CHAPTER XIV.
TRAPPED.
There was little sleep for anyone at the Stanlock home that night. Themystery of the patched-up letter, coupled with Helen's apparentlyvoluntary disappearance and the fear that she had been led into atrap of some sort, in line with the threat contained in theskull-and-cross-bones letter, kept everybody up until long aftermidnight. Meanwhile, Mr. Stanlock called up the police station andasked the lieutenant in charge to come over and begin work on a newangle of the strike developments.
"One of the girls has disappeared, and we are afraid that somethingserious has happened," he told the officer over the telephone.
The latter soon drove up to the house in an automobile and wasadmitted by Mr. Stanlock. The conference lasted half an hour, butbefore half this time had elapsed Lieut. Larkin had the station on thewire and was giving instructions to the desk sergeant.
To add to the difficulty of the problem, snow began to fall about 5o'clock, and developed almost into a blizzard in three or four hours.
Next morning the two newspapers of Hollyhill carried big headlines andcolumn-and-a-half stories of the new strike development, suggestive ofa far-reaching plot that might result in tragedy. Mr. Stanlock hadduring the evening received all newspaper calls over a special wirein his private room, so as not to disturb the guests with thepublicity end of the affair.
In the afternoon Mrs. Stanlock announced that she, being an officer ofthe woman's club with an important duty to perform, must attend acommittee meeting from 3 until 4:30 o'clock, and she asked Miss Laddto accompany her. The latter consented, but cautioned the girlsagainst leaving the house, inasmuch as the three detectives were nolonger available for guard duty, having been directed to devote theirentire time to the search for Helen.
There were now at the house only the twelve remaining Camp Fire Girlsand the kitchen maid, Kitty Koepke.
Marion's younger sister and brother were attending a children'safternoon party a few blocks away. The new chauffeur had been summonedby Mrs. Stanlock to take her and Miss Ladd to the club rooms where thecommittee meeting was to be held.
About 3 o'clock a newspaper photographer and a reporter arrived. Thegirls allowed a group picture to be taken and the reporter was grantedan interview.
Half an hour after the newspaper men departed, there came a ring atthe front door. As Mary, the head servant, was out, Marion answeredthe ring and found at the entrance a woman of middle age, dressed inplain black, who spoke to her, in quick, eager accents, thus:
"Is this Miss Marion Stanlock?"
"It is," the girl answered.
"I am Mrs. Eddy, who moved into one of those vacant houses two blocksfrom here," the woman explained. "I have some information of interestto you."
"Is it about Helen Nash?" Marion asked, so eagerly that there could beno mistaking the subject nearest her heart.
The woman nodded and smiled, and Marion seized her by the arm andalmost dragged her into the hall and thence into the reception room.
"Where is she?--tell me quickly!" Two of the other girls in thedrawing-room, hearing these words and surmising their significance,came rushing in and caught the visitor's answer, thus:
"She's over at my house. She came there last night. I had no idea whoshe was until I saw the articles in the newspaper--I didn't get ituntil late--and then I came right over."
"But," said Marion, apprehensively, "why didn't she come right home?What was the matter--couldn't she explain who she was?"
"The girl was not in her right mind," Mrs. Eddy said. "She was in adelirium. It was about 10 o'clock at night, and evidently she had beentramping the streets for hours in the storm."
"How is she now? Oh! I must go right to her! Did she get lost in thestorm? Girls, girls! Come here! Helen's found! Is she--isshe--ill--very ill, Mrs. Eddy?"
"I don't think she is seriously ill," the woman replied, with anexpression of sweet encouragement. "I had a doctor call, and he didn'tseem to think there was any immediate danger, although she hasn'ttalked rationally yet. She is in bed, and has considerable fever."
"Would it be all right for me to go and see her--is it against thedoctor's orders? I'd be very careful; and, besides, I'm a nurse--infact, we all are nurses."
"Oh, to be sure--it will be all right for you to come--all of you maycome if you wish. You can go in one at a time, quietly. Then a coupleof you may remain and help nurse her. I really need help, for I am allalone, and sat up all night with her, and have been close to her mostof the day. Perhaps it would be well for you girls to makearrangements for relief nursing watches. You are perfectly welcome tokeep her at my home until she is well, if you will relieve me of thenecessity of nursing her."
"Come on, girls; get your wraps; we will all go over. It's only acouple of blocks. Hurry, everybody!"
"Wait, and I'll tell Kitty we're going out," Marion said.
She ran through several rooms, calling "Kittie! Kittie!" but receivedno response.
"I wonder where she is," the hostess said, in a puzzled manner. "Well,we haven't time to find her. Come on."
"I think I saw her go out more than half an hour ago," HarrietNewcomb said. "She called someone up on the telephone, and then puther hat and coat on and went out the side way, and I haven't seen hersince."
"That's strange," Marion commented. Then the subject was forgotten.The twelve girls and their leader were walking rapidly toward theplace where Mrs. Eddy, the good Samaritan, had taken in and cared forthe girl whom every one of them loved as they would have loved asister.
The house they stopped in front of was rather dingy and forbidding. Itwas a large brick structure, set back a hundred feet from the streeton a plot of ground nearly an acre in extent. Most of the windows weredarkened with green blinds two generations out of date.
Mrs. Eddy put a key into the lock and opened the door. Then shestepped aside and motioned the girls to enter, and they did so as ifmoved by a spell that they were unable to resist. Then the womanherself entered, closed the door and put the key into the lock andturned it. If the twelve Camp Fire Girls had no suspicions as to thegenuineness of the motives of the woman up to this time, they had goodand sufficient reason to anticipate something dreadful when they sawher take the key from the lock and put it in her coat pocket.
And still if there were any doubts in their minds after this act,they were effectively dispelled by the sound of a man's voice comingthrough a doorway from a dimly lighted room to the right, speakingthus:
"Now, young ladies, let me warn you to be quiet. You have been ledinto a trap; but you will not be hurt in any way if you obey orders.One scream from any of you will be followed by a blow with a club thatwill silence you for a long time--maybe, forever. This way, please.Everybody be quiet and sensible, and you will be well treated."
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