t from henceforth. Two cups of cocoa to be had not for
the asking, and big cups at that."

Promptly at the recreation hour, Mame hurried off to see Hester. There
was something she wished done for the paper and Hester wrote so
beautifully. Helen went away and left them. The sound of voices came up
to them from Fifty-four.

"Erma asked me to come down for some hot chocolate," suggested Hester.
But Mame refused to take the hint.

"Yes, she asked me too. She'll call us when it's ready. She knows that I
am up here. Now, about this editorial. I'd rather write a novel than an
editorial any time. In novels, something may be done; but in editorials,
one must just think. Would you say this, Hester?"

She began her reading on an abstract subject which was a theme worthy of
a logician and Hester was compelled to listen.

Meanwhile, down in Fifty-four, a number of girls had gathered. Erma was
making good use of the chafing-dish while Renee was passing salt wafers
and blanched almonds. Erma was laughing merrily, as she poured the
cocoa. In the midst of her activities her brooch fell from her collar on
to the table.

"Good thing, I heard it," she exclaimed, drawing the attention of the
entire room to it. "If I had dropped it in the hall or on the campus, I
might never have found it, just as you did, Helen. You never found your
pin did you?"

"No," said Helen. Her reply was given curtly as though her mind were on
other matters.

"I told you so," cried Berenice with a show of exultation, looking from
one girl to another. They had become suddenly quiet at Helen's reply.

"I told you so," she repeated. Then turning to Helen, she continued. "I
can tell you where it is. I saw it and so did several of the others. But
they are afraid to tell."

"Not afraid," said Mellie gently. "Fear was not what kept us silent."

"Hester Alden knows where it is," continued Berenice. "While you were at
Exeter, Hester went home. I met her in the hall and walked with her to
the triangle. I saw the pin on her tie. It was partly hidden by the ends
of her tie. When she came back, she did not have it with her. I was not
the only girl who saw it. They all feel as I do about it. Hester Alden
took your pin."

She looked about the room with an air of malicious triumph. What could
the girls do or say now? The gauntlet had been thrown down and they
could not fling it back. It must lie there, for Hester could not be
defended. Gentle, soft-spoken Mellie aros