"We can telephone as early as we like, I suppose. But I've little confidence in the powers of the police down here. They're all right to patrol the beach, but they're not like city policemen."
At last the night wore away, and daybreak came.
They telephoned the police, and in a few minutes two of them arrived at the Maynard house for consultation.
"I know the child well," said one of them, "I often see her about,—a well-behaved little lady, but full o' fun, too. D'ye think she might have been kidnapped, now?"
"It might be," said Mr. Bryant, "though she's pretty big for that. And, too, she took extra money with her."
"Then she may have been goin' somewhere by rail."
"That's so! I never thought of that!" and Cousin Jack almost smiled.
"But where would she go?" said Mr. Maynard, hopelessly. "She never travelled alone, and though impulsively mischievous, sometimes, she wouldn't deliberately run away."
The policemen went away to begin their quest, and the Maynards and their guests went to breakfast.
No one felt like eating, yet each urged the others to do so.