"Don't go, Betty," Mrs. Baird said, peremptorily, "I have something to tell you; perhaps you can help. Have you seen Maud to-day?"
Betty shook her head. "No," she said, slowly, "I don't think I have."
Mrs. Baird hesitated for a minute and then said, very distinctly:
"Maud is lost."
It was a startling announcement, and Betty couldn't understand. Who ever heard of any one being lost at Seddon Hall.
"But how?" she asked Mrs. Baird. "Where could she be?" Miss Crosby answered her:
"Nobody knows, Betty," she said. "Maud was at breakfast this morning, but at luncheon time she did not appear. I sent one of the girls up to look for her and she came back and told me she couldn't find her. I thought perhaps she was in the Infirmary, but after luncheon I asked Miss King, and she said she hadn't seen her."
"She's not in the building; we've looked everywhere," Mrs. Baird continued. "Where could she have gone? None of the teachers gave her permission to go out of bounds."
At the word permission Betty looked up. It struck her that Maud might not have considered it necessary to ask for permission.
"May I go to her room?" she asked Mrs. Baird.