Dolly grinned at Bessie.

“Good for you!” she whispered.  “Did you really do that, Bessie?  You’re a good sport, after all!  I never thought you’d be disobedient.”

Bessie smiled.

“Listen!” she whispered.  “We mustn’t talk yet.”

“What’ll I do if they come to the trolley line?” asked Jake.

“Catch Bessie and hold her,” said Holmes.  “Don’t pay any attention to the other one, of course.  We’ve nothing to do with her, and we don’t want to be bothered by her.  She’s a silly, brainless little thing, anyway.”

Bessie’s hand sought Dolly’s and held it tight.  And Bessie, looking at her chum’s face, saw that it was red with anger and mortification.  It was a harsh blow to Dolly’s pride in herself, and her belief in her own power to charm everyone she saw.

“Never mind, Dolly!  You’re not what he calls you, and we both know it,” whispered Bessie.  “Don’t get angry!  Remember that he’s furious because we slipped out of his hands, that’s all.  I don’t believe he really means that at all.  He isn’t silly enough to believe it, I’m sure of that.”

“I bet I’ll make him feel sorry he ever said that, just the same,” vowed Dolly, clenching her fist.  “I’d like to pull his hair out for him, the nasty, mean liar!”

“Well, we’ve got to think of getting away from them before we can do that,” said Bessie.  “And it’s not going to be as easy as I thought, either, Dolly, because if they watch that trolley line, I don’t see how we’re going to get aboard without being seen.  Jake Hoover is going down this road, you see.”

“Well, why don’t we just strike the trolley at another place?”

“That isn’t so easy, either, Dolly, because that trolley doesn’t run along the road there.  It goes through the fields, like a regular railroad, and it only stops at certain places.  There isn’t a trolley station marked for a mile or so either side of the one on this road, and I don’t see how we can get to the nearest ones, either.  I don’t know the country around here well enough to do much wandering in the woods.  You have to know your way about to do that, especially if you’re in a hurry to get anywhere.”

“Sh—­listen!” said Dolly, holding up her finger.

“Well, you understand, then?” said Holmes, in the road below.  “Take this road until you come to the trolley line, and wait there for the girls to come along.  If Bessie comes, grab her, and don’t let her get away from you.  I’ll go to the railroad station where they’ll have to change for the train to Deer Crossing, in case they manage to reach it in some other fashion, and old Weeks will stay on guard in Jericho.  Now, don’t make any mistakes.  Remember, I know some things about you that you don’t want others to find out, young man, and I’ve got a habit of punishing people who fail when they are working for me.”

“I ain’t noticed that you reward them much when they do things,” grumbled Jake.  “It’s a poor rule that don’t work both ways, mister.  You say you’ll punish me if I don’t make good; how about payin’ me if I do?”