"It's from mother," she cried, then crushed the paper in her hands and looked around at the sympathetic faces with eyes grown dark with fear. "Girls," she said, "I--I'm afraid to read it--I--" CHAPTER XVI THE SHADOW OF DISASTER Betty put a steadying arm about Mollie and asked gently: "Would it make it any easier if I were to read it, dear?" "No, oh, no!" cried Mollie, then smoothed out the crushed paper and read the telegram through while her face grew whiter and her lips closed in a tense line. With a queer little sound in her throat she turned away and handed it to Betty. "Read it," she commanded in a choked voice. Mrs. Ford put an arm about Mollie while Betty read aloud and the girls crowded closer. It was a brief, paralyzing message the telegram contained. "Twins are gone. Were not home last night, and am wild with anxiety. No need your coming home. Am doing everything possible to find them. MOTHER." "The twins!" gasped Amy. "Gone!" added Grace, stupefied. "Oh, Betty, are you sure you read it aright?" For answer, Betty handed her the telegram and turned to comfort Mollie, who was sobbing bitterly. "I knew I shouldn't have gone away," she was saying over and over again. "I knew I should have stayed at home." "But your staying at home probably wouldn't have made any difference," argued Betty soothingly. "And by this time they may have been found, anyway," added Mrs. Ford, gently leading Mollie toward the house, Betty at her side, while Grace and Amy followed, mute with sympathy. "Yes; or by this time they may be dead!" sobbed Mollie, refusing to be comforted. "They must have met with some accident or they wouldn't have stayed away all n-night." "Maybe they ran away," suggested Grace, trying hard to think of something cheering to say. "They've done it before, you know." "Yes," agreed Mollie, sinking into a porch chair and searching desperately for a handkerchief in her pocketless bathing suit. "But they always came home before night. I know it must be something awfully serious to keep them away over night." Mrs. Ford was very much worried and disturbed, but she nevertheless managed a bright smile. "As you say, they probably ran away," she said. "Only this time they have wandered too far and haven't been able to find their way back. But if your mother has notified the police, as she surely has by this time, they are sure to be found. And now," she added, rising briskly and making for the door, "since everything seems a good deal worse than it is on an empty stomach, I'm going to give you some lunch and we'll decide what to do afterward." Left alone, the girls gazed helplessly at each other. Mollie had stopped sobbing and was staring moodily out at the ocean, her eyes and nose swollen with weeping.