“So I ran away from her,” said Bertha, “and tried to go to Dogtown and see Hennie and the Foleys. Why! wasn’t you one of the girls, Miss, that saw Mrs. Poole putting me into that car?”
“Yes,” sighed Jessie. “I saw it, but couldn’t stop it.”
“Well, they brought me right out here, and I’ve been here ever since. When Mrs. Poole isn’t here that old woman comes and keeps me from running away.”
“But once,” Jessie suggested, “you had a chance to try to send out a cry for help?”
“There’s a radio here. They used it one night. Then I tried to call for help over it. But they heard me and stopped it at once.”
“Just the same, that attempt of yours is what has brought us here to-day. I will tell you all about it later. Come, Bertha! We will get you away from here before Mrs. Poole comes. And we must take you to the city to see my father at once.”
As they left the tower and the ugly old woman, they heard the latter calling a number into the telephone receiver. She was probably trying to report the outrage to Mrs. Poole.
“But the woman will never dare call the police,” Darry assured Jessie. “You tell your father all about it, and he’ll know what to do.”
“And we must see Daddy Norwood as soon as possible,” the girl said. “I must take Bertha to him. The case is already in court.”
“I’ll fix that for you, Miss Jessie,” Mark Stratford said. “I can get you to town just as quickly as the traffic cops will let me—and they are all my friends.”