MAUD'S DISAPPEARANCE
There was no need to consult the calendar. The subdued voices, and the
worried frowns, to be seen in any of the corridors or classrooms of
Seddon Hall proclaimed it the first of February, and examination week.
Every girl carried a book under her arm and the phrase, "Do you think
you passed?" was on every one's lips.
Outside the weather was clear and cold, the pond was frozen smooth as
glass. The snow on the hill was packed solid and fit for coasting, but
no one ventured that far away from their books.
The first half of the year was over and the girls knew from past
experience that the rest of the time would hurry by. In one short month
there would be a hint of spring in the air, and commencement would be in
sight.
On this particular afternoon the Senior class were having their
examination in Latin and, to judge by their frowns, they were finding it
difficult.
Betty ruffled her hair every little while and scowled at Miss Hale, who
was correcting papers at her desk. She had answered all the questions
she could and done all the prose work. All that was left was a
translation of Virgil. Betty stared at the unfamiliar text, and wondered
where it had come from. "I don't believe it's Virgil," she said to
herself. "If it is it's a part we haven't had." Then a few words from
the confusing paragraphs caught her eye, and she began to remember. Her
brow cleared--a few words were all Betty ever needed to start her on one
of her famous translations. She wrote hurriedly for ten minutes.
"That will do, I guess. The Spartan's sure to say, 'a little too free,
but correct on the whole,' anyway," she thought, ruefully, as she folded
up her paper and put her pen and ink away.
Miss Hale raised her eyebrows in surprise as she handed in the
examination.
"You have finished very early," she said, coldly, and Betty's heart
sank. "Don't you want to look over your paper?"
"Jemima, no!" Betty exclaimed, without thinking. "That is, I beg your
pardon, Miss Hale, but I don't think I do. You see I'd begin to wonder
about all my answers and that would only make things worse," she said,
desperately.
"Very well; you may leave the room," Miss Hale replied, with a resigned
sigh that plunged Betty into the deepest gloom.
She wandered over to Senior Alley. It was deserted. The rest of her
classmates were still in the study hall. She found Angela's history book
on her bed and started to study, but gave it up in despair. They had
covered over half of a thick book that year and there was no way of
knowing what part to re-study.
"I'd be sure to learn all the dates that weren't asked for," she said,
aloud, and closed the book.
She thought of the possible Juniors who might be free. She had passed
Fanny on her way out of the study hall--she remembered the big ink spot
that she had on one cheek. Suddenly she thought of Maud.
"I'll bet she's finished her exam, if she had one," she laughed to
herself, for Maud's utter disregard of lessons that did not interest her
was a much-discussed topic.
She went upstairs to the Sophomore corridor, expecting to find it almost
as deserted as her own, but, instead, she found five of the teachers
talking excitedly in the hall.
Mrs. Baird had her hand on the knob of Maud's door. Betty was a little
confused at such a strange gathering.
"Excuse me," she said, hastily, and turned to go.
There was no need to explain that something was wrong--the whole
atmosphere of the corridor was charged with mystery.
"Don't go, Betty," Mrs. Baird said, peremptorily, "I have something to
tell you; perhaps you can help. Have you seen Maud to-day?"
Betty shook her head. "No," she said, slowly, "I don't think I have."
Mrs. Baird hesitated for a minute and then said, very distinctly:
"Maud is lost."
It was a startling announcement, and Betty couldn't understand. Who ever
heard of any one being lost at Seddon Hall.
"But how?" she asked Mrs. Baird. "Where could she be?" Miss Crosby
answered her:
"Nobody knows, Betty," she said. "Maud was at breakfast this morning,
but at luncheon time she did not appear. I sent one of the girls up to
look for her and she came back and told me she couldn't find her. I
thought perhaps she was in the Infirmary, but after luncheon I asked
Miss King, and she said she hadn't seen her."
"She's not in the building; we've looked everywhere," Mrs. Baird
continued. "Where could she have gone? None of the teachers gave her
permission to go out of bounds."
At the word permission Betty looked up. It struck her that Maud might
not have considered it necessary to ask for permission.
"May I go to her room?" she asked Mrs. Baird.
"Certainly."
Betty opened the door and looked up at the wall over the bed. As she had
expected Maud's snow shoes were gone from their accustomed place. She
explained to the teachers.
"She's probably miles away by now," she finished. "Did she have any
examination this afternoon?"
"Yes, in literature," Miss Porter told her, "and I can't believe she'd
cut--"
"She wouldn't--not literature anyway," Betty said, confidently, and
turned to Mrs. Baird.
"I'm sure I can find her by tracing her snow shoes," she said.
"But you mustn't go alone; something may have happened. Take one of the
stable boys with you," Mrs. Baird answered.
"I'd rather have Polly and Lois," Betty said, "if there's anything
wrong."
"Very well, where are they?" Mrs. Baird asked.
"Taking their Latin exams," Betty told her.
"Go and get them. I'll explain to Miss Hale, and, Betty, dear, do make
haste; I'm really worried; the child may have hurt herself somewhere."
Betty hurried to the study hall. She knew it was useless to try to
explain to Miss Hale; so she said: "Mrs. Baird wanted Polly and Lois at
once." They handed in their papers and joined her in the corridor. She
hurried them to their room, and explained on the way.
Fifteen minutes later they had found the track of Maud's snow shoes and
started out to follow it.
Seddon Hall owned over five hundred acres of land and for the most part
it was dense woodland. Trailing through it in winter without snow shoes
was hard work, for the snow drifted even with the high boulders in
places and you were apt to suddenly wade in up to your waist. Maud had
taken the path that went out towards flat rock. This made following her
tracks comparatively easy for the girls.
"What under the sun do you suppose has happened to her?" Polly demanded.
"I don't know," Betty replied; "I wish I knew when she'd started. As
far as I can find out no one has seen her since breakfast."
"Did she have an exam this morning?" Lois inquired.
"No; her class had Latin and she doesn't take it. I'm not awfully
worried," Polly said, suddenly. "I would be if it were any one but Maud.
She's used to much wilder country than this and I can't help feeling
that she's all right somewhere."
"But, where?" Lois demanded. "If she were all right and hadn't hurt
herself she'd have been home by now."
"If she's kept up on top of the hill she can't have come to very great
grief," Betty declared, "but if she's headed down to the river--then,
anything could have happened."
"What do you mean?" Lois asked.
"Why, she might have fallen and broken her leg," Betty explained. "You
know how dangerous those rocks are in winter; she may have stepped
between two of them and gotten caught."
"Don't," Lois protested, with a shudder.
They trudged on for a quarter of a mile in silence, then the trail
turned suddenly to the right.
"She's gone toward the apple orchard, thank goodness!" Betty exclaimed.
"Do you suppose she's gone round by way of the bridge and home?" Lois
asked, stopping. "If she has, we'll have our hunt in vain."
Polly and Betty considered a minute. Then Polly said:
"Of course not; if she had, she'd have been home hours ago."
When they reached the apple orchard they noticed that the print of the
snow shoes was less regular.
"She's stopped to rest here," Betty said, pointing to the ground. "Look
how irregular these prints are."
"Come on!" Polly said, quickening her steps, "we may be near her."
"Hold on!" Betty cried, "look, something happened here; it looks as if
she'd fallen down!" A big dent in the snow, as if a body had been lying
on the ground, showed up in the prints of Maud's snow shoes.
"Here's a queer thing," Lois pointed out, "one shoe's going in one
direction and one in another."
Polly walked on a little way, and then called to the others, excitedly:
"Here are the prints and look, side of them there's a mark as if she
were dragging something along with her."
"What's that black spot farther on?" Lois demanded.
They looked in the direction in which she pointed and saw, a couple of
hundred yards farther on, something that showed black against the snow.
"It's a man's hat! Oh, Poll, I'm scared to death," Lois said, trembling,
when they came up to it. Murder and every possible form of highway
robbery passed through her mind.
Betty turned white, and Polly bit her lip.
"Come on!" she said, bravely, "we've got to find her."
"Jemima!" Betty groaned; "it's beginning to snow, too." She picked up
the hat; it was almost buried by the snow, and looked green with age.
They were tired by this time--walking in snow shoes is very much easier
than trudging in rubber boots--and they realized with a shudder that
Maud and her unknown companion had a long start of them.
They followed the track as fast as they could. It went on through the
orchard and down the hill, and then over the bridge. It stopped there
and zigzagged in every direction. The girls looked and exchanged
frightened glances. Betty's heart was beating furiously and Lois' knees
trembled. They forged on, the prints were clear again, and went
straight up the hill, always accompanied by the queer, uneven path
beside them.
"She must be dragging something," Polly said. "That's all that that
track can mean."
"Or some one is dragging her," Lois spoke the thought that was uppermost
in Betty's mind.
"Nonsense!" Polly ejaculated. "I don't believe it. I tell you Maud is
all right, wherever she is. I know it."
The road they were taking was a short cut to school. There was a steep
hill--a level stretch, and then it joined the road from the school farm.
The snow was falling heavily, and it was getting dark when they reached
the top of the hill, and the prints were fast disappearing. By the time
they got to the road they lost all track.
"Whatever happened, Maud's home," Betty exclaimed in a relieved voice,
and broke into a run. The others followed her.
Mrs. Baird was walking up and down the Senior porch as they came up.
"Oh, girls! I'm so glad you're back; come in and take off those wet
clothes right away; Maud's here."
"Is she all right?" they asked in chorus.
"Yes," Mrs. Baird assured them. "She must have been in the building
when you started out."
"Where?" Betty demanded.
"In the bath-tub," Mrs. Baird said, hurriedly. "I'll explain it to you
later. Now do go and change; you must be very wet. I'll have some hot
soup for you in my sitting-room. Come as soon as you can. I'll excuse
you from study hour."
The girls hurried upstairs without a word. In Senior Alley they met
Fanny.
"Do you know where Maud Banks is?" Betty asked her.
"Yes; she's in her room," Fanny said; "where have you all--"
"Go up and tell her to come down here this minute," Betty interrupted
her; "please, Fanny, like a dear," she added as an afterthought.
Fanny went up to the corridor and returned with Maud.
Polly and Lois and Betty were all changing their clothes in their
separate rooms. Maud stood in the hall between, with the astonished
Fanny.
"Did you get lost?" Betty asked the first question.
"No, rather not," Maud answered; "got out as far as an apple orchard,
and it was awfully late. I'd no idea where the time went. I knew there
must be a short cut, so I--"
"Never mind, we know that," Polly interrupted. "Did you sit down in the
orchard?"
"As a matter of fact, I did; my snow shoe was loose. How did you know?"
"Were you dragging anything when you left the orchard?" Lois demanded.
"Yes, a branch of a tree; I say, I'm awfully sorry you had all that
trouble of--"
"Did you see a man's hat by any chance, on your way to the bridge?"
Betty asked.
"Yes." Maud was becoming more and more bewildered.
"What did you do when you got home?"
"Why, I hustled down to Roman Alley and took a tub. You see I was
awfully late, and I knew that Miss--what's her name--Spartan would be no
end cross if I didn't show up for the exam. I didn't want to miss it
either; it was literature, you know."
"Where did you leave your snow shoes?"
"Up against the gym porch; they were awfully wet and I didn't want to
take the time to go to my room. I say it was a bit of a joke; you're
thinking I was lost, wasn't it?" she asked, calmly.
Polly finished buttoning her dress.
"Maud," she said sternly "go back upstairs. To-morrow we may be able to
see the joke, but not now."
Maud left with Fanny. "I'm most awfully sorry," were her last words.
A few minutes later, the girls sought the comfort of Mrs. Baird's
charming sitting-room, and the promised hot soup.
Between sips they told her the story of their hunt and the fears that
beset them. She listened delightedly, but with ready sympathy.
"You poor, dear children! What an experience! I talked to Maud very
severely."
Betty thought she said: "I will talk."
"Don't tell her what we've told you," she begged, "I wouldn't have her
know for anything."
"She'd say it was no end of a joke," Polly laughed.
Mrs. Baird nodded in understanding.
"Of course I won't tell her," she said merrily. "It's a secret just
between us," she added with a smile.