“You hard-hearted thing!” exclaimed her sister.
“What do you mean?” asked Cora.
“Listen, my children, and you shall hear,” began Bess in her best manner. “I kept my eye on that young gentleman——”
“The Gorgon stare,” murmured her sister.
“When he was turning those bolts of cloth the second time,” went on Bess, disdaining to dignify the interruption by noticing it, “and while he was fumbling them with one hand, I saw him bring up the purse from beneath the counter with the other hand and slip it under the cloth. Then, before I could say anything, he called out that he had found it. I could have shaken you when you thanked him so sweetly, Cora Kimball.”
The girls looked at each other aghast.
“Did you ever?” gasped Belle.
“He ought to be exposed!” exclaimed Cora indignantly.
“I suppose he ought,” agreed Bess placidly. “But after all, the proof wouldn’t be strong enough. It would be simply my word against his, and he’d swear black and blue that I was mistaken. We’d only get mixed up in an ugly mess, and nothing would come of it after all. I fancy that that young man will get to the end of his rope soon enough without our having anything to do with it. Thank your lucky stars, Cora, that you’ve got your money back, and let it go at that.”
“To think of Bess playing sleuth and tracking crime to its lair!” cried Belle. “I didn’t think she had it in her.”