George A. Warren - The Banner Boy Scouts Mystery

“Ken! Ken Armstrong! Dinner is ready.”

“I’m coming, Mother,” he called from his room upstairs.

Hurriedly he finished brushing his hair and raced downstairs to the dining room. His father was already at the table and waiting for the children to take their places. Mrs. Armstrong in the meanwhile was adding the finishing touches in setting the table. “Before you sit down, Ken,” his mother told him, “will you please go out and call Betty. She must be outside somewhere playing.”

“Yes, Mother.”

Ken obeyed and went outside to look for his younger sister, who was five years old. It was a day in the latter part of August, warm, clear. Stepping out on the porch, he called out, “Betty! Betty!”

There was no answer. Ken looked in the yard, then in the garage where she sometimes climbed into the back of the car and amused herself playing with her doll. But she was not there either. Ken walked across the street and rang the Smiths’ doorbell. Mrs. Smith herself answered and Ken asked, “Is Betty here, Mrs. Smith?”

She shook her head. “No,” she answered. “She was playing with my little Helen until about an hour ago, when she left.”

“Thank you,” Ken said and walked away. On the sidewalk, he paused to think of all the places where she might be. Ken walked further down the street and stopped at the Morrison home. Paul answered the doorbell. “Hello, Ken,” he called.

“Hello, Paul. Is Betty here playing with your little brother?”

“Why, no, Ken. Pete has been at the park all day and has just returned.”

“That’s strange,” muttered Ken.

“What’s strange?”

“I can’t seem to find her.”

“Oh, you’ll find her,” Paul assured his friend. “She may be playing with little Karliner across the street.”

“That’s right. I didn’t think of it. Thanks, Paul.”

“So long, Ken. Don’t forget the meeting tonight.”

“I won’t,” Ken called back over his shoulder. He went across the street to the Karliner home and rang the doorbell. Mrs. Karliner opened the door. “Is Betty here?” he asked.

“No,” answered the youthful woman. “Betty and Karl had a childish quarrel this morning and they quit playing together.”

“Until tomorrow,” remarked Ken, laughing.

“Yes, no matter how much they quarrel the children always come together again,” she said, also laughing.

“And it is a good thing they do,” added the boy.

“Yes. And in that respect, grown ups would do well to take after children.”

“You are right, Mrs. Karliner.” Ken edged away from the doorway. “You will excuse me, but I have to find Betty.”

The woman smiled and closed the door. Ken walked back toward his own house. He was puzzled and couldn’t think where else his younger sister might be. Usually she was somewhere in the neighborhood. If she wasn’t in her own yard, she could always be found either at the Morrisons, the Smiths or the Karliners. But today she wasn’t at any one of those places. As he entered his own yard, Ken thought of one other place where she might be. Around the corner was a small park where Mrs. Armstrong very often took the child to play. Perhaps she had gone there with some other child. Ken thought he better run over there in a hurry before his mother became worried. However, there were only a few children there because it was dinner time. And no Betty. He walked through the playground twice. No sign of his sister.

For the first time, Ken became anxious. Of course, she was not lost, he thought to himself. But where could she be? Slowly he walked home without coming to any definite opinion. Stepping onto the porch noiselessly, he hesitated to enter the house. If he told his mother he could not find Betty, she might become frightened. He conceived another idea. Walking around to the side of the house, he peeked through the window into the dining room. Seeing that his mother was not there, he knocked on the window and motioned for his father to come outside. Mr. Armstrong came out onto the porch. “What’s the trouble, Ken?” he asked.

The boy tried hard not to look anxious. “Dad, I can’t seem to find Betty,” he whispered.

Mr. Armstrong was a tall, heavy set man. He tugged at his close cropped mustache and muttered, “You can’t seem to find her, eh? Did you look everywhere?”

“I did.”

“At the Morrisons?”

“Yes. I was also at the Smiths, the Karliners and at the park, Dad. She was not at any one of those places.”

“Hmm!” mused Mr. Armstrong. “She must be somewhere around, Ken. Let us first search the yard thoroughly.”

Together they looked over the yard and then the garage. But the child was not there. Finally they stopped their search. “You say that you were to the park, at the Morrisons, the Smiths, the Karliners?” asked Mr. Armstrong.

“Yes, Dad.”

“Can you think of anywhere else she might be? Do you know of any other child she occasionally plays with?”

Just then Mrs. Armstrong came out onto the porch and called, “Ken, John, what are you doing out here when you are supposed to be at the dinner table? And where is Betty?”

Mr. Armstrong walked slowly over to his wife and said, “Now, Edna, don’t you become upset. It seems that Betty is nowhere where she usually plays. Do you know of any other child she sometimes plays with and with whom she might be now?”

Mrs. Armstrong became very pale. “Were you to the Karliners, Ken?” she queried anxiously.

“Yes, mother.”

“Now don’t you become alarmed, Edna. The child is somewhere around. But she may have walked off alone somewhere or she might be playing at some house.”

“Were you to the Johnsons?” Mrs. Armstrong asked. Ken shook his head. “Then run over and see. And if she is not there, stop in at the McKinlys.”

Ken was off at a run. The Johnson home was at the end of the street. Junior himself opened the door and Ken bent down to question the child. “Is Betty here?” he asked.

The little boy shook his head and muttered, “Nah.” Mrs. Johnson came to the door and he asked her the same question. “Why, no,” she replied. “She never comes. I would like very much for her to come and play with Junior, but she never does. I guess it is a little too far away for her.”

Ken was anxious to be off. “Yes, I guess so,” he answered. “Excuse me.” And he was off.

The McKinly home was across the street. But she was not there either. Ken walked away deeply concerned. Returning home he found his parents awaiting him, their faces drawn and worried. At the news that the child was neither at the Johnsons nor the McKinlys, Mrs. Armstrong clenched her fingers. Her husband stood up. “She must have walked off somewhere,” he said. “I’ll notify the police and have them search for her.”

“Wait a minute, Dad,” cried Ken. “Perhaps she is in her room.”

Without losing a second, he dashed up the stairs. A minute later he was coming down slowly. By the expression on his face the parents could tell that she was not in her room. Mr. Armstrong walked to the foyer where the telephone was and they could hear him calling the police and giving a detailed description of the child. She was five years old, blonde hair and blue eyes, weighed between forty-five and fifty pounds and was about twenty-six or twenty-seven inches tall. His task completed, he returned to the dining room. He put an arm around his wife’s shoulder and said, “Now, don’t worry, Edna. The child most likely has walked off by herself and she will be found. You will have her again in half an hour.”

Ken jumped out of his chair and dashed out of the house. He ran over to the Morrison home and called Paul. Drawing his friend aside, he whispered, “Paul, call the troop together. We cannot find Betty and we have to make a search for her.”