A MOUNTAIN MYSTERY
"Perhaps the postscript is to tell us that it is all a mistake and that
we do not have to leave," suggested Emma.
"Listen!" commanded Hippy, then began to read:
"'Do not follow the trail you are on, on your way to Thompson's. Strike
due north for half a mile and you will come up with a wagon trail,
broader and safer, because you can see a long way on either side through
the thin forest. Keep the broad trail for fifteen miles, take third left
and second right, which will take you to Thompson's. You're all right,
but be vigilant. The above warning means what it says.'"
"Is there a name signed to the postscript?" asked Miss Briggs.
Hippy shook his head.
"I know who wrote that postscript," spoke up Miss Dean. "It was our
Mystery Man, Jeremiah Long."
Grace asked for the letter, which she scrutinized critically.
"No, this is not his writing," she decided.
"How do you know? He hasn't been corresponding with you," objected
Hippy.
Grace explained that Mr. Long had left a note thanking the Overlanders
for their hospitality. To make certain that she was right she went to
her kit and fetched the note referred to, and also brought the note that
had been tossed into their camp on the occasion of Hippy's
disappearance. The three missives were examined by each of the Overland
Riders. It was found that the message tossed into camp and the
postscript of the letter found by Washington were in the same
handwriting. Mr. Long's handwriting was different.
"That disposes of the theory that either of these messages was written
by Mr. Long," agreed Elfreda. "The question is, who is our mysterious
friend?"
"You do not think it is a trick to get us where we shall find ourselves
in a tight place?" suggested Anne questioningly.
"No. I do not feel that there is a shadow of doubt that these two notes
are what they appear to be--the suggestions of a friend. Who or what he
is we may or may not learn. I propose that we follow the advice he gives
us. Are you all agreed on that?" asked Grace.
The Overlanders said they were.
"Then we will go on our way," directed Grace.
They found the wagon trail after nearly an hour's hard riding over
rocks, into and out of gullies with steep, precipitous sides, but the
wagon trail when reached, while rutty, was so much better that they soon
forgot the discomforts of riding "across lots," as Hippy put it.
The noon halt was a brief one, after which they pressed on, having no
difficulty in finding their way as directed by their mysterious adviser.
It was nearly dark when they came in sight of a clearing of several
acres covered with growing corn, which they surmised to be part of the
Thompson farm. Grace asked Washington if it were.
"Ah reckons it be," answered the colored boy, but it was apparent that
he knew no more about it than did the Overland Riders.
"Where is the house of this Thompson party?" demanded Hippy.
"Mebby 'bout er whoop an' er holler from heah."
"Huh!" grunted Hippy. "The last 'whoop and holler' you told us of was
nearly twenty miles. Don't guess. If you don't know the correct answer
to a question, say so. Don't stall around and--"
"Yassuh."
"I suppose we should ask permission before we camp on private property,"
suggested Elfreda. "Not knowing where to do so, might it not be wise to
back up a little?"
"What do you mean?" asked Grace.
"Move away from the trail and into the thicket where we shall be both
out of sight and probably on no man's land, as it were."
"The suggestion is good, though I do not wholly approve of the idea of
getting into a pocket where we cannot see about us," agreed Grace. "Our
mysterious friend must know what he is talking about when he advises us
to go to Thompson's farm, as some one urged Hippy to do."
"He seemed to think we would be safer here," nodded Lieutenant Wingate.
"So far as my observation goes--has gone for the last couple of
years--safety is not the one great ambition of our young lives. At
least, getting into difficulties and perilous situations has become a
habit with Grace Harlowe," declared Miss Briggs.
"Yes, for instance, roping bandits with that Mexican lasso that the
cowboys gave her last season," suggested Emma. "Why aren't you throwing
it more? I have seen you swing it only once since we started."
Grace said that she had practiced with the rope nearly all winter, and
declared that it was about time that the rest of the party took up
throwing the lasso. Elfreda, as related in a previous volume, "GRACE
HARLOWE'S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE GREAT AMERICAN DESERT," also had
learned to throw the lasso and could do so quite well, but since her
winter's practice with it Grace had gained much skill and was far ahead
of her friend in its manipulation. Perhaps, having mastered the secret
of rope-throwing, she had lost interest in it.
"I will start practicing again to-morrow," promised Miss Briggs.
"You need it. I don't believe you could even catch cold with a rope,"
teased Lieutenant Wingate.
"Yes I could--I--" Elfreda's following remark was lost in the laughter
of her companions. "What I said, but which you folks were too impolite
to listen to, was that I will show you whether I can throw a rope or
not. Let me have it, Grace."
"You will find it just inside of my tent, on the left-hand side. What
are you going to do?"
"I am going out, as soon as it is light enough to see, and practice
until breakfast time."
This Miss Briggs did with the graying of the dawn, after a night of
peaceful rest, while Grace and Hippy kept guard over the camp. They
teased her at breakfast, and Hippy suggested that Elfreda ask Emma Dean
to "con-centrate" on her during Miss Briggs' future practice with the
lasso.
"To change the subject, I am going to look up the Thompsons and try to
make peace with them, provided they are like most of the mountaineers
that we have come into intimate contact with," announced Grace. "I
suggest that you and I ride out on a tour of investigation this morning,
leaving Hippy here to protect the camp, Elfreda. You may take your rope
along and practice on me, if you wish," smiled Grace.
"You will be perfectly safe," murmured Emma.
Immediately after breakfast the two girls mounted and rode out along the
trail they had been following, now bordered on one side by a field of
rustling corn. Reaching the end of the cornfield they discovered, just
ahead, a cabin located in an open space of several acres of rugged
mountain land.
"That must be the place. We will ride up and find out," announced Grace,
clucking to her pony.
As they approached the cabin a slovenly looking woman, accompanied by
three children, one a girl that the Overlanders judged to be about
fourteen years of age, the other two girls being much younger, one a
mere toddler, came out and, shading her eyes with a hand, eyed the
newcomers suspiciously.
"Is this Mr. Thompson's home?" asked Grace, smiling down at the
children.
"Ah reckon it be. Who be you?"
"I am Mrs. Grace Gray. My companion is Miss Briggs. We are riding
through the mountains for pleasure and business combined, and are camped
with our party on the other side of the cornfield. What I wished to ask,
if you are Mrs. Thompson, is, may we be permitted to remain there for a
few days?"
"Ah reckon ye kin if ye wants to if mah husband ain't objectin'."
"Is he here?" interjected Elfreda.
The woman shook her head.
"Mah other daughter is out pickin' berries. Mebby she'll come down an'
look ye over bymeby. Kin I sell ye anything!"
"Yes, if you have milk we should be glad to have some every morning and
night while here. We have a man friend and a colored boy with us. One of
them will call for the milk early this evening. Thank you so much. Are
the children quite well?"
"Tol'bly, tol'bly, Ah reckon."
"I think we have a little candy left. I will send it over to them
later," said Grace smilingly, as she wheeled her pony and trotted back
towards camp.
"What a sight! Think of living as those people do," reflected Elfreda.
"Perhaps they are just as happy as we are. But those poor puny children!
I am sorry for them, and when I think of my daughter, Yvonne, and that
healthy young animal, Lindy, your adopted daughter, I feel like crying."
"Don't! Your eyes do not look nice when, they are red. By the way, those
two kiddies, despite what the mother says, do not look at all well. Did
you observe how red their faces were and how listless they appeared?"
Grace said she did. She wondered, too, what the other daughter was like.
Her wonder in this direction was gratified before she had been back from
her brief journey twenty minutes. While telling their companions of the
mountaineer's wife and family and the appearance of the woman and
children, a figure rose up from behind a bush and stood curiously
regarding the Overland party.
Washington discovered the newcomer and began to chatter and point.
"Don't shoot. It's a woman," cried Emma.
"No one is going to shoot," retorted Hippy hopelessly.
By this time all the girls were on their feet, gazing at the head and
shoulders of a young woman showing above the bush. Her full cheeks and
lips were red, and the black, straight hair hanging down her back
reminded the Overlanders of Indian squaws they had seen in their journey
over the Old Apache Trail. It was the caller's eyes, however, that
attracted the most attention. They were large, black and full, and one
felt that they were capable of blazing.
"Won't you come in, Miss?" urged Miss Briggs. "May I ask your name?" she
added, as the girl, whom she judged was not much past twenty years of
age, stepped out into the open.
"Ah'm Julie." That was the only information vouchsafed by the caller,
and the only words she spoke for nearly the entire half hour of her
stay. The Overland girls plied her with questions, and by a nod in
answer to their question learned that Julie was the daughter of the
woman they had called on shortly before. They called her by her first
name, though now and then Emma would address her as "Miss Thompson,"
which seemed to perplex Julie.
"My Paw mebby'll drive ye folks off. He don't like no strangers in these
parts," she finally jerked out.
"It will not be necessary. We shall be moving on in a few days," replied
Grace.
"Paw don't want no strangers," insisted the girl stubbornly. "Spec'ly
since he had er gun fight with one o' them. My gosh how them bullets did
fly. Paw got one through his stumik and had er right smart trouble with
his eatin' fer two days arter that. What you-all doin'?" she demanded,
eyeing Nora Wingate, who was making a sweater.
"Crocheting, Julie. Knitting, perhaps you call it."
"Uh-huh. My gran'ma kin beat you-all knittin'."
"Yes?" smiled Nora.
"You bet she kin. Why, whad you-all think? Gran'ma takes her knittin'
ter bed with 'er and every now and then she throws out a sock. I'll bet
a cookie you-all kain't knit like that-away."
"You win," chuckled Hippy, and the Overland girls laughed merrily.
"I'm going now. Maw said as I'd better come down and look you-all over,
cause Paw'll want ter know 'bout you-all. Say! Goin' to the dance?"
"When?" questioned Emma, her interest instantly aroused.
"Sat'dy night to the schoolhouse over in the holler yonder. Mebby
you-all kin help we uns to pay the band."
"What? Do you have a band up here?" wondered Anne.
"Uh-huh--fiddle and er banjer, and the feller that plays the banjer kin
tear more music out o' it and stomp on the floor harder'n any other
perfesser in the mountains. Better come if Paw ain't run you-all out
befo' then."
"Don't worry, little one. Paw won't run this outfit out just yet,"
replied Hippy.
"I dunno, I dunno. Ain't no tellin' 'bout Paw. Bye." Julie pushed a mass
of hair from her forehead, gave her head a jerk to settle the hair more
firmly in place, then, turning on her heel, walked away without once
turning her head.
"With a stomach like his, 'Paw' should have been in France fighting the
Boches," observed Emma Dean solemnly. "I'm going to the dance! I'm going
to the dance! Tra-la-la," she cried, doing a fancy step about the camp,
keeping time with her upraised arms until she stepped on Washington
Washington's foot and brought a howl from that worthy.
The Overland girls then fell upon and subdued Miss Dean without loss of
time.
"If you let her go to that dance there will be a riot, as sure as I am a
foot high," declared Hippy Wingate, in which assertion most of the girls
agreed with him.