"WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES"
"Oh, I'm so excited," said Grace, looking from Walter to Nan. "Just
think, Nan! Everything happened just like a story."
"Well, I must say," said Bess emphatically, "that for my part I'm glad
it's over. I may be able to sleep to-night without expecting to be
stabbed in the back."
"Goodness! they weren't after you," said Nan practically. "I was
the--the----" she paused for a word and Walter obligingly supplied it.
"Goat?" he asked.
"Goat," she agreed with a smile.
"Oh, but you were wonderful, Nan," said Grace worshipfully. "I never
would have had the courage to face those men the way you did."
"But if it hadn't been for Rhoda, they might have got away even then,"
said Nan generously, and Rhoda flushed with pleasure.
"I'm glad if I helped at all," the girl from Rose Ranch said modestly.
It was not till the girls were alone in their room that they remembered
the unopened morning mail. Nan had been holding her letters tight in her
hand through all the excitement. They opened them without much interest,
for even letters could hardly hope to compete with the excitement of
this morning.
One of Nan's letters was from Momsey, and she put it away with a tender
smile, for she always saved the best till the last. Then she opened the
other letter, which was from Laura Polk, and immediately her
indifference changed to interest.
In the letter, which Nan read aloud, Laura recounted excitedly to Nan
how Dr. Prescott had found that Linda was responsible for the wrecking
of the steam plant and that Linda's father would undoubtedly be asked to
pay the bill for repairs.
"Does she say how they found out?" questioned Bess quickly.
"One of the servants saw Linda down there with some rope. She was taken
sick and went home for a while, and did not know anything about the
trouble at the school. But she is well now and ready to go back to her
work, and in talking to Doctor Beulah the story came out."
"I'm mighty glad Doctor Beulah knows," said Bess. "I don't suppose any
of us could have told on Linda, but she deserved to be found out--the
horrid thing."
"I don't suppose Linda can help her disposition," said Grace mildly. "I
heard mother say once that she was her own worst enemy."
"I suppose she is," said Rhoda skeptically. "But that doesn't make us
like her any better!"
Then Nan put down Laura's letter and turned to Momsey's. It was a long,
long letter, and she read it over twice.
"Dear Momsey!" she murmured to herself. "How much I will have to tell
you when I see you again!"
A few hours later Mr. Mason came back with the news that Jacob Pacomb
had been arrested for the crooked swindler that he was.
It seemed that at the time he had sold the property to Mrs. Bragley's
husband, Pacomb had made five other grants, and, now that the property
had proved more valuable than he had hoped for, he was trying underhand
means to recover it.
The men who had made life miserable for Nan for the last few weeks and
had almost wrecked Bess's temper and who were now gracing twin cells in
prison, were simply agents of Pacomb's.
"So now everything is settled happily," Mr. Mason finished. "We can go
back to Palm Beach whenever the spirit moves us."
The spirit did not move them for several days, however, for Sunny Slopes
was a pretty place and the surrounding country beautiful. Also Nan had
telegraphed the joyful news to Mrs. Bragley and, since she had given
the address of the hotel where they were staying, she was eager to
receive a letter in answer from the widow before they went back to the
Royal Poinciana.
"Although I do hope she writes soon," she had confided to Walter. "For I
am really getting homesick for Palm Beach again."
The girls went to see Linda the day after Nan received Laura's letter,
but found that she and Cora had left without leaving word of any kind
for any of them.
"Poor Cora!" Bess said, as they made their way down to the street. "I
guess she hasn't had any easy time of it since she let the cat out of
the bag to me about Linda."
At last the expected letter came from Mrs. Bragley, and the girls
gathered around Nan eagerly as she read it aloud. One had only to read
the first line to tell that the old woman was overjoyed at her good
fortune. The letter fairly overflowed with gratitude to Nan for what she
had done.
"It has lifted a weight from my shoulders, my dear, such as you
will never know," the letter finished. "At least I hope and pray
that you may not. And if the time ever comes when you need help,
don't be afraid to come to a lonely old woman, who will be proud
and happy to pay back a little of the debt she owes you."
"That's worth every disagreeable thing we went through, isn't it,
girls?" Nan asked, looking up at them with shining eyes. "Isn't it
wonderful to be able to make somebody just a little bit happier because
they have met you?"
"Maybe that's why we are all so happy," said Bess gaily, flinging her
arms about her chum. "Because we have you, Nan Sherwood."
"Now with Nan's villains and Linda off our minds," drawled Rhoda,
sinking lazily down into the depths of a big chair, "we ought to be able
to enjoy ourselves."
"Will we!" cried Grace softly. "Just you watch us!"
The next morning they started back for Palm Beach. Walter asked Nan to
ride with him, and she surprised herself as much as him by accepting the
invitation.
She was feeling joyously care-free and venturesome this morning, and it
was wonderful to be beside Walter in the car with the sweet wind rushing
by and the country unfolding in tropical luxuriance at every turn.
"Oh, Walter, aren't you glad you're alive?" she asked of the youth at
her side.
Walter's eyes were happy as he turned to her.
"You said it," he answered fervently.
Just then Bess, in the car ahead, looked back at them. Was it only Nan's
imagination again or did the look seem to say, more plainly than any
words could have done:
"Nan Sherwood, what did I tell you?"
But Nan just then did not care what Bess thought. She was very happy and
that being so she meant to enjoy herself thoroughly during the remainder
of her stay in Florida.
And now, with many good times still in store for them at Palm Beach, we
will say good-bye to Nan Sherwood and her chums.
THE END
End of Project Gutenberg's Nan Sherwood at Palm Beach, by Annie Roe Carr