IN CHARGE
"No one here? What do you mean?"
"Betty Nelson, what a strange thing to say!"
"Of course there must be some one here. They're only upstairs, maybe, shutting the windows there."
Thus spoke Mollie, Grace and Amy in turn. Betty listened patiently, and then suggested:
"Just hearken for a minute, and see if you think anyone is upstairs shutting windows."
Then all listened intently. There was not a sound save that caused by the storm, which seemed to increase in fury instead of diminishing.
"There is no one here," went on Betty positively. "We are all alone in this house."
"But where can the people be?" asked Grace. "They must be people living here," and she looked around at the well-kept, if somewhat old-fashioned, parlor.
"Of course the house is lived in—and the people must have left it only recently," said Betty. "That's evident."