gone."

At that hour of the night it was hard work to get the connection she
wanted, and Bessie chafed at the delay, knowing that every moment might
be precious, were Zara in real danger. But she got the number at last,
after Central had tried to convince her no one would answer at such a
time.

"What's happened? Has something gone wrong?" Jamieson asked anxiously as
soon as he recognized her voice.

"Oh, I'm terribly afraid it has--and it was all my fault! I was asleep,
Mr. Jamieson--and Zara's gone!"

"By herself, or don't you know?"

"I don't know positively, but I think she was taken off in a big
automobile. But, Mr. Jamieson, I think she wanted to go!"

"Why, what makes you think that?"

"She's taken all the things that were given to her. And then, she got
out so quietly that I didn't hear her. If anyone had carried her away,
they'd have waked me up, I'm sure."

"That's bad--if she went away of her own accord. Makes it harder to find
her, harder to get her back."

"What shall we do, Mr. Jamieson? You will try to get her back, won't
you, even if she did go with them willingly?"

"Yes, yes, of course! I'll come out right away. Better not tell the
others yet, if you haven't done it already."

Then Bessie told him about the automobile, and the number she had seen.

"Oh, that's different!" he exclaimed. "There's no use my coming to the
house then--not right away, at least. I'll find out whose car that is
right away--and then perhaps we'll be able to get a clue more quickly.
Someone is almost sure to have noticed that number, you see. Policemen
have a way of keeping their eyes on car numbers as late as this, just
on the chance that there may be something wrong about people who are
chasing around in this town when they ought to be in bed. You go back to
sleep, if you can. I'll let you know as soon as there's something new."

"I don't see how I can sleep, Mr. Jamieson. Isn't there something I can
do, please? That would make me feel ever so much better, I'm sure."

"I know, I know! But there isn't a thing you can do to-night. There's
precious little I can do, for that matter, myself. You get some rest, so
that you'll be fresh and strong in the morning. No telling what may turn
up then; and we may need you to do a whole lot. Got to keep yourself
in condition, you know. Remember that, always. That's the way to help.
Good-night! I'm going to hurry out now and see what I can find out about
that car."

So Bess