I'd have trusted
her for a meal of vittles."
"I am sure you would, Mrs. Beasley," Nan said, and she and her friends
went away very much worried over the disappearance of Inez, the
flower-seller.
CHAPTER XXIII
JUST TOO LATE
Walter Mason was not only an accommodating escort; he was very much
interested in the search for Inez. Even Bess, who seldom admitted the
necessity for boys at any time in her scheme of life, admitted on this
occasion that she was glad Walter was present.
"That woman, poor little Inez's aunt, would have slapped my face, I
guess," she admitted. "Isn't it mean of her to speak so of the child?
And she had beaten her! I don't see how you had the courage to face
her, Walter."
"I should give him my medal," chuckled Nan. "Where now, Walter?"
"To see that officer," declared the boy.
The trio were again on the square where Inez had told Nan she almost
always sold her flowers. Walter came back in a few moments from his
interview with the police officer.
"Nothing doing," he reported. "The man says he hasn't seen her for
several days, and she was always here."
"I suppose he knows whom we mean?" worried Bess.
"Couldn't be any mistake about that," Walter said. "He is afraid
she is sick."
"I'm not," Nan said promptly.
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