absentmindedly. He was thinking about tomorrow’s trip into the Clare District. That was going to be the hardest part of the route, going through their old home and its neighboring towns.

“Jack!” cried Desiré, as she entered her room. “Prissy’s gone!”

CHAPTER VII A FRIGHT

“Gone!” echoed Jack, staring blankly around the room. “Where could she possibly go?”

“I don’t know; but you see she isn’t here.”

There were few places to look. Jack peered under the big bed, while Desiré looked in the clothes press and a deep chest.

“What shall we do?” she whispered, twisting her hands together and trying to force back the tears. “Is René in your room?” as a sudden thought occurred to her.

With two steps, Jack crossed the hall and stuck his head into the room opposite.

“Yes; he’s in bed.”

Mrs. Riboux, sensing that something was wrong, came out of her room, followed by her husband. Their exclamations brought Prudence and Ormand to join the group. A few minutes of excited consultation resulted in Mr. Riboux going out to notify the authorities that a child was missing.

While the women searched the house from top to bottom, Jack and Ormand, aided by the feeble rays of a lantern, looked about the barns and yard. A group of men and boys from the town were soon scouring the nearby woods, and Desiré, who had returned to her room after the fruitless trip through the various rooms, could see the moving lights and hear occasional shouts.

The forced inaction maddened her. If there were only something she could do besides wait. What danger might not Priscilla be in while she stood helpless here?

After a long time Mr. Riboux, followed by Jack and Ormand, crossed the yard, and she ran downstairs hoping for news. Her brother merely shook his head gravely when they met in the kitchen where Mrs. Riboux was making coffee and setting out a lunch for the men who were still in the woods. One by one they straggled in, reporting no luck at all.

Desiré’s own acute distress was increased every time she looked at Jack’s stern, set face. Well she knew by the deep lines between his eyes that he was blaming himself for 

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