A DARING MOVE
For some time, then, Holmes drove the car in what Bessie soon saw to be
an aimless fashion. The morning was nearly done, and Bessie, used to
guessing at the time from the sun, knew that it was very near noon.
Holmes seemed to be doubling on his tracks, and to be driving in what
resembled a circle, as if he were chasing his own tail, and at last
Bessie determined to speak to him and try to make him show his hand. The
suspense of waiting for something to happen was making her nervous. She
felt that even the realization of her fears would be welcome, since
then, at least, she could do something.
"Mr. Holmes," she said, "I really think you'd better be taking us back.
It's very late, and I'm afraid Miss Mercer will be worried about us."
"Not she!" said Holmes, cheerfully. "The fact is, I've rather lost my
way, and those stupid men at that store where we stopped did not seem to
be able to do much toward setting me right. So, knowing that we might be
late, I took the liberty of telephoning to Miss Mercer and said that, if
she didn't mind, I'd take you two to luncheon somewhere and bring you
back in the afternoon."
Bessie gasped at the cool daring of the way in which he told the lie.
But then she reflected, just in time to keep her from taxing him with
having told an untruth, that he knew nothing of her eavesdropping, and
therefore thought it was safe to tell her anything he liked.
"Oh!" she said. "I--I didn't know you'd done that. You said you were
going to send a message to a friend--"
"Well, I flatter myself that Miss Mercer and I are friends," said
Holmes, smiling. "Why don't you cheer up, Miss Bessie? It's all
right--really it is! You ought to know that I wouldn't get you into
trouble with Miss Mercer for the world. Why, I'm old enough to be your
father!"
"But if you're lost, how do you know where you're going?" asked Bessie,
sticking to her guns.
"I don't know, of course--not exactly, that is. But I know that if I
keep on going this way I'll come to some place here we can get a nice
luncheon. This is pretty thickly settled country around here, you know,
and it's used a lot by automobile parties. So we're sure to find some
sort of a place soon. They have them wherever they think they can
persuade motorists to stop and spend their money."
"If Miss Mercer knows where we are and said it was all right for us to
stay it must be all right, Bessie, mustn't it?" asked Dolly, who had
overheard what they were saying. "Oh, I'm so glad, Bessie! That shows
you were mistaken, doesn't it, and that it wasn't so wicked of me to get
you to come?"
"Hush, Dolly!" said Bessie, in a whisper. "I can't let Mr. Holmes know
it now, of course, but don't you remember that I heard him while he was
telephoning, when he thought I was safe here in the car, and out of
sight and sound of him? He didn't telephone to Miss Mercer at all. He's
just saying he did, because he thinks he can fool me and make me believe
anything he says. I heard what he telephoned, and he never even called
up the farm!"
Even Dolly was a little scared at that. It never occurred to her to
doubt what Bessie said. Somehow, people seemed always to be ready to
believe her. And, remembering the way Holmes had declared that he had
spoken with Miss Mercer, Dolly began to realize that Bessie was right,
and that there must be something underhanded about Holmes. Bessie,
although she was sorry that Dolly had to be frightened in such a
fashion, was glad of the fact just the same, because it meant that she
could depend upon Dolly now to obey her, no matter what she told her
to do.
As a matter of fact, it seemed to Bessie that fear was about the only
thing that did drive Dolly, who, if she thought the consequence would
not be too unpleasant, usually managed to have her own way as decidedly
as she had done in regard to accepting the offer of Holmes to take them
to a place where they could get her much coveted ice-cream soda.
Bessie, remembering what she had heard Holmes say about meeting
Farmer Weeks in an hour, began now to keep her eyes open, and she soon
discovered that they had ceased their aimless driving about, and were
traveling along what was evidently a highroad, since it showed the marks
of many wheels and hoofs. And a glance at the sun was enough, too, to
let her know that the crisis of this silly adventure was approaching,
since nearly an hour had elapsed since she had overheard the
conversation.
And, sure enough, just as she had expected, it was not long before
Bessie saw that the houses along the road were closer and closer to one
another, and a few moments later the tall, white steeple of a church and
the smoke from the chimneys of a small town made it plain that they were
approaching a town--most likely Jericho.
"Well, well, I know this place," said Holmes, turning to speak to them.
"It's Jericho, and it's in your own state, Miss Bessie. Didn't you tell
me that you used to live in Hedgeville? That's not so very far from
here."
There was a strange look in his eyes as he looked fixedly at Bessie,
and now she no longer had any doubt that he meant mischief, and that it
behooved her, if she wanted to escape from the trap into which she was
being led, to have all her wits about her. As they entered the town she
kept her eyes open, but there was no sign of Farmer Weeks. He was late,
and Bessie was glad of that, since, now that she could guess what she
must face, every added minute of safety and freedom from interference
was so much clear gain. A plan was forming in her head, a wild, reckless
sort of plan, but still one that offered some chance, at least, of
getting out of a very disagreeable position.
"Hungry!" asked Holmes, turning to them as he slowed the car near the
railroad station. "Well, we'll have some lunch in just a minute. I'm
just going in here to make some inquiries about the roads and I'll be
right back."
Bessie's eyes followed him into the station, and then, just as she
had done before, she slipped from the car as soon as he was inside,
following him cautiously, but feeling that there was less danger than
there had been at the store, since here, if she were surprised, she
could explain that she felt cramped from the long ride, and had gotten
out of the car to restore her circulation. Then, peeping inside, she saw
Holmes talking eagerly, and, as she thought, angrily, to Jake Hoover!
"He'll be here soon--jes' as soon as he can get here," she heard Jake
say. And she heard Holmes's angry reply, and nothing more, since that
was enough, and more than enough, to confirm her fears and make her
understand that if she was to get out of this trap she must make a move
at once. And now, knowing perfectly well the risk she was running, she
sped back to the car, and climbed aboard, but in the front seat, where
Holmes had been sitting, and not next to Dolly, in her own proper place.
For her plan was nothing more nor less than to get away in Holmes's own
car!
Bessie had never driven an automobile in her life, and she knew as
little, almost, as it was possible for anyone to know about them. But
she felt that all the sacrifices she had endured so far would be made
useless unless she got away, and, moreover, she was sure now that Zara
would need her help more than ever. And if she could only get a little
distance away from Holmes, she was sure that she and Dolly would be able
to elude him. So, doing exactly what she had seen Holmes do, she threw
in the clutch, and, with nervous, trembling hands on the wheel of the
big car, guided it as it gathered speed and moved across the railroad
tracks.
From the moment when the idea of making her escape in this fashion had
first entered her mind, Bessie had watched Holmes and every move he made
like a cat, determined to be able to do as he did if the emergency
arose. And now her remarkable ability to do things that required, the
skilled use of her hands stood her in good stead.
The car was a silent one at low speed, and it had gone nearly a hundred
feet before Holmes realized that something was wrong, and came running
out of the station, followed by the wide-eyed Jake Hoover. And Bessie
increased her start while he stood there, too stunned with amazement
even to cry out.
By the time he had gathered his wits enough to begin shouting and
running after his car, pursuit was hopeless, and Bessie, afraid any
minute of having an accident, was running the car, still slowly, but too
fast for anything but another car to overtake it, out along the road
that led out of Jericho.
Dolly had screamed when she saw what Bessie meant to do, but after that
she had been too frightened even to speak. But when they were out of
range of Holmes's shouts and angry cries she regained her courage enough
to lean over and speak to Bessie.
"Oh, Bessie, do stop!" she begged. "We might run into someone, or be run
into ourselves. This is awfully dangerous, I know!"
"So do I know that," said Bessie. "But we had to do something, Dolly,
and this was the only thing I could think of to do, though I didn't want
to. But we're not going to stay in the car, don't worry! Do you see that
lane that comes into the road just beyond that big oak tree? Well, I'm
going to turn up there, and leave the car so that they can find it. I
don't want to steal the car, you know."
Bessie managed the turn successfully, and, frightened as she was, even
the few minutes that she had spent in driving the car had thrilled and
exhilarated her. She ran slowly up the lane, and when the main road was
hidden by a curve, she stopped the car and got out.
"There!" she said. "Dolly, if I only knew more about running it, I'd
like to go back to the farm in the car. It would serve Mr. Holmes right
if we did, you know, for he was trying to play a mighty mean trick on
me. I wonder if I'll ever be able to learn to drive a car like that? I'd
love to be able to, and to have one of my own to drive!"
"How are we going to get home?" wailed poor Dolly. "Oh, Bessie, what an
awful fool I've been! And now I'm hungry and tired, and we're lost, and
miles from the farm, and Miss Eleanor will be furious at me!"
"Cheer up, Dolly! We'll get home all right. And I'll see that Miss
Eleanor understands all right. She won't be angry. She'll probably tell
you that you've been punished enough when we get back. I don't know
about getting anything to eat, though. We can't do that around here. All
we want to do now is to get away from here."
Then suddenly she had an idea.
"I'm not going to steal his nasty old car," said Bessie, "but I am going
to borrow something that ought to be in it, and that's a map! Anyone
who travels around as much as he does must have maps that show the
roads, and, as long as he has got us into this mess, I don't see why we
shouldn't take something from his car to help us out of it. I'll send it
back to him as soon as we get to the farm. Here--let's see--yes, here's
a whole lot of little maps."
"Let me see, Bessie. I've seen those maps before. I bet I can find the
right one that we want in a jiffy. Yes, here it is!"
"All right. Let's get off in the woods here and look at it, Dolly. We
don't want to stay near the car, because they'll soon find that we
turned up this lane, and they'll come looking for the machine and for
us. So we want to be off where they can't see us. I'd hate to be caught
again right now after taking such a chance with that automobile!"
"But you didn't act as if you were taking a chance, Bessie. I thought
you were the bravest girl I'd ever seen--"
"Nonsense, Dolly! I was just as frightened as you were--more frightened,
I guess. I didn't know whether what I was doing was right or not, and I
was afraid every second I'd push the wrong thing, or touch something
with my foot, and start it going as fast as it could."
"Well, when I'm frightened, I show it, and I don't do things that I'm
afraid of. Someone told me once that to do something you were really
afraid to do was really the bravest thing--braver than if you're not
afraid when other people would be."
"Well, I was afraid, and the only reason I started that car was because
I was more afraid to stay there than to run the car, Dolly. So I guess
we needn't worry much about my having been brave. It was simply a
question of which I was the most afraid of--the car or Mr. Holmes. Here,
this is a nice spot. We can sit down on this old log, and there's enough
sunlight coming down through the trees for us to see the map."
They sat down together on the trunk of a fallen tree, and put their
heads together over the map.
"Here's Jericho, and here, see, Dolly, that's the railroad we crossed.
Here's the road--and, yes, here's the lane we came up. It's a good thing
we didn't try to go much further, isn't it? That star at the end means
that it stops and just runs into the woods. I expect they use it for
bringing out the trees after they're cut in the winter."
"Well, I'm glad we know just where we are, but how are we going to get
back, Bessie? That's the chief thing, it seems to me. Don't you think
so?"
"I've got a little money with me," said Bessie, thoughtfully. "If we can
walk until we get to a railroad station--not the one at Jericho, of
course,--I think we ought to be able to get back that way very easily.
Let's look up Deer Crossing and see if that railroad doesn't run near
somewhere."
Bessie took the map then, and she found that Jericho was in the same
state as Hedgeville, just as she had suspected. She did not know what
the Hoovers had done, and whether they had obtained any papers giving
them control of her, as Farmer Weeks had done in the case of Zara, but
she was pretty sure that if she were caught in their state Farmer Weeks
would find some way of keeping her there, and of preventing her from
getting back to Miss Mercer and her friends of the Camp Fire Girls.
"Mr. Holmes took an awful roundabout way to get here, Dolly," said
Bessie, when she had finished looking at the map. "But he didn't really
bring us so very far away. If we were riding in an automobile, I don't
think it would take us more than an hour to get back. But, as we haven't
got a car, here's the best thing for us to do. We can follow this lane,
except that we'd better walk through the woods instead of going back to
the lane, and come out on another main road about two miles away. That
will take us over here"--she pointed to a place on the map--"and there
we can get a trolley car to this station. There'll be a train to take us
to Deer Crossing from there, and then we can get home easily. Of course,
we don't know how the trains run, and we may have to wait a long time
for one, but it's the best thing to do, I'm sure."
"Well, we'd better start right away, I guess," said Dolly, stoutly. "I'm
an awfully slow walker in the woods, Bessie. I'm not used to them. But
I'll hurry as much as ever I can for I've given you trouble enough
already today."
The woods were very quiet, and Bessie was rather surprised at the
absence of signs of life--human life, that is. Of squirrels and
chipmunks and birds there were plenty, but it seemed strange to her that
in so thickly settled a part of the country so much land should be left
covered with woods. But it was good for their purpose, since she was
sure that Holmes would have complained that his car was stolen, and he
would not, of course, have told people the reason Bessie's seemingly mad
action. Nor would their word be likely to be taken against his. So the
thing for them to do was to escape observation. And until just before
the woods began to clear, they seemed likely to do so. But then there
was a shock for Bessie, for, right in front, she suddenly heard Jake
Hoover's voice.