"Oh, don't, please. At least—not un—until I get back. Per—perhaps Mr. Stevens may find her."
"He will, if anyone can," declared Olive. Everyone in the room was overwhelmed with the mystery of it all. That a person could disappear so completely from a room that had only one entrance and with that entrance guarded at the moment passed all comprehension.
Once more Mollie set herself to examining every nook and corner of the room. She even raised the lids of the closed trunks and chests, thinking that possibly Barbara might have hidden in one of them. There was no trace whatever of the missing girl.
"Has anyone found the diary?" questioned Olive.
"Could it be that she fell through a trap in the floor?" queried Grace.
"There are no traps in the floor," answered Mr. Presby sharply.
"If there were, and Bab had fallen in, she would have dropped into one of our rooms," explained Olive. "I believe I will go all over the house," she decided as an afterthought.
"We will go with you," declared Grace. "Oh, Bab, Bab; where are you?" Grace broke into a paroxysm of heart-breaking sobs. This was too much for Mollie, who began sobbing also.
"Come, come, girls; this won't do," chided Olive. "We must keep our heads clear. Something has happened to Bab, but I'll venture to say that she is all right, no matter where she is."
"But—but if she is all right, why doesn't she call to us?" questioned Mollie, gazing at Olive through her tears.