"I don't know, Tom. In fact, nobody seems to know."
"I was in the office with another girl about five minutes before Nellie went there," came from Grace. "I saw the ring there, too, and I thought it was very foolish to leave it so exposed. Why, anybody could have run off with it."
"It certainly was careless," put in Sam.
"Miss Harrow said she was on the point of putting it in the safe when she was called by 'phone to one of the other buildings. She had a dispute to settle between some of the hired help, and she did not think of the ring until some time later. Then, so she says, she rushed back to the office to find it missing."
"Well, I think it is a shame that she accused Nellie," said Tom, stoutly and with something of a savage look in his eyes. "Nellie, if I were you, I wouldn't stand for it."
"She—she hasn't accused me, exactly," returned the suffering girl. "But she intimated that I must have taken the ring, so it's just as bad."
"What does the seminary management have to say about it?" asked Sam.
"They seem to think it lies between Nellie and the teacher," answered Grace.
"In that case, how do we know the teacher didn't take the ring herself?" broke in Tom, quickly.
"Oh, do you think that possible?" questioned Nellie, in surprise.