"I don't know," answered her mother. "He may have been ill. He may
not even know how long it has been since he has been home. Anyway,
darlings, the kindest thing we can do is not to bother him with
talk or questions."

Father Blossom and Mr. Harley were gone for what seemed a long
time to the children, but in reality was not more than twenty
minutes. The four little Blossoms saw them coming, Father Blossom
in the lead. Such a change had come over Mr. Harley! His shoulders
sagged, he scuffed his feet and his eyes were heavy and dull.

"I suppose you know?" he said wearily to Mother Blossom, as he
climbed into the car and Father Blossom took the wheel. "If I only
knew where she went! But she quarreled with her people when she
married me, and I never rightly knew where they lived, or who they
were."

"You'll probably find her," Mrs. Blossom tried thus to encourage
him. "It isn't easy for a woman with two children to drop out of
sight, you know. Some one will be able to give you a clue."

Mr. Harley shook his head despondently.

"It's been two years, your husband tells me," he replied. "And
I've been missing for four. Like as not she doesn't want to see
me. I was out o' my mind for three years, Ma'am, and when I came
to I was in a hospital on the California coast. It took me a year
to work my way East. I kept writing and writing and wondering why
Lou didn't send me a line. She was never one to bear a grudge."