“Well, come along to the legitimate stage then,” said the man kindly.  “We will take good care of you.”

“I have lost a friend,” went on Morrison, in a rambling way, “and until she is found I do not leave these woods.”

Tavia’s heart stood still.  Would the men find them?

“Oh,” sighed the girl with the injured foot, “I will throw myself into the creek before I will go back to the——­”

“Hush!  They have got him!”

Two strong men had taken hold of Morrison.  At the signal of a shrill whistle two other men came up the path.

Morrison struggled frantically.  In the excitement Tavia and Molly stepped out of their hiding place, but there was so much confusion trying to overcome Morrison, that the girls were not noticed.

“Oh, mercy!” gasped Molly, “they will hurt him.”

“Not likely,” said Tavia.  “They are hospital attendants.”

“There is the wagon!  Oh, I remember it!  They took me in that!”

“Molly, dear!  You are not to remember anything—­except that you are with me!”

“But what shall we do when they go?  It is night!”

“We will find shelter some place.  I am an expert on finding shelter!”

The girl rested her head against Tavia’s shoulder.  Whatever compunction Tavia had felt for her part in the unfortunate state of affairs, she felt at ease now in the thought that she had saved this girl.  That the hospital men were attending to Morrison, and that he would soon be out of reach of harming her, also consoled Tavia.

“It is not bad here,” she said.  “I am sure there are cottages near by.”

“I—­don’t—­remember,” breathed Molly.  “I guess I was never out this way before.”

“If only I knew——­ But what is the use of my acting like a baby?” exclaimed Tavia.  “I am sure the folks at camp think me dead.  Dorothy, especially, will be heartbroken.”

“They are taking him away!”

The men had seized the struggling Morrison, and were carrying him to the roadside, where the wagon stood waiting.

Tavia wondered if she was doing right or wrong in not making her presence known.  Then she thought how hard it would be to have Mary again placed in a sanitarium, and she decided to fight her way alone.  But it was getting dark.  They could now barely see the men lifting that struggling form into the closely-covered wagon.

“I wonder how they knew he was here?” mused Tavia.  “If they had not found him what would have become of us?”

“Oh, my foot!  I am sure something is broken!”

With these words Molly sank down, helpless.  The wagon had rattled off, and again the girls were alone in that deep wood, with night settling down.

“I am strong,” declared Tavia.  “I can carry you.”

“But where can we go?  Oh, I did not know I was hurt!  I am afraid my leg is broken!” sobbed Molly.

“There must be some house or hut near here,” declared Tavia, “and I will carry you along until we reach it.  We can not spend the night here, starving.”