“He-lp!” The word came to their ears over and over again. Then: “I am a prisoner. They brought me here and locked me in. There is a red barn and silo and two fallen trees. He-lp! Come and find me!”
“For pity’s sake, Jess Norwood!” shrilled Amy. “Do you hear that?”
“I’m trying to,” her chum replied. “Hush!”
“It must be a hoax.”
“Wait!”
They listened and heard it repeated, almost word for word. A red barn and a silo and two fallen trees. These points the strange voice insisted on with each repetition.
“I can’t believe it!” declared Amy.
“It is a girl. I am sure it is a girl. Oh, Amy!” gasped Jessie. “Suppose it should be the girl whom we saw carried off by those two awful women?”
“Bertha Blair?”
“Yes. Of course, I suppose that is awfully far-fetched——”