van. "I can't wait for the mornin'
paper. I want her now!"

The three men looked at each other and shook their heads. She might
have to wait longer than for the morning paper to have news of Mary
Rose. They felt so helpless. They had followed every clew, they had
the assistance of the entire police force, but they had discovered
nothing. They knew no more about Mary Rose than they knew when they
had first discovered that she had disappeared.

Miss Thorley put her arms around Mrs. Donovan and tried to sooth her.
All the red "corpuskles" had left her face now and her eyes had a
strained frightened expression. It startled Mr. Jerry to see her show
so much emotion. Usually she let one see very plainly that she was
interested in only her own affairs. Tonight she had forgotten herself
in a sweet sympathy for Mrs. Donovan and in her anxiety for her little
friend. It made Mr. Jerry's heart thump to hear her speak to Mrs.
Donovan so gently and so tenderly. It made him more determined to do
something. He was just about to suggest that he should telephone to
Mifflin although he was positive that Mary Rose had not run away, when
he heard a child's laugh on the street above them.

Kate Donovan heard it, too, and pushed Miss Thorley from her.

"It's Mary Rose!" she cried. "Thank God! It's Mary Rose!"

Before she could reach the door a burly policeman stood on the
threshold. He held a bundle in his arms that struggled to reach the
floor. Jimmie Bronson stumbled wearily behind them.

"Here's a very tired little girl for you," the policeman said, as he
dropped Mary Rose into Mrs. Donovan's hungry arms.

"Mary Rose! Mary Rose!" Mrs. Donovan was so happy that she cried and
cried. The tears fell on Mary Rose's face. "Where have you been?
Where have you been?"

"Yes, Mary Rose, where have you been?" demanded an eager chorus. The
tears had rushed to Miss Thorley's eyes also and when she discovered
that, she discovered also that the hand with which she would have wiped
them away was held fast in the firm grasp of Jerry Longworthy. How it
had found its way there she never knew. She snatched it from him, her
face aflame, and there were no longer tears in her eyes.

Mary Rose hugged her aunt and beamed on her friends. Her eyes were
like stars.

"How glad you'll be to hear what I've found!" she cried jubilantly.
"I've been in the most wonderful place, a big flat building like this,
only not so grand, but it has