nd voice suspicions which, after all,
might prove to have been entirely groundless. Nevertheless, she felt
uncomfortable, and as Miss Harper's steady glance was fixed upon her she
could not meet the searching eyes, and dropped her own uneasily.

"I ask you again," said the teacher, with reproach in her voice, "does
any girl know anything of this occurrence? I promise I will inflict no
punishment if whoever is guilty will only honestly confess."

Once more her brown eyes scanned her class narrowly, and once more Patty
dared not look her straight in the face.

"Very well," said Miss Harper, "I shall not seek any further to find the
owner, though the initials P. and H. intertwined on the title page might
possibly give me a clue. The girl to whom it belongs will find her own
conscience her severest judge; she will surely feel, without further
remark from me, how contemptible is her conduct. I scarcely know what
to do with this book," she continued, holding up the translation as if
she did not like to touch it. "I will not take charge of it, as I
consider it unworthy to be in existence. This will show you best how I
regard it;" and, tearing its pages across and across, she flung it into
the fire. "Now, girls, open your Caesars, and we will begin the lesson."

[Illustration: "GIRLS," SHE CRIED, "SURELY YOU CAN'T SUSPECT ME OF
OWNING THAT WRETCHED CRIB"]

It was the most miserable Latin class which the girls ever remembered.
Each one was afraid to construe well, for fear she might be suspected of
having done her preparation with the aid of the translation. Miss Harper
made no comments, and gave neither praise for good work nor blame for
bad. She took the marks as usual, and at the end of the hour left the
room without referring again to the subject. I am afraid Miss Rowe, who
followed with geology, did not find her pupils particularly intelligent
that morning. She was obliged several times to correct them sharply for
wandering attention, and was annoyed at the many wrong answers to the
questions which she asked. The girls were unable to fix their thoughts
upon either glaciers or moraines; all were counting the minutes until
lunch-time, when they could rush from the room to discuss the burning
question of the ownership of the translation. As Patty walked down the
passage at eleven o'clock to the pantry, she noticed Vera Clifford
nudge Kitty Harrison and whisper something she could not hear. Most of
the girls were collected