"Miss Smith, how much money have you?" Miss Smith's hand trembled a bit.
Ah, that splendid strength of young womanhood--if only she herself had
it! But perhaps Zora was the chosen one. She reached up and took down a
well-worn book.
"Zora," she said slowly, "I've been going to tell you ever since you
came, but I hadn't the courage. Zora," Miss Smith hesitated and gripped
the book with thin white fingers, "I'm afraid--I almost know that this
school is doomed."
There lay a silence in the room while the two women stared into each
other's souls with startled eyes. Swallowing hard, Miss Smith spoke.
"When I thought the endowment sure, I mortgaged the school in order to
buy Tolliver's land. The endowment failed, as you know, because--perhaps
I was too stubborn."
But Zora's eyes snapped "No!" and Miss Smith continued:
"I borrowed ten thousand dollars. Then I tried to get the land, but
Tolliver kept putting me off, and finally I learned that Colonel
Cresswell had bought it. It seems that Tolliver got caught tight in the
cotton corner, and that Cresswell, through John Taylor, offered him
twice what he had agreed to sell to me for, and he took it. I don't
suppose Taylor knew what he was doing; I hope he didn't.
"Well, there I was with ten thousand dollars idle on my hands, paying
ten per cent on it and getting less than three per cent.
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