“ It was not till the week was almost over that the girls thought penitently of the Haddons.
“I wonder,” said Billie, as she turned over and over in her fingers a ten dollar gold piece that had been a gift from an aunt, “what kind of Christmas poor little Peter has had.”
“Oh, for goodness’ sake, Billie!” Laura replied a little impatiently, “what is the use of spoiling all our fun by bringing up the unhappiness of some one else? We can’t help it if the Haddons haven’t had as nice a Christmas as we have. We certainly have done all we could.” ”

“ Her eyes, become more accustomed to the dim light, had lighted upon something interesting among the junk. What had caught her attention was a large, clumsy-looking thing like a queerly shaped wooden box. The girls watched her curiously as she bent over to examine it.
“You haven’t found your ghost, have you?” asked Vi, in a voice that was meant to be sarcastic.
“No,” said Billie, a thrill of wonder and excitement creeping into her voice. “But I may have found something! Girls, come here and have a look at this!” ”

“ It was surprisingly warm and snug in there also, for the thick snow wrapped them in the warmest and fleeciest of blankets, and the only place for old Jack Frost to come in was the narrow entrance of the cave.
And once assured that the owner of the cave, whether man or animal, was at that moment not at home, Billie began to feel a sense of exquisite comfort. Her teeth had ceased to chatter, they were safe from the bitter north wind, and she had Teddy to take care of her. What more could any girl want? ”

“ To Laura it seemed incredible that every one should not have enough and to spare of the good things that, rightly used, go to make happiness in this strange old world. She had never known what it was to have a wish that was not gratified almost on the instant.
“Yes, it must be awful,” Billie answered soberly, in response to Laura’s exclamation. “And I’m sure,” she added decidedly, “that I won’t be able to enjoy another good meal until I know that those three poor little kiddies and Mrs. Haddon have had all they could possibly eat—for once, at least.” ”

“ For a moment Laura looked a little undecided, but Billie jumped up, ran over to Vi and hugged her.
“You’re a perfect angel!” she cried. “That’s just exactly what I was thinking myself. Only I wasn’t going to ask you girls. I was just going to leave mine and say nothing about it.”
“Oh, well,” grumbled Laura, taking her own bright coin from its hiding place and handing it over reluctantly. “If you girls are going to be foolish I suppose I’ve got to be too. Only it’s no joke,” she added, in a plaintive tone that made the girls giggle, “when you think of all the sodas and candy it would buy!” ”

“ For a moment her classmates stared at Billie blankly. They had all but forgotten about the invention. Somehow, Mrs. Haddon’s tale of a nearly won fortune had seemed unreal and vague to them—almost like a fairy story. And now here was Billie bringing it all up again and even talking about finding that knitting machine model!
“If it doesn’t always take you to think up impossible things, Billie Bradley,” said Vi.
“Just the same,” Laura spoke up unexpectedly, “you must admit that lots of times Billie has done what we would think was impossible to do.” ”

“ CHAPTER IX—INTO SPACE For a glorious hour the girls and boys enjoyed what was to them the best sledding of their lives. They coasted down the hill and dragged their sleds up again, shouting and calling to each other while their cheeks and, it must be admitted, sometimes their noses, too, glowed with the sting of the sharp wind and they had to stamp hard on the frozen ground to keep their toes from freezing.
“The best sport ever!” cried Paul.
“All to the merry,” came from Chet. “What do you say, girls?” and he turned to Billie and her classmates. ”

“ Finally she stopped altogether, looked across at Amanda for a thoughtful moment, then laid the manuscript down and turned to Miss Walters. She said something that the girls could not catch, then hurried from the room.
This was something no one had counted upon. Amanda, her triumphant smile gone at last, quaked as she heard again the excited buzz of the girls about her.
Miss Walters’ voice rose over the murmur, clear and very grave.
“Miss Arbuckle thinks she has made a discovery,” she said. “She will be back in a moment, and until then I must ask that there be absolute silence in the room.” ”

“ Billie watched him as he struggled through the drifts, and suddenly she was aware of an overwhelming desire to sit down where she was and cry.
“But that wouldn’t do any good,” she told herself sharply, “even if this place does look more lonely than a desert. If we don’t get where it’s warm pretty soon we’ll turn into icicles ourselves, I guess.”
The wind had become stronger and more biting, and Billie’s teeth had begun to chatter. She was glad when Teddy floundered back to her, the rope of his sled looped over one arm. ”

“ At least, she thought at first it was Santa Claus, because his face was so very red and the snow was clinging to his fuzzy cap in such a funny manner.
But in a moment more she realized her mistake, for the red face and the funny hat disappeared and in their place were shoved two legs that she was very sure belonged to Teddy. And in a moment more Teddy himself slid down beside her.
“Hello,” she greeted him with a smile. “I thought you were Santa Claus. Why weren’t you?” ”

“ For had not she just won the first prize for the best composition? After that she felt that she could accomplish anything.
It was no easy task to make their way through the woods. Nick Budd trudged along sturdily, hardly looking at the girls.
“He may be simple-minded, but he is as strong as a horse—at least, when it comes to walking,” remarked Laura in a whisper.
“Many simple-minded folks are strong,” answered Billie. “Why, some lunatics are noted for their strength—I once heard my father say so.” ”

“ The snowstorm did indeed look like the beginning of a blizzard, and as the girls went to get their wraps they worried not a little for fear this new development might put an end to their adventure.
However, Miss Walters decided that they would try it, at least, and Mrs. Haddon was eagerly anxious to be off.
“We’ll try anything once,” whispered Laura to Billie, as they went out into the already ankle-deep snow, the wind lashing bitingly against their faces. “Thank goodness, we can die but once!”
“Die but once is right,” said Billie grumpily. ”

“ But even as he spoke he jerked the sled around a sudden turn in the path and they came, apparently, to the end of the world. With a nasty little scraping sound the sled dived off into nothingness!
It all happened so suddenly that Billie did not have even time enough to scream. She had a sickening feeling of falling through space, and then she struck something—something that yielded, luckily, under her weight, and she sank, down, down, down, coming to rest at last in a world where everything was white and slippery and cold—oh, so cold. ”

“ It was Amanda, of course, and beside her, so close as to have earned her the title of Amanda’s “Shadow,” stood her friend and crony, Eliza Dilks.
Laura was about to retort furiously when Billie’s brother Chet pushed her aside and faced Amanda.
“If you were a boy, I’d know what to do to you for saying a thing like that,” cried the boy, such fury in his face that Amanda was frightened. “But since you’re a girl I’ll just tell you to lay off that line of talk. ”

“ She glared at the tricksters while Amanda tossed her head defiantly and Eliza shrank still farther back into the corner.
“But that would have been so silly,” cried Laura, who had snatched the handkerchief from Billie and was examining it eagerly. Vi, in her turn was trying to pull it from her. “Miss Race would know that you would have sense enough not to give yourself away by leaving your handkerchief. Their heads sure are made of bone,” and she favored the girls with a contemptuous glance that was harder to bear than Billie’s anger. ”

“ Then there was Ferd Stowing, an all-around good-natured boy who always added a great deal to whatever fun was at hand. And last, but not least, Laura’s brother Teddy. Teddy was fifteen, as were the other boys, but, unlike them, he looked quite a good deal older than he was. He was tall, with wavy hair and handsome gray eyes and an athletic build which was the envy of most of the boys at North Bend, where the young folks lived. Teddy had always liked Billie a lot because, as he told his sister, Laura, Billie was the nearest like a boy of all the girls he knew. ”

“ Too much good luck for one person.”
“Good luck!” repeated Billie ruefully. “Well, if you call that good luck, I certainly would hate to be the one to find out what bad luck is.”
“Hush,” ordered Rose, once more assuming the deep voice of the head of the ghosts. “Some one may hear you and we’ll all be shot at sunrise.”
“I never get up that early,” giggled Laura.
Many and varied were the plans the girls made for a storming of tower number three in the hope of solving the mystery of that little locked door and the blood-stained handkerchief. ”

“ Then with a little nervous giggle she ran back again, got behind Teddy and pushed him before her.
“Gentlemen first!” she said. “Anyway you’re bigger than I am, Ted.”
So Teddy, feeling as important as a boy always feels when he is protecting a girl that he likes, walked boldly into the cave, stretching a hand behind him for Billie to cling to.
“Come on, it’s all right,” he assured her. “You’ll get used to the darkness in a minute. The snow blinds you. Ouch! What was that?”
Billie gave a little choked scream and would have run out into the open again, had not Teddy’s grip on her hand prevented. ”

“ Billie interrupted impatiently. “I’m going straight to Miss Walters and tell her all about the Haddon family and ask her to let us raid the kitchen and make up the basket ourselves. We can pay for the things,” she added, as an afterthought.
“It’s a bright idea—but it takes nerve,” said Laura slangily. “Miss Walters may not like the idea of feeding the countryside.”
“I’m not asking her to feed the countryside,” Billie retorted, adding comfortably as a picture of Miss Walters, white-haired, blue-eyed and sweet, rose before her: “I’m sure she will let us do it just this once.” ”

“ And so there was a good-natured rivalry between the boys that amused Billie and Vi and Laura and rather piqued Rose Belser and Connie Danvers and some of the other girls at the school, who thought that Billie had more than her share.
“For,” as Connie declared once to a sympathetic group of girls, “it’s ever so much more fun to be paddled around in a canoe by a boy than to have to paddle yourself, and it’s lots of fun to skate with them because they fairly haul you along. And here when we haven’t nearly enough to go around, Billie goes and takes two of the nicest ones. ”

“ Her voice broke, and for a minute she just clung to Billie and let tears wash some of the bitterness from her heart. Then she straightened up suddenly, wiped the tears from her eyes with a handkerchief that Billie had slipped into her hand, and holding the girl off at arm’s length regarded her intently.
“It seems,” said the woman softly, while Billie looked up at her out of clear, grave eyes, “that when things get as bad as they can be the Lord sends somebody to help. ”

“ At her question Laura whirled suddenly about and poked the blood-stained handkerchief directly beneath Vi’s startled nose.
“There,” she said. “Want it?”
Vi gave one look, screamed, and fled down the stairs. She had gone only halfway, however, when Laura overtook her and dragged her back.
“None of that,” she cried. “You can’t back out now. Besides, we’re only beginning to have some fun.”
“Fun!” groaned Vi, keeping a wary eye on the handkerchief that Laura still held. “Well, I’m glad I know what to call it.”
“Come on,” said Billie, jingling her rusty keys and starting up the ladder. ”

“ People who aren’t ‘all there’ have moods, don’t they?”
“Is that why you act so funny sometimes?” asked Teddy with a grin, and Billie pouted most becomingly.
“I think you’re horrid,” she said, while Teddy’s grin became still wider. “Come on, let’s get back. I’m freezing to death. Don’t stand there grinning like an ape,” she commanded, with an impatient stamp of her foot. “You look silly.”
“Like Nick Budd?” asked Teddy good-naturedly, and Billie had to smile. “Look here,” he added, jerking the sled toward him and motioning to Billie to sit on it. ”

“ The girls were silent for a moment, letting this last remark of Billie’s sink in. Then it was Billie who broke the silence.
“I wonder,” she said, “how they have ever managed to get along up to this time. They must have had something to live on.”
“Why,” said Vi, wrinkling her forehead thoughtfully, “the doctor said something about Mrs. Haddon having to give up her work because of ill health. Didn’t he, Laura?”
“Yes,” said Laura, stuffing her hands deeper into her pockets. “He seems dreadfully sorry about poor little Peter. I heard him mumble something about troubles always coming in a heap.” ”

“ Laura and Vi flushed angrily, for there was a little malice under the question. But Billie took it all good-naturedly.
“Well, I didn’t do it on purpose—not the last part, anyway,” she said.
“We know you didn’t, honey,” said Connie, ruffling Billie’s dark curls fondly. “You’re just naturally talented.”
“By the way,” asked Laura, after an interval of skylarking, “does anybody know what happened to Amanda?”
“She was suspended,” replied one of the girls.
“And I thought it was a pity she wasn’t expelled,” spoke up another.
“Poor Eliza!” drawled Rose. “I wonder what she will do without her master.” ”