him the remainder of the carefully prepared lunch. The boy
clutched it and ran with a sidewise hop like a wild thing. She covered
the dishes and cup, polished the spoon, replaced it, and closed the
case. She caught her breath in a tremulous laugh.

"If Aunt Margaret knew that, she'd never forgive me," she said. "It
seems as if secrecy is literally forced upon me, and I hate it. What
shall I do for lunch? I'll have to sell my arrows and keep enough money
for a restaurant sandwich."

So she walked hurriedly into town, sold her points at a good price,
deposited her funds, and went away with a neat little bank book and the
note from the Limberlost carefully folded inside. Elnora passed down the
hall that morning, and no one paid the slightest attention to her.
The truth was she looked so like every one else that she was perfectly
inconspicuous. But in the coat room there were members of her class.
Surely no one intended it, but the whisper was too loud.

"Look at the girl from the Limberlost in the clothes that woman gave
her!"

Elnora turned on them. "I beg your pardon," she said unsteadily, "I
couldn't help hearing that! No one gave me these clothes. I paid for
them myself."

Some one muttered, "Pardon me," but incredulous faces greeted her.

Elnora felt driven. "Aunt Margaret selected them, and she meant to give
them to me," she explained, "but I wouldn't take them. I paid for them
myself." There was silence.

"Don't you believe me?" panted Elnora.

"Really, it is none of our affair," said another girl. "Come on, let's
go."

Elnora stepped before the girl who had spoken. "You have made this your
affair," she said, "because you told a thing which was not true. No one
gave me what I am wearing. I paid for my clothes myself with money I
earned selling moths to the Bird Woman. I just came from the bank where
I deposited what I did not use. Here is my credit." Elnora drew out and
offered the little red book. "Surely you will believe that," she said.

"Why of course," said the girl who first had spoken. "We met such a
lovely woman in Brownlee's store, and she said she wanted our help to
buy some things for a girl, and that's how we came to know."

"Dear Aunt Margaret," said Elnora, "it was like her to ask you. Isn't
she splendid?"

"She is indeed," chorused the girls. Elnora set down her lunch box and
books, unpinned her hat, hanging it beside the others, and taking up
the books she reached to set the box in it