“We haven’t given her a chance,” said Carol, with her impish smile.

“Go on,” begged Prudence.  “Tell me.  You’re both crazy, I see that.  But tell me!”

“Well,” began Lark, for Carol always relegated the story-telling to her more gifted twin, “we’ve suspected Miss Allen right from the start.  They used to have Bible reading every morning in school, one chapter, you know, and then the Lord’s prayer.  After the first week, Miss Allen dropped it.  We thought that was a—­a suspicious circumstance.”

“Phenomenally so,” said Carol darkly.

“But we kept our suspicions to ourselves, and we didn’t come across anything else for several days.  We wouldn’t condemn anybody on—­on circumstantial evidence, Prue.  We’re very fair-minded, you know.”

“In spite of being twins,” added Carol.

“What’s that got to do with it?” Prudence inquired, frowning at Carol.

“Oh, nothing,” admitted Carol, driven into a corner.  “I just wanted to make it emphatic.”

“Go on, Lark.”

“Well, there’s a girl at school named Hattie Simpson.  You do not know her, Prue.  We don’t associate with her.  Oh, yes, we like her very well, but she isn’t parsonage material.”

“She’s a goat,” put in Carol.  “You needn’t frown, Prue, that’s Bible!  Don’t you remember the sheep and the goats?  I don’t know now just what it was they did, but I know the goats were very—­very disreputable characters!”

“Go on, Lark.”

“Well, her folks are atheists, and she’s an atheist, too.  You know what an atheist is, don’t you?  You know, Prue, Mount Mark is a very religious town, on account of the Presbyterian College, and all, and it seems the Simpsons are the only atheists here.  Hattie says people look down on her terribly because of it.  She says the church folks consider them, the Simpsons, that is, the dust on their shoes, and the crumbs off the rich man’s table.  She got that terribly mixed up, but I didn’t correct her.”

“I think she did very well for an atheist,” said Carol, determined not to be totally overlooked in this discussion.

“What has all this to do with Miss Allen?”

“Well, one day Hattie was walking home from school with us, and she was telling us about it,—­the dust on their shoes, etc.,—­and she said she liked Miss Allen better than anybody else in town.  I asked why.  She said Miss Allen believed the same things the Simpsons believe, only Miss Allen daren’t say so publicly, or they would put her out of the school.  She said Miss Allen said that most church members were hypocrites and drunkards and—­and just generally bad, and the ones outside the church are nearly always good and moral and kind.  She said Miss Allen joined the Presbyterian church here because most of the school board are Presbyterians.  She said Miss Allen said she didn’t care if people were Catholics or Jews or atheists or—­or just ordinary Protestants, so long as they were kind to one another, and went about the world doing good works.  And that’s why Miss Allen wouldn’t read the Bible and say the Lord’s prayer in school.”