"It's—it's the Tear of God!" sobbed Tessie. "I've—I've lost i-it!"
"Lost it! Stand up, Tessie Gilfooly, and remember queens don't cry before folks. Lost! Nothing of the sort! Ka-kee-ta!" And when Ka-kee-ta had stepped forward with a salute of his ax, she said imperiously, "The Tear of God!"
Ka-kee-ta held out his left hand and opened it, and there on his yellow brown palm was the Tear of God.
"Well, I'll be darned!" exclaimed Mr. Bill.
"My word!" muttered Bert Douglas.
"Oh!" squealed Tessie, absolutely forgetting Granny's hint that queens must keep their emotions to themselves. "Where did Ka-kee-ta get it?" Her face was as pink now as it had been white a moment before.
"I took it off your neck, my dear, when you were dancing," explained Granny proudly. "The folks here were all strangers to me," she told the astonished officers of the Junior League, "and though I knew of course they would be all right or they wouldn't be here, I thought it was just as well not to take any chances. So when Tessie was dancing I slipped the Tear of God from her neck and gave it to Ka-kee-ta to hold. With his ax in his other hand, I knew he could take care of it. It wasn't lost at all, you see, dearie," she smiled at Tessie. "I took it after you came back to the ballroom with Mr. Douglas."
"Oh!" exclaimed Tessie, feeling rather flat and small because she had made such a fuss over a robbery that was not a robbery at all.