CHAPTER XXII
THE CLEW
"I cannot go another step," sighed the girl with Tavia, just asMorrison passed.
"Hush!" cautioned Tavia. "I would rather die than have him see us! Isimply cannot stand the thoughts of it all, and on _his_ account."
They had succeeded in getting behind a huge tree at the side of thepath. The man sauntered along and stopped within five feet of them.
The sick girl was cringing with pain. The injured foot became morepainful every moment.
"What is he looking for?" whispered Tavia. "If he only----"
"There's some one else coming," said Molly. "I hear voices."
"Yes. A crowd of men! They must not see us," declared Tavia. "Oh, theyare in uniform! They are after some one!"
"Me!" moaned Molly. "Oh, don't let them take me! I must stay with you.I can get help----"
They crouched down in the deep grass. The man out on the path wasstill there, beating a tree with his stick. He did not seem to noticethe approaching crowd.
The strangers were up to him now.
"That's him!" the girls heard them say. "That's Morrison."
"Who are you?" demanded the queer man.
"Well, we are just friends," said a tall man with a gold-trimmed cap."We have been looking for you. Won't you come over to the hotel andstay for the night?"
"Not much," replied Morrison. "I never go into hotels--I only go onthe legitimate stage. I was never a cheap actor."
"Well, come along to the legitimate stage then," said the man kindly."We will take good care of you."
"I have lost a friend," went on Morrison, in a rambling way, "anduntil she is found I do not leave these woods."
Tavia's heart stood still. Would the men find them?
"Oh," sighed the girl with the injured foot, "I will throw myself intothe creek before I will go back to the----"
"Hush! They have got him!"
Two strong men had taken hold of Morrison. At the signal of a shrillwhistle two other men came up the path.
Morrison struggled frantically. In the excitement Tavia and Mollystepped out of their hiding place, but there was so much confusiontrying to overcome Morrison, that the girls were not noticed.
"Oh, mercy!" gasped Molly, "they will hurt him."
"Not likely," said Tavia. "They are hospital attendants."
"There is the wagon! Oh, I remember it! They took me in that!"
"Molly, dear! You are not to remember anything--except that you arewith me!"
"But what shall we do when they go? It is night!"
"We will find shelter some place. I am an expert on finding shelter!"
The girl rested her head against Tavia's shoulder. Whatevercompunction Tavia had felt for her part in the unfortunate state ofaffairs, she felt at ease now in the thought that she had saved thisgirl. That the hospital men were attending to Morrison, and that hewould soon be out of reach of harming her, also consoled Tavia.
"It is not bad here," she said. "I am sure there are cottages nearby."
"I--don't--remember," breathed Molly. "I guess I was never out thisway before."
"If only I knew---- But what is the use of my acting like a baby?"exclaimed Tavia. "I am sure the folks at camp think me dead. Dorothy,especially, will be heartbroken."
"They are taking him away!"
The men had seized the struggling Morrison, and were carrying him tothe roadside, where the wagon stood waiting.
Tavia wondered if she was doing right or wrong in not making herpresence known. Then she thought how hard it would be to have Maryagain placed in a sanitarium, and she decided to fight her way alone.But it was getting dark. They could now barely see the men liftingthat struggling form into the closely-covered wagon.
"I wonder how they knew he was here?" mused Tavia. "If they had notfound him what would have become of us?"
"Oh, my foot! I am sure something is broken!"
With these words Molly sank down, helpless. The wagon had rattled off,and again the girls were alone in that deep wood, with night settlingdown.
"I am strong," declared Tavia. "I can carry you."
"But where can we go? Oh, I did not know I was hurt! I am afraid myleg is broken!" sobbed Molly.
"There must be some house or hut near here," declared Tavia, "and Iwill carry you along until we reach it. We can not spend the nighthere, starving."
The strange girl was indeed light in weight. Naturally slight, hersickness had also taken flesh from her, so that when Tavia put herarms about her, and the other threw her arms over Tavia's shoulders,the two trudged along over the rough path, and soon were out on aroadway.
"There is a camp over there," said Tavia, as they came in sight ofsomething white, just showing through the sunset. "We must go tothat."
"I can walk," insisted Molly. "It is too much----"
"So can I carry you," argued Tavia, "and if you have any bones brokenyou must not strain them further."
It did seem a long way to the tent, but the road that led up to itshowed travel, and was therefore more easily followed.
"Strange I am not afraid of anything," murmured Molly. "If we do haveto stay in the woods all night, I shall not be afraid."
"That is because you are stunned--you had a very bad fall," saidTavia. "I feel that way myself--I have gone through a great deal,lately, too."
"Now, let me walk--it is only a step," begged Molly, at the samemoment getting down from Tavia's arms. "Here we are right at thetent."
Welcome shelter! Never were two girls more in need of it.
"And the queer part of it is," said Tavia, "I am supposed to be ajoke--to get and take everything funny. This is certainly no joke. Howdo you feel, dear? I hope these people will let us in. We may get somecamping days after all."
They timidly made their way to the tent. It was closed!
"No lights," remarked Molly. "Oh, Tavia. My head hurts again!"
"Mercy!" exclaimed Tavia, without showing why she was so alarmed. "Doyou suppose it is just a headache or----"
Molly had sunk down on her knees. Tavia sprang to the flap of thetent, and dragged the rope from the stake.
"Empty!" she cried. "But we must get in. Come, Molly, I can lift you,and whoever may be the owners of the camp, surely they will not turnus out to-night."
"But if they are rough men----"
"No, rough men do not furnish a tent like this. See the picturespinned up; and what is this?"
Tavia had lighted a candle that was placed conveniently near the flap,with matches at hand, showing that whoever lived in the tent intendedto return at dark, and so had their light ready. Beside this candlewas a printed slip of paper. Tavia read:
"A thousand dollars reward for information that will lead to the finding, dead or alive, of Dorothy Dale and Tavia Travers."
"Dorothy gone too!" shrieked Tavia. "Then they are scouring the woodsfor us, and that is why this camp is deserted!"
"If only I could walk!" breathed Molly.
"Never mind. We will stay here--until something else happens--but whocan tell what that may be!"
The shock of the news about Dorothy absolutely stunned Tavia. With itwent all her strength, all her courage, and she felt then like lyingdown to die!