all, dark man left a wood road, and stood listening as
the sleigh sped past.

"Over the ice and snow we fly,
Oh, but our steeds have wings!
And their hoofs keep time
With the glad bells chime,
For sleigh bells are merry things,
Never a thought or care have we,
Lessons are laid aside,
And we laugh and sing,
Adding mirth and din
To the joy of a winter's ride."

"Oh, don't stop!" cried an eager voice. "Isn't there another verse?"

"There are two other verses," said Dorothy "but--I've forgotten them."

"Then sing the one you do know. It's worth hearing again!"

Again she sang it, as gayly as before, but for some reason, Nancy's
voice trembled, and Dorothy turned to glance at her.

She saw that Nancy's cheeks were white, and her eyes wide as if with
fear. A moment before her cheeks had been rosy red where the sharp wind
had kissed them.

"What is it, Nancy?" Dorothy whispered.

Nancy shook her head, but the hand that held Dorothy's tightened with a
nervous grip.

When the girls were once more chattering together, Nancy, leaning toward
Dorothy, whispered softly: "That dark man that stood near the woods
watching us as we passed,--did you see him?"

"Why, yes," whispered Dorothy, "but--" then she understood Nancy's fear.
"Why, Nancy dear, your old Uncle Steve, who stole you from us once, is
not living. Don't you remember that, and besides, that man didn't look
the least bit like him."

"That man looked just like Bonfanti!"

"Oh,--oo," burst softly from Dorothy's lips, then she tried to comfort
Nancy. "But why should he be wandering through the woods here? You've
always said that he was a busy man, and once you heard him say that he
had never been out of New York City."

"I know I did," Nancy said, "but I s'pose he _could_ go somewhere else,
and oh, Dorothy that man looked just like him!"

CHAPTER VI

THE LOST NECKLACE

Nancy strove to be as gay as before. She told herself that the man
certainly looked just like the old ballet-master, Bonfanti, but that he
might have been a very different person. She did not wish the other
girls to know that she had been uneasy or frightened, and so busy had
they been in watching people whom they passed, laughing and talking,
that Nancy's fright had passed unnoticed by all save one, and that one
was Patricia Levine, Patricia, who seemed to see everything. She
delighted in seeing something not intended for her eyes, and then how
she