"What's that?"

"I don't intend to leave Miss Kate here."

"I don't see what we can do about it," said he.

"I haven't any idea of leaving her to the tender mercies of that tigress. She shall be a pa.s.senger in the Splash," I added, as I stepped into the boat, and sat down in the standing-room. "I want to see her for my own sake as well as hers. I've had an idea since you left me."

"An idea?" queried he.

"Yes, a big idea. You know my story as well as I know it myself, and I don't mean to keep anything from you."

"What's up, Ernest?"

"I want to know who and what I am; and I'm going to find out, if there is any such thing. I told you about a well-dressed fellow who has been to the cottage of my uncle several times."

"I remember all about him. He quarrelled with your uncle, you said."

"That's the man. Well, Bob, the fellow that drove up in that two-horse buggy, as we came out of the house, was the very one who came to the cottage."

"Is that so?"

"That's so."

"Does he live in Cannondale?"

"I don't know where he lives. I heard Mrs. Loraine call him Tom, and that's all I know about him. I'm going to find out who he is."

"If you can."

"Kate must know who he is, for he seems to be a regular visitor at the house of Mrs. Loraine."

"Well, what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to get Kate out of the house."

"How, Ernest?"

"I don't exactly know yet, but I shall find a way."

"Don't you think that would be rather high-handed?"

"I can't help it if it is. I would just as lief raise a breeze over here as not."

"We shall get into a sc.r.a.pe, Ernest."

"I won't drag you into it, Bob. You may stay on the boat--"

"No, I won't! I'm ready to take my share in the enterprise."

"I'm satisfied this girl is abused, and it would be mean in us to leave her to her fate. It's nearly dark now, and there isn't any one in the garden. I'm going up to take a look. Kate said her room was in the attic."

"Yes; that's the one with the blinds closed."

I landed again, and Bob went with me up to the house. There was no one in sight, and nothing to prevent our doing the work we had undertaken immediately. After examining the premises, I concluded that we must release the captive maiden by means of the window. It would not be prudent to enter by the door, which was probably locked in the absence of the lady.

I visited the stable on the grounds in search of a rope; but I found there a ladder, which suited me better. With the a.s.sistance of Bob, I carried this to the rear of the house, and raised it to the window. I ascended to the window, and found that the blinds were nailed on the outside, so that they could not be opened. This was some confirmation of the truth of Kate's story. I descended again, and found a hammer in the stable, with which I returned and removed the nails.

"Kate!" I called, as soon as I had opened the blinds.

"O, Ernest Thornton!" exclaimed she, opening the window. "I felt sure that you had deserted me. I am so glad you have come!"

"We have no time to spare. Get your clothes as quick as possible; tie them up in a bundle, and throw them out the window."

She did not occupy many minutes in this preparation for her departure.

The bundle was made up and thrown to the ground.

"How am I to get out?" asked she, glancing blankly at the ladder.

"Can you go down stairs and go out by the door?" I asked, willing to spare her the descent by the ladder.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE RESCUE OF THE CAPTIVE MAIDEN.--Page 49.]

"I cannot; the door is locked," she replied, in trembling tones, for she was violently agitated by the situation.

"Then you must go down by the ladder," I added, ascending a few rounds higher. "Now give me your hands, and don't be afraid, for I can hold you so that you cannot fall."

I braced myself upon the ladder, which I directed Bob to hold firmly in its place, and took her by both hands. It was a perilous feat to step from the window to the ladder, and she was so terrified that I held her whole weight; but the pa.s.sage was safely effected. I held her by the hands till she reached the ground, for she was so timid I dared not trust her to her own energies. I went up again, closed the blinds, and restored the nails, hoping that the escape of the prisoner would not be discovered before the next day. The ladder was conveyed to the stable, and placed where we had found it.

"Now run down to the pier and get into the boat as fast as you can,"

said I to Kate. "Crawl into the cuddy, and keep out of sight."

"Do you think any one will catch me?" asked she, quivering with terror.

"No; there is no person near to catch you," I replied, as I picked up her bundle of clothes.

We reached the boat without meeting any person, though Mrs. Loraine's man drove the cow into the yard just as we were pushing off from the pier. I had only lowered the jib of the Splash, so that she was ready to start without any delay; and in a few moments we were standing up the lake, the breeze still fresh from the north-west.

"You may come out now, Kate," I called to our pa.s.senger, when we were half a mile from the pier.

"Am I perfectly safe?" she asked, timidly, as she crawled out of the cuddy.

"Yes; no one can see you now. Sit down on this seat, and don't be alarmed."

"What shall we do with Miss Loraine now we have released her?" asked Bob, as she sat down by his side in the standing-room.

"I don't know," I replied. "We will settle that question before we go on sh.o.r.e. What did Mrs. Loraine do to you when you went into the house, Kate?"

"She spoke to me very severely, and sent me to my room. She told me I should not come out again for a month."