A FOOLISH PROCEEDING
Reluctantly enough, Bessie yielded to his request. If she had known how
to avoid introducing Holmes to Dolly, she would have done it. But she
was not old enough, and not experienced enough, to understand how to
manage such an affair. Had there been occasion, Miss Eleanor, of course,
could have snubbed a man and still been perfectly polite while she was
doing it. But Bessie had not reached that point yet.
"Are you staying down here together? How very pleasant!" said Holmes.
"This seems to be a beautiful place from the road, but of course one
can't see very much from an automobile."
"We're down here with our Camp Fire--a lot of the girls," explained
Dolly, hurriedly. "Miss Mercer is Guardian of the Camp Fire, and this is
her father's farm. It is a nice place, but it's dreadfully slow. Just
fancy, there isn't a place anywhere around where we can even get an
ice-cream soda!"
"Dolly!" said Bessie, in a low voice, reproachfully. "You mustn't--"
"What a tragedy!" said Holmes, laughing.
"Oh, of course, you don't know what it is to have a craving for soda and
not be able to get it!" said Dolly, pouting. "So you laugh at me--"
Holmes was all regret in a moment.
"My dear Miss Dolly!" he protested. "I wasn't laughing at you at
all--really I wasn't! I was smiling at the idea of there being such a
primitive place in a civilized country. Really, I was! And I'm sure it
is a tragedy. I believe I'm as fond of ice-cream soda as you, if I am
such an old fellow. And, after all, though it seems so tragic, it's
easily mended, you know. I happen to remember passing a most attractive
looking drug store in a town about five miles back, and that's no ride
at all in this car. Jump in, both of you, and I'll run you there and
back in no time!"
"Oh, that's awfully kind of you, but I really think we shouldn't,"
stammered Dolly, who had meant, as soon as she saw that Holmes knew
Bessie, to get that invitation.
"Of course we shouldn't, Dolly," said Bessie, irritated, since she saw
through Dolly's rather transparent little scheme at once. "It's very
kind of you, Mr. Holmes, but we mustn't think of troubling you so much.
Dolly doesn't really want an ice-cream soda at all; she just thinks she
does, and she's much better off without it."
"Oh, come, that's very unkind, Miss Bessie! I can see that your friend
is really suffering for a strawberry ice-cream soda. And you mustn't
talk as if I would be taking any trouble. I'm just riding around the
country aimlessly, for want of something better to do. I'm not going
anywhere in particular, and it doesn't matter when I get there or if
I never get there at all. I'm just a useless man, too old to work any
longer. Surely you won't refuse to let me make myself useful to a young
lady in distress?"
"Oh," said Dolly. "Really, is that so, Mr. Holmes? Wouldn't it be a
dreadful amount of trouble to you? Of course, if that's so, and you
really want us to come--"
"Nonsense, Dolly!" said Bessie, severely. "We can't go, and we must be
getting back to the house. Thank you ever so much, Mr. Holmes--and
good-morning!"
But Dolly was not to be deprived of her treat so easily.
"I think you're very rude, Bessie!" she said, bridling. "That may be the
proper way to act in the country where you came from, but it's not the
way we do things in the city at all. Thank you very much, Mr. Holmes,
and I shall be very pleased to accept your kind invitation, if you're
sure it's not troubling you."
"There you are, Miss Bessie!" said Holmes, heartily. "Now, you won't be
so unkind as to let Miss Dolly come with me alone, will you? She's
coming, and I think you'd better change your mind and come, too."
Poor Bessie was in a quandary. She knew that Miss Mercer, even though
she had laughed at her suspicions of Mr. Holmes, would not approve of
such a prank as this; but she knew, also, that Dolly, inclined to be
defiant and to resent the exercise of any authority, would not be moved
by that argument. And, in the presence of Holmes, she could hardly
tell Dolly the story of Zara's disappearance and her own suspicions
concerning the part that Holmes, or, at least, his car, had played in
it. Neither, she felt, could she let Dolly go alone. The chances were
that Holmes meant no harm, but she knew that Miss Eleanor had put Dolly
in her charge in a measure, and she felt responsible for her new chum.
So, displeased as she was, Bessie climbed into the car after Dolly, who
had already taken her place in the tonneau, and in a moment they were
off, taking the road that led away from Deer Crossing. Holmes only
smiled as she got in the car, but before he put on his dust glasses
Bessie was sure that she saw a look of triumph in his eyes, as if he had
succeeded beyond his hopes in some plan he had formed. Bessie did not at
all relish the prospect of the little adventure upon which Dolly's whim
had launched her, but she decided to take it with a good grace, since,
now that she was in the car, she had to see it through.
Once the car was under way, going fast, Mr. Holmes had to devote all his
attention to driving, and, as it was a large one, there was so much
noise the two girls could talk without being heard.
"I suppose you're awfully mad at me," said Dolly, in a whisper, looking
at Bessie's stern face. "Oh, Bessie, I couldn't help it! He was so nice
about it, and it was such a lovely chance to tease you! I do try to be
good, but every time I see a chance to do anything like that I just
can't seem to help it."
"I asked you not to. You could see I didn't want to go, Dolly. And if
we're going to be friends, you oughtn't to force me into doing things I
don't want to do."
"Oh Bessie, you're not going to be mean about it, and keep on being
angry? You won't tell Miss Eleanor, will you? She'd send me home--I know
she would!"
"I won't tell her, and I'm not going to be angry, either, Dolly. But I'm
very much afraid you'll be sorry yourself before we get back to the
farm, and I don't see how Miss Eleanor can help finding out, because I'm
pretty sure Mr. Holmes isn't going to get us back in time for lunch."
"Why, Bessie, he said he would--he promised! Don't you think he means to
keep his word?"
"I hope so, Dolly, but he told me something once that wasn't so,
and--oh, well, let's not worry about it now, anyhow. I can't explain
everything to you now, there isn't time. It's a lovely ride, isn't it?
We might as well enjoy ourselves, now that we're in for it."
"That's what I say, Bessie. There's no use crying over spilt milk, is
there? And I guess it will be all right. I think he's awfully nice, I
don't see why you don't like him."
"You will when you know as much as I do, Dolly, I'm afraid. But we won't
talk any more about that. Oh, look, there is a town, right here! We're
coming into it now, do you see? Probably this is the place Mr. Holmes
meant he was going to bring us to."
But Bessie's fears were redoubled a minute or so later, when the car,
without slackening speed at all, shot through a street that was lined
with shops, two or three of which, as they could see, were drug stores
with ice-cream soda signs that they could easily read even from the fast
moving car.
Looking at Bessie as if she were already a little frightened and sorry,
Dolly leaned over and touched Mr. Holmes on the shoulder.
"Aren't you going to stop here?" she asked, "I'm sure those are awfully
nice looking stores Mr. Holmes."
He slowed up the car at once, and turned to them with a pleasant smile.
"Oh, this isn't the place I meant at all," he said. "I don't know
anything about the stores here. The place I was thinking of is much
better, and it's not very far away. Besides, it's early yet, and I think
we ought to have as much of a ride as we can, don't you?"
Dolly looked dubious. One glance at Bessie had show her that her chum
was not prepared to accept this explanation. But they had no choice, for
Holmes, seeming to take their assent to his plan for granted, had turned
on full power, and the car was roaring out into open country again, but
now in a direction almost at right angles to its former course. They
were traveling due west, and Bessie, without anything definite to alarm
her, felt herself growing more and more nervous with the passing
minutes. She felt that something was wrong.
Her distrust of Holmes, save for so much of it as was due to his
statement that he had never been in Hedgeville, when she herself had
seen him there, was almost wholly instinctive, but Bessie knew that
instinct is sometimes a better guide than reason, and she began to
regret Dolly's impulsive action in getting into the car more and more.
Still, as matters stood, there was nothing to do but wait and see what
was to happen.
After all, no matter what might come, she would not be utterly
unprepared. She was expecting trouble of some sort, and she knew that
the worst blows are those that are unexpected, just as the worst
lightning is that which flashes from a clear sky.
Suddenly, as the car approached a little country store, at a crossroads,
and looking as though no one ever went there to buy anything, Holmes
slowed up again.
"This isn't the place you mean, is it?" asked Dolly, smartly. "If it is,
I must say I think those stores you wouldn't stop at are much nicer!"
Holmes laughed back at her. He seemed to have taken a great fancy to
her, spoiled and pert though she was.
"No, indeed," he said, "but I happened to see by that blue sign that
they have a telephone inside, and I just remembered, after we passed
through that last village, that I ought to telephone a message to a
friend of mine in the city. So, if you don't mind, I'll leave you in the
car while I run in and telephone. It won't take me a minute, then we'll
be on our way again."
Then he got out, and cutting off the motor, stepped into the store. In a
moment Bessie was ready to take advantage of the opportunity that chance
and his carelessness offered her.
"You keep perfectly still, Dolly," she said, earnestly. "I know it isn't
supposed to be nice to listen to what you're not meant to hear, but I
think this is a time when I've got a right to try to find out what I
can. I may not be able to do it at all, but I'm going to do my best to
listen to Mr. Holmes while he's sending that message and find out all
I can about it. Do you see that window at the side of the store? Well,
there's just a chance, I believe, that the telephone inside may be near
the window. If it is, I may be able to find out what he's doing."
And, without giving Dolly a chance to protest, or even to voice her
surprise, Bessie slipped from the car and ran lightly to the side of the
ramshackle old building that served as a store. Crouching down there,
she was able to hear what Holmes, inside, was saying, as she had hoped.
And the very first words she heard sent a thrill through her, and
banished any lingering regrets she might have had at playing the part,
usually so dishonorable, of eavesdropper.
"Hello! Hello!" she heard him saying. "What's the matter, Central? I
want Hedgeville--number eight, ring five. Can't you get that!"
Bessie did not know the number, but very few people in Hedgeville had a
telephone, and that in itself was suspicious. She waited while Holmes,
expressing his impatience volubly, amid sympathetic chuckles from the
audience inside the store, got his connection.
"Hello! Hello! Is that you, Weeks?" she heard him say, at last, and it
was all she could do, when she heard the name of the man who had proved
himself such a determined enemy to Zara and herself, to keep from
betraying herself with a cry. "Yes, yes, this is Holmes! Where am I? Oh,
ten miles from nowhere! You wouldn't know the place if I were to tell
you. What you want to know is where I'm going to be an hour from now.
What? Tell you! Well, that's what I'm trying to do! Listen a little and
don't ask so many questions. I'm going to be in an automobile at
Jericho. Know where that is?"
He waited, evidently listening to Weeks.
"Yes, that's right. You'll be there, eh? You've got the papers? Well,
don't leave them at home. We don't want any mistake about this. I had a
lot of luck, didn't expect to be able to do it so soon, or so easily.
I'll tell you about that later. Jericho, then. You won't be late? And an
hour from now. This is risky work, Weeks. If you make any of your fool
breaks this time, you'll hear from me. Well, good-bye!"
As he said good-bye Bessie slipped back to the automobile, and when
Holmes came out, all bluff good-nature, only Bessie's heightened color
showed that anything out of the ordinary had happened to her. As soon as
she returned, Dolly began to hurl question after question at her, but
Bessie refused to answer.
"Keep quiet, Dolly!" she urged. "I'll tell you all about it when I can,
but this isn't the time to talk. You don't want to let Mr. Holmes know
what I was doing, do you? Well, please keep quiet, then!"
Of course, if Holmes planned to do anything wrong, he would not have
revealed his plans boldly to the loafers in the store who had been
listening to his telephone conversation. Bessie understood that what he
had said probably meant more to Farmer Weeks than it could to her or any
casual listener. But, even so, there was plenty to disturb her in what
she had heard. Evidently the danger point was Jericho, and she tried
hard to remember what she had ever heard about that place. It was a
little town, she thought, not far from Hedgeville--and, then, suddenly,
she got a clue to the whole plot. She realized why the change in their
direction had worried her. They were going toward Hedgeville, back
toward the section of the country from which she and Zara had escaped
with so much difficulty on account of Farmer Weeks's vindictive pursuit.
And she remembered, too, Charlie Jamieson's warning about crossing the
state line. That, then, was what Holmes meant to do--get her into the
state where, although she did not understand exactly how, she was in
danger of being deprived of her liberty for a time at least. It would be
easy enough, in the automobile. State lines are not well marked along
country roads. Even now she might have crossed that imaginary boundary
that spelled the difference between safety and peril for her.
"Listen to me, Dolly," she whispered, when she had finished revolving
her thoughts. "I don't know what's going to happen, but I'm sure that
Mr. Holmes is trying to get me back to the people I had to run away from
in Hedgeville. You remember--you know what happened when we were on our
way to General Seeley's place, when that man caught Zara and carried her
off?"
Dolly nodded, greatly excited.
"So you can see that I may get into a lot of trouble, Dolly. You'll help
me, won't you?"
"Of course I will! And I'm awfully sorry for getting you into it in the
first place, Bessie."
"Don't worry about that! I'm going to forget about it. But now remember
that you must do just as I say for the next hour or so, even if you
don't understand why. I don't know yet what Mr. Holmes is going to do,
and so I can't make any plans ahead. I'll just have to try to do the
best I can to fool him when he shows his hand, and it may be that the
only way I can do it is with your help."
"I'll help you, Bessie. I won't be silly again."