Aunt Betty, finishing first, rang for Jim. Jim came to her and she said, “Jim, here is a sampler that Ma Babcock had and let Alfy bring to me. It was made by a girl named Hannah Woodrow, who married a man named Haley, who was cruel to her. It is supposed that the unfortunate woman died. The girl was a Baltimore girl who spent a year with Mrs. Babcock’s mother and attended school with Ma Babcock. She is thought to have been rich. I wonder if in any way she could have been related to little Lem Haley. We must try to trace up all facts and get to the bottom of things. I have written a letter, and I thought you would not mind taking it and the sampler to my lawyer.”
“Where is it?” asked Jim. “I will go gladly.”
“You go to Mr. Van Zandt, at 115 Broadway,” replied Mrs. Calvert. “Give him the package and the letter and tell him I am going out of town to-morrow at noon to Washington, and that I will send him a complete route list later on as soon as all our plans are made.”
“All right,” answered Jim, taking the package and putting the letter into his coat pocket. “I will not be back directly, if that makes no difference to you. I have a little shopping I should like to do this afternoon.” So saying, Jim left on his errand.
At Mrs. Calvert’s suggestion the girls began making out a list of things that were missing so that they could replace them that afternoon if possible.
Suddenly Dorothy rushed into the room where Aunt Betty was quietly seated reading and trying to collect her nerves that she said had been shattered by the experiences of the night before.
“Aunt Betty, dear Aunt Betty, I can’t find my locket!” she cried. “Alfy and I have hunted all over. We searched everything before we came to you with the news. We didn’t want to bother you till we were sure that we hadn’t merely mislaid it.”
“Are you sure, dear, you have looked all over everything you have?” questioned Aunt Betty.