The outer door suddenly opened, and Bessie Brown appeared in the opening.
With dilated eyes she looked a moment on the scene.
She recognized Vance Thornton and the awful situation he was in.
Uttering a piercing scream that echoed through the corridors, Bessie seized the first thing that came to her hand, which happened to be a cane forgotten by a morning visitor, and jumped to Vance’s assistance.
CHAPTER XI.
THE CORN SITUATION.
The appearance of Bessie on the scene altered the state of affairs materially.
Vyce realized that the scales had turned against him, and that if he expected to evade the consequences of his rash actions he had not a moment to lose.
With a bitter curse he cast the half-stunned boy from him, grabbed his hat and coat, and started for the door.
Vance had fallen to the floor, and Bessie, paying no further attention to the bookkeeper, ran to the boy, and lifting his head in her arms, begged him to speak to her.