ed,
until she should recover, and it was not till some hours later that she
descended to find the house in a turmoil of search and anxiety. At
dinner-time, Mrs. Hungerford had bidden Dorothy to call Molly; adding a
warning word:

"Tell her, Dolly dear, that she must come at once. Too often she lingers
and keeps Mrs. Grimm waiting. That isn't right because this household is
managed as systematically as your own Academy in school time. Be sure
and tell her."

"Yes, Auntie Lu, when I find her," answered Dorothy, speeding out of
doors, while the lady looked after her with more than ordinary interest;
thinking: "What a dear, bonny creature that child is! And I am so glad,
I hope so much for her now. I'm sure Schuyler will bid me go ahead and
write, or will send a note to be forwarded. I can hardly wait for the
outcome of the matter, but Dorothy must know nothing--nothing--until
just the right moment. Then for the climax, and God grant it be a happy
one!"

She sat down on the broad sill by the open window to wait for the girls,
lost in her own happy thoughts, until Miss Greatorex came and asked:

"Did you know that dinner had been served some moments and is fast
getting cold? It's mutton to-day, and Mrs. Grimm is fretting that
'mutton must be eaten hot to be good.'"

"So late? I was musing over something--didn't notice. Have the girls
come in without my seeing them?"

"Neither of them."

"That's odd. By the way, when did you see Molly?"

"A few moments after breakfast, I think. I've been writing all morning
at that further window and have scarcely looked out. Why?"

"She hasn't been in and dearly as she loves riding I never knew her to
keep on with it so long, unless she was off with the farmer. I sent
Dolly to call her and now she delays, too."

"Very well, _I_ will find Dorothy!" said Miss Isobel, with an air of
authority. She considered Mrs. Hungerford quite too indulgent to her
niece and was all the more strict with her own especial charge for that
reason. She now left the room with a firm step and was still wearing an
air of discipline when she came upon Dorothy emerging from the stables.
The child looked perplexed and a trifle frightened. She didn't wait for
her governess to upbraid her but began at once:

"Oh, dear Miss Isobel! I can't find her anywhere! Nobody has seen her
and Queenie isn't in her stall. I've been to my corncrib, the garden,
the long orchard all through, and yet she isn't. Ah! There's Mr