Bunny and Sue hardly knew what to make of it all.  They had never seen their Aunt Lu so worried.

“Mother, what’s an engagement ring?” asked Sue, in a whisper, as Aunt Lu kept on looking among the things on the table, hoping her diamond might have dropped off there.  Then she looked on the floor.

“An engagement ring, my dear,” said Sue’s mother, “is a ring that means a promise.  A very dear friend of Aunt Lu’s has promised to marry her, and he gave her the diamond ring to be a sort of reminder—­a most beautiful present.  Now we must help her find it.”

“It can’t be far away,” Mrs. Brown said to her sister.  “You were not out of this room, were you?”

“No, I’ve been here ever since I began to pick the meat out of the lobster, and I had my ring on then.”

“Oh, then we’ll find it,” said Bunny’s mother.

But it was not so easy to do that as it was to say it.  They looked all over the kitchen—­on the floor, under the table, among the dishes, the pots and pans—­but no diamond ring could be found.  Papa Brown came in from the front porch, where he had been reading the evening paper, and he helped search, but it seemed of no use.

“Oh, where can my beautiful ring have dropped?” asked Aunt Lu, and Sue thought she saw signs of tears in her aunt’s eyes.

“Perhaps it fell into the lobster salad,” suggested Mr. Brown.

“Then you can find it when you eat,” called Bunny.  “Only don’t bite on the diamond.  It might break.”

“We’ll look in the salad now,” Mrs. Brown said.

They did so, looking in the dish that held the chopped-up bits of lobster meat, but no diamond ring was to be found.  Then the floor was looked over again, most carefully, the empty dishes were turned upside down in the hope that the ring might drop out of one of them.  But it did not.

Aunt Lu looked sad and worried, and so did Mr. and Mrs. Brown.  The cook, who had been out for the afternoon, came in and she helped search for the diamond ring, but it could not be found.

“I’m sure I had it, when I began making the lobster salad,” said Aunt Lu, “but when I handed Bunny the empty claw I looked on my finger, and the ring was gone.”

“Perhaps it dropped out of doors,” suggested Papa Brown.

They looked near the side porch where Bunny had been standing when his aunt gave him the claw with which he was going to play Punch, but the ring was not found there.

“Oh dear!  I feel so sorry!” Aunt Lu said, “If only I could find my lovely ring.  Bunny—­Sue, you must help me.  To whomever finds it I’ll give a nice present—–­anything he wants.  That will be a reward, children.”

“Yes, you must help Aunt Lu look for her ring,” said Mrs. Brown.  “Come now, we will have supper, and look afterward.  We may find it when we least expect it.”

But even after supper, the ring was not found.  The whole family searched.  Aunt Lu did not eat much supper, much as she liked lobster salad.  She was too worried, I guess.  Even Bunny did not feel like playing Mr. Punch with the big hollow lobster claw that fitted over his nose in such a funny way.  Neither he nor Sue felt like making jokes when their aunt felt so unhappy.