astray. Good night. You'd both better go to
bed, for I can see you had little sleep last night. But your strain
must now relax, for you've pushed the responsibility onto my poor
little shoulders and now it's up to me to worry."

CHAPTER XVIII
ON THE TRAIL

Josie O'Gorman loved mysteries for their own sake. She loved them
because they required solutions, and to solve a mystery is not only
interesting but requires a definite amount of talent. Since she was a
wee thing perched on her father's knee, Officer O'Gorman had flooded
her ears with the problems he daily encountered, had turned the
problems inside out and canvassed them from every possible viewpoint,
questioning the child if this, or that, was most probable. By this odd
method he not only enjoyed the society of his beloved daughter but
argued himself, through shrewd reasoning, into a lucid explanation of
many puzzling cases. To his pleased surprise, as little Josie grew
older she began to answer his questions, taking a part in his
professional arguments with himself, and from that time her training as
a detective began.

John O'Gorman had never been quite sure whether his fatherly adoration
unduly influenced him or whether Josie was indeed an exceptionally
talented girl; so, having firmly determined to train her to become a
girl detective, he had so far held her in leash, permitting her to
investigate various private cases but refusing to place her in
professional work--such as the secret service--until she had gained
experience and acquired confidence in herself. Confidence was the one
thing Josie lacked most. She took her mistakes too much to heart.

The girl was full of enthusiasm, however, and now meant to untangle the
mystery of Alora Jones if it were possible to do so, both to please
Mary Louise and to enjoy the satisfaction of success. After saying good
night to her friends, and before going to her own room, the girl
wandered about the big hotel making casual inquiries and obtaining more
or less useful information. Afterward, she sat in her room and arranged
in her mind the complete history of Alora, so far as she was informed
of it, and made notes of all facts which seemed to bear on the present
problem.

Next morning she inquired for the housekeeper and found that lady
seated in her little office on the third floor of the hotel.

"I'm trying to trace one of the servants who left you Monday night, or
early Tuesday morning," she said, after infor