"O, haven't you heard?" the face aglow with a sense of importance. "Papa told us last night, though I suppose it is all over. Poor Belle! Why, it would kill me!"
"But what is it?"
"About Mr. Hadden. He has been embezzling, or making false returns, or something, and charged the government with a great deal more than he supplied. Why, I believe it is almost a million! And he is in prison!"
"Not so bad as that," subjoined Sue Coleman, quietly.
"But he is in prison."
"Yes, there is some trouble, but maybe it will not amount to much."
"I should think she would be ashamed to show her face!"
"How can she help it?" said the softest and sweetest of voices. "It is very hard to punish her or make her answerable for her father's faults."
"What should you do, Kathie Alston, if you had been intimate with her?" It was Sue Coleman who spoke, and there was a husky strand in her voice.
"I should keep on just the same. It will be very painful for her to bear anyhow. Suppose it was one of us!"