“Well, take it and get out!” cried the woman furiously, as she drew some bills from her pocket and flung them at Marion. Miss Allyn picked them up and counted them carefully. “We will go together,” she said a minute later, when Mrs. Garvin had slammed the door and gone off fuming with anger. “What, you will leave this house because of her ill treatment of us! Oh, Miss Allyn, don’t think of it! It will give you too much trouble!” “Nonsense,” said Miss Allyn, “I intended to go to-morrow. It won’t take me an hour to pack my things.” “But where will we go? It is nearly nine o’clock,” said Dollie, anxiously. “The lame and the lazy are always provided for,” quoted Miss Allyn, merrily. “We’ll take furnished rooms, I guess, for the present. To Bedlam with boarding-houses! I always did hate them!” The girls dragged their little hair trunk into Miss Allyn’s room to be sure of its safety, taking only what they would need for the night in a paper bundle. “She can’t touch our trunks, that’s one good thing,” said Miss Allyn. “My board is paid for two days longer and I’ll send an expressman for the trunks in the morning.” “You are a wonderful woman,” said Marion, as they started out. “Well, I’m not a howling success in all lines of business,” said Miss Allyn, dryly, “but if I am given half a show I’m a dandy ‘bluffer.’ Now I wonder who the sneak thief was at Mrs. Garvin’s anyway!” “What!” cried Marion, with a ludicrous expression of dismay, “Do you mean to say that you made that sneak thief up, that there was no such person in the house, Miss Allyn?” “Sure,” was Miss Allyn’s brief but expressive answer! “But I guess I hit it pretty pat, all right. If I had described the fellow in detail. Mrs. Garvin would not have recognized him any quicker.” CHAPTER III. THE SEARCH FOR EMPLOYMENT. There was no difficulty whatever in finding a couple of furnished rooms, and Marion and Dollie were soon located with Miss Allyn for a neighbor. “It’s lots more fun than boarding,” said Dollie, enthusiastically, as she made coffee and toast for their breakfast the first morning. “If we only had work we would be perfectly happy here,” answered Marion, “and who knows what a day may bring forth, little sister? I may come home to-night with a good position in my pocket.” “It wouldn’t be a very big one if you could get it in your pocket,” laughed Dollie, and then a sudden thought made her stare silently at her sister. “Well, what’s wrong with me, Dollie? Isn’t my hat on straight?” asked Marion. “I was thinking,” was Dollie’s answer in a very low tone. “Wouldn’t it be better if you were to wear the dress that Miss Ray gave you, Marion? You wouldn’t look so—so green, and perhaps some one would employ you.” Marion burst out laughing at Dollie’s frank description, but she shook her head at the wise proposition.