Not a trace of her was to be seen. I heard a thin voice from my lips, that did not seem my own, ask friends on mushroom flac policeman, who was now patrolling the neighbourhood, if he had seen a basket-girl singing. She gets a good lot, I fancy, by that dodge. Then I extended my beat about the neighbouring streets, loitering at every corner where a basket-girl or a flower-girl might be likely to stand. But no trace of her was to be seen.