"Yes, put it to the vote--put it to the vote!" said Susie Rushworth. Again all hands were raised except Fanny's. "Fan--Fanny Crawford, you surely agree with us?" said Margaret. "No, I do not," said Fanny. "I think if the club is worth anything we ought not to have a girl in it who told a lie." "Ah," said Margaret, "don't you remember that very old story: 'Let him who is without sin among you cast the first stone'?" Then she continued, speaking in her sweet and noble voice, "I will own there is something about Betty which most wonderfully attracts me." "That sort of charm is fatal," said Fanny. "But," continued Margaret, taking no notice of Fanny's remark, "that sort of charm which she possesses, that sort of fascination--call it what you will--may be at once her ruin or her salvation. If we Specialities are unkind to her now, if we don't show her all due compassion and tenderness, she may grow hard. We are certainly bound by every honorable rule not to mention one word of this to Mrs. Haddo or to any of the teachers. Are we, or are we not, to turn our backs on Betty Vivian?" "If she confesses," said Fanny, "and returns the packet, you have already decided by a majority of votes to allow her to retain her position in the club." "Yes," said Margaret, "that is quite true. But suppose she does not confess, suppose she sticks to her resolve to keep the packet and not tell any one where she has hidden it, what then?" "Ah, what then?" said they all. Olive, the Bertrams, Susie, Martha, Margaret herself, looked full of trouble. Fanny's cheeks were pink with excitement. She had never liked Betty. In her heart of hearts she knew that she was full of uncharitable thoughts against her own cousin. And how was it, notwithstanding Betty's ignoble confession, the other girls still loved her? "What do you intend to do, supposing she does not confess?" said Fanny after a pause. "In that case," answered Margaret, "having due regard to the rules of the club, I fear we have no alternative--she must resign her membership, she must cease to be a Speciality. We shall miss her, and beyond doubt we shall still love her. But she must not continue to be a Speciality unless she restores the packet." Fanny simulated a slight yawn. She knew well that Betty's days as a Speciality were numbered. "She was so brilliant, so vivid!" exclaimed Susie. "There was no one like her," said Olive, "for suggesting all kinds of lovely things. And then her story-telling--wasn't she just glorious!" "We mustn't think of any of those things," said Margaret. "But I think we may all pray--yes, pray--for Betty herself. I, for one, love her dearly. I love her notwithstanding what she said to-night." "I think it was uncommonly plucky of her to stand up and tell us what she did," remarked Martha, speaking for the first time. "She needn't have done it, you know. It was entirely a case of conscience."