got to understand just what we know
about the reasons for all this, though it isn't very much. Bessie
doesn't know much about her parents. They left her--because they had
to--when she was a very small girl, in charge of Mr. and Mrs. Hoover,
farmers, in Hedgeville."

"I know about that, Miss Eleanor. The place where we first met Bessie
and Zara, you mean."

"Yes. And Mrs. Hoover and her son Jake didn't treat Bessie well. In
fact, they treated her so badly that finally she ran away. You know
that the Camp Fire thinks people ought to stay at home, even if things
aren't very pleasant, but Bessie was quite right, I believe, to run
away then, because they had no real claim to her."

"I should say she was!"

"Well, you know about Bessie's chum, Zara, too. Her father was in
trouble, and was to be arrested. And when Zara and Bessie found out
that Zara was to be taken by this Mr. Weeks, a miser and a money
lender, Zara ran away, too, and we Camp Fire Girls helped them to get
away from that state and have been looking after them since."

"And then they stole Zara away!"

"No, not exactly. They lied to Zara, and told her things that made her
willing to go with them. Mr. Holmes seems to have been responsible for
that. You remember yourself how Mr. Holmes tricked you and Bessie into
going for a ride with him in his automobile, when we were all at the
farm?"

"I certainly do! I ought to, because all the trouble we had then was
my own fault."

"Well, never mind that, because, as it turned out, it was owing to that
ride that we got Zara back. She's with us now, and we are going to try
to keep her, and get her father out of prison, because Mr. Jamieson is
sure he is innocent. But we've got to be mighty careful, because we
don't know how Mr. Holmes happens to be mixed up with Farmer Weeks, and
why either of them should care anything about Bessie and Zara and
Zara's father. That's why I wanted to be sure that you understood as
much as we do ourselves."

"I see, and I'll promise to be as careful as I can, Miss Eleanor. I
wouldn't get Bessie or Zara into any more trouble for the world."

"I know you wouldn't, Dolly, and I hope it won't be very long before
the whole thing is straightened out. Mr. Jamieson is working hard to
try to find out what it is all about, and I think he's sure to find out
soon. This letter I had from him today is a new warning, really. He
says Mr. Holmes has hired lawyers to try to get t