“The police! Are you going to have her arrested?” cried Freddie.
“Hush! Not so loud! You’ll waken her!” warned his mother, holding up a finger.
“What you going to tell the police for, Daddy?” asked Flossie, in a whisper.
“Because it is the right thing to do,” said Mr. Bobbsey. “This baby may have been stolen by this strange old woman. In that case Baby May’s father and mother will be wild with grief until they get her back. I must find out from the police if there is any alarm over a kidnapped child. I’ll do it before I go to the office.”
“Please do it before we go to school,” begged Nan. “I want to tell the girls all about Baby May.”
Mr. Bobbsey looked at the clock. There was still twenty minutes before the children need start for school, and he could do considerable telephoning in that time. So he called up police headquarters and made a report of the baby being found on his steps.
“Have you any alarm of a child having been kidnapped anywhere around here?” asked Mr. Bobbsey.
“No,” answered the officer at police headquarters. “But if we hear of any we’ll let you know.”
“Have any of your men seen about the town this strange old woman with a green umbrella and a faded shawl?” asked Mr. Bobbsey, and the twins and Mrs. Bobbsey waited anxiously for the reply. As they could not hear what was said by the police officer, Mr. Bobbsey told them.
“He says none of his men reported seeing the old lady,” Mr. Bobbsey retailed. “But he’ll inquire of the officers at the railroad station. They’ll call me up in a few minutes.”
Mr. Bobbsey put the telephone receiver back on the hook and waited. Soon the bell rang, and when the father of the Bobbsey twins had listened a while he turned to his family and said:
“The old lady came in on the train early yesterday morning. The officer at the station remembers seeing her.”
“Did she have the basket with the baby in it?” asked Nan.
“She had the covered basket, but the policeman didn’t see what was in it,” answered Mr. Bobbsey.
“Do they know anything more about her?” Mrs. Bobbsey wanted to know.
“Not much except that she acted rather strangely,” was the reply. “She did not seem to know where she wanted to go, and when the officer asked her if he could help her she just shook her head and wandered off.”