“And I’m with you!” he declared, getting up from his place and assisting his cousin down the steps. “So long,” he called back. “Do the best you can, Ned. I’ll be back directly. Just want to make sure that Doro doesn’t fall by the wayside again,” and at that the two cousins bolted off laughing, Dorothy having recovered her composure when she saw how quickly Nat came to her relief. Ned and Rose-Mary were taken so by surprise at the sudden move that they seemed dazed, and the look on their faces at the bolt of the two only made the departing ones more merry.
“Nat,” said Dorothy as they turned the corner, “I really wanted to go to some place—”
“Go ahead then,” he answered, “only, Doro, you know Ned and I are responsible for you and you had best tell me about it. You know I won’t interfere—only to be sure it’s all right.”
“Nat, you are such a good cousin,” began Dorothy.
“Good?” echoed Nat. “Why, you don’t say so? Make a note of that and tell the others—they would never believe me. There, did you see that streak of sunshine stick to my brow? It was a halo, sure thing. But, I say, what are you going to do, anyhow?”
“To look for Tavia,” replied Dorothy miserably.
“Thought so. But where is the looking to be done this time?”
“I thought I would inquire at the office of the theatre. They might happen to know something.”
“All right, come along. I’ll wait outside. Theatre people, especially managers and those in the office, are usually very busy and won’t keep you long.”
This was said with all possible kindness, but, somehow, it gave Dorothy a cold chill. She was so afraid of facing the manager. Oh, if she only could let Nat go in with her! But that would not be fair to Tavia, whose secret, if she ever discovered it, she determined to keep inviolate. She must do it alone, and do it secretly to save Tavia from the possible consequences of her folly, should it turn out that she really was with a company “on the road.”