"
Two minutes later he returned, looking disappointed.
"We are too late," he said. "An hour since a gentleman called, and
took away the child."
Mrs. Clifton sank back, in keen disappointment.
"My child, my child!" she murmured. "Shall I ever see thee again?"
Jack, too, felt more disappointed than he was willing to
acknowledge. He could not conjecture who this gentleman could be who
had carried away Ida. The affair seemed darker and more complicated
than ever.
CHAPTER XXV.
IDA IS FOUND.
IDA was sitting alone in the dreary apartment which she was now
obliged to call home. Peg had gone out, and not feeling quite
certain of her prey, had bolted the door on the outside. She had
left some work for the child,--some handkerchiefs to hem for
Dick,--with strict orders to keep steadily at work.
While seated at work, she was aroused from thoughts of home by a
knock at the, door.
"Who's there?" asked Ida.
"A friend," was the reply.
"Mrs. Hardwick--Peg isn't at home," returned Ida. "I don't know when
she will be back."
"Then I will come in and wait till she comes back," said the voice
outside.
"I can't open the door," said Ida. "It's fastened on the outside."
"Yes, I see. Then I will take the liberty to draw the bolt."
Mr. John Somerville entered the room, and for the first time in
eight years his glance fell upon the child whom, for so long a time,
he had defrauded of a mother's care and tenderness.
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