The girls were so relieved to hear him speak that they all waited breathlessly. The running footsteps came nearer. It was a man. He fairly leaped through the dark tunnel of trees toward the group.
“Get away from here!” he snarled. “Get away—you girls! You’re not supposed to come in this orchard. Get away! I’ll take care of him!”
By his voice, for it was now too dark to distinguish his features, Arden and her chums knew him to be Anson Yaeger, the grim head farmer and gardener of Cedar Ridge. They had seen him from a distance that afternoon, had heard his snarling voice, and had been told who he was. Now he was living up to his reputation in ordering them off.
Arden and the others moved away from the still recumbent form of Tom Scott. But more life was coming back to him now. He murmured again:
“But I didn’t know. I couldn’t see—except that it was something black—as black as the hedge—and it—got me!”
Then the voice of Anson Yaeger broke in:
“All right! All right! I’ll look after you, Tom. You girls run away. It’s all right, I tell you! Go away!”
His angry command seemed to shatter the calm darkness of the night.
CHAPTER VII
Terror in the Dark
Scarcely realizing how they had changed their fright into action, Arden, Terry, and Sim found themselves running away as quickly as they could through the fast-gathering darkness enshrouding the mysterious orchard. The cool wind whipped back their hair, and their feet stumbled on the uneven ground. Loose stones tripped them, and smashed apples made slippery spots that once caused Sim almost to fall. But she quickly recovered herself, ran on, and passed her chums.