"We seem to be in the assisting business," remarked Betty, who sat beside Mollie. "We're helping two birds with one auto."
"You mean Carrie?"
"Yes."
"Poor girl! I do hope we can help her, and get someone to look after her so she won't worry. Mr. Washburn will know what to do."
"Yes, Allen is getting to be quite a lawyer," admitted Betty, with a blush.
They swung into Franklin.
"Where do you think would be a good place to look for your man?" asked Mr. Blackford of the farmer.
"I heard he was selling tooth powder in the public square. He has a stand, or something."
"Then suppose you head for there," suggested Mr. Blackford to Mollie. She nodded.
They saw a crowd of people in the square in front of the court house. In their midst stood a man on a raised platform—a platform gay with flags. His strident voice could be heard extoling the merits of his wares. The auto came nearer. The vendor's face could be plainly seen.
"There he is!" cried the farmer. "That's the man who swindled me!" He stood up in the machine. Those in the crowd gazed wonderingly at him.
A gasp from Carrie caused Grace to look at her. The girl's face was white.
"What is it?" asked Grace in alarm.
"That man—he—he is my guardian!" cried Carrie. "Oh, don't let him see me!" and she cowered behind Amy and Grace.
CHAPTER XXIV
THE FAKER CAUGHT
Several things happened at about the same time, and so quickly that the girls confessed afterward that they were fairly dizzy. Consequently they were not altogether sure of the sequence of events themselves.
But as that does not so much matter as does the ultimate effect, I will set down the various happenings in such order as will best indicate to the reader the proceedings.
Naturally the attention of Mr. Blackford, and the girls, was first drawn to Mr. Bailey, the farmer, who was shaking his fist at the man selling tooth powder on the platform. His announcement that this was the man he sought was sufficiently dramatic.
Then came Carrie's startled cry. Betty and Mollie turned around to look at her.
"Are you sure he is the man who called himself your guardian?" asked Mollie. "Don't make any mistake."
"I am not making a mistake," murmured Carrie, still holding herself behind Amy and Grace. "He is that horrid man! Oh, don't let him see me!"
"What, have you a case ag'in him, too?" asked Mr. Bailey.
"She thinks so," explained Mr. Blackford. "We've got to act quickly here. Go up a little closer, Mollie."
A lane was opened for the auto, amid the crowd. The faker stopped in the midst of the "patter" concerning his wonderful powder, which "would make the teeth like unto the milky pearls of the Orient."
The man on the platform turned pale, and then a sort of sickly green color spread over his face. He had caught sight of the farmer standing in the auto. Perhaps he also had had a glimpse of Carrie Norton. At any rate he said:
"And now, my dear people, I must leave you. This is the last chance you will have to purchase Tuckerman's Tooth Tester at this price. I thank you one and all for your attention, and for your patronage. I must leave at once. I have been summoned by telegraph to attend a conference of the International Dental Society, who wish to purchase the secret of my wonderful invention. I will bid you good-day," and he started to descend from his platform.
"No, you don't!" cried Mr. Bailey. "No, you don't get away like that! The dental society kin wait until you pay me back the money you swindled out of me on that soap deal! Hold him, somebody, until I kin swear out a warrant. I've caught you, old fellow!"
The faker kept his nerve. He came down from the platform carrying his valise. The crowd was around him.
"Good people, let me pass!" he cried, authoritatively.
Mr. Blackford sensed the danger. The man might get away after all.
"Here!" he called to a constable in the crowd. "That man is a swindler! He should be arrested."
"I haven't any warrant," answered the officer, weakly.
"You will have one in five minutes!" said Mr. Blackford. "I tell you to hold that man. Mr. Bailey, get to the nearest justice of the peace as soon as you can. Swear out a warrant and have it brought here. Officer, arrest that man!"
There was something more than disinterested authority in Mr. Blackford's tone. The constable worked his way through the crowd.
"Good people, let me pass! Let me pass!" the faker was saying. "I have to catch a train!"
"Not much you won't! If I have to hold you myself!" muttered Mr. Bailey, angrily.
"You get to that justice as fast as you can," directed Mr. Blackford. "We'll hold this man, if we have to chloroform him!"
The farmer jumped from the auto, and hurried off, a dozen hands pointing out the office he desired in the court house. The constable reached the tooth powder vendor.
"You're under arrest!" the officer said, laying a hand on the man's arm.
"Don't you touch me! Under arrest? On what charge?"
He shook himself loose, and stroked his beard nervously, also his luxurious hair, but this time it was black, instead of white—dyed obviously.
"On the charge—on the charge," began the constable nervously. "You're arrested on a charge that's soon to be here. Now don't make any fuss, but come along with me."
"I decline to go with you unless I know what I am charged with!" shouted the faker. "You let me go, or it will be the worse for you!"
Mollie arose in her place at the steering wheel.
"He's arrested on the charge of assault and battery!" she called in her fresh, strong voice. "I make the charge, Girls!" she exclaimed, turning to the others, "that's the man who thrust me into that room, and locked me there. That's the ghost. I recognize him by the scar on his thumb!"
The crowd was in an uproar as the constable caught hold of the man, and quickly snapped a pair of handcuffs on his wrists.
Then as the girls in the auto stood up, the better to see, Carrie was revealed. The faker, closely held by the constable who had arrested him, and by a brother officer who had hurried up, gave the strange girl one look. Then those who were near him heard him mutter:
CHAPTER XXV
EXPLANATIONS
Betty furnished the next sensation. As the man in charge of the officers passed near the auto, poor Carrie cowering away from him, though he no longer had it in his power to harm her, the Little Captain exclaimed:
"Girls! Girls! He's the old hair doctor—the man we met with the gay wagon—Bennington's Restorer!"
"Who is?" demanded Amy.
"That man—the one they have arrested. He's the one we gave the bolt to."
"Ha! That settles it!" cried Mollie. "That was where I first saw the scarred thumb! It's all working out now! I didn't remember at first. His hair is black instead of white."
"Dye," murmured Grace. "It is he all right!"
The farmer came hurrying through the crowd with the justice to whom he had gone to make a complaint. Above his head he waved a paper, crying:
"I got it! I have the warrant. Now Mr. Faker, which ought to be your name, you'll spend the rest of the summer behind the bars, on this charge."
"Yes, and with another added to it, perhaps," said Mr. Blackford, with a glance at Carrie.
The faker, which it is easier to call him, as he went by many names, shrugged his shoulders philosophically. He saw that he was caught. Perhaps he had been in the toils of the law before this.
He was quickly taken to the court house, where he was held on the farmer's charge under such heavy bail that it was not produced. This insured him being retained in custody.
"And now to attend to your case, Miss Norton," said Mr. Blackford, when Allen Washburn had been telegraphed for, and promised to come. "So he was your guardian; eh?"
"Yes, and since the girls recognize him for what he was part of the time—a seller of hair tonic—I will explain a little further. He made me pose in his cart, before the crowds, as one whose hair had been restored and made long by his worthless stuff. Oh, it was shameful! That is why I ran away from him!"
"I don't blame you," said Mollie. "And did his stuff do your hair any good?"
"I never used a drop of it! Neither did he. It was trash! He used to make me shake down my hair before the crowd, and then he would tell how I used to have none at all, but by using his medicine it came. I always had nice hair, before I ever met him! Oh, I can't forget it!" and she sobbed a little.
"Never mind," said Betty, gently, "it is all over now."
And it was, as far as any further charge the faker had over Carrie Norton. Allen Washburn came on with the papers in the case. It seems that a distant relative of the girl, learned in a round about way that Clark, or Bennington, to use but two of his names, had forged certain documents in order to make it appear that he was her legal guardian. This gave him control of Carrie, and her money, a tidy sum left by her father. The girl he compelled to accompany him on his vending trips, but when he went into the making of worthless hair restorer and obliged her to pose as having benefited by it, she finally rebelled.
This distant relative, wishing to aid the girl, took the matter up with a law firm, happening to hit on the one where Allen Washburn was employed. The newspaper advertisement was inserted, and at last had its effect.
The facts in the case were presented to the court after the faker's arrest, and the judge lost no time in deposing him as Carrie's guardian. He was obliged to give up the money he had wrongfully retained, and Allen Washburn was, much to Carrie's delight, appointed to look after her affairs.
"You'll be all right now, my dear," said Mollie, when the court action was over.
"She will be, if Betty doesn't get jealous!" said Grace, with a laugh. "Oh, I didn't mean anything!" she added quickly, as she saw her chum frown. "Have a chocolate!"
Bennington, or Clark—the faker, to be brief—was thus held by the law. In view of the other charges against him, Mollie did not press hers.
"It would only bring you into unpleasant notoriety," said Mr. Washburn. "He will get a severe enough penalty as it is."
"He must have mistaken you for me," said Carrie, as they talked over the thrusting of Mollie into the room. "Seeing you in the house whence I had fled, and with your hair hanging down, he made a natural mistake, thinking I had come back to him."
"Except that my hair is nothing like as lovely as yours, my dear."
"Oh, yours is fine, I think. But the dim light might have deceived him."
"But why should he dress up all in white—like a ghost?" asked Grace.
"Probably to play that part," suggested Betty. "That is one point we haven't solved—how the ghostly manifestations were brought about. I wish we could have solved that for the sake of Mr. Lagg."
"I fancy it is solved," said Mr. Blackford, with a smile. "It was the faker, all the while."
"It was?" cried Mollie. "Did he do it on purpose?"
"No, he had no intention of being a spook, but he could not have done it better had he planned it. I have been talking to him," and Mr. Blackford nodded in the direction of the court house. "He made a clean breast of everything when Allen hinted that it might have a good effect when he came to be sentenced.
"It seems that he manufactured his hair-tonic in the haunted mansion. It was necessary to heat it in a sort of furnace, and this made the groaning sound you heard, it was caused by air pressure. Sometimes it groaned and again it shrieked as the hot air rushed from the ventilator."
"And the clank of the metal?" asked Grace, not without a look over her shoulder, though it was broad daylight.
"That was when he stirred the stuff in the brass mixing kettle."
"What about the queer blue light, and the smell of sulphur?" asked Cousin Jane.
"That was the burning of sulphur which he used in the preparation. Sulphur is often used in hair-tonics I believe, though I don't know that this man used it to any advantage. At any rate he burned it, making the ghostly flashes of blue fire, and the smell. The flashes were reflected from the room where he worked into the smaller house, by the big window panes."
"But why did he dress like a ghost?" asked Mollie.
"That was a big white garment he put on to avoid soiling his clothes when he made his hair-tonic mixture. And he really did mistake you for Carrie, Mollie. He admitted as much, and asked to be forgiven. It was his lunch you ate. He had prepared for a long stay in the house."
"Well, I guess we won't bother to pay for it," said Betty. "He's made trouble enough. Then the mansion isn't haunted, after all?"
"No, and never was. It was simply the making of his hair-tonic there nights that produced the effect. He says he never even knew that the doctors who were to buy the place were frightened away, and the night you girls stopped there he thought you had, as was the case, taken refuge from the storm. He did not know he had frightened you, but when he saw Mollie he made a rush for her, thinking she was his ward, come back. He locked her up, intending to come for her later, when he had taken off the furnace some of his boiling mixture."
"Then Mr. Lagg can sell his property after all!" exclaimed Grace. "I'm so glad!"
And so was the poetical store keeper himself, when he heard the news. He composed an eight-line verse on the subject, and insisted on rewarding the girls, saying it was due to their efforts that the "ghost was laid." He received a substantial sum for the old mansion, which was turned into a sanitarium.
"And, now that all the explanations are explained," said Mollie a day or so later, "we may as well resume our tour. What do you say, girls?"
"Fine!" cried Betty. "And we'll take Carrie with us. She needs a change, and traveling around will benefit her."
"Though I traveled considerable after I ran away from that horrid man," said the girl, with a smile at her new friends.
"There is one regret," spoke Grace, "and that is that Mr. Blackford didn't find his missing sister."
"I had some hopes that you might prove to be she," he said, looking at Carrie. "However, I have not yet given up the prospect of finding her. I am going to seek farther."
"Let's go for a long ride, anyhow, and then we can plan what to do for the rest of the summer," suggested Mollie, and the girls went off in the car.
And what occurred further to the chums may be learned by reading the next volume of this series, to be entitled "The Outdoor Girls in a Winter Camp; Or, Glorious Days on Skates and Ice Boats."
"And so there is no haunted mansion after all," remarked Betty, as they rode on.
"Are you sorry?" asked Grace. "I'm not."
"Well, a haunt is so—romantic," spoke Betty.
"But I suppose it is just as well."
Eventually the false guardian was sent to prison for a long term, on several charges. Mr. Bailey was not the only farmer he had swindled, it appeared. The fellow had unexpectedly come to the old mansion, and had boldly decided to use it for his purposes, learning that the title was in dispute. It just suited his needs, and the hair-tonic was not the only nostrum he made there after Carrie ran away. But the tonic was alone responsible for the queer sounds and manifestations. On leaving the mansion to go about peddling his wares, the man would take his apparatus with him in the wagon, so there were few signs of his occupancy.
Mr. Blackford bade the girls farewell a few days after the explanations had been made, saying he was going to look up a new clue regarding his sister. Carrie Norton was made welcome at the home of Betty, though she often stayed for weeks at a time with the other chums. She had income enough to support her now that her fortune was restored to her.
The girls completed their tour, having many good times which the boys and the twins shared, the latter never forgetting to ask, semi-occasionally:
"Has oo dot any tandy?"
And now that the Outdoor Girls have a prospect of "living happily ever after," we will take leave of them.
THE END.
This Isn't All!
Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author?
On the reverse side of the wrapper which comes with this book, you will find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same store where you got this book.
Don't throw away the Wrapper
THE OUTDOOR GIRLS SERIES
By LAURA LEE HOPE
Every Volume Complete in Itself.
These are the tales of the various adventures participated in by a group of bright, fun-loving, up-to-date girls who have a common bond in their fondness for outdoor life, camping, travel and adventure. They are clean and wholesome and free from sensationalism.
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT RAINBOW LAKE |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A MOTOR CAR |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN A WINTER CAMP |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN FLORIDA |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT OCEAN VIEW |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN ARMY SERVICE |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON PINE ISLAND |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT THE HOSTESS HOUSE |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT BLUFF POINT |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT WILD ROSE LODGE |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS IN THE SADDLE |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AROUND THE CAMPFIRE |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON CAPE COD |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT FOAMING FALLS |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ALONG THE COAST |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT SPRING HILL FARM |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS AT NEW MOON RANCH |
| THE OUTDOOR GIRLS ON A HIKE |
GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK
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By LAURA LEE HOPE
THELMA GOOCH
Every Volume Complete in Itself
The Blythe girls, three in number, were left alone in New York City. Helen, who went in for art and music, kept the little flat uptown, while Margy, just out of a business school, obtained a position as a private secretary and Rose, plain-spoken and business-like, took what she called a "job" in a department store.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: HELEN, MARGY AND ROSE
A fascinating tale of real happenings in the great metropolis.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: MARGY'S QUEER INHERITANCE
The Girls had a peculiar old aunt and when she died she left an unusual inheritance.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: ROSE'S GREAT PROBLEM
Rose, still at work in the big department store, is one day faced with the greatest problem of her life.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: HELEN'S STRANGE BOARDER
Helen goes to the assistance of a strange girl, whose real identity is a puzzle. Who the girl really was comes as a tremendous surprise.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: THREE ON A VACATION
The girls go to the country for two weeks—and fall in with all sorts of curious and exciting happenings.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: MARGY'S SECRET MISSION
Of course we cannot divulge the big secret, but nevertheless the girls as usual have many exciting experiences.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: ROSE'S ODD DISCOVERY
A very interesting story, telling how Rose aided an old man in the almost hopeless search for his daughter.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HELEN
Helen calls on the art dealer on business and finds the old fellow has made a wonderful discovery.
THE BLYTHE GIRLS: SNOWBOUND IN CAMP
An absorbing tale of winter happenings, full of excitement.
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THE MARJORIE BOOKS
Marjorie is a happy little girl of twelve, up to mischief, but full of goodness and sincerity. In her and her friends every girl reader will see much of her own love of fun, play and adventure.
| MARJORIE'S VACATION |
| MARJORIE'S BUSY DAYS |
| MARJORIE'S NEW FRIEND |
| MARJORIE IN COMMAND |
| MARJORIE'S MAYTIME |
| MARJORIE AT SEACOTE |
THE TWO LITTLE WOMEN SERIES
Introducing Dorinda Fayre—a pretty blonde, sweet, serious, timid and a little slow, and Dorothy Rose—a sparkling brunette, quick, elf-like, high tempered, full of mischief and always getting into scrapes.
| TWO LITTLE WOMEN |
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| TWO LITTLE WOMEN ON A HOLIDAY |
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Dick and Dolly are brother and sister, and their games, their pranks, their joys and sorrows, are told in a manner which makes the stories "really true" to young readers.
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| DICK AND DOLLY'S ADVENTURES |
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Transcriber's Notes
Obvious punctuation errors repaired.
The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will appear.