"I mean we can't tell what will happen before we are able to tell Russ. He's hardly likely to be at home now, and we may have to search for him."
"But we can go home and tell his mother and Billy. One of them could find him, and warn him. Billy knows New York even better than we do."
"Yes, I suppose so. Well, we'll go to the apartment and see what happens there."
But at the Fenmore the girls had their first disappointment, for none of the Dalwoods was at home. Nor did any of the neighbors know where they had gone. For persons in New York, even in the same apartment house, are not very likely to become acquainted with one another, and often families may live in adjoining flats for a long time, without passing beyond the bowing stage. As for keeping track of the comings and goings of their neighbors, it is never thought of, unless something out of the ordinary occurs.
Echoes only answered the knocking of Ruth and Alice, and the two girls faced each other in the hallway with anxious looks on their faces.
"What shall we do?" asked Ruth. "None of them is home. How can we warn Russ?"
"I don't know. I've got to think!" exclaimed Alice. "Come in our place and let's sit down a minute. We can make a cup of tea. I was so hungry, and to leave that nice little meal—well, we just had to do it, that's all."
Tea was soon in process of making, and while the girls set out some cakes and a jar of jam for a hasty meal they did some rapid thinking.
"Did you ever hear Russ say where it was he was having his patent attachment made?" asked Alice.
"I never did," confessed Ruth. "He said it was somewhere on the East Side, but that's very indefinite."