There was the figure of Fred Hatfield on the ice--some distance, already, from the sh.o.r.e.
Ruth ran eagerly down to the sh.o.r.e. She had no idea what young Hatfield intended; but she was well aware that he could get across the Lumano if he chose; the ice was thick enough.
She quickly clamped the skates upon her shoes, and within five minutes was darting off across the ice.
Hatfield heard the ring of her skates within a very few moments; he threw a glance over his shoulder, saw her, and then began to run. It was a feeble attempt to escape, for unless some accident happened to Ruth, she could easily overtake him.
And she did so, although he ran straight ahead, and ran so hard that finally he slipped and fell, panting, to his knees. Ruth was beside him before he could rise.
"Don"t you be such a ridiculous boy!" she commanded, seizing the lad by the shoulder, as he attempted to rise. "You mustn"t run away. Mr.
Cameron expects to find you at the mill, and you must stay. And they"ll be here, ready to take the train from Cheslow, shortly."
"I--I don"t want to stay here," stammered the boy. "I--I don"t want to see that man again."
"But he expects to see you, and I could not let you go before he comes."
"You"re just the meanest girl I ever saw!" cried Hatfield, almost in tears. "I"d got away in the night if it hadn"t been for you."
Ruth fairly giggled at that--she couldn"t help it.
"Well, don"t you be nasty about it," she said. "You are a dreadfully foolish boy--"
"What do you know about me?" he gasped, turning to look at her finally with frightened eyes.
"I know that running away isn"t going to help you," Ruth Fielding said, with returning gravity.
"You think that man--that Cameron man--will take me back?"
"Back where?"
"To--to Scarboro?"
"I don"t know."
"I tell you I won"t go," the boy cried. "I won"t go."
"But we"re all going up there this very day," said Ruth, slowly.
"Mr. Cameron, and Helen and Tom, and some other girls and boys. I"m going, too--"
"_Going where_?" shrieked Fred Hatfield, actually shaking with terror, and as pale as a ghost.
"We"re off for the backwoods--up Scarboro way. Mr. Cameron is going to take us for a fortnight to Snow Camp. And you--"
With another wild cry Fred Hatfield crumpled down upon the ice and burst into a tempest of sobbing. He beat his ungloved hands upon the ice, and although Ruth could not help feeling contempt for a boy who would so give way to weakness she could not help but pity him, too.
For Ruth Fielding had more than an inkling of the trouble that so weighed Fred Hatfield down, and had made him an outcast from his home and friends.
CHAPTER VI
ON THE TRAIN
When the Cameron automobile arrived at the Red Mill that forenoon Fred Hatfield sat gloomily upon the porch steps. Ruth kept an eye on him from the doorway. Mr. Cameron seemed to understand their position when he came up the walk, and asked Ruth:
"So, he wants to leave; does he?"
Ruth merely nodded; but Fred Hatfield scowled at the dry-goods merchant and turned away his head.
"Now, young man," said Mr. Cameron, standing in front of the sullen boy, with his legs wide apart and a smile upon his ruddy face, "now, young man, let"s get to the bottom of this. You confide in me, and I will not betray your confidence. Why don"t you want to live at home?"
"I don"t want to--that"s all," muttered Fred Hatfield, shortly. "And I _won"t_."
Mr. Cameron shook his head. "I hate to see one so young so obstinate," he said. "It may be that your mother and brothers and sisters find you a sore trial; perhaps they are glad you are not at home. But until I am sure of that I consider it my duty to keep an eye on you. I want you to come along with us to-day."
"I know where you are going. This girl has told me," said the light-haired youth, nodding at Ruth. "You"re going up to Scarboro."
"Yes. And I propose to take you with us. We"ll see whether your mother wants you or not."
"You don"t know what you"re doing, sir!" gasped Fred Hatfield, crouching down upon the step.
"I certainly do not know what I am doing," admitted Mr. Cameron.
"But that is your fault, not mine. If you would trust us--"
"I can"t!" cried the boy, shaking as though with a chill.
"Then, you come along, young man," commanded the merchant.
He put a hand upon Fred"s shoulder and the boy wriggled out from under it and started to run. But Tom had got out of the automobile and seemed rather expecting this move. He sprang for the other boy and held him.
"Here! hold on!" he cried. "Put on this old overcoat of mine that I"ve brought along, It"s going to be cold riding. Put it on--and then get into the auto with us. Aw, come on! What are you afraid of?
We aren"t going to eat you."
Snivelling, but ceasing his struggles, Fred Hatfield got into the coat Tom offered him, and entered the car. Ruth said never a word, but she looked very grave.
Uncle Jabez came to the door of the mill and Ruth ran to him and kissed the old miller goodbye. Not that he returned the kiss; Uncle Jabez looked as though he had never kissed anybody since he was born!
But Aunt Alvirah hugged and caressed her "pretty creetur" with a warmth that made up for the miller"s coldness.
"Bless ye, deary!" crooned the little old woman, enfolding Ruth in her arms. "Go and have the best of times with your young friends.
We"ll be thinkin" of ye here--and don"t run into peril up there in the woods. Have a care."
"Oh, we won"t get into any trouble," Ruth declared, happily, with no suspicion of what was before the party in the backwoods. "Goodbye!"
"Good-bye, Ruthie--Oh, my back and oh, my bones!" groaned Aunt Alvirah, as she hobbled into the house again, while Ruth ran down to the car, leaped aboard, and the chauffeur started immediately. Ben, the hired man, had gone on to Cheslow with Ruth"s trunk early in the morning, and now the automobile sped quickly over the smooth road to the railroad station.
By several different ways--for Cheslow was a junction of the railroad lines--the young folk who had been invited to Snow Camp had gathered at the station to meet the Camerons and Ruth Fielding.
n.o.body noticed Fred Hatfield, saving Mr. Cameron and Ruth herself; but the runaway found no opportunity of leaving the party. Tom had no attention to give the Scarboro boy as he welcomed his own chums.