6 Lost and found

The next morning, the first visitor to the house next door was Mr Carmichael, back from Russia. But when he came into the house, his face was sad. Mr Carrisford knew the answer at once.
'You didn't find her,' he said.
'I found her,' Mr Carmichael said. 'But it was the wrong girl. Her name is Emily Carew, and she's much younger than Ralph Crewe's daughter. I'm very sorry.'
'We must begin again,' said Mr Carrisford unhappily. 'But where? It's two years now. Two years!'
'Well, she isn't at a school in Paris. We know that,' Mr Carmichael said. 'Let's look at the schools in England now.'
'Yes,' said Mr Carrisford. 'Yes, we can begin in London. There's a school next door, Carmichael.'
Perhaps it was the magic again, but at that moment Ram Dass came .quietly into the room.
'The little servant-girl from the attic is here,' he said to Mr Carrisford. 'With the monkey. He ran away again last night to her room. Would you like to see her?'
'Yes,' said Mr Carrisford. 'Yes, I would. Bring her in.'
And so Sara came into the room and stood in front of the Indian gentleman. She smiled at him.
'Your monkey came to my room last night,' she said, 'and I took him in because it was so cold.'
Mr Carrisford watched her face with interest. 'That was kind of you,' he said.
Sara looked at Ram Dass by the door. 'Shall I give him to the lascar?' she asked.
'How do you know he is a lascar?' said Mr Carrisford.
'Oh, I know lascars,' Sara said. 'I was born in India.'
Mr Carrisford sat up suddenly. 'In India?' he said. 'But you're a servant at the school next door.'
'Yes, I am now,' said Sara. 'But I wasn't at first.'
The Indian gentleman looked at Mr Carmichael, and then Mr Carmichael looked at Sara.
'What do you mean by "at first", child?' he asked.
'When Father first took me to the school.'
'Where is your father?' said Mr Carmichael.
'He died,' said Sara, very quietly. 'His friend ran away with all his money, and there was no money for me. There was nobody to take care of me. So Miss Minchin put me in the attic and said I must work for my bread.'
The Indian gentleman moved in his chair. 'What—what was your father's name?' he said. 'Tell me.'
Sara looked at him sadly. 'Ralph Crewe,' she said. 'He died in India from a fever, two years ago.'
Mr Carrisford's face went very white. 'Carmichael,' he whispered, 'it is the child—the child!'

*　　*　　*
That was an exciting day for many people. At first poor Sara did not understand. But Mr Carmichael talked to her quietly and told her everything—the true story about her father's friend and the diamond mines, and the two years of looking for Ralph Crewe's daughter.
'And all the time,' she said later to Mr Carrisford, when they sat by his fire, 'I was in the house next door.'
Tom Carrisford took her hand. 'Yes,' he said. 'And you're never going back there. Your home is with me now. I'm going to take care of Ralph's Little Missus.'
Sara laughed, happily. 'And you were the friend, too. All those beautiful things in my attic came from you—you and Ram Dass. Becky and I thought it was magic!'
The Indian gentleman smiled at her. 'We were sorry for you,' he said. 'Ram Dass can move very quietly, and he carried the things across the roof when you were out. I couldn't find Ralph's daughter, but I wanted to help somebody. And then Ram Dass told me about this sad, lonely little servant-girl in the attic next door.'
And so the story ended happily for everybody—but not for Miss Minchin. Sara was very rich now, and Miss Minchin wanted her to come back to the school. She came to see Mr Carrisford, but he said some very angry things to her, and she went away with a red face.
Becky came to live in Mr Carrisford's house, too. She was Sara's servant, and she was very happy. She had a warm room, nice dresses, and good things to eat every day. And she loved Sara very much.
Ermengarde often came to visit Sara, and Sara helped her with her school lessons again. Ermengarde was not clever, but she was a true friend. On that first day in the Indian gentleman's house, Sara wrote a letter to her, and Ermengarde carried the letter into the schoolroom.
'There were diamond mines,' she told Lavinia and the other girls. 'There were! There were millions and millions of diamonds in the mines, and half of them are Sara's. And they were her diamonds all the time when she was cold and hungry in the attic. And she was a princess then, and she's a princess now!'