The Camp Fire Girls at School by Hildegard G. Frey
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Hildegard G. Frey >> The Camp Fire Girls at School
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"It's the same way with me," said Gladys.
"If there was only one bright spot to relieve the monotony," said Nyoda,
"it wouldn't be so bad."
"How about our middy ties?" asked Gladys. "They're bright red and ought
to inspire courage." She took the ties from her little satchel and
spread them out over a chair.
"That's better," said Nyoda. "I feel more cheerful already." After
staring intently at the flaming square of silk for a while her mental
activity began to revive and she commenced to turn over in her mind
plans for their escape. Acting on this latest impulse, she wrote a
letter addressed to a friend of hers and sealed and stamped it. When the
deaf-mute brought their supper she drew a diamond ring from her finger,
laid it beside the letter and wrote on a piece of paper,
"The ring is yours if you will mail this letter."
The woman shook her head. Nyoda drew off another ring, a handsome ruby
surrounded by seed pearls and tiny diamonds. The woman gazed steadfastly
at it, and Nyoda thought she saw a longing look in her eyes. She turned
the ring so the stone sparkled in the light. The woman's lips parted and
her hand crept toward the letter. Nyoda turned the ring in the light
once more. By the look in the woman's face she knew that she had gained
her point. In another moment she would accept the bribe. Just then the
throbbing sound of a motor was heard on the drive. The woman started
violently, jerked her hand back and sent the elevator down in haste.
With a gesture of despair Nyoda threw the letter down on the dresser.
"Do you suppose she really is deaf?" asked Gladys. "She seemed to hear
that sound."
"Maybe she heard it," said Nyoda, "and then again she may have felt the
vibrations. Who do you suppose has come?"
They spent the evening in a thrill of expectation, but were undisturbed.
Without lighting the lights they stood looking at the stars through the
openings in the trellis. At last Nyoda turned from the window and
snapped on the switch. As she did so she noticed that the elevator cage
had been up and was just going down. As it sank out of sight she saw
that the occupant was a man. Soon afterward they heard the throb of the
motor again and then the sound of a car driving away.
"Where did you put the red ties?" asked Gladys the next morning.
"I didn't take them," said Nyoda. The ties had disappeared from the
chair overnight.
From sheer nervousness Nyoda began twisting up her felt outing hat in
her hands. As she did so she came upon something hard in the inside of
the crown. Investigating she drew out her Wohelo knife. "I had forgotten
I had it in there," she said. "I put that pocket in my hat just for fun
and slipped the knife in to see if it would go in."
Why is it that a knife in one's hand inspires a desire to cut something?
Nyoda immediately began examining the room for a possible means of
escape with the aid of the knife. Opening the window, she inspected the
setting of the bars closely. They were set only into the wooden window
sill. "Gladys," she whispered excitedly, "I believe we can cut the wood
away from these bars and push them out."
"And what then?" asked Gladys.
"Jump," said Nyoda. "Jump into the lake and swim away."
Not daring to make any attempt in the daytime for fear of the
mysteriously silent visits of the deaf-mute, who never came at any
regular time, they waited until after dark, and then Gladys sat close
beside the elevator shaft, watching for the slightest indication of the
approaching car. Nyoda meanwhile hacked away at the window casing,
cutting and splitting it away from the bars. She worked feverishly for
several hours and succeeded in freeing the ends of three of the bars,
which would be enough to let them through. Just then Gladys gave a
warning hiss. The elevator cord was moving. Nyoda drew the shade down
over the window and closed the purple curtains over it, and both girls
jumped into bed and pulled the covers over them. They had undressed so
as to avert suspicion. The next moment the elevator door opened
silently, but whether it moved up or down or side wise they could not
make out, and the deaf-mute stepped into the room. Guided by a
flash-light, she picked up Gladys's red petticoat from the chair and
departed as silently as she had come. As soon as the elevator had sunk
out of sight the girls were back at work again. Throwing all her weight
against the bars, Nyoda bent them out and upward, the wood that held
them at the top splintering with the strain. Then, leaning out, she
began to cut away the trellis, which was in the way. It was built out
from the sill and had no supports on the ground, and the vines which
were on it came around the corner of the house.
Looking down, she could see that they were indeed right above the lake,
without a foot of ground at the bottom of the tower. No other part of
the house was visible from this angle. The waves roared and dashed on
the cliff below, and a strong wind was blowing from the west. "It looks
as if a storm were coming," said Nyoda in a low tone. The night was
wearing away fast and the girls knew that it was safer to escape under
cover of darkness. About three o'clock in the morning the storm broke, a
terrific thunder shower. The tower swayed in the wind and at each crash
they held their breath, thinking that the house had been struck. The
spray from the waves as they were flung against the rocks often came in
through the open window. Both girls looked down into the boiling sea
beneath them and drew back with a shudder. "Wait until the storm is
over," said Gladys.
"It may be daylight then," said Nyoda. Howling like an imprisoned giant,
the wind hurled itself against the side of the tower. "There's one thing
about it," said Nyoda, "we never can swim in those waves with skirts on.
I'm going to have a bathing suit." Taking the blankets from the bed, she
made them into straight narrow sacks, cutting various holes in them so
as to leave the arms and limbs free.
When the storm had abated somewhat they prepared for the plunge. The
first faint streaks of dawn were showing in the east. Gladys crept out
on the sill and then shrank back. The surface of the water seemed miles
below her. "I can't do it, Nyoda," she panted.
"Yes, you can," said Nyoda, patting her on the shoulder. "You aren't
going to lose your nerve at this stage of the game, are you? 'Screw your
courage to the sticking point,' We have our fate in our own hands now.
'Who hesitates is lost.'"
"But the water is so far away," shuddered Gladys.
"What of that?" said Nyoda. "It's perfectly safe to jump. The water is
very deep along the shore here. Think, just one leap and then we're out
of this!"
Gladys still hung back. "You go first," she pleaded.
Nyoda made a motion to go and then stopped. "No," she said firmly, "I'd
rather you went first. You might be afraid to follow me afterward. Brace
up; remember you're a Winnebago!"
This had its effect and without allowing herself to stop to think Gladys
tossed her bundle of clothes out of the window and, closing her eyes,
dropped from the sill. There was a wild moment of suspense as she sank
downward through the gloom, and then she struck the water and it rolled
over her head. It was icy cold and for a minute she felt numb. Then the
waves parted over her head and she felt the wind blowing against her
face. A great splash beside her terrified her for an instant, and then
she remembered that it was Nyoda jumping in after her. In a moment a
head came up nearby and Nyoda inquired calmly how she enjoyed the
bathing. "It's g-r-r-e-a-t," said Gladys with chattering teeth.
"Now for a little pleasure swim," said Nyoda, striking out. While they
were swimming away the storm broke the second time; the thunder sounded
in their ears like cannon and the vivid lightning flashes lit up the
shore for miles around. By its light they could see that they were
nearing one of the long stone piers. Climbing up on this, they rested
until they had their breath back again, although it was a rather
exciting rest, for the waves were going high over the pier and
threatened to wash them off every moment. The shore line along here was
peculiarly rugged and forbidding. Instead of a beach, high cliffs rose
perpendicularly out of deep water and afforded nowhere a landing place.
The girls swam slowly and easily, fearing to spend their strength before
they could reach shallow water, often turning over to float and gain a
few moments' rest in this way. The waves were very rough and tossed them
about a great deal, but the wind was west and they were swimming toward
the east, and as the natural current of the lake was eastward toward
Niagara, their progress was helped rather than retarded by the force of
the water.
The storm abated and the sun began to rise over the lake, gilding the
crest of the waves. Still no sign of a beach. "I can't go much further,"
said Gladys faintly. Both girls were nearly spent when Nyoda spied a
strip of yellow in the distance which put new strength into them.
Putting forth their last efforts, they headed toward it. Trembling with
weakness and breathless from being buffeted about so much, they gained
the narrow beach and with a great sigh of relief rolled out onto the
sand.
CHAPTER XVI.
A SCHEME AND WHAT CAME OF IT.
We will now have to take our readers away from the Winnebagos and their
affairs for a few moments and admit them into the private office of Mr.
Rumford Thurston. Mr. Thurston, dealer in stocks and bonds and promoter
of investments, was closeted with his business associate and intimate
friend, Mr. Nathan Scovill. An earnest discussion was in progress, the
theme of which was apparently drawn from a paper which was spread out on
the desk between them.
"I tell you, it's the chance of a lifetime," said Mr. Scovill. "We can
clean up a cool half million on it before the public wakes up, and when
they do we can take a trip to Hawaii or Manila for our health until the
business is forgotten. You put in ten thousand now and you'll be on easy
street for the rest of your life."
"But I tell you, I haven't the ten thousand to put in," answered Mr.
Thurston crossly. "I haven't one thousand. That last deal finished me."
"Borrow some," said Mr. Scovill impatiently.
"Can't get any more credit," said Mr. Thurston gloomily. "The office
furniture is attached already."
Mr. Scovill scowled. Then he went carefully over the ground again,
dwelling on the ease of making money without working for it by the
simple method of swindling the public, and enlarging on the joys of life
as a rich man. "Think, man," he said in conclusion, "think what you're
missing!"
Mr. Thurston leaned his head on his hands and thought of what he was
missing, and he also thought of something else. A peculiar calculating
expression appeared in his eyes and around the corners of his mouth.
"There is some money to be had," he said slowly, "if I can get hold of
it."
"Where?" asked Mr. Scovill eagerly. "If it's to be had you may rest
assured we'll get hold of it by hook or crook."
"You remember John Rogers?" asked Mr. Thurston. Mr. Scovill nodded.
"When he died he left his daughters a fortune in stocks," continued Mr.
Thurston.
"Yes?" inquired Mr. Scovill encouragingly.
"Well," said Mr. Thurston, with a glitter in his eye, "I was appointed
guardian of those two girls."
Mr. Scovill whistled. "Meaning to say------" he began.
"That I have the managing of their property until they come of age,"
finished Mr. Thurston.
"Our fortune's made," said Mr. Scovill, shaking him by the hand.
"The only thing is," said Mr. Thurston, scratching his head
reflectively, "that the oldest girl comes of age in June, and there
might be an awkward inquiry just at the wrong time. We can't afford to
have any investigations begun inside of the next six months if we expect
to carry through the other scheme. Any breath of scandal would wreck our
prospects."
Mr. Scovill's face fell. He saw only too clearly the truth of the
other's words. But where Mr. Thurston came to a halt in front of a dead
wall, Scovill's scheming mind saw the loophole. "But just suppose," he
said slowly, "that there shouldn't be any investigation when the oldest
girl comes of age? Suppose she should never put in a claim for her
property?"
"What do you mean?" asked Mr. Thurston.
"Something like this," said Mr. Scovill. "If she were to be kept shut up
somewhere for a year or so until you have had time to make your fortune,
it would be too late to hurt you with a disclosure after that. Where
nobody asks questions there is no need of answering."
Thurston saw the point, but he didn't see how it was going to be done.
It was Scovill who thought out the whole scheme. He had a large piece of
land far outside the city limits on the lake front. There was an
unoccupied house on the property. Here the girl could be kept locked up
on the pretext that she was insane, with a certain woman he knew as
keeper, a deaf-mute. He shared a secret with her and could use this
knowledge to force her to serve him. The whole thing was very simple.
"But how are we going to keep the one locked up away from the other?"
asked Mr. Thurston. "Her sister would have the whole country searching
for her."
"Then take them both," said Mr. Scovill promptly. "That'll make matters
simpler yet. You say they have no relatives and are now away in school?
Nothing could be easier. We'll build a room they can't get out of once
they're in, and when it's finished you invite them to your house for a
visit. They'll think they're coming to see you, but it's out there to
that house they'll go and they'll not come back in a hurry. In the
meantime you get hold of those stocks and bonds, sell them and put the
money in this venture and come out a rich man. When you're ready to
clear out of the country you can let the girls out, and they won't be
any worse off than when they went in--except that they won't have a
cent."
Bit by bit the plan was perfected. Mr. Thurston took a sudden interest
in his orphan wards to the extent of writing to the school where they
were attending and asking when it closed for the summer. When he was
informed that school closed the last week in May, he invited the two
girls, Genevieve and Antoinette Rogers, to spend the first weeks of
their vacation at his home. He had not seen either of them since they
were little children. They graciously accepted the invitation.
But on the day they were to arrive, Mr. Thurston found that some private
business of his very urgently required his presence in another city, and
left Mr. Scovill to see to the landing of the birds in the trap. Mr.
Scovill met the unsuspecting girls at the train, explaining with many
expressions of regret the enforced absence of their guardian, took them
to dinner in a fine hotel and showed them the sights of the town with
all the cordiality of a sincere friend of their host, who was doing his
best to make up for his not being there. He won their hearts completely.
They were simple girls who had been brought up in a strict church
school, and the sights and sounds of the large city were all wonderful
to them.
Now, thanks to Mr. Scovill's activities, the trap was all set. The tower
was built with its room at the top without any door and its barred
window, and the deaf-mute was installed on the place and given
instructions to act as guard to two girls who were mentally unbalanced.
Furnishing the room in violet was the last touch of his cunning brain,
because he knew the depressing effect it would have on the inmates. He
gave strict orders to the keeper to remove any sign of a bright color,
as this might cause them to become violent.
Mr. Scovill had left directions for his automobile to be at a certain
place at half-past four to convey them to the house in the country. Now,
for reasons of his own, Mr. Scovill did not wish to be the last one seen
in the company of the two girls in case his plans should go wrong and
some one would start an inquiry for them. Therefore, he gave his driver
private instructions to drive like the wind with two girls who should be
placed in the car, and under no condition to let them out of the car.
Accordingly, when they were all a little weary of sight-seeing he
steered them gently toward the corner of ----th Avenue and L---- Street,
where the car was to wait for them. Half a block off he saw that it was
in place. So, pulling out his watch and suddenly remembering that he had
an important engagement for that very minute, he courteously took his
leave and pointed out the car they were to get into, telling them that
it was Mr. Thurston's and would take them to his home. "You can't miss
it, girls," he said, pointing with his finger. "It's that bright blue
one with the basket-work streamer." Antoinette and Genevieve thanked him
kindly for showing them such a good time and entered the car he had
indicated. Mr. Scovill withdrew into a doorway and watched them. In a
few moments the driver appeared, saw the two girls in the machine,
touched his hat to them, and taking his place behind the wheel, drove
rapidly off in the opposite direction. Mr. Scovill rubbed his hands
together as he watched the car disappear. It was a way he had when his
plans were turning out nicely. Forty-five minutes later his driver
called up from the country house to say that he had brought the girls
out in safety. Mr. Scovill smiled blandly. So far everything had played
into his hands. When Mr. Thurston returned the following day he
announced the fact to him that the birds were safe in the trap. Then he
left town for a protracted stay. Mr. Thurston made one trip out to the
house to behold the thing for himself. Riding up in the elevator, he saw
the girls standing by the barred window of their prison. When they lit
the light he descended in haste so as not to be seen by them. Then he
also left town for a while.
The Winnebagos, who were all in time for the Limited except Nyoda and
Gladys, boarded the car without them and amused themselves during the
ride by thinking up ways to tease the tardy ones when they should arrive
on the next car. Pretty Mrs. Bates met them at the car stop with the
news that Nyoda and Gladys were coming out in the automobile, and when
they thought it was time for them to arrive they all lined up in the
road where the drive turned off, and were ready to sing a funny song
which Migwan had made up about not getting there on time. The blue car
came in sight and the girls ranged themselves straight across the road
so it could not pass until the entire song had been sung. With mouths
open ready to sing they stopped in astonishment. The two girls in the
tonneau were strangers. They smiled bashfully at the row of maidens with
the bright red ties.
Mrs. Bates stepped forward. "Whom have you brought us, John?" she asked.
"Why, you said there'd be two girls in the car when I came out,"
answered the driver; "and there were."
"Oh, is there any mistake?" asked one of the strange girls. "Our names
are Genevieve and Antoinette Rogers. We've come up from Seaville to
visit our guardian, Mr. Thurston. He couldn't meet us and another
gentleman pointed out his automobile and said the driver would take us
out to Mr. Thurston's country place, and we got in, and he brought us
here."
"This is Bates Villa," said Mrs. Bates. "You undoubtedly got into our
car by mistake."
"I'm sorry this is not the right place," said Antoinette in a tone of
frank regret. "I was so glad when I saw all you girls and thought you
were to be our friends."
"You will be very welcome guests until your guardian comes for you,"
said Mrs. Bates in her gracious way.
The Winnebagos were much amused to think that Gladys and Nyoda had
missed their chance to ride out in the automobile, and added another
verse to the song to be sung when they should arrive on the next
Limited. Mrs. Bates found Mr. Thurston's name in the telephone book and
called his residence, but could get no answer. Now, Mr. Scovill had
introduced himself to Genevieve and Antoinette as "Mr. Adams." They did
not know his initials and attempts to get him on the wire were futile.
The girls all went down to the car-track when it was time for the next
Limited. A regular fusilade of jests and jibes were prepared for Nyoda
and Gladys. The Limited appeared and thundered by without stopping. "Not
on this one?" said the girls. "What on earth could have happened?"
"Here comes another car," said Hinpoha; "they're running a
double-header. Nyoda and Gladys must be on this one." The second car
whizzed by with a deafening clatter and a cloud of dust.
"Maybe they're not coming," said one of the girls, and disappointment
was visible on every face. This jolly party would not be complete
without their beloved Guardian and Gladys. Mrs. Bates telephoned to the
Evans's house in town, but there was nobody home. She tried the house
where Nyoda lived, but got no satisfaction, for the landlady merely said
that Miss Kent had not been home since leaving for school in the
morning. The evening passed off as merrily as possible and the girls
rose the next morning feeling sure that Nyoda and Gladys would be out on
the first car. But the day passed with no sign of them. They telephoned
to the Evans's again and this time they got Mrs. Evans.
"Gladys hasn't arrived there?" she asked in a frightened voice. "She
wasn't at home last night. Where can she be?" Wonder gave way to anxiety
on all sides and there was no more thought of fun.
"They must be out at Mr. Thurston's, of course," suggested Antoinette
Rogers. Renewed efforts were made to get into communication with Mr.
Thurston, but in vain. No answer came from the number which was opposite
his name in the telephone book. Genevieve and Antoinette were highly
embarrassed at being obliged to stay with strangers, and were not a
little mystified over the non-appearance of their guardian.
The days passed in frightful suspense for the parents and friends of the
missing girls. The aid of the police was called in, but they could find
no clue. Early on the morning of the fourth day Mrs. Evans was called to
the phone and was overjoyed to hear Gladys's voice on the wire. She and
Nyoda were at a house on the lake shore and would be home soon. There
was a happy home-coming that morning. Nyoda and Gladys told the almost
unbelievable tale of their imprisonment and escape from the tower. After
lying exhausted on the beach for a time, they had walked until they came
to a house where they were warmed and lent dry clothes, for they had
lost their bundles in the waves.
"And that's what would have become of us," said Antoinette Rogers with a
shudder, when Nyoda and Gladys had finished their story, "if we had not
made a mistake and gotten into the wrong automobile."
The police were informed of the matter and as soon as Mr. Thurston
returned to his place of business he was arrested and charged with the
conspiracy to abduct and forcibly detain his two wards. At first he
denied any knowledge of the affair, but the proof was overwhelming.
Nyoda accompanied a delegation of police and witnesses in a motor boat
to the foot of the tower and showed them the bent-out bars and the very
place where they had jumped into the water, and later they raided the
house from the land side. The deaf mute was nowhere to be found. She had
fled when she discovered that her charges had escaped and was never
heard of again. They ascended in the elevator but were unable to find
the contrivance which opened the door into the room, so cunningly was it
devised, and had to be content with looking through the grill-work into
the lavender room.
The Rogers girls, who were taken away from the guardianship of Mr.
Thurston, went to stay with friends in Cincinnati. Mr. Thurston was left
to pay the penalty of his villainy alone, for Mr. Scovill had made good
his escape before the plot was disclosed.
Thus Nyoda and Gladys all unknowingly were the cause of a great crime
being averted, and were regarded as heroines forevermore by the
Winnebagos and their friends.
CHAPTER XVII.
JOY BEFORE US.
Aunt Phoebe and Hinpoha, armed with sharp meat knives, were cutting up
suet in the kitchen. Hinpoha, as usual, under her aunt's eye, did
nothing but make mistakes. "How awkward you are," said Aunt Phoebe
impatiently. "You don't know how to do a thing properly. I wish that
Camp Fire business of yours would teach you something worth while. Here,
let me show you how to cut that suet." She took the knife from Hinpoha's
hand and proceeded to demonstrate. The suet was hard, which was the
reason Hinpoha had had no success in cutting it, and the knife in Aunt
Phoebe's hand slipped and plunged into her wrist. The blood spurted high
in the air. Aunt Phoebe screamed, "I'm bleeding to death!"
Hinpoha did not scream. She took a handkerchief and calmly made a
tourniquet above the gash, twisting it tight with a lead pencil. Then
she telephoned for Dr. Josephy, Aunt Phoebe's physician. He was out.
Frantically she tried doctor after doctor, but not a single one was to
be had at once. Dr. Hoffman she knew was at the hospital. One of the
doctors she had telephoned was said to be making a call on the street
where she lived, and she ran down there but he had already left. Running
back toward the house, she collided sharply with a man on the street. It
was Dr. Hoffman, who was obligingly coming up to deliver a message from
Sahwah. "Come quickly," she cried, catching hold of his hand and
starting to run, "Aunt Phoebe will bleed to death!"
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