"Then the girls, wishing to help their father, said they would go in search of it. They owned a good-sized motor boat, and had often gone off before, remaining several days at a time. They know how to take care of themselves."
"That's the kind of girls I like," declared Alice. "It seems doubly hard on them, though, that they should be lost."
"And lost they are," concluded the clerk. "Not a word has been heard of them since they set off into the wilds. When they did not come back, after several days, Mr. Madison organized a searching party. But, beyond a few traces of the girls, nothing could be found."
"We read about it in a newspaper," said Ruth.
"Yes, there were some items, but not many," the clerk said. "There wasn't much to print, I guess. So I just thought I'd warn you folks not to go too far off into the swamps or bayous."
"And you may depend upon it—we won't!" exclaimed Miss Pennington.
"Our party will probably keep together," explained Ruth, "as we will all be needed in the moving pictures."
"That's a good idea," the clerk said. "Take no chances."
It was not long before the entire moving picture company had heard the story of the lost girls, and there was universal sympathy for them, and for their grief-stricken parents.
"I only wish we could do something!" said Ruth, and there were tears in her eyes as she looked toward her sister. "Suppose it should be us?" she added.