“Fannie Alta put it there. She put twenty dollars into my pocket not long ago and tried to accuse me of taking that, and when I gave it back to her she hadn’t a word to say.”
“But, Mary, Fannie is not your only accuser. Miss Gray tells me that you have been suspected of many thefts since school opened.”
“Oh, oh!” cried Mary. “How dare she? How dare any one? What have I done that these people should try to make me out a thief? Oh, mother, mother!”
“That is just why I brought you up here to-night, Mary. On account of your sweet, lovely mother. I want you to make me a promise in return for what I am going to do for you. I promise not to push this matter any farther. It shall never reach your mother’s ears. She will be spared all distress and misery, if you promise me never again, as long as you live, to steal. It was not nice of you, Mary, staying here as my guest, to steal from me. Will you make me that promise?”
Mary did not reply. She sat down and clasped her hands in her lap. Once or twice her throat quivered with the little sob, which so went to Billie’s heart. She pressed her hands together and closed her eyes for a moment. Her face was so pale that Mrs. St. Clair thought she was going to faint, but her lips were moving.
“Oh, God, help me,” she prayed softly. “Tell me what to say.”
Presently her agitation ceased altogether. She opened her eyes and looked calmly at the widow.
“No, I will not promise you that, Mrs. St. Clair, because I have never stolen anything in my life. I would prefer that my mother should know about this. I don’t wish to keep it from her. She would never believe me guilty, no matter what the evidence was against me, even if I had to go to jail. You say you found the necklace in my bag? How did you happen to look for it there?”
“You see, I believed that Fannie Alta had taken it, and when we brought her into the living room and urged her to tell what she knew, she accused you. I would not believe it, however, until I had called up Miss Gray. It was only after that that I looked in your bag.”
Mary stood up.