“Now don’t leave here until you are positive you feel all right,” cautioned Miss Riceman. “I’m sure I’m very glad to have met you and I hope I have been able to help you. I’m sorry I can’t tell you where the Rossmore company is, but I haven’t made a memoranda of the complete booking as I sometimes do. I thought I had it on a slip of paper but I find I haven’t.”
“Oh, I’m sure you’ve helped me a lot,” exclaimed Dorothy, hardly able to put her gratitude into words, but the busy little actress looked entirely satisfied with her visitor’s thanks as she showed Dorothy the way out of the stage door. She smiled cheerily at her as she waved her hand in good-bye and then she went back behind the scenes again, to her dressing room to resume the removal of the “make-up” from her face.
CHAPTER XIX
THE CLUE
Outside the door Dorothy again felt that girlish inclination to collapse. What excuse could she make to her friends for her delay? How would she get back to them? Perhaps they were looking all over the city for her and they might have even notified the police of her absence.
All the novelty of the theatre that had, for the past half hour, put a world between Dorothy and those outside of the stage dressing rooms, was now dispelled. What would she say or do when she met Rose-Mary? How could she now conceal her worry and anxiety? How was she to continue her search for Tavia?
The stage door opened into a dismal, narrow alley. Here Dorothy found herself in the midst of a scurrying crowd of working people, for several large factories had just shut down. The girl stood for a moment and looked helplessly about her. Presently she felt an arm on her shoulder and started in alarm.
“Dorothy!” exclaimed a voice, and she turned to see Nat standing beside her.
“Oh, Nat! I’m so glad!”
“So am I. Just step along this way. I knew you hadn’t come out the front way so I came here.”
Dorothy pressed her shoulder against her cousin in a helpless, imploring sort of way. He seemed to know what the action meant for instantly he had ready to recite, a most plausible explanation of her disappearance.