“That’s a lie at the start,” said Will. “She can’t walk a step, and you know it. Officers, if that woman gets out of this house she will attempt to escape. It’s a ruse on her part. She’s got a car at the door.”
Tish sighed.
“Well, I’ve done my best for you, Will,” she told him. “Personally, I don’t care whether Emmie is found or not. If I have a preference, it is for the latter. But I’ll take you to her and the rest is up to you.”
I don’t believe any of them believed her. Will Hartford, indeed, demanded handcuffs for her, but she only sat down quietly and refused to stir if they used them. And when someone said she ought to be in jail on general principles, she merely replied placidly that jails were no novelty to her.
In the end they agreed to let her go free, and she rose briskly and started out the kitchen door. It was a strange procession, indeed, and a silent one, for that had been Tish’s condition.
“One unnecessary sound,” she said, “and I stop. Later on I shall place you all at a point of observation, and I shall ask for silence.”
In the hall she had picked up a parcel she had brought in with her, and she took it with her. The police were suspicious of it, but on their threatening to open it she at once turned back, and they were compelled to let it alone.
As I look back I can still see that strange group—Will broken and supported by a doctor on each side, three policemen, six neighbors, mostly armed with spades, and ourselves. And in the lead our dear Tish, with no evidence of guilt about her, but rather as one who has done a good and worthy deed. She moved swiftly, as though she knew the way well, up through the pasture behind the house and through a grove of trees, until at the other side we could dimly discern a small cabin, and a light shining through the window.
Here Tish stopped and addressed us.
“We have come a half mile,” she said. “Mrs. Hartford may tell you that she was brought here while unconscious, but she came here on two perfectly healthy legs. I know, because I followed her. And she came rapidly,” she added, with what I felt was a certain significance. “Now I have one request to make. You will stay here until I have reached the cabin; then you will come to the window as silently as possible.”