study hall--she remembered the big ink spot
that she had on one cheek. Suddenly she thought of Maud.

"I'll bet she's finished her exam, if she had one," she laughed to
herself, for Maud's utter disregard of lessons that did not interest her
was a much-discussed topic.

She went upstairs to the Sophomore corridor, expecting to find it almost
as deserted as her own, but, instead, she found five of the teachers
talking excitedly in the hall.

Mrs. Baird had her hand on the knob of Maud's door. Betty was a little
confused at such a strange gathering.

"Excuse me," she said, hastily, and turned to go.

There was no need to explain that something was wrong--the whole
atmosphere of the corridor was charged with mystery.

"Don't go, Betty," Mrs. Baird said, peremptorily, "I have something to
tell you; perhaps you can help. Have you seen Maud to-day?"

Betty shook her head. "No," she said, slowly, "I don't think I have."

Mrs. Baird hesitated for a minute and then said, very distinctly:

"Maud is lost."

It was a startling announcement, and Betty couldn't understand. Who ever
heard of any one being lost at Seddon Hall.

"But how?" she asked Mrs. Baird. "Where could she be?" Miss Crosby
answered her:

"Nobody knows, Betty," she said. "Maud was at breakfast this morning,
but at luncheon time she did not appear. I sent one of the girls up to
look for her and she came back and told me she couldn't find her. I
thought perhaps she was in the Infirmary, but after luncheon I asked
Miss King, and she said she hadn't seen her."

"She's not in the building; we've looked everywhere," Mrs. Baird
continued. "Where could she have gone? None of the teachers gave her
permission to go out of bounds."

At the word permission Betty looked up. It struck her that Maud might
not have considered it necessary to ask for permission.

"May I go to her room?" she asked Mrs. Baird.

"Certainly."

Betty opened the door and looked up at the wall over the bed. As she had
expected Maud's snow shoes were gone from their accustomed place. She
explained to the teachers.

"She's probably miles away by now," she finished. "Did she have any
examination this afternoon?"

"Yes, in literature," Miss Porter told her, "and I can't believe she'd
cut--"

"She wouldn't--not literature anyway," Betty said, confidently, and
turned to Mrs. Baird.

"I'm sure I can find her by tracing her snow shoes," she said.

"But you mustn't go alone; something m