Delia struck a light, for they had hitherto been talking in the dark, and took some money out of her desk. "How much do you need," she asked, as she counted it over.
"Three dollars," replied Emily. "It cannot possibly be more than that."
"Here are five," said Delia. "That will pay all your debts, and perhaps leave you something over. But remember what you have promised."
"Indeed I will, Delia. I never was so much obliged to any one in my life. Oh, how glad I shall be to get it all off my mind." Emily stopped suddenly.
What had become of her resolution to inquire for the owner of the money she had found. How could she appropriate it to her own use, without incurring the guilt of theft? Yet the bill must be paid at all hazards. The tea bell rung in the midst of her reflections, and she descended to the table looking so pale that two or three of the girls noticed it, and one of the teachers asked her if she were ill.
"My head aches, Miss Gilbert," Emily answered, with perfect truth, but she might have said that a heart-ache was worse to bear than a head-ache, and a pain in the conscience worst of all.
How she started when Mrs. Pomeroy tapped on the tea-urn with a spoon, which was her way of calling the attention of the young ladies, and how relieved she felt, when she heard that her remarks related only to a change in the breakfast hour.
But the dull, aching pain came back the next moment, with a still sharper pang accompanying it, as she remembered that by keeping the money so long, and saying nothing about it, she had already put a great difficulty in the way of returning it at all. What could she say if any one questioned her, and in what reasonable manner could she account for her delay? As she was passing out of the room after tea, Mrs. Pomeroy stopped her.
"Don't you feel well, my dear?" she asked. "You look very pale and tired. You can be excused from study this evening, if you wish it."
"I am tired," admitted Emily, hardly able to restrain her tears at the undeserved kindness, "but I don't care about being excused from study, thank you. It makes the evening seem so long."