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Page 27
"That's not likely," said the coachman, "but we might ask a few
questions of those boys.
"Hi, there, boys! Have you seen Rose, or her friend Polly around here
this afternoon?'
"They went down town with Rose's aunt to Mr. Kirtland's studio," shouted
Lester. "Here, Jack, pitch decently, will you?"
"Look here, young feller! This ain't no joke. Quit playin' ball long
'nough ter hear what I say. They're lost, those two little girls are.
They haven't come home!"
"I saw 'em down there, when I was there, and I left them there, in the
little yard when I came home."
"When was that?" said John.
"Oh, 'bout six, I guess," said Lester. "I don't know exactly."
The coachman hurried to the house.
"If ye please, 'm, the Jenks boy says he saw them out in the little
garden that joins the studio at about six. It's about half past six, or
so, now, 'm, an' ye've just reached home. I can't make out how ye missed
them, but I think I'll go over ter Mr. Kirtland's house, and if he isn't
out ter some reception, like he often is, I'll ask the loan of his key,
and with the gardener, I'll hunt there first. I believe they're there."
Aunt Lois, now really wild with anxiety, could only say: "Go, at once.
Go somewhere, do something, to find them. See! It is getting dusky.
Wherever they are, they are frightened, I know, and surely I am almost
sick with fear for their safety."
Mr. Kirtland was at home, and while he could not believe the children
were in his studio, he felt that no place should be neglected in the
effort to find them, and he insisted upon joining the searching party.
Meanwhile, in the studio the dusky shadows had grown deeper. The two
terrified little girls had begun to wonder if anyone would ever come for
them.
They still clung to each other, and for some time not a sound had broken
the stillness. Naught save the ticking of the clock, and that did not
startle them, but, rather, by its monotonous tune, seemed like a friend
that sought to cheer them.
Not even a team passed, and no footstep upon the sidewalk told of a
pedestrian who walked by the building.
"If you heard someone walk past this place would you wish he'd stop, or
would you wish he wouldn't?" whispered Rose.
"I'd hate to hear him go right by without stopping, because I'd know he
wasn't coming to take us home, but if he stopped I'd be scared!"
whispered Polly.
"Hark!"
Rose grasped Polly's arm.
"It's in THERE! It's in THERE!" they shrieked, as if with one voice,
then in a frightened little heap they slipped to the floor and tried to
draw the rug over them to hide and shield them from they knew not what!
Suddenly both rooms were flooded with light, and a familiar voice spoke.
"They're not here, you see; I felt sure that they could not be in the
studio. We must search elsewhere, and lose no time about it."
It was Arthur Kirtland's voice, and scrambling to their feet, they ran
to greet him, all fear left behind.
"Oh, Mr. Kirtland, we ARE here," cried Rose.
"And we've been here just almost FOREVER," Polly added.
"And, oh, here's John!" cried Rose. "Now we can go home!"
"I think ye can, bein's yer Aunt Lois thinks ye're both lost, and no
knowin' whether we'll find ye or not. Ye better be tellin' Mr. Kirtland
how it is ye are here after he'd thought the place empty, and he'd
locked it up, an' gone home."
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