Mr. Maynard had assisted the lame girl into the car, and Kitty tucked rugs and shawls around her to make her comfortable.
Minnie Meyer was both awestruck and delighted. She had never been in an automobile before, and it had all happened so quickly she scarcely realized her good fortune.
"I think you must all be angels," she said; "and I'm sorry the young lady and gentleman have to walk so far, and all just for me."
"But they're better able to walk than you are," said practical Kitty.
"That may be, Miss, but it seems queer for the likes of me to be riding in their place. My! But it goes fast!"
The car passed King and Marjorie, who waved their hands gaily, and watched it rapidly disappear along the road in front of them.
"I'm glad we're doing a deed of charity, Midget," said her brother, "for if we weren't I shouldn't relish this long walk very much."
"Now, King, don't go and spoil your noble deed by growling about it! It was lovely of you to let that girl ride in your place, but if you're going to kick about walking, you'll spoil it all."
"I'm not kicking. And anyway, Mops, you were the noble one yourself. You walked just so I shouldn't be lonesome."
"'Course I did! What's lots of fun for two is awful poky for one. Come on, I'll race you to that big sticking-out tree!"
They flew along the road with their heels kicking out behind, and though King reached the tree first, he was only a few steps ahead of Marjorie, who came up panting, and threw herself on the grass by his side.
"We mustn't do that again," she said, "it makes us too much out of breath, and we can't walk afterward. Now let's rest a minute, and then walk on just middling fast,—because it's a long way yet. What time do you suppose we'll get there?"
"Pomp said if we'd walk straight along we ought to get to the inn by half-past twelve. They won't have lunch till we get there."
"You bet they won't! Do you know where the inn is?"
"Well, I've never been there, but when we get to Pelton I rather guess we can find the inn! Come on, Mops, if you're rested, we'd better get a move on!"
Then they trudged on together, finding the way very pleasant, and many things to interest them as they passed along.
The road was a public highway, and there were many motor cars and much other traffic.
But as the children kept on a grassy path by the side of the road they were in no danger, and there was no possibility of losing their way.
"It's just a matter of keeping at it," said King, "but it does seem longer than I thought. We're not halfway yet."
"How do you know?"
"'Cause Pomp said when we came to the sign-board pointing to Mossville we'd be halfway, and we haven't come to that yet."
"What makes you call him Pomp?"
"Oh, just for short; and besides he's kind of pompous, you know,—sort of stuffy and English."
"Yes, he is. I like him, though, and I think he's going to like us, but he doesn't understand us yet. I hope Father will ask that lame girl to lunch with us. I think she looked hungry."
"She looked awful poor, and I s'pose poor folks are always hungry. It must be awful to be always hungry, Mops!"
"Well, I'm 'most always hungry myself."
"Oh, that isn't real hunger; that's just wanting something to eat. Hello, here's the Mossville sign now! See it?"
"Yes; so now we must be halfway. I'm not tired, are you?"
"No, not a bit. I'd like a drink of water, though. Perhaps we'll come to a brook."
But they walked on considerably further without seeing any brook, or even a farmhouse where they might stop for a drink of water. But when they were about half a mile from Pelton, King saw a little bridge off toward the right, and exclaimed, "That bridge must be over water of some sort. If you want to, Midget, we can go over and see if it's clean enough to drink."
"Come on, then; it won't take long, and I'm 'most choked to death."
They walked across an intervening field, and came to the little bridge which did cross a small but clear and sparkling brook.
"What can we drink out of?" asked Midget.
"Have to drink out of our hands, I guess; wish we had a cup or something.
Oh, look at that man!"
Midget looked in the direction King pointed, and saw a man seated on the ground, busily working at something which seemed to be made of long rushes of reeds.
"He's making a basket," cried King, greatly interested. "Let's go and look at him."
They trotted over to the man, and King said, politely, "Is that a basket you're making, sir?"
"Yes," came the answer in a gruff voice, and when the man looked up at them, they saw he was a strange-looking person indeed. His complexion was dark, his coarse black hair rather long, and his black eyes had a shrewd expression, but were without kindliness. "What do you want?" he said, still in his gruff voice.
"We don't want anything p'ticular," said Marjorie, who did not wish to be intrusive; "we did want a drink of water out of the brook, but we had nothing to drink from, and then we saw you building a basket, and we just came over to look at you. You don't mind, do you?"
"No, I don't mind," and the man's voice was a little less gruff as he looked at Marjorie's pretty smiling face. Then he gave her another look, somewhat more scrutinizing, and then he looked again at King. "You want a drink of water, do you?" and the look of interest in his round black eyes seemed to become intensified. "Well, I'll tell you what to do; you go right straight along that little path through the grass, and after a few steps, you'll find some people, and they'll give you a drink of water with pleasure, and a nice cup to drink it out of."
"Is it far?" asked Marjorie, for she couldn't see any signs of habitation, and did not wish to delay too long.
"No; 'tain't a dozen steps. Just behind that clump of trees yonder; you can't miss it."
"A farmhouse, I suppose," said King.
"Well, not just exactly a farmhouse," said the man, "but you go on, you youngsters, and whoever you see when you get there, tell 'em Jim sent you."
"We will; and thank you, Jim," said Marjorie, suddenly remembering her manners.
"You're welcome," said the man, and again his voice was gruff as at first.
"Somehow I don't like it, Mops," said King, who had a troubled look on his face as they walked swiftly along the path indicated.
"Don't like what?"
"His sending us over here. And I don't like him; he didn't look right."
"I thought he was very kind to tell us about the farmhouse, and if his voice is sort of gruff, I s'pose he can't help that."
"It isn't that exactly; but I think he's a,—a—"
"A what?"
"Never mind; here we are at the place. Why, Mops, it isn't a house at all! It's a tent,—a lot of tents."
"So it is! It must be an encampment. Do you think there are soldiers here?"
"Soldiers? No! I only wish they were soldiers."
As King was speaking, a young woman came walking toward them, smiling in an ingratiating way. Like the man, Jim, she was dark-haired and dark-skinned. Her black eyes flashed, and her smiling red lips showed very white teeth as she spoke kindly to the children.
"Come in," she said, in a wheedling voice; "come in; I love little boys and girls. What do you want?"
Marjorie began to say, "We want a drink of water," when King pinched her elbow as a sign to be quiet, and he spoke to the woman himself. "We don't want anything," he said, "we're just passing by on our way to Pelton. Good-morning."
Grasping Marjorie's arm he turned to go away, but the woman stopped him, saying, "Oh, don't go so quickly;