“Sure thing!” they both replied.
“Let’s all come inside and have some chocolate cake,” said Mrs. Gay, delighted that everything had turned out all right. “You girls must be hungry.”
They were, of course; but Mary Louise was more anxious to be alone to count her treasure than to eat. However, she could not refuse, and the party lasted until after eleven.
Her mother followed her upstairs after the company had gone home.
“You must be tired, dear,” she said tenderly. “Just step out of your clothes, and I’ll hang them up for you.”
“Oh, no, thanks, Mother. I’m not so tired. We rode home in the bus.... Please don’t bother. I’m all right.”
“Just as you say, dear,” agreed Mrs. Gay, kissing her daughter good-night. “But don’t get up for breakfast. Try to get some sleep!”
Mary Louise smiled.
(“Not if I know it,” she thought to herself. “I’m going after the rest of that treasure! The gold! Maybe if I get that back for Miss Grant, she’ll consent to let Elsie go to high school in the fall.”)
Very carefully she drew off her sweater and laid the bills under the pillow on her bed. Then, while she ran the shower in the bathroom, behind a locked door, she counted the money and checked the numbers engraved on the paper.