"Of course," she said to Boru, as she loosed him from her hold, "I might have known where she was going. The Blaines' caretaker must be a relation of hers. I saw him at her house that day. She must be going to stay with him. But why under the sun was she so mysterious about it, I wonder? And why doesn't she stay in the basement instead of occupying Miss Amy's dressing-room, and why the screen?"
Still very much puzzled, she walked home. The immediate preparations for the tea party occupied her for the remainder of the afternoon.
CHAPTER XV
A WHITE MITTEN
Days passed, and still no news of little Don. Chuck now made it a habit to wait for Phyllis and walk home with her and Janet.
Each day the greeting was the same.
"Any news?" and always Chuck shook his head and answered, "Not yet."
Friday morning Janet woke up with a sore throat and a headache, and Miss Carter kept her home. Phyllis went to school as usual, and in the afternoon Chuck met her.
"The week's almost up," he said after the usual question had been asked and answered, "and Uncle Don is determined to go on Monday with the money. He's had a letter since the first, you know, telling him to double the sum."