ady, Miss Fothergill, who lives with her, has been missing all
the afternoon. Miss Bogle did not know it till an hour or two ago, as
she always rests in her own room till four o'clock. But I was to say she
would explain it all to Mrs. Lesley, if she could possibly come to see
Miss Bogle at once.'

Mamma had gone forward and heard this all herself, though the maid had
begun by giving the message to James. And she said immediately that she
would come. She still had her going-out things on, you see, so no time
was lost.

CHAPTER XII

NO MYSTERY AFTER ALL

WE listened with all our ears, you may be sure, to what mamma told us;
she did so, very quickly. It takes me much longer to write it.

'And did you see Miss Bogle?' I asked. 'And what _is_ she like?'

'The witch herself,' said Peterkin, his eyes nearly starting out of his
head.

'No, Peterkin,' said mamma, 'you are not to call her that any more. You
must help me to explain to little Margaret, that Miss Bogle is a good
old lady, who has meant nothing but kindness, though she made a great
mistake in undertaking the charge of the child, for she is old and
infirm and suffers sadly. Yes, of course, I saw her. She was terribly
upset, the tears streaming down her poor face, though she had scarcely
had time to be actually terrified about Margaret, thanks to Mrs.
Wylie's telegram. She was afraid of the child having got cold, and she
was altogether puzzled and miserable. And I was not able to explain very
much myself, till I got Mrs. Wylie's _letter_ this morning, fully
telling all. Still, I comforted her by saying I knew Mrs. Wylie was
goodness itself, and would take every care of all the three of you for
the night. Miss Bogle had not missed Margaret, as she always rests in
the afternoon, till about four. And, strange to say, the servants had
not missed her either. The nurse was away for the day, and I suppose
that the others, not being used to think about the child, had not given
a thought to her, though it seems strangely careless, till it got near
her tea-time, and then they ran to Miss Bogle and startled her terribly.
The first thing she did was to send in to the next-door house'--('The
parrot's house?' interrupted Pete)--'and to Mrs. Wylie's,' mamma went
on, 'where the parlour-maid knew that you boys and Margaret had made
friends, and she offered to speak to Miss Bogle, thinking that perhaps
you had all gone a walk together, and would soon be coming in. And
_