An impromptu stretcher was then contrived of the skirt, and the three bearers lifted the unconscious man upon it. They managed to carry the form over to the spot where Betty and Ruth held the lights, but the moment Ruth saw the gash on the head, and the blood trickling from it, she screamed and clung to Betty.

"Don't, Ruth--don't hang on to me like that!" wailed Betty. "I'm going to faint, if you don't let go of me!"

"Betty Lee! You'd better not!" cried Julie, desperately.

"We haven't time to hold you up and try to revive you," added Joan.

"Children, start ahead and show us the way, or we'll all be taken to Court to testify why we let this man die," ordered the Captain, hoping by such awe-inspiring words to make Betty and Ruth see the necessity of self-control.

Ruth managed to take the extra candle from Betty's shaking hand, and say: "Come on, Betty, we'll both be in jail for murder if we don't."

As this was Ruth's interpretation of Court, and it seemed to have the desired effect, Mrs. Vernon thought best not to correct her. The two frightened girls led the way with the lights and the three bearers of the still unconscious form followed.

Finally they reached the open, and the man was placed upon the gra.s.s near the Cave entrance. "If he doesn't regain his senses in a few moments, we will have to try that burnt wool," said Mrs. Vernon, watching the patient very closely, while the scouts bathed his head with the water they had brought in a bottle.

But the fresh air seemed to have the hoped-for effect, for the man heaved a deep sigh and slowly opened his eyes. At first he merely stared right up at the green foliage of the trees, but as his strength came back, he tried to see who was bathing his forehead.

"Do you feel better, now?" inquired Mrs. Vernon, softly.

The man tried to speak but couldn't, so Julie whispered: "Maybe he's been in there for days, and needs food."

"Some of you girls run and bring the hamper up," said Mrs. Vernon, but the patient had heard.

"No--all right," he managed to gasp.

After what seemed an eternity to the scouts, the man had survived far enough to sit up and lean against the front seat of the buckboard which the girls had removed and carried over.

"I fear you have had a bad accident," said the Captain. "Do you know what happened to you in the Cave? Maybe you fell from a shelf of rock."

"No--tramps did it."

The girls cried out, but the Captain gave them a severe look that quieted them at once. Then she held the cup of water for the man to sip, and he freshened up visibly.

"Girls, all four of you go for the hamper, as we must eat our dinner up here. You can take turns in carrying it, you know," said the Captain.

The scouts preferred to hover about and hear about the tramps, but Mrs.

Vernon's word was law, so they started down the hill. On the way, Ruth said, complainingly:

"We ought to hitch that lazy old horse to the buckboard and make her pull the load up the hill."

"She'd balk halfway up, Ruth, and make us pull _her_ up the rest of the way," retorted Julie, laughingly.

Mrs. Vernon fanned the cut and bruised face, and wished the man could tell who he was. As if in answer to her thoughts, he whispered: "Did you find my card-case in the coat pocket?"

"No, the tramps who maltreated you so, stole everything."

The man was not yet aware that he was in his shirt-sleeves, but now he glanced at himself and frowned.

"I beg your pardon, but you see my appearance is unavoidable," murmured he, while a flush rose to his pale face.

"Oh, don't think of form just now--let us help you back to a normal state as soon as possible," replied Mrs. Vernon, earnestly.

"I am a stranger in these parts, having left the train that goes to New York, because I heard there were some marvelous caves of stalact.i.te formation in this mountain. I was told to find a young hunter on top of this crest who would guide me," whispered he.

"But I must have missed my way, as I found myself at the Cave itself, before I even found the trail that goes to the hunter's cabin. I had a grip which I left outside, and taking my flashlight out of it, I started in alone." The speaker rested a few moments, then continued: "As I reached the branch where the two tunnels fork, I heard voices. So I hailed, thinking it might be the hunter escorting a party through the Cave. Then suddenly the voices were silenced.

"That should have warned me that all was not right, but I hurried on, hoping to meet some one. Instead I suddenly was struck directly in the face with a sharp rock. The blow staggered me, but I leaned against the wall, until two hard-looking villains crept along the tunnel thinking I was unconscious.

"One of them had on stripes, so I judged they were escaped convicts. I fought them off, but the blows from a cudgel and the loss of blood from the gash made by the rock, weakened me so that I remember no more until I opened my eyes and found you bending over me."

"How horrible! But how grateful we are that we visited the Caves to-day.

What day was it that you went in there?"

"Let me think: I left the train at the Junction on the evening of July third, and stopped at a country inn for the night. Early on the Fourth I climbed the mountains, and visited the Cave. What day is it now?"

"Why this is the Fourth still! You must have been attacked but a short time before we found you. It is now noon," exclaimed Mrs. Vernon, showing her dread of lurking rascals by calling to the girls to hasten up the hill.

"Thank heavens! Then we may catch them before they get out of the country," said the man.

"My name is Mrs. Vernon, and I am camping in these woods with my girl scouts. But I should dread having them go about alone after this."

"My name is Mr. Gilroy, and I certainly feel greatly obliged to your scouts and to you, Madame, for your aid."

"If only we were not so far from camp, or such a long ride to Freedom.

You could have medical attention there, and notify the police of this a.s.sault."

"My dear Madame! I, too, have been an enthusiastic camper and can help myself better than the physicians can. Give me a few hours' rest, and I will be as well as ever," said Mr. Gilroy.

The scouts now came puffing up with the hamper, registering many threats against Hepsy for her untimely trick. As they came over and stood beside the Captain, she introduced them to Mr. Gilroy. They were delighted to find him so far recovered, and they said so in girlish words and expressions.

The scouts displayed as hearty an appet.i.te as if nothing unusual had happened, but Mrs. Vernon was too concerned over the news of some tramps being at large to enjoy her dinner; she put two and two together and decided that this was what the young hunter wished to warn her about.

Mr. Gilroy seemed to like the eager attendance on him shown by the girls, but he ate sparingly of all the many goodies they urged upon him.

When the dinner was over, Mrs. Vernon said: "We must leave the hamper hidden somewhere, girls, and call back for it another day. The back seat we must leave here, also."

"Why?" asked the scouts, wonderingly.

"Because we must contrive some sort of couch on the floor of the buckboard for Mr. Gilroy; you girls will sit on either side, or at the back of the buckboard. I can manage to crowd in one extra scout on the front seat. As Ruth is the slenderest one, I think it had better be she and Betty for the front seat, while Joan and Julie mount guard over their patient."

The girls seemed to think the plan a good one, so the hamper and extra seat were soon hidden inside the Cave.

CHAPTER TWELVE

AN UNPLEASANT SURPRISE