"You little fool!" he muttered, "do you want me to throw you over?" But at that moment an answer came--Ralph Willoby bounded through the grove and had Dorothy in his arms before she could realize he was there! Then with a look of baffled rage the man disappeared. "Ralph!" whispered Dorothy. "You are all right now," the young man assured her, putting his arm firmly around the trembling girl, "if you feel faint I can carry you. Do not try to walk." The noise of the falls was gone now--the sky was all black. "Oh," gasped Dorothy, "I can't hear, or see, I am--" It was welcome oblivion, however painful that clutch at her heart. She could not remember--was it Ralph, or the squire? She had been thinking how brave Ralph was--But now she could not think, it was all dark night! CHAPTER XIX A SURPRISE TRIP When Ralph Willoby carried his senseless burden to the platform, where, so short a time before, the girl had been as merry as any of her playmates, Squire Travers determined upon one thing--to form a searching party of all the boys to scour the woods from tree to stump and if possible run down the villain who had attacked Dorothy. The fainting girl was soon revived by the careful ministrations of Miss Ellis, assisted by pupils following her directions; and, before the half-conscious girl realized what had happened to her, the boys were running through the woods, led by the squire and Ralph, bent on finding Anderson. But such reflections were of little use now that the harm was done. Dorothy was very weak indeed. She felt as if those sinuous fingers were still about her throat, and she could see those terrible eyes peering into hers in spite of all her efforts to forget her awful experience. Some boys had already been sent off to the nearest place where it would be possible to get a conveyance to take her home, and they now returned with a covered carriage. Into this Miss Ellis and Dorothy were assisted, while the remainder of the girls were soon ready to leave the grounds in the large picnic wagons. The boys "to a man" remained in the woods, helping diligently in, what now seemed to be, a useless search. Over the narrow plank, just above the dam, the man no doubt had escaped to the other side, where the old ruins of a mill, with a big water wheel, made a safe hiding place for the fellow. Squire Travers was much annoyed and worried over the occurrence. To think such a thing could happen with him right there, in the woods, seemed incredible. But Ralph assured him a similar thing had happened in the public streets of Dalton, and the same man had gotten away. Why should it be strange then that he would be able to make his escape in a dense woods? "But he must be caught," insisted the squire, "if we have to canvass the entire town and surrounding places to get him."