"My goodness! a girl?" gasped his sister. "What sort of a looking girl?"

"She wasn't bad looking," Tom said. "Younger than us-mebbe twelve, or so. But she'd been sleeping out in her clothes-you could see she had.

And her face and hands were dirty.

"'What were they trying to do to you?' I asked her.

"'Trying to get my money,' says she. 'I ain't got much, but you bet I want that little.'

"'I guess you can keep it,' I said. 'But if I were you, I'd hike out of this.'

"'I'm going to,' says she. 'I'm going just as fast as I can to the railroad and jump a train. These fellers have been bothering me all day.

I'm glad you came along. Thanks.'

"And with that she started to move off. But the tramps were real ugly, and one of them jumped for her. I tripped him up," said Tom, grinning again now in remembrance of the row, "and then there certainly _was_ a fuss."

"Oh, Tom!" murmured Helen.

"Well, I had Reno, didn't I? The man I tripped fell into the fire, but was more scared than hurt. But the other fellow-the one with the knife-slashed at Reno, and cut him.

"Well! you never saw such a girl as that tramping girl was--"

"What's _that_?" gasped Ruth. "Oh, Helen!"

"It might be Sadie Raby-eh?" queried her chum.

"Hel-lo!" exclaimed Master Tom, turning curious. "What do you girls know about her? Sadie Raby-that's what she said her name was."

"My goodness me! What do you think of that?" cried his sister.

"And where is she now?" demanded Ruth.

"Aw, wait till I tell you all about it," complained Tom. "You girls take the wind all out of my sails."

"All right. Go ahead," begged his sister.

"So, that Sadie girl, she came back to my help, and when one of the fellows had me down, and Reno was holding the other by the wrist, she started to dig into the face of the rascal who held me. And once she scratched me by mistake," added Tom, laughing.

"But between us-mostly through Reno's help-we frightened them off. They hobbled away through the bushes. Then I took her to the railroad, and waited at the tank till a train came along and stopped."

"And put her aboard, Tom!" cried Ruth.

"Yes. It was a freight. I bribed the conductor with two dollars to let her ride as far as Campton. I knew those two tramps would never catch her there. Why! what's the matter?"

"Goodness me!" exclaimed Helen, with disgust. "Doesn't it take a boy to spoil everything?"

"Why-what?" began Tom.

"And her name was Sadie Raby?" demanded Ruth.

"That's what she said."

"We just wanted to see her, that's all," said his sister. "Ruth did, anyway. And I'd have been glad to help her."

"Well, I helped her, didn't I?" demanded Tom, rather doggedly.

"Yes. Just like a boy. What do you suppose is to become of a girl like her traveling around the country?"

"She seemed to want to get to Campton real bad. I reckon she has folks there," said Tom, slowly.

"She's got no folks-if her story is true," said Ruth, quietly, "save two little brothers."

"And they're twins, like us, Tom," said Helen, eagerly. "Oh, dear! it's too bad Ruth and I didn't come across Sadie, instead of you."

Tom began to laugh at that. "You'd have had a fine time getting her away from those tramps," he scoffed. "She didn't have but a little money, and they would have stolen that from her if it hadn't been for Reno and me."

CHAPTER VIII-TRAVELING TOWARD SUNRISE FARM

Tom Cameron thought a great deal of Ruth, and for that reason alone was sorry he had not stayed the departure of the runaway girl, Sadie Raby, from the vicinity of Cheslow. Then, as he thought of it more, and heard the girls talk about the tramping girl's circ.u.mstances as _they_ knew them, Tom was even more disturbed.

He and Reno had gotten into the tonneau of the car, which rolled away toward the Red Mill at a slower pace. He leaned his arms on the back of the front seat and listened to Ruth's story of her meeting with Sadie Raby, and her experience with Sim Perkins, and of her surprise at finding that Sadie had worked for a while at the Red Mill.

"If we had only been a few days earlier in getting home from school, there she would have been," finished Ruth, with a sigh.

"That's so," agreed her chum. "And she even stayed night before last with Mercy's mother. My! but she's as elusive as a will-o'-the-wisp."

"We could telegraph to Campton and have her stopped," suggested Tom.

"By the police?" demanded his sister.

"Oh! what for?" asked Ruth.

"There! nothing _I_ suggest is any good," said the boy.

"Not unless you suggest something better than that," laughed Ruth. "The poor thing doesn't need to be arrested. And she might refuse any help we could give her. She's very independent."

"She sure is," admitted Tom, ruefully.

"And we don't know _why_ she wanted to go to Campton," his sister remarked.

"Nor if she got there safely," added Ruth.

"Pshaw! if that's worrying you two, I'll find out for sure to-morrow,"

quoth Master Tom.