That evening Mrs. Slater and her son Harry were guests of the Browns at supper, at which was served the chowder made from the clams dug by the children that afternoon.
"It is delicious!" said Mrs. Slater, as she was helped to a second plateful.
"I like it lots!" declared Harry. "I guess Sandy would, too, if he was here."
"What's this about your dog being lost?" asked Mr. Brown, for he had heard the children talking about it.
"We did lose a very valuable animal," explained Mrs. Slater. "We were out automobiling one day, and in driving through a place called Bellemere, on Sandport Bay——"
"Bellemere!" cried Bunny Brown. "Why, that's where we live!"
"That's where our dog was lost," said Mrs. Slater, smiling at him. "For some reason he leaped out of the auto and went bounding away down the street. My husband stopped and tried to get him back, but he would not come. And he has been lost ever since. Harry misses him very much."
"What day was it that your dog ran away?" asked Mr. Brown, with a look at his wife.
"Why, it was—let me see," answered Mrs. Slater slowly. "It was on——"
Her words were interrupted by a loud crash of thunder that shook the bungalow, and all the electric lights suddenly went out.