Billie’s gloomy prophecy was fulfilled. The storm developed into one of the worst blizzards that part of the country had ever known, and for almost two weeks the occupants of Three Towers were practically house-bound. It was good that the school boasted a well-stocked larder. Otherwise the girls might actually have gone hungry. And they wondered a great deal about Polly Haddon and her little brood. “Suppose she hasn’t enough in the house to eat?” worried Vi. “Why, they may starve!” “Maybe she used the gold pieces we left her to stock up when she saw the blizzard coming on,” suggested Billie, and the suggestion comforted them a great deal. The day was approaching when those competing for the composition prize were to hand in their essays. Billie and Laura and Connie and Rose Belser and the half dozen other girls who had entered the lists were writing like mad—and biting their pens to bits—in an effort to get their essays in on time. And in the heart of each was the fervent hope that she would be the winner. Only Amanda had no need to hope. She was sure! The prize was hers! She had carried out her intention of copying her essay straight from the little musty book. So sure was she that her ruse would not be detected that she had not bothered to alter a word. And while the others worked, she smiled. At last came the day when the finished essays were to be handed in, and all day long Miss Walters was closeted in her office with Miss Race and one or two of the other teachers, reading and tabulating the manuscripts as they came to her. So busy had Billie been in rewriting a phrase here, changing a word there, that she handed in her essay the very last of all—just a scant half hour before the time was up. But she was happy, because she knew that she had given her best effort. “I imagine we shall enjoy reading this,” Miss Walters remarked to her associates, tapping Billie’s manuscript with a thoughtful finger. “Billie Bradley has real literary talent.” The result of the contest was to be announced the next morning in the auditorium and the prizes to be awarded to the winners. When the longed-for, yet dreaded, moment arrived, the girls filed into the auditorium, the contestants near the front, and almost the entire school occupying the seats behind them. Billie’s heart was hammering so loudly that she glanced about her to see if anybody else seemed to notice it. But the majority of the girls were babbling away too excitedly to hear anything but themselves. Billie was surprised to see that even the girls who were expecting to hear their fate within the next few moments were talking—chattering away excitedly, to be sure—but still talking. As for herself, she was sure she could not have uttered a word just then if her life had depended upon it. She did want that prize so dreadfully! “Cheer up, Billie,” whispered Vi, slipping a loyal hand into hers. “You’re not afraid of missing the prize, are you? Why, you couldn’t miss it if you tried.”