"
"Well, I saw that the house was locked up, and then I sat down in
a chair to wait for Mr. Damon to come back. I was getting sleepy,
for we don't usually stay up so late. I suppose I must have dozed
off, but I was suddenly awakened by hearing a peculiar noise. I
sat up in alarm, and then I realized that Mr. Damon had not come
in."
"I was frightened then, and I called my maid. It was nearly one
o'clock, and my husband never stays out as late as that. We went
next door, and found that Mr. Blackson had not been out of his
house that evening. So it could not have been he to whom Mr. Damon
was speaking."
"We roused up other neighbors, and they searched all about the
grounds, thinking he might have been overcome by a sudden faint.
But we could not find him. My husband had disappeared--
mysteriously disappeared!" and the lady broke into sobs.
"Now don't worry," said Tom, soothingly, as he put his arms about
her as he would have done to his own mother, had she been alive,
"We'll get him back!"
"But how can you? No one knows where he is."
"Oh, yes!" said Tom, confidently, "Mr. Damon himself knows where
he is, and unless he has gone away voluntarily, I think you will
soon hear from him."
"What do you mean by--voluntarily?" asked the wife.
"First let me ask you a question," came from Tom. "You said you
were awakened by a peculiar noise.
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