She staggered up to her room and with shaking hands commenced to dress herself. The two sad faces on the wall stared at her.
"Oh, mother, mother, where is our baby?" they asked.
"Gone—gone—" said Mrs. Horton.
CHAPTER XVI
Rosanna was gone.
When or where or how no one could tell. By eight o'clock on that dreadful morning the neighborhood had been scoured, the alleys searched and the police were talking darkly of kidnapers and of dragging the river.
Mrs. Horton knew that no one could have entered the house, but she was at a loss to see how Rosanna could have been taken out or have gone out without being seen, even if she had not gone before dark. The neighborhood was full of children, and no one, young or old, had seen Rosanna, who was well known by sight by everyone on the block.
At quarter past eight, to Mrs. Horton's surprise, Mrs. Hargrave walked in. It was evident by her distressed look and trembling hands that she had learned what had happened.