here. Then I knew
something was wrong with it. That is all I can tell you. But you must know
that I would not do a thing like that, Mrs. Livingston. Please don't say
that you think I might be guilty of any such thing. Do you think I would
spoil my chance of winning an 'honor' for the sake of playing a
contemptible trick?"

"No, Harriet, I do not think you would," decided Mrs. Livingston after
gazing steadily into the troubled eyes of Harriet Burrell for a moment.

Harriet caught her breath sharply.

"It ith a mean thhame," declared Tommy in a voice that reached every
person in the tent. "I gueth the banshee mutht have done it."

A chorus of giggles greeted this sally. The laughter was suppressed by the
Chief Guardian.

"We will leave the mystery of the doctored soup as it stands until after
breakfast to-morrow morning," announced Mrs. Livingston. "After that, if
the guilty girl makes no confession in the meantime, we shall begin an
investigation of our own."

The Chief Guardian rose, the girls doing likewise, after which they filed
out of the tent. Once outside they began to talk excitedly. Most of them
took sides with Harriet Burrell. They did not believe she could have been
guilty of such a trick. Besides, she would be defeating her own ambitions
if she did do so. She was certain to lose the coveted "honor." Despite
this, however, there were those who did believe that Harriet had put soap
in the consomme.

It had been an evening full of excitement and unexpected happenings. And
now Harriet Burrell would not have another opportunity to win her "honor"
in this line until three months had passed.

Harriet's face was stony as she fled to her tent. Jane McCarthy reached
the tent a few minutes behind her friend. Jane threw her arms about
Harriet, expressing her opinion of the whole affair in her own hot-headed
way. Harriet's eyes were dry but her cheeks were hot. She was holding
herself well in hand, yet when she spoke there was a slight quaver in her
voice. She was not a girl given to tears.

"I don't care for the 'honor' so much," Harriet said, "but I just can't
stand it to have the girls believing deep down in their hearts that I
could have done that awful thing. They will say it; at least some of them
will."

"I dare them to!" flamed Jane. "Just let me hear them. Oh, just let me
hear one girl saying a word about Harriet Burrell. Oh!"

"I don't want you to mix in this trouble at all, Jane," objected Harriet