CHAPTER XX.
TWELVE GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS.
Ethel Zimmerman and Ernestine Johnson fainted. All of the rest of thetwelve girls who had been decoyed into the Buchholz house by the"sympathetic Mrs. Eddy" were thrown into a panic. And the terror ofthe situation was not mollified in the least by the sudden appearanceon the scene of five men.
Where the men came from so suddenly was not at all clear. Undoubtedlythey had been hidden somewhere, but that place could not bedetermined, for none of the girls remembered from what direction theyhad made their appearance, north, south, east, west, up, or down. Theywere just there, and that was all there was to it.
The men did not look like ruffians exactly, although they were notclad in "gentlemen's clothes." The girls were huddled together in thedark scantily-furnished front room, which at some time probably hadserved the purpose of a combined parlor and reception room. The nextapartment, probably designed as a living room, was lighted by a singlegas jet turned low.
Ethel and Ernestine fainted in the midst of the address of warning andcommand from the spokesman of the plotters. This was a signal for arally to their aid on the part of the other Camp Fire Girls bestgifted with presence of mind. Marion led this move, and was quicklyassisted by Ruth Hazelton, Julietta Hyde, and Marie Crismore. Noobjection was offered by the men to this proceeding, as they wereintelligent enough to realize that the success of their plot dependedlargely on a careful guard against a noisy panic that would attractattention from without.
"Somebody get some water quick," Marion directed, as she proceeded togo through the reviving formula in which all of them had beenthoroughly drilled.
"I'll get some," "Mrs. Eddy" volunteered, indicating by her offer andactions that she was an efficient ally of the kidnappers. She hastenedinto the kitchen and soon returned with a large dipper of water.Marion took it from her and sprinkled some of the liquid on the facesof the unconscious girls. The latter quickly recovered and sat up.
But meanwhile the five men were not idle. The leader addressed thegirls again with more gentle words and manner, realizing, as only anintelligent criminal may do, that a confidence man's method is thebest method for producing a desired illegal effect. In a degree, hewas successful, attempting to reassure the captives in the followingmanner:
"Now, girls, you have nothing to fear from us, if you obey orders. Wedon't wish to harm a hair on any of your heads. We are merelydetermined to get what we have set out for, and we are going to useyou to help us get it. If you try to balk our purpose, you must takethe consequences. Otherwise you will suffer only such inconveniencesas go naturally with the experience of being kidnapped. And try torealize this, that being kidnapped isn't such a terrible thing if youare in the custody of gentlemen kidnappers. That's what weare--gentlemen kidnappers. All we ask of you is that you proveyourselves to be what gentlemen kidnappers prefer above all others,namely, real ladylike prisoners.
"Now," he added after a pause during which he surveyed his audience asif to determine the effect of his words; "as soon as the two youngladies who were so unfortunate as to make the mistake of connecting atragic prospect with this affair have fully recovered, we willproceed."
"That fellow is disguised," declared Marion in a whisper to the girlsnearest her. "In fact, all of them are. Observe that every one of themwears a beard, moustache or short side whiskers. Watch their eyes andmouths and every expression on their faces so that we may be able toidentify them if we are ever called upon to do so."
"Now, girls," said the spokesman with well simulated gentleness, "nomore of that. We don't want to be unduly rude with you, but if thereis any more whispering, we'll have to resort to measures that willmake it impossible. Now, I think you are all ready, so just followthe leader and some of us will bring up the rear. We will proceedfirst into the basement."
Tremblingly the twelve Camp Fire Girls followed two of the men downthe cellar steps. It was evident to them that resistance would beworse than useless. A single blow from the fist of one of thosepowerful men would stun any of the girls, if it did not knock herunconscious. In fact their captors could make quick work of them ifnecessary, and, cooped up as they were in this isolated prison, theycould scarcely hope to send forth an effective cry of distress beforethey were rendered physically incapable of sounding further alarm.
All of the "gentlemen kidnappers" were supplied with electric flashlights, with which they illuminated the cellar and revealed to theircaptives a hole three feet in diameter in the ground floor andseemingly a flight of steps leading downward.
"Don't get scared, young ladies," advised the "gentlemanly leader" ofthe "gentleman kidnappers" softly. "That hole is merely the mouth ofan old coal mine. We will conduct you through the mine to the otherend, which is concealed from public view at a distance, and there wewill find four automobiles waiting for you. Lead the way, comradkidnappers."
The two head men descended into the hole, and the girls followedIndian file. The spokesman and one other man descended last as a rearguard. One of the men remained in the cellar with "Mrs. Eddy" andtogether they hurriedly replaced the old door over the mouth of themine, shoveled some loose earth over this and then covered the earthwith eight or ten thicknesses of scrap lumber loosely tossed in aheap.
Meanwhile the girls, guided by the lights ahead and aided by the twolights behind, which were directed helpfully along their path, madetheir way laboriously down the slope and along the many-angled galleryto the opening at the other side of Holly Hill, as the high, roundedelevation on and around which the city was built was called. Underdifferent circumstances undoubtedly they would have been muchinterested in this experience as a subterranean exploration. And theyhad all the time they might need for such exploration, for the dusk ofevening had not yet developed into darkness and they had to wait inthe mine over an hour before it was deemed safe to venture out withthe captives.
Near the opening at the foot of the bluff behind the abandoned flourmill, gags were tied tightly over the girls' mouths and their handswere bound in front of them, and they were assisted one by one down agradual, but rough, incline and into the waiting machines. Snowfalling in millions of huge flakes, a fact that evidently caused thekidnappers more worry than the possibility of detection by persons inthe vicinity, for remarks escaped some of them relative to theimportance of haste before the roads became impassable to automobiles.But the storm served them one good purpose if it menaced them inanother respect. It rendered the darkness of the night moreimpenetrable and kept the streets almost free of pedestrians.Moreover, the plotters were well supplied with means and methods ofguarding against escape or rescue. The gags and cloth manacles were sowell made that one might have suspected them of being products of amanual training school of burglars' wives. During the passage from themine to the automobiles each of the girls wore a shawl thrown over herhead and pinned close in front, thus concealing both the gags and themanacled condition of their hands.
At last they were all in the machines, each of which was in charge ofa driver. Three of the girls were put into each automobile and one ofthe men got in with them to see that their conduct was as perscheduled program. Then the start was made.
On, on they went, out into the country and along a road that Marionknew led into the heart of the mountains. She could see the dim,shadowy form of High Peak in the distance. Meanwhile, as she peeredout eagerly into the darkness with an irrational longing for rescuefrom some miraculous source--for this was the only kind of rescuethat seemed possible under the circumstances--she kept working at thebonds about her wrists and the gag in her mouth slyly and withoutobvious effort, until with joy she realized that she was at leastpartly successful.
"I am certain I could shove that thing right out of my mouth and givethe most piercing scream ever heard if somebody would only come alongand hear me," she told herself.
The snow kept on falling heavily, much to the alarm of the kidnappersand the joy of the kidnapped, but the automobiles reached themountains before there was any s
erious delay. It looked indeed as ifthe trip would be successful from the point of view of the captors ofthe Camp Fire Girls. But at last the snow became so deep that thegirls could feel that the automobiles were laboring under almostinsurmountable difficulties. Marion heard several curses uttered bythe chauffeur, and the man inside the car echoed them once or twice.Finally the automobile came to a full stop and the driver could forceit along no further. A consultation, with all three of the men takingpart, was held.
In the midst of their debate, something happened that changed theaspect of things almost as completely as might have been accomplishedif Marion's dream of a miraculous rescue had been realized. Otherpersons were on the scene and they were talking to the driver,inquiring if they could be of any assistance.
"We're a patrol of Boy Scouts," one of the new arrivals said. "We'velost our way, but that doesn't need hinder our helping you out of yourscrape. Maybe you can direct us how to find our way back."
Marion never felt a more intense thrill in her life than she felt atthe sound of that voice. She looked out of the window and saw a groupof eight or ten boys, each of them carrying a gun, close to theautomobile.
With an effort that had behind it all of the power of the most joyousimpulse of her life, she swung her bound clinched fists right throughthe pane of glass, pushed the gag from her mouth, and shouted:
"Clifford! Clifford! This is Marion. All of us girls are beingkidnapped by these men. Shoot these rascals and shoot to kill."
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Campfire Girls in the Allegheny Mountains Page 20