CHAPTER V
UNPLEASANT NEWS
Will was the first to realize the import of the message. He exclaimed briskly:
"Gone out; eh? Well, it won't be hard to track him, for there is a light, new covering of snow on the ground and sidewalks. That is, if we get right at it. Come on, Mr. Blackford, and we'll find the little rascal!"
"Of course we will!" cried Betty. "Don't cry, Mollie dear. He can't be lost for long; everyone in Deepdale knows him and whoever finds him will take him home."
"Yes, but he—he may freeze!"
"Oh, it isn't cold!" declared Grace, though she was even then shivering. Grace was not any too well built to stand cold weather.
"That's it! Stick to it!" whispered Will in her ear. "Insist that it isn't cold."
"I'll come with you and help search," suggested Amy, who had been bidding her callers good-night. "I wonder if we ought to have a lantern?"
"It would be useful," spoke Betty.