"Not a word," replied Hilda.
"And the Clowes boy is so little!" said Clara again. She went suddenly to the mantelpiece and picked up a penknife and offered it to Hilda.
"Here's the penknife. Of course Albert took it off him."
"Why?" said Hilda ingenuously.
But Clara detected satire and repelled it with a glance.
"It's not Edwin's penknife, I suppose?" she queried, in a severe tone.
"No, it isn't. I've never seen it before. Why?"
"We were only thinking Edwin might have overheard the boys and thrown a knife over the wall. It would be just like Edwin, that would."
"Oh, no!" The deceitful Hilda blew away such a possibility.
"I'm quite sure he didn't," said she, and added mischievously as she held out the penknife: "I thought all you folks believed in the efficacy of prayer."