“Come on in and shut the door,” said Nan before she took time to answer her brother’s question about what had caused Dinah to go away. “Mrs. Pry doesn’t like the cold. We must keep the house warm for her, she says.”
“’Tisn’t cold!” declared Bert, whose cheeks were rosy red from having been playing in the snow. But he hurried in, closed the door, and then, turning to Nan, while he listened to the voices of Freddie and Flossie having one of their endless disputes in the playroom, the lad asked: “What happened to Dinah? What made her go away?”
“It’s on account of Sam,” answered Nan.
“Do you mean Sam came back and took Dinah away?”
“Oh, no, Sam didn’t come back,” went on Nan. “That’s the reason Dinah had to go—because Sam didn’t come back.”
“Say!” cried Bert with a little laugh, though he could see by the look on his sister’s face that she did not feel very jolly, “this is like one of the puzzles Charlie Mason asks. Where in the world is Dinah, anyhow?”
“She had to go down South—I don’t remember just where—to look after Sam,” explained Nan. “Something has happened to him—he’s sick, or something—and a telegram came for Dinah. She must have got it while we were at school, for when I got home, and I came ahead of you, I found Mrs. Pry all excited and Dinah was packed up, all ready to go. She wanted to wait until you got back, to tell you good-bye, but I told her to go, or else she’d miss her train.”
“That’s right,” agreed Bert. “But how did she know Sam was sick? Who told her?”
“A telegram came, I told you.”
“Oh, that’s so—you did. So many things are happening that I forget about some of them. But did Dinah have to walk to the station and carry her bag? I wish I’d been here—I’d ’a’ carried it for her.”