The girls ran in terror, for they expected the thief to be in pursuit. They glanced back anxiously with little squeals. But Bet hugged the fan to her breast and did not speak.
The four girls waited for the bus at the deserted corner of the woods. It was already dusk. Bet looked anxiously about, fearing to hear a long whistle, a signal of the thieves. So many things had happened recently the girls did not feel safe. They might be held up, even yet. It seemed hours before they saw the bus.
Shirley hailed it and the girls climbed on trying compose themselves and not look self-conscious.
Suddenly Shirley jumped to her feet. "My camera! I shouldn't have left it there! I never want to see that place again!"
"Ssh! Don't talk so loud, Shirley!" Bet whispered. "And don't worry. We'll ask Bob and Phil to come up with us and get it. We'll tell them to bring a shot gun! And who knows, maybe in the meantime you'll get your picture of a deer."
The bus had never seemed to go so slowly. It stopped at every street corner, or so it appeared to Bet Baxter. At the corner where they alighted, Smiley Jim came bounding over the hard snow, barking his welcome. "Smiley Jim, I'm glad you're here, I've never been so happy to see you, in all my life!" Bet exclaimed.
As if the dog knew that Bet needed him, he walked by her side, and growled as he always did when strangers came to the Manor.
"I believe he knows!" said Bet softly as she patted the dog's head.
But when she stumbled into the kitchen a few minutes later, she fell into Auntie Gibbs' arms and sobbed hysterically.
"Now, what's the matter child? Have you had more bad luck? Your father can't get home too soon to suit me!"
"Auntie Gibbs! Uncle Nat! We've found the fan!"
Bet was still clutching the precious fan in a tight grip that had not relaxed for a second since she found it in the Hermit's Hut.
"I just knew you'd find it, Bet," said Auntie Gibbs. "I told you so over and over again!"
Even Bet, whose nerves were at the snapping point, had to smile at the old lady who was always in the right and sure to exclaim: "Didn't I tell you so!"
"Now let's have a look at that queen's fan. I never rightly noticed it, before it was stolen." The old man held out his hand.