“Don’t cry out, Marie-Jeanne,” she whispered, “but help us.”
“I have no money. I am almost as poor as you. Don’t stop me, please. I’m in a hurry.”
“Marie-Jeanne, don’t you know us?” whispered Nancy.
The young girl stared into their faces with wide-eyed amazement.
“Billie! Nancy!” she gasped. “Am I dreaming?”
“No,” answered Billie. “I wish you were. We’ve had a dreadful time, Marie-Jeanne. Let us go out of this place first, before that woman wakes up.”
“What woman?”
“Miss Felicia Rivers.”
Marie-Jeanne started.
“I’m very much afraid of her,” she said. “So is mother.”