ung instantly around, and the speaker became silent. The
newcomer announced her mission without delay:

"An important message for Miss Phillips," she said. "I took it over the
telephone."

"Will you give it to me?" asked the latter, rising and advancing to take
what she expected to be a written message.

"Yes, ma'am; I didn't write it down," she replied. And before Miss
Phillips could warn her not to inform the whole school, she shouted out,
to the surprise of everyone,

"_Mrs. Johnson sent word that Frieda Hammer has been missing since
half-past one this afternoon._"

"With Marjorie Wilkinson's canoe!" exclaimed Ruth, in a tone that was
audible all over the assembly room.

CHAPTER X

THE HALLOWE'EN PARTY

The meeting which Miss Allen had begun with such formality ended in a
turmoil. Everyone jumped up excitedly at the news of Frieda's
disappearance and at the interpretation which Ruth gave to the
occurrence.

For all the girls in the school--even those who were not Scouts--knew
about Frieda Hammer. They were aware, too, of the fact that the Japanese
fete had been given to raise money to support her, and it was common
knowledge that over a hundred dollars had been cleared.

But only the Scouts themselves knew the details: that, after five weeks'
board had been paid in advance, Frieda had been given fifteen dollars,
which she was to use for her ticket home on Thanksgiving. This idea had
been Marjorie's; she wanted by some such outward sign to testify to the
girl that the Scouts trusted her. Miss Phillips, Ruth, and one or two
others had opposed the plan, but Marjorie's enthusiasm had finally
carried it.

So now Marjorie had this double tragedy to face: she had not only lost
her canoe, but her confidence had been betrayed. And Ruth, who had
prophesied something of the sort from the first, had triumphed!

Miss Phillips was too wise to call a Scout meeting immediately; she
wanted to give the discussion a chance to simmer down. Besides this, she
felt deeply for Marjorie. The girl had encountered a terrible
disappointment; older and more experienced people than Marjorie had
broken down under parallel circumstances. Miss Phillips wanted to give
her a good chance to cry; after that, she depended upon Lily's good
sense and tact to console her.

Accordingly, nothing was done until the next night, when Miss Phillips
called the Scouts to a meeting.

The subject was hardly mentioned before Ruth Henry spran