Billie was sincerely surprised.
“It was true, wasn’t it, what you told me about his oil well?”
“True as rain. But Paw’s luck’s been so uncertain that I can’t hardly believe he has really struck it rich at last. Seems like if I talk too much about it, all his good fortune might bust up into thin air like them—those—soap bubbles you make with a pipe. I’m just being superstitious,” she added, with an apologetic grin. “You ain’t got no—any—call to listen to me.”
As the bus turned into the long graveled drive leading to Three Towers Hall and the girls began to scramble headlong from it, Edina caught Billie’s hand gratefully in a rough paw.
“It’s been the best day I ever spent,” she muttered. “Thanks—a lot.”
Billie smiled and returned the pressure of Edina’s hand.
“I think we’ve broken the ice. From now on, it’s up to you.”
Billie went on across the school grounds in a thoughtful mood.
The day had been an unqualified success. She had done just exactly what she wanted to do. Yet she felt depressed, deserted and forlorn.
“I’m the world’s prize idiot,” she scolded herself. “I’m tired and I probably need my dinner.”