Wollaston caught hold of her little arm in its brown sleeve.
"When was she lost ?" he asked, fiercely, of Gladys.

"Don't you know any better than to rush right at anybody with such a thing as that?
Don't you be frightened, Maria.

I'll find her." A little knot of passengers from the train gathered around them.
Gladys was pale herself, and had a strong sense of the sadness of the occasion, still she had a feeling of importance.

Edwin Shaw came lumbering up timidly, and Maud Page pressed quickly to Maria's side with a swirl of her wide skirts.
"Gladys Mann, what on earth are you talking about ?" said she, sharply.

"Who's lost ?" "Maria's little sister." "Hm! I don't believe a word of it." "She is, so there! Nobody has seen a sign of her since morning, and Maria's pa's most crazy.