CHAPTER XV
DOLLY RANSOM MAKES GOOD
“Keep still, and you won’t be hurt!” commanded the man who held them. Bessie had no choice in the matter for his hand covered her mouth, and, even had she wished to do so, she could not have cried out.
In a moment, too, looking toward Zara, she saw that she had fainted, and her own predicament was made worse than ever, since the ruffian who held her could now devote all his attention to her. So, utterly helpless, and almost ready to despair, Bessie had to submit to being carried up the little companion ladder that ran to the yacht’s deck.
As soon as she was on deck a handkerchief was slipped over her eyes, and, though she could hear the low murmur of voices, and was almost sure that one was that of Mr. Holmes, her arch enemy, she could not be positive. Her one hope now was that Dolly or some one of the others on the beach would have seen her abduction. But, even if they had, what could they do?
“Suppose they did see,” poor Bessie thought to herself; “they couldn’t do anything. It would take a lot of strong men to come on board this yacht and get us off, and the girls wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.”
She was not left long on the yacht’s deck. Almost at once she was carried below, and in a few minutes she found herself in a cabin, where the handkerchief was taken from her eyes. The cabin was a pretty one, but Bessie was in no mood to appreciate that. She hated the sight of its luxury; all she wanted was to be back with the girls on the beach, no matter how great the discomfort after the fire might be.
Zara, who had not yet revived, was brought down after her and laid on a sofa. Then she and Bessie were left alone with the big man who had carried Bessie from the beach. She thought that he was Jeff, the man who had left the two faithless sentinels to watch the path from the cliff. And she noticed, to her surprise, that, though his speech and manners were rough, there was a look about him that was not unkindly.
“Now, see here, sis,” he said, gently enough, “we don’t aim to treat you badly here. You’ve run away from home, and that’s not right. We’re going to see that you get back to them as has the best right to look after you, but we don’t want you to be uncomfortable.”