“I suppose you might as well know now as any time. That money the girls trusted me with, the money to buy the present for Miss Gay, I—I’ve lost it. Or it has been stolen!”
The news spread like wildfire.
Billie dragged Edina to her dormitory, hoping to protect the girl, only to find her own friends lying in wait for her.
There was a crowd already gathered there, a crowd that increased in numbers rapidly. At sight of it, Edina shrank within herself and would have fled cravenly had it not been for Billie’s grip upon her hand.
“No use running away,” Billie whispered fiercely. “It’s far better to stay and face the music.”
Ray Carew pushed her way to Billie’s side. She eyed Edina coldly.
“I’ve heard so many rumors that I don’t know what to believe and what not to,” she said. “What is all this about the Gift Club money being lost, Billie?”
“I’m afraid it’s true,” said Billie gravely. “Only in my opinion it has been stolen—not lost.”
Briefly but graphically, she gave an account of her and Edina’s trip to the bank in Molata, of their surprise and consternation when Edina discovered the loss of the money.
Laura, who had taken a firm stand at Billie’s side, turned to Edina.