Dorothy Dale to the Rescue by Margaret Penrose

Nat and Tavia got out the old _Fire Bird_ machine that had seen them through many adventures in order to cover the ground with "full speed ahead," to use Nat's own phrase.

"Something tells me our young wanderer may have strayed far afield," remarked Nat, as he manipulated things in preparation for the start. "We shall need all the gas and ingenuity we have if we are to return the kidlet before Dot discovers his absence."

"He may only be playing in perfectly harmless fashion with his mates," remarked Tavia, as she gloried in the sting of the wind against her face. "I probably am just scaring up trouble."

"I hope so! " said Nat dubiously, and Tavia looked at him quickly.

"But you think not! " she said. "Am I right?"

"As always! " He smiled and then added gravely: "Roger is an obedient lad, you know, and he has been told always to be in the house by five o'clock. The fact that it is now approaching six and Roger still at large seems ominous to me."

"Nat, do you think-" began Tavia slowly, "do you think that Roger may have gone to find Joe?"

"That's just what he would be apt to do, good little sport that he is," said Nat, troubled eyes on the road ahead. "Poor Dot! I hate to think how she will feel if we fail to bring back the bacon, in the shape of my young cousin."

"Where are you going, Nat dear? " asked Tavia, after a moment of silence. "You seem to have some definite objective."

"I have," declared Nat, as he slowed down before an imposing white house. "I am going to visit the home of every kid in the neighborhood that Roger plays with. Then, if I fail to gain a clue, I haven't the faintest idea what to do next."

"Never give up till you try," urged Tavia. "Hurry, Nat-do! I feel as though I were on pins and needles."

"Not very comfortable," returned Nat, grinning, as he swung his long legs over the car door without bothering to open it.

Tavia watched him swing up the drive, ring the bell of the imposing white house, and, a moment later, hold converse with the owner of it. She knew by the manner in which he came back to her that the interview had been disappointing.

"Nothing doing," he said in response to her tacit question. "The lady of the house, backed by the kid in there, says they haven't seen our youngster to-day."

"The plot thickens," murmured Tavia. "Poor Doro. What shall we tell her?"

"Hold your horses, young lady," Nat advised her. "We have several other places to visit before we begin to give up hope. We'll find him yet."

Although they made a thorough canvass of all the homes in the neighborhood which contained familiars, or possible familiars, of the missing Roger, their quest was unsuccessful. No one seemed to have seen the missing youngster that day, and Nat and Tavia were forced to admit that, so far, their mission had failed.

"You are not going to give up yet, Nat? " cried Tavia quickly, as Nat started to turn the nose of the _Fire Bird_ toward home. "Why, we have not even _begun_ to look!"

Nat shut off the power and regarded his companion in perplexity.

"It seems to me we have made not only a beginning, but an ending, as well," he protested. "I can't think of another place where the boy might be, and I thought perhaps we had better go back and see if they have heard anything at The Cedars. If he is back there, safe and sound, we are having all our trouble and worry for nothing."