followed her just to be friendly. You
had better ask at some of the houses down the street first."

"Come on!" cried Bert to Nan. "We'll go and ask."

"And I'm coming, too!" added Freddie. "I can call Snap and you can
whistle for him, Bert."

"And I'll take Snoop, and Snoop can miaou for him," said Flossie.

"No, you two little ones stay here," directed Mrs. Bobbsey. "I want to
wash and dress you for dinner. Let Bert and Nan hunt for Snap."

"Then can't we go in the goat cart?" Freddie asked.

"We'll all have a ride when we come back," promised Bert. "We first want
to find Snap, if we can, to see if he'll hitch up with Whisker," the boy
told his mother.

So while Flossie and Freddie went into the house to get freshened up
after their play, Nan and Bert went from house to house asking about
Snap. But though the big, trick dog sometimes went to play with the
neighbors' children, this time there was no sign of him. One after
another of the families on the block said they had not seen Snap.

Several servants had noticed the gypsy woman "peddler," as they called
her, for she had made a number of calls on the block, trying to sell her
lace, but no one had seen Snap with her.

"Oh, I guess Snap just ran away for a change, as Flossie and Freddie
sometimes do," said Mr. Bobbsey when he came home that evening and had
been told what had happened. "He'll come back all right, I'm sure."

But Nan and Bert were not so sure of this. They knew Snap too well. He
had never gone away like this before. Flossie and Freddie, being
younger, did not worry so much. Besides, they had Snoop, and the cat was
more their pet than was the dog, who was Bert's favorite, though, of
course, every one in the Bobbsey family loved him.

Several times that evening Bert went outside to whistle and call for his
pet, but there was no answering bark, and when bedtime came Bert was so
worried that Mr. Bobbsey agreed to call the police and ask the officers
who were on night duty to keep a lookout for the missing animal. This
would be done, the chief said, since nearly all the officers in Lakeport
knew Snap, who often visited at the police station.

Morning came, but no Snap was at the door waiting to be let in, though
Bert was up early to look. Snoop, the big black cat, was in his usual
place, getting up to stretch and rub against Bert's legs.

"But where's Snap?" asked the boy.

"Miaou," was all Snoop answered. Perhaps he knew, but could not tell.