CHAPTER XIII
A STRANGE TOW
Betty, as well as Grace, Mollie and Amy, seemed much taken aback by the earnest words of Mrs. Belton. The wife of the labor contractor seemed under stress of some excitement, as she faced the girls after the warning.
"Don't go!" she went on. "Don't any of you think of going! I used to think my husband dealt with a rough enough class of men, but those in the interior—in the turpentine camps, and cypress swamps—oh, they are the most lawless element you can imagine. And no wonder, for no men, unless they are compelled, will work with those contractors. They have to keep their men just like prisoners."
"Oh, dear, don't tell me any more!" begged Grace, her eyes filling with tears as she thought of her brother.
"But perhaps Will isn't treated as the others are," suggested Betty, giving the woman a look she understood. "He went there under differ-
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