encouragingly, and Mrs. White rang for a maid to fetch a glass of water.
This had the effect of distracting Tavia, who now stood there being
cross-examined like an expert witness.

Finally Mr. French said:

"That will do, thank you."

Tavia had barely tasted the water, and as she crossed the room to reach
her chair, she felt dizzy. The next moment she was in Mrs. White's arms,
unconscious.

"I saw she was pale," exclaimed the lady, while the gentlemen opened the
windows and Dorothy ran for some restoratives. "But I did not think she
would go off like that."

It did not take long, however, to revive the fainting girl, and when she
had been helped to her room the lawyers held a conference with Mrs.
White and then left the Cedars.

"Wasn't that dreadfully stupid!" sighed Tavia, as she lay stretched out
on the soft, white bed.

"Not at all, my dear," replied Mrs. White, who at that moment appeared
at the door. "You could not have done better had you been coached, for
it shows how the shock has unnerved you. And you may as well know that
the company has offered to settle for five hundred dollars."

"Five hundred dollars!" echoed Tavia.