Page:Jean Webster--Much ado about Peter.djvu/167

Rh carriage was empty! We 've hunted everywhere. He's gone—stolen just like the lap-robes."

Annie buried her head in her arms and commenced sobbing anew. Peter's face reflected the blankness of the others.

"Lord! This is awful! What will its mother be sayin'?"

Annie's sobs increased at this agonizing thought.

"It's them Armenian-lace women," Nora put in. "Master Bobby says they 're gypsies, and are always stealing babies and holding them for ransom."

"Have n't ye done anything?" he cried. "Did n't ye telephone for the p'lice?"

"Master Bobby would n't let us. He says the local police are blind as bats and what we need are detectives. An' above all, he says, we must not let it get into the papers; his father is awful mad when anything gets into the papers. Leave it to him, he says, and he 'll have the gypsies shadowed."