Mrs Willis put her hand to her brow; her face was very white and the girls could see that she trembled.
“I trusted my girls—” she said; then she broke off abruptly.
“You had companions in this wickedness—name them.”
“Yes, I had companions; I led them on.”
“Name them, Miss Forest.”
For the first time Annie raised her eyes to Mrs Willis’s face: then she turned and looked down the long school-room. “Oh, won’t they tell themselves?” she said.
Nothing could be more appealing than her glance. It melted the hearts of Phyllis and Nora, who began to sob, and to declare brokenly that they had gone too, and that they were very, very sorry.
Spurred by their example Mary Price also confessed, and one by one all the little conspirators revealed the truth, with the exception of Susan, who kept her eyes steadily fixed on the floor.
“Susan Drummond,” said Mrs Willis, “come here.”
There was something in her tone which startled every girl in the school. Never had they heard this ring in their teacher’s voice before.