. "It looks pretty bad, doesn't it? But why
didn't the janitress take it straight to Miss Thompson? That's what she
usually does with articles she finds."

"She missed seeing Miss Thompson that Saturday," said Anne. "When I hunted
her up early Monday morning, in order to question her, she asked me if I
had lost a pin. She said she had just returned one to Miss Thompson, and
told me where she found it. I asked her to describe the pin, and at once
recognized it. Every girl in school knows that scarab of Miriam's. There
is nothing like it in Oakdale.

"For a minute I didn't know what to do. Don't you remember when Miriam
first had it? She showed it to Miss Thompson, and Miss Thompson spoke of
how curious it was. I knew that Miss Thompson would not be apt to forget
it. I hurried up to her office and found her with the pin in her hand. She
had sent for Miriam, but the messenger came back with the report that
Miriam wasn't in school. She laid the pin down and said, 'What is it,
Anne?' So I just asked her if she would let me have the pin. Of course,
she looked surprised, and asked me if I knew to whom it belonged. I told
her I did. Then she looked at me very hard, and asked me to tell her
exactly why I wanted it. But, of course, I couldn't tell her, so I didn't
say anything. Then she said: 'Anne, I know without being told why you want
this pin. I am going to give it to you, and let you settle a delicate
matter in your own way. I am sure it will be the right one.'"

"Anne Pierson, you bad child!" exclaimed Grace. "To think that you've kept
this to yourself ever since the game. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I wanted to think what to do about it, before telling even you," Anne
replied. "Yesterday I had a long talk with David. He knows everything
that Miriam has done since the beginning of the freshman year. He feels
dreadfully about it all. I think you and I ought to go to her and tell her
that we are willing to forget the past and be her friends."

"It would do no good," said Grace dubiously. "She would simply laugh at
us. I used to have dreams about making Miriam see the evil of her ways,
but I have come to the conclusion that they were dreams, and nothing
more."

"Let's try, anyway," said Anne. "David says she seems sad and unhappy, and
is more gentle than she has been for a long time."

"All right, we'll beard the lion in her den, the Nesbit on her soil, if
you say so. But I expect to be routed with great slaughter," said