illing! Won't be thrilling if anything's happened to the kid. It's
four hours now and Granger's had a bunch of men hunting ever since his
son walked into the office and gave the alarm. Can you give me a bite in
a hurry, Mom? The Manor car's going to take six of us over to meet young
Granger and make a thorough search."

"But it's tired to death you look now, Dale. Can't--"

"I'm not tired--just bothered. Mom, I hate to think of that little thing
getting into this fix just for my model. Granger was awfully decent
about the thing; told Norris he was a fool not to jump at it. He said he
had some sort of a note Miss Robin had left and it seemed to amuse him,
but he didn't offer to show it. It isn't only because she's a Forsyth I
care, but she's such a square little thing. Hurry up, please, Mom,
Williams may stop any moment."

"_I_ ought to go up to the Manor. They must be in an awful state."

"Wait, as soon as ever I can fix your father I'll go with you myself,"
cried Mrs. Lynch.

* * * * *

Toward noon of the next day, in answer to an urgent telegram, Cornelius
Allendyce arrived at the Manor, having come down from New York by motor.
Just as he was gulping down the coffee Harkness had brought to him, Mr.
Granger, Senior, was ushered in.

The men knew one another well. They shook hands, then Cornelius
Allendyce motioned him to a chair opposite him at the table.

The lawyer only needed to look at the other man's face to know that he
brought no good news.

"Tom telephoned from Cornwall at six o'clock. Not a sign. Not so much as
a red hair! Strangest thing I ever heard of. They're going to search
the ravines today--easy enough for her to stumble into them if she was
frightened or hurrying. Then there's the kidnapping possibility!"

"Improbable!" protested the lawyer.

"Well, _nothing's_ improbable. You'd have said it wasn't to be thought
of that a youngster like that would run off with that model. I want to
give you the details of this whole matter--they'd be extremely
interesting if one were not so concerned." He told of his two interviews
with Adam Kraus and of Dale's invention. "A master contrivance. I can't
understand your man, here, letting it get away from him. Why, it's worth
a lot to me, but in these Mills--well, you may not know what I think of
your mills," he laughed. "I'll tell you another time. The girl saw this
Kraus go into my office, and persuaded my boy, who'd been taki