"Don't you think that the school committee was in an awful big hurry about dischargin' Miss Wallace?" asked Mrs. Stout, coming to the point at once.
"Hem—er—I don't know—I—"
"Well, if you don't, who does?"
"Oh,—er—well, of course I understand the case, if that is what you mean. I assure you that it was gone over very thoroughly."
"There ain't any doubt about that," replied Mrs. Stout, with sarcasm. "It's been gone over too thoroughly by everybody. Now what I want to know is, if Miss Wallace tried to get another place somewhere else she'd have to tell where she'd been before, wouldn't she?"
"Yes."
"And they'd write to you, wouldn't they, about what kind of a woman she was, and so forth?"
"It is customary."
"And you'd write back, and tell 'em exactly how she happened to leave Manville, wouldn't you?"
"I should consider it my duty to state the truth." Mr. George was getting uneasy.