her."

CHAPTER XV

The Finding of Brunhilde

From twilight until almost midnight Dick Ashton, the other two young
men, Polly and Esther and a number of people from the village of
Waldheim searched the surrounding country for Betty Ashton. It seemed
utterly incredible that she could not be found! She was not a child; she
was almost a woman and could not have been lured away by strangers. But
why if she were lost did she not make some sign? There were several
signals learned in her Camp Fire days, which Polly and Esther would
assuredly have understood.

Earlier in the evening by the aid of a lantern Polly O'Neill had
insisted that she had discovered tracks that were surely Betty's,
turning from the main road which would have brought her to the cottage,
into a small stretch of woods. But at night it was quite impossible to
follow these tracks over the brush and bracken, and after the woods had
been thoroughly searched and no other suggestion of a wanderer
discovered, Polly's idea did not carry much weight. Moreover, the two
girls were too utterly exhausted and frightened to continue the
investigation, though neither of them would consent to return home.

By chance the two girls, Richard Ashton and Carl von Reuter had
separated from the others and were resting for a moment by the side of a
low stone fence enclosing a forest.

Dick was leaning over Esther urging her to let him take her into the
village, where a carriage was in waiting to drive any one of them who
might have news, back to Mrs. Ashton and Miss Adams, who were still
together at the cottage. Carl von Reuter happened to be standing close
to Polly, but he was not speaking to her nor observing her. All through
the evening he had seemed as anxious and interested about Betty as her
brother and even more nonplussed at their inability to find any trace of
her; because, of course, he knew so thoroughly well every inch of
ground in the surrounding country and had also called in his servants
from the castle to assist in the search.

Suddenly Polly clutched at the young lieutenant's arm. She had risen
unexpectedly to her feet and was pointing ahead apparently at nothing so
far as her companions could see.

The night had been dark and cloudy, the atmosphere sultry with
suggestions of a September storm. Therefore the task of finding Betty,
should she be out of doors, had been the more difficult and the more
imperative.

"Look, Esther," Polly called sharp