Then Jim came back and, missing her, guessed where to find her.
"Oh! I'm so glad you've come! It seems--awful. That house so tight shut; that man in it; that dreadful woman that looked at me so--so angry! I want to get away, I must--_I must_!"
Tired with his breathless run to the woods and back, the youth dropped down on the floor to recover himself; then informed her:
"I found him. He was fishin' in the run. He'll fish all day if he's let. He'll come. He ain't got all his buttons----"
"His buttons. His wits. He ain't so smart as some of us, but he can hoe an' 'tend cattle first-rate. We'll go, to-night, soon's it's dark. I'll tie some rags on your feet so's they won't get sore an' give out. I'll have to muzzle Tige, or, if I can, I'll give him some them powders in his milk she'd ha' used to make you dopy, if you'd give trouble. She won't miss us first off, an' when she does--Why, we'll be gone. Be you a good, free traveler?"
"Why, I don't know. I never traveled," answered Dorothy, perplexed. If they were going to walk, or run, as his talk about trying on rags suggested, how could they travel? To her "travel" meant a journey by boat or rail, and surely neither of these conveniences were visible.
"Pshaw! Fer a smart girl you're the biggest fool!" returned the farm-boy testily. He was tired, body and brain; he was trying to make safe plans for her comfort, yet she couldn't understand plain English. "What I mean is--can you walk, hoof it, good? Course, we can't go no other way. If you can we'll strike 'cross lots--the nighest. If you can't we'll have to take to the road, on the chance of bein' took up."
"Oh! I'll walk, I'll travel, I'll 'hoof' it, fast as you want me to. Till I die and give out; but don't, don't go anywhere near the danger of being took up!" cried Dorothy, pleading meekly.
Again these two young Americans had failed to understand each other's speech. To the city-reared girl, being "taken up" meant being arrested by the police; to the country-grown boy it was giving a ride to a pedestrian by some passing vehicle. He looked at her a moment and let the matter drop. Then he rose, advising:
"You better go to work an' not waste time. To-morrow's Sunday. We gen'ally pick all day, so's to be ready for Monday mornin' market. Stuff fetches the best prices a-Monday. I'd like to leave her in good shape agin I didn't get back. But I'll take you. You can trust me."