“But, Oliver! if you don’t give them the money——”
“I know, I know, Alice. We’ll have to fix it up somehow,” answered the husband hastily. Then he sat down beside her and put his arm around her shoulder. “Please don’t worry so. I am sure we’ll be able to fix this matter up somehow sooner or later, and that the girls will come back safely.”
“Oh, I wish I could believe you!” burst out the distressed woman. And then, unable to control herself longer, she burst into a passionate fit of weeping, and betook herself away to her bedroom.
From outside came the sound of an automobile rolling along the gravel roadway, and looking from a window the manufacturer saw Dave’s father alight, followed by Dunston Porter. Both showed signs of weariness, and the look on the face of each betokened keen disappointment.
“Any success?” demanded the jewelry manufacturer quickly, as the pair entered the house.
“Nothing worth speaking about,” answered Dunston Porter. “We hired another detective and sent him off to Halwick.”
“The authorities have no news whatever,” added Dave’s father. “They have received telegrams from all the large cities within three hundred miles of this place, and not a trace of the girls has come to light. They claim that it’s the strangest disappearance on record.”
“But this demand for money——” began Oliver Wadsworth.
“Yes, they are trying to sift that out, too. But they don’t seem to be able to get anywhere with it. They have advised that you continue to keep quiet about it, and they said they would keep quiet, too. Nevertheless, I think the news has leaked out somehow.”
“Let me see that letter again,” said Dunston Porter, and perused the communication as carefully as the jewelry manufacturer had done. It was written in heavy lead pencil in evidently a disguised hand, and was as follows: