He soon returned with the news that Mollie and Flossie had played with
her all the forenoon, and had promised to go over to the cottage after
lunch; that they did so, but they found no one to play with, and after
waiting for some time, they ran unable to understand why Nancy had not
been waiting to greet them.

Then the maid entered.

"If ye please, Mrs. Grayson, I found this paper on yer table. I do'no'
what it is, fer I'd not be readin' what wa'n't writ ter me, but
wonderin' if it was writ by Miss Nancy, I've brought it ter ye."

Dorothy sat with wide eyes and pale cheeks, her slender fingers tightly
clasping the arms of the chair. Could the note be from Nancy? Would it
tell where she was?

Mrs. Dainty leaned over Aunt Charlotte's chair, and together they read
the hastily pencilled note.

"Dear Aunt Charlotte:--I guess you remember Sue, I've forgotten what
her other name is, but she's the girl that worked for Uncle Steve,
and was so good to me when I was sick. She called to-day, and says
my aunt is sick and thinks she _must_ see me, and you needn't think
I'm stolen, because Uncle Steve is dead, so he couldn't steal me
again.

"My aunt doesn't live in the city. Sue meant to ask you if I could
go, but you were away, and she said I ought to go so I did. I'll be
right home as soon as my aunt has told me what Sue says she's _got_
to tell.

"Lovingly,

"NANCY."

"The dear child has not told us _where_ her aunt lives, only that she is
_not_ in the city. What are we to do?"

Aunt Charlotte's face was pale as she asked the question, and the hand
which held the note shook so that the bit of paper rustled like a leaf
as it lay against her silk gown.

"We can do nothing to-night," Mrs. Dainty replied, "but to-morrow at
daybreak the search must commence. I try to find comfort in the fact
that the girl, Sue, seemed to be honest, and certainly she was
straightforward if she intended to ask us if she might take Nancy to her
aunt, and to insist that she write a note explaining her absence."

"I am sure that the girl's intentions are honest, but I am _not_ so sure
of the woman who sent her to get Nancy. Steve Ferris is dead, but while
it was he who once stole Nancy, it was his wife who helped him to keep
her. I am frightened, and I can not believe that she has sent for her
only for the pleasure of seeing her."

Mrs. Dainty turned quickly to see if Dorothy had heard what