No
sound was heard but the eager voices of the two who were cruelly
fighting each other and the astonished tones of the young auctioneer.
Twelve, thirteen, fourteen pounds were reached. Maggie's bid was
fourteen pounds.
"Guineas!" screamed Rose with a weak sort of gasp.
Maggie turned and looked at her, then walked slowly back to her place
by Priscilla's side.
The coral belonged to Rose Merton, and she had four guineas too little
to pay for it.
CHAPTER XVIII
A BLACK SELF AND A WHITE SELF
"IT is quite true, Maggie," said Nancy Banister. "It is about the
auction. Yes, there is no doubt about that. What possessed you to go?"
Maggie Oliphant was standing in the center of her own room with an
open letter in her hand. Nancy was reading it over her shoulder:
KATHARINE HALL,
"Dec. 2.
"Miss Eccleston and Miss Heath request Miss Oliphant and Miss Peel
to present themselves in Miss Eccleston's private sitting-room this
evening at seven o'clock."
"That is all," said Maggie. "It sounds as solemn and unfriendly as if
one were about to be tried for some capital offense."
"It's the auction, of course," repeated Nancy. "Those girls thought
they had kept it so quiet, but some one must have 'peached,' I
suppose, to curry favor.
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