CHAPTER XXII
A RIOT
The girls, chattering like a group of magpies and flinging curious, unfriendly glances toward Edina, had gone. Billie was alone with her in the big, silent, echoing gymnasium.
Edina sat on a bench, her hands clasped before her, a wooden, miserable figure.
Billie paced restlessly up and down, up and down——suddenly she paused in front of Edina.
“Why didn’t you tell me, if you knew? You should have told me, Edina. It wasn’t fair to leave me in the dark.”
Edina nodded.
“I know that. I meant to tell you as soon as I heard from home that Paw’s wells had gone dry. But, somehow, after tellin’ such wonderful tales about him, seems like I couldn’t bear to take them back. The truth,” with a bitter grimace, “wasn’t half so pretty!”
“When did you get the bad news from home?” Billie queried. She paused before Edina and regarded her intently, while proceeding to answer her own question. “It was the day we had the picnic over on the island, wasn’t it? The day you read the letter I handed you and you turned so white I thought you were going to faint?”
Edina nodded miserably.