MISS ELTING'S MYSTERIOUS CALLER
"Come back here!" shouted the guide. Harriet halted. She hesitated at
sight of the black shadows there rather than at the command. She
distinctly heard some one floundering over a high board fence that shut
in the rear yard of the store and post-office. Janus's hand was on her
arm.
"Well, I swum!" he exclaimed.
"Oh, that's too bad. He got away," cried Harriet ruefully. "I was too
slow. I could have caught him just as well as not, had I not been so
stupid as to wait."
Harriet and the guide walked to where her companions were standing, not
certain what they ought to do, not quite sure what had occurred.
"This one's all right," chuckled Janus. "She's got the spunk, but she
needs watching. She'll get the whole outfit in trouble. Tell me about
it," he concluded, turning to Harriet.
"You saw it, sir?" asked Harriet quickly.
"I didn't see anything," returned the guide. "The man was standing on
the spot where you are standing at this moment. He was listening to
what we were saying, but for what reason I can't imagine. I made the
mistake of calling to you. I shouldn't have done that. When you
started for him he disappeared."
"Yes, we saw him; then we did not," added Miss Elting.
"You didn't stop to think. You were too excited, and, besides, I was
nearer to the man than were the rest of you girls. He simply dropped
down on all fours and ran off the porch like a dog or a cat."
"Well, I swum!" muttered the guide.
"Mr. Grubb, I don't like this," declared the guardian severely.
"Neither do I, Miss," he replied in a tone that made the girls laugh.
"I am not certain what I ought to do, Mr. Grubb," continued Miss
Elting. "If it means that my girls are to be annoyed and disturbed, we
shall be obliged to look for another guide. You know I have a personal
responsibility in this matter. I shall have to think it over. Unless
you can give me reasonable assurance that these incidents will not be
repeated, then I shall have to make some different arrangements. You
will please send the luggage to the hotel as suggested. I will see you
early in the morning, at any rate. Come, girls."
Janus, somewhat downcast and very thoughtful, led the way to the
Compton House, a short distance down the street from the post-office
and grocery store. The girls began talking almost as soon as they had
left the store porch.
"Please, please don't discharge him," begged Hazel. "He is such a nice
man."
"And thuch nithe whithkerth," added Grace Thompson. "He lookth jutht
like an uncle of mine, who----"
"I agree with the girls, Miss Elting," interjected Harriet. "We are
able to take care of ourselves. Perhaps this is simply another crazy
man, of whom we shall be rid as soon as we leave the village for the
mountains in the morning. Please don't dismiss Mr. Grubb."
"I shall have to think this matter over," was the guardian's grave
reply. "We do not care to repeat last summer's experience. You
remember what came of relying on the assurance of a stranger." Miss
Elting referred to the manner in which they had been tricked by the man
who had charge of her brother's houseboat the previous summer, and
whose treachery had caused them so much annoyance.
None of the Meadow-Brook Girls made reply. They were as fully puzzled
in this respect as was their guardian. Miss Elting, however, pondered
over the mystery all the way to the hotel. They found the Compton
House a very comfortable country hotel, rather more so than some others
of which they had had experience during their previous journeys.
Arriving at the hotel, they hurriedly prepared for supper, for they
were late and the other guests of the house had eaten and left the
dining room before the Meadow-Brook Girls had even entered the hotel.
By the time supper was finished, their luggage had come over from the
station. Janus Grubb, went home, not a little troubled as well as
mystified by the occurrences of the evening. Who the man could
possibly be he had not the remotest idea. He tried to recall who of
his acquaintances might be guilty of playing such a joke on him. To
the mind of Janus the incident could have been only a prank, though he
questioned the good taste of any such interference between himself and
his customers.
On the contrary, Miss Elting and her young charges attached more
serious meaning to the performances of the man who had regarded them
through green goggles. They regarded the incident with suspicion and
agreed to proceed only with the utmost caution.
None of the readers of this series need an introduction to Harriet
Burrell and her three friends, who figured so prominently in "THE
MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS UNDER CANVAS." It was in this narrative that the
four chums made their first expedition into the Pocono woods and for
several happy weeks were members of Camp Wau-Wau, a campfire
association of which the girls became loyal members. At the end of
their stay in camp they decided to walk to their home town, sending
their camping outfit on ahead.
The story of their journey home on foot was told in the second volume,
"THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS ACROSS COUNTRY," in which an Italian and his
dancing bear, a campful of gipsies and a band of marauding tramps
furnished much of the excitement. Then, too, the friendly aid and
rivalries of a camp of boys known as the Tramp Club furnished many
enjoyable situations.
It was in the third volume, "THE MEADOW-BROOK GIRLS AFLOAT," that
Harriet Burrell and her friends were shown as encountering a
considerable amount of adventure. The girls led an eventful life on
the old houseboat on one of the New Hampshire lakes, and also
encountered a mystery which, with the help of the Tramp Club, was run
to earth, but the solving of it entailed the loss of the "Red Rover,"
their houseboat.
And now the Meadow-Brook Girls were about to spend a few weeks among
the "Marvelous Crystal Hills," as the White Mountains in New Hampshire
have been aptly termed.
Much time and thought had been spent in preparing properly for this
long vacation jaunt. Camp equipage had all been overhauled, and much
that would serve excellently where there was transport service had been
discarded for this journey into the hills.
Resting for a while after finishing supper, the girls began to make up
neat packs containing such bare equipment and food supplies as they
believed to be indispensable. Then there were the tent, blankets and
cooking utensils to be looked after. Of course, the guide would carry
much of this dunnage, yet our girls were no weaklings, and no one of
them expected to shirk carrying her fair share of the load.
It was after nine o'clock when Harriet and her chums finished the
making-up of the packs. Soon after a clerk knocked on the door of Miss
Elting's room.
"There's a man below who wishes to speak with you," the clerk informed
her.
"It must be Mr. Grubb," guessed the guardian, and left her packing to
go downstairs. She glanced into the lobby of the hotel; then, not
seeing Janus there, stepped into the parlor. A man, a stranger, was
sitting near a door that led out to the hotel veranda. In the light of
the kerosene lamp that hung suspended from the ceiling she was not able
to make out his features at first. She saw that he wore a heavy black
beard, that he was rather roughly dressed, but that his hands were
white.
"Are you the man who wished to speak with Miss Elting?" she asked,
confessing to herself that she did not wholly like the appearance of
the man.
"Yes," he answered, rising. Now that the light fell on his face she
noted that he had a low, receding forehead. His beard covered the
greater part of his face.
"About what do you wish to speak with me?"
"Well, it's rather a delicate matter, Miss," the man made reply, gazing
down at the carpet, twisting his soft felt hat awkwardly. "I--I wanted
to ask if you needed any assistance."
"What do you mean?"
"You are going into the mountains?"
"Yes, sir."
"You will need to have some one to show you the way and look after you
and your party."
"We already have engaged some one to do that. You mean a guide, I
suppose?"
He nodded.
"May I ask your name?"
"John Collins."
"Do you live here?" she asked, curious to know more about the man, whom
she began to distrust.
"Not now. I live over in the next village. I was in town and heard
that you folks wanted a guide. I know more about the White Mountains
than any other man in the State of New Hampshire. I can show you more,
and take better care of your party, than anybody else you could find."
"Do you know Janus Grubb?"
"Ye--yes," Collins twisted uneasily, "I know him."
"He is to be our guide. The arrangements were made some time ago by
the father of one of our young women. Mr. Grubb starts with us
tomorrow morning, unless there should be some change in the
arrangements."
"I'm sorry, Miss."
"I'm sorry, too, since you have been so kind as to offer your
services," replied the guardian politely.
"I didn't just mean it that way, Miss. I meant about Janus."
"How so?"
"I don't just like to say. Yes, I will, too. Do you know anything
about Jan Grubb?"
"No," admitted Miss Elting.
"Then you'd better ask. I am afraid you are putting too much
confidence in him."
"Mr. Collins, please be more explicit. What do you mean?"
"You'll find out after you've got out into the hills. He doesn't know
any more about the hills than a little yellow dog that's spent all its
life in town. He'll get you into all kinds of trouble, and then he'll
leave you to get out of it as best you can. You remember what I tell
you."
"Of course, I thank you for telling me," answered the guardian rather
stiffly. "However, we are quite satisfied with Mr. Grubb. As I
understand it, he is a highly respected citizen of Compton and an
efficient mountain guide. That will be quite sufficient for us."
"I need this job. I--I need the money, Miss," whined the stranger.
"I am satisfied with the arrangements I have already made." Miss Elting
turned to leave the room.
"My family needs it. I've been out of work a long time, and----"
"I am very sorry. I wish it were in my power to assist you, but I have
very little voice in the matter. Another person--the one who is paying
the expenses of this trip--attended to all that. You will see that it
is quite useless to plead, deep as my sympathy is for you."
The man rose and eyed her with an expression that was particularly
unpleasant to behold. Miss Elting returned her strange visitor's gaze.
Something other than his looks repelled her, yet there was nothing in
either manner or words to account for this feeling of repulsion on the
part of the guardian.
"In case anything should occur to make it necessary for us to look
further for a guide I shall remember you," she said slowly. "I suppose
I can reach you here at Compton?"
"N--n--no," was the hesitating answer. "But if you need me, I'll he
about. Mark what I tell you, Jan Grubb is going to get you into a fine
mess! You will be sorry you ever engaged him; that's all I've got to
say about it. Good night, lady."
"Good night, Mr. Collins," replied the woman coldly. His final words,
so full of rancor, had destroyed what little sympathy he had aroused in
her. Miss Elting stood aside while the man stepped toward the door.
At this juncture Harriet Burrell appeared in the doorway leading to the
hall. She had missed Miss Elting, and, not finding the guardian in her
room, had come downstairs in search of her. Harriet had not known that
the guardian was engaged.
"Oh, I beg your pardon, Miss Elting. I did not know--I thought you
were alone."
"It is all right. Come in, Harriet. What did you wish?"
Harriet did not reply. Instead, she gazed perplexedly at the
retreating form of Miss Elting's late caller.
"You'll be sorry you ever took up with that hound," flung back the
fellow, turning as he was about to step out on the veranda.
Miss Elting made no reply. Her lips tightened a little, then she
turned with a half-smile, regarding Harriet's frowning face quizzically.
"What does it mean, Miss Elting?" questioned the girl.
"I don't know, my dear. The man wanted to act as our guide. I am glad
he isn't the one who is to lead us over the mountains. I don't like
him at all. You heard what he just said?"
Harriet nodded.
"He was referring to Mr. Grubb."
"Oh!"
"I don't know what to make of it. What reason do you suppose he could
have for coming to me in this manner? It is all very strange."
"I don't know, Miss Elting. I am wondering."
"Wondering what?"
There was something in the set of the shoulders, in the swing of them
as the man walked away, in the poise of the head, that had impressed
Harriet Burrell as being vaguely familiar. Something of this must have
been reflected in the Meadow-Brook Girl's face, judging from the
guardian's next question.
"Of what are you thinking, dear?"
"I have seen that man before, Miss Elting."
"Where?"
"I don't know. My memory connects him with something unpleasant. I
wish I knew what it is, for I am positive there is something wrong with
him. Wait! I know! I know of whom the man reminds me. Can't you see
it? Don't you know?" cried Harriet eagerly.
The guardian shook her head.