A Strange Disappearance

A STRANGE
DISAPPEARANCE
BY
ANNA KATHARINE GREEN

OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR
The House of the Whispering Pines Miss Hurd. An Enigma
Leavenworth Case That Affair Next Door
Strange Disappearance Lost Man's Lane
Sword of Damocles Agatha Webb
Hand and Ring One of My Sons
The Mill Mystery Defence of the Bride,
Behind Closed Doors and Other Poems
Cynthia Wakeham's Money Risifi's Daughter. A Drama
Marked "Personal" The Golden Slipper
To the Minute

CONTENTS

* CHAPTER I A NOVEL CASE
* CHAPTER II A FEW POINTS
* CHAPTER III THE CONTENTS OF A BUREAU DRAWER
* CHAPTER IV THOMPSON'S STORY
* CHAPTER V A NEW YORK BELLE
* CHAPTER VI A BIT OF CALICO
* CHAPTER VII THE HOUSE AT THE GRANBY CROSS ROADS
* CHAPTER VIII A WORD OVERHEARD
* CHAPTER IX A FEW GOLDEN HAIRS
* CHAPTER X THE SECRET OF MR. BLAKE'S STUDIO
* CHAPTER XI LUTTRA
* CHAPTER XII A WOMAN'S LOVE
* CHAPTER XIII A MAN'S HEART
* CHAPTER XIV MRS. DANIELS
* CHAPTER XV A CONFAB
* CHAPTER XVI THE MARK OF THE RED CROSS
* CHAPTER XVII THE CAPTURE
* CHAPTER XVIII LOVE AND DUTY
* CHAPTER XIX EXPLANATIONS
* CHAPTER XX THE BOND THAT UNITES

A STRANGE DISAPPEARANCE
CHAPTER I
A NOVEL CASE
"Talking of sudden disappearances the one you mention of Hannah in
that Leavenworth case of ours, is not the only remarkable one which
has come under my direct notice. Indeed, I know of another that in
some respects, at least, surpasses that in points of interest, and if you
will promise not to inquire into the real names of the parties concerned,
as the affair is a secret, I will relate you my experience regarding it."
The speaker was Q, the rising young detective, universally
acknowledged by us of the force as the most astute man for mysterious
and unprecedented cases, then in the bureau, always and of course
excepting Mr. Gryce; and such a statement from him could not but
arouse our deepest curiosity. Drawing up, then, to the stove around
which we were sitting in lazy enjoyment of one of those off-hours so
dear to a detective's heart, we gave with alacrity the required promise;
and settling himself back with the satisfied air of a man who has a good
story to tell that does not entirely lack certain points redounding to his
own credit, he began:
I was one Sunday morning loitering at the ----- Precinct Station, when
the door opened and a respectable-looking middle-aged woman came in,
whose agitated air at once attracted my attention. Going up to her, I
asked her what she wanted.
"A detective," she replied, glancing cautiously about on the faces of the
various men scattered through the room. "I don't wish anything said
about it, but a girl disappeared from our house last night, and"--she
stopped here, her emotion seeming to choke her--"and I want some one
to look her up," she went on at last with the most intense emphasis.
"A girl? what kind of a girl; and what house do you mean when you say

our house?"
She looked at me keenly before replying. "You are a young man," said
she; "isn't there some one here more responsible than yourself that I can
talk to?"
I shrugged my shoulders and beckoned to Mr. Gryce who was just then
passing. She at once seemed to put confidence in him. Drawing him
aside, she whispered a few low eager words which I could not hear. He
listened nonchalantly for a moment but suddenly made a move which I
knew indicated strong and surprised interest, though from his face--but
you know what Gryce's face is. I was about to walk off, convinced he
had got hold of something he would prefer to manage himself, when
the Superintendent came in.
"Where is Gryce?" asked he; "tell him I want him."
Mr. Gryce heard him and hastened forward. As he passed me, he
whispered, "Take a man and go with this woman; look into matters and
send me word if you want me; I will be here for two hours."
I did not need a second permission. Beckoning to Harris, I
reapproached the woman. "Where do you come from," said I, "I am to
go back with you and investigate the affair it seems."
"Did he say so?" she asked, pointing to Mr. Gryce who now stood with
his back to us busily talking with the Superintendent.
I nodded, and she at once moved towards the door. "I come from No.
---- Second Avenue: Mr. Blake's house," she whispered, uttering a
name so well known, I at once understood Mr. Gryce's movement of
sudden interest "A girl--one who sewed for us--disappeared last night
in a way to alarm us very much. She was taken