“Don’t forget to write,” called Nora after Hippy, as he hurried down the steps after the others, who had reached the gate.

“You’ll hear from me as soon as we hit the knowledge shop,” was the reassuring answer.

At the corner the little party separated, Hippy, Reddy and Jessica going in one direction, Anne and David in another, leaving Tom and Grace to pursue their homeward way alone.  As they turned into Putnam Square, Grace gave a little exclamation, and seizing Tom by the arm, drew him behind a statue of Israel Putnam at the entrance of the square.

“Marian Barber is coming this way with that horrid Henry Hammond,” she whispered.  “I don’t care to meet them.  I have not spoken to him since the house party, and Marian will be so angry if I cut him deliberately when he is with her.  I am sure they have not seen us.  They were invited to Miriam’s to-night.  We’ll stand here until they pass.”

The two young people stood in the shadow quietly waiting, unseen by the approaching couple, who were completely absorbed in conversation.

“I tell you I can’t do it,” Grace heard Marian say impatiently.  “It doesn’t belong to me, and I have no right to touch it.”

Hammond’s reply was inaudible, but it was evident that Marian’s remark had angered him, for he grasped her by the arm so savagely that she cried out:  “Don’t hold my arm so tightly, Henry, you are hurting me.  I am not foolish to refuse to give it to you.  Suppose you should lose it all—­”

They had passed the statue by this time, and Grace and Tom heard no more of their conversation.  There was a brief silence between them, then Grace spoke.

“Tom, what do you suppose that means?”

“I don’t know, Grace,” was the answer.  “It didn’t sound very promising.”

“I should say not,” said Grace decidedly.  “I feel sure that Henry Hammond is a thoroughly unscrupulous person, and I shall not rest until I find out what the conversation we overheard leads to.”

“I believe you are right,” said Tom, “and I’m only sorry I can’t be here to help ferret the thing out.”

“I’ll write and keep you posted as to my progress,” promised Grace, as she said goodbye to Tom at the Harlowe’s door, a little later.

“Good-bye, Tom.  Best wishes to Arnold.  I’m sorry I didn’t see him again.”

“Good-night, Grace, and good-bye,” said Tom, and with a hearty handshake they parted.

As Grace prepared for bed that night she turned Marian’s words over and over in her mind, but could arrive at no logical conclusion, and finally dropped to sleep with the riddle still unsolved.

CHAPTER XIV

GRACE AND ANNE PLAN A STUDY CAMPAIGN

With the delights of the past holiday season still fresh in their memories, the pupils of Oakdale High School went back to their studies on the fourth of January, and in the course of a few days everything was again in smooth running order.