emergency, but when she explained all the suffering she had endured at
the school she knew quite well that he would forgive her for coming.

But she needed money for the long journey, and this must be secured in
some way from her own resources. So she got together all the jewelry she
possessed and placing it in her handbag started for the town.

She had an idea that a jewelry shop was the proper place to sell her
jewelry, but Mr. Trumbull the jeweler shook his head and said that
Watson, at the bank, often loaned money on such security. He advised the
girl to see Watson.

So Mary Louise went to the "bank," which was a one-man affair situated
in the rear of the hardware store, where a grating had been placed in
one corner. There she found Mr. Watson, who was more a country broker
than a banker, and throve by lending money to farmers.

Gran'pa Jim was almost as fond of pretty jewels as he was of good
clothes and he had always been generous in presenting his grand-daughter
with trinkets on her birthdays and at Christmas time. The jewelry she
laid before Mr. Watson was really valuable and the banker's eye was
especially attracted by a brooch of pearls that must have cost several
hundred dollars.

"How much do you want to borrow on this lot?" he asked.

"As much as I can get, sir," she replied.

"Have you any idea of redeeming it?"