“Hmm!” mused Mr. Armstrong. “She must be somewhere around, Ken. Let us first search the yard thoroughly.”
Together they looked over the yard and then the garage. But the child was not there. Finally they stopped their search. “You say that you were to the park, at the Morrisons, the Smiths, the Karliners?” asked Mr. Armstrong.
“Yes, Dad.”
“Can you think of anywhere else she might be? Do you know of any other child she occasionally plays with?”
Just then Mrs. Armstrong came out onto the porch and called, “Ken, John, what are you doing out here when you are supposed to be at the dinner table? And where is Betty?”
Mr. Armstrong walked slowly over to his wife and said, “Now, Edna, don’t you become upset. It seems that Betty is nowhere where she usually plays. Do you know of any other child she sometimes plays with and with whom she might be now?”
Mrs. Armstrong became very pale. “Were you to the Karliners, Ken?” she queried anxiously.
“Yes, mother.”
“Now don’t you become alarmed, Edna. The child is somewhere around. But she may have walked off alone somewhere or she might be playing at some house.”
“Were you to the Johnsons?” Mrs. Armstrong asked. Ken shook his head. “Then run over and see. And if she is not there, stop in at the McKinlys.”