"Let me see," and in spite of the necessity for haste in the packing,
Ruth DeVere forgot it for the moment and came to look over her sister's
shoulder to read the account of the missing California girl.

"It is strange," murmured Ruth. "I don't remember about that. I wonder
if she could be around here? The New York police are wonderful in
working on mystery cases."

"But the funny part of it is," said Alice, "that I haven't noticed
anything about it in the New York papers. Have you? This is a San
Francisco paper. Naturally they'd have more about it than would the
journals here. But even the New York papers would have big accounts of
such a case, especially where such a large reward is offered."

"That's so," agreed Ruth. "I wonder why we haven't seen an account of it
in our papers. I read them every day."

"What's that? An account of what? Have the papers been missing
anything?" asked a deep, vibrating voice, and an elderly man came into
the girls' room and regarded them smilingly.

"Oh, hello, Daddy!" cried Alice, blowing him a kiss. "I'm almost ready."

"Hum, yes! You look it!" and he laughed.

"It's this, Daddy," went on Ruth, holding out the paper. "We were going
to wrap Alice's muddy shoes in this sheet, when we happened to notice an
account of the mysterious disappearance of a Mildred Passamore, of San
Francisco, for whom ten thousand dollars reward is offered. There has
been nothing in the New York papers about it."

Mr. DeVere, an old-time actor, and now employed, with his daughters, by
a large motion picture concern, reached forth his hand for the paper.
He gave one look at the article, and then his eyes went up to the
date-line. He laughed.

"No wonder there hasn't been anything in the New York papers of to-day
about this case," he said. "This paper is four years old! But I remember
the Passamore case very well. It created quite a sensation at the time."

"Poor girl! Was she ever found?" asked Ruth.

"Why, yes; I believe she was," said Mr. DeVere, in rather dreamy tones.
He was looking over other articles in the paper.

"Who got the reward?" asked Alice.

"Eh? What's that?" Her father seemed to come back from a mental journey
to the past.

"I say, who got the reward?"

"What reward?"

"Why, Daddy! The one offered for the finding of Miss Passamore. The girl
we just told you about--in the paper--ten thousand dollars. Don't you
remember?"

"Oh, yes. I was thinking of something else I just rea