o dear Uncle Harry's baby?

_No_ one! She would not let them!

Quickly she gathered the wee mite in her arms, wrapped the warm little
cloak around her, and walking softly to the door, slipped out, the baby
nestled close in her arms.

Across the lawn she trudged, past the summer-house, and on to the little
clump of trees and shrubs which the children called the grove.

In a little nook between the tall hedge and the shrubbery she sat down,
and took the baby on her lap. Fortunately it had no idea of crying; she
loved Flossie, and she cooed contentedly.

And now the shadows were long, and the light breeze, growing stronger,
swept in little chilly gusts across the treetops, and searching lower,
tossed the small shrubs as if trying to discover Flossie's hiding-place.

She drew the baby's cloak closer around it, and bending lower, kissed
it, and whispered lovingly:

"You're all safe with me, for I won't let that old doctor _quantine_
you. You're Uncle Harry's own baby, and I won't let anybody hurt you."

CHAPTER VII

PATRICIA'S PROMISE

At the Barnet house all was excitement. Servants were rushing this way
and that, searching for Flossie and the baby.

Again and again the maid insisted that she had left them in the hall but
a few moments, and the cook and the butler declared that she had spoken
truly, yet it seemed strange that in so short a time the two could have
so completely disappeared.

In the midst of the excitement Uncle Harry came home, and he looked very
grave when he learned the cause of their alarm.

Yes, the house and grounds had been thoroughly searched, they told him,
and neither could be found, nor could any one remember having seen them
after the baby had been brought in from her ride.

And while the other members of the household were searching in every
direction, Uncle Harry secured a lantern, and went out into the shadowy
garden, hoping that he might, in some forgotten corner, find the two
children whom he so dearly loved.

Around the house, along the driveway toward the stable, down a little
path to where the tall dahlias nodded; across the lawn to the open space
where the new moon spread its sheen, then toward the shrubbery and the
hedge.

Flossie saw the gleam of the bright lantern through the bushes, and
huddled closer to the little shrubs. She believed that it was the butler
who carried the lantern, and that he had been sent to capture the baby.

"Hush, hush--sh--sh!" she