A Campfire Girl's First Council Fire, Page 2

  CHAPTER II

  AN UNJUST ACCUSATION

  They had not gone far when the rain burst upon them. They stuck to thewoods to avoid meeting Maw Hoover on her way home, and as the first bigdrops pattered down among the trees Zara called a halt.

  "It's going to rain mighty hard," she said. "We'd better wait here andgive it a chance to stop a little before we cross the clearing. We'llget awful wet if we go on now."

  Bessie, shivering with fright, and half minded, even now, to turn backand take any punishment Maw Hoover chose to give her, looked up throughthe trees. The lightning was flashing. She turned back--and the glare ofthe burning woodshed helped her to make up her mind to stay with Zara.As they looked the fire, against the black background of the storm, wasterrifying in the extreme.

  "You'd never think that shed would make such a blaze, would you?" saidZara, trembling. "I'd like to kill that Jake Hoover! How did he set iton fire?"

  "He must have been watching me all the time when I was trying to helpyou to get out," said Bessie. "Then, when I was nearly done, he calledto me, and then he began throwing the burning wood at me. He knows Ihate that--he's done it before. I can always get out of the way. Hedoesn't throw them very near me, really. But two or three times thesparks have burned holes in my dress and Maw Hoover's been as mad as shecould be. So she thinks anyhow that I play around the fire, and she'dnever believe I didn't do it."

  "The rain ought to put the fire out," said Zara presently, after theyhad remained in silence for a few moments. "But I think it's beginningto stop a little now."

  "It is, and the fire's still burning, Zara. It seems to me it'sbrighter than ever. And listen--when it isn't thundering. Don't you heara noise as if someone was shouting back there?"

  Zara listened intently.

  "Yes," she said. "And it sounds as if they were chopping with axes, too.I hope the fire hasn't spread and reached the house, Bessie."

  Bessie shivered.

  "I hope so, too, Zara. But it's not my fault, anyhow. You and I knowthat, even if no one believes us. It was Jake Hoover who did it, andhe'll be punished for it some time, I guess, whether his maw ever findsit out or not."

  They waited a few minutes longer for the rain to stop, and then, as itgrew lighter, they began to move on. They could see a heavy cloud ofsmoke from the direction of the farmhouse, but no more flames, and now,as the thunder grew more and more distant, they could hear shouting moreplainly. Evidently help had come--Paw Hoover, probably, seeing the fire,and rushing up from the fields with his hired men and the neighbors toput it out.

  "Zara," said Bessie, suddenly, "suppose Jake was telling the truth?Suppose they have taken your father away? You know they have said thingsabout him, and lots of people believe he is a bad man. I never did. Butsuppose they really have taken him, what will you do?"

  "I don't know. Stay there, I suppose. But, Bessie, it can't be true!"

  "Maybe they wouldn't let you stay. When Mary Morton's mother died lastyear and left her alone, they took her to the poorhouse. Maybe they'dmake you go there, too."

  "They shan't!" cried Zara, her eyes flashing through her tears. "I--I'llrun away--I'll do anything--"

  "I'm going to run away, myself," said Bessie, quietly. She had beendoing a lot of thinking. "No one could make me work harder than MawHoover, and they'd pay me for doing it. I'm going to get as far away asI can and get a real job."

  Zara looked at Bessie, usually so quiet and meek, in surprise. Therewas a determined note in Bessie's voice that she had never heard therebefore.

  "We'll stick together, you and I, Zara," said Bessie. "I'm afraidsomething _has_ happened to your father. And if that's so, we'd betternot go right up to your house. We'd better wait until it's dark, and gothere quietly, so that we can listen, and see if there's anyone aroundlooking for you."

  "But we won't get any supper!" said poor Zara. "And I'm hungry already!"

  "We'll find berries and nuts, and we can easily find a spring where wecan drink all we want," said Bessie. "I guess we've got to look out forourselves now, Zara. There's no one else to do it for us."

  And Bessie, the meek, the quiet, the subdued, from that moment tookcommand. Always before Zara had seemed the plucky one of the two. Shehad often urged Bessie to rebel against Maw Hoover's harshness, and ithad been always Bessie who had hung back and refused to do anythingthat might make trouble. But now, when the time for real action hadcome, and Bessie recognized it, it was she who made the plans anddecided what was to be done.

  Bessie knew the woods well, far better than Zara. Unerringly she led theway to a spot she knew, where a farm had been allowed to drift back towild country, and pointed out some cherry trees.

  "Some berries aren't good to eat, but I know those cherries," saidBessie. "They used to be the best trees in the whole county yearsago--Paw Hoover's told me that. Some believe that they're no good now,because no one has looked after the trees, but I know they're fine. Iate some only the other day, and they're ripe and delicious. So we'llhave supper off these trees."

  Zara, as active as a little cat, climbed the tree at once, and in amoment she was throwing down the luscious fruit to Bessie, who gatheredit in her apron and called to Zara when she had picked enough of thebig, round cherries.

  "Aren't they good, Zara? Eat as many as you want. They're not like areal supper of meat and potatoes and things like that, you know, butthey'll keep us from feeling hungry."

  "They certainly will, Bessie. I'd never have known about them. But thenI haven't lived long enough in the country to know it the way you do.I've been in cities all my life."

  "Yes, and if we get to the city, Zara, you'll know lots of things and beable to tell me all about them. It must be wonderful."

  "I suppose it is, Bessie, but I never thought of it that way. It musthave been because I was used to everything of that sort. When you seethings every day you get so that you don't think anything about them. Iused to laugh at people from the country when I'd see them staring up atthe high buildings, and jumping when an automobile horn tooted anywherenear them."

  "I suppose it must have seemed funny to you."

  "Yes, but I was sorry when I came out here and saw that everyone waslaughing at me. There were all sorts of things I'd never seen or thoughtabout. I'm really only just beginning to get used to them now. Bessie,it's getting pretty dark. Won't the moon be up soon?"

  "Not for an hour or two yet, Zara. But it is dark now--we'd better beginwalking toward your house. We want to get there while it stays dark, andbefore the old moon does get up. It'll be just as bright as daylightthen, and they'd be able to see us. I tell you what--we want to keep offthe road. We'll go through the woods till we get a chance to cut throughFarmer Weeks' cornfield. That'll bring us out behind your place, and wecan steal up quietly."

  "You'd think we'd been doing something wrong, Bessie. It seems mightymean for us to have to sneak around that way."

  "It's all right as long as we know we haven't done anything that isn'tright, Zara. That's the chief thing. If you do right, people will findit out sooner or later, even if they think at first that you're bad.Sometimes it takes a long time, but Paw Hoover says he's never known itto fail that a bad man gets found out sooner or later."

  "Then Jake Hoover'd better look out," said Zara, viciously. "He's liedso much, and done so many mean things that you've got the blame for,that he'll have an awful lot to make up for when he starts in. Whatwould Paw Hoover do to him if he knew he'd set the woodshed on fire,Bessie?"

  "I don't know. He'd be awful mad. He hasn't got so awful much money, youknow, and he needs it all for the farm. But Maw Hoover thinks Jake's allright. She'd find some excuse for him. She always does when he does getfound out. That happens sometimes, you know. He can't always make themthink I've done it."

  "I guess maybe that's why he's so mean, Bessie. Don't you think so?"

  "Shouldn't wonder, Zara. I don't believe he stops to think half thetime. Here we are! We'll cut through the fence. Careful as we gothrough--kee
p to the lanes between the stalks. We mustn't hurt thecorn, you know."

  "I'd like to pull up every stalk! These people 'round here have beenmean and ugly to my father ever since we came here."

  "That isn't right, though, Zara. It won't do you any good to hurt themin return. If you do wrong, too, just because they have, you'll be justas bad as they are."

  "Oh, I know, but they've said all sorts of awful things, and if they'veput him in prison now--" She stopped, with a sob, and Bessie took herhand.

  "Cheer up, Zara. We don't know that anything of that sort has happenedyet, and, even if it has, it will come out all right. If your fatherhasn't done anything wrong, they can't punish him. He'll get a fairtrial if he's been arrested, and they can't prove he's done anythingunless he has, you know."

  "But if they lied about him around here, mightn't they lie the sameafterward--at the trial, Bessie? I'm frightened; really I am!"

  "Hush, Zara! There's your house, and there's a light! That means there'ssomeone there. I hope it's your father, but it might be someone else,and we mustn't let them hear us."

  The two girls were out of the cornfield now, and, crossing a littlepatch of swampy land, came to the little garden around Zara's house,where her father had planted a few vegetables that helped to feed himand Zara.

  The house was little better than a cabin, a rough affair, tumbled downin spots, with a sagging roof, and stained and weather-worn boards. Ithad no second floor at all, and it was a poor, cheap apology for adwelling, all around. But, after all, it was Zara's home, the only homeshe knew, and she was so tired and discouraged that all she wanted wasto get safely inside and throw herself down on her hard bed to sleep.

  "Listen!" whispered Bessie, suddenly.

  From the room into which the kitchen led there came a murmur of voices.At first, though they strained their ears, they could make nothing outof the confused sounds of talk. But gradually they recognized voices,and Bessie turned pale as she heard Paw Hoover's, easy for her to know,since his deep tones rumbled out in the quiet night. Zara recognizedthem, too, and clutched Bessie's arm.

  "My father isn't there!" she whispered. "If he was, I'd hear him."

  "There's Farmer Weeks--and I believe that's Jake Hoover's voice, too,"said Bessie, also in a whisper.

  Then the door was opened, and the two girls huddled closer together,shivering, afraid that they would be discovered. But it seemed that PawHoover had only opened the door to get a little air, since the night wasvery hot after the storm. About them the insects were making theiraccustomed din, and a little breeze rustled among the treetops. But,with the door open, they could hear what was being said plainly enough.

  "I ain't goin' to wait here all night, Brother Weeks," said Paw Hoover."Got troubles enough of my own, what with the woodshed settin' fire tothe house!"

  "Oh!" whispered Bessie. "Did you hear that, Zara? It was worse than wethought."

  "Huh!" said Weeks, a rough, hard man, who found it hard to get men towork when he needed them for the harvest every summer, on account of hisreputation for treating his men badly.

  "I allus told you you'd have trouble with that baggage afore you got ridof her, Paw! Lucky that she didn't burn you out when you was allasleep--I say," said Jake.

  Bessie listened, every nerve and muscle in her body tense. They blamedher for the fire, then! Her instinct when she had run away had beenright.

  "I swan, I dunno what all possessed her," said Paw Hoover. "We give hera good home--but Jake here seen her do it, though he was too late tostop her--hey, Jake?"

  "That's right, Pop," said Jake. "She didn't know I was aroun' anywhere.Say, you ought to have her pinched for doin' it, too."

  "I dunno--she's only a youngster," said Paw. "I guess they wouldn't holdher responsible, somehow. But say, Brother Weeks, I hate to think ofthat little Zara runnin' roun' the woods to-night. She ain't donenothin' wrong, even if her paw's a crook. An' now they took him off,who's a-goin' to look out for her?"

  "I'll drive her over to the poor-farm when she turns up," said Weeks."Then they'll take her, an' apprentice her to someone as wants a girl towork aroun' his place, like. Bind her over till she's twenty-one, andlet her work for her keep. I might take her myself--guess 'twouldn'tcost such a lot to feed her. She's thin--reckon she ain't ever had muchto eat here."

  Bessie, feeling the tremor in Zara's rigid body at this confirmation ofher worst fears, put her hand quickly over her friend's mouth, just intime to check a cry that was rising to her lips.

  "Come, Zara," she whispered, gently. "We'll have to look out forourselves. Come, we'll get away. We mustn't stay around here."

  And, holding Zara's arm, she led her away. For a long time, until Bessiejudged that it was safe to return to the road, they kept on through thewoods. And, when they came out on the road, the moon was up.

  "The world's a beautiful place after all, Zara," said Bessie. "It can'tbe so bad when everything's so lovely. Come on, we'll walk a littlefurther, and then we'll come to a place I know where we can sleepto-night--a place where wood cutters used to stay. No one's there now,and we'll be dry and safe."

  "I'm not afraid if I'm with you, Bessie," said Zara.