For the situation was now thoroughly alarming. The girls had probably been kidnapped, and hidden somewheres by the old man who was seeking the reward. Perhaps they were even suffering some sort of torture!
The boys reached the farm house about seven thirty. Jack stayed in the machine, driving it very slowly, while John ran on ahead. In a minute he joined his companion; unfortunately Mrs. Higgins still had no news of the girls or of the stranger.
“She says there’s a road—not far from the footpath,” said John, “so you drive on, and I’ll walk. I hardly think this is going to help us any, but we may as well follow it out as quickly as possible and then go to Besley again for a detective.”
They proceeded thus for about four miles, progressing very carefully, and watching for canoes, and girls and empty barns and houses where they might be hidden. They were quite near to the very house where the girls were imprisoned when they encountered a Boy Scout. He ran out from the path, and placed himself in front of the machine, all the while waving his hands frantically.
“Stop! Stop!” he cried; and just as Jack brought the car to a stand-still, John scampered over from the wood-path, to hear what the commotion was about.
“I see you’re a Scout!” said John, saluting, and extending his hand for a hand-shake. “What can we do to help you?”
“It’s a girl—in trouble!” he explained. “She’s held prisoner up in a farm-house beside the creek. In fact, there are two girls. I——”
Jack was out of the machine in a flash. Wildly, he grasped the boy’s arm.
“It’s my sister!” he cried. “Tell us, quick!”
“Well, I don’t know why she’s held there, but she sent me a semaphore message to get help. She must be a Girl Scout to know the code, I mean.”