After a time Mrs. Gosnold said almost sharply: "Well, Miss Manwaring! You have little time to waste. Bring me the note, please, and a pen."
With a gesture of despair the girl twisted in her chair and showed the woman a stricken face.
"Are you sure--?" she stammered.
"Yes?" Mrs. Gosnold prompted with an accent of surprise. "What is it, Sally?"
The girl gulped hard, and mechanically put a hand to her throat, rising as she spoke.
"Are you sure Mrs. English is on the Island?"
"What of it? Why, I presumed you would be glad of the opportunity to thank her for that letter of--"
"There was no letter!"
"I beg pardon?" Mrs. Gosnold opened wide her eyes.
"I say," Sally faltered, yet with determination, "there was no letter. Mrs. Standish--that is--we both lied to you. I don't know Mrs. English; I never spoke a word to her in all my life. I didn't take any letter to Mrs. Standish. That was a story manufactured out of whole cloth to account for me--get me this position here."