I do not want to see any bright girl like you fall behind.
There is always some reason for such changes, but sometimes we teachers
have hard work to get at it. I want all my girls to have confidence in
me and to tell me if anything goes wrong with them."

"Yes, Ma'am," said Ruth, guiltily.

But she could not take the principal of Briarwood Hall into her
confidence--she positively could _not_ do it! How ridiculous it would
seem to the dignified Mrs. Grace Tellingham that she did not dip into
the money her uncle had given her to buy that costume!

And she was losing her standing, and worrying everybody who cared,
because of this temptation. She knew she was doing wrong in falling
behind in her studies.

Surely _that_ was not the way to give Uncle Jabez the best return
possible for his investment. If she fell back in her books this year,
Ruth knew she would never be able to make it up. She must either be
prepared for college half a year later, or skip some work that would be
found wanting at a later time--would be a thorn in her flesh, indeed,
for the remainder of her school life.

One hour Ruth told herself that she would be decisive--she would be
brave--she would not move in her determination to keep the fifty dollars
intact. And then, the next hour, her heart would sink, as she looked
forward to what would be said and thought by her companions when the
exhibition day came around and she appeared in her old suit.

She thought seriously of trying to withdraw in season from the
exhibition class. But unfortunately she could not easily do that. The
instructor had selected the twenty girls herself, and what excuse--what
honest excuse--could Ruth give for demanding her release?

"Oh, dear me!" she thought, tossing on her pillow at night, "if I could
only be the means of returning that necklace to Mrs. Parsons! My
troubles would all be over for sure.

"Mr. Cameron's detectives will _never_ find that old Queen Zelaya, but I
bet Roberto knows just where she has gone for the winter."

With this in mind she tried again and again to get some information out
of Tony Foyle's new helper. Roberto always had a smile for her, and
seemed willing enough to try to make signs about anything and everything
but his tribe and his grandmother.

And so smart was he that his gestures were very understandable indeed,
when he wished to give information about the new work that he loved, and
about the fall flowers and bulbs which were being