Ruth Fielding of the Red Mill; Or, Jasper Parloe's Secret
Page 3
the railroadman asked. "The conductor of the express, I mean. He said the dogwould mind you."
"He seems to like me," she replied, turning to the mastiff that hadstood all this time close to her.
"That is Tom Cameron's dog all right," said one of the other men. "Andthat lantern is off his motorcycle, I bet anything! He went throughtown about dark on that contraption, and I shouldn't wonder if he'sgot a tumble."
Ruth showed the station master, whose name was Curtis, the bit ofhandkerchief with the appeal for help traced upon it.
"That is blood," she said. "You see it's blood, don't you? Can'tsomebody take Reno and hunt for him? He must be very badly hurt."
"Mason said he expected it was nothing but some fool joke of the boys.But it doesn't look like a joke to me," Mr. Curtis said, gravely."Come, Parloe, you know that patch of woods well enough, over beyondthe swamp and Hiram Jennings' big field. Isn't there a steep and rockyroad down there, that shoots off the Osago Lake pike?"
"The Wilkins Corners road--yep," said the old man, snappishly.
"Then, can't you take the dog and see if you can find young Tom?"
"Who's going to pay me for it?" snarled Jasper Parloe. "I ain't got nolove for them Camerons. This here Tom is as sassy a boy as there is inthis county."
"But he may be seriously hurt," said Ruth, looking angrily at JasperParloe.
"'Tain't nothin' to me--no more than your goin' out ter live withJabe Potter ain't nothin' to me," responded the old man, with an uglygrin.
"You're a pretty fellow, you are, Jasper!" exclaimed Mr. Curtis, andturned his back upon the fellow. "I can't leave the station now--Ah!here's Doctor Davison. He'll know what to do."
Doctor Davison came forward and put his hand upon Ruth's shoulder mostkindly. "What is all this?" he asked. "And there is the mastiff. Theytell me you are a dog tamer, Miss Fielding."
He listened very closely to what Mr. Curtis had to say, and looked,too, at the smeared handkerchief.
"The dog can find him--no doubt of that. Come, boys, get somelanterns and we'll go right along to the Wilkins Corners road andsearch it." Then to Ruth he said: "You are a brave girl, sure enough."
But when the party was ready to start, half a dozen strong, withParloe trailing on behind, and with lanterns and a stretcher, Renowould not budge. The man called him, but he looked up at Ruth and didnot move from her side.
"I declare for't," exclaimed one man. "That girl will have to go withus, Doctor Davison. You see what the dog means to do."
Ruth spoke to the mastiff, commanded him to leave her and find "Tom."But although the dog looked at her intelligently enough, and barkedhis response--a deep, sudden, explosive bark--he refused to startwithout her.
"It's a long way for the girl," objected Doctor Davison. "Besides, sheis waiting to meet her uncle."
"I am not tired," she told him, quickly. "Remember I've been sittingall the afternoon. And perhaps every minute is precious. We don't knowhow badly the dog's master may be hurt. I'll go. I'm sure I can keepup with you."
Reno seemed to understand her words perfectly, and uttered anothershort, sharp bark.
"Let us go, then," said Doctor Davison, hurriedly.
So the men picked up their lanterns and the stretcher again. Theycrossed the tracks and came to a street that soon became a countryroad. Cheslow did not spread itself very far in this direction. DoctorDavison explained to Ruth that the settlement had begun to grow in theparts beyond the railroad and that all this side of the tracks wasconsidered the old part of the town.
The street lights were soon behind them and they depended entirelyupon the lanterns the men carried. Ruth could see very little of thehouses they passed; but at one spot--although it was on the otherside of the road--there were two green lanterns, one on either sideof an arched gate, and there seemed to be a rather large, but gloomy,house behind the hedge before which these lanterns burned.
"You will always know my house," Doctor Davison said, softly, andstill retaining her hand, "by its green eyes."
So Ruth knew she had passed his home, to which he had so kindlyinvited her. And that made her think for a moment about Uncle Jabezand Aunt Alvirah. Would she find somebody waiting to take her to theRed Mill when she got back to the station?
CHAPTER IV
THE GATE OF THE GREEN EYES
It was a dark lane, beneath overhanging oaks, that met and intertwinedtheir branches from either side--this was the Wilkins Corners road.And it was very steep and stony--up hill and down dale--with deepruts in places and other spots where the Spring rains had washed outthe gravel and sand and left exposed the very foundations of theworld.
It seemed as though no bicyclist, or motor-cyclist would have chosenthis road to travel after dark. Yet there was a narrow path at theside--just wide enough for Ruth and Doctor Davison to walk abreast,and Reno to trot by the girl's side which seemed pretty smooth.
"We don't want to go by the spot, Doctor," said one of the men walkingahead with the lights. "Don't the dog show no signs of looking forTom?"
"Where's Tom, Reno? Where's Tom?" asked Ruth, earnestly, believingthat the dog would recognize his master's name.
The mastiff raised his muzzle and barked sharply again, but trottedonward.
"He might have fallen down any of these gullies, and we'd miss him,it's so dark," observed the previous speaker.
"I don't believe the dog will miss the place," responded DoctorDavison.
Just then Reno leaped forward with a long-drawn whine. Ruth hurriedwith him, leaving the doctor to come on in the rear. Reno took thelead and the girl tried to keep pace with him.
It was not for many yards. Reno stopped at the brink of a steep bankbeside the road. This bank fell away into the darkness, but throughthe trees, in the far distance, the girl could see several twinklinglights in a row. She knew that they were on the railroad, and that shewas looking across the great swamp-meadow.
"Hullo!" shouted one man, loudly. "Something down there, old fellow?"
Reno answered with a short bark and began to scramble down the roughbank.
"Here's where somebody has gone down ahead of him," cried another ofthe searchers, holding his own lantern close to the ground. "See howthe bank's all torn up? Bet his wheel hit that stone yonder in thedusk and threw him, wheel and all, into this gulley."
"Wait here, child," ordered Doctor Davison, quickly. "If he is in badshape, boys, call me and I'll come down. Lift him carefully--"
"He's here, sir!" cried the first man to descend.
And then Reno lifted up his voice in a mournful howl.
"Oh, dear! oh, dear!" murmured Ruth. "I am afraid he is badly hurt."
"Come, come!" returned Doctor Davison. "Be a brave girl now. If he isbadly hurt he'll need us both to keep our wits about us, you know."
"Ye needn't fret none, leetle gal," said Jasper Parloe's voice, behindher. "Ye couldn't kill that there Cameron boy, I tell ye! He is assassy a young'un as there is in this county."
Doctor Davison turned as though to say something sharp to the mean oldman; but just then the men below shouted up to him:
"He's hit his head and his arm's twisted under him, Doctor. He isn'tconscious, but doesn't seem much hurt otherwise."
"Can you bring him up?" queried the physician.
"That's what we mean to do," was the reply.
Ruth waited beside the old doctor, not without some apprehension. Howwould this Tom Cameron look? What kind of a boy was he? According toJasper Parloe he was a very bad boy, indeed. She had heard that he wasthe son of a rich man. While the men were bringing the senseless bodyup the steep bank her mind ran riot with the possibilities that lay instore for her because of this accident to the dry-goods merchant'sson.
And now the bearers were at the top of the bank, and she could see thelimp form borne by them--a man holding the body under the arms andanother by his feet. But, altogether, it looked really as though theycarried a limp sack between them.
"Fust time I ever see that boy still," murmured
Jasper Parloe.
"Cracky! He's pale; ain't he?" said another man.
Doctor Davison dropped on one knee beside the body as they laid itdown. The lanterns were drawn together that their combined light mightilluminate the spot. Ruth saw that the figure was that of a youth notmuch older than herself--lean, long limbed, well dressed, and with aface that, had it not been so pale, she would have thought very nicelooking indeed.
"Poor lad!" Ruth heard the