Ask
him also to write directly to me, for the ten pounds I now send is
only the beginning of what I mean really to do to help them."
When her letter was finished, Maggie put her hand in her pocket to
take out her purse. It was not there. She searched on the table,
looked under piles of books and papers and presently found it. She
unclasped the purse and opened an inner pocket for the purpose of
taking out two five-pound notes which she had placed there this
morning. To her astonishment and perplexity, this portion of the purse
now contained only one of the notes. Maggie felt her face turning
crimson. Quick as a flash of lightning a horrible thought assailed
her-- Priscilla had been alone in her room for nearly an hour--
Priscilla's people were starving: had Priscilla taken the note?
"Oh, hateful!" said Maggie to herself; "what am I coming to, to
suspect the brave, the noble-- I won't, I can't. Oh, how shall I look
her in the face and feel that I ever, even for a second, thought of
her so dreadfully." Maggie searched through her purse again. "Perhaps
I dreamt that I put two notes here this morning," she said to herself.
"But no, it is no dream; I put two notes into this division of my
purse, I put four sovereigns here; the sovereigns are safe-- one of
the notes is gone.
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