“She looks as if the end of the world had come for her,” remarked Belle Barlow, the fourth girl in this group of chums.
“Not only the end of the world, but ‘the end of her rope,’ too,” added Janet, in a low tone so that no one else might hear.
“If it’s true—what mother heard yesterday—the end of Nat’s rope has come,” hinted Norma knowingly.
“What is it?” asked the girls anxiously.
“Nothing new for poor Natalie to suffer from, I hope,” said Helene Wardell, Janet’s younger sister and not a member of the clique of five girls, although she often walked to and from school with her sister.
“Well,” replied Norma, aware of her important news, “it is about the worst thing that can happen to a girl after she has lost mother and father. Mrs. James confided to mother last night that there isn’t a cent for poor Nat. The lawyer said that Mr. Averill kept up appearances but he had no capital. He must have spent all the money he made since Natalie’s mother died four years ago.”
“How perfectly dreadful for Nat!” cried Janet.
“After the luxurious manner of life she has had, too,” added Belle.
“S-sh! Not so loud, girls; she will hear us,” warned Helene, the tender-hearted.
“Did Mrs. James tell your mother what they would do?” whispered Frances anxiously.