“I fear you have had a bad accident,” said the Captain. “Do you know what happened to you in the Cave? Maybe you fell from a shelf of rock.”
“No—tramps did it.”
The girls cried out, but the Captain gave them a severe look that quieted them at once. Then she held the cup of water for the man to sip, and he freshened up visibly.
“Girls, all four of you go for the hamper, as we must eat our dinner up here. You can take turns in carrying it, you know,” said the Captain.
The scouts preferred to hover about and hear about the tramps, but Mrs. Vernon’s word was law, so they started down the hill. On the way, Ruth said, complainingly:
“We ought to hitch that lazy old horse to the buckboard and make her pull the load up the hill.”
“She’d balk halfway up, Ruth, and make us pull her up the rest of the way,” retorted Julie, laughingly.
Mrs. Vernon fanned the cut and bruised face, and wished the man could tell who he was. As if in answer to her thoughts, he whispered: “Did you find my card-case in the coat pocket?”
“No, the tramps who maltreated you so, stole everything.”
The man was not yet aware that he was in his shirt-sleeves, but now he glanced at himself and frowned.