"I don't know, I am sure.
Has she left home?"
"She hasn't been home since she answered your note yesterday
afternoon."
"My note? I sent her no note."
"But I found it lying on the dining-room table last evening, when
I came from my room. You see, I had been lying down with a
headache."
"Mrs. Stanhope, I sent Dora no note. If she got one that was
signed with my name it was a forgery."
"Oh, Dick Rover!" The lady had arisen on his entrance, now she
sank back into a faint.
The youth was greatly alarmed, and at once rang for one of the
servants and also for Captain Putnam.
"What is the matter?" asked the master of the Hall.
"Something is very much wrong, sir," replied Dick. "Dora
Stanhope has disappeared."
"Disappeared!"
"Yes, sir. She received some sort of a note signed with my name."
No more was said just then, Dick, the captain, and the servant
doing all they could to restore Mrs. Stanhope to consciousness.
When the lady finally came to her senses she could not keep from
crying bitterly.
"Oh, where can my Dora be?" she moaned. "Something dreadful has
happened to her -- I feel certain of it."
"Where is that note?" asked Dick.
"I left it on the mantelpiece in our dining room. It said: 'Dear
Friend Dora: Meet me as soon as you can down at the old boathouse
on the lake.
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