"It's about my brother Jack," said Cora, and there was a sob in her voice. "He has suffered a nervous breakdown, and will have to leave college at once!"
CHAPTER II
MORE NEWS
"Oh, Cora!" murmured Bess, rising from, the chair, and it was with no easy effort that she did so, for she had allowed herself to sink back again into its luxurious depths. "Oh, Cora dear! Isn't that perfectly dreadful!"
Cora Kimball did not answer. She was staring at the fateful telegram, reading it over and over again; the words now meaningless to her. But she had grasped their import with the first swift glance. Jack was ill—in trouble.
Bess put her arms around her chum, and slipped one plump hand up on the tresses tangled by the wind on the motor ride.
"Can I do anything to help—your mother is she—"
"Of course!" exclaimed Cora with a sigh. "I must tell mother at once. Yes, she's at home, Bess. Will you—do you mind coming with me?"
"Of course not, my dear. I wouldn't think of letting you go alone to tell her. Is the telegram from jack himself?"
"No, it's from Walter Pennington. Walter says a letter follows—special delivery."