“Oh, neither do I,” said Dolly. “But it was funny to think of his being so near you and having no idea of it. That’s what would have made me laugh.”
“It seems funny enough, now,” admitted Zara, with a smile. “But, you see, I was perfectly certain that he did have a very good idea of where I was. I was expecting him to take hold of me any moment, and tell the constable to take me off the train.”
“I wonder how long this sort of thing is going to keep up,” said Margery Burton, angrily. “Until you two girls are twenty-one?”
“I hope not,” laughed Bessie, and then she went on, more seriously, “I really do think that if Jake Hoover sticks to what he said, and takes our side, Mr. Jamieson is likely to find out something that will give him a chance to settle matters. You see, we’ve been fighting in the dark so far.”
“I don’t see that we’ve been fighting at all, yet,” said Margery. “They keep on trying to do something, and we manage to keep them from doing it. That’s not my idea of a fight. I wish we could do some of the hitting ourselves.”
“So do I, Margery. And that’s just what I think we may be able to do now, if we have Jake on our side. He must know something about what they’ve been doing. They couldn’t keep him from finding out, it seems to me.”
“But will he tell? That seems to be the question.”
“Yes, that’s it, exactly. Well, if he does, then we’ll know why they’re doing all this. You see, Mr. Jamieson can’t figure on what they’re going to do next, or how to beat them at their own game, simply because he doesn’t know what their game is. They know just what they want to do, while we haven’t any idea, except that they’re anxious to have Zara and myself back where Farmer Weeks can do as he likes with us.”
“Well, it would be fine to be able to beat them, Bessie, but right now I’m more worried about what they will try to do next. This is a pretty lonely place we’re going to, and they’re so bold that there’s no telling what they may try next.”
“That’s so—and they know we’re coming here, too. Jake told them that.”