Katherine looked at her narrowly. “I didn’t dare give it to you before nine o’clock,” she said significantly.
Veronica started and clutched Katherine’s arm nervously. “What do you mean?” she asked faintly.
Katherine put her arm around Veronica and drew her toward her so she could look into her face. The light from the swinging arc was directly upon her. “You were going to run away on that nine o’clock train, weren’t you?” she asked quietly.
Veronica jerked away and turned dreadfully pale. “How—how did you know?” she faltered.
“I didn’t, for sure,” said Katherine. “But I made a pretty good guess. You see, when I found that wallet, I naturally looked inside. There I saw your name, five hundred dollars in bills, and a note which read:
“‘Take the New York Central Flyer at nine o’clock Wednesday night.’ It was signed with the initials A. T., which I suppose stand for that friend of yours with the plush whiskers, Alex Toboggan.”
“Alex Tobin,” corrected Veronica under her breath.
“That looked suspicious to me,” continued Katherine. “I’ve seen him around with you a good deal, and I don’t like his looks, not a little bit. Then a minute later I came upon you with a suitcase, hunting your wallet and looking at your watch as if you were crazy. So I came to the conclusion that you were planning to run away on that nine o’clock train, and decided to hold you up by keeping the money until the train was gone. Am I right?”
Veronica’s eyes dropped and her face was crimson. “You are right,” she said unsteadily. “I was planning to run away on that train. After I dropped out of the Camp Fire Group I had no girl friends and became lonelier and lonelier all the while. The only interest I had was my music, and the only place to which I went was to hear the Symphony Orchestra rehearse. There, Alex Tobin, who is really a fine violinist, was always very friendly to me and kept telling me I should go to New York and study with Martini, who is the best teacher in the country. Uncle would not let me go because he said I was too young and he could not go with me. But Alex Tobin kept telling me that uncle was jealous of my talent and was trying to keep me back on purpose, and if I had any money in my own right I should take it and go anyhow. Uncle quarreled with Alex Tobin and after that he forbade me to have anything to do with him, but he used to meet me outside, and always he talked about my talent, and what a shame it was I could not study with Martini, and things like that, until I began to think I was abused. I was very lonely, you know, and had nothing else to think about.
“Well, this week was the end of the Symphony Orchestra rehearsals, and Alex Tobin was going home to New York. He promised me that if I would play in a restaurant there in which he is interested he would see me safely there and introduce me to Martini. He talked so much about it that I finally yielded and said I would go. I had money in the bank, but could not draw it out without uncle’s consent. However, just this week he wanted to invest five hundred dollars for me and gave me his signature so I could get it. You know how easy uncle is about money matters, and he thought it was perfectly all right to send me to the bank alone. I have gone about by myself so much, you know. But instead of going to his studio with it, as I was supposed to, I kept it with me and did not go home at all.