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After Sunday school Dorian went directly to Carlia's home. He found the mother tear-stained and haggard with care. The tears flowed again freely at the sight of Dorian, and she clung to him as if she had no other means of comfort. "Do you know where Carlia is?" she wailed. "No, Sister Duke, I haven't the last idea. I haven't seen her for some time."
He told as little as possible of the details of his search, even to Carlia's parents. Any unpleasant disclosures would have to come from her to them, he reasoned. Not being able to get Dorian talking about the case, the good people of Greenstreet soon exhausted their own knowledge of the matter, so in a short time, the gossip resumed its every-day trend.
However, Dorian was not easy in his mind, and it came to the point when he suffered severe heartaches when he knew of Carlia's being with the stranger. The Christmas holidays that season were nearly spoiled for him. He had asked Carlia a number of times to go to the parties with him, but she had offered some excuse each time. "Let her alone," someone had told him.
The wild odor of hill plants mingled with the pungent fragrance of choke-cherry blossoms. The air was as clear as crystal. The mountains stood about them in silent, solemn watchfulness, strong and sure as the ages. The red glowed in Carlia's lips again, and the roses in her cheeks. The careworn look was gone from her face.
Under the bright lights Carlia showed rouge on her cheeks, something Dorian had never seen on her before. Her lips seemed redder than ever, and he eyes shone with a bright luster. Mr. Lamont led them to his automobile, and then Dorian remembered the night when this same young man with the same automobile had stopped near Carlia's home.
Lamont had not only captured Carlia but Dorian also. "If I were out with a girl," reasoned Dorian, "I certainly wouldn't want a third person along if I could help it." Why should this man be so eager to have his company? Dorian did not understand, not then. In a short time they drove up to Carlia's gate, and she and Dorian alighted. The driver did not get out.
Dorian a little nervously awaited the possibility of Carlia's appearing. It was pleasant to get shelter and a warm welcome in such weather. After the travelers had warmed themselves by the kitchen stove, they were invited into another room to meet Mr. Hickson, who was reclining in a big arm chair before the grate. He welcomed them without rising, but pointed them to chairs by the fire.
"Dorian!" she cried in a heart-breaking voice, "O, Dorian, come back come back!" But Dorian opened the gate, closed it, then walked on down the road into the darkness, nor did he once look back. Carlia's ringing cry persisted with Dorian all the way home, but he hardened his heart and went steadily on.
"Is there anything that I can do?" "I don't think of anything," said he. "Not now," added the mother in a tone which indicated that she did not wish the implied occasion to be too severe. The father followed Dorian out in the yard. There Dorian asked: "Brother Duke, has this Mr. Lamont been about lately?" "He was here yesterday. He came, he said, as soon as he heard of Carlia's disappearance.
Even Dorian here, who is usually afraid of girls, makes quite a chum of her." "Well, we're neighbors," justified the girl. After dinner Carlia took Mildred home with her. It was not far, just around the low ridge which hid the house from view. There Mildred met Pa Duke, Ma Duke and Will Duke, Carlia's older brother.
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