"And shall we have that chance?" burst from Henrietta.
"It is possible," replied Miss Pinchin. "Ah, here comes dinner."
The dinner was quite a good one, hot roast meat, potatoes, vegetables. In addition, a large glass of milk for each girl.
"A quarter of an hour I give you to eat your dinner in," said Miss Pinchin. "Now, pray, do not utter a word. I trust you to Adelaide's care, while I go downstairs to partake of my frugal meal."
The very instant the door was closed behind her, Henrietta and Daisy, with a sort of bound, leaped upon Adelaide.
"Oh, tell us, Addy, me honey, oh, for glory's sake, tell us what awful things are going to take place. Our hair is gone. Our clothes are gone. Our beauteous home is gone. What can be going to happen next?"
The only reply that Adelaide made was to raise her opaque, dark eyes and fix them on the faces of the two girls. Then she began with extreme rapidity to demolish her dinner. When Miss Pinchin reentered the room, however, Adelaide put into her hand a small piece of paper.
"They have spoken to me four times," she remarked. "I wrote what they said on this piece of paper. You may like to see it."
"Did you speak at all, Adelaide?"