“Let’s get this straight, Mrs. Ball,” Roy said slowly. His voice trembled just a little. “Aren’t Belle and Ethel and Nell here?”
“Why, of course not! Oh, what can have happened? Oh, my gracious! I don’t know what I’m doing! I’m so turned around! Why, a man came Saturday in an auto with a note from your mother, saying he was to take the girls with him—the three of them! And they went, Belle, Ethel, and Nell—they went with him! Why, I thought he was from your place! Oh, my lands! what can have happened? The three girls—they’re gone—they’re gone!”
CHAPTER XIII
An Ultimatum
Just outside the house a whistle sounded. Neither Roy nor Teddy heard it. They stood facing Mrs. Ball, their faces a sickly white beneath their tan. Slowly Teddy’s hands clenched until his nails dug into his palms. Roy took a quick breath, which sounded like a gasp in the silence of that room.
Mrs. Ball swayed slightly, and Roy took a swift step forward.
“It’s—it’s all right,” he said uncertainly. “Don’t—get excited. I think—I—”
“Gone!” The word seemed wrung from the woman’s bloodless lips. “Belle—Ethel—Nell—gone! I tell you they’re gone! Where—where—they’re gone—”
She seemed about to faint, and Teddy and Roy sprang to her side. At that moment a step sounded in the doorway and a man’s voice boomed a greeting, only to be cut off sharply as Peter Ball took in the scene with a rapid glance. When his wife saw him, she came to herself somewhat and flung herself sobbing into his arms.
“Oh, Pete!” she moaned, “something terrible has happened. The girls—our nieces—and Belle Ada—who were here—”