u believe her," said Betty whimsically. "She only wants to find
out what you left in your will, Amy."

"I wouldn't dare tell her now, anyway," returned Amy, with a twinkle.
"Methinks it might very easily become my death warrant."

"How so?" queried Mollie with interest--or perhaps it might be said,
Mollie's back expressed interest. For Mollie's back could express, Grace
had once said, "more emotions in a minute than most people's faces could
in a year." And, riding as they so often did, in full view of that
expressive back, the girls had come to interpret its owner's emotions
correctly in nine cases out of ten. So now they were able to detect a very
quickened interest.

"Why," Amy explained naively, "it's barely possible that I've left
something to Mollie, too, isn't it?"

"Barely," agreed Mollie dryly.

"Well," Amy chuckled, "then what would be easier than for Mollie to
precipitate an accident, dash my brains out against some convenient tree,
and then brazenly protest all innocence in the murder."

"Nothing," said Mollie, with the same dryness of intonation, "except the
bare possibility of dashing my own brains out in the transaction."

"Oh, well, it could be fixed," said Amy with confidence.

"Do you really think so?" Mollie's back once more betrayed a lively
interest, and the girls chuckled. "Suppose you tell me about it."

"And sign my own death warrant?" returned Amy plaintively. "Goodness, you
must think I'm foolisher than I am."

"Impossible," retorted Mollie and once more Amy sighed and folded her
hands resignedly in her lap.

"All right," she threatened, "if we only live through this, I'll change my
will, that's all, and leave everything to Betty and Mrs. Sanderson."

"Goodness, what have I done?" cried Grace in dismay. "Didn't I just offer
you another candy and--and--everything"

"I didn't notice the everything," said Amy.

"Well, you noticed the candy," retorted Grace with spirit, "and it was the
fattest, juiciest one in the box, too."

"Well, give it back, Amy," directed Mollie, and Amy, in the act of
swallowing the fat juicy chocolate, choked on a chuckle.

"Too late," she cried. "It is decapitated."

"I thought I heard its death rattle," sighed Grace, mournfully adding, as
the girls laughed at her: "Oh, I don't know what's the matter with me
this morning. I never felt so foolish before.

"Girls," she said, and suddenly her voice quivered and her eyes filled,
"I've tried so not to think