“Step right in,” she invited with a smile. “Lands sakes, you’re drippin’ wet. Come in by the kitchen range and get dried out. You must be perishin’—”

“Thanks. May I use your telephone?” inquired Bill as he spied a wall instrument in the hall.

“Of course you can,” beamed Mrs. Johnson. “There’s a book on the table there.”

“Thank you, I know the number.”

“Going to call up Stoker?” asked Dorothy in a low tone.

“Yes. You and Uncle Abe go into the kitchen and get warm. I’ll be with you in a minute or two.”

But it was not until a good five minutes later that Bill put in his appearance.

“Everything all right?” demanded Dorothy from her seat on a kitchen chair close to the coal range.

“I’m afraid not,” Bill looked worried. “They don’t answer the phone.”

Chapter XIV
THE LION’S DEN