CHAPTER XXX—THE HOUSE OF BEWILDERMENT
Carolyn May slept the sleep of the wearied, if not of the carefree. The noises of the street did not disturb her, not even the passing of the fire-department trucks some time after midnight.
Nor did nearer sounds arouse her. She had no knowledge of the fact that a procession of A.D.T. boys and messengers from the railroad company came to ring the bell of the Prices’ apartment. Later the janitor’s family was aroused, but the little lame boy thought it would be better for him to say nothing about having seen Carolyn May and of having given her the keys.
So when, in the early morning, a taxicab stopped at the street door and a bushy-haired, troubled-looking man got out and helped a woman clad in brown to the sidewalk, the janitor had no knowledge of the fact that Carolyn May and Prince were upstairs in the apartment that had been so long empty.
“And the Prices are away,” said Uncle Joe in a troubled voice. “What do you think of that, Mandy?”
“Oh, Joe! where could the dear child have gone?”
“I haven’t seen her,” declared the janitor. “But I can let you into the flat. There’s been lots of telegrams to Mr. Price in the night—and they weren’t all yours. You’re Carolyn May’s uncle, ain’t you?” he asked Mr. Stagg.
Uncle Joe acknowledged the relationship. “Let’s go upstairs,” he said to Amanda. “Now that I’m here—”
“Oh, dear, Joe!” almost wept Amanda, “could anything have happened to her in this big city?”
“’Most anything, I s’pose,” growled Joseph Stagg, following close on the janitor’s heels.