"She will not starve. Think you I know no more than that of doing such a
piece of work! It is not the first time we have made anxious fathers pay
to win their children back! Ha-ha! Peter, my friend, comes to take my
watch. He will see to it that she does not suffer for food. And he will
keep her safe for me. Out of my way!"

He brushed Lolla aside roughly, and strode off down the trail that
Bessie had followed. For a moment, while she could hear the sound of his
retreating footsteps, Lolla did not move. But then she raised herself, a
smile in her eyes, and beckoned to Bessie.

"Go up that path, quickly," she whispered. "Somewhere up there, hidden,
you will find your friend. Comfort her, but do not let her move. If she
is tied up, leave her so. Tell her that help is near. I will free her."

"But why--why not come with me, and free her now!" protested Bessie,
eagerly. "We can find her, for he came down that path, so he must have
left her somewhere up there. Oh, come, Lolla, you will never regret it!"

"Did you not hear him say that Peter was coming? Peter is his best
friend; they are closer together, and are more to one another, than
brothers. If we tried to escape with her now, Peter would find us, and
his hand is heavy. We should do your friend no good, and be punished
ourselves. We must wait. But hurry, before he comes. Tell her to be
happy, and not to fear. I will save her, and you. We will work together
to save her."

And with that Bessie, much as she would have liked to get Dolly out of
the clutches of her captor at once, had to be content. She realized
fully that in Lolla she had gained an utterly unexpected ally, in whom