Page:Betty Gordon in Washington.djvu/76

66 thoroughly explored the contents of the trunk.

"I'm only thankful he didn't break the lock," said Betty, trying to find a ray of brightness. "Whatever he opened it with, nothing is broken. I suppose the only thing to do is to take everything out and do it all over. And to-morrow morning I'll sit on the top till Fred Keppler comes."

Taking out her clothes and repacking was a tiresome job, and all thoughts of reading were gone from Betty's mind when the task was completed and the trunk locked for a second time. With the feeling that, in view of what the next day might bring, she ought to go to bed early, she began at once to prepare for bed. Brushing her thick, dark hair, her eyes fell on the unopened paper.

"I suppose I'll be there to-morrow night," she thought, picking it up and slitting the wrapper with a convenient nail file.

She opened and smoothed out the first page. The first words that caught her attention, in large black headlines across four columns, were:

Then followed the account of the discovery of illness among a band of gypsies camped on the