d the
doctor did not wait to hitch staid old Dobbin, but jumped out and ran
up the steps to the house, anxious to know whether Ruby was really
there. Although he was quite sure that she must be, yet he was
impatient to satisfy himself.

"Is Ruby here?" were his first words, when Mr. Warren opened the door.

"Why, no," Mr. Warren answered. "I don't think she has been here
to-day."

"Oh, yes, she was here a little while this afternoon," said Mrs. Warren
coming to the door. "Why, what is the matter, doctor? Is n't Ruby at
home?"

"No, she went to bed all right, but a little while ago when her aunt
came and went to look for her, she was gone," said the doctor, feeling
as if he did not know now where to turn to look for the little runaway;
for where could she possibly be at that time of night, if she had not
come over to visit her little friend? "Where can the child be?"

"Is n't she in the house somewhere?" asked Mrs. Warren.

"No, we have looked through the house," the doctor answered. "I don't
know what will become of her mother, if I have to go back without Ruby.
No one could have come into the house and stolen her, that is certain,
and yet I cannot conceive where she could have gone to at this hour in
the evening. This is dreadful."

Neither Mr. Warren nor his wife could suggest any place to look for
Ruby. It was certainly a very strange thing that she could have
disappeared from her bed after dark, without any one knowing anything
about it. The doctor got into his buggy again and started towards
home, wondering what he should do when he had to tell Ruby's mother
that her little girl could not be found.

If Ruby could have known what a heartache her father had, as he drove
slowly homeward, dreading to take such sad news back with him, I am
quite sure the little girl would have tried to be good, and not make
those who loved her so anxious about her.

In the mean time, Ruby had stirred uneasily in her sleep, and at last
when the owl who lived in the tall elm-tree close by, gave a long,
mournful hoot, she awakened, and sat up, wondering, as she rubbed her
eyes open, where she was.

The cool evening breeze fanned her face, and the stars looked down upon
her, and all at once Ruby remembered where she had gone to sleep. In
the very depths of her heart she wished that she was back again in her
own little bed, with her head on her pillow, and the white spread drawn
over her. It seemed so very, very desol