Carin looked sadly from the little window in the curtains of their surrey, and wondered what strange thing could be happening to her friend. Though several hours had passed since she was lost, and though at least two hundred persons had joined in the search for her, and she had not been found, still, Carin found it impossible to realize that anything could have happened to the laughing girl who had run with her through the woods to the green dell. Usually Carin liked to ride in the rain. It was fun to cuddle down beneath the robes, in the dusk of the curtained carriage, and “play.” Carin knew how to play much more delightful things without toys than with them. She had only to begin pretending that she was a princess who was being stolen and carried into the desert; or that she was a missionary traveling over the Himalayas; or a pirate’s daughter, going to hide treasure; or any other of a hundred things, to have a beautiful time. One of her favorite “pretends” had been that about the stolen princess. But the story had come true in a way, and Carin found it was not nearly so amusing as she had thought it would be. The rain grew heavier and the sky sulkier, and when they reached home, it was chilly and almost dark. To be sure the great house was lighted up, and a fire was burning in the living room, and a delicious supper was spread. But these things did not bring as much comfort as usual. Mrs. Carson had insisted that the McBirneys should not climb the mountain that night. “You’ll only have to come down in the morning,” she said. “Spend the night with us. We’ll telephone the sheriff and get him up here; and we’ll telegraph all the surrounding towns, and you’ll be right here to help and advise.” “But there’s the stock,” objected Thomas McBirney. “I can’t leave the poor dumb beasts hungering and thirsting.” “Hi and me’ll look after them, pa,” said Jim. “You just let us take the horses, and we’ll ride up there and ’tend to things.” “’Deed we will,” agreed Hi. “The only trouble is, I ought to be at the mill in the morning. They’ll be looking for me.” Hi spoke as if the mill would shut down if he didn’t get there on time, and Mr. Carson couldn’t conceal a smile. He liked Hi’s important businesslike ways and his fashion of taking responsibility. So he answered gravely: “Allow me to call up the manager of the mill the first thing in the morning, Hi, and apprise him of the situation. I may be able to get him at breakfast, so that he’ll know just what to expect before he reaches the office.” It seemed a reasonable arrangement to Hi, and he hadn’t the faintest notion of the smiles of his elders. So, mounted on the bare backs of the McBirney horses, the boys set out to ride up the mountain in the rain. Each wore an old raincoat which Mr. Carson had fished up from somewhere about the house, and each carried a lantern.