At last I was taken back to the house, where I stayed all day and all night with the lady.

This morning we got into the cars, and came back to the city.

The lady took me to a large house in Walnut street, where I stayed until after dark, and then she brought me home in a carriage." Such was the child's story; and greatly puzzled were Claire and his wife to comprehend its meaning.

Their joy at her return was intense.
She seemed almost as if restored to them from the dead.

But, for what purpose had she been carried off; and who were the parties engaged in the act?
These were questions of the deepest moment; yet difficult, if not impossible of solution--at least in the present.