quired.

Blue Bonnet took the book, opened it, looked it over from cover to cover
and handed it back.

"No," she said, "it isn't mine. It's French. I couldn't translate it."

"You are quite sure that it is not your book, or one that you borrowed?"

Blue Bonnet glanced at the book again.

"Perfectly sure, Miss North. I never saw it before."

"That is very strange, Miss Ashe. The book was found in your drawer
while you were at home for the week-end. Miss Martin found it covered
with some underwear."

The puzzled expression on Blue Bonnet's face would have cleared her in
any court of justice; but Miss North had dealt with consummate actresses
in her time. She was on her guard.

Blue Bonnet took the book again in her hands and turned over a few
leaves, her face still surprised and bewildered.

"In _my_ drawer! Who do you suppose could have put it there?"

She looked Miss North clearly in the eyes.

"That is what I am trying to find out. It is the kind of book that is
expressly forbidden in the school, Miss Ashe. This is a very serious
matter."

Blue Bonnet laid the book on the desk instantly, giving it a little push
as if contaminated by the touch.

"And you think, Miss North, that _I_ would have a book like that in my
drawer?"

"I should not like to think it, Miss Ashe, but--"

Blue Bonnet did not let her finish the sentence.

"Doesn't my word count for anything? I am in the habit of telling the
truth."

Miss North hesitated. She believed the girl innocent, but she had had so
many experiences--boarding-school was a hotbed for them, she sometimes
thought. Her position was a trying one.

"I _want_ to believe that you are telling the truth. Miss Ashe, but--I
am sorry to say that I have known girls, who thought they were
truthful, to dissemble--to--"

"I am not one of those girls, Miss North. I give you my word of honor
that I never saw that book, or one like it, in my life, until this
minute. That is all I can say--you may believe me or not."

She started to leave the room, her head held a trifle higher than usual,
her eyes bright and snapping.

"One moment, Miss Ashe. There is no need for anger. This, as I stated
before, is a serious matter. It is possible that the girl who brought
this book into the school did not realize its full import; its true
significance. No girl could read it without taking away much of the
bloom that it is our privilege to guard and preserve. Even I, at middle
age, should