Tears rose in her bright eyes, they rolled
down her cheeks. Oh, why was not Elma in time? How dreadful, how
dreadful if she (Kitty) missed the twelve-o'clock post! She was in this
state of fret and worry, when Fred entered the room. Fred hated all
girls, with the exception of Kitty Malone. He could not be said by this
time to hate her, for he admired her very much indeed. The moment she
saw him she called out to him to come in.
"Ah, then, Fred, it is you. Come along in," she cried; "you'll be a
drain of a comfort--not much, but still a drain. Oh, Fred, it's I who am
in the trouble entirely. You wouldn't think it to look at me, but I am."
"Dear me, Kitty I am sorry," said Fred. "What's up? Has Alice been
teasing you as usual?"
"Oh, bother Alice! as if I minded her little pinpricks. It's that
darling Laurie in Ireland. He has got into trouble, the broth of a boy
that he is."
She then related what had occurred in connection with Paddy
Wheel-about's coat.
"And the poor old coat is in the bottom of the lake," she added, "and
the lake is feet deep in mud just at the bottom, and anything that falls
with a weight into it would sink and sink. Oh, they will never find the
coat till the day of judgment, and it full of beautiful money! And Paddy
Wheel-about has lost the little grain of sense he ever possessed, and
Laurie will be sent to one of those prisons.
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