“Then you didn’t know where she was?” Judy demanded.
“N-no, not for sure. She’d have a purty hard time findin’ abody from jest the looks of their house. But she does have relatives—if they ain’t dead.”
“Her mother’s relatives?”
“Yes, my poor Annie’s folks. I told her about them in a letter, but I get all muddled up on the names. Can’t seem to remember. It’s queer how anything like that slips a man’s mind. Can’t you help me, Judy?” he begged. “Ain’t there anything you can do?”
“There’s everything. Why, we would have turned New York inside out looking for her if it hadn’t been for that telegram——”
Dale touched her arm. “Go easy, Judy. Her father’s upset, too. Better hang up, and we’ll report it to the police again.”
At the same time Mr. Lang was saying, “I’ll manage it somehow. The nurses ain’t strong enough to keep me here when my little girl is lost.”
Through tear-dimmed eyes, Judy fumbled for the pile of coins, put the few that were left back in her pocketbook and stumbled out of the store with Dale and Pauline.
“All this to go through again,” she moaned, “and after we believed she was safe!”
Then she looked up and saw Dale’s sober face and resolved to be brave herself.