FACED BY A FRESH MYSTERY
There were serious expressions on the faces of the Meadow-Brook Girls
when Miss Elting and the guide came in. Miss Elting saw at once that
something was amiss. She demanded to know what it was.
"Hazel saw something that frightened her," answered Harriet.
"Saw something?" repeated the guardian, looking from one girl to the
other.
"Tell it," urged Harriet, nodding to Hazel.
"I was watching for you and the girls when I thought I heard something
behind me. I looked around but saw nothing unusual. But I had a
feeling that some one was about. I walked to the other end of the camp
and back. I saw no one--nothing, I hadn't thought to look up.
Something made me do so just then and I saw it."
"Saw what?" demanded the guardian and the guide in chorus.
"A man."
"You did?" exclaimed Janus. "Where?"
"He was behind those green bushes that you see up there--Oh, he has
gone. No need to go up there now, Mr. Grubb." Janus had begun to
climb the rocks.
"Yes. Please wait and hear the rest of the story," ordered Miss
Elting, who was deeply interested, but apparently undisturbed. "What
sort of looking man was he, Hazel?"
"He wore a long, black beard, and--"
"You are positive of this?" interrupted Miss Elting.
"Yes. I saw him plainly. That is, I saw his head and shoulders. The
rest of his body was hidden behind the bushes. I was going to cry out,
but I knew you couldn't hear me. There was too much noise down there,
so I just stood still."
"Did he speak to you?" asked Janus.
"No. I spoke to him. I asked him what he wanted. He did not reply.
Instead, he dodged behind the bushes and ran. I could see, from the
movement of the bushes to the right there, that he was getting away
very rapidly."
"Did the man wear green goggles?" asked the guide.
"No, sir. He wore no glasses."
"Of course not. We've got the green goggles," broke in Jane. "But the
whiskers! Our enemy wore whiskers, didn't he?"
"What do you make of this, Mr. Grubb?" questioned Miss Elting, eyeing
Janus sharply.
"Can't make anything of it. Might be most anybody. A good many
persons up in these parts wear whiskers." Janus stroked his own
reflectively. "And then again, a good many more do not, so I don't see
that his whiskers prove much. Wish I might have seen him. If you
don't mind I'll go up there now and see what I can find."
Harriet said she would accompany him and assist in the search.
"You couldn't recognize in him the man we saw on the station platform
at Compton the night of our arrival, could you, Hazel?" asked the
guardian.
"Oh, no. I don't believe it was the same person at all."
"Then we are no wiser than before, except that it behooves us to keep
our eyes open. If that man has followed us into the mountains we shall
hear more of him. Do you find anything up there, Harriet?"
"We find where he has broken down some bushes, but that is all. No
footprints. I might possibly pick up his trail, but over the rocks
there would be slight chance of running it down."
"I couldn't permit it," was Miss Elting's decisive reply. "Come down.
Jane, will you please start the fire? We will have breakfast."
"Oh, yeth, we haven't had breakfatht yet," piped Tommy.
"Nor have you dried your clothes. Every one of you except Hazel is wet
to the skin."
Jane had brought some dry sticks by the time the guide and Harriet
returned. Janus got more, realizing the condition of his party, and
wishing to build up a fire that would dry their wet clothing. The
girls had no changes of clothing with them. They would be obliged to
continue to wear their wet dresses until these had dried.
A hot fire proved a welcome relief. The girls gathered about it,
turning frequently in order to give their clothing an opportunity to
dry. It was not long before the steam rose from their rapidly drying
garments. They laughed and joked over their condition. Miss Elting
was more serious. She held a low-voiced conversation with Janus while
he was getting the breakfast. Janus insisted that he had not the
faintest idea that he had an enemy. At least he knew of no one who
would commit the acts that had been committed since the party started
out from Compton on their journey through the White Mountains.
The girls' wet clothing was almost dry when they were called to
breakfast. This meal was late on this particular morning, for good and
sufficient reason, but the girls did not complain about this. What
they did complain of was their bedraggled condition. They laid their
trouble on this occasion directly at the door of Tommy Thompson. Tommy
was undisturbed. She expressed her pleasure, however, that her
companions had also received a wetting, and uncharitably hoped they
would fall in every time she did.
During breakfast they discussed their situation, finally deciding to
push on as soon after the meal as possible. The guide said they would
feel dry and warm soon after starting on their way. He thought they
would be better off on the move than sitting about the fire. Hazel had
now fully recovered from the effects of her fall. Harriet's side still
gave her pain, but she, too, felt that the best thing for her would be
plenty of exercise.
That forenoon she insisted on carrying Hazel's pack, and did more real
work on the trail than any other girl of the party. They were above
the timber line, though there was little timber below it, the side of
the mountain having been fire-swept long before that. The only green
to be seen immediately about them were the blue-berry bushes and
similar mountain vegetation that flourished in the crevices of the
rocks.
It was early in the afternoon when they emerged on the summit of the
mountain and gazed off over its gray top, that, flanked by other domes
of the Sandwich range, reminded one of the past ages and the
fascinating legends of the Sokokis. The summit was rough and rugged,
though devoid of big boulders such as are usually to be found in
similar locations.
"You are now three thousand five hundred feet in the air," announced
the guide, rather proudly.
"Ith that what maketh Buthter tho uppithh thith afternoon?" questioned
Tommy.
"It may be what makes you so light-headed," retorted Margery.
"There! Now, will you be good?" jeered Jane.
"Yeth. That wath a good one. Too bad you don't thay thomething bright
every day. Think what a lot more fun we would have, Buthter."
An hour was spent strolling about the summit, looking off at the
magnificent scenery which stretched on all sides of them.
A cup of coffee apiece was made and drunk, but fire-making material was
so scarce that no attempt was made to cook a meal. About mid-afternoon
the party was called to attention and directed to shoulder their packs
preparatory to their long tramp down the mountain side to the Shelter,
where fresh clothing and food awaited them. They left the summit with
regret. Harriet said she would give a great deal to see a sunrise from
there.
"Wait for Mt. Washington," answered Janus. "I shan't tell you anything
about it, but, once you are there, you will be glad you decided to
climb it."
Instead of climbing down over the rocks the party took what is known
among mountaineers as a "tote trail," a narrow pathway generally used
for packing stuff into the mountains on the backs of human beings.
This "tote trail" was a winding trail full of twists and turns and
surprises, now appearing to end at some high precipice, then creeping
around the corner of a huge jutting rock, but ever dropping and
dropping farther and farther away from the summit and nearer to the
"Shelter," which was their destination on this occasion.
Twilight was upon them again before they reached the main tourist
trail. It was now late in the season. Not a human being had they seen
since starting out to climb Mt. Chocorua except for Hazel's discovery
of the strange man whom she had caught spying on their camp at the
"Slide." The memory of that face still lingered in mind, nor had the
incident been forgotten by any member of the party. They wondered what
the next surprise would be. They were destined to know within a very
short time.
Walking was good by this time and the remaining distance to the
"Shelter" was covered at a greater rate of speed. Janus swung to the
right, then to the left, and behold, the little hut stood darkly before
them!
"Here we are," called the guide cheerily, striding over and throwing
open the door.