me first."

"Perhaps she's over to Mrs. Bracken's?" suggested Mrs. Schuneman and
she followed Mrs. Donovan across the hall.

But Mary Rose was not at Mrs. Bracken's. Neither was she in any other
apartment in the Washington. Mrs. Donovan's ruddy face lost its color.

"She can't be lost," she said, expecting Mrs. Schuneman promptly to
agree with her that Mary Rose could not be lost. "She's big enough to
know where she lives if she is only ten." She did not care now if
everybody knew how old Mary Rose really was.

"Of course, she isn't lost," everyone told her soothingly. "She knows
where she belongs. Perhaps she is over at Longworthys'?"

But neither Mr. Jerry nor his Aunt Mary had seen Mary Rose that day.
Jimmie Bronson, who came in while Mrs. Donovan was inquiring, had not
seen her since noon. Mrs. Donovan was very uneasy as she went home.

"The little thing's that friendly and honest herself she thinks
everyone else is friendly. She don't know anythin' about city folks.
I wish she'd come," she told Mrs. Schuneman who came down to hear if
Mary Rose had been found.

"You remember that girl over on Sixth Avenue who was kidnapped last--"
began Mrs. Schuneman and clapped her hand over her mouth, hoping Mrs.
Donovan had not heard.

But she had heard and her face whitened. The minutes dragged slowly by
and Mary Rose did not come home. Larry Donovan was downtown and was
late, also. When he did come in he could not understand at first that
Mary Rose was missing.

"She's in the house somewhere," he insisted, "with Miss Carter or old
lady Johnson."

"I've inquired at every flat in the building," half sobbed Mrs.
Donovan. "I can't imagine where she is."

"Who's her teacher?" asked Bob Strahan. "Do you know her name? I'll
telephone and ask her if she knows whether Mary Rose went off with any
of the kids."

Mrs. Donovan stopped twisting a corner of her white apron.

"Her teacher's name is Choate, Isabel Choate. But I dunno where she
lives," she wailed.

"The directory does," Bob Strahan said encouragingly. "And so, I'm
sure, does the telephone book."

He had no difficulty in getting Miss Choate on the telephone, but the
teacher only remembered that Mary Rose had left the building when the
other children did. She had seen her go out of the school yard with a
group of boys and girls. Who were they? She was sorry but she did not
remember. They had not impressed her. She had noticed no one but Mar