ary, "but there are twenty streets she could be on. I'll run
over to the dump lot, Sarah; perhaps she has gone there again."

"You'll have to run all the way, if you get back by half-past
twelve," observed Sarah dispassionately. "Aunt Trudy said she was
going to tell Hugh the next time any of us were late to meals."

And though Rosemary ran most of the way to the dump lot on the other
side of town--where a single hasty glance satisfied her that Shirley
was not among the groups engaged in pulling over the unsavory
messes--and all the way back, the others were seated at the luncheon
table when she reached the house. She heard a distinct rumble of
thunder as she entered the door.

"Mercy, child, how hot you look!" was Aunt Trudy's greeting. "I
don't see why you girls don't try to come to your meals on time; I
take so much pains to have the things you like and Winnie is such a
good cook. And yet the three of you haven't been punctual for a
week."

"I'm afraid I set them a bad example," smiled Doctor Hugh. "Let's
form a compact--when Aunt Trudy tells me that not one of you has
been late for a week to any meal, I'll have the clock fixed."

The dining-room clock was an old joke in the Willis family. It was a
cuckoo clock and had been broken for more than a year, but remained
one of those things that are never attended to. Several times a week
the little mother had mentioned that the dining-room clock really
must be mended, but it was always forgotten. Since Hugh had been
home he had often declared that the clock must be fixed but it still
remained mute and useless.

"Shirley loves to hear the cuckoo call," said Rosemary, and
instantly regretted her remark.

"Where is Shirley?" was the doctor's natural question.

"I dare say she's run away again," announced Aunt Trudy, her tone
resigned.

"Run away?" repeated Doctor Hugh sharply. "Why, what do you mean?"

"Well, Hugh I'm sorry to tell you, but Shirley has run away several
times lately," said Aunt Trudy. "She has been absent from lunch
twice this week. I've talked to her and I know Rosemary has, but
nothing seems to do any good."

A vivid flash of lightning, followed by a roar of thunder and a
sudden torrent of rain heralded the arrival of the thunder shower.

"Do you mean to tell me that that baby has been allowed to run
around this town alone?" demanded the doctor sternly. "What have you
been thinking of? What have you all been doing?"

"Well she is very self-