work's done."

But even at eleven o'clock no Betty had arrived. Mary, who had done all
the washing-up--and done some of it very badly--was sent by her mistress
to strip Betty's bed and leave it to air. And she found the note on the
pincushion, and after reading it through twice, carried it in open-eyed
amazement to her mistress, who was eating a peach as she sat on the
verandah edge, and merely said, "Very well, give it to your master."

So Mr. Bruce took it, and opened it very leisurely, and then started and
said: "Ye gods!" and read it through to himself first and then out
aloud.

"DEAR FATHER AND MOTHER" (it said)--

"I am going away from my childhood's home to make a fortune for
all of you. My voice is my fortune. When I've made it I shall
come back to you. So good-bye to you all, and may you be very
happy always.

"Your loving daughter,
"BETTY."

Mrs. Bruce put down her peach and said: "Read it again, will you,
dear," in a quiet steady way as though she were trying to understand.

And Mr. Bruce read it again, and then passed it over to her to read for
herself.

"She's somewhere close at hand, of course!" he said. "Silly child!"

"She _couldn't_ go very far, could she?" asked Mrs. Bruce, seeking
comfort.

Mr. Bruce shook his head.

"One never quite knows _what_ Betty could do," he said. "She's gone to
find her fortune, she says. I wonder now if that is her old crazy idea
of hunting for a gold mine. No! 'My voice is my fortune,' she says. Good
lord! Whom has she been talking to? What books has she been reading?"

Mrs. Bruce sighed and smiled. As no immediate danger seemed to threaten
Betty, there appeared no reason for instant action. They could still
take life leisurely, as they had done all their married days. It was
only madcap Betty who ever tried to hurry their pace or upset the calm
of their domestic sky--Betty with her ways and plans and pranks.

So Mrs. Bruce leaned back on the verandah post.

"Where one has only _one_ child," she said, "life must be a simple
matter. It is when there are several of several ages that the difficulty
comes in. Now we, for instance, need to be--just a year old--and six
years old--and twelve and seventeen--all in addition to our own weight
of years."

Her husband smiled. "You do very well," he said. "I saw you playing with
Baby this morning, and I've heard you and Dot talk, and could have
imagined she h