HERMIT'S HUT
The next morning the girls found Bet with a tired, worried frown on her
face. "Girls, I just can't go!" she said.
"Bet dear, don't give up the hike. You're brooding too much over the
lost fan. Come on!" pleaded Shirley.
"Yes, Bet dear, don't back out! It will do you worlds of good!" And
Kit put both arms about her tenderly. "You're making yourself sick
with all this worry!"
"No. I almost feel as if I were leaving something undone!"
"But I've often noticed that when you go at something else, the thing
you are worrying about completely clears up. Come on, get your hat and
coat." Joy added her persuasion. "You've been worrying too much to
think straight, otherwise you'd have solved the problem long ago or
found a clue."
Bet finally gave in, but not quite willingly. School would begin on
Monday and after that the girls would not have so much time to work on
the problem. Bet wondered how she could ever put her mind on algebra
and history when the mystery of the lost fan still hung over her.
Shirley had brought along her photographic outfit and said, "Please
don't back out, Bet, for then none of them will go without you, and I
do want to set my camera for a wild animal. I'm almost sure we'll see
deer tracks. Wouldn't I be happy if I could get a picture of a deer
for that wild animal picture contest?"
"And I suppose we'll be expected to stand around on one foot while you
tinker with all those attachments and shutters and other crazy things,"
fussed Joy.
"I won't ask you to stand on one foot. You can use both and I won't
charge you a cent more," replied Shirley with the slightest note of
annoyance in her voice. Shirley was quiet and even-tempered and was
always the peace-maker when the atmosphere between the chums became
charged with strife.
"All right, Shirley. It's your affair, only don't ask me to carry one
of those boxes. I'll have enough with this lunch, knowing we will soon
make it lighter."
"Yes, you would fuss about everything except your lunch, Joy Evans,"
snapped Shirley, now thoroughly cross. "Come on, girls, let's go!" and
Shirley hastened out the door in advance of others.
"Let her go, Bet. She'll cool off in the frosty air," said Joy.
"I think everybody is getting nervous and I'm sure it's my fault, I've
been so irritable to everyone," replied Bet.
But as they stepped outside the door their joyous spirits revived and
they started away with a song. Auntie Gibbs watched them as they
tramped up over the hill, and when they disappeared, she turned back to
her work.
"She's a spoiled child, that Bet! Girls didn't act like that when I
was young! They didn't go gallivanting around: they stayed home and
did their knitting!" the old lady scolded, but as she lacked an
audience her temper soon cooled and she went about her work thinking
only of her one great interest in life, Colonel Baxter and his
daughter, Bet.
"Bless the child, she's the most provoking thing I've ever seen, but
she's so kind to me, too. The way she bathed my head yesterday when it
ached, was like a grown woman. The Colonel has a right to be proud of
her."
And these conflicting emotions were enough make the old lady's head
ache a second time.
While she puttered about the kitchen, planning a special cake to
surprise Bet and her chums when they would return, the girls were
headed toward Cruger Lake.
"We should have brought skiis!" called Joy. "Why didn't we think of
it?"
"Are we on a hike or not?" Bet stopped short in the path and
confronted Joy. "This is a hike, and a hike means walking."
"It suits me all right," announced Kit suddenly, "but I can't help
wishing I had Powder along. He'd enjoy making this crusty snow fly."
"Well, there's a stone wall over there, Kit. You might pretend,"
laughed Bet, but seeing a shadow pass over her friend's face, she
immediately added: "I'm sorry dear, I promised never to tease you about
that."
"Don't Bet, some things just touch the heart too close to joke about!
And you'll never understand that until you love a horse the way I do
Powder."
"I think I do understand, Kit. I'm sure I'd be just as sentimental
over Smiley Jim. Poor old fellow! I've neglected him lately. Today I
locked him in the basement, and he begged so to come along!"
"Why didn't you bring him?" asked Kit.
"Auntie Gibbs wanted him to stay there. She's getting a little nervous
since the loss of the fan and thinks the dog will protect her."
Shirley was in the lead, her eyes on the ground, watching eagerly for
signs of animal footprints.
"Here's a deer track!" called Bet with a laugh and Shirley ran back at
top speed.
"Well, maybe it's only a rabbit's," teased Bet.
"And I thought you were my friend, Bet Baxter!" Shirley answered, as
she took the lead once more.
It was stinging cold. Every few minutes the girls had to stop and clap
their hands together and stamp their feet to restore circulation. They
pulled their wool caps well down over their ears and faced the sharp
wind. They had crossed the main highway and struck into the woods on
the other side, hoping to reach Cruger Lake by lunch time.
They walked and walked till long after the time set for lunch, but saw
no sign of the lake.
"Let's build our fire in the woods, girls, and we'll go on to the lake
afterwards. I didn't know it was so far." Bet slung her pack to the
ground, and the others followed her lead.
"What's for lunch?" asked Joy Evans. "I'm starved!"
Outdoor cooking was a hobby with the girls and they soon had a fire
started. And when a bed of coals was ready, a big steak with onions
sizzled merrily.
Everybody was hungry from the long walk, and steak and sandwiches
disappeared before the onslaught of four ravenous girls.
"And here's the dessert!" Bet held up a handful of dough.
"I wouldn't call that much of a dessert," Joy shrugged with disgust.
"Wait and see! You take a little piece of it and pull it out like
this," and Bet stretched the dough into a long, narrow ribbon. "Now
please hand me those sticks I was whittling!" After rubbing the end of
the twigs in flour, Bet wound the ribbon around the end in a spiral.
"And now what?" asked Kit, as Bet passed each of them a stick with the
twisted dough on the point.
"Put them over the coals but be careful not to burn them," she
cautioned.
The girls kept the sticks turning so that the dough would cook evenly.
Suddenly Bet held hers up; "I do believe mine is done, and this is the
way you find out. If it slips off without sticking then it is done."
Bet gave the twist a little turn and it came off.
"Now that's a bread twist!" she smiled with satisfaction, as the girls
all took theirs off successfully. "Here, fill them up with jelly, and
then tell me what you think of them."
"No words can describe this!" replied Joy. "I could just live on bread
twists."
"And now let's be on our way!" Bet shouldered her pack. "It can't be
far to the lake now."
After an hour's walk they realized that something was wrong, they
should have been at the lake long ago.
"I know what we must have done," exclaimed Bet impatiently. "We took
the wrong trail away back by the road. Here's Hermit's Hut in front of
us."
"Aw, what a nuisance. I did want to go to the lake!" Joy stopped
short. "Can't we turn back and go yet?"
"No, it's too late today. It would be dark before we'd get there,"
said Shirley.
"What's Hermit's Hut? That sounds interesting. Makes me think of the
hermit's caves in Arizona," cried Kit, a joyous note in her voice.
"It's just an old hut, that's all. They say a queer old man stayed
there at one time and lived on just what he could shoot or trap in the
woods, and when he died and his body was found, there was a bag of gold
coins hidden in the wall of the hut. I don't know whether the story is
true or not, but the closet in the wall is there and might have held
treasure," explained Bet.
"Some say he starved to death with all that money right there!" said
Joy contemptuously. "Wasn't he crazy?"
"There's no sign of treasure there now," declared Bet. "They have
ripped up the floors and the walls and dug all around the hut to see if
he didn't _bury_ some money as well."
"That's not likely!" Kit took Bet's arm. "Come on up there, I want to
see the hut."
"There isn't much to see," returned her chum, as they climbed the small
hill to the old cabin.
The wind was getting stronger and when the girls reached the Hermit's
Hut, a tumble-down shack half hidden in the brush, they gladly took
shelter there from the wind.
"Now bring on your treasure closet," exclaimed Kit. "Where's your
show?"
Bet pointed to the wall. "That's funny," she exclaimed, "that closet
used to be right there. Someone has nailed it up." And Bet tapped the
wall with her hard little knuckles.
"It sounds hollow! Maybe some other hermit has fastened it up again,"
suggested the quiet Shirley.
"Hidden treasure!" exclaimed Joy.
"You can have all the treasure you find," laughed Shirley. "I'm off to
find deer tracks."
"Usually I'm not a curious person," began Kit.
"You don't say so! Do tell us more about yourself!" Joy was always
teasing and the girls were used to her ways. Kit leaned over the door
sill, grabbed a handful of snow, aimed it at Joy, then continued her
sentence:
"This interests me, and I'm going to investigate. Perhaps some one has
hidden away another fortune in the wall."
"I think this hermit must have had a repair-man's mania, the way this
board is nailed on! Get your hatchet Kit, and we'll investigate." Bet
held out her hand toward the pack.
No one paid any attention to Shirley, who had found a treasure of her
own, some deer tracks in the snow outside the hut. "Here's where I'll
put my camera," she said to herself. "Oh I do hope I get a good
picture!"
"She's raving again, girls, don't cross her!" called Joy from the
doorway.
"I'm not listening!" said Shirley, with a toss of her head. She placed
the camera, cleverly concealed it with evergreen boughs, and put into
position the device that set off the flash powder and released the
shutter. A wire extended out into the snow at some distance so that
the animal would be almost sure to come in contact with it.
"There! That's done!" announced Shirley. "Now, Mr. Deer, you can come
just as soon as you want to. I'm ready!"
Bet was using all her strength to pry off the board from the wall.
"Here, give it to me, Bet! I'm a wild and woolly westerner and big
nails are nothing in my life."
With a screeching, protesting sound the huge nails were pulled out and
the board came loose. The girls peered into the opening but did not
see anything at first.
"Nothing there!" said Kit with disgust, as she turned away.
"There's something white in here!" exclaimed Bet as she slipped her
hand into the closet. She grasped the object in a tight grip and
brought it forth.
"Oh look! We've found hidden treasure!" shouted Joy, laughing.
"Let's see it.--No, it's just a dusty cloth tied around a stick."
But Bet was trembling with excitement. She exclaimed: "Girls, it's the
fan! The queen's fan!" She unwrapped the cloth and showed the
precious object, then burst into tears.
But the girls cried out excitedly: "Found! What wonderful luck!"
"How did it get here?"
"This must be a thieve's [Transcriber's note: thief's?] hiding place!
Oh, maybe the thief is around here!"
"What shall we do!"
"Do? I'll say grab it and get out of this place as soon as we
can.--And keep running until we reach the bus line. Don't wait a
minute, girls! I'll just lay suspicion by nailing this board back
again!" And Kit gave some good swinging strokes with the hatchet.
The girls ran in terror, for they expected the thief to be in pursuit.
They glanced back anxiously with little squeals. But Bet hugged the
fan to her breast and did not speak.
The four girls waited for the bus at the deserted corner of the woods.
It was already dusk. Bet looked anxiously about, fearing to hear a
long whistle, a signal of the thieves. So many things had happened
recently the girls did not feel safe. They might be held up, even yet.
It seemed hours before they saw the bus.
Shirley hailed it and the girls climbed on trying compose themselves
and not look self-conscious.
Suddenly Shirley jumped to her feet. "My camera! I shouldn't have
left it there! I never want to see that place again!"
"Ssh! Don't talk so loud, Shirley!" Bet whispered. "And don't worry.
We'll ask Bob and Phil to come up with us and get it. We'll tell them
to bring a shot gun! And who knows, maybe in the meantime you'll get
your picture of a deer."
The bus had never seemed to go so slowly. It stopped at every street
corner, or so it appeared to Bet Baxter. At the corner where they
alighted, Smiley Jim came bounding over the hard snow, barking his
welcome. "Smiley Jim, I'm glad you're here, I've never been so happy
to see you, in all my life!" Bet exclaimed.
As if the dog knew that Bet needed him, he walked by her side, and
growled as he always did when strangers came to the Manor.
"I believe he knows!" said Bet softly as she patted the dog's head.
But when she stumbled into the kitchen a few minutes later, she fell
into Auntie Gibbs' arms and sobbed hysterically.
"Now, what's the matter child? Have you had more bad luck? Your
father can't get home too soon to suit me!"
At last Bet got her breath:
"Auntie Gibbs! Uncle Nat! We've found the fan!"