"Ye'll be needin' a tray in a wee while?" Janet asked in a low tone. "Anything special ye'll be wanting?"
"Oh, I'll leave that to you, Janet. Your trays are always grand! But, Janet, wasn't there somebody else in to see Tabor? I thought I heard another voice. Had I better go and see? Tabor mustn't have too much company at once."
"It's joost Mike drapped in fer a chat. Tabor's all richt! Better let thim have their talk, Miss Eden."
Eden gave a quick suspicious look at Janet. She was well acquainted with her tone of voice whenever Janet was trying to evade a question, so she spoke quickly:
"Has something happened, Janet? What is Mike here for? He ought not to worry Tabor. The doctor said we must keep him quiet."
"Tabor's all richt!" said Janet quickly, an anxious smile in her eyes.
"I must go and see," said Eden, and in spite of Janet's earnest "No, no, Miss Eden, best leave thim talk alane," she hurried out into the hall and down to the far door where Tabor lay. She appeared just in time to hear Mike say: "I think she oughtta be told, Mr. Lorrimer. She's a sensible lady, and she'll be much safer if she knows all. She should stay in the house, which will be well guarded until we can locate the old un. No tellin' what that bird might not try if she's desperate, an' I think she is. Of course, we'll put a strong guard around the place tonight."
Then there was Eden standing at the door and facing Mike.
"Yes? What is it, Mike, that I ought to be told? You tell me. I won't mind what it is. I know you folks will take care of me."
"Yes, my lady," put in Tabor's voice most earnestly, with all the quaver gone and a look as if he were going to get right up and guard her. "You mustn't go out of the house until Mike says it's safe, Miss Eden! And that's straight! You needn't get worried."
"Of course, Tabor," said Eden quickly. "I'll do what I'm told, but I'm not worried. Now what is it all about, Mike?" She looked directly at the embarrassed policeman, who hadn't an idea she had been within hearing while he was talking.
"Why, beggin' yer pardon, miss, it's just that the old un played her cards well with our matron, and she's got out again, an' we don't know but she might come this way. We're not lettin' you out of our sight till we're sure where she is."
"Oh!" said Eden, looking startled, and then regaining her composure. "But she won't come this way again. At least, I don't think so. She won't take the same chance twice."
"But she might, that," said Mike gruffly. "She knows there was clothes hangin' in that there toolshed. She might take a chance to see if they is there yet. Ya see, she has only prison clothes and knows they might be noticed. She has got only what she had on when she got away, the matron's apron an' her own dress. We know what to watch for, unless she can get a change. She did take the blanket off the grocery boy's delivery truck. She might wrap that around her, but she'd likely take any chance to get those clothes she hid behind the last time."
"Well, maybe," said Eden, looking thoughtfully at Mike. "But, really, I think we ought not to stand here in Tabor's room talking. The doctor said I was to be very careful that he didn't get excited."
"The doctor knows we're here, Miss Eden," explained Mike. "He knew we needed to ask Tabor some questions, and he said we might come."
"Oh," said Eden, looking from one to another of the men. "That's all right, then, I suppose. Have you asked your questions?"
"Yes, Miss Thurston, we found out all we need to know about the one that stabbed Tabor, and he saw the old un take refuge in the toolhouse the last time. He tried to stop her. That's how Tabor got hurt."
"All right," said Eden cheerfully. "I'm sorry you had to be dragged into this, but I think we ought to get right out and let Tabor go to sleep. It's past his sleeping time now, isn't it, Nurse?"--to the nurse who had entered with a worried look, and she nodded in answer to Eden's question.
"Well then, we'll say good night and go. Tabor, you needn't worry about me. I'll do just what Mike and Mr. Lorrimer tell me I ought to do; and if I have to go out anywhere, I'll take somebody with me, but I won't go until Mike says I can. And now, Tabor, you and I will remember that verse we read tonight, 'The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.' Just rest on that, Tabor." And Eden gave the old servant's hand a little pat, and a smile, and led the others away.
They all came out following her as if they had been attending some kind of religious service, and even the policeman walked more softly, spoke in a lower tone to Lorrimer, and kept his anxious gaze downward.
Lorrimer and Mike lingered by the side doorway for a minute or two while Mike outlined the plan of defense and jotted down one or two directions that seemed important. Then Lorrimer came back to Eden in the living room.
"Too bad we have to have that interruption in our pleasant evening," said the young man as they sat down again, with a graver expression on his face than when he had left the room a few minutes before.
"It's all right," said Eden quietly, with a faint smile. "Somehow I've felt all along that we were not through with this business yet. I'm not surprised at anything. But I certainly am glad you were here."
"So am I," said the young man with a tender smile. "But you certainly are a brave girl. Most young women I know would be terribly upset by finding all this out. They told me not to let you know what was going on. They sent for me to make sure I would understand in case we heard shots or footsteps walking around the house, and it doesn't seem to worry you at all."
"Well, why should I be worried with so many good friends to guard me? I realize, of course, that Mrs. Fane is an unscrupulous woman, and rather desperate, and wouldn't stop at anything if she were cornered. But I think she is a coward. Perhaps I'm wrong, but she wouldn't do anything wild like shooting somebody, or kidnapping, unless she was very sure she could get away with it. I think her role is to act like a wealthy woman who was doing a kindly deed. At least, that is the way she made her approach here when she arrived."
"Yes," said Lorrimer thoughtfully, "that may be the way she makes her approach, innocent and kindly, but I wouldn't be too sure she isn't familiar with the ways of guns and the like. So please just act as if you know she were the worst criminal living. That will make it easier for the rest of us."
"Oh, I will," said Eden earnestly. "It is wonderful to be taken care of again. But I'm not afraid, truly."
"Well, of course, it is grand to have courage, but remember we are taking no chances on just courage."
He gave her a smile that made her heart feel all warm and happy, and her face grew bright with a grateful smile of her own.
"Now," he said as he drew up two chairs in front of the fire, "where is that poem you promised last week you would read to me? I've been looking forward to hearing it ever since."
"I'll get it," said Eden, turning to the bookcase between the windows and selecting a bright volume with leaves that looked as if they had had much use.
She turned to the old lovely words:
"Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles,
Miles and miles,
On the solitary pastures where our sheep
Half-asleep
Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop
As they crop--
Was the sight once of a city great and gay,
(So they say). . .
Held his court in, gathered councils, wielding far
Peace or war."
And so they were off to a pleasant enjoyment and discussion of Browning.
When she had finished the reading, his eyes showed his appreciation.
"Yes, I had read the poem long ago," he said, "but you have made it live again and painted the picture of that colored evening as I never conceived it before. And, too, it gives such a broad outlook on the world, going on through the centuries, doing all the things we are doing today, building cities, enjoying happy times, living, sinning, fighting, loving as we do now, and dying. It makes the world seem so small after all, to think how many years it has been going
on and yet our thoughts and impulses are much the same. Still the old Adam cropping up and bringing on wars."
"They had wars in Bible times, didn't they? Does God like war? If not, why does He allow it?"
"No, God doesn't like war, but He uses it sometimes to punish His people who are sinning. He allows it to serve His own purposes. He sometimes sent different nations against those who were not keeping His commandments, who had sinned against Him. He sent the Medes against Babylon to destroy it. He sent word to them, to get their weapons ready. 'Make bright the arrows.' You know that means to sharpen them, get them ready for use. And 'gather the shields.' They had to have bright arrows, not rusty ones that would do no good when they hit the mark."
"But how would that apply to us?" asked Eden, puzzled. "That is, Christians. Does He want them to fight, too?"
"Yes, He has told us that we are all in a warfare, 'not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world.' And He has told us to 'put on the whole armour of God.' And the weapon we are to use is the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. I have always thought that that must be like the bright arrows that were to be kept sharp and polished and ready for use. And it has seemed to me that we should be very diligent about keeping that sword polished and ready, those arrows of God, His own words, bright and flashing as they speed to reach the enemy. And, of course, the enemy is not just people who don't agree with us, a mistake some make that causes awful trouble. The enemy is the devil who blinds and confuses people as to what is the real truth. That is why we ought to be often studying God's Word, so that it will be on the very tips of our tongues, ready to be used at a time of need. And the Spirit will always tell us when that time has come so that we shall not be wasting its bright flashing at an unseemly time. There will be times when the foe presses hard when a few of those bright arrows flashing through the air may bring great victory."
"That is wonderful. I've never heard anybody bring out those thoughts before. Bright arrows. God's Word in my heart, on my tongue, might be that, do you mean? Might speed the truth and make futile the darts of the enemy? And with the shield of my faith in God I shall not be hurt?"
"That's right. You have the idea. I think you had it before I spoke, for that verse you left with Tabor tonight was truly a bright arrow against the fear of worry and trouble. You know many verses like that. God will teach you when to use them. And now, how about a bit of music, some of your sweet hymns? Wouldn't they help Tabor to trust and not worry, and you and me, too, perhaps? First you play some of those sweet hymns your father used to love, and then maybe we could sing:
"Be not dismayed whate'er betide,
God will take care of you;
Beneath His wings of love abide,
God will take care of you."
For answer Eden sat down at the piano and began to play softly, the tender sweet melodies her father used to love, and with which she was sure Tabor was most familiar. Lorrimer sat in the big chair nearby, just in the shadow, and watched her admiringly. Eden's face was full of feeling, for she was going back in spirit to the evenings when her dear father had sat listening, sometimes chiming in with his sweet tenor that had once been so strong and thrilling.
And now after a few minutes her fingers went softly into the gospel song they both knew, and their voices mingled in the tender words, "God will take care of you."
As the last note died softly away they looked up, and there stood Janet with her tray. Hot scones, tiny sponge cakes, hot chocolate topped with whipped cream.
"Mr. Tabor sent ye worrud, thank ye baith fer the singin', an' tae tell ye it were juist like heaven tae hear ye."
Their faces lit up.
"We hoped he would like it," said Eden.
"Yes, tell him we are glad he liked it."
They lingered over the delicious meal, making a gala supper of the simple fare, and when Janet came back and saw that Lorrimer was about to leave, she said, "We'll be all richt, dinna fear. Mike's stayin' the night hisself."
Lance Lorrimer took Eden's hands for a brief clasp, pressing her fingers warmly, smiling into her eyes.
"Good night, dear lady! We'll be praying!" he said, and Janet, bless her heart, smiled to herself at the words she thought she heard with her deaf ears.
Chapter 15
For several days the careful guarding of Eden went on, though they didn't say much about it to the girl herself. Mr. Worden had warned them all not to frighten Eden. But Eden was not frightened, and she made them all understand that so thoroughly that even Janet realized it. Though she always insisted on going out with her whenever Eden felt she ought to go anywhere.
And the police had an organized guard about the house, for, to tell the truth, they had discovered that the garments behind which Lavira had hidden in the toolhouse on her first escape were gone this time, though no one had discovered that until the second day. The police didn't tell Eden, but they had a little something more to go on to broadcast her description than at first. And presently they discovered that a person of Mrs. Fane's description and clad in a worn old cloak and a long green skirt and brown veil had been reported hitchhiking along a road two hundred miles to the west of Glencarroll. Another day or two brought word from watching police who had been on the alert since Lavira Fane's disappearance from the jail that such a woman had been picked up by a kindly farmer-couple and carried on fifty miles farther.
Then silence for two days, and the report of a woman arrested for stealing garments in a store in the Northwest. For by this time Lavira's prison picture had been sent about. It was considered an important case, and there were two persons involved in the holdup as well as several valuable jewels that had been found on them. But there was no doubt but that this woman arrested for stealing clothing was guilty, for she had the stolen goods in her possession, and so she was held. She gave, of course, another name. She said she was Annette Coleman, lived in a small town in Iowa, had always wanted something pretty, and had intended, of course, to pay for what she had taken when she got home to her husband.
Investigation showed that there was no living husband, and no home, and no town where she said she lived. And when confronted by her own snapshot from the prison record in Glencarroll, the look in her eyes as she denied that it was her picture made them sure she was the same woman who was wanted in Glencarroll.
But having got away from the police a number of times, Lavira bided her time and made a getaway again, heading this time toward a hideout in a lonely range of mountains where she felt reasonably sure she would find her son, together with the promised string of "red beads," which would amply finance their further movements.
But the police in the Midwest were on the alert, and Lavira was soon brought back to police headquarters and put in safekeeping to await a trial. As her misdemeanor in the department store was the most recent offense, it had priority, and so the woman was held in the Western town.
So the days went by and the household of Thurston grew more at ease. Eden forgot her perplexities, and her face took on a more rested look.
Also Tabor was rapidly getting well now. The doctor was letting him sit up for a few minutes each day, and his wound was healing nicely. If things went on as well as this, the doctor said he could count on being able to be about pretty soon and perhaps attend to little duties, like opening the door for callers and setting tables and so on.
Lance Lorrimer was away. When he telephoned to call off a date with Eden to go to a meeting in the city, he said he was being sent away on business and wasn't sure how long he would have to stay, nor where he might have to go before he returned. Eden felt a great dismay after she had hung up the receiver. It seemed somehow as if something important was gone, and then she reproved herself. How ridiculous of her! She must not get so interested in a young man that his coming and going meant so much to her that she was desolate without him. After all, there were not so many others with whom she could talk about the things that
interested her. But she simply must snap out of this and get interested in something to keep her busy.
To that end she decided to join a Bible class that Lorrimer had told her about. It met in the evenings, of course, but she could take Janet with her and go in the car, if the police were still insistent that she should not go anywhere alone till those Fanes were caught.
And then that very evening when she had decided to make a start, a caller arrived just after dinner, who turned out to be Niles Nevin. He at once announced his intention of taking the midnight train to New York to be ready for some business matters the next day. He had stopped off here, partly at his sister's insistence and partly for his own selfish desire to spend the evening with Eden. He said he had come to coax her to return with him to Florida when he came back in a couple of days.
Eden didn't exactly like to tell him that she had other plans for her evening, for, after all, he had come out of his way to see her, and he was her dear friend's brother. Besides, this wasn't the only night she could go to the class, so she settled down to entertain the handsome young man, who had no serious interest in life save an occasional business trip to sign a few papers and look idly into matters of his own personal income. Even that he considered a great bore and had no hesitation in saying so. Yet he certainly was good looking and interesting, could talk well and entertainingly, could describe charmingly a view he had seen, of mountains or river or sea, and depict the frailties and follies of both his friends and enemies in a most amusing way. He could mimic and portray engagingly the people he had met in Florida and on his journeys, and he could make time disappear in a flash, so that most amazingly it was time for his midnight train before she realized the evening was half over.
Yet when, as he rose to leave, he began to press her decision again to go back with him to Florida, Eden knew at once she did not want to go. Though she had to own to herself that she had enjoyed the evening and that she could readily adapt herself to the kind of living he and his sister were evidently doing, somehow she was not in the mood for it now. What was the matter with her? Was it just because her father was gone and she could not get used to the change and loneliness? No, that could not be it alone, for she had been prepared for that for some time before he left her.