the mine of Ophir could have guessed at the truth, so I don't see +how we can be blamed for missing it entirely. + +The clouds that had been reclining along the horizon all afternoon +began to mount and deepen in color, and the occasional mutterings of +thunder became more frequent. From being oppressive the air became +stifling and we were all on the verge of collapse. The fatigue of +getting out of the car so often to follow up things that looked like +clues was beginning to tell on us. And the suspense was worse than +anything else. Up to now, when we thought that Gladys was on the road +ahead of us and we would catch up with her in Chicago, we had +cheerfully put up with all the mishaps which had befallen us, for none +of them turned out seriously and we were entirely light-hearted. But +now we were really worried about Gladys. Her not appearing after she +had wired us that she was coming began to take on a sinister meaning. +It is much easier to live through mishaps yourself than imagine them +happening to someone else. + +Taken altogether, that afternoon's trip is one on which I like to put +the soft pedal when harking back in memory. And happy for us then that +we did not know what it was going to end in. The sky behind us had +turned inky black and it became evident that the storm which was coming +would be no ordinary one. A wind sprang up that increased in velocity +with a peculiar moaning sound. A strange light was in the air that made +the white farm houses and barns gleam sharply against the dark sky. +Nyoda looked with some anxiety at the lowering clouds. + +"I think it would be a wise plan to make the next town before that +storm breaks loose," she observed, thoughtfully. "You know the storm +curtains don't fasten tightly on the one side, and if we're caught +we're going to be drenched." + +The next town was Kokomo, about ten miles away, where we were to stop +at the telegraph office and see if there was a message from Gladys. +Then began a race the like of which I have never seen before. It was +the speed of man matched against the speed of the storm gods. Behind us +the storm was breaking; we could see the grey wall of the rain in the +distance; the wind was rising to a tornado and the thunder claps seemed +to split the earth open. And there we were, scudding along before it, +like a tiny craft fleeing from a tidal wave. The Glow-worm bore us +onward like a gallant steed, and I compared our headlong flight with +the King of Denmark's ride when his Rose of the Isles lay dying. + +"Think of something cheerful," said Sahwah, crossly; "Gladys isn't +lying at the point of death." + +After all, the comparison didn't hold good, for the King's steed +reached his destination and the Glow-worm didn't. We had been so taken +up with our search for Gladys that we had neglected to supply the life +blood to our iron steed, namely, gasoline, and we came to a dead stop +in the road four or five miles from town. Our exclamations of disgust +were still hovering in the air when the storm struck us. As Sahwah has +always described it, "And then the water came down at Lodore." I could +devote several pages to the fury of that rainfall, but what is the use +of taking up the reader's time when her own imagination will supply the +details? Just imagine the worst storm you were ever caught in, or ever +saw anyone else caught in, and multiply it by two or three times and +you have our situation. + +With a shriek of delight the wind seized the loose end of the storm +curtain and tore the whole curtain from the car with one neat pull. +When we last saw that storm curtain it was traveling eastward at the +rate of sixty miles an hour. In one minute we were all as wet as if we +had fallen off the dock at home. We abandoned the car and ran for the +shelter of a big tree near-by. We were no sooner under its spreading +branches when, with a sound like the crack of doom, lightning struck it +and it went crashing to earth in the opposite direction from us. We +didn't stop to reflect what would have happened to us if it had fallen +in our direction, but made for the open road where there was nothing +but the sky to fall on us, which it was doing as hard as it could. + +We were just wondering how long it would take the inside of the Glow- +worm to dry out, and whether rain made spots on the leather when a +closed limousine came along the road. The driver, in rubber coat and +cap, stopped his car and asked if he could be of assistance. Nyoda, +suddenly conscious that the color was running out of her dripping veil +all over her face, put her hand in her pocket to find her handkerchief +and wipe her face. Along with the handkerchief out fell the curious +scarab which we had forgotten in the search for Gladys. The man eyed it +intently as Nyoda put it back into her pocket. A change seemed to have +come over him. Before he was merely an automobile driver offering help +to a stranded motorist, but now he acted like a minion in the presence +of a queen. He touched his hat with the greatest respect, got down from +his seat in a hurry and opened the door of the limousine. + +"Get in quickly," he said, and we did, glad of the glass enclosed +shelter from the downpour. With deft motions he fastened the Glow-worm +behind the limousine with a tow line and then sent his car rolling down +the road at a rapid pace. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +We had not proceeded very far up the road when the car turned into a +long winding driveway of gravel, bordered on either side by well kept +lawns and trim trees. We could see that much through the windows of the +car when the rain would cease its furious whirling against the glass +for a moment. Soon we came to a stop under a wide sheltering porte- +cochere, and the driver got down and opened the door ceremoniously. It +was quite dark, but we could see that the house at which we had stopped +was an immense mansion, probably the country home of some millionaire. + +"I will see that the tanks are filled in good time," said the +chauffeur, touching his hand to his cap. He had been driving without +gloves, and I noticed that the little finger on both of his hands was +turned inward at the second joint. I believe that is what brother Tom +calls a baseball finger. + +Just then the door of the house opened and a trim looking maid appeared +and greeted the chauffeur familiarly as "Heinie". He replied by a wink +and a series of movements with his eyebrows which threw the maid into a +spasm of amusement. Then he started the limousine, with the Glow-worm +still in tow, around the side of the house, presumably toward the +garage, although from where we stood we saw no building. The maid held +the door open for us and we stepped into an entry paved with marble. + +"If we could stay here a few minutes until the rain is over--" began +Nyoda. For no reason at all the maid began to giggle violently. I +suppose she was still amused over the grimaces of the chauffeur. It +takes so little to amuse some people. + +"Come this way," she said, and led the way from the entry into a hall +and up a flight of stairs. There was a big triple window on the landing +and as we passed the rain was dashing against it so violently that we +thought the glass must give way. Severe as the storm had been when we +were caught in it, it was twice as bad now, and we gave a thankful sigh +that we were under shelter, and blessed the gasoline for giving out +when it did, for if it hadn't we must have been overtaken on the road +and would have missed this chance of getting in the dry. We went up- +stairs as quickly as possible so as not to drip on the rich carpet that +covered the steps. The maid threw open the door into the most luxurious +bedchamber I have ever seen. It was clear that we were in the house of +a very wealthy man. Another maid was in the room which we entered and +she looked at us five dripping refugees with a stare of curiosity. + +"Some friends who were caught in the rain," explained the maid who had +acted as our guide. "Come, get them some dry clothes." + +The two of them bustled about laying out things for us to put on, and +for the first time in my life I was waited on by a maid. The first one, +whom the other addressed as Carrie, was inclined to be talkative, and +sympathized noisily with our drenched state. She was quite pretty, with +rosy cheeks and black hair and black eyes. There was something odd +about her appearance at first and upon looking at her closely I +discovered this odd appearance came from the fact that her eyes did not +seem to be on a level. But she was very deft in her movements and had +our wet garments hung up on hangers and spread out before the little +grate fire in no time. I felt a passing envy for the woman who was the +mistress of this maid and who did not have to worry whether she threw +her clothes in a heap on the floor or not, as she would always find +them properly taken care of when she wanted them again. Taking care of +my clothes is the greatest trial of my life. + +The other maid spoke not at all; she seemed newer at her job and obeyed +the directions of the first meekly and in silence. Carrie picked up +Nyoda's soaked coat and shook it, and as she did so the scarab flew out +of the pocket and fell to the floor. She hastily picked it up and held +it in her hand for an instant, turning it over and looking at it +curiously. I saw her glance sidewise at Agnes, the other maid, who +stood with her back to us putting Nyoda's shoes onto trees; then she +looked boldly at Nyoda and deliberately winked one eye! Nyoda looked at +her with a puzzled frown. Carrie became all meekness and deference in a +moment; she laid the scarab down on the table beside Nyoda's purse and +went about her duties without raising her eyes. + +In a moment she left the room and we sat listening to the rain beating +against the panes and wondering when it would stop and how soon our +clothes would be dry so we could resume our journey. Agnes went out +presently and when she came back she carried a tray full of cups of +steaming broth and a plate of sandwiches. We were very thankful for +this favor, as we were beginning to feel chilled through. Getting +drenched that way when we were so hot was bad enough, but the wind that +accompanied the shower was decidedly cool and we were pretty +uncomfortable by the time we were picked up. + +"To whom are we indebted for this hospitality?" asked Nyoda of Agnes. + +"Ma'm?" said Agnes. + +"In whose house are we?" asked Nyoda. + +"This is the home of Simon McClure," answered Agnes. + +"Oh-oh!" we said altogether. The name of Simon McClure was a household +word with us. It was his yacht that had sprung a leak and gone down the +summer before just as it was on the point of winning the cup race. We +had all heard about this millionaire sportsman and his horses, dogs and +boats. Well, we were not sorry, after all, that the heat had ended up +in a shower. It was worth a drenching to be taken into such a house. +I'm afraid our anxiety about Gladys faded a little in the enjoyment of +our unique position. The rain had gradually subsided from a cloudburst +into a steady downpour and we trembled to think what the road would be +like. In our mind's eye we saw ourselves stuck up to the hubs in yellow +clay from which it would require the pulling power of a locomotive to +release us. + +I suppose Carrie must have told her mistress of our presence, for after +one of her absences from the room she said that Mrs. McClure had said +we were welcome to stay all night if we wished. We looked at each other +with rather comical expressions. To our widely varying list of night's +lodgings there was about to be added one more, as different from the +rest as they had been from each other. One more adventure was to be +added to our already long list! But even then we did not guess that +this one was to surpass all the others as the glare of a rocket +outshines the glimmer of a match! + +Carrie returned again presently and after looking at Agnes steadily for +a minute, with a peculiar expression in her black eyes she turned to +Nyoda and said respectfully that Mrs. McClure was giving a fancy dress +ball that night and, as several of the invited guests had been +prevented from coming at the last moment, which would spoil the number +for a certain march figure she had planned, she wanted to know if we +would mind attending the ball in their places. She begged us to excuse +her for not coming in to speak to us herself, but she was in the hands +of her hair-dresser. + +Would we mind attending the ball! Did things ever happen to other +people the way they happened to us? And such a ball as the McClures +would give would be like a page out of the Arabian Nights to us, who +knew nothing of high society. + +"But what could we wear?" asked Sahwah, always the first to come to +earth and see the practical side of the question. + +Carrie flashed her a sparkling look from her black eyes, giggled, and +then shifted her gaze to Agnes, whom she watched narrowly. Agnes looked +indifferent, both at her and at us. The stony expression on Agnes's +face began to puzzle me; I wondered if there was any mystery about her. +Carrie finally took her eyes from Agnes's face and allowed them to +travel around the room to where our touring suits hung up to dry. "The +automobile suits," she suggested respectfully, "and the veils, and the +goggles--You could masque as a party of tourists. The clothes are quite +dry." + +Our spirits revived again, for the thought that we might have to miss +this grand opportunity of witnessing a gorgeous spectacle because we +had nothing to wear had sent our hearts down into our shoes. + +Carrie was summoned away then by a soft purring little buzzer and +directed Agnes to help us dress. I must say that we made very nice +looking tourists in our tan suits and green veils. Agnes had the suits +pressed until there were no wrinkles left in them and arranged our +veils with a practised hand. All the while we were dressing we could +hear automobiles driving up under the porte-cochere, and guests +arriving, and we were in a fever of anticipation. Strains of music +floated up from below, together with the subdued hum of many voices. We +judged from the direction of the sounds that the ballroom was on the +first floor. + +It was after ten o'clock when we were finally ready and Carrie appeared +in the door for us. She took us down another stairway into a vast hall +filled with paintings and statuary, where a man in a dark blue suit and +silver braid (I suppose that's what you'd call a footman in livery), +stood stiffly as the statues around him. Carrie said something to him +in a low tone (I presume she was explaining our presence without cards +of invitation, such as he was collecting from the other guests), and he +looked at us with an impassive eye and nodded his head. He was a very +homely man with an exceedingly red nose with one bright blue vein +running across it that gave him somewhat of a singular appearance. I +remember thinking that if I were his mistress I should set him to +working in the garden where nobody could see him, instead of posting +him in the front hall to admit the guests. + +After Carrie had turned us over to the Nose with the Vein she went up- +stairs again and the man slid back a door on the left side of the hall. +We found ourselves in the ballroom and in the midst of a scene as +bewildering as it was gorgeous. Of course, our first thought had been +to find our hostess and make ourselves known, but there was no way of +telling which one Mrs. McClure was. Everybody was masked and frolicking +around and there didn't seem to be anyone doing the duty of a hostess +whom we could suspect of being Mrs. McClure. Later on we discovered +that there was a reception-room off at the other end of the ballroom +where Mrs. McClure had been receiving her guests, but at the time we +saw nothing but the shifting masses of light and color around us, that +resolved themselves into kings and queens and princes and Indians and +turbaned Hindoos and pirates and Turks and peasants and fairies. The +orchestra was playing the opening bars of a waltz and the dancers were +seeking partners. We withdrew into a corner behind a large palm to look +on. To our surprise and somewhat to our embarrassment we were asked to +dance before the waltz was over. My partner was a Scottish highlander +and a good dancer, and he evidently thought I belonged in the set who +were the guests at this ball, because he kept pointing out different +people and asking if I thought they were this one or that one. I did +not speak much, however, and do not think he ever guessed that I was +not a friend of Mrs. McClure's, was an outsider at the ball, and was, +in fact, the mere tourist I was supposed to represent. I thought, +however, I might get one piece of information out of him. + +"I don't see Mrs. McClure," I said, looking over the dancing couples. +Then it was that the Highlander told me about the reception-room at the +other side of the conservatory that opened out of the ballroom, where +Mrs. McClure was. I mentally thanked him for this piece of information +and purposed to tell Nyoda about it as soon as the dance was over. But +when that dance came to a close we were claimed by other partners for +the next, and so on, and we did not get out of the ballroom. + +The memory of that ball is like some queer oriental dream and even +while we were in the midst of it I had to pinch myself to make sure +that I was awake and the things around me were real. But the events +that followed were real enough for anyone to know that they were not +dreaming. There came an intermission in the dancing at last, and we +five found ourselves in the glassed-in sun parlor opening from the +ballroom while somebody was going for ices for us. As it happened we +were the only ones in that little room, for the bigger conservatory +next to it was a more popular resting-place. Sitting there waiting we +began to talk about the scarab and the queer effect it seemed to have +had on the chauffeur. + +"Let me look at it again," said I. I was utterly fascinated by the +thing. + +Nyoda put her hand in the pocket of her coat where she had put the +scarab for safe keeping, and drew out, not the odd-looking beetle, but +something that flashed in the light like a thousand rain-drops in the +sunshine. It was a diamond necklace, with a diamond pendant at the end, +the stones arranged in the form of a cross. The thing blazed in Nyoda's +hand like liquid fire running down over her fingers, and we fairly +blinked as we looked at it. We were too astonished to say a word and +simply stared at it as if we were hypnotised. + +"Girls," said Nyoda in a horrified tone, "there's something queer going +on here and we're mixed up in it. The sooner we get out of this house +the better. There's a gang of thieves at work at this ball--there +usually are at these big affairs--and unless we want to find ourselves +drawn into a net from which we can't escape easily we'll have to run +for it." + +It was a good thing that the sun parlor was empty and the crush around +the table where the ices were being served kept our friends from +returning. Nyoda put the necklace into a jardinier containing a +monstrous fern and we looked around for a way out. We thought we would +slip out to the garage and get the Glow-worm. The sun parlor must have +had a door leading to the outside, but it was so full of plants in pots +and jardiniers that if there was a door it was covered up. We fled back +into the conservatory, where couples were sitting all over, but there +was no outside door from there. After that we got into a library filled +with people playing cards at tables. We were looking anxiously around +for a door into the hall which led to the porte-cochere entrance when +we saw the maid Carrie come into the room with a tray full of glasses. +When she saw us standing there she came up to us and under the pretense +of offering us refreshments she whispered: "You are looking for the way +out? Follow me." + +We followed her across the room and out the door at the opposite side, +which opened into a small reception-room. There stood the footman with +the vein in his nose and without a word he led the way through various +rooms and hallways to the porte-cochere entrance. We passed out +quickly, and to our surprise there stood the Glow-worm under the porte- +cochere with the lamps all lighted and the tanks filled. In a moment we +were speeding down that driveway again and out into the midnight. The +events of the evening were whirling through our heads. As yet we could +make neither head nor tail to them. Bit by bit we began to see the +significance of things, although, of course, the whole story was not +clear to us until a day later, when things came to a head and the +resulting explosion cleared up all mysteries. + +This much we did understand, however, that someone had stolen a diamond +necklace from one of the guests at the ball and expected us to get away +with it. Also that the servants must have been in the plot, for how +else had our get away been made so easy? And how came the Glow-worm to +be standing at the door ready to drive away? + +We laughed when we thought of the diamond necklace which they had +supposed was safe in our possession, lying in the jardinier in the sun +parlor. We fancied the commotion that would take place when the owner +discovered its loss, and the equal dismay in the breasts of the +conspirators when it was found in the jardinier. + +But here we were again, without a place to spend the night, when we had +expected to sleep in such luxurious beds. With one accord we decided to +drive all night and put as much distance between us and the house as +possible. We were constantly afraid that we were being pursued as it +was, and strained our ears for the throb of a motor behind us that +would tell of the chase. We did not make very fast headway, for the +roads were abominable after the storm. In places we went through +regular lakes and the water was thrown into the car by the wheels, so +that we were drenched a second time, as well as spattered with mud from +head to foot. Then we came to a hold-up altogether. In one place a +small stream had risen from the flood and carried away the bridge by +which we were supposed to cross. The water was too deep to drive +through and we had to turn back and find another road. Then our +troubles began in earnest. + +The main road had been bad enough, but these side roads full of deep +wagon ruts and mud holes were ten times worse. It would have been a +problem to drive through there by daylight, but after dark it was a +nightmare. Our electric head lamps were dim that night for some reason +or other and only partly showed up the bad places, and several times I +thought we were going to upset. The drizzling rain was still falling +and we were soaked and uncomfortable. After a time we gave up trying to +find another bridge to cross the stream and get back on the main road +and frankly owned that we were lost. Once in a while we saw the dark +outline of a farmhouse far back from the road, but we hesitated to wake +up the people at that time of night and ask our way. + +Margery complained of the feeling of her wet coat and Sahwah suggested +that we all sing "How Dry I Am", and see if there was anything in +mental suggestion. So we stopped still at the cross-roads and sang +hoarsely in the rain and darkness like disconsolate frogs. The starter +refused to work when we wanted to go on again and Nyoda had to get out +in the mud and crank the engine. + +"She stoops to crank her," said Sahwah, but none of us had the ambition +to pinch her for making a pun. + +We were apparently traveling through the country in a sort of Roman key +pattern, up one road and down another without getting any nearer to the +town for which we imagined we were headed. Suddenly something white +loomed up before us which proved to be the gate of a fence; we were +evidently on private property. Sahwah got out to open it but she could +not do it alone, so both Nakwisi and I jumped out to help her. The mud +was piled up so high under the gate that it was all we could do to +swing it back. The Glow-worm passed through slowly and we closed the +gate again. Just then a gust of wind sent down a heavy shower of drops +from a near-by tree and we ran hastily for the shelter of the car. +Nyoda started immediately and we found ourselves in the main road once +more. The gust of wind continued and blew our veils into our faces and +made us screw our eyes shut. In such fashion did we travel down the +king's highway, and if ever my ardor for automobile touring was +dampened, it was then. For a long time nobody had a word to say, not +even irrepressible Sahwah. Each one of us sat apart wrapped in our own +gloomy thoughts. Finally Nakwisi spoke. + +"Does the water run down over the tip of your nose if your nose turns +up? Sahwah, yours turns up, will you look and see which way the rain- +drops are going?" + +There was no answer. + +"Well, don't answer, if you don't want to," said Nakwisi, rather +crossly. We took our veils down from our eyes and looked around to see +the cause of this unusual silence on Sahwah's part. Then we got the +second big shock of the evening. _Sahwah was not in the car!_ She +had vanished utterly, silently, mysteriously, into the rainy darkness! + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +If I were an experienced writer of fiction I would know how to weave +all the various odds and ends of my story into the telling so as to +keep the action moving forward all the time, with all parts nicely +balanced. But as it is, I am afraid that I have been trying to tell it +all at once and am getting it rather one-sided. So far I have told only +what happened to us girls in the Glow-worm, and I fear that the reader +will have forgotten by this time that there were eight girls who +started out on the trip instead of four. So now I am going to carry you +back to a point almost at the beginning of the story; the point where +we almost struck the old woman and where the Striped Beetle vanished +from sight. As I said before, I am going to tell the story just as if I +had been along and seen everything, without stopping to quote Gladys or +Hinpoha or Medmangi or Chapa. + +You will remember that we were proceeding westward through Toledo at +the time and the Striped Beetle was in the lead. Hinpoha sat in the +front seat with Gladys, holding Mr. Bob in her lap. The street was +crowded with vehicles and Gladys was driving carefully. A wagon loaded +almost to the sky with barrels threatened to fall over on them and they +had a narrow squeeze to get through between it and the curb. Some small +boys on the sidewalk shouted at the driver of the wagon and he shouted +back; a street car trying to make headway on a track from which a sand +wagon refused to move itself raised an ear-splitting racket with its +alarm bell; the noise was so deafening that the girls put their hands +over their ears and did not take them down again until Gladys had +turned a corner into a quieter street. They had turned another corner +before they discovered that the Glow-worm was not right behind them. +Gladys merely stopped the car and waited for us to come up. + +"They're probably caught in that line of wagons and trucks on T---- +Street," said Gladys, when we did not come immediately. "I hope their +engine didn't stall on that corner." + +The minutes passed and we did not appear. + +"Run down to the corner and see what is keeping them," said Gladys to +Chapa and Medmangi. The two girls got out and retraced their steps. But +nowhere did they see the Glow-worm. Puzzled, they returned to Gladys +and she promptly turned the Striped Beetle around and drove back +through the streets the way she had come. The Glow-worm had apparently +vanished off the face of the earth. Inquiry at frequent points brought +out the fact that the Glow-worm had knocked down an old woman (that is +the way such things are exaggerated) and had gone on again. Their +asking which way it had gone started an argument which ended in a fist +fight, for the two small boys they asked each maintained stoutly that +it had gone in a different direction. Then the mother of the boys ran +out from a grocery store to see what the racket was about and seizing +them by the back of their necks she shook them apart, boxing their +ears. When the cause of the argument was made known to her she settled +it in an emphatic manner by pointing with a fat forefinger down the +street. + +"They went that way," she declared. "Four girls in tan suits and green +veils just like yours." + +They took her word for it and started in pursuit of the Glow-worm, +expecting to come upon it at every turn, their wonder growing +momentarily. They could not understand why Nyoda had ceased to follow +them and was taking a route which was not marked in the route book. +They inquired at numerous places and found that we had passed just +ahead of them. + +"I don't blame Nyoda for going this way," said Gladys, "it's lots +quieter than the other way; sort of back streets. She probably turned +off when the jam occurred on T---- Street and thought we saw her and +followed. It seems a little strange that she didn't wait for us to come +up, though." + +Mr. Bob, our long-eared mascot, had a most angelic disposition, but +nevertheless, he knew when he was outraged, and when a yellow cur of no +special breed and no breeding at all snarled impudently at him from the +curb he jumped through Hinpoha's restraining arms with the intention of +chewing up the insolent one. The yellow dog saw him coming and, turning +tail, he fled yelping up a side street. Hinpoha shouted commands in +vain; Mr. Bob had set out to put his teeth into that yellow dog and he +would not be turned aside from his purpose. Gladys stopped the car and +Hinpoha ran after Mr. Bob. The yellow cur knew his neighborhood and +turned into an alley just as Mr. Bob nearly had him. Mr. Bob, with +Hinpoha hard after him, also turned into the alley. The back door of an +empty store offered the fugitive a safe refuge and he darted inside. So +did Mr. Bob, growling ferociously, and so did Hinpoha, panting for +breath and holding her hand to her side. From the back room of the +store the dogs passed to the front and Mr. Bob caught the yellow dog in +a tight corner behind a counter. For all he had run in such a cowardly +fashion the yellow dog was a good fighter and the battle which occurred +when the two clinched frightened Hinpoha out of her wits. She seized an +old broom which was standing against the wall and ran behind the +counter to beat them apart. In the darkness behind the counter she +almost fell over something on the floor, and the broom clattered out of +her hand. In her astonishment she forgot the fighting dogs. The thing +she had fallen over and which she had, at first, thought was a sack of +something, stirred and huddled up against the wall and Hinpoha heard +the sharp intaking of a breath. Then she made out the form of a girl; a +girl in a blue suit sitting on the floor with her hands over her face. + +"Did--did the dogs frighten you?" asked Hinpoha. The girl dropped her +hands and looked up quickly. Just then the yellow dog broke away from +Mr. Bob and retreated through the back door. Mr. Bob, who had evidently +derived honorable satisfaction from the encounter, came over to Hinpoha +and subsided at her feet. With a look of wonder Hinpoha turned to the +girl crouching on the floor. She had moved into the light from a window +and Hinpoha could see that fear was written all over her face. It was a +girl about eighteen years old with a round cherubic countenance, framed +in fluffy light hair, wide open guileless blue eyes, with an expression +as innocent as a baby's. Just now the eyes were swimming in tears. + +"You are in trouble?" asked Hinpoha, with ready sympathy. + +The girl reached out her hand and took hold of Hinpoha's jacket as a +child holds on to its mother, in spite of the fact that she was +evidently older than Hinpoha. Hinpoha caught her hand and held it +tightly. + +"Tell me about it," she said, gently. + +The girl gulped down a big sob and wiped her eyes. "I'm--I'm hiding," +she said, in a shaky voice. + +"Hiding from what?" asked Hinpoha. + +"From--from the man I work for," said the girl. "He said I stole +something and I didn't, and he says he can have me arrested," she said +with fresh sobs. + +"But how can anyone have you arrested if you didn't steal anything?" +asked Hinpoha. + +"I don't know," answered the girl, "but I'm afraid he will." She cried +for a moment and then collected herself and went on. "My name is Pearl +Baxter," she said. "I used to live on a farm down state with my mother +and then she died and I came here to the city and went to work in an +office. I was the only girl in the office and I knew the combination of +the safe. A few days ago Mr. Sawyer, that's one of the men I work for, +asked me to get certain papers out of the safe, and when I went there I +couldn't find them. He made an awful fuss and said I had taken them. +They were bonds, if you know what they are. He said he would have me +arrested. I believe his son took them because he knew they were there. +When the other partner of the firm found they were gone he insisted on +having the office searched and the bonds were found in my desk drawer. +They would not believe me when I said I did not put them there. That +was yesterday and I ran away and hid here all night and I'm afraid to +go out for fear they will get me." + +She broke down again and wept into her handkerchief. Tender-hearted +Hinpoha was ready to weep in sympathy. "You poor thing!" she exclaimed. +"Have you no friends who would help you?" she asked. + +The girl shook her head. "I don't know anybody up here," she said. +"I've only been working here three months." + +For Hinpoha there was always one court of last resort. That was Nyoda. + +"You come along with me," she said. "I know somebody who can tell you +what to do." + +She led the girl out to the Striped Beetle and told her story to the +other girls. They all agreed that the only thing to do was to take her +to Nyoda as quickly as possible. She sat in the tonneau of the car +between Chapa and Medmangi with her veil tied down over her face, +through which she peered nervously to the right and left as the car +moved on through the streets. Gladys's brow was drawn up into a frown +of perplexity as corner after corner was turned and they still did not +come upon the Glow-worm. Boys playing in the street told them that it +had gone past over fifteen minutes before. Hinpoha anxiously wished for +a sight of the familiar car so that Pearl could be turned over to Nyoda +very soon. + +"It's like a game of Hare and Hounds," said Chapa from the back seat +"Nyoda is the hare and we are the hounds. She's probably doing it on +purpose to see how well we can trail her to the city limits. You know +how fond she is of putting us to unexpected tests." + +"I'll make it," said Gladys, determinedly. + +Several times she consulted her route book and then she laughed. "The +joke is on Nyoda after all," she said. "This way leads to the southern +route and not the northern, and they'll have the pleasure of crossing +the city again. Won't we have the laugh on them, though, when we meet +them at the city limits?" + +But the Glow-worm was not waiting for them at the city limits and they +were much surprised to learn that it had traveled on over the road to +the west. "The southern route?" asked Gladys, wonderingly, "I can't +imagine what Nyoda is doing. I'm sure she understood we were to take +the northern. It's all right, of course, because there is no great +difference in the routes, they each lead to Ft. Wayne, but I can't +imagine why she changed without telling us." + +"Maybe she couldn't stop the car," said Hinpoha, beginning to giggle. +"It's happened before. The fellow next door to us bought a motorcycle +and got it started and couldn't stop it again and he whizzed up and +down the city until the gas gave out, and there were eleven policemen +chasing him before he got through." + +The picture of the Glow-worm traveling across country with the bit +between its teeth, carrying its passengers willy-nilly over the wrong +road, was so funny that they all laughed aloud, in spite of the +improbability of it. + +"Maybe she'll make us trail her all the way to Ft. Wayne," said Gladys, +musingly. "It's really our fault for losing her; we should have kept a +better lookout. But it's a cold day when the Striped Beetle can't catch +up with the Glow-worm." And Gladys put on full speed ahead. + +Hinpoha was not worrying much about us and our disappearance; her +thoughts were taken up with Pearl and her night in the empty storeroom. +Hinpoha always takes other people's troubles so to heart. + +At Napoleon they stopped for gasoline and learned that the Glow-worm +had passed some time before and had also stopped for gasoline. + +For the most part Pearl sat silent, turning her head every little while +to watch the road behind them. She was that pink-and-white-doll-baby- +helpless-in-emergency type of girl who ought never be allowed away +from home without a guardian. After they had been traveling awhile she +leaned back against the seat and looked so white and faint that the +girls became alarmed. + +"Do you feel ill?" asked Medmangi, feeling her pulse with a practised +hand. Medmangi is going to be a doctor and is in her element when she +has a patient to attend to. Pearl opened her big blue eyes languidly. + +"I just got light-headed," she said, in a weak voice. "I think maybe +it's because I'm--I'm hungry." + +"Why didn't we think of it before?" asked Hinpoha, filled with self- +reproach. "We might have known you hadn't had anything to eat since +yesterday if you stayed in that storeroom all night. We'll stop in this +village and get you something." + +"I'd rather you wouldn't," said Pearl, in a somewhat embarrassed +manner. "I really don't want anything to eat." + +"Not want anything to eat!" echoed Hinpoha. "Why don't you want to eat +if you're hungry?" + +"You see," answered Pearl, still more embarrassed, "when I, when I ran +away, I didn't stop to take my purse and I haven't any money to pay--" + +"That's nonsense," said Gladys, firmly. "You have got to let us help +you. It isn't any more than you would do for someone in the same +position." + +They stopped and got her something to eat and the others drank pop to +keep her company. In spite of her being as hungry as she must have been +Pearl did not eat very much; her trouble had evidently taken away her +appetite. The girls exerted themselves to cheer her and assured her +that everything would come out all right as soon as they found Nyoda +and got her advice. + +Somebody must have been moving a crockery store in the neighborhood and +dropped it in the middle of the road, for, as they were passing through +the outskirts of the little village where they had stopped they ran +into a regular field of broken china. Gladys stopped short when she saw +it, but it was too late, they were already in the midst of it. Both the +front tires breathed their last. I think it should be made a criminal +offense to leave things like that in the road. But then maybe the man +carrying the china was knocked down by an automobile in the first +place, and left the pieces in order to get revenge on some member of +the auto driving fraternity. Ever since then I have been wondering how +many of our calamities are brought down upon us by our best friends. + +Gladys backed out of the mess and set about repairing the damage. The +Striped Beetle carried two extra tires done up in a nice shiny cover +all ready for emergency, but for some reason or other Gladys couldn't +get the old tires off. It seems the demountable rims refused to +demount, or whatever it is they are expected to do when you take a tire +off. + +Don't expect me to get the details straight or I shall throw up the job +of reporter right here. I never could see through the workings of a +motor car. I am like the Indian who had the automobile explained to him +until he knew every part like a brother and then, when asked if he +understood it, he replied that he understood all but one thing and that +was what made it go without horses. So if the reader, who knows a car +from A to Z, will kindly forbear to smile when I muddle things up, I +will be her debtor forever. + +Gladys saw that she would have to have help in getting those tires off +and began scanning the horizon for a man. There are times when a man is +a most useful member of society. There was not a man on the horizon at +that time, though, and the only promising thing was a house set far +back from the road in a grove of trees, and with a vegetable garden +running down to the road. They had already left the village behind and +habitations were scarce. Gladys went up to the house and returned in a +short while with a man, who wrestled with the tires awhile and then +proposed driving the car into the yard in the shade of the trees, as +the sun was scorching hot in the road. Gladys accepted the invitation +with alacrity. + +While the Striped Beetle was holding up its poor cut front shoes for +the man to take off the girls strolled over to the pump for a drink. A +tired-looking woman, holding a fretful baby in her arms, came to the +door and asked the girls to come up on the porch and sit down until the +exchange of tires was made. Medmangi promptly offered to hold the baby +while the woman finished her work. With a sigh of relief the woman +handed her the baby. + +"Such a time I've had with him to-day," she said, mopping her forehead. +"He's cried steady since morning. He acts sick and he's got a fever." + +Medmangi took the fretful child and endeavored to soothe him while his +mother went about her work. Hinpoha, who is crazy about babies, +insisted on holding him half the time, but neither of them could make +him stop crying. A three year old girl, red-faced and heavy-eyed, as if +she had recently awakened from sleep, peered shyly through the screen +door and Chapa coaxed her to come out and sit in her lap. The mother +came to the door every few minutes to tell us how thankful she was for +the relief. + +The relief promised to be one of considerable length, for the Striped +Beetle steadfastly refused to put on its new tires. At last, the man +proposed going after another man who lived down the road to help him. +Gladys joined us on the porch while he was gone and helped amuse the +babies. Still the little fellow cried. Medmangi explored for pins with +a skilled hand but there was nothing sticking into him. Neither did he +appear to be teething. + +"There's something the matter with this baby," she said to the mother, +when next she came to the door. "Hadn't you better have a doctor?" + +The woman came out on the porch and looked down at the child in a +worried way. "I sent my husband to town for the doctor this morning," +she said, "but he had gone out into the country on a call and would not +be back until late to-night. The next nearest doctor is in B----; +that's eight miles away and we have no horse. So we'll have to wait +until Dr. Lane gets back from the country." + +"Wouldn't you like to have me drive over and get the doctor from B---- +as soon as the tires are on?" asked Gladys. Gladys is always the one to +offer the helping hand. + +"Would you?" asked the woman, eagerly. + +"I would be very glad to," said Gladys. + +The man came back with his friend and between the two of them they +managed to get the Striped Beetle shod anew. Gladys drove off to B----, +leaving Chapa and Medmangi and Pearl and Hinpoha on the porch with the +babies and taking Mrs. Martin with her. She had seen Mrs. Martin give a +wistful glance toward the big car and surmised rightly that she had few +chances to go automobile riding. They were back in less than an hour +saying that the doctor would be right along, and he appeared presently +in a dusty roadster with another man beside him, probably a friend. + +I suppose everybody has been taught from childhood that virtue is its +own reward and one good turn deserves another. But once in awhile they +discover that the reward of virtue is just as apt to be trouble as not, +and that one good turn can unscrew the lid of a whole canful of +calamities. Thus it was that Gladys's generous offer to fetch the +doctor from B---- ended up in disaster for all five of us. For the +doctor examined the fretful baby and the heavy-eyed little girl and +announced that they both had scarlet fever. + +Scarlet fever! The girls looked at each other in dismay. Not one of +them had had it. And they had all handled both the babies; Medmangi had +hung over the little boy most of the time. + +"If we have ourselves disinfected," said Medmangi, as they moved +hastily toward the car, "there won't be much danger of our getting it. +Scarlet fever isn't really contagious in the first stages." + +"Stay right where you are," said the doctor, in a tone of authority. +"No one must leave this house. You are all under quarantine." + +"But we can't stay here," said Gladys. "We're touring and only stopped +here." + +"That makes no difference," said the doctor. He was a very young doctor +and had recently been appointed health officer in his district. There +was a serious epidemic of scarlet fever in that part of the state which +it was almost impossible to check because people would not keep to +themselves when they had it in the house. Young Dr. Caxton had made up +his mind that the next case that was reported would be as rigidly +quarantined as they were in the big cities. And automobile tourists +would be the very ones to spread the infection abroad through the +countryside. He was determined to hold them there at all costs. + +They argued and pleaded in vain; he was obdurate. He had brought a +friend with him in the car and he proceeded to station him as guard +over the house to see that no one left it. Oh yes, he would see to it +that they got all necessary supplies; they would suffer no hardship, +but, on no account, would a member of that household set a foot off the +grounds. He ordered the babies put to bed and the curtains taken down +in that room and the rugs taken out. Mrs. Martin obeyed his orders in a +flutter of distress. She was frightened because her children had the +scarlet fever and worried half to death at the predicament her passing +guests were in. She had been so grateful to Gladys for taking her along +in the automobile to B----. + +But her distress over it was nothing compared to theirs. To be held up +in the midst of a tour and quarantined with a scarlet fever case! +Whatever was to become of them? If Nyoda were only there! + +"Now you'll have to telegraph your father," said Chapa. + +Gladys's face was drawn with distress. "Mother would be frightened to +death if she knew about it," she said. "I don't believe I'll tell her +yet. I'll wait until I hear from Nyoda." + +"How will we get word to Nyoda?" asked Hinpoha. + +"Ft. Wayne," answered Gladys. "We were to stay there to-night and she +must be there by this time." + +"You'll send a wire for us?" she asked the doctor beseechingly. + +"Certainly," he answered, amiably. "Any service--" + +But Gladys cut him short. He was plainly enjoying the situation. The +doctor departed with his horrid shiny little case and the message in +his pocket and left the guard to watch the house. The first thing he +did was to take something out of the Striped Beetle--I don't know +what--so Gladys couldn't start it and make a dash for liberty. Gladys +was ready to cry with rage at this high handed act, but that was all the +good it did her. + +"Well, there's one thing about it," said Hinpoha, who was far more +philosophical than the rest, "if we have to stay prisoners here we +might as well get busy and help Mrs. Martin. It's no fun to have five +people quartered on you when there are two sick children in the house." +Medmangi was already in the sick room giving medicine and drinks of +water in an accomplished manner. It seems that the Winnebagos have a +specialist in every line. + +The others went down to the kitchen and finished paring the peaches +which Mrs. Martin had been trying to can. + +Later in the evening the guard slipped an envelope through the screen +door. It was a telegram. It was signed by the telegraph company and +read: "Yours date addressed Elizabeth Kent Potter Hotel Ft. Wayne +undelivered. Party not registered." + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The girls were entirely at sea at not reaching Nyoda at Ft. Wayne. They +had counted so confidently upon her advice to help them out of the +difficulty in which they found themselves. Being lost from her was the +worst calamity they could conceive of. They were very much puzzled and +a little hurt that she should have run away and left them as she did. +It was so unlike Nyoda. On all other expeditions she had kept them +under her eye every minute, like the careful Guardian she was. None of +them slept much that night for worrying over the strange predicament +they were in. Besides that they had to sleep three in a bed. Gladys +made up her mind to wire her father in the morning when the doctor +came. + +When they looked out of the door in the morning the guard of the day +before was gone and a new one had taken his place. Evidently Dr. Caxton +was going to do the job thoroughly. Towards noon a buggy drove into the +yard and a white-haired man got out and came up on the porch. He +carried a shabby medicine case. + +"Why, Dr. Lane!" exclaimed Mrs. Martin cordially, when she saw him. + +"You left a call for me yesterday when I was out in the country," said +Dr. Lane, in a pleasant voice. "I did not get in until early this +morning. What's the trouble?" + +"It's the children," said Mrs. Martin. "They've got scarlet fever. I +was so worried about Bobby yesterday that I sent for Dr. Caxton from +B----. We'll have to keep him now, I suppose, but do you want to look at +them anyhow? Mary doesn't want to take her medicine, and maybe you +could--" + +"Certainly I'll go up and see them," said Dr. Lane. He was the kind of +man you would love to have for your grandfather. His pockets bulged +suspiciously as though they contained bags of lemon drops or peanuts. +Talking cheerfully all the while he entered the sick room and looked at +the patients. + +"So Dr. Caxton said they had scarlet fever!" he said, musingly. + +"Yes," said Mrs. Martin. + +"Scarlet fever your grandmother!" returned Dr. Lane. "They've got +prickly heat. If Dr. Caxton called that scarlet fever, what would he +call a real case of scarlet fever?" + +A minute later the man on guard heard a laugh that almost shook the +windows of the house. Not long after that he was pedaling down the road +on the bicycle that had brought him, very red in the face and very hot +under the collar. The quarantine ended right then and there. Whether +Dr. Caxton came again or not we never found out, for the girls left +immediately. They sped over the road to Ft. Wayne as fast as the +Striped Beetle could carry them. They went to the Potter Hotel and +naturally discovered that we had not stayed there. I believe they had +held to the hope all the time that we had arrived after the telegram +had gone back undelivered. They stood around irresolutely until the +check man to whom we had talked spied them and told them that we had +left not half an hour before and were on our way to Chicago by way of +Ligonier. They could hardly believe their ears when they heard that +Nyoda had gone off and left them the second time. But as they were so +close behind us the only thing for them to do was to follow. + +Gladys stopped at a service station and had the Striped Beetle's +carburetor adjusted, or something that sounded like that, and then +started post-haste on the road to Chicago. Pearl looked from one to the +other of the girls with fear and suspicion in her face. "Is there--is +there really such a person as you say you are taking me to see, or are +you taking me somewhere else?" she faltered. + +And the girls had a hard time convincing her that Nyoda was not a myth, +although they began to wonder if she had not turned into one. Gradually +Pearl began to thaw out under their persistent cordiality and was +really not such a bad companion after all. She still furtively watched +the road behind them as if she feared pursuit, but some of the scared +rabbit look was going out of her eyes when she began to realize that +the width of a whole state lay between her and her persecutors and they +had absolutely no clue to her whereabouts. She repeatedly expressed her +amazement that a group of girls so young had the courage to travel by +themselves in an automobile, and were not frightened to death to have +gotten separated from their chaperon, but were calmly following her up +as fast as they were able. + +She was much interested when she heard they were Camp Fire Girls, and +wanted to know all about the Winnebago doings. + +"I wish I could have belonged to something like that in the city where +I worked," she said with a sigh, "maybe I wouldn't have been so +lonesome all the time. And I would have had a Guardian--is that what +you call her?--to go to when I got into trouble." + +"Maybe you'll get into a group yet," said Hinpoha, optimistically. +"There are some in the city where you live." + +Pearl was as great a curiosity to them as they were to her. How any +girl of eighteen could be so babyish and helpless as she was was a +revelation to them. Everyone of them wished devoutly that she could +become a Winnebago so they could make something out of her. Hinpoha +began making plans right away. + +"As long as you have no people and it doesn't matter where you work, +why couldn't you come to Cleveland and find work, and possibly join our +group?" she suggested. "I'm sure Nyoda would take you in. When Migwan +goes to college she won't be able to attend the meetings regularly and +there will be a vacant place. Couldn't you?" she cried, warming to her +plan, and the rest of the girls voiced their approval. + +"Oh, do you suppose I could?" asked Pearl timidly, clasping her hands +before her in a nervous manner. "Oh, I never could do it. I'm afraid to +go to a bigger city for fear I'll get into trouble again. And I never +could do the things you girls do, I just never could." And she looked +at them with appealing helplessness in her big blue eyes. + +"Nonsense," said Hinpoha, "you can do anything you want to if you only +think you can do it." And she told her a marvelous tale of how I earned +the money to go to college when things seemed determined to go against +me. Which is all perfectly nonsensical; the chance of earning money to +go to college fell right into my lap. Pearl only opened her eyes wider +at Hinpoha's recital and answered with a sigh, "Oh, I never could do +it!" + +The girls went on happily planning how they would take her back to +Cleveland with them and make her one of the Winnebagos. + +They had to slow up the Striped Beetle along the road for a cow and a +calf that were monopolizing the right of way and Hinpoha decided to +take a picture of them. "Oh, this film's finished," she said +impatiently, examining her camera. "I'll have to stop and reload. Oh, +Gladys, do you mind if I open the trunk here on the road? My extra +films are all in there." + +"Go ahead and open it," said Gladys good-naturedly, handing her the +key. + +Hinpoha got out and went behind the machine to get her film from the +trunk, all the while calling out to the cow and her calf in a friendly +and coaxing manner not to walk away before she could take them. But she +stopped suddenly in the midst of a persuasive "Here, bossy, stay here," +to utter a surprised exclamation. + +"What's the matter?" asked Gladys. + +"There isn't any trunk here." cried Hinpoha. "It's gone!" + +Consternation reigned in the Striped Beetle. The trunk, containing all +their extra clothes, had vanished from the rack at the back of the car! + +"And my scarf was in it," said Hinpoha, ready to cry with distress, +"that mother sent me from Italy!" + +"Don't worry, we'll get it again," said Gladys soothingly, although she +was as much dismayed herself. "Where did we have it last? We had it in +Ft. Wayne, I know, because we opened it there. It must have been taken +off in the service station where we had the carburetor adjusted. We'll +have to go back and see if it's there." + +Accordingly they turned around and drove swiftly back to Ft. Wayne. +Inquiries at the service station at first brought out nothing, because +the proprietor declared that the trunk had not been touched--whoever +heard of taking off a trunk to adjust a carburetor? But a repairman +coming in just then, heard the talk about the trunk and said he was the +man who had made the adjustment on the car and he noticed that the +trunk rack seemed to be sagging and took off the trunk to fix it. He +had not put the trunk on again, because just then he had been called to +help install new gears in a car for a man who was in a great hurry and +had called one of the helpers to put on the trunk and fill the tank. +The helper was called and admitted that he had put a trunk on a car, +but it was not the Striped Beetle; it was a similar car owned by a man +who was driving to Indianapolis. He had thought the trunk belonged to +him. + +The girls looked at each other tragically. Their trunk on the road to +Indianapolis! + +"How long ago did he start?" asked Gladys. + +"About an hour," answered the repairman. + +"We'll have to go after him," said Gladys, resolutely. "We need that +trunk. Can you tell us what the man's name is?" + +"Hansen," replied the repairman. "George Hansen. Driving seven +passenger touring car, brown, with black streamer and gold striping. He +was driving to Indianapolis over the road that goes through Huntington, +Marion and Anderson; I heard him talking about it. That's one of the +main roads out of here. You ought to be able to overtake him on the +way; he's a slow driver and his motor was missing pretty badly. +Wouldn't let me fix it though, because it would take too long and he +wanted to get to Indianapolis in time to see the races. He lives there, +so you ought to be able to find him; runs some kind of a store." + +He poured out his information eagerly; he seemed anxious to do anything +he could to aid in the recovery of the trunk, since he had put it on +the wrong car. "Funny how well it fitted that other rack!" he said. But +Gladys says there is nothing peculiar about that because the two cars, +being the same make, had the same style rack, and the trunk was the +ordinary one carried by automobilists. + +She hastily looked up the route to Indianapolis and started in pursuit +of the unconscious thief. It was then nearly five o'clock in the +evening. They really did not have much hope of catching the other car +on the way, since it had an hour's start, but they were confident of +recovering the trunk in Indianapolis, where they could find out the +man's address and follow him to his home. Fortune played into their +hands in that they found good roads all the way and had no breakdowns, +and sometime after eight they reached Indianapolis. There were half a +dozen George Hansens in the telephone book, four of whom were away on +automobile trips. But further inquiry brought out the fact that one of +them did own a seven passenger brown W---- car. He was expected home +that evening, but had not yet arrived. His wife (it was she who was +talking) was very sorry about the trunk, but if it had been placed on +the rack of her husband's car it would undoubtedly arrive when he did. +He would probably come home during the night, as he was very anxious to +see the races, which were to take place the next two days. Would they +call later? + +Somewhere on the road they had passed him, but it was too late now to +wonder where. The only thing to do was to wait until he came. At ten +o'clock he had not arrived yet. The girls went down to the Young +Women's Christian Association, where they could spend the night. Gladys +concluded that Nyoda must be told if possible where they were, and +judging that she had reached Chicago by that time she wired the Carrie +Wentworth Inn, where they had planned to stay that night, telling what +had happened and saying she would arrive in Chicago the next day. + +They called the Hansen home the first thing in the morning and learned +to their dismay that Mr. Hansen had not yet returned. But he was +expected any minute and Hinpoha would not hear of leaving without the +trunk. Shortly afterward their telegram came back undelivered from the +Carrie Wentworth Inn in Chicago, with the notation, "Party not +registered." That threw them into a state of bewilderment, but Gladys, +after thinking hard and long about the matter, remarked that the Glow- +worm had a habit of breaking down at inconvenient times and that +probably accounted for our not having reached Chicago the night before. + +Every half hour they called up the Hansen home to find out if Mr. +Hansen had returned and every time they received a negative answer. +Finally, Hinpoha suggested that they drive out to his house and sit on +the curbstone where they could see him coming, before they spent all +their substance in a riotous feeding of nickels into the public +telephone. Which they proceeded to do. But their vigil was vain, for he +came not and it became apparent that they must either depart without +the trunk or stay there another night. Gladys was for going on and +having it sent after them, but Hinpoha refused to budge until she had +seen that scarf with her own eyes. Accordingly, they sent another wire +to the Carrie Wentworth Inn, thinking surely Nyoda must have arrived by +that time, and stayed a second night in Indianapolis. + +The next morning they received the news that Mr. Hansen had arrived, +but alas, he had brought no trunk with him. He knew nothing about the +matter at all. He could remember no trunk being on the back of his car +when he left the repair shop in Ft. Wayne, but then, he had not looked +particularly. He had made several stops on the way home on business--he +was a traveling salesman--and that was how they had passed him on the +road. The car had stood for a time in a dozen different places, the +trunk could easily have been stolen, and he had never known the +difference. Possibly they could hold the repair shop responsible. + +The girls were much downcast at this news, especially Hinpoha, on +account of the scarf that had been the last gift of her mother. Where +was the trunk now? It might be anywhere between the north and south +poles in that length of time. Gladys's only hope was now that it had +been mislaid and not stolen, and that it would fall into the hands of +some honest person who would ferret out the owner. + +They were just about to start out for Chicago again when they were +handed a telegram. It was from the Carrie Wentworth Inn and was dated +midnight of the night before. It read: "Wire from party you want says +address Forty-three Main Street Rochester Indiana." + +That wire threw them into great perplexity. What were Nyoda and the +girls doing in Rochester, when they had been on the road to Chicago two +days before? + +"The Glow-worm is more like a flea than a glow-worm," said Hinpoha. +"It's never where you expect to find it. I really believe Nyoda has +lost control of the car and it is taking her wherever it wants to." + +Gladys was consulting the route book. "Rochester is on the direct road +to Indianapolis," she said. "We can make the run in a few hours. I'm +going to wire Nyoda that we're coming and she should wait for us." + +So she sent the wire we received that morning in Rochester: + +"Where on earth are you? Wait Rochester for us. Coming to-day noon." + +That was Friday, the day of the big races in Indianapolis. The town was +full of people. Tourists from all over managed to make the city just at +that time, and the streets were crowded with motor cars of every +description. Gladys looked sharply at every car they passed on the way +out of the city to see if her trunk was on the back of any of them, but +in vain. + +"I suppose I'll never see that scarf again," said Hinpoha, sadly. + +Pearl looked a little enviously at the women who came to town in their +big fine cars with drivers and bull dogs. "It must be lovely to be rich +and taken care of," she said, with a sigh. + +Pearl was the kind of a girl who should have been born to a life of +luxurious ease. She certainly had no backbone to fight her own battles +in the world. She was a Clinger, who would curl around the nearest +support like a morning glory vine. She didn't seem to have any more +spirit than an oyster. Hinpoha, still imbued with the idea of taking +her in hand and making a Winnebago out of her, kept trying to draw her +out with an idea of finding out what her possibilities were. It was +rather a matter of pride with us that each one of the Winnebagos +excelled in some particular thing. When Hinpoha asked her what her +favorite play was she answered that she had never been to the theater +and considered it wicked. She opened her eyes in disapproval when +Hinpoha mentioned motion pictures. Hinpoha had been on the verge of +launching out on our escapade with the film company the summer before, +but checked herself hastily. She also suppressed the fact that I had +written scenarios, which fact Hinpoha glories in a great deal more than +I do and which she generally sprinkles into people's dishes on every +occasion. The fact that Gladys danced in public seemed to shock her +beyond words. Clearly she was unworldly to the point of narrowness, and +Hinpoha began to reflect that, after all, she might be somewhat of a +wet blanket on the Winnebago doings if she came and joined the group. +Pearl showed such marked disapproval of Gladys when she remarked that +she wished her father were in town so they could have gone to the races +that an awkward silence fell on the group. No topic of conversation +seemed safe to venture upon. + +They were driving along country roads now and in one place they crossed +a small river with the most gorgeous early autumn flowers growing along +its banks. They caught Hinpoha's color-loving eye and she must get out +and wander among them. Gladys and Chapa and Medmangi decided that they +too would like a stroll beside the river, after sitting in the car so +long. Pearl did not care to get out; she offered to stay in the car and +hold the purses of the other girls until they returned. The four girls +walked along the stream, admiring the flowers, but not picking any, +because they would only fade and wither and if left on the stems they +would give pleasure to hundreds of people. Now and then they dabbled +their fingers in the cool water. + +"It's such a temptation to go wading," sighed Hinpoha, who never will +grow up and be dignified if she lives to be a hundred. + +Gladys was afraid Hinpoha would yield to the temptation if it stared +her in the face too long, and announced that it was time to be under +way. Reluctantly, Hinpoha tore herself away from the river and followed +Gladys to the road. + +What a rude ending that little wayside idyll was destined to have! + +For when they returned to the road where they had left the Striped +Beetle there was nothing but empty air. Car, Pearl, and four purses, +containing every cent the girls had with them, had vanished! + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +At first the girls could not believe their eyes. But it was all too +true. The deep tracks in the dust of the road showing the well-known +prints of the Striped Beetle's tires told beyond a doubt that the car +had gone on and left them. + +"But I never heard it start!" said Gladys. + +"It was the murmuring of your old brook, Hinpoha, that you were raving +about," said Chapa, "that filled our ears." + +It took them actual minutes to realize that Pearl, the spineless +clinging doll-faced girl they had befriended, had sold them out. + +"And we took her for such a baby!" said Hinpoha, in bewilderment. + +"Who would ever dream she could drive a car?" gasped Gladys. "She was +afraid to toot the horn." To lose your automobile in the midst of a +tour must be like having your horse shot under you. One minute you're +en route and the next minute you're rooted, if the reader will forgive +a very lame pun. And the spot where the Striped Beetle had been +(figuratively) shot from under the girls could not have been selected +better if it had been made to order for a writer of melodrama. There +was not a house in sight nor a telephone wire. The dust in the road was +three inches deep and the temperature must have been close to a +hundred. They were at least five miles from the nearest town. Chapa +looked at Medmangi, Medmangi looked at Hinpoha, and Hinpoha looked at +Gladys. Gladys, having no one else to look at, scratched her head and +thought. + +"Well," she said finally, "we can't stay here all day. We might as well +walk to the nearest town and tell the police. They may be able to trace +the car. It was stolen once before and they found it in a town forty +miles away." + +Whenever anyone mentions that walk in the heat the four girls begin to +pant and fan themselves with one accord. They had gone about three +miles when they came upon the Striped Beetle standing in the road, +abandoned. With a cry of joy the girls threw themselves upon it. The +cause for its abandonment soon came to light. The gasoline tank was +empty. Otherwise it was undamaged. But before it could join the +innumerable caravan again it must have gasoline, and naturally there +was none growing on the bushes. + +"You two sit in the car and see that no one else runs away with it," +said Gladys to Medmangi and Chapa, "and Hinpoha and I will go for +gasoline." + +It was not until they had finished the two miles to town and stood by a +gasoline station that they remembered that they had no money. The +gasoline man firmly refused to give them any gas unless they paid for +it. Gladys was aghast. Hinpoha leaned wearily against a post and mopped +her hot face. Hinpoha suffers more from the heat than the rest of us. + +"Pretty tough to be dead broke, aint it, lady?" asked a grimy urchin, +who had been an interested witness of Gladys's discomfiture. + +"Worse to be alive and broke," jeered another one. Gladys's face was +crimson with heat and embarrassment. She turned and walked rapidly away +from the place, followed by Hinpoha. + +"You'll have to wire home for money now," said Hinpoha. + +"And lose the bet," said Gladys, disconsolately. "And father'll laugh +his head off to think how neatly we were beaten. + +"I know what I'll do," she said, resolutely. "I'll not wire him at all. +I'll wire the bank where I have my own money and have them wire me +some." + +Accordingly, she hunted up the telegraph office and sent a wire collect +to her bank, feeling much pleased with herself at the idea of having +found a way out without calling on her father for aid. + +The telegraph office was in the railway station and she and Hinpoha sat +down after sending the wire and waited for the ship to come in, +wondering what the other girls would think when they failed to come +back with the gasoline. It was past dinnertime but there was no dinner +for them as long as they had no money. From jaunty tourist to penniless +pauper in two hours is quite a change. An hour passed; two hours, but +no gold-laden message came over the wire. Hinpoha had been chewing her +fingers for the last hour. + +"Oh, please stop that," cried Gladys irritably, "you make me nervous. +You remind me of a cannibal." + +"Isn't there a poem about 'My beautiful Cannibalee?" returned Hinpoha. +"I'll go out and eat grass if that will make you feel any better," she +continued. She strolled outdoors, leaving Gladys listening to the +clickety-click of the telegraph instrument and growing more nervous +every minute. Presently Hinpoha came back and said she couldn't stand +it outside at all because there was a crate of melons and a box of eggs +on the station platform, and she was afraid she wouldn't have the +strength to resist if she stayed out there with them. + +"And it's going to rain," she announced. "You ought to see the sky +toward the west." + +And then the darkness began to make itself felt; not the blue darkness +of twilight, but the black darkness of thunder clouds through which +zig-zags of lightning began to stab. A baby, waiting in the station +with its mother for the train, began to wail with fright and Hinpoha +forgot her hunger in an effort to amuse him. Then the storm broke. The +train roared in just as it began and mingled its noise with the +thunder. Hardly had it disappeared up the track when there came a crash +of thunder that shook the station to its foundations, followed by a +dazzling sheet of blue light, and then the telegraph operator bounded +out of his little enclosure, white with fear. His instrument had been +struck, as well as the wires on the outside of the building and the +roof began to burn. Gladys and Hinpoha rushed out into the rain +regardless of their unprotected state and found shelter in a near-by +shed, from which they watched the progress of what might well be taken +for a second deluge. + +"If the water rises much higher in the road we won't need any +gasoline," remarked Hinpoha. "The Striped Beetle will float." + +"I only hope the girls got the storm curtains buttoned down in time," +Gladys kept saying over and over again. + +"If it starts to float," persisted Hinpoha, "do you suppose it will +come this way, or will they have to steer it? Would the steering-wheel +be any good, I wonder, or would they have to have a rudder? Oh," she +said brightly, "now I know what they mean by the expression 'turning +turtle'. It happens in cases of flood; the car turns turtle and swims +home. If it only turned into turtle soup," she sighed. + +Gladys looked up suddenly. "What time was it when we sent that wire to +my bank?" she asked. + +"A quarter after one," replied Hinpoha, promptly. "I heard a clock +chiming somewhere. And I calculated that I would just about last until +you got an answer." + +"A quarter after one," repeated Gladys. "That's Central time. That was +a quarter after two Cleveland time. The bank closes at two o'clock. +They probably never sent me any money!" + +"Now you'll have to wire your father after all," said Hinpoha. + +For answer Gladys pointed to the blackened telegraph pole which was +lying with its many arms stretched out across the roof of the station. +There would be no wires sent out that day. + +By the time the rain had ceased the darkness of the thunder clouds had +been succeeded by the darkness of night, and Hinpoha and Gladys took +their way wearily back over the flooded road to where the Striped +Beetle stood. + +"Did you have to dig a well first, before you got that gasoline?" +called Chapa, as they approached. (They _had_ put down the storm +curtains, Gladys noted.) + +Gladys made her announcement briefly and they all settled down to +gloom. + +"Talk about being shipwrecked on a desert island," said Hinpoha. "I +think one can get beautifully shipwrecked on the inhabited mainland. We +are experiencing all the thrills of Robinson Crusoe and the Swiss +family Robinson combined." + +"We haven't any Man Friday," observed Gladys. + +"What good would he be if we had him?" inquired Hinpoha, gloomily. + +"He could act as chauffeur," replied Gladys, "and supply the modern +flavor." + +"This is Friday, too," remarked Medmangi. + +"That's why the car won't start," said Hinpoha, "it won't start +anything on Friday." + +"Couldn't we dig for oil?" suggested Chapa. "We're in the oil belt. +There must be all kinds of gasoline in the earth under our very feet, +and we languishing on top of it! It's like the stories where the man +perishes of thirst in the desert right on top of the water hole." + +"We really and truly are Robinson Crusoe-like," said Gladys, looking +out at the flooded fields and deserted road. + +"Robinson Crusoe had the advantage of us in one thing," said Hinpoha, +returning to her main theme. "He had a corn-stalk, and clams, and +things." + +"'If we only had some ham, we could have some ham and eggs, if we only +had some eggs,'" quoted Gladys. + +"Here's where the Slave of the Lamp would come in handy," sighed +Hinpoha. + +"You might rub the lamp," said Gladys, pointing to the tail light, "and +maybe the Slave will appear." + +"I want baked potatoes on my order," said Gladys. + +"And I want broiled chicken," said Chapa. + +Hinpoha got down and solemnly rubbed the tail lamp of the Striped +Beetle, exclaiming, "Slave, appear!" + +Something black bounded out of the darkness at the side of the road and +landed at her feet. It was Mr. Bob, who had gone off for exercise. He +carried something in his mouth which he laid decorously on the ground +beside her. She stooped to look at it. It was an apple. + +The girls all shouted. Hinpoha straightened up. "Girls," she said +solemnly, "coming shadows cast their events before, I mean, coming +events cast their shadows before. Where there's honey you'll find bees, +and where there's apples you'll find trees. The famine is over, and now +for the feast." + +She led the way down the road with Chapa and Medmangi on either side. +They found the tree, close beside the road, and loaded with fruit. They +filled their pockets for Gladys and returned to the Striped Beetle, and +then for some time, as Hinpoha said, "Nothing was heard in the air but +the hurrying munch of the greening." + +"It must be a disadvantage to be a negro," remarked Hinpoha +reflectively, "you can't tell the difference when they're clean." + +"May I ask," inquired Gladys politely, "just what it was that caused +you to make that remark at this time?" + +"Greening apples," returned Hinpoha, calmly. "You can't tell which are +ripe and which are green." + +"You can tell by the seeds," said Gladys. + +"All seeds are black by night," returned Hinpoha. + +"Not changing the subject," said Chapa, "but where are we going to stay +to-night?" + +"You're not _going_ to stay," replied Hinpoha, "you're staying. +Right here. The Inn of the Striped Beetle. + + "Under the wide and starry sky + Fold up the seats and let us lie!" + +"We'll sleep with the raggle taggle gypsies, O!" added Gladys. + +"I want a fire," said Hinpoha. "We always have a fire when we sleep +out." + +"Well, build one in a puddle, if you can," said Gladys. "Your hair will +be the only blaze we have to-night." + +Chapa and Medmangi stood up together on the running-board and began to +sing dolefully, + + "Forsaken, forsaken, forsaken, am I, + Like the bones at a banquet, all men pass me by." + +"I wish a few would pass by," said Gladys, "By the way, have you +noticed that not a single car or wagon has passed through here since +we've been stranded? I thought this was the main road." + +"If this is the main road," said Hinpoha, "I'd hate to be stranded on a +by-path." + +Of course, the girls did not know then that the storm had washed out +the bridges on either side of them and the roadway had been closed to +traffic. They sat peering into the darkness like Columbus looking for +land and wondering why no one came along to whom they could appeal for +a tow into the village. The moon shone, a slender sickle in the west +that Gladys said reminded her of the thin slices of melon they used to +serve for breakfast at Miss Russell's school. + +"I think it looks more like a toe nail," said Hinpoha, squinting +sidewise at it. + +"Don't look at it squarely, it'll bring you bad luck," said Chapa. + +"I'm not looking at it," said Hinpoha, "it's looking at me." + +"Where does the man in the moon go when it turns into a sickle?" asked +Medmangi. + +"That doesn't worry me half so much as where Pearl went with my silver +mesh bag," said Gladys. That brought them all down to earth again and +back to the cause of their predicament, and the moon turned into a +yellow banana and fell off the sky counter while they voiced their +indignation. And, of course, they all turned on Hinpoha for being taken +in by her in the first place, and Hinpoha vented her irritation on Mr. +Bob, who was sitting with his head on her knee in a lover-like +attitude. + +"It's all your fault that we are in this mess," she said to him, +crossly. "If you hadn't jumped out of the car after that yellow dog and +chased him into the empty store I wouldn't have had to go after you, +and if I hadn't gone after you I would never have discovered Pearl and +brought her along with us. It's the last time I'll ever travel with +you." Mr. Bob, feeling the reproach in her tone, crept away with his +head down. + +"O come, let's not quarrel about whose fault it was," said Gladys. "It +isn't the first time people have been taken in." + +"We seem to be left out, rather than taken in," murmured Hinpoha. + +"You're unusually brilliant to-night," remarked Chapa. "It must have +been the apples, because on an ordinary diet you never say anything +bright." + +"Is that so?" said Hinpoha. + +"Look at the stars," said Gladys hastily, "aren't they brilliant to- +night?" + +"Almost as brilliant as Hin--" began Chapa. + +"If we sit up late enough," said Gladys, cutting in on Chapa's remark, +"we may see some of the winter stars. I actually believe there's Orion +now." + +"And the Twins," cried Hinpoha, forgetting her momentary offended +feeling in the interest of her discovery. + +"And Sirius and the Bull and the River," added Gladys. "It's just like +getting a peep at the actors in their dressing-rooms before it is time +for them to come out on the stage, to see the winter stars now." + +"I hate to look at the stars so much," said Hinpoha, dolefully. "They +make me feel so small." + +"I should think that anything that made you feel small would--" + +Gladys again interrupted the flow of Chapa's wit, directed this time +against Hinpoha's bulk. + +"I'm going to bed," she announced. There was a scramble for the robes +and for comfortable places in the tonneau, and it took much adjusting +and readjusting before there was anything resembling quiet in the +bedchamber of the Striped Beetle. But weariness can snore even on the +floor boards of a car and that long walk over the road had done its +work for at least two of the girls. The last thing they heard was +Hinpoha drowsily spouting: + + "Let me sleep in a car by the side of the road, + Where the hop toads are croaking near-by, + With Medmangi's camera between my knees stowed, + And Gladys's foot in my eye!" + +And then, when they were all nicely settled and had dropped off to +sleep, Hinpoha had the nightmare and screamed the most blood-curdling +screams and cried out that the apple tree was hugging her to death, +which sounded nonsensical, but was really suggestive. For, in the +morning she discovered that green apples are gone but not forgotten +when used as an article of diet and sat doubled up in silent agony on +the floor of the car and announced she was dying. + +"It serves you right," said Medmangi, in her best doctor manner. "You +were in such a hurry to eat them that you ate every one that came along +without waiting to find out whether it was ripe or not. The rest of us +stuck to the ripe ones and we're all right." + +"Well, the unripe ones are sticking to me," groaned Hinpoha, unhappily. + +Mr. Bob laid his head on her knee with an air of sympathy. Where +Hinpoha is concerned he never stops to think whether the sympathy is +deserved or not. + +"What family do apples belong to, anyway?" asked Gladys idly, seeing it +was time to turn Medmangi aside from preaching to Hinpoha. + +"Not my family," said Chapa, "we're all peaches." + +"Forget-me-not family," said Hinpoha, with another groan. + +They ate more apples for breakfast, except Hinpoha, who pretended not +to see when they offered them to her. Then Gladys decided to walk to +town again to see what cheer there was there. + +"Up, up, Hinpoha," she cried, "and join me in my morning stroll." + +"You should say 'Double up, Hinpoha', like 'double up Lucy'," said +Chapa, and then dodged as Hinpoha's hand reached out for her hair. + +Hinpoha tried to stand up, but immediately sat down again, and Chapa +went to town with Gladys. + +They sat and watched the repairmen fixing the wires of the telegraph +and, after a while, the messages began to pour in again. And one of +them was the one that brought joy to Gladys's soul and as soon as the +formalities were gone through she had actual money once more. They +bought enough gasoline to bring the Striped Beetle in and returned to +the anchored ones in triumph. They found that during their absence +Hinpoha had manufactured a large "For Rent" sign and hung it on the +front of the car, intending, as she said, to go into business and rent +out the car at a dollar an hour until they had enough money to proceed. + +"How were you intending to rent it out without any gasoline to run it?" +inquired Gladys. + +"Make them pay in advance," replied Hinpoha. + +"With the constant stream of foot-sore pedestrians over this road it +would no doubt have been profitable," said Gladys, scanning the road up +and down. There was not a living being in sight. But Gladys knew the +reason now, for she had seen the washout. + +To get the Striped Beetle back to town they had to drive through +private property to reach the other road. After eating breakfast--the +first real meal they had had since the morning before--they set out +once more for Rochester to meet Nyoda. + +"So it's money makes the Striped Beetle go," said Hinpoha reflectively, +as they sped along. "And I had been thinking all the while it was +gasoline." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +When the gust of wind overtook us that night while Sahwah and Nakwisi +and I were struggling to shut the gate we had run against in the +darkness, Nakwisi and I jumped into the Glow-worm in haste and we all +thought Sahwah was in too. But in running for the car she slipped in +the mud and fell flat on her face in the puddle. By the time she had +picked herself up and wiped the mud out of her eyes the Glow-worm was +gone. Slopping along in the pools of water she ran shouting down the +road. She could hear the engine of the Glow-worm throbbing in the +distance; then the sound began to die away. She knew then that they had +not yet noticed her absence, but they must presently and would return +for her. So she set out in the direction in which the car had vanished, +going, as she supposed, to meet them. The road was so dark she could +not see her hand in front of her eyes, and what with the wind moaning +mournfully and the rain falling all around her, it was rather a dismal +walk. On one side of her was a stretch of swamp where frogs glumped and +piped in every known key. Sahwah is not nervous, however, and to her +the voice of a frog is simply the voice of a frog and not the wail of a +banshee, and anyway, her mind was occupied with pulling her feet out of +the mud in the road and setting them in again. And she was straining +her ears for the sound of the Glow-worm, and all other noises made +little or no impression on her. + +It seemed to her that it was high time the others had missed her and +were coming back to pick her up. "Probably stuck in the mud somewhere," +was her consoling thought, "and I'll come upon them if I keep going far +enough." + +And so she kept on pulling her feet out of the mud and setting them in +again. By and by the road narrowed down until it seemed no more than a +path, and then without warning it ended abruptly against a building. +Sahwah had been looking at her feet and not into the distance, and due +to the force of inertia which we learned about in the Physics class, +which keeps people going once they have started, she did not stop as +soon as the road did and ran her nose smartly against the building, +which proved to be a barn, Sahwah drew back with a start, rubbing her +injured nose. Gradually, the fact dawned on her that she was lost. She +looked for the road from which she had strayed, but it seemed to have +rolled itself up and departed. The croaking of the frogs came from +everywhere and she could not locate the swamp. She walked around for +awhile, and finally, did walk into the swamp, but there was no road +anywhere near. There was water, water, everywhere. Sahwah, who had once +declared she could never get enough of water, got enough of it that +night. + +She thought of the wicked uncle brook in _Undine_ which had risen +up and covered the land, and she wondered if something of the kind had +not happened again. She railed inwardly against the darkness of the +country roads and wished with all her heart for the lighted byways of +the city, with their rows of cheerful lights on posts and their +frequent catch basins that were capable of subduing the most rampant +uncle brook. Several times more she fell, and once she stepped into a +puddle over her shoe-tops. Then she fell against a fence and tore her +skirt. Then, when she was sure she had found the road again she ran +plump into the barn again, from a different side this time. A window +frame minus a window told that the barn was empty and with a grunt of +utter disgust at the wetness of the world in general, Sahwah climbed in +and stood on a dry floor. She made up her mind to stay there until the +sound of the engine would tell her that the Glow-worm had come for her. +As the time went by and no familiar throbbing rose on the air, she +began to have cold chills when she realized that we might not yet have +noticed her absence, and might be miles away by that time. + +"At any rate," she decided, "I'm going to stay in here until it stops +raining. If I get any wetter somebody'll take me for a sponge." She +took off her jacket and wrung the water out of it and then wrung the +water from the tail of her skirt, where it had been dripping on her +ankles. Luckily she could not see herself in the darkness, for the +green color from her veil had run in streaks all over her face and she +looked like a savage painted for the war-path. + +A half hour drizzled by and then she heard the most welcome sound in +the world, the honk of the Glow-worm's horn. Then she saw the glimmer +of the headlights coming toward her out of the distance. And the +strangest part of it was that the road was in just the opposite +direction from where she thought it was. She climbed out of the barn +window and ran toward the lights, landing in a puddle in the road with +a mighty splash. The next minute the lights were full on her and the +car came to a sudden stop. + +"You will run off and leave me, will you?" she called, running forward. +Then she paused. The driver at the wheel was not Nyoda, but a man. +There was no one else in the car. + +"Excuse me," she said, stepping back. "I thought you were friends of +mine." And the car moved on. + +But if Sahwah had not found the Glow-worm she had, at least, found the +road, and she made up her mind not to lose it again until she had come +upon the others. Dawn found her still trudging along, very wet, very +muddy, very tired and very much puzzled. For she had not come upon the +Glow-worm stuck in the mud as she had expected. + +The rain had stopped and the sun was opening a watery eye on the +horizon. The east wind was rising and ushering in the day. The frogs +ceased croaking and the birds began to twitter. It was a morning to +delight the soul, that is, any but a lonely soul which was wandering +around, wet to the knees, unutterably weary, separated from its kindred +souls, and without a cent of money. Sahwah had left her purse in the +Glow-worm. By the position of the sun she discovered that she was +traveling toward the west. The events of the night before were like a +dream in her mind. The storm, the ball, the finding of the necklace in +Nyoda's pocket and the flight in the rain were all jumbled together. +She sat down on a stone by the roadside to think things over, and let +down her damp hair to fly in the wind. For once in her life Sahwah was +at a loss what to do next. So she sat still and waited for inspiration. +The sun dried her hair and her coat and the mud on her shoes. The wild +asters along the road craned their necks to get a look at this great +muddy creature that sat in their midst, and a bird or two paused +inquiringly before her. + +"I shall sit here," she said aloud, quoting the Frog Footman in +_Alice in Wonderland_, "till tomorrow, or next day, maybe." It +suddenly seemed to Sahwah as if she would like nothing better than to +sit there forever. The stone she was sitting on was so soft and +comfortable, and the sun was so warm and pleasant and the breeze was so +soft and caressing. The song of the birds became very loud and clear; +then it began to melt away. Sahwah's head nodded; then she slid off the +stone and lay full length in the grass, sleeping as soundly as a babe +in its cradle. + +Mr. and Mrs. James Watterson of Chicago were motoring back to their +home from the races in Indianapolis. The night before the Indianapolis +papers had been full of the disappearance of Margery Anderson and the +efforts her uncle was making to recover her. He even offered a reward +for information concerning her whereabouts. The papers said he had gone +to Chicago to follow up a clue. Mrs. Watterson had read every word of +the article with great interest. She did not know the Andersons and she +was not particularly interested in them and their troubles, but she had +nothing else to do at the moment, her husband having gone out and left +her alone in the hotel, so she read and reread the details of the +affair until she knew them by heart. + +The next morning, on their way north, they came upon Sahwah sleeping in +the road. "Somebody dead or hurt here," exclaimed Mr. Watterson, and he +stopped the car and jumped out. Sahwah's face was streaked with green +from the soaked veil and she looked absolutely ghastly. And her arm was +twisted under her head in the peculiar position in which Sahwah always +sleeps, so that it looked as if she had fallen on it. + +"Her heart's beating," announced Mr. Watterson, after investigating. + +Mrs. Watterson came out and also looked Sahwah over. A handkerchief was +dangling half out of the pocket of Sahwah's coat and a name written on +it in indelible ink caught the woman's eye. That name was _Margery +Anderson_. Sahwah had gotten something into her eye the day before, +and not having a handkerchief handy--Sahwah never has when she wants +one--Margery had handed her one of hers. At the sight of that name Mrs. +Watterson was in a flutter of excitement. The story in the newspaper +was fresh in her mind. "It's that Anderson girl!" she exclaimed, +holding up the handkerchief. + +Quickly they lifted Sahwah, still sleeping, into the car. They thought +she was unconscious and I believe their idea was to take her to the +next house they came to. But, of course, as soon as the car started +Sahwah woke up and looked with a gasp of surprise into the faces near +her. At first when she felt the throb of the engine under her she had +thought she was in the Glow-worm. Mr. and Mrs. Watterson were as +surprised as she was. They had not expected her to come to life in just +that manner. + +Of course, Sahwah wanted to know where she was and whither she was +going. + +"You are going to your friends, my dear," replied Mrs. Watterson. + +"Do you know where they are?" asked Sahwah, wondering how they had come +upon the whereabouts of the Glow-worm. Mrs. Watterson merely smiled +ambiguously. Sahwah looked at her with instant suspicion. "Who are +you?" she demanded. "And where are you taking me?" Mrs. Watterson +smiled again, somewhat uncertainly this time. There is something about +Sahwah's direct gaze that is a trifle disconcerting. + +"I am a friend of your uncle's"--she told the falsehood glibly--"and I +am taking you back to him." + +"My uncle?" echoed Sahwah, wonderingly. "Taking me back to him?" She +was completely at sea. Mrs. Watterson did not answer. She looked away, +over the green fields they were passing. She was having visions of the +reward. + +Sahwah clutched her arm. "I don't believe it," she said. "I don't know +you. Stop the car and let me out." Mr. Watterson drove a little faster. +Sahwah rose in the seat and looked as if she were about to cast herself +headlong from the car. Mrs. Watterson took a firm hold of her coat and +pulled her back into the seat. + +"Sit right where you are, Margery Anderson!" she said. "We will let you +out when we turn you over to your uncle in Chicago and not before." + +Sahwah looked petrified. Margery Anderson! "You've made a mistake," she +said. "I'm not Margery Anderson." + +"Don't tell lies, my dear," said Mrs. Watterson. "You are Margery +Anderson." And she drew the handkerchief from Sahwah's pocket and held +it before her eyes with a triumphant flourish. Sahwah was so overcome +with astonishment that she could not speak for a moment and it was just +as well that she could not, or she might have explained how she came to +be carrying Margery's handkerchief and that would have revealed the +whereabouts of the real Margery. + +Mrs. Watterson was triumphantly quoting from the newspaper article: +"Tall, slender, brown eyes and hair, one upper front tooth shorter than +the remainder of the row--" + +Sahwah, while actually resembling Margery no more than red-haired +Hinpoha did, yet fitted the description perfectly! + +An idea had come into Sahwah's mind. She abandoned her half-formed plan +of jumping from the car the moment it should slow up for any reason. +Since these people insisted that she was Margery Anderson in spite of +all she could say to the contrary, well and good, there was so much +less chance of Margery's being discovered. After all the trouble they +had taken so far to return the girl to her mother it would never do for +her to betray her. So she sat silent under Mrs. Watterson's fire of +cross questioning as to where she had been since running away, which +Mrs. Watterson took for conclusive proof that she was Margery. + +"Did you say my--my uncle was in Chicago?" Sahwah asked at last. + +Mrs. Watterson replied affirmatively. Sahwah was inwardly jubilant but +the expression of her face never altered. It was all right as long as +they were taking her to Chicago. Once confronted with Margery's uncle, +if he were there, the truth would come out and she would be free to go +as she pleased. Then she could go directly to the Carrie Wentworth Inn +and await the arrival of the others. She chuckled to herself, as she +pictured the meeting between this man and woman and Margery's uncle and +their discomfiture when they discovered that they had bagged the wrong +bird. Sahwah is keen on humorous situations. + +But how was Nyoda to know that she was safe in Chicago? She might spend +endless time looking for her, nearly wild with anxiety, thinking some +misfortune had befallen her. Sahwah puzzled awhile and then her +originality came to her rescue. Somewhere on this very road Nyoda had +vanished the night before, and she herself had walked, as she supposed, +in a straight line from the gate. She did not know that the light of +the strange automobile she had seen from the barn had lured her across +to an entirely different road. Well then, she reflected, it was +reasonable to believe that Nyoda would be making inquiries for her +along this road. Very well, she would drop a clue. With the swiftness +of chain lightning she whipped her little address book out of her +pocket and wrote on a leaf: + +"To those interested: + +Picked up by tourists. On way to Carrie Wentworth Inn, Chicago. + +Sarah Ann Brewster." + +For obvious reasons she made no mention of having been mistaken for +Margery Anderson. + +She tied the address book in the corner of her green veil while Mrs. +Watterson looked on curiously. Then she tied the veil around her hat to +give it weight and threw it out of the car into the road just in front +of a house. The green veil shone like a headlight and could not fail to +attract attention. Thus someone would get the information that would +eventually reach Nyoda. Then, Sahwah-like, having overcome her +perplexities, she settled down to enjoy her trip. Surely a worse fate +might have befallen her, she decided, after being lost from her +companions, than to wake up and find herself being hurried toward the +city which had been her destination in the first place. + +At that time Sahwah thought that the fates were kind to her, but ever +since she has declared that they had a special grudge against her in +making her miss the spectacular finish of our trip to Chicago. Sahwah, +who was the only one who would really have enjoyed that exciting ride, +was doomed to a personally conducted tour. I consider it unfair myself. +But was there a single feature about the whole trip that was as it +should have been? + +Sahwah's ride to Chicago was tame enough although the circumstances of +it were rather melodramatic. She did not make any thrilling escape such +as jumping from the moving car onto a passing train the way they do in +the movies, or shrieking that she was being abducted and, as a result, +being rescued by a handsome young man who became infatuated with her on +the spot and declared himself willing to wait the weary years until she +was grown up, when he could claim her for his own. That was the trouble +with our adventures all the way through; while they were thrilling +enough at the time they were happening, they lacked the quality that is +in all book adventures, that of having any permanent after-effects. +While there were several men mixed up in our trip none of us came home +with our fate sealed, that is, none of us but---- + +But I am rambling again. It is as hard for me to keep on the main track +of my story as it was for the Glow-worm to stay on the sign-posted +highway. If I am not careful I will be telling the end of it somewhere +along the middle, and that would be rather confusing for the reader who +likes to turn to the back of the book to see how things come out before +beginning the story. Nyoda said I should put a notice in the +frontispiece saying that the end was on page so-and-so instead of the +last chapter, and save such readers the trouble of hunting for it. As +it is, I am afraid the last chapter will be crowded with afterthought +incidents which I forgot to put in as I went along, and which should +really be part of the story. But after all, I suppose it is immaterial +in what order they come, for, by the time the reader has finished the +book she will have them all, which is no more than she would have done +if they had all been fitted together in the proper order. And she +always has the privilege of rearranging them to suit herself. + +Mr. Watterson, as well as his wife, had doubtless been picturing to +himself the dramatic moment in Mr. Anderson's office, when his niece +should be turned over to him. He began to look important and self- +conscious as they entered the city. Both he and his wife looked at the +people around them in the street with a you-don't-know-whom-we-have-in- +this-car expression, while Sahwah put on a very doleful countenance. +Secretly she could hardly wait for the meeting to take place. They +crossed the city and began threading their way through the down-town +streets, crowded with the traffic of a busy week afternoon. Mr. +Watterson, thinking of the coming interview on Michigan Avenue, failed +to notice that a traffic policeman was waving peremptorily for him to +back up from a crowded corner. The result was that he became involved +in the line of vehicles which was coming through from the cross street +and rammed an electric coupe containing two ladies and a poodle. The +coupe tipped over onto the curb and the ladies were badly shaken and +the poodle was cut by flying glass, or the ladies were cut by the +flying poodle, I forget which. Mr. Watterson and his party emerged from +the crush under the escort of a police officer who directed the finish +of the tour. Their destination was the police station. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +"What a tale of adventure we will have to tell Nyoda when we find her," +said Gladys, as the Striped Beetle followed its nose Rochesterward. "It +will make Sahwah green with envy. She is always so eager for adventure. +And there never was such a combination as we have experienced. First, +we picked up a girl in trouble, then we got quarantined; next, we lost +our trunk and followed a man all the way to Indianapolis, thinking that +he had it, which he didn't; then we were robbed of all our money and +the Striped Beetle at one fell swoop, and were stranded on a country +road without a cent or a drop of gas and had to spend the night in the +car. There certainly never was such a chapter of events. The Count for +the next Ceremonial will be a regular book. + +"I wonder what the girls in Rochester have been doing all this time +while they have been waiting for us?" + +"Migwan's writing poetry, of course," said Hinpoha, "and Sahwah's +getting into mischief and Nakwisi's staring into space through her spy- +glass. It's easy enough to guess what they are doing." + +"Well, anyway, they know why we were delayed," said Chapa. "You got a +second wire off to Nyoda before the storm?" + +"Yes," said Gladys, "I sent it right after I wired for money." + +Hinpoha sat silent for a long time. "A penny for your thoughts," said +Gladys. "I can't help thinking about the scarf," said Hinpoha. "I +brought it along because I was afraid something would happen to it if I +left it behind, and here we had to lose it on the way. I would rather +lose anything than that." And she sighed and looked so woe-begone that +it quite affected the spirits of the others. + +"Nyoda can help us find the trunk," said Gladys confidently, thinking +with relief as they neared Rochester that Nyoda would soon be at the +helm of the expedition again. This thought filled them all with so much +cheer that even Hinpoha brightened up. She ceased thinking about the +scarf and looked at the flying landscape. + +"As a sight-seeing trip this has been somewhat of a failure," she said. +"And I had intended making so many sketches of the interesting things +we saw on the way to put into the Count, but the only thing that comes +to my mind now is the picture of ourselves, always standing around +wondering what to do next." + +"You might draw a picture of the pain you had from eating green +apples," suggested Chapa. + +"That pain was about the only real thing about the whole trip," said +Hinpoha. "All the rest seems like a dream." + +Hinpoha began idly sketching herself running away from a large apple on +legs which was pursuing her. And that is the only picture we have of +the whole trip! + +The girls got to Rochester about noon and went immediately to Number 43 +Main Street. Mrs. Moffat came to the door and when she saw the girls in +tan suits and green veils she closed it all but a crack. + +"My rooms are all taken," she said, coldly. + +"We don't want rooms, we want someone who is staying here," said +Gladys. "Is Miss Kent here with three girls?" + +"No, she isn't," said Mrs. Moffat "They came here as bold as brass, but +you can bet they didn't stay long after I found out about them. Do you +belong to her company, too? You're dressed just like the rest of them." + +"Why yes, we belong to her party," said Gladys, bewildered beyond words +at this reception. "Will you please tell us what--" + +But Mrs. Moffat closed the door in their faces with a resounding bang +and no amount of ringing would induce her to open it again. The girls +were simply staggered. What could be the meaning of the woman's words? +"You can bet they didn't stay long after I found out about them." After +she found out what about us? When had we left the house and where were +we now? They stood around the Striped Beetle irresolutely. + +"If she only hadn't shut the door in our faces before we could ask some +more questions!" said Gladys. "I don't suppose it would do any good to +try again; she'd do the same thing a second time." + +Just then a small boy came whistling down the street and Gladys had an +idea. Getting the girls quickly into the car she drove down to meet +him. When they met him they were well away from the house. Gladys +called him to her. "I'll give you ten cents," she said, "if you'll go +to Number 43 Main Street and ask the lady where the girls in the tan +suits, who stayed at her house, went when they left. Maybe you had +better go around to the back door," she added. + +"Give me the ten cents first," said the boy, squinting his eyes +shrewdly. + +"Not until you bring back the answer," said Gladys. "I won't go unless +you give me a nickel first," he maintained, firmly. Gladys gave him the +nickel and he departed in the direction of Number 43. Still keeping out +of sight of the house, they awaited his return. In five minutes he was +back. + +"She says she doesn't know where they went," he said, speaking in an +unnecessarily loud voice, the way young boys do. "She says she doesn't +keep track of rogues. Where's the other nickel?" + +Stupefied, Gladys gave it to him and he ran off down the street "What +did he say?" she gasped. "She doesn't keep track of rogues? She turned +them out of the house when she found out about them? Whatever has +happened? What made her think the girls were rogues? And where did they +go?" + +They were standing almost within a stone's throw of Number 22 Spring +Street, where we had gone from Mrs. Moffat's, but, of course, there was +no sign on the house to tell them we had been there. + +"Well," said Gladys, "they were here in Rochester, that much we know, +and perhaps they are here yet. Somebody must have seen them. Where do +you think we had better go to inquire?" + +"Do you see a candy store anywhere?" asked Hinpoha. "Sahwah would +surely have to buy some candy if she saw any. Whenever I lose her +downtown at home I go straight to the nearest candy store, and I +invariably find her, standing on one foot and unable to make up her +mind whether she should buy chocolates or Boston wafers." + +Accordingly, they visited each of the three candy stores on Main +Street, and Hinpoha bought a mixed collection of stale chocolates and +peppermint drops while they were making their inquiries, but they came +out about as wise as they went in. The tan quartet they were seeking +had evidently not invested in candy. "Sahwah's either reformed or short +of cash," said Hinpoha, decidedly. Which half of that statement was +true at that particular moment the reader already knows. + +Next, they reached the "department" store which carried everything from +handkerchiefs to plows. The proprietor started when they entered and +looked keenly at their suits. To their questions about the other four +he replied that he hadn't seen them, and if he had he wouldn't know +where they were now. + +"What a queer thing to say!" exclaimed Gladys, when they were outside +once more. "'If he had seen them he wouldn't know where they were now.' +It sounds almost like what the woman said, 'She didn't keep track of +rogues.' What on earth has happened?" + +While they were standing there the boy to whom they had given the dime +came walking by again. He walked past several times, and finally he +stood still near them. "Say," he called, "will you give me another dime +if I tell you something?" He was very red-headed and very freckled, and +his eyes were screwed up in an unpleasant squint which might have been +dishonesty and might have been the effect of sunlight, but, at any +rate, they weren't much taken with his looks. Still, he might be honest +after all. + +"What do you know?" parried Gladys. + +"I saw the girls you're looking for," he said. + +"Where?" asked Gladys, eagerly. + +"Give me the ten cents first," he demanded. Gladys gave him a dime. +"They had their car fixed at the garage over there," he said. "They +came in with a lamp and a fender smashed. I was in the garage and I saw +them. They were talking to a young fellow on a motor-bike. Afterward, I +seen them leaving town and pretty soon I seen the fellow starting after +them." + +"What day was that?" asked Gladys. + +"It was Thursday morning when they came in," he said, "and it was +Friday afternoon when they went out." + +Friday afternoon! And that was Saturday! The girls hastened over to the +garage and inquired about the Glow-worm. + +"There was a car like that in here Thursday morning," agreed the +proprietor. "The right headlight and the right front fender were +broken. They had run into a limousine in the fog the night before. I +had it all fixed up by three in the afternoon and they came and got the +car, but pretty soon they brought it back and said they weren't going +to leave town that night. One of the girls was sick, they said. They +got it the next morning and I haven't seen them since. But I heard them +tell a young fellow that came in to get his motorcycle looked over that +they were going to Chicago. By the way, you say there were four girls +in tan suits. There were five when they brought the car in in the +morning." + +Well might the girls be puzzled by the three things they had found out +that day. + +First. Nyoda and the other girls were considered rogues by the woman at +Number 43 Main Street. + +Second. There were five girls in the Glow-worm instead of four. + +Third. Nyoda had gone on to Chicago instead of waiting for them as they +had requested in their message and had left no word for them. + +"It's as clear as mud," said Hinpoha, who was plunged into deepest +gloom again, now that Nyoda was not there and there was no one to +advise them what to do about the trunk. + +"Did she get our telegram?" wondered Gladys. "We might go down to the +office and find out if it was delivered." + +The first one was delivered, they were informed. The messenger boy who +had delivered it (the company had only two) was in at the time and he +testified that he had gone to Number 43 Main Street and was told that +the parties had left, and he was on his way back to the office when he +saw them standing in the road beside the automobile and gave it to +them. He knew them because he had been delivering a message in the +hotel the day before when they had come there and asked for rooms, and +he had overheard the clerk telling them to go to Number 43 Main Street +because the hotel was filled with convention delegates. He also said +that there were five girls in the party instead of four. But no second +telegram had been received at the office. + +Gladys rubbed her head wearily. The puzzle was getting deeper all the +while. For the hundredth time she wondered what could have induced +Nyoda to keep running away from them like that. Nyoda, who was the +chaperon of the party, and who had promised her mother that she would +never let the girls out of her sight! + +"Well, if Nyoda's gone to Chicago," she said, "there's nothing left for +us to do but go too, although I don't know what to make of it." + +So, puzzled and perplexed, they looked up the route to Chicago from +Rochester and set out to follow it. + +"We aren't very good hounds in this game," sighed Hinpoha, "or we'd +have run down our hare before this." + +"But it's such an uncommonly fast hare," sighed Gladys. "And it leaves +such amazing and apparently contradictory footprints." + +"Hi," said Chapa, "look at the crowd in this town. What do you suppose +has happened?" In fact, the streets of the village through which they +were passing were choked with vehicles of every kind and the sidewalks +were crowded with people. + +"It's a band," said Hinpoha, "I hear the music." + +Mr. Bob began to quiver with excitement and whine, and Hinpoha caught +him firmly by the collar and held him so he could not jump out again. + +"It's a circus parade!" cried Gladys. And sure enough, it was. From a +side street the crimson and gold wagons began to stream into the main +street. + +How it happened they were never able to tell, but the next thing they +knew they were in the line of the parade and were being swept along +with the procession. They could not turn out because the street was too +narrow. They had to keep going along, behind a huge towering wagon with +pictures of ferocious wild beasts painted on its sides, which drew +shrieks of excitement from the children on the sidewalk, and just ahead +of the line of elephants. Gladys slowed the car down to a crawl and +wondered every minute if she could keep it going so slowly. They could +easily be taken for a part of the circus, for the Striped Beetle is +rather a conspicuous car outside of the fact that it had the Winnebago +banner draped across the back, and besides the girls were all dressed +alike. + +"What do you suppose they are?" they heard one small boy shout at +another. + +"Look like snake charmers," answered the second. Hinpoha giggled. +"That's meant for you, Gladys," she said. "Tain't either snake +charmers," said a third small boy. "It's the fat lady." And he pointed +directly at Hinpoha. Gladys laughed so she nearly lost control of the +car while Hinpoha turned fiery red. + +Without warning the elephant directly behind them thrust his trunk into +the car and picked up Medmangi's camera, to the immense delight of the +crowd on the sidewalk. After much prodding from his rider he released +it again, dropping it safely into Medmangi's lap. All the rest of the +ride Medmangi kept her head over her shoulder so she could watch what +the beast was doing. He kept blinking at her knowingly, and every few +minutes he would extend his trunk toward the car in a playful manner +and send her into a panic, and then he would drop it decorously to the +ground like a limp piece of hose, with a sound in his throat that +resembled a chuckle. + +"Poor beast," she said, after watching him plod rather wearily along +for several blocks, "a circus life is no snap." + +"He's better off than we are," said Hinpoha crossly, "for he has his +trunk, and that's more than we have." Hinpoha's temper had been +slightly ruffled by her having been mistaken for the fat lady. + +"We'd still have our trunk if we carried it in the front the way he +does, instead of in the back," said Medmangi. + +Mr. Bob was nearly barking his head off at the shouting boys, and about +drove the girls frantic with his noise. Gladys's hands were shaking as +she held on to the steering-wheel, while Hinpoha vainly tried to +silence him. Chapa dared Medmangi to reach out her hand and touch the +elephant's trunk and she did so. The elephant sneezed a sneeze that +nearly unseated his rider and blew Chapa's hat off. Medmangi screamed +and ducked under the seat, thinking that the beast was about to attack +her. Gladys turned around to see what she was screaming at and just +then the red and gold mountain ahead of her stood still for a minute, +with the result that she bumped into it. It resounded with a hollow +clang and something inside set up a fearful roaring like a whole jungle +full of wild beasts. Then the small boys shouted worse than ever and +the perspiration stood out on Gladys's forehead. + +"Stop that dog barking, or I shall go wild," she said. + +After numerous ineffectual commands and shakes, Hinpoha rolled Mr. Bob +in one of the robes, which nearly smothered him, but produced the +desired result. Save for a few smothered growls and "oofs" nothing more +was heard from him. + +Then, as Hinpoha always said afterward, after the parade the real +circus began. The man-killing anaconda got loose. How it happened no +one ever found out, but the first thing anybody knew, there he was, +tearing down the middle of the street like an express train. "How does +he go so fast without wheels?" gasped Gladys, as he shot by them. + +Then there was a scene of pandemonium. The crowd tried to scatter, but +it was packed in so closely between the buildings and the street that +there was no place to scatter to. Most of the stores had been closed in +honor of the greatest show on earth, and the thieves that accompanied +it and the people found only locked doors when they tried to enter the +stores. Shrieks filled the air. The whole line of elephants began +trumpeting. + +"Oh, if we could only get out of this," cried Gladys. + +The next minute they were out of it, but in a manner they had not +foreseen. For down from one of the painted wagons a man leaped directly +into the Striped Beetle, picked Gladys up as if she had been a feather, +lifted her over the back of the seat into the tonneau and took the +wheel himself. Round went the Striped Beetle into the side street +through a gap in the line of wagons and after the snake. The scattering +of the people told the trail it was taking, and a low cloud of dust +lengthening rapidly along the road showed that it was still in the +middle of the street. Up one street and down another they flew, as fast +as the Striped Beetle would go, with the snake always a length ahead of +them. At last, it darted across the sidewalk, up the front walk of a +brick mansion, up the front steps and in at the open front door. + +Wild screams from within indicated that his presence had been observed. +The next instant two maids tried to issue from the door at the same +instant and stuck there in the doorway, fighting to get out, until both +were shot out as from the mouth of a cannon by the impact of the body +of a man, coming behind them down the stairs. They rolled down the +steps, picked themselves up, and rushed out of the gate and up the +street, closely followed by the man in shirt sleeves, shouting wildly +that it was only a drop he had taken for his rheumatism, but he would +never take another. Shaken and breathless as they were, the girls +laughed until they cried at the trail of superstitious terror left by +the man-killing anaconda. The man who had taken such cool possession of +the Striped Beetle jumped out and followed the snake into the house. +When he returned some five minutes later the man-eater was wrapped +around his body in great coils. Gladys got one look at the monster +which the man evidently intended placing in the car, and then she was +over the back of the seat and behind the steering-wheel, and the +Striped Beetle went gliding off down the street. + +"There's one thing I object to being, and that's careful mover of a +circus," she said through her teeth. She was still too breathless to +talk properly. "I'd just as soon take the man back to his wagon, but I +won't sit beside a snake. There's nothing in the etiquette book about +how to behave toward them and I'm afraid I might do the wrong thing and +rouse his ire." + +We were well into the country before she slackened her dizzy pace and +the circus and the man-killing anaconda were left far behind. Hinpoha +was still giggling about the man who thought he was seeing snakes and +had forgotten all about poor Mr. Bob, who was still wrapped in his +muffling blanket. A convulsive movement of the roll in her arms brought +her back to earth and she undid the bundle in time to save him from +being completely smothered. All the rest of the trip Mr. Bob retired +under the seat every time anyone touched that blanket. + +Later in the afternoon they stopped for gasoline and while the tank was +being filled were entertained by the loud-voiced conversation of two +men who were standing against the wall of the gasoline station. + +"But I tell you it isn't my trunk," said the first, "and I'm not going +to carry it. The rear end of the car hits the bumpers now every time we +strike a bump in the road and I won't have any unnecessary weight back +there." + +"Oh say, be a good sport and carry it," said the second man. "It's a +good looking trunk and I can get something for it when we get back to +the city. But I hate to pay express on it." + +"How did you get it, anyway?" asked the first man. + +Gladys, who had pricked up her ears at the word "trunk" and was +intently listening to the above conversation, was disappointed in not +hearing the end of it. For, with the question just recorded the two men +moved across the street toward a car which stood there. Just then the +tank of the Striped Beetle was filled and they were released. Gladys +steered across the street just as the engine of the other car started +up. But she had caught a glimpse of the trunk under discussion, +standing on the unoccupied rear seat of the car, and there, full in the +sunlight, were the initials GME, Cleveland, O. Without a doubt it was +her trunk. + +The other car gained speed rapidly and began to draw away from them. +Gladys put the Striped Beetle on its mettle and followed. They passed +through several towns at the same high rate of speed, never gaining on +the car ahead of them until it stopped in front of a hotel in one +place. Gladys also stopped. She jumped out of the car and was alongside +the other before either man was out. She began without preliminary. +"Excuse me," she said, "but we have lost our trunk from our car and the +one you have is exactly like it. Would you mind telling me whether it +is your own or not?" The two men looked at each other. + +One of them, the one who had objected to carrying the trunk, flushed +red and looked uncomfortable. As he was driving the car it was to him +that Gladys had addressed her remarks. + +"It's not mine," he answered. "It belongs to Mr. Johnson, this +gentleman here." + +"Yes, it's mine," said the man referred to, as if daring her to dispute +his statement. + +Gladys was nonplused. There was something queer about their possession +of the trunk she knew from the conversation she had overheard. + +"You say your name is Johnson?" she asked. "Then how does it come that +you have the initials GME--my initials--on your trunk?" + +The man glared at her in silence. A crowd began to gather around them +on the sidewalk. A policeman elbowed his way to the front. "What's the +matter here?" he asked. + +"Lady says the man stole her trunk," replied one of the bystanders. + +Gladys grew hot all over when she heard that, because she had not said +a word about the man's having stolen the trunk, although that thought +was uppermost in her mind. + +"How about it?" asked the policeman. + +"It's none of your business," growled the man addressed as Mr. Johnson. +"That's my trunk, whether those are my initials or not. It was given me +in exchange for something else." + +"But I believe it's mine," said Gladys, looking helplessly around the +circle of faces. "It was stolen off our car in Ft. Wayne." + +"It was no such thing," said Mr. Johnson, hotly. "We'll soon find out," +said the policeman. "What was in your trunk, lady?" + +Gladys described several articles which were inside, and mentioned that +it was lined with grey and had the same initials on the inside of the +cover. + +"Open the trunk," said the Solomon in brass buttons. + +Mr. Johnson had no key, which was another suspicious fact. Gladys +produced her key and unlocked the trunk. It was absolutely empty. There +was the grey lining all right and the initials on the inside of the +cover, GME, Cleveland, O. + +"Disposed of the contents," said a voice from the sidewalk. + +Hinpoha, who had been on a pinnacle of hope for her scarf ever since +they had recognized the trunk, slumped into despair again when she saw +that it was empty. + +"Is that your trunk, lady?" asked the policeman. + +"It looks like it," said Gladys. + +"It answered her description all right," said the voice in the circle. + +"Where did you get the trunk and from whom?" asked the policeman of Mr. +Johnson. + +"None of your business," replied that individual, with a savage look. +"But it's mine, I tell you." + +Here his companion pulled out his watch and uttered an exclamation. + +"Give her the trunk and come along," he said, in a stage whisper. +"We'll never make it if we stand here bantering all day." + +Scowling like a thundercloud, Mr. Johnson gave the trunk a savage kick +as it stood on the sidewalk and got back into the car, snapping out +that it was his and never would have given it up if he wasn't in such a +tearing hurry. The grey car glided away in a cloud of dust and the +policeman lifted the trunk to the rack of the Striped Beetle. + +"Fellow stole it, all right," rose the murmurs on every side, "or he +wouldn't have been so willing to give it up. Probably threw the +contents away. Well, you've got the trunk, lady, and that's worth more +than what was in it." + +Hinpoha could not agree with this, of course. That scarf was worth more +in her eyes than the price of a dozen trunks, and she was not very much +overjoyed at having the trunk returned without the scarf, for it was +certain now that the contents were stolen and would never be recovered. + +They arrived in Chicago during the afternoon and went directly to the +Carrie Wentworth Inn. As they got out at the curb a man lounged down +from the doorway and approached them. "You are under arrest," he said, +quietly. + +"Arrest!" gasped Gladys, thinking of all the traffic rules she might +have broken in crossing the busy corner they just passed. "What for? +And who are you, anyway, you're not a policeman." + +The man opened his coat and showed an official badge. "I'm a policeman +all right, you'll find," he said, calmly. + +"What have we done?" gasped Gladys. The trunk was in her mind now. What +if it were not theirs after all and they were to be accused of stealing +it! + +"You are wanted in connection with an attempt to steal a diamond +necklace from the home of Simon McClure," said the detective, for such +he was. + +"What?" said Gladys, in sheer amazement. "I never heard of such a +person." + +"Tell that to the police," said the man facetiously, "and in the +meantime, just come along with me." He got into the car and motion them +to follow. Too much dazed to resist, they obeyed. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Sahwah's vanishing from the car was so uncanny and mysterious that, for +a few minutes, we could think of nothing but a supernatural agency. The +wind was like the wail of a banshee, and to our excited eyes the mist +wraiths hovering over the swamp were like dancing figures. The croaking +of the frogs was suddenly full of menace. They were not real frogs +croaking down there in the mud; they were evil spirits dwelling in the +swamp and they held the secret of Sahwah's disappearance. Shudders ran +up and down our spines and the perspiration began to break out in our +faces. + +"Did Sahwah get into the car again after she helped you open the gate?" +asked Nyoda. + +At the sound of her voice our fear of the supernatural vanished and we +were back to reality again. We were lost on a lonely road, it is true, +but it was a (more or less) solid dirt road in the misty mid-region of +Indiana, and not a ghoul-haunted pathway in the misty mid-region of +Weir. + +We all declared Sahwah had gotten into the car. + +"She couldn't have," maintained Nyoda. "We haven't stopped since then +and she couldn't have fallen out while we were going without making a +splash that would have sent the water over the car." + +"It's nearly a foot deep most of the way." We thought hard about the +circumstances attendant upon our getting back into the car and it came +to us that we were not positive, after all, that Sahwah had been with +us. + +"That wind--don't you remember?" said Nakwisi. "It whipped the corner +of my veil into my eye and I couldn't open it again for some time after +we started." + +I remembered the wind. It had wrapped my veil around my face so that I +couldn't see anything, and in my blindness I had slammed the door on my +finger, and the pain made me forget everything else. It hadn't been a +propitious time to count noses. I had dropped into the corner of the +seat trying to get my finger into my mouth through the folds of my +veil, and the effort not to cry out with pain made me faint. I had not +even noticed when the car started. Margery was on the front seat with +Nyoda and they had thought, of course, that Sahwah was in the back with +Nakwisi and me. Well, it was evident that she wasn't. + +"Poor Sahwah," said Nyoda. "Such a night to be waiting at the gate!" + + "Backward, turn backward, Glow-worm, in your flight, + Rescue poor Sahwah from her muddy plight!" + +I spouted. + +Which was easier said than done. That road was built for traveling +ahead and not for turning. On one side was the swamp and on the other a +steep drop off into a lake. + +"We're in the straight and narrow path all right," said Nyoda, viewing +the landscape. Then she sarcastically began to quote from a well-known +automobile advertisement which emphasized the superiority of a long +wheel base, whatever that is. "The Glow-worm simply won't make the +turn," she said. "Here's one instance when the worm won't turn." + +"It's a long worm that knows no turning," I misquoted. + +Nyoda tried again, and this time, with its rear wheels in the swamp and +its front lamps hanging over the precipice, the Glow-worm did turn. We +were limp as rags from the strain by the time we were safely back in +the road. I had been trying to make up my mind which would do the least +damage to my clothes, landing in the swamp or in the lake, and had just +about decided on the lake as the lesser of the two evils, as I couldn't +get much wetter anyhow, when Nyoda called out, "It's all over." + +"If you're speaking of the mud it certainly is all over," I said, +feeling of the spatters on the back of the seat. + +"Mud baths are hygienic," said Nyoda drily, if anyone can be said to +speak drily when they are dripping at every corner. "Be a sport if you +can't be a philosopher." Which statement contained food for reflection, +as they say in books. + +We made our way slowly and splashily back to the mud-wreathed gate, +alas, we shoved sir--Gracious! I'm tobogganing into a quotation again! +But, like the girl in the poem when the lover comes back to the gate +after many years, Sahwah wasn't there. We called, oh, how we did call! +With voices as hoarse as the frogs in the swamp. + +"We might as well stop calling," said Nyoda, disgustedly. "She won't be +able to tell the difference between us and the frogs." + +But we kept on calling just the same and a hideous echo from somewhere +threw our words back at us in a broken, mocking answer. That was all. +We were paralyzed with fear that Sahwah had wandered into the swamp or +had fallen over the precipice in the dark into the lake. We turned the +lights of the car on the swamp for a long distance, but saw nothing. + +I shuddered until my teeth chattered at that lonely stretch of marsh. +Given the choice between a graveyard at night and a swamp, I think I +should take the graveyard. The nice friendly ghosts that sit on +tombstones are so much more cheerful than the nameless and shapeless +Things that flit over a swamp at night. The yellow circle thrown by the +Glow-worm's lamps was the only thing that linked us to earth and +reason. Within that circle the mysterious shadows melted and no spirits +dared dance. Then without warning the yellow circle dimmed and +vanished, and left us completely at the mercy of the Shapes. The lights +had gone out on the Glow-worm. + +"Probably short circuited," we heard Nyoda's voice say. +"Where was Moses when the light went out?" I asked, trying to be +cheerful. + +Margery trembled and clung to Nyoda. The swamp now seemed a living +thing that clutched at us with hands. And somewhere in that darkness +that pressed around us Sahwah was wandering around lost, or perhaps +lying helpless in the water. It is not my intention to dwell on the +unpleasant features of our trip any more than I have to. But somehow +that night stands out more clearly in my memory than any of the other +events. Nyoda says it is because I am gifted, or rather cursed, with a +constructive imagination, and see and hear things that aren't there. I +suppose it is true, because I can see whole armies marching in the sky, +and boats and horses and dragons, when the other girls only see clouds. +But I know I heard sounds in that swamp that night that weren't +earthly; voices that sang tunes and children that cried, and things +that fiddled and shrieked and sobbed and laughed and whispered and +gurgled and moaned. + +Our hunt for Sahwah had to be given up because without lights we dared +not venture forth on the road for fear of running into the swamp. + +"Sit up in front, Migwan, and be the headlight; you're bright enough," +said Nyoda, cheerfully. + +"I'm having an eclipse to-night," I replied. + +So we sat still in the Glow-worm not far from the gate which had been +the fountain and origin of all the trouble and wished fervently, not +for Blucher or night, but for Sahwah or morning. And the reader knows +which one of them came. + +The rain stopped about dawn and the east began to redden and then we +knew there was going to be a sunrise. I have been glad to see many +things in my life; but I never was so glad to see anything, as I was, +when the sun began to rise that morning after the night of water. +Viewed in the magic light of morning, the road was not so bad, while +the lake, rippling in the wind, was a thing of beauty, and the swamp +was merely a swamp. The gate was right at the corner of a fence which +enclosed a very large farm. We could just barely see the house and barn +in the distance, set up on a sort of hill. The property ended on this +end at the gate, and just beyond it began the descent to the lake. How +we had gotten inside that fence the night before we never found out. We +must have crossed that entire farm in the darkness on a private road +which we mistook for the main road. + +In the broad light of day we descended the steep way down to the lake +and examined every foot of ground around it. It was all soft mud and if +Sahwah had been down there she must have left traces of some kind. But +the surface was unbroken save for a few tracks of birds. Clearly, she +had not fallen over the edge. Where, then, had she gone. The mud around +the gate was such soup that no footprints could be seen. Oh, if the +gate could only speak! + +"Could she have possibly found her way up to that farmhouse?" I asked. +"I don't see how she ever did it in the dark, but still it's a +possibility." + +So we dragged the gate open again and drove up to the farmhouse. The +men were just starting to work in the fields. It must be nice to work +where you can see the earth wake up every morning. There are times when +I simply long to be a milkmaid. A lean, sun-burned woman was washing +clothes out under the trees and she looked up in surprise when we +appeared. No, Sahwah had not been there. The mystery was still a +mystery. But from the height of the farmhouse we saw what we had not +seen from the level of the road, and that was that there was another +road running parallel to the one we had been on, skirting the swamp on +the other side and bordered by thick trees. From the gate we had +thought that those trees grew in the swamp, as we could not see the +road beyond it. Sahwah must have blundered into that road in the +darkness, we concluded, and thought she was going after us. + +We found a narrow lane leading to it, covered with water for most of +its length, and there, sure enough, we saw deep footprints in the new +road. We followed these, expecting to come upon her sitting in the +wayside every minute. But the footprints went on. There were no houses +along here; the only building we passed was an empty red barn covered +over with tobacco advertisements. A little farther on the road ran into +a highway and so did the footprints. A little beyond the turn Nyoda +spied something lying in the road. How she managed to see it is beyond +me, but Nyoda has eyes like a hawk. It was a button from Sahwah's coat. +Sahwah's button-shedding habit is very useful as a clue. + +"Here is a button; Sahwah can't be very far now," said Nyoda, +cheerfully. A sign post we passed said "Lafayette 20 miles." At last we +knew where we were. Deep ruts in the road showed where a car had passed +just ahead of us. Then all of a sudden the footprints came to a stop; +ended abruptly in the road, as if Sahwah had suddenly soared up into +the air. There was a low stone where the footprints came to a stop and +around it the mud was all trampled down. + +At first we were frightened to death, thinking that Sahwah had been +attacked and carried off. But the footprints did not lead anywhere. "Of +course, they don't," said Nyoda. "Whoever made them got into that car +and Sahwah did too. It's the car that's traveling ahead of us. It +stopped and picked Sahwah up." (Just how literally Sahwah had been +"picked up" we did not guess.) + +"What will we do now?" asked Nakwisi. + +"Follow the car," replied Nyoda. + +"It sounds like Cadmus and 'follow the cow'," said I. + +So we followed the ruts. The sun was up fair and warm by this time and +we were beginning to dry off beautifully. I took off my soaked shoes +and tied them out on the mud guard where they could bake. Nakwisi went +me one better in the scheme of decoration and hung hers on the lamp +bracket. Then we hung up our wet coats where they could fly in the +wind. Margery was cold all the time and we let her have the exclusive +use of the one robe, and the rest of us took turns being wrapped in the +Winnebago banner. It was blanket shaped and made of heavy felt and +served the purpose admirably. In a moment of forethought Sahwah had +taken it down from the back of the car just before we were caught in +the storm, and so it had escaped being soaked also. + +"This is traveling _de luxe_" said I, stretching out my stockinged +feet on the foot rail, and wiggling my cramped toes. + +"I don't know about de looks," said Nyoda with a twinkle, "but as long +as no one sees you it doesn't matter." + +"Who's making puns now?" inquired Nakwisi, severely. + +"What's this in the road?" asked Nyoda presently, as we came upon a +bundle of bright green. + +We stopped and picked it up. "It's a veil just like ours, and a hat," +said Nyoda. "It's Sahwah's veil and hat!" she exclaimed, looking in the +hatband where Sahwah's name was written. Then she discovered something +tied in the veil. It was Sahwah's address book and on the first page +was scrawled a message: + +"To those interested: + +Picked up by tourists. On way to Carrie Wentworth Inn, Chicago. + +SARAH ANN BREWSTER." + +Beside the signature was the familiar Sunfish which is Sahwah's symbol. +There was no doubt about the note being genuine. Besides, it could only +be quick-witted Sahwah who would think of leaving a blaze in the road +on the slender chance that we would be coming along that way. How it +smoothed everything out! Not knowing that we were so close behind her, +Sahwah had had a chance to go on to Chicago, and would simply go to our +hotel and wait until we came! What a long headed one Sahwah was, to be +sure! We could have played hide and seek with each other around those +roads for days and never found each other, the way the children did +around the voting booth, but by clearing out altogether and going to +our place of rendezvous she knew the chances of our meeting were much +greater. How she had managed to find tourists who were on the way to +Chicago was a piece of luck which could only have befallen Sahwah. + +"I think the best thing for us to do is to hunt some breakfast and then +make for Chicago as fast as we can," said Nyoda. "I've been thinking +that that would be the best way to find the others. We don't seem to +have been very successful in running around the country after them, and +if they managed to get the wire we sent to Chicago the other day they +will probably find us if we go there too." + +"Did Gladys start out with us, or didn't she?" asked Nakwisi, +thoughtfully. "I think sometimes it was all a delusion, and there were +no more than four of us at the start." + +"Sometimes I think so too," I agreed. Was the Striped Beetle a myth? We +had almost forgotten our original quest in the chase after Sahwah. + +We still debated uncertainly whether we had better go back to +Indianapolis and hunt for Gladys, now that we were reasonably certain +where Sahwah was, or go on to Chicago and make sure of her, at least. +There were so many arguments on both sides that we could come to no +decision and so we flipped a coin for it. Chicago won and the die was +cast. The next move was breakfast and a place to clean up. We looked as +though we had been fished out of the lake. Breakfast we would find in +the town of Lafayette, which we were approaching. But we faltered by +the wayside as usual. Whether or not that had any bearing on what +happened later I don't know, but Nyoda says it would have been the same +anyway, only different. Which is rather a neat little phrase, after +all, in spite of being impure English. To me our stop over was simply +another move in the game of checkers Fate was playing with us as +counters. + +The thing which caused us to falter by the wayside before we reached +Lafayette was a sign on a big, old-fashioned farmhouse near the road +which read: + +TOURISTS TOOK IN +Meals 35 cents + +Nyoda couldn't resist the delicious humor of it. She stopped before the +door. "You aren't going to stop here, are you?" I inquired. + +"I want to be 'took in'," declared Nyoda. "Just as if all the other +places don't do the same thing; only they aren't quite so frank about +it. I want to see the creator of that sign. So we drove into the big, +shady yard and parked the panting Glow-worm at the end of the long +drive under arching trees. Then we went up on the side porch and +knocked at the screen door while a black cat inspected us drowsily from +the cushioned depths of a porch chair. A bustling, red-faced woman came +to the door. + +"We're tourists," said Nyoda, "and we want to be took in. We want +breakfast." + +"Come in an' set on the table," said the woman, and we knew we had +found the author of the "Tourists Took In" sign. + +Upon our asking for water and soap we were directed to a room on the +second floor where a bowl and pitcher stood on a wash-stand and a towel +hung over a chair. + +"After having had such a dose of water last night I didn't think I'd +ever care to wash again," said Nakwisi, "but that wash bowl's the best +thing I've seen yet this morning. Hurry up and give me my turn." + +I got through as quickly as possible to stop her clamoring, and while +she scrubbed and primped I strolled over to the window, which +overlooked the road in front of the house. The high spots were already +drying in the warm wind. As I stood there I saw a speck coming down the +road which gradually grew to the proportions of a man on a motorcycle +exceeding the speed limit by about ten miles. He came to a stop in +front of the house with such a jerk that I thought he would pitch off +onto his head. He leaned the motorcycle against the porch and came up +the steps, and as he did so I recognized the light-haired young man +that had been in Rochester when we were. I must say it gave me a little +thrill of pleasure to see him again. + +The woman had evidently gone to the door in answer to his knock, for we +heard her voice the next instant. Every word came up distinctly through +the open window. + +"Are there five young ladies in tan suits here?" he demanded. +The woman was evidently offended at his curt manner. "What business is +it of yours?" she asked, in a harsh voice. + +"See here," he said sternly, "if you're in league with them and are +trying to hide them you'll get into trouble. They're wanted by the +police, and I'm here to arrest them." + +We looked at each other thunderstruck. Wanted by the police! It was all +a part of the strange mystery that had been surrounding us for the last +few days. Could they be after us on account of the necklace? + +"Tell me at once," persisted the man, "are they here, or did they go +by?" + +The woman evidently saw visions of her four breakfasts remaining +uneaten and consequently un-paid for if she delivered us up, and tried +to parley. "There's no such people here," she said brazenly, "they went +by over an hour ago." + +"They did nothing of the kind," said the young man, "they turned in +here. I saw them across the field where the road turns." + +"You can come in an' set in the parlor," said the woman firmly, "an' +don't you set a foot in the rest of the house, an' I'll bring them to +you." + +We heard the front door open and close; then a movement in the room +below us and the squeak of a chair as somebody sat down. Then we heard +the door shut and the footsteps of the woman toward the back part of +the house. + +"I believe she locked him in," said Nyoda, laughing in the midst of her +bewilderment, "and she doesn't mean to produce us until we've paid for +that breakfast. It's too bad to disappoint her, but necessity comes +before choice." + +"What do you mean to do?" I asked. + +Margery was as pale as a ghost. "It's my uncle after me," she gasped. +"Oh, don't let them get me!" + +I was too stupefied to say another word. That the nice young man with +the light hair should turn out to be a police agent after us was too +much for my comprehension. + +Nyoda held up her hand for us to be silent and led us on tiptoe into a +room which opened off at one side of the hall. She led us to the +window, and we could see that it overlooked the yard on the other side +from the dining-room and, that it opened out on a porch roof. A little +way off we saw the Glow-worm standing under the trees. Nyoda crept out +of the window and swung herself down to the ground by means of a flower +trellis and we followed, helping Margery. Then we raced across the yard +to the Glow-worm and started it just as a car drove by tooting its horn +for dear life so that the sound of our engine was drowned in the noise. + +We reached the road without going past the house and Nyoda opened the +throttle wide. The last glimpse we had of the house where the tourists +were "took in" was of a motorcycle leaning up against the porch. Our +one thought was to get Margery safely to Chicago before the detective +got her and took her back to her uncle. Nyoda had friends in Chicago +who would take Margery in until she could go safely to Louisville in +the event we could not take her with us. We knew that it would not be +long before the man on the motorcycle would find out that we had +escaped and would take the road after us, and we must not lose a +minute. Lafayette flew by our eyes a mere line of stores and houses; we +hardly slackened our speed going through, and then we began the long +run northward to Chicago. We saw people turn to look at us as we rushed +along, and then their faces blurred and vanished from sight. Now and +then a chicken flew up right under the very wheels and once we ran over +one. But we went on, on, unheeding. Then we struck a stretch of soft +road and thought for a minute we were going to get stuck. + +"Would you get through any better if you threw me overboard?" asked +Nakwisi. "I'm pretty heavy." Nyoda only smiled and put on more speed +and we went through. Margery's face was chalk white and her eyes were +wide with fear; but excited as I was, I was enjoying the flight +immensely. This was life. I thought of all the famous rides in history +that I used to thrill over; _Paul Revere's Ride, How they Brought the +Good News from Ghent to Aix, Tam o' Shanter's Famous Ride_, and all +the others. Sahwah will regret to her dying day that she missed it. + +Halfway to Chicago, Nakwisi, who was keeping a sharp lookout with her +spy-glass, reported that there was a motorcycle chasing us about half a +mile behind. The Glow-worm leapt forward a trifle faster under Nyoda's +steady hand, but she never flicked an eyelash. Nyoda is simply a marvel +of self-control in an emergency. + +Soon we could all see the pursuer without the aid of the glass. He was +gaining on us rapidly. We were approaching a railroad crossing and +there was a train coming. If we had to wait until it went by we would +be overtaken surely. Nyoda measured the distance between the train and +the crossing with a swift eye and put on the last bit of speed of which +the Glow-worm was capable. We bumped across the tracks just as the +gates were beginning to go down. A minute later the way behind us was +cut off by one of those interminably long, slow moving freight trains, +and one the other side of the barrier was the impotent pursuer. + +But the time gained by this lucky incident merely postponed the +inevitable end of the chase. When did a loaded car ever outrun a +motorcycle? We watched him approaching, helpless to ward off the thing +which was coming, yet running on at the top of our speed, hoping +against hope that his gas would give out or he would run into +something. But none of these things happened and he drew alongside of +us and caught hold of the fender. + +Nyoda slowed down and came to a stop. "What do you want?" she asked, +haughtily. + +"Your little game is up," said the man, quietly. + +Nyoda faced him bravely, determined not to give Margery up without a +struggle. "Will you kindly tell me what you mean?" she asked. + +The motorcyclist grinned. "Don't try to play off innocent," he said, +severely. "You know as well as I do what I mean. But it isn't you I'm +after most," he continued. "It's this one," and he pointed to Margery. +Margery buried her face in Nyoda's arm. Nyoda saw it was no use. "Are +you looking for Margery Anderson?" she asked. + +"Margery Anderson!" said the man, with another grin. "That's a new one +on me. But she changes so often there's no keeping track of her. She +may be Margery Anderson now, but the one I'm after is Sal Jordan, +better known as 'Light Fingered Sal', the slickest pickpocket and +shoplifter between New York and San Francisco." + +We all stared at him open-mouthed. "Oh, you may have forgotten about +it," he said sarcastically, "but I'll refresh your memory." He was +speaking to Margery now. "After you robbed that jewelry store in Toledo +you got away with such a narrow squeak that the doors of the police +station almost closed on you. Your friends didn't dare show themselves +in town, so they went riding around in an automobile, pretending they +were tourists, and you joined them out in the country somewhere. I've +had my eye on you ever since you left Ft. Wayne. But we had word you +were going to Indianapolis to carry on another little piece of business +and I thought I'd let you go free awhile and catch you with the goods +on. But you gave me the slip and didn't go, and I must say you've led +me a fine chase. But it's all over now and you'll go along with me to +Chicago like a little lamb with all your pretty friends." + +He looked us over carefully. "Where's the other one?" he asked, +suddenly. "There were five of you before. Great Scott!" he exclaimed. +"You've sent her back to Indianapolis. Pretty cute, Sal, but it won't +do any good. They're watching for her." + +We sat petrified, looking at Margery. She had collapsed on the seat +with her face in her hands--the very picture of Admission of Guilt. +"Margery!" cried Nyoda, "is it true?" + +But Margery shook her head. "I don't know anything about it," she said. + +"You're mistaken," said Nyoda cooly to the man, "we know nothing +whatever about this Sal person." Just then she drew her hand from her +pocket with a convulsive movement, and out flew the scarab at the man's +feet. He picked it up with a triumphant movement. + +"Oh, no, you don't know anything about it," he said. "But you are +carrying Sal's scarab, which is the countersign between the members of +her gang. As I mentioned before, your little game is up." + +"Margery!" said Nyoda the second time, "is it true?" But Margery buried +her face in her hands and said nothing. + +Our thoughts went whirling in somersaults. The girl we had picked up +was not Margery, but "Light Fingered Sal", a pickpocket! + +The appearance of the scarab and the scene at the ball when Nyoda had +found the necklace in her pocket came over us like a flash. What dupes +we had been never to suspect the truth before! + +The procession moved on again with the motorcyclist keeping hold of the +fender. Thus it was that we came into Chicago, under police escort, and +were chaperoned up the steps of the police station. + +Once inside, we blinked around with greater wonder than we had at +anything which had happened so far. + +Against the wall were standing in a row: Gladys, Chapa, Medmangi, +Hinpoha, Sahwah between a strange man and woman, four young women we +had never seen before but who wore suits and veils exactly like ours, +and a girl in a blue suit. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +Before we had finished staring at each other in stupefied surprise the +door opened again, and a woman ran in, at the sight of whom "Sal" +darted forward and threw herself into her arms. + +"Margery!" cried the newcomer. + +"Mother!" cried the girl. + +A few steps behind the woman came a man and he looked coldly at the +two. "You have forestalled us, I see, Mrs. Anderson," he said, coldly. +The girl was Margery Anderson after all! I shall never forget the +expression on the light-haired detective's face when he saw Margery +rush into that woman's arms. He turned all shades of red and purple and +looked ready to burst. + +"Confound that Sal!" we heard him mutter under his breath. "She's given +us the slip again." + +Then we happened to look at Sahwah and the two people with whom she was +standing. Sahwah was doubled up with laughter and the man and woman +were as surprised looking as the detective. The man reminded me of +nothing so much as a collapsed balloon. + +It was the queerest police station scene anyone could imagine. Instead +of making charges against us the various policemen and detectives all +looked bewildered and uncertain how to proceed. Everybody looked at +everybody else; and everybody waited to see what would happen next. And +things kept right on happening. The door opened a second time and an +officer came in leading a young woman in a stylish blue suit. Her +appearance seemed to create a profound sensation with Gladys and +Hinpoha and Chapa and Medmangi; they all uttered an exclamation at once +and started forward. The one in blue looked at them and then burst into +a mocking laugh. The four unknown girls dressed like us and the other +one in blue seemed to be good friends of hers for they hailed each +other familiarly. + +"The game's up, dearies," said the newcomer, gaily. "My, but I did have +the good time, though, playing the abused little maiden. Took you in +beautifully, didn't I?" she said over her shoulder to Gladys. "Maybe +Sal can't act like an angel when she wants to!" + +"Light Fingered Sal!" exclaimed the detective who had brought us in, +staring at her fascinated. "And all the rest of your company! Can't +really blame me for getting on the wrong scent," he remarked, looking +from them to us. "The only description I had was the suits and they are +identical. Well, you're safe home, Sal, safe home at last," he added, +with a grin. Sal and her companions were taken out then and we saw them +no more. + +Then we heard the officer who had brought her in tell his tale to the +detective. A man in an automobile had come to him that morning and said +he had been robbed of his pocketbook and watch by a young woman he had +picked up on the road. He had run into her and knocked her down and was +taking her to her home. After he had put her down at the address she +gave him he discovered that his property was missing and returned to +the house, but could get no answer to his ring. The officer took note +of the address and promised to keep an eye on the place. Later on he +saw a young woman come out of the house and enter a near-by pawn shop. +He followed her and saw that she was pawning the watch whose +description had been given him. He arrested her and discovered she was +the famous Light Fingered Sal, whom the police of a dozen cities were +looking for. The house was searched, but the other inmates had fled. +But it seems that they were fleeing in an automobile and went several +miles beyond the speed limit with the result that they were brought +into the station, where their real identity was established. They were +the four tourists in tan and the one in blue, whom we had blindly +followed out of Toledo, thinking they were Gladys and the other girls +in the Striped Beetle. Sal still had the man's purse in her pocket when +she was brought into the station and the owner was notified of that +fact while we stood there. + +Again, it was these friends of Sal's who had been ahead of us at the +hotel in Ft. Wayne, whom the check man had told us about and who had +left for Chicago by way of Ligonier. Together with Sal, they had +committed some daring thefts in Toledo stores, and when the police had +almost caught them they had escaped in an automobile. There had been no +time to wait for Sal; they trusted her to join them somewhere along the +road. The police were so hot on her trail that she had to spend the +night in the empty storeroom where Hinpoha had found her, waiting until +after dark that night to venture out. Then Mr. Bob had blundered in on +her hiding-place, followed by Hinpoha. Sal saw her chance of working on +Hinpoha's sympathies and so getting out of Toledo, and how she +accomplished it we already know. She told her a well fabricated tale of +being accused wrongfully of taking a paper from the office safe, and +played the role of the helpless country girl in the city, with the +result that the girls took her in tow and set out to find Nyoda. She +assumed airs of helplessness until they did not think her capable of +lacing her own shoes. All the while she was keeping a sharp lookout for +the police along the road. At the same time she found out that the +girls were carrying all their money in their handbags. + +At first, she had intended staying with them until she got to Chicago, +as that was her destination, but the losing of the trunk made them go +to Indianapolis, where the automobile races had drawn great crowds from +everywhere. She was sorely tempted to break away from the girls there +and slip into the crowd, where she could gather a rich harvest; but she +had been afraid that the police would be watching for her and decided +that the prudent thing would be to go to Chicago. But after they had +actually left Indianapolis and she began to think of what she had +missed, she wished she had stayed there. She blinded the girls to her +real character by pretending to know nothing about any kind of worldly +pleasure and amusement, and acted as though she disapproved of +everything gay, and Gladys had remarked somewhat loftily that when she +had seen a little more of life she would not be so narrow in her views! + +Then the girls had seen the flowers growing beside the river and had +gotten out of the car to walk among them, leaving her to sit in the car +and hold their purses. It was as if opportunity had fallen directly +into her lap. The lure of the crowd at Indianapolis was too strong and +she started to drive back, leaving the girls minus their money and +their car. But some distance down the road the car had come to a stop +and she could not make it go on. She did not know that the gasoline had +given out. She abandoned it in the road and walked across country until +she came to the electric line, which she had taken into Indianapolis. +She had a narrow escape from the police there and took the train for +Chicago. There she had been run into by the man in the automobile and +her fertile brain had whispered to her to feign injury and have him +take her home. While she was in the car she had managed to get the +watch and purse. Later she tried to pawn the watch and was caught. + +The detective, who had started out from Toledo after her had never seen +her or her companions and had somehow gotten onto our trail and +believed we were the ones. He had made no attempt to arrest us when he +first came up with us, because he believed there were still others in +her crowd and he wanted to wait until she joined them in Chicago and so +get a bigger catch in his net, when he finally drew it in. He had +waited around Rochester simply on our account; there had been nothing +the matter with his motorcycle at all. We had told him ourselves we +were going to Chicago, and then he had heard Nyoda telegraphing to +friends at the Carrie Wentworth Inn there. He had told Mrs. Moffat to +keep a close watch on us because we were dangerous characters, and she +had promptly put us out of the house. The news spread through the town +like wild-fire that there was a gang of pickpockets there and wherever +we went we were watched. That accounted for the queer actions of the +various storekeepers. But then, who had given us the address of 22 +Spring Street when Mrs. Moffat had turned us out? That point still +remained to be cleared up. + +When we abruptly left town in the direction of Indianapolis the +detective had followed us, but the storm had thrown him off our track. +He had come across us the next day near Lafayette and had made up his +mind to hold on to us that time. Our headlong flight when we became +aware of his presence drove all doubt away as to our being the ones, +and then when he had seen the scarab the last link was forged in the +chain which held us. + +The timely arrest of Sal and her companions and the arrival of +Margery's mother had naturally wrought sad havoc with the charges upon +which we had all been brought into the station, and instead of feeling +like criminals we all sat around and talked as if we were perfectly at +home in a police station. The facts I am telling you somewhat in order +all came out bit by bit and sometimes everybody talked at once, so it +would be useless to try to put it down just the way it was said. + +When Nyoda finally got the floor, she told about the finding of the +scarab and about our being taken into the McClure home and sent down to +the ballroom where she later found the diamond necklace in her pocket. +This tale created a profound sensation and now it was the turn of the +detective who had brought in Gladys and those girls to look foolish. +The police asked us the minutest details about the appearance of the +servants who had admitted us. We told about the maid Carrie with the +black eyes which were not the same height and one of the detectives +nodded his head eagerly. "Black-Eyed Susan," he said. "She's one of the +crowd we're after." He also recognized the footman with the blue vein +in his nose and the chauffeur with the crooked fingers. We were praised +highly for having observed those little things. + +Then it was that we found the solution of the mystery which had been +tantalizing us since the night of the ball, and which we thought we had +found when we believed Margery to be Sal. That diamond robbery had been +skilfully planned as soon as the invitations for the ball were sent. +Three of the crowd were in the employ of Mrs. McClure. It happened that +these three did not know Sal and her intimates personally. They had +been instructed that on the evening of the ball five young women would +arrive in an automobile. They were to be admitted into the house and +gotten into the ballroom. Carrie was to do the actual robbery, slipping +the necklace into the pocket of one of the five. They would then leave +the ballroom and ride away. Their automobile was to be kept in +readiness at the door and the way made clear when the time came. The +mark of identification of these five was to be a certain scarab which +one would carry in her pocket. Naturally, when Nyoda had dropped the +scarab out of her pocket that day the chauffeur had taken us for the +five. The rest you know. + +The only hitch in their plans had been the maid Agnes. Carrie had an +idea that she suspected her for some reason or other and was afraid she +would think there was something strange in our being admitted into the +house and made ready for the ball. She had therefore taken advantage of +our drenched condition to pretend that we were merely seeking shelter +from the storm. Then, in Agnes's hearing, she had come in and said that +Mrs. McClure wanted us to attend the ball. That made everything regular +in Agnes's eyes and apparently cleared Carrie of connivance. + +The person who had put the scarab into Nyoda's pocket had been still +another member of the crowd who had gotten on the trail of the wrong +ones. He was to drop it into the pocket of one of the five girls in +motor costumes who would be at the Ft. Wayne hotel at a certain time. +The real ones found themselves too closely watched by the police to +attempt the diamond robbery, and abandoned it, heading straight for +Chicago. Thus they went through Ft. Wayne a day before they were +expected and did not stop. We came on the day they were expected and +got away before he could give it to us. He, therefore, trailed us to +Rochester and dropped it into Nyoda's pocket when she sat in the +restaurant eating lunch. + +Of course, we did not find out everyone of these facts in the police +station that day, although I am telling them as if we did. One of Sal's +companions later turned state's evidence and it was from her statement +that we got the whole story. When the scarab was produced everybody +crowded around it curiously. It was one which was stolen from a private +collection in Boston some time before, and occasional rumors had leaked +out about it's being used as a sign of identification between members +of the gang who were so scattered that they did not all know each +other. + +The light-haired detective left in a great hurry to get the three +servants in the McClure home. I might say right here, however, that he +never got them, for they had fled on the finding of the necklace in the +jardinier, fearing an investigation. + +There was so much that happened that afternoon in the police station +that I really don't know what to tell first. I suppose the reader has +been wondering all the time what has become of Margery Anderson and how +it happened that her mother appeared on the scene just at that time. It +seems that she was in Chicago on business and had gone to the office of +her brother-in-law, Margery's uncle. He was out and she was waiting for +him. While she was there she heard the stenographer take a message over +the telephone to the effect that Margery was in the police station, and +leaving the office hurriedly she had gone right down, determined to get +there before Margery's uncle did. She found Margery as we already know, +not in the company of the man and woman, as she had expected, but with +us three. When Margery's uncle finally received the message he also +hastened to the station, but it was too late. Margery was with her mother +and he could not take her away again. + +Sahwah came over and stood by us, breaking into giggles every few +minutes at the discomfiture of Mr. and Mrs. Watterson, in spite of her +heroic efforts to keep a straight face. Her captors left the station +very red and uncomfortable after their little business with the police +was over. + +By the time all our stories were told we were good friends with the +police lieutenant and all the officers standing around, who were +inclined to be pleased with us because we had helped bring Sal and +her crowd into their hands. This would be a feather in their cap, +although, of course, we would get no official credit. + +Finally, there were only Nyoda and the seven Winnebagos left in the +station, and when one of the officers offered to show us around Nyoda +accepted the invitation gladly. She is always anxious that we should +see as much as possible. Nyoda stood and talked to the matron a long +time while we went on through, and when we came back she was invisible. +We waited awhile, but she did not appear. + +"She's probably waiting for us out in the room where the fat one is," +said Sahwah. "The fat one" was her disrespectful way of referring to +the police chief. (Sahwah saw me writing this down and corrected me, +saying that he wasn't the chief; he was a lieutenant, because we were +in a branch station, but I have always thought of him as chief.) So we +moved back toward the "main reception-room". + +"What's in there?" asked Sahwah, pointing to a closed door. Sahwah, +like the Elephant's Child, was filled with 'satiable' curiosity. + +"It's the matron's room," answered the row of brass buttons, who was +guiding us. + +"May we look in?" asked Sahwah. + +"May if you like," answered the row of buttons. + +Sahwah quietly opened the door and we looked in. We looked in and we +kept on looking. In fact, we couldn't have taken our eyes away if we +had wanted to. For there in that matron's office--the matron was not +there--stood Nyoda, and there stood the Frog, _and he had his arms +around her and he was kissing her_! + +By the time we had gotten our breath back again they were miles apart, +nearly the whole width of the carpet runner, and the Frog had his +goggles off and explanations were in full swing. The Frog was Sherry, +Nyoda's camp serenader of the summer before. They had been corresponding +ever since and he had been to see her several times, although we did not +know it. They had been almost engaged at the beginning of the summer +and then they quarreled and Nyoda sent him away. + +He was touring the country all by himself in a mood of great dejection +and happened to see us in the dining-room at Toledo. He followed so he +could be near her. His big goggles and the mustache he had grown during +the summer were an effectual disguise. He had kept a respectful +distance, afraid to make himself known, for fear Nyoda would order him +off. So he had followed us and it was a merry chase we had led him, I must +say. When the impudent young man had spoken to us in the hotel parlor +at Wellsville he had promptly called him down for it and that had caused +the uproar we had heard when we ran out to the garage. Later, he had +led us out of the burning hotel to the back window where we made our +escape. Then, while we were in the house dressing, he had gone to get +the Glow-worm out of the threatened garage. He was driving it across the +park to a place of safety when we had seen him and thought he was +stealing the car. He wouldn't even take advantage of the great service +he had rendered us in piloting us through the burning building to present +himself to Nyoda. When we thought he was making off with Margery he +was taking a girl to her home in the next town. It seemed that everything +conspired to make the poor man appear the villain when he was in reality +the hero. + +He thought he had lost us that night in the fog, but the next morning +he turned around and there we were behind him. When Nyoda tried to +overtake him, he fled. But he had followed us to Rochester and it had +been he who had given us the address of the woman on Spring Street +after Mrs. Moffat had turned us out. He had heard Nyoda arguing with +Mrs. Moffat at the front door and thought it was about the price of the +rooms; he did not know that we were in any such predicament as we were. + +He had found out that we intended going to Chicago and when we +disappeared so suddenly from the town he thought we had gone there and +had followed, but did not overtake us. Inside the city he had run into +Light Fingered Sal and while charitably taking her to her home, as he +supposed, she had relieved him of his watch and his money. He had +notified the police and some time later had been summoned to the --th +precinct station to recover his property. There he had seen Nyoda in +the matrons' office. What happened between that time and the moment +when Sahwah opened the door was never made public, but it was evidently +highly satisfactory to him. + +There remains but one more tangled thread to straighten out. That +concerns the trunks. We did not find out the truth until long after. +Gladys's trunk had actually been put onto Mr. Hansen's car in Ft. +Wayne, but he had lost it on the way and it was picked up by a man who +went through Wellsville the night of the fire. In the excitement it was +left in the garage, where it was found by the proprietor and sent us in +answer to our description. The one which we had left in Wellsville was +taken by the salesman of the Curline stuff and returned to Gladys's +address several weeks later, rather battered on the outside, but still +intact as to contents. Gladys was aghast when she thought of the trunk +she had forcibly wrested from the man on the road. She left it there in +the police station in the hope that the real owner would get it some +day. That was the last we ever heard of it. Whether the man had +actually stolen it, and who the initials GME of Cleveland referred to +we never found out. + +The reason Gladys's second wire to us in Rochester was not received was +that she had absent-mindedly written Rochester, N. Y., instead of +Rochester, Ind. + +Well, as far as adventures are concerned, the tale of our trip is told. +The rest was uneventful and the telling of it would be uninteresting, +as it would consist mainly of descriptions of scenery and places, which +the reader already knows by heart from other books. Sherry hinted +strongly that a red car would be a great addition to our color scheme, +but Nyoda firmly refused to let him come with us. She had enough to +look after when she had us, she insisted, without trying to keep him out +of mischief. Besides, ours was a strictly family party and he was not one +of the family--yet. So he meekly continued his journey to Denver as +originally planned, while we went south to Louisville. + +Then once more we followed "along the road that leads the way," the +yellow road unwinding like a ribbon under our wheels, but this time we +didn't build any Rain Jinx before we started. + + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Campfire Girls Go Motoring +by Hildegard G. 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