Then and there Ruth determined to talk no more about her loss or her fears regarding the missing scenario. If it was gone, it was gone. That was all there was to it. She would no longer worry her friends and disturb her own mental poise by ruminating upon her misfortune.
When she and the lost woman got out of the ravine, Ruth could hear the girls calling her. And there was Colonel Marchand’s horizon-blue uniform in sight as he toiled up the ascent, looking for her.
“Don’t be frightened, dear,” Ruth said to the startled woman. “These are my friends.”
Then she called to Helen that she was coming. Colonel Marchand hurried forward with an amazed question.
“Never mind! Don’t bother her,” Ruth said. “The poor creature has been through enough—out in all this storm, alone. We must get her to where she is stopping as soon as possible. See the condition her clothes are in!”
“But, Mademoiselle Ruth!” gasped the Frenchman. “We are stalled until Captain Tom comes back with the gasoline—is it not?”
“We are going to have gas in a very few minutes,” returned Ruth gaily. “I did more than find this poor woman up on the hill. Wait!”
Helen and Jennie sprang at Ruth like a pair of terriers after a cat, demanding information and explanation all in a breath. But when they realized the state of mind of the strange woman, they calmed down.
They wrapped her in a dry raincoat and put her in the back of the big car. She remained quietly there with Jennie’s Aunt Kate while Ruth related her adventure with Mr. Peterby Paul and the “Whosis.”
“Goodness!” gasped Helen, “I guess he named her rightly. There must be something altogether wrong with the poor creature to make her wander about these wet woods, screeching like a loon.”