CHAPTER XVII
CHRISTMAS MORNING
"How under the sun did you get here, Ruth?" Helen shouted the moment shesaw her chum.
"Did that Jerry Sheming bring you?" demanded Ann.
The other members of the party were quite as anxious to learn theparticulars of her adventure, and when they had crossed on the steppingstones, they gathered about her eagerly.
Ruth would tell just so much and no more. She explained how she had falleninto the snow-drift at the foot of the cliff, how Jerry had heard herscream and pulled her out. But beyond that she only said he had left herhere to wait their coming.
"You needn't be so mysterious, Miss!" ejaculated Helen, rather piqued.
"I guess she doesn't want to say anything about his hide-out that mightlead to his being hunted out by Lem Daggett," observed the wise Tom. "ButJerry signed his name to the note he tied on the arrow."
"And we sure were surprised when we saw that arrow shoot up from thedepths," said Isadore.
"What do you suppose mother will say?" cried one of the Tingley boys.
"Don't let's tell her," suggested Ruth, quickly. "There's no need. It willonly add to her worries and she will be troubled enough by us as it is."
"But----"
"You see, I'm not a bit hurt," insisted Ruth. "And the less we talk aboutthe matter the less likely we shall be to drop something that may lead tothe discovery of Jerry Sheming's hiding place."
"Oh, well, if you put it that way," agreed Ralph. "I suppose mother willhave all the trouble she wants. And maybe if she knew, she'd keep yougirls away from this end of the island."
They tramped home to a late luncheon. It was so very cold that afternoonand evening that they were only too glad to remain in the house and "hugthe fire."
The inclement weather drove Lem Daggett and the men indoors, too. Theconstable had to go back to Logwood without his prisoner, and he evidentlyfeared the anger of Rufus Blent.
"I want to warn ye, Mis' Tingley," he said to the lady of the lodge,shaking his head, "that when Blent sets out ter do a thing, he does it.That boy's got to be found, and he's got to be kep' off this island."
"I will see what my husband says when he comes," replied Mrs. Tingley,firmly. "I will not allow our men to chase the poor fellow further."
"You'd better ketch him and signal us at Logwood. Run up that flag on thepole outside. I'll know what you mean."
"Mr. Tingley will decide when he comes," was all the satisfaction the ladygave the constable.
After he had gone, Mrs. Tingley told Ruth she hoped no harm would come tothe poor boy, "sleeping out in the cold alone."
"Oh, Mrs. Tingley! I know he has a warm, dry place to sleep, and plenty offirewood--heaps and heaps of it."
"You seem to know a good deal about him," the lady commented.
"Yes, I do," admitted Ruth, honestly. "More about him and where he ishiding than he would care to have me tell you."
So Mrs. Tingley did not catechise the girl further upon the subject of thefugitive.
Just because they were shut in was no reason why the house party on CliffIsland should not have an extraordinarily good time. They played games andhad charades that evening. They had a candy pull, too, but unlike thatfamous one at Snow Camp the winter before, Busy Izzy Phelps did not get achance to put the walnut shells into the taffy instead of the kernels.
The wind died down and it grew desperately cold during the night. Themercury soon left the zero point so far above that it threatened to belost for the rest of the winter.
They awoke the next morning to find the island chained fast to themainland by old Jack Frost's fetters. A sheet of new ice extended for somehundreds of yards all around Cliff Island. Farther out the ice was ofrougher texture, but that near at hand was clear and black.
Out came the skates soon after breakfast, and everybody but Mercy wentdown to the lake. Later the boys made the lame girl and Mrs. Tingley come,too, and they arranged chairs in which the two non-skaters could be pushedover the smooth surface.
Hockey was the game for the afternoon, and two "sides" were chosen tooppose each other, one of the boys and another of the girls. Although AnnHicks had never had a hockey stick in her hand before, she quickly gotinto the game, and they all had a very merry time.
The day before Ruth had not been able to find the implement that JerrySheming had spoken about, nor could she find a mattock, or pickax, on thissecond day. If she went to the toolshed and hunted for the thing herselfshe was afraid her quest would be observed by some of the men.
She located the place where the tools were kept, but the shed was locked.However, there was a window, and that window could be easily slid back.Ruth shrank from attempting to creep in by it.
"Just the same, I told him I'd get it--at least, I told myself I'd get itfor him," thought the girl of the Red Mill. "And I will."
Of course, Mrs. Tingley would have allowed her to borrow the tool, but itwould have aroused comment had it become known that Jerry wanted it.
"It must be that he really thinks now he knows where his uncle hid thetreasure box. He wants to dig for it," was Ruth's thought.
Yet she remembered that Jerry had said all along the old man had seeminglygone mad because his treasure box was buried under a landslide. She askedMr. Preston, the foreman of the camp, where the landslide had occurred.
"Why, right over yonder, little lady," explained the woodsman. "If thesnow wasn't on the ground, you could easy see the scar of it down thathillside," and he pointed to a spot just beyond the secret opening ofJerry's cave.
"The dirt and rock was heaped up so at the foot of the slide that thecourse of the brook was changed. That slide covered a monster lot oflittle caves in the rock," pursued the man. "But I expect there's othersof 'em left and that Jerry's hidin' out in one now," he added, looking atRuth with shrewd gaze.
Ruth took him no further into her confidence. She felt that she must havesomebody to help her, however, and naturally enough she chose Tom. Helen'stwin thought a great deal of Ruth Fielding, and was never ashamed ofshowing this feeling before the other boys. On her side, Ruth felt thatTom Cameron was just about right.
Nor was she mistaken in him when she placed her difficulty before the lad.Help her? Of course he would! They agreed to make the raid upon thetoolshed that evening when the others were busily filling stockings andtrimming the huge Christmas tree set up in the main hall of the huntinglodge.
Ruth beckoned to her fellow-conspirator and Tom slipped out of the hall byone door while she made the outer air by another. The kitchen girls andthe men hired about the camp were all in the big hall watching the fun, oraiding in decorating the lodge. Nobody saw Ruth and Tom.
It was a very cold evening. There was a hazy moon and brilliant stars, butthey did not think anybody would see their efforts to aid Jerry Sheming.
Nevertheless, Ruth and Tom were very circumspect. They crept behind thetoolshed and looked all about to make sure that nobody was watching. Therewas no light in the bunkhouse or in the cook's cabin.
Although the toolshed was so carefully locked, Ruth knew that the windowcould be opened. Tom quickly slipped back the sash, and then dived intothe dark interior of the place, head first.
The moment he was on his feet, however, he drew from his pocket theelectric spotlight he had supplied himself with, and flashed the ray aboutthe shed.
"Good! here's either one you want--pickax or mattock," were the words hewhispered to Ruth.
"Which do you suppose he would like best?"
"A mattock is more practical, I believe," said Tom. "'Maddox,' they callit. We had a fellow working for us once who called it a 'mad-ax.' It has abroad blade and can be used to chop as well as dig."
"Never mind giving a lecture on it," laughed Ruth, very softly, "hand itout."
Tom chuckled and did as he was bid. In a minute he was with her and pickedup the heavy implement.
"I hope they don't come hunting for us," said the girl of the Red Mill,breathlessly.
/> "We must take that risk. Come on, Ruth. Or do you want me to take it downto the brookside alone?"
"I want to go along, too. Oh, dear! I do hope he will find it."
"I have another cracker box full of food for him," said Tom. "I reckon hewill be on the lookout for the pick, so he'll find the food, too."
After a good deal of climbing, they reached the flat rock by the brooksidewhere Jerry Sheming had requested Ruth to leave the mattock. There was nosign of the fugitive about. Ruth did not tell Tom where the mouth of thesecret tunnel lay--nor did Tom ask for information.
As they hurried back, mounting the ridge that separated the lodge and itsoutbuildings from the middle of the island, Ruth, looking back, suddenlygrabbed Tom's hand.
"See! see there!" she cried.
Tom looked in the direction to which she pointed. The stars gave lightenough for them to see miles across the ice. Several black figures werehurrying toward the western end of the island from the direction of themainland--the southern shore of the lake.
"Who do you suppose those men are?" asked Ruth, faintly.
Tom shook his head slowly. "I expect it's Lem Daggett, the constable, andothers to hunt for poor Jerry. I feel almost sure that the man in thelead is Daggett."
"Isn't that mean?" exclaimed Ruth, her voice shaking.
"It is. But I don't believe they will find Jerry very easily."
Just the same, Ruth was not to be comforted. She was very quiet all therest of the evening. Her absence, and Tom's, had not been noticed. Thecrowd went to bed before eleven, having spent a most delightful ChristmasEve.
Ruth sat at a window that overlooked a part of the island. Once she sawthe men who had crossed from the mainland climbing the hill toward thelone pine.
"I hope they won't find a trace of him!" she murmured as she popped intobed.
Ruth slept as soundly as any of her mates. A clanging bell at six o'clockaroused the whole household. The sun was not yet up, but there was astreak of gold across the eastern sky. It was Christmas morning.
Ruth ran again to the west window. A pillar of smoke rose straight from ahollow on the higher part of the island. The searching party was stillthere.
There was no time now to think of Jerry Sheming and his affairs. The girlsraced to see who should dress first. Downstairs there were "loads" ofpresents waiting for them, so Belle declared.
"Come on!" cried Heavy, leading the way. "Ready all? March!"
The nine girls started through the hall and down the broad stairway insingle file. Heavy began to cheer and the others chimed in:
"'S.B.--Ah-h-h! S.B.--Ah-h-h! Sound our battle-cry Near and far! S.B.--All! Briarwood Hall! Sweetbriars, do or die-- This be our battle-cry-- Briarwood Hall! _That's All_!'"
So sounding the Sweetbriars' challenge, they met the grinning boys at thefoot of the flight, before the huge, sparkling tree.
"Gee!" exclaimed Tom. "I'm mighty glad I suggested that name for yoursecret society, Ruth. 'Sweetbriars'--it just fits you."