"Oh, I promised not to tell, how awful."
Adelaide Maud grew very dignified.
"What did I drop? Oh! I think I remember--my handkerchief!"
Mrs. Dudgeon had reflected openly on the fact that it had never been returned to Helen.
"I wanted to keep it till we saw you again, but he said he would give it to you when you were nice to him, or something like that."
"Till I was nice to him!" The chin dimpled a trifle.
"Somehow, I would rather he kept it," said Adelaide Maud dreamily.
"Shall I tell him that?" asked Elma anxiously.
"Tell him--what nonsense! You mustn't tell him a syllable. You mustn't say you've told me. It would be so ignominious for him to hear that I knew he had been thieving! Thieving is the word," said Adelaide Maud. Although she talked in a very accusing manner, her voice seemed kind.
"Mayn't I tell him you didn't mean to quarrel?" asked Elma anxiously. "You don't know what you are to all of us."