Now, Nan had said nothing in her veracious tale about the purse-proud girl; but Mabel Schiff said:
“I don’t believe all that. I guess Linda was there as much as these freshies——”
“Yes, she was!” exclaimed Bess, excitedly. “And all she did was to be ill, over the rail of the boat, and scold Walter for making any effort to save us. That’s the sort of a girl Linda is.”
“That sounds a good deal like her,” announced the red-haired girl, bluntly. “Linda Riggs can’t pull the wool over our eyes—much! We’ve all seen enough of her to know pretty much what she would do at such a time.”
“You’re all jealous of her,” sniffed Mabel.
“Sure!” laughed Laura. “We’re jealous of her kind disposition, her honey-dripping tongue, and her delightfully social ways.”
“And her money!” flashed Mabel.
“I think,” said May Winslow, a peace-loving and, withal, ladylike girl—“I think we have discussed an absent fellow-pupil quite enough. Let us say nothing about Linda that we would not say to her.”
“Oh, goodness!” cried the impulsive Bess. “I’d say just what I think of her, to her face.”
“That would not make it the less ill-natured,” said May, quietly.