A GUESS
“Cross my heart and hope to die,” said Tavia. “Tell me quickly ere I
pass away with suspense.”
“Well, I have a very good suspicion which way Joe headed.
“He headed West——”
“Exactly! And straight for the ranch of one young Westerner called Garry
Knapp.”
Tavia looked at her chum hard for a moment, then waved the hair brush
aloft in a jubilant gesture.
“I do believe you have struck it, Doro!” she cried. “Of course that is
the obvious thing for him to do.”
“He always loved Garry——”
“Seems to run in the family,” interrupted Tavia.
“And he would naturally go to him for help and advice at this time.”
“He hasn’t reached his objective yet, if Garry’s ranch is the
objective,” Tavia pointed out. “If he had, Garry would have
telegraphed.”
“I’ve thought of that, of course,” admitted Dorothy. “But then, if he
went directly he has hardly had time yet. Anyway, there is no use
guessing any longer,” and she rose abruptly from the bed and gave Tavia
a good-night hug. “To-morrow we begin to act.”
“For which, thanks be!” said Tavia fervently.
It was a very much disgruntled Nat who saw them off the following
morning. The waiting end of a game was never a pleasant one to him. And,
it meant losing Tavia for an indefinite time!
However, Tavia managed to tear herself away finally, and after Dorothy
also had been hugged and kissed the train moved off and the two girls
sank back in their seats with a feeling of relief that at last their
adventure was in motion.
Tavia brought forth the two-pound box of candy that the boys had
bestowed upon her and her chum and began contentedly to untie the ribbon
that bound it.
“Have one, Doro?” The latter shook her head. She was too full of anxiety
for Joe and the dear ones at home to think about anything else.
The Major had seemed very frail that morning when he had said good-bye,
but there had been an eager light in his eyes that she understood only
too well. He had been thinking that the next time he saw his daughter,
Joe might be with her.
And Joe would be with her! Dorothy’s chin went up and her eyes gleamed
in a manner curiously suggestive of the Major in the days when the
success of the _Bugle_ meant everything to him.
“Good gracious, Doro, don’t look like that!” cried Tavia, happening that
moment to glance at her chum. “You remind me of bulldogs and prize
fighters and other pugnacious animals.”
“How extremely complimentary you are,” laughed Dorothy. “I’ll have you
know that though I can’t get over the fact that I’m an animal, I’m not
pugnacious.”
“Far be it from me to contradict a lady,” retorted Tavia. “But if you
could have seen yourself at that moment, Doro, I am sure you wouldn’t
blame me.”
“Glad I didn’t then,” replied Dorothy a trifle crossly. “It must be an
awful bore to see yourselves as others see you.”
“Well, take off your hat, anyway,” advised Tavia irrelevantly. “We have
quite a little ride before us, you know.”
“As if I hadn’t lain awake all night thinking of that!” cried Dorothy.
“And every minute of the journey will seem like an hour.”
“Now who is being uncomplimentary?” chuckled Tavia. “You must expect to
enjoy your company.”
“I don’t expect to enjoy anything again until I get news of Joe,”
answered Dorothy morosely, and Tavia sighed gustily.
“Here’s where all my efforts at entertainment fall upon barren ground,”
she prophesied. “Like casting pearls before swine, you know.”
“Are you, by any chance, calling me names?” asked Dorothy, giggling in
spite of herself.
“I wouldn’t do such a thing,” protested Tavia virtuously. “I was
thinking of that cute little pig I just saw beside the road. Honestly,
he was awfully cute. His tail was all curled up and he had the pinkest
nose——”
“Goodness, Tavia, if you can’t be sensible I am going out and sit on the
observation platform by myself. I don’t want to hear about pigs.”
“I don’t know but what your suggestion about the observation platform is
a good one, at that,” remarked Tavia, unmoved. “Did you notice that
perfectly stunning man who passed through our car a few minutes ago? He
looked straight at you and you looked straight through him.”
“Was he a ghost?” giggled Dorothy.
“Far from it!” returned Tavia, with a reproving stare. “He was an
extremely substantial looking young man, and from the way he looked at
you I shouldn’t wonder but that your amazing beauty had quite bowled him
over, Doro, my dear.”
“Well, I hope he stays bowled,” returned Dorothy unfeelingly. “Something
tells me that’s where he belongs.”
“Pearls before—” began Tavia, but this time Dorothy rebelled.
“I won’t be called a pig again, Tavia Travers!”
“Such a cute little pig!”
Dorothy fumbled at the car window and looked back at Tavia suggestively.
“Will you stop, or shall I jump?”
“Better wait till the train slows down a bit,” replied Tavia calmly.
“Going at this rate of speed, you might skin your knuckles or
something.”
Dorothy sank back in her seat with a sigh of resignation.
“I think I shall go to the observation platform, after all,” she said,
but before she could rise Tavia seized her arm and cried excitedly:
“He is coming back!”
Dorothy shook her arm free and frowned.
“Well, what of it?”
“And he has a companion,” added Tavia. “Good gracious, if I ever saw a
desperado, Dorothy Dale, that man is it!”
Interested in spite of herself by Tavia’s description, Dorothy turned
her head and beheld two men approaching down the car aisle, lurching as
the train lurched.
One was the tall, dark, good-looking stranger who Tavia had vulgarly
declared was “bowled over” by Dorothy’s beauty. His companion could not
have been more completely his opposite. A short, squat fellow with a
flat face and sharp black eyes, he looked for all the world like a bird
of prey, ready to snatch at his victim.
Dorothy, as she shudderingly appraised the man, was glad she was not to
be his victim. The next moment she was laughing at her melodramatic
thoughts.
“Probably a traveling salesman or something equally innocuous,” she
whispered, as the two men passed close to them.
“He’s a desperado,” Tavia reiterated stubbornly. “You mark my words—that
fellow will come to no good end—”
At that moment it seemed as if they all were to come to a very bad end
indeed.
There came a deafening crash and the car in which Dorothy and Tavia sat
seemed to rear up in the middle, like a balky horse.
“Good gracious, hold on to me, Doro!” shrieked Tavia. “It’s the end of
the world!”