nt it had left his tongue that he shouldn't have asked it and
he stood there hot and embarrassed at his own audacity.

Much to his surprise, however, Mr. Crowninshield did not appear to be
in the least offended. On the contrary he seemed pleased by the lad's
eager interest and smiled at him kindly.

"Yes, we've found out something," said he, "but it is not very good
news, I am sorry to say. Dacie and Lyman traced the car that carried
Lola as far as Buzzard's Bay and discovered that there----"

"Yes?" interrupted Walter, so intent on the story that he was
unconscious of interrupting.

"There," repeated Mr. Crowninshield, "the thieves embarked on a
private yacht that awaited their coming; steamed through the Canal,
and----"

"Don't say they are gone, sir!" cried the boy.

"I'm afraid so, sonny."

"Well, if that isn't the limit!"

"It is, indeed," rejoined the elder man heartily.

His Highness had staggered back against the door in consternation. If
Mr. Crowninshield had affirmed that the thieves had taken flight in an
aeroplane he could not have been more astonished than by the turn
affairs had taken.

"What do you suppose they'll do now?" demanded he.

"We've no idea. They may make for New York, Boston, or some other port
where they think they will be safe. There is no way of knowing. Or it
may be that the person who hired them to get Lola is on the yacht and
having now secured what he has been in search of he may simply cruise
about and not land at all for months. Anything is possible."

"Could they get the name of the boat?"

"Yes, she's called the _Siren_."

"Then I should think it would be easy enough to track her down, board
her, and bring Lola away," said Walter.

"It sounds simple, doesn't it?" Mr. Crowninshield returned. "But I am
afraid it is not going to be as easy as that. We have no way of
proving that Lola is aboard the yacht, in the first place. Moreover,
even did we know that she was there, there are a thousand and one
places where she could be hidden and defy discovery. And were the
villains actually cornered nothing would be less difficult than to
wring the puppie's neck and throw her overboard so that nothing would
remain to identify the wretches with their crime."

"Scott!"

"You see now that to recover Lola is not such an easy matter."

"I'm afraid not, sir," was the dispirited response.

Mr. Crowninshield glanced at the dejected figure before him.

"We mustn't give up beaten