So, with Tom Norris to look after her, Bessie began her trip back to the Mercer house, and, on the way, she told him the story of her flight from Hedgeville, and the adventures that had happened since its beginning.

“I suppose I was foolish to go after Jake Hoover that way,” she concluded, “but I thought I might be able to help.  I didn’t like to see him following Mr. Jamieson that way, when he was trying to be so nice to us.”

“Maybe you were foolish,” said Tom.  “But don’t let it worry you too much.  You meant well, and I guess there’s lots of us are foolish without having as good an excuse as that.”

“Oh, there’s Mr. Jamieson now!” cried Bessie, suddenly spying the young lawyer on the other side of the street.  “I think I’d better tell him what’s happened, don’t you, Mr. Norris?”

“I do indeed.  Stay here, I’ll run over.  The young fellow with the brown suit, is it?”

Bessie nodded, and Tom Norris ran across the street and was back in a moment with Jamieson, who was mightily surprised to see Bessie, whom he had left only a short time before at the Mercer house.  He frowned very thoughtfully as he heard her story.

“I’m not going to scold you for taking such a risk,” he said.  “I really didn’t think, either, that it was you they would try to harm.  I thought your friend Zara was the only one who was in danger.”

“I suppose they’d try to get hold of Miss Bessie here, though,” said the conductor, “because they’d think she’d be a good witness, perhaps, if there was any business in court.  I don’t know much about the law, except I think it’s a good thing to keep clear of.”

“You bet it is,” said Jamieson, with a laugh.

“That’s fine talk, from a lawyer!” smiled Tom Norris.  “Ain’t it your business to get people into lawsuits?”

“Not a bit of it!” said Jamieson.  “A good lawyer keeps his clients out of court.  He saves money for them that way, and they run less risk of being beaten.  The biggest cases I have never get into court at all.  It’s only the shyster lawyers, like Isaac Brack, who are always going to court, whether there’s any real reason for it or not.”

“Brack!” said Tom.  “Why, say, I know him!  And, what’s more, this man Weeks does, too.  Brack’s his lawyer.  I heard that a long time ago.  Brack gets about half the cases against the railroad, too.  Whenever there’s a little accident, Brack hunts up the people who might have been hurt, and tries to get damages for them.  Only, if he wins a case for them, he keeps most of the money—­and if they lose he charges them enough so that he comes out ahead, anyhow.”

“That’s the fellow,” Jamieson said.  “We’ll get him disbarred sooner or later, too.  He’s a bad egg.  I’m glad to know I’ve got to fight him in this case.  If this young Hoover was following me, I’ll bet Brack had something to do with it.”

“He was certainly following you,” said Bessie.  “Whenever you turned around he got behind a tree or something, so that you wouldn’t see him.”