The Captain inspected his granddaughter's and Miss Cavendish's rooms, Macloud and Croyden, being discreet, the rooms on the other side of the house. They discovered nothing which would explain. "We will have dinner," said the Captain. "They will surely turn up before we have finished." The dinner ended, however, and the missing ones had not returned. "Might they have gone for a drive?" Macloud suggested. The Captain shook his head. "The keys of the stable are on my desk, which shows that the horses are in for the night. I admit I am at a loss--however, I reckon they will be in presently, with an explanation and a good laugh at us for being anxious." But when nine o'clock came, and then half-after-nine, and still they did not appear, the men grew seriously alarmed. The Captain had recourse to the telephone again, getting residence after residence, without result. At last he hung up the receiver. "I don't know what to make of it," he said, bewildered. "I've called every place I can think of, and I can't locate them. What can have happened?" "Let us see how the matter stands," said Macloud. "We left them here about half-after-five, and, so far as can be ascertained, no one has seen them since. Consequently, they must have gone out for a walk or a drive. A drive is most unlikely, at this time of the day--it is dark and cold. Furthermore, your horses are in the stable, so, if they went, they didn't go alone--some one drove them. The alternative--a walk--is the probable explanation; and that remits us to an accident as the cause of delay. Which, it seems to me, is the likely explanation." "But if there were an accident, they would have been discovered, long since; the walks are not deserted," the Captain objected. "Possibly, they went out of the town." "A young woman never goes out of town, unescorted," was the decisive answer. "This is a Southern town, you know." "I suppose you don't care to telephone the police?" asked Croyden. "No--not yet," the Captain replied. "Davila would never forgive me, if nothing really were wrong--besides, I couldn't. The Mayor's office is closed for the night--we're not supposed to need the police after six o'clock." "Then Croyden and I will patrol the roads, hereabout," said Macloud. "Good! I will go out the Queen Street pike a mile or two," the Captain said. "You and Mr. Croyden can take the King Street pike, North and South. We'll meet here not later than eleven o'clock. Excuse me a moment----" "What do you make of it?" said Macloud. "It is either very serious or else it's nothing at all. I mean, if anything _has_ happened, it's far out of the ordinary," Croyden answered.