Nat. "Don't take on so. It will be all right.
Ned will be back for us before you have your eyes dry," and he kissed
his little cousin affectionately.

"And it was that awful man out of jail! I knew it! I could tell him
before he ever got to the car! I can always tell when he is coming.
Oh! suppose he should kill Ned--" and she burst into a fresh flood of
hysterical tears.

Meanwhile Tavia had not yet heard what had happened to induce Ned to
take the convict away--for Anderson it was. Nat had told her it was
that awful rascal when she cautioned him to hide it from Dorothy.
Certainly it was all very strange, and very dangerous.

"I suppose we have to sit here and wait for Ned to come back," ventured
Tavia.

"Or else walk to meet him," suggested Nat, who was really anxious to do
something beside sitting there listening to Dorothy cry. "Dry your
tears, Dorothy," he said kindly, "and we will walk along. It is
pleasant and cool, and it will do us good to have a walk."

"Can't we get back to Dalton this way?" asked Dorothy. "Isn't this the
road we came out?"

"It may be the road but it is some miles from town," answered Nat.
"Listen! What was that?"

"The gong of an ambulance, it sounded like," exclaimed Tavia. "Hark!"

At that moment a wagon turned a corner and came towards them. It was a
black wagon--yes, it did look like an ambulance.

"Oh," shrieked Dorothy. "What ever has happened now?"

"Why, it's only the 'police patrol," answered Nat, trying to be
indifferent about the matter. "Probably they're--"

"Hello there, young fellow!" called a man from the wagon. "Have you
seen a fellow in stripes about these woods?"

The speaker was addressing Nat, and he wore the uniform of a police
officer.

"Yes, we have," answered the young man. "And I can tell you all about
him."

The wagon came to a full stop now, and the officer stepped down from
the seat at front, while simultaneously, two other officers dropped
from the step at the back, so that our friends suddenly became
surrounded by bluecoats.

"There," said Tavia aside to Dorothy. "You are not afraid now, are
you? We have enough of protection at last."

"Which way did he go?" asked the officer.

"Straight for Danvers," answered Nat, "and in my brother's custody. We
had to go to a shop to get a piece of the machine fixed and left these
two young ladies alone here. When we returned the fellow was in our
auto--he had taken possession of it