"No, but I have found you. Somebody else will find her and take her there. So we will get you together."
Hardly had she gone on her way rejoicing before another appeared in like distress.
"Officer! I've lost my little boy! Oh, what shall I do? He had on a blue suit, and he is so timid!"
"Don't get excited," the man said,—"you will find him over at the east entrance," etc., etc.
"You seem to have plenty to do," said Mrs. Pennybacker.
"Oh, yes. They lose their children this way all day long. You let go a child's hand in a crowd like this and he is lost in a minute."
Bess and Margaret each tightened her clutch of a little hand. The crowd was very dense here, for even democratic America loves to see its chief executive. Mrs. Pennybacker had pushed a little ahead of the policeman and was looking at the rounding colonnade when she heard an anxious falsetto voice behind her.
"Oh, have you seen an old lady about eighty-five—with dress and spectacles on? She's got away from me. What shall I do!"
"Don't get excited! You'll find her over at the east entrance," said the policeman in his mechanical formula. He was struggling with the crowd and had not quite caught the description.
Mrs. Pennybacker turned around to find John Harcourt doubled up with laughter.