The next moment Hetty was out of the room, and Miss Schuyler sat down with
a face that had grown suddenly weary. But it betrayed nothing when Hetty
came back with the glass, and when she held up the blotter in hands that
were perfectly steady, they read:
"I have fixed it with the Sheriff. Clavering's boys had, as you guessed,
been watching for Larry on the wrong day; but now we have found out it is
Wednesday we'll make sure of him. If you care to come around to the bluff
about six that night, you will probably see us seize him; but if you would
sooner stand out in this case, it wouldn't count. We don't expect any
difficulty."
Hetty flushed crimson. "Flo," she said, "it was the letter arranging his
own arrest he brought me back."
"That is not the point," said Miss Schuyler sharply. "What are you going
to do?"
Hetty laughed mockingly. "You and I are going to drive over to the
Newcombes and stay the night. You get nervous when my father is away. But
we are not going there quite straight; and you had better put your warmest
things on."
An hour later two of the best horses in Torrance's stable drew the
lightest sleigh up to the door, and Miss Schuyler turned with a smile to
the remonstrating housekeeper.
"Nothing would induce me to stay here another night when Mr. Torrance was
away," she said. "You can tell him that, if he is vexed with Hetty, and
you needn't worry. We will be safe at Mrs. Newcombe's before an hour is
over."
The housekeeper shook her head. "I guess not. It's a league round by the
bridge, and you couldn't find the other trail in the dark."
Miss Schuyler laughed. "Then, look at the time, and we'll let you know
when we get there," she said.
Hetty whipped the team, and with a whirling of dusty snow beneath the
runners, they swept away. Both sat silent, until the beat of hoofs rang
amidst the trees as they swept through the gloom of the big bluff at a
gallop, and Hetty laughed excitedly.
"Hold fast, Flo. You did that very well; but we have our alibi to prove,
and are not going near the bridge," she said.
She flicked the horses, and the trees swept away behind them and the long
white levels rolled back faster yet to the drumming hoofs. The rush of
cold wind stung Miss Schuyler's face like the lash of a whip, her eyes
grew hazy, and she held the furs about her as she swayed with the lurching
of the sleigh. Darkness was closing in when they came to the forking of
the trail, and, with a little cry of warning, Hetty lashed the team. The
lurches grew sharper, and Miss Schuyler gasped now and then as she felt
the sleigh swing rocking down a long declivity. Scattered birches raced up
out of it, and the hammering beat of hoofs swelled into a roar as it
rolled along a thicker belt of trees.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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