“Yes, and we saw Mr. Holmes and the rest of them on the platform at Canton,” said Bessie, laughing. “Did they get aboard your train?”
“Did they?” cried Eleanor. “They most certainly did, and when they couldn’t find either you or Zara, they were so angry that I was afraid they were going to burst! I don’t believe I ever saw men so dreadfully disappointed in my life.”
“How did you manage to hide Zara?”
“That was awfully funny, Bessie. I found some friends of mine were on the train, travelling in a private car. As soon as I got your telegram, I went back to see them. They had a boy with them, who is just about Zara’s size. So Zara dressed up in a suit of his clothes, and she was sitting in their car, with him, when they came aboard to look for her.”
“Did they look in that car?”
“Yes. They had a warrant, or something, so they had a right to go everywhere on the train—and they did!”
“I should think the people who didn’t have anything to do with us must have been furious.”
“Oh, they were, but it didn’t do them any good. They searched through the whole train, but Zara looked so different in boy’s clothes that they never even seemed to suspect her at all. She kept perfectly still, you see, and after they had held us up for nearly an hour, we came on.”
“Oh, how mad they must have been!”
“You ought to have seen them! It made us very late getting here, of course, and we missed the train we were to take to Green Cove. But I think we would have waited here, anyhow, until you came. I was very anxious about you, Bessie. What a clever trick that was! If it hadn’t been for you, we would have been caught without a chance to do anything at all.”