Read "Dorothy Dale to the Rescue" by Margaret Penrose online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
A rough hand closed over Dorothy's mouth, shutting off her breath, strangling her. In an instant Tavia and Joe were similarly gagged and helpless.
There was a silence during which their captors waited breathlessly, hoping that the horseman had not heard the cry, would pass the cave by.
For a moment, remembering how well the spot was concealed, Dorothy was horribly afraid that this might actually happen. If it was really Garry coming! If he had heard her!
But the clattering hoofs still came on. She could hear the shouts of the riders, Garry's voice, calling her name!
She felt herself released with a suddenness and violence that sent her reeling toward the rear of the cave. The men were making for the entrance, jostling one another and snarling in their efforts to escape.
The men out of sight beyond the huge rock, Dorothy and Tavia rushed to the cave mouth, leaving poor Joe to limp painfully after them, just in time to see the knaves disappear among the trees.
The next moment a horseman broke through the underbrush, charging straight for them. It was Garry!
At sight of Dorothy he pulled his horse to its haunches, drawing in his breath in a sharp exclamation.
"Dorothy! Thank heaven! I thought -- "
"Never mind about us, Garry. They went over that way-the men you are after!"
She pointed in the direction the men had disappeared and Garry nodded. The next moment he had spurred his pony in pursuit, followed by several other horsemen who had come up behind him.
The girls watched them go, and Joe, coming up behind them, laid a dirty hand upon his sister's shoulder.
"You-you were great, Sis, to those men! " he said awkwardly. "I was awfully proud of you."
Dorothy smiled through tears and, taking Joe's grimy hand, pressed it against her cheek.
"It is so wonderful to have you again, dear! " she said huskily.
They were back again in a moment, Garry and his men, bringing with them two captives-the big-framed, loose-lipped fellow who had first taunted Joe in the cave, and George Lightly.
By Garry's face it was easy to see he was in no mood to deal gently with his prisoners.
He dismounted, threw the bridle to one of the men, and approached the big fellow whom he knew to be a tool of the Larrimer gang.
The fellow was sullen and glowering, but Garry was a good enough judge to guess that beneath this exterior the fellow was ready to break.
"Now then," Garry said coolly, as he pressed the muzzle of his revolver in uncomfortable proximity to the ribs of his prisoner, "you tell us what you were doing in that cave over there and you'll go scot free. Otherwise, it's jail for you-if not worse. My men," he added, in a gentle drawl, "are just hankering to take part in a lynching party. It's a right smart time since they have been treated to that sort of entertainment, and they are just ripe for a little excitement. How about it, boys, am I right?"