“It’s missing! The page that told about the pearls has been torn out!”
CHAPTER XI
The Torn Page
“If that isn’t the last straw!” Cara exclaimed indignantly. She permitted herself one glance at the place where the page had been torn from the diary and sank limply back against the settee. “After keying myself up to hear the grand solution, the whole thing falls flat!”
“I feel like wilted spinach myself,” Madge admitted. She closed the diary with an impatient snap, placing it on the table. “Well, we’re at the end. The page that was torn out, was the last one.”
“It would be,” Cara groaned. “Our chance of helping Miss Swenster has gone glimmering.”
“What do you guess became of the missing page?”
“Probably Florence tore it out herself and burned it up.”
Madge agreed that the theory was a likely one. However, she suggested that some other person might have taken the page. The thought left her even more depressed, for in that case, it was likely that whoever had learned the hiding place, had long ago taken the pearls.
The girls were so thoroughly disheartened that it was some time before they summoned courage to report their failure to Miss Swenster. Her face fell at the news but she tried not to show how keen was her disappointment.
“At any rate, I owe you both a great deal for your interest in the matter.”