George Hart of Hilton--will send you the money to-morrow, everything we owe. You shall not steal our things, you wicked woman!"
The woman turned on her with an evil look. "Highty-tighty!" she said.
"Ain"t we fine, miss? I wouldn"t talk so free about stealin", after you stealin" our show, sneakin" in and thinkin" you"d get it free. No you don"t!" And she caught Sue as she tried to slip past her out of the tent. "Let"s see what you"ve got, next."
"Police!" cried Sue. "Help! police!"
Instantly the woman"s hand was over her mouth, and she was held in a grasp of iron.
"You holler ag"in, and I"ll strip the clothes off yer back!" she hissed. "Hold yer tongue, or I"ll call Ed. He won"t stand no foolin"!"
Sue struggled fiercely, but it was of no use. The woman shifted her easily to one arm, and with the other hand searched her pocket.
"Not even a handkerchief!" she said. "No jew"lry, neither. Well, your mother"s got sense, anyway. Hallo! here"s a ring, though. Guess I"ll take that. Le" go, sis, or I"ll hurt ye."
"It--it"s not my ring!" gasped Sue, shaking her head free. "It"s hers--my friend"s. Don"t take it!"
"Guess it"s mine, now!" said the woman, with a chuckle. She forced back the girl"s slender fingers, and drew off the gold mouse-ring.
"There! now you can go, dears; and next time, you take my advice, and get some of your folks to take you to the circus. Ah! and be thankful I"ve left you them pretty hats. I know a little girl as would be pleased to death with that hat with the feathers; but you might take cold if I let ye go bare-headed, and I"m a mother myself."
Trembling, half fainting, the girls found themselves outside the tent.
The grounds were well-nigh deserted, all the spectators being gone.
Here and there a group of stragglers leaned on the railings of the neighboring fence, smoking and talking. Rough-looking men were at work about the tents, and some of them looked curiously at the girls as they hurried along. Neither spoke. Clarice was still whimpering and crying under her breath. Sue"s eyes were blazing; her cheeks felt on fire. She ran hastily across the grounds, dragging Clarice after her by the hand. She felt every moment as if they might be seized and carried back to that horrible den. Suppose the man should be coming after them now! He might put them in prison, and her mother would never know where she was. She choked back the sob that rose in her throat. On, on, as fast as feet could fly! At last the palings were reached and pa.s.sed. Now they could stop to draw breath, for they were on the highroad, and out of sight of the hated inclosure. Panting, Sue leaned against the fence, and waited till she should have breath enough to speak some word of encouragement to her companion. No one was in sight; there was no sound save the crickets keeping time in the gra.s.s. All was as peaceful and serene as if there were no dreadful things or wicked people in the world. They were not far from the station now, and once in the train for home, with the friendly conductor, who knew her and would take charge of them both--
Then, suddenly, a new thought flashed into Sue"s mind, and struck ice into the fever of her blood. How long had they been in that dreadful place? How was it that no one was to be seen going toward the station, of all the throng that had come up with them in the train?
"Clarice!" she gasped. "I am--afraid--we may miss the train. We must run. It isn"t far now. Run as fast as you possibly can!"
Clarice answered with a sob; but she began to run as well as her foolish dress and shoes would let her. But another answer came at that moment: a whistle, long and clear, loud at first, then growing fainter and fainter till it died away. In desperation the girls flew on along the road--to reach the station and find it empty! The long curve of the rails stretched away toward home. The train was gone!
CHAPTER X
ALL"S WELL THAT ENDS WELL
Six o"clock was supper-time in the little town of Chester, so the usual loungers had left the station as soon as the train departed; and by the time the girls arrived it was deserted, even by the ticket-seller. No one was in sight; at least, they saw no one. They were too much absorbed in their trouble to notice two faces that peeped at them for a moment round the corner of the station, and then vanished. They were alone, six miles from home, with no money. What were they to do?
Clarice broke out in tearful reproaches:
"Sue Penrose, you have brought us to this! It is all your fault! I never should have thought of coming up here if it hadn"t been for you."
Sue looked at her, but made no reply. Clarice"s eyes dropped under the steady look; she faltered, but hurried on:
"And losing all my money, too! If you hadn"t lost my money, I should not have been robbed of my beautiful jewelry--all I had in the world!
and it was worth lots and lots."
Sue, in bitterness of spirit, thought, "How about the diamond chain?"
but she said nothing. She felt, suddenly, many years older than Clarice. Was this a girl of fifteen, whimpering like a baby? Was this the friend for whom she had given up Mary?
"And how are we ever to get home?" asked Clarice, in conclusion.
"We must walk!" said Sue, briefly.
"Walk!" shrieked Clarice. "Sue Penrose, are you crazy? It"s twenty miles, if it"s a step!"
"Nonsense!" said Sue. "It"s a short six miles."
"That"s just as bad!" moaned Clarice. "You know I should die before we had gone a mile; you _know_ I should, Sue! Isn"t there some one we can borrow money from? Can"t we go to the hotel and telephone to somebody at home?"
They might indeed have done this, but in her excited state Sue could not think it possible. Her high-strung, sensitive nature was strained beyond the possibility of sober judgment; she could only act, and the action that began instantly was the only one that she could think of.
Besides, to see more strangers, perhaps meet with more insults--never!
They must walk home; there was no other way; and they must start this instant.
"I am sure you can do it, Clarice," she said, speaking as cheerfully as she could. "You can take my arm, and lean on me when you are tired; and every little while we can sit down and rest. Come! we must start at once; it will be dark before we get home, as it is."
Clarice still protested, but yielded to the stronger will, and the two girls started on their lonely walk.
As they turned their backs on the station, a head was cautiously advanced from behind the building; a pair of sharp eyes followed the retreating figures for a few moments, then the head was as cautiously withdrawn.
The road from Chester to Hilton was a pleasant one. On one side was the railway, with the river beyond; on the other, green meadows rolling up and away to the distant hills. There were few houses, and these scattered at long distances. To Sue the road was familiar and friendly enough; but to Clarice it seemed an endless way stretching through an endless desert. She was thoroughly frightened, and her blood was of the kind that turns to water; very different from the fire that filled Sue"s veins and made her ready to meet an army, or charge a windmill or a railway-train, or anything else that should cross her path.
Over and over again Clarice lamented that she had ever come to Hilton.
"Why did I come to this hateful, poky place?" she wailed. "Aunt Jane didn"t want me to come. She said there wouldn"t be anybody here fit for me to a.s.sociate with. Oh! why did I come?"
"I suppose because you wanted to!" said Sue; and it might have been Mary that spoke.
"Come, Clarice," she went on more gently, "we might as well make the best of it. Let"s tell stories. I"ll begin, if you like. Do you know about the Maid of Saragossa? That is splendid! Or Cochrane"s "Bonny Grizzy"? Oh! she had to do much worse things than this, and she never was afraid a bit--not a single bit."
Sue told the brave story, and the thrill in her voice might have warmed an oyster; but Clarice was not an oyster, and it left her cold.
"Grizzy is a horrid, ugly name," she said. "And I think it was real unladylike, dressing up that way, so there!"
"Clarice!"--Sue"s voice quivered with indignation,--"when it was to save her father"s life! How can you? But perhaps you will care more about the Maid of Saragossa."
But after a while Clarice declared that the stories only made her more nervous. She was unconscious of the fact that they had carried her over two miles of the dreaded six.
"Besides," she said peevishly, "I can"t hear when you are talking, Sue. Listen! I thought I heard footsteps behind us. I do! Sue Penrose, there is some one following us!"
Sue listened. Yes, there were footsteps, some way behind. "But, my dear," she said, "this is the highroad! Why should they be following us? People have a right to walk on the road--as good a right as we have."
They stopped a moment, instinctively, and listened; and the footsteps behind them stopped too. They went on, and the steps were heard again, light yet distinct, keeping the distance between them, neither more nor less.
Clarice grasped Sue"s arm. "They are tramps or robbers, Sue! We are going to be murdered. Oh, I shall scream!"
"You will _not_ scream!" said Sue, grasping her arm in return, and resisting the impulse to shake it. "You are talking nonsense, Clarice! I believe--I believe it is nothing in the world but an echo, after all. If it were not for this fog, we could see whether there was any one there."