THE CLEW
"I cannot go another step," sighed the girl with Tavia, just as
Morrison passed.
"Hush!" cautioned Tavia. "I would rather die than have him see us! I
simply cannot stand the thoughts of it all, and on _his_ account."
They had succeeded in getting behind a huge tree at the side of the
path. The man sauntered along and stopped within five feet of them.
The sick girl was cringing with pain. The injured foot became more
painful every moment.
"What is he looking for?" whispered Tavia. "If he only----"
"There's some one else coming," said Molly. "I hear voices."
"Yes. A crowd of men! They must not see us," declared Tavia. "Oh, they
are in uniform! They are after some one!"
"Me!" moaned Molly. "Oh, don't let them take me! I must stay with you.
I can get help----"
They crouched down in the deep grass. The man out on the path was
still there, beating a tree with his stick. He did not seem to notice
the approaching crowd.
The strangers were up to him now.
"That's him!" the girls heard them say. "That's Morrison."
"Who are you?" demanded the queer man.
"Well, we are just friends," said a tall man with a gold-trimmed cap.
"We have been looking for you. Won't you come over to the hotel and
stay for the night?"
"Not much," replied Morrison. "I never go into hotels--I only go on
the legitimate stage. I was never a cheap actor."
"Well, come along to the legitimate stage then," said the man kindly.
"We will take good care of you."
"I have lost a friend," went on Morrison, in a rambling way, "and
until she is found I do not leave these woods."
Tavia's heart stood still. Would the men find them?
"Oh," sighed the girl with the injured foot, "I will throw myself into
the creek before I will go back to the----"
"Hush! They have got him!"
Two strong men had taken hold of Morrison. At the signal of a shrill
whistle two other men came up the path.
Morrison struggled frantically. In the excitement Tavia and Molly
stepped out of their hiding place, but there was so much confusion
trying to overcome Morrison, that the girls were not noticed.
"Oh, mercy!" gasped Molly, "they will hurt him."
"Not likely," said Tavia. "They are hospital attendants."
"There is the wagon! Oh, I remember it! They took me in that!"
"Molly, dear! You are not to remember anything--except that you are
with me!"
"But what shall we do when they go? It is night!"
"We will find shelter some place. I am an expert on finding shelter!"
The girl rested her head against Tavia's shoulder. Whatever
compunction Tavia had felt for her part in the unfortunate state of
affairs, she felt at ease now in the thought that she had saved this
girl. That the hospital men were attending to Morrison, and that he
would soon be out of reach of harming her, also consoled Tavia.
"It is not bad here," she said. "I am sure there are cottages near
by."
"I--don't--remember," breathed Molly. "I guess I was never out this
way before."
"If only I knew---- But what is the use of my acting like a baby?"
exclaimed Tavia. "I am sure the folks at camp think me dead. Dorothy,
especially, will be heartbroken."
"They are taking him away!"
The men had seized the struggling Morrison, and were carrying him to
the roadside, where the wagon stood waiting.
Tavia wondered if she was doing right or wrong in not making her
presence known. Then she thought how hard it would be to have Mary
again placed in a sanitarium, and she decided to fight her way alone.
But it was getting dark. They could now barely see the men lifting
that struggling form into the closely-covered wagon.
"I wonder how they knew he was here?" mused Tavia. "If they had not
found him what would have become of us?"
"Oh, my foot! I am sure something is broken!"
With these words Molly sank down, helpless. The wagon had rattled off,
and again the girls were alone in that deep wood, with night settling
down.
"I am strong," declared Tavia. "I can carry you."
"But where can we go? Oh, I did not know I was hurt! I am afraid my
leg is broken!" sobbed Molly.
"There must be some house or hut near here," declared Tavia, "and I
will carry you along until we reach it. We can not spend the night
here, starving."
The strange girl was indeed light in weight. Naturally slight, her
sickness had also taken flesh from her, so that when Tavia put her
arms about her, and the other threw her arms over Tavia's shoulders,
the two trudged along over the rough path, and soon were out on a
roadway.
"There is a camp over there," said Tavia, as they came in sight of
something white, just showing through the sunset. "We must go to
that."
"I can walk," insisted Molly. "It is too much----"
"So can I carry you," argued Tavia, "and if you have any bones broken
you must not strain them further."
It did seem a long way to the tent, but the road that led up to it
showed travel, and was therefore more easily followed.
"Strange I am not afraid of anything," murmured Molly. "If we do have
to stay in the woods all night, I shall not be afraid."
"That is because you are stunned--you had a very bad fall," said
Tavia. "I feel that way myself--I have gone through a great deal,
lately, too."
"Now, let me walk--it is only a step," begged Molly, at the same
moment getting down from Tavia's arms. "Here we are right at the
tent."
Welcome shelter! Never were two girls more in need of it.
"And the queer part of it is," said Tavia, "I am supposed to be a
joke--to get and take everything funny. This is certainly no joke. How
do you feel, dear? I hope these people will let us in. We may get some
camping days after all."
They timidly made their way to the tent. It was closed!
"No lights," remarked Molly. "Oh, Tavia. My head hurts again!"
"Mercy!" exclaimed Tavia, without showing why she was so alarmed. "Do
you suppose it is just a headache or----"
Molly had sunk down on her knees. Tavia sprang to the flap of the
tent, and dragged the rope from the stake.
"Empty!" she cried. "But we must get in. Come, Molly, I can lift you,
and whoever may be the owners of the camp, surely they will not turn
us out to-night."
"But if they are rough men----"
"No, rough men do not furnish a tent like this. See the pictures
pinned up; and what is this?"
Tavia had lighted a candle that was placed conveniently near the flap,
with matches at hand, showing that whoever lived in the tent intended
to return at dark, and so had their light ready. Beside this candle
was a printed slip of paper. Tavia read:
"A thousand dollars reward for information that will lead to
the finding, dead or alive, of Dorothy Dale and Tavia
Travers."
"Dorothy gone too!" shrieked Tavia. "Then they are scouring the woods
for us, and that is why this camp is deserted!"
"If only I could walk!" breathed Molly.
"Never mind. We will stay here--until something else happens--but who
can tell what that may be!"
The shock of the news about Dorothy absolutely stunned Tavia. With it
went all her strength, all her courage, and she felt then like lying
down to die!