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Dimar and I can come back and do some work,” Joe put in.
    When they returned to Uncle Ned’s house, Morning Star had the table set and food waiting. Dr. Woodard was just pulling up in his buggy, and Joe ran out to take the horse for him.
    â€œMr. Shaw is having the hospital guarded at night, Dad,” Joe informed his father. “Dimar has volunteered to stay all night, and Mr. Shaw said I could, too, with your permission.” He held up his hand. “Before you protest, we aren’t going to let anyone see us,” he said,helping unhitch the horse and buggy. “If someone comes around, we’re going to hightail it back to Uncle Ned’s and get the men. Is it all right if I stay? Please, Dad?”
    â€œI suppose so, provided you don’t try to defend the place. Leave that to the men,” Dr. Woodard told him. “If you see anyone around, you get out of there. People of that nature could be dangerous.”
    â€œThanks, Dad,” Joe said. “I promise.”
    After hurrying through dinner, Joe and Dimar asked to be excused, then ran to the barn to saddle two horses.
    Mandie and Sallie waved good-bye to them.
    â€œJoe, please catch those crooks tonight, but be careful. You, too, Dimar,” Mandie called to the boys.
    â€œYes, please be careful,” Sallie added.
    â€œWe know your Uncle John’s orders,” Joe called to them. “If we see or hear anything, we are not to let them see us, and we are to come back immediately for help.”
    â€œThat’s right, boys,” Uncle John told them.
    Tsa’ni stood by, watching and saying nothing.
    â€œSo they are off,” Sallie said as the boys disappeared in a cloud of dust down the road.
    She and Mandie sat down on an old log.
    â€œI think that we should ask God to watch over them,” said Mandie, her brow furrowed with concern.
    â€œI agree,” Sallie replied.
    Taking the Indian girl’s dark hand in her white one, Mandie looked toward the sky. “Dear God,” she said, “please take care of Joe and Dimar and keep them from harm. And please help us catch those crooks. Thank you, dear God. Amen.”
    â€œAmen,” Sallie echoed.
    The girls didn’t realize then how badly Joe and Dimar would need help.

CHAPTER FIVE
    JOE DISAPPEARS
    Mandie and Sallie spent the afternoon under a huge chestnut tree in Uncle Ned’s yard talking about Mandie’s school, its strange rules, and its strict headmistresses, Miss Prudence and Miss Hope. The Indian girl was fascinated with Mandie’s stories about her friend Celia Hamilton, and the school troublemaker, April Snow.
    â€œYour grandfather, Uncle Ned, comes to visit me at the school, you know,” Mandie told her.
    â€œYes, I know that. He promised your father he would watch over you, so he keeps his promise. But he never tells me anything about your school. He just says you are all right and you send your love, and all that.”
    â€œHe has never been inside the school,” Mandie explained. “When he comes to see me, he always waits for me under the magnolia trees after the ten o’clock bell has rung at night. By then everyone is supposed to be in bed.”
    â€œWhy are you not also in bed then?” Sallie asked.
    â€œBecause I’ve always been afraid to ask permission to see him. You see, Miss Prudence would probably forbid it,” Mandie replied.
    â€œWhy? Why would she forbid you to see my grandfather?”
    Mandie looked at her friend, trying to soften her explanation. “Sallie, you haven’t been out into the big world, like at the school,”
    Mandie began. “You see, some white people just don’t like Indians. I didn’t know that either until my father died and I had to leave Charley Gap.”
    â€œYou mean they don’t like some people just because they are a different color, a different kind of people?” Sallie asked, puzzled.
    â€œYou know how