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Rh Rhoda was considerably taken aback by the sudden and violent slamming of the door of Number one, Eden Place, and she felt an unwelcome misgiving as to her wisdom in bringing Mrs. Grubb face to face with truth. Her rage had somewhat subsided by the time she reached Mistress Mary’s side, for she had stopped on the way to ask a policeman to telephone the various stations for news of the lost children, and report at once to her. "There is one good thing," she thought: "wherever they may be, their light cannot be hid any more than that of a city that is set on a hill. There will be plenty of traces of their journey, for once seen they are never forgotten.  Nobody but a hero would think of kidnapping them, and nobody but an idiot would expect a ransom for them!"

"I hope you didn’t upbraid Mrs. Grubb," said Mary, divining from Rhoda’s clouded brow that her interview had not been a pleasant one. "You know our only peaceful way of rescuing Lisa from her hold is to make a friend of her, and convert her to our way of thinking. Was she much disturbed about the children?"

"Disturbed!" sniffed Rhoda disdain-