Harold laughed. “Oh, yes, Ruth, if you wish. But Marjorie will never find out.”
They ascended the steps of the broad clubhouse and found the dancing already in progress. Hastily disposing of their wraps, they joined the merry throng and were soon lost amid the crowd.
During the intermission that followed, Mrs. Andrews brought four young people of Silvertown to meet them. Two of them, Jeanne and Eloise Trowbridge, occupied the cottage next to theirs, and one of the young men, Griffith Hunter, lived across the street. Ruth became more animated than ever, and dances were exchanged. Harold all the while watched her jealously, for she seemed immensely infatuated with young Mr. Hunter.
The evening passed quickly. Ruth was again with Harold on their way home. But her thoughts were no longer with him, but rather against him; for she was ready to send him home.
“Tomorrow,” she decided, “I’ll speak to Mrs. Andrews; for if he hangs around, I’ll never get a chance to see any other boys. And besides, he’s served his purpose.”
She turned to her companion to say goodnight. But something in his look, his tone, softened her heart, and she squeezed his hand affectionately.
“After all, he might as well stay till the meet is over,” she thought; “for he really has earned it.”
CHAPTER XIX
THE RESCUE
John Hadley and Jack Wilkinson left on Tuesday morning long before the girls were up. They decided first of all to go back to the farm house and ask about the path beside the creek, and then to go over it, every inch of the way, on foot. And then if they still found no traces, they meant to get a detective.