The Mystery of the Fires Read online

  CHAPTER XV _Captive_

  Mary Louise was not far away from Shady Nook in the matter of miles, butshe felt as if she were worlds away. Everything was strangely differentfrom anything she had ever known--grotesque and terrible. For the placeshe was taken to was an asylum for the insane!

  Little did she think as she entered the Adams' farmhouse that afternoonthat her freedom was to be snatched from her. That she was to be held inhopeless captivity, without any means of communication with the outsideworld. A prisoner in a house that was far worse than a jail, enduring alife that was living death!

  When no one answered her knock at the Adams' door that afternoon, sheopened the screen and walked in, calling first Hattie and then Rebecca byname. Finally the latter replied.

  "I'm up here, sick abed!" called the woman. "Who be you?"

  "It's Mary Louise," she answered. "May I come up and see you, Rebecca?"

  "Yes, yes. Come! Have you found a well of clear water?"

  Mary Louise laughed to herself as she ran up the stairs. She wished thatshe could find some well water for the poor deluded woman, but there wasnone in the vicinity. She wondered what Rebecca would do if she ever diddiscover a well.

  She entered the bedroom, smiling and shaking her head at the poor eagercreature.

  "No, Rebecca--not yet. But I'll find you one some day. How are youfeeling?"

  "I'm better. I want to get out soon. Will you get me a drink of water,Mary Louise?"

  "Certainly," replied the girl. "From the kitchen?"

  "Yes. From the kitchen."

  The woman sank back on her pillow, and Mary Louise went for the water.When she returned, Rebecca was half asleep.

  "Here's your water, Rebecca," she said. "But where is Hattie?"

  "I don't know. Gone away, I guess. They've all gone away.... Soon I'll gotoo...." Her voice trailed off as if she were half dreaming, and MaryLouise walked to the door. She heard the sound of a car in the drivewaybelow, and hoping that it might be Hattie, she went down the stairs.

  But the car standing in front of the house was not the dilapidated Fordthat belonged to the Adams family. It was a big black limousine whichreminded Mary Louise of a hearse or a funeral carriage, and sheshuddered. It might have been an ambulance, but ambulances were usuallywhite. She wondered what a car like that could be doing at the Adamsfarm.

  Two men got down from the driver's seat in front, and Tom Adams came andjoined them at the porch steps. They talked in low tones to each other.Mary Louise opened the screen door and came out on the porch. Suddenlyshe heard her own name mentioned, and a cold chill of horror crept up herspine. What were they planning to do to her?

  "She says she's Mary Louise Gay," remarked Tom. "Insists on it. And shedoes look like a girl by that name. But don't believe her. She's mysister Rebecca." He raised his eyes and looked straight at Mary Louise."Hello, Rebecca!" he said. "We're going to take you for a ride!"

  Mary Louise's brown eyes flashed in anger.

  "Rebecca's upstairs, sick in bed," she retorted. "Go and see foryourselves."

  Suddenly, with the agility of panthers, the two men sprang forward andgrabbed Mary Louise's wrists.

  "Come along, Rebecca," one of them said. "No use struggling. We're takingyou to a nice farm."

  With a desperate effort to free herself from the men's grasp, Mary Louisekicked one of her captors in the leg. He let go of her hand, but theother man held her tightly.

  "Wild little beast," he remarked. "Now, sister, you take it easy. Weain't going to hurt you. You'll like it where you're going--you'll getbetter care than you do here. Your brother says there's nobody here tolook after you now that your mother's gone."

  "He's not my brother!" shouted Mary Louise. "And I can prove it! Justdrive down to Shady Nook--a couple of miles--and ask anybody!"

  But the men preferred to ignore this challenge; they picked Mary Louiseup bodily and thrust her into the back of the limousine, shutting thedoor and turning the key in the lock!

  She found herself sitting on a long seat that ran the length of the car.There were no windows on the side; only two tiny oval glasses in the backdoor permitted a little light to enter the enclosure. Before she couldutter another sound she heard the engine start, and the vehicle went intomotion. Over the rough, stony driveway, onto the dirt road that led awayfrom the farm, in the opposite direction from Shady Nook.

  Mary Louise's first impulse was to scream as loudly as she could in thehope of attracting the notice of the occupants of some passing car or ofsome farmer working in his field. But second consideration told her thatsuch a proceeding would do her no good at all. As soon as those men inthe front seat explained that she was a crazy person being taken to aninsane asylum, nobody would believe anything she said.

  The realization of this fact brought a deathly hopelessness to her wholebody. Her arms and legs felt inert, her head sank back against thecushion as if her very spirit were flowing away. Leaving herhelpless--and finished with life.

  For perhaps ten minutes she sat thus, unmindful of the country throughwhich she was being driven. As if she had been stunned by a physical blowand no aid were near.

  Then suddenly she thought of Tom Adams, and a fierce anger tookpossession of her, reviving her spirits, bringing her back to life. Shewould not give up! She would fight to the bitter end; she'd make himpay--and pay heavily--for his diabolical cruelty!

  She moved along the seat to the far end of the car and peered through thetiny window. The road over which they were passing was narrow and rough;the country unfamiliar. It was not a main highway, Mary Louise instantlyconcluded, and she wondered in which direction it lay from Shady Nook.She wished now that she had watched it from the beginning. She did noteven know whether they had crossed the river or not.

  "Still, I suppose that doesn't really matter," she thought. "Because, ifI can manage to get away at all, I can easily find my family. They'll behunting for me." Tears of distress came to her eyes as she pictured hermother's anguish. And her father was so far away!

  "Why did I ever try to be a detective?" she groaned. "The punishment istoo horrible. Mother and Daddy would rather lose their cottage and havethe whole settlement at Shady Nook burned than have me endure torturelike this!"

  On and on they went through the lonely, unpopulated country. Time seemedto stand still; it was as if the afternoon were to last forever. Yet whenMary Louise glanced at her wristwatch she saw that it was not yet fiveo'clock!

  They crossed over a little stream, and the car turned at an angle andclimbed a hill. Up, up they went, until they reached a narrow road at thesummit. Looking down into the valley below Mary Louise could see astream--not as wide as the river--winding its peaceful way in the summersunshine. It was a beautiful spot--if you could enjoy beauty. But itmeant nothing at all to the unhappy girl.

  "That looks like a main road across the valley on the opposite side ofthe stream," she thought. "If I can escape, I'll make for that. Thankgoodness I know how to swim!"

  She wished that she had thought to glance at her watch when the carstarted, so that she could roughly judge the distance from Shady Nook bythe time it took to cover it. But she had been so miserable that shecould not tell whether she had been riding twenty minutes or a couple ofhours.

  At last, however, the car came to a stop at a high iron gate whichreminded Mary Louise of a penitentiary. So this was the way they guardedfeeble-minded people!

  One of the men got down from his seat, took a key from his pocket tounlock the gate, and swung the heavy iron doors open. When the car hadgone through he locked them securely behind him.

  A shiver of horror passed over Mary Louise as she heard that final click.A sense of hopelessness overpowered her to such an intense degree thatshe felt physically sick. A life of utter emptiness was closing her in,as if her mind and her soul had been extracted from her body. How muchmore fiendish her existence would be than that of any ordinary victim ofkidnapers! But then, Tom Ada
ms had not kidnaped her because he wanted aransom, but only because he desired to get rid of her. Well, he hadsucceeded! Nobody in the whole world would think of looking for her in aninsane asylum.

  The car wound around a lovely driveway, shaded by trees, and stopped infront of a long, low plaster building that appeared to be at least ahundred years old. A man and a woman came out of the ivy-covered door asthe driver unlocked the back of the limousine.

  With her head held high in defiance, Mary Louise stepped out.

  "How do you do, Rebecca," greeted the woman, a plain-faced person ofabout fifty, in a gray dress.

  "There has been a ghastly mistake!" announced Mary Louise, trying to keepher tone dignified. "Tom Adams is a criminal, and because I found him outhe has sent me here, calling me his feeble-minded sister. I am notRebecca Adams--but Mary Louise Gay!"

  The man and the woman exchanged significant glances.

  "Mr. Adams warned us that you would say that," replied the man. "He saidyou do look like a girl named Mary Louise Gay. But try to forget it,Rebecca. We have your papers, signed by your own brother and your cousin,so there is nothing you can do about it but submit."

  "My cousin!" repeated Mary Louise, thinking of her aunt's children, agednine and six. How could they commit anybody to an insane asylum?

  "Yes. Stanfield Frazier."

  "Frazier!" she cried in scorn. "He's not my cousin! He's no relation.He's a crook too, like Tom Adams."

  "Now, now, Rebecca, calm yourself," advised the woman, taking MaryLouise's arm. "And just come along with me. You don't want to maketrouble! Wouldn't you rather walk by yourself than have these men carryyou?"

  Tears of anguish came to the girl's eyes; she looked desperately about atthe group of people who were surrounding her, searching for some spark ofsympathy or understanding. But the men were all regarding her with anamused expression of tolerance, as if her action were just what they hadexpected.

  "Isn't there some way I can prove that I'm sane?" she demanded. "Sometest I can take?"

  "Oh, don't get yourself all worked up, Rebecca," answered the woman."Your brother told us you were all right most of the time and that youprobably wouldn't give us any trouble. We're not going to put you intochains. You'll like it here."

  Mary Louise groaned. There was nothing she could do or say so long asthey believed that wicked Tom Adams.

  So she meekly followed the woman into the house. Its large hall and bigreception room were plain and old-fashioned, with very little furniturein them, but she noticed that everything was scrupulously neat and clean.For that much she was thankful. Often, she had read, the places wherekidnapers confined their victims were filthy and germ laden. She needhave no fear of disease here--except disease of the mind!

  A younger woman in the white uniform of a nurse came into the hall tomeet them.

  "This is Miss Stone, Rebecca," announced the older woman. "She will helpyou and take care of you. Now go with Miss Stone to your room."

  "Didn't you bring any bag, Rebecca?" asked the nurse, as she led MaryLouise up a flight of stairs to a long corridor.

  Mary Louise smiled grimly.

  "Kidnapers don't usually allow their victims time to pack theirsuitcases," she said. "And if you don't mind, Miss Stone, will you callme by my right name? It's Mary Louise Gay."

  The young woman nodded solemnly.

  "Certainly, Mary Louise," she replied.

  Mary Louise looked at the nurse hopefully, wondering whether she wasreally finding a friend. Did the nurse believe her?

  All the doors along the corridor were closed, but Mary Louise had no wayof telling whether they were locked or not until, down near the end, shesuddenly heard a loud pounding. Miss Stone stopped and, taking a key fromher chain, unlocked the door. A mild-faced woman of about thirty-fivecame out.

  "I just wanted to see who was coming," she said. "Ah! A pretty girl."

  Miss Stone paused and introduced them courteously. The patient wasdressed in the blue calico of the institution, but there was nothingqueer or odd about her looks. She appeared to be much more normal thanRebecca Adams.

  "This is Mary Louise Gay," said Miss Stone. "She has come to live withus. And this, Mary Louise, is Joan of Arc. The girl who saved France, youremember?"

  "Oh!" gasped Mary Louise, in amazement. Was Miss Stone joking, or did thepatient really believe she was Joan of Arc?

  The woman in calico smiled proudly.

  "Yes," she said. "I rode right at the head of my soldiers. I told themGod was on our side. And we won! But they are going to burn me at thestake for being a witch if they ever find me. That's why I stay here. I'msafe here. Aren't I, Miss Stone?"

  "Yes, dear, you're safe," was the nurse's gentle assurance.

  A lump came into Mary Louise's throat. The pathos of it all! Yet how kindand sweet Miss Stone was. Oh, but--ghastly thought--the nurse was beingkind to Mary Louise in the same way! That was why she humored her bycalling her "Mary Louise." And all the time she believed her to beRebecca Adams!

  Three doors farther down the nurse stopped and unlocked another door.

  "This is to be your room, Mary Louise," she said. "It'll be nicer whenyou put some flowers in it. We have a lovely garden, and most of thepatients have their own special flower beds. You can grow whatever youlike best."

  Mary Louise looked about her. Never in her life had she seen such a plainroom. It contained only a bed and a washstand and one chair. Not even abureau or a table! The window was high and uncurtained. To her horrorMary Louise saw that it was protected by iron bars!

  "You take off your clothing now and have a bath. You can put your ownthings in the drawer of that washstand, and I'll bring you freshclothing. Everybody wears blue here."

  "Where do I take my bath?" asked Mary Louise dully. Not that she cared inthe least, except that it would be something to do.

  "I'll take you to the showers when I come back with your new clothing,"replied Miss Stone. And to Mary Louise's dismay the nurse locked the doorfrom the outside as she departed.

  The next twelve hours seemed to Mary Louise the longest she had everlived through. After her bath she was told to lie down until supper time.She was entirely alone in that bare room until six o'clock, with nothingto do but think. Finally an attendant brought her a tray of food, wellcooked and wholesome but far from dainty. Nevertheless, Mary Louise ateit, for she knew that she must keep up her strength if she ever hoped tomake an escape. Another attendant removed the tray, and she was leftalone again until eight o'clock. Then Miss Stone returned.

  "We have a little vesper service in the reception room, Mary Louise," shesaid. "Would you like to come and join us?"

  The girl jumped up eagerly. Anything would be better than this dreadfulidleness.

  "Don't your patients have anything to do?" she inquired as she went downthe hall with the nurse. "This doing nothing is enough to drive anybodycrazy!" She smiled to herself at the use of the common expression andwondered whether Miss Stone noticed it.

  But the nurse gave no sign of any amusement. "Oh, yes, Mary Louise," shereplied, "there will be lots for you to do tomorrow. Everybody takes someshare in the work, if possible. Unless they are too ill. And we go forwalks around the grounds and work in the garden. But we thought you'd betoo tired tonight and would just want to rest."

  They joined a group of perhaps twenty people in the reception room forthe singing of hymns, and the same woman who had met Mary Louise at thedoor of the building read the Bible. Mary Louise looked about curiouslyat her fellow inmates and did not find them particularly strange-looking.One or two of them had queer, staring eyes like Rebecca Adams, but forthe most part they appeared normal. Which fact made it all the harder forMary Louise to prove anything about herself to the caretakers!

  At nine o'clock the service was over and everybody went to bed. But,exhausted as she was, Mary Louise could not go to sleep. She tried overand over to formulate some plan of escape, but with the locked doors, theconstant supervision of nurses and attendants, and tha
t high stone wall,it seemed absolutely hopeless.

  It was only when the first gray light of dawn broke in the sky that shefinally dozed off and then fell into a deep, heavy sleep.