of them giggled. Miss Carrington looked as she usually did when Mr. Sharp joked—it pained her and set her teeth on edge. Bobby declared she looked as though she had bitten into a green persimmon.
"Joking aside, however," continued the principal. "This loss is a serious matter. Suppose you young ladies suggest how the question papers to be used in this mid-term examination have been whisked out of this drawer of Miss Carrington's desk, and hidden elsewhere? Can it be possible that it is the prank of a pixy? Of course, all of you young ladies are too serious-minded to do such a thing yourselves."
There was a general laugh, then, and the strain of the last few minutes began to be relieved. Somehow, even Jess Morse felt better.
"To suggest that anybody in this class—the Junior class of Central High—would deliberately misappropriate these questions is beyond imagination," declared Mr. Sharp, with sudden gravit. "It is a mistake. The mistake is explainable. Has anyone a suggestion to make?"
It was Laura Belding who broke the silence. She asked her question very modestly, but her cheeks were flushed, and she was evidently indignant.
"Is—is it positive that the papers were put in
