"CONFUSION WORSE CONFOUNDED"
"I can't go any farther, Harry," said Eleanor despairingly.
Harry Sears reached her just in time. Eleanor fell forward on her
horse's neck. She had fainted with the pain in her shoulder, which had
increased with every step her horse had taken.
Harry laid Eleanor on the ground under a tree. Then he stood staring at
her pallid face. He had not the faintest idea what he should do. He knew
of no spring nearby where he could get water. Girls were an awful
nuisance, anyway; something was always happening to them. Harry was
sorry that he had ever ridden with Eleanor. It was stupid of him to have
let the rest of the party get so far ahead of them.
Still, poor Nellie did not open her eyes. Harry hitched both of the
horses to a fence rail and then came back to gaze at Eleanor until she
came to herself.
When Eleanor opened her eyes it was to see Harry's frown, partly of
impatience and partly from worry. She tried to sit up, but the pain made
her ill and she lay back on the ground. She realized that she must have
sprained her shoulder when she fell from her horse. She had been wrong
in believing it to be only bruised.
"What shall we do, Eleanor?" asked Harry gloomily. "You can't ride any
more and I can't leave you here by yourself. This road seems to be cut
through a wilderness. We have not passed a house in miles!"
"You can help me over into that woods, Harry," she said faintly. "I'll
lie down under the trees and wait--the sulphur springs can't be very far
from here--then you ride on and find the others. Madge will drive back
in Mrs. Preston's phaeton for me," smiled Eleanor, though her lips were
almost colorless with pain. "Please don't forget where you leave me,
Harry."
Harry Sears's face cleared. Eleanor's idea was the only possible one,
and she was a brave girl to be willing to be left alone. "Don't you
fear," he comforted her, as he led her deeper into the thick grove of
trees. "I'll tie my handkerchief to the tree nearest the road. Besides,
your horse will be hitched near here. When you hear us driving along the
road, in about ten or fifteen minutes, just you sing out."
Eleanor was grateful when Harry left her, and she could give way to her
real feelings. She was on a bed of moss and Harry had rolled up his
coat for a pillow to put under her head. But the pain in her shoulder
was excruciating. She could not get into any position where it seemed to
hurt less. Each time she moved a twinge caught her and she would have
liked to scream aloud. But Eleanor did not scream; she waited patiently,
though now and then the tears would rise in her eyes of their own accord
and trickle down her white cheeks. Madge was such a long time in coming
to find her. However, Harry did not know his way to the sulphur well. It
might take him some time to find it. How late it was getting! The sun
was low in the west.
After taking a last look at the spot where Eleanor lay, at her horse
hitched to a fence rail, at his own white handkerchief, which fluttered
from a low branch of a tree near the road, Harry rode furiously off. He
would surely find their friends in a few moments. But Harry continued to
ride in exactly the wrong direction. Every yard he covered took him
farther away from the sulphur springs. While he was galloping on his
wild-goose chase the party at the springs decided to return to the
Preston farm. They were too uneasy about Harry and Eleanor to have a
good time, and they concluded that they would either overtake the lost
couple on the way home or else find that the two young people had given
up and returned to the farm.
The three girls gave their horses free rein and cantered home with all
speed. Yet it was dark when they arrived. No word had been heard of
Eleanor or Harry. It was a cloudy evening and the sun had disappeared
quickly. Without waiting, except to give the alarm to Mr. Preston, the
entire riding party set out again. Madge thought that she would have
liked to ask David to help them, but there was no time to spare. The
riders met Mrs. Preston, Miss Jenny Ann and Miss Betsey, who had set out
for home in the phaeton. The three older women also refused to go back
to Prestons, until Eleanor and her companion were discovered.
In the meantime Harry Sears had finally reached the decision that he was
not on the right road to the sulphur well. At the end of a five-mile
gallop he turned his horse and cantered back. He passed Eleanor's horse,
tugging impatiently at the reins that bound her; he saw his own white
handkerchief tied on the tree; but he could not see or hear Eleanor. He
would have liked to stop to find out that all was well with her, but he
dreaded to let Eleanor know that he had spent all this time and was
still without assistance. At the crossroads, where the young man had
made his original mistake in the roads, he at last turned down the lane
that led to the sulphur springs. But by this time his friends were well
on their way home to the Preston farm.
Eleanor's horse had grown weary of remaining standing. It was past her
supper time and she wished her measure of oats. The horse tossed her
head restlessly, walked forward a few steps and then backward, tugging
and straining at her bridle. In his excitement and hurry to be off,
Harry had not tied the horse very securely. He had no other hitching
rope than her bridle. The mare gave one final jerk and shake of her head
and was free. Quite innocent of the mischief her desertion would cause,
she trotted back to her own stable at the Prestons.
At nine o'clock in the evening rain began to fall. The night was pitch
dark, except for an occasional jagged flash of lightning. When Madge, in
advance of all the others, passed along only a few rods from the very
spot where Harry had left Eleanor the latter must have heard nothing,
for she made not the faintest outcry.
It was almost midnight before Eleanor's friends discovered that Harry
was not with her. Not finding any of the party at the sulphur springs,
Sears had lost his head completely. Instead of returning to poor Eleanor
he went on to the Preston farm, hoping stupidly that Nellie had in some
way been rescued and that he would find her there. The journey back home
was a long, weary one. His horse was completely fagged out and had gone
lame in one foot. Harry was terrified at the emptiness of the Preston
farm; only one or two servants were about; the others had gone with Mr.
Preston to look for Eleanor. There were no horses left on the place. So,
on foot, Harry set out again, only to have Eleanor's riderless horse
pass by him in the night. He hardly saw the animal in his excitement. He
did not dream that it was the horse he had hitched to mark Eleanor's
resting place, but plodded on, tired and dispirited.
Harry finally ran across Madge, Phyllis and Jack. He told them his story
as best he could. Foot by foot the young people retraced their way over
the same road, looking for the fluttering signal of Harry's white
handkerchief and the waiting horse.
The horse, of course, had run off, and at first it seemed impossible to
find the handkerchief. Madge was desperate. It was her fault that poor
Nellie was alone at midnight in the rain with her injured shoulder. If
only Madge had begged Eleanor to ride on faster, she knew that Eleanor
would have consented. It was only because she had commanded it that her
cousin had been so obstinate.
The other members of the Preston household were almost as miserable as
Madge. Even Miss Betsey Taylor could not be persuaded to return to her
bed. She forgot all about her health and her nerves, and was intent only
on finding Eleanor, who was her favorite of the four girls.
The rain was still pouring in heavy, unrelenting streams, and everyone
was soaked to the skin.
"My poor Nellie!" cried Madge. She and Phil were leading their tired
horses along the road. "I shall never forgive Harry Sears for leaving
her by herself and chasing all over the country for help. What an idiot
he is!"
"Sh-sh!" Phil comforted her, although she herself was quietly crying. It
was so dark that no one could see the girls' tears. "Don't blame Harry.
He did what he thought was best at the time, although it seems silly to
us now."
It was Harry, though, who at last found his rain-soaked handkerchief
tied to the branch of a tree. He had held a dark lantern up by every
bush or tree that he passed in the neighborhood where he believed he had
left poor Eleanor.
"I've found the place, I've found the place!" he cried triumphantly.
"Just a minute, Eleanor, and we will come to you!" He ran toward the
spot where he remembered to have left Eleanor. Madge hurried after him,
Phyllis keeping tight hold of her hand.
Harry's cry had thrilled all the searchers. Jack and Lillian came next
to hunt, with Mr. Preston close behind them. They stood together under
the tree where Eleanor had lain. The dark lanterns lit up their haggard
faces. Eleanor was not there!
"You have made a mistake in the place, Sears," declared Jack.
Harry reached down and picked up his own coat. "No, this is my coat," he
declared.
Madge dropped to the ground, shaking with sobs. She had found Eleanor's
little, soft felt riding hat.
"Children," urged Mr. Preston, "don't be so alarmed. It is very natural
that, when we took so long to find the poor child, she got up and
wandered off somewhere to get out of the rain. I will rouse the
neighborhood and we men will search the woods and fields. We will
inquire at all the farmhouses in the vicinity. Why, we are sure to find
Eleanor. You girls must run along home and wait until morning. I can't
have you all ill on my hands with pneumonia."
Miss Jenny Ann, Mrs. Preston and Miss Betsey were crawling out of the
phaeton when Mr. Preston led three of the girls back to "I can't go
home, Jenny Ann," insisted Madge. "It was my fault that Nellie is lost.
Uncle and Aunt will never forgive me."
It was in vain that Miss Jenny Ann pleaded, argued and commanded the
little captain to return with the other women to the Preston farm. She
simply would not go. So Phyllis stayed behind with her for company.
Just before daylight one of the farmers who lived near the woods where
Eleanor was supposed to have been left took the two girls home with him.
Eleanor had not then been found.