The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-06-23
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6li glIeeNIA MAcKIERfIAN

bOSeNlN "e<~NssfuV Yevtsraay: David and Coral are
 hlaared Oe suspicion when Donna
 eoufesSes that HOyt stole the CHAPTER XIII
 s'YOu should have thought oi That before,' Professor Bendorfi oaid sternly. He turned to Coral and David. T feel that I owe you both a very special apology, for after received that letter I was convinced of your guilt. Please forgive me"
 David sprang to his feet. Don't be silly, sir," he laughed. "Any- one would have been convinced by that. It wasn't your fault"
 Coral went over to Donna and clipped her arm around her shoul- deYs. Please don't be too hard on Donna" she begged them. Tt wasn't really her fault"
 President Norton smiled at her. ''You're 8 remarkable girl, Coral. As for Donna's punishment :. ReIi decide that later"
 The commencement exercises were almost over. Coral, sitting on the platform with the rest of the grad iating class, was beginning to feel to warm in the folds of her aca- Ddemic gown. Her mortar board, set at a jaunty angle on her black curls, seemed tight. The voice of Dean Mathews, whose talk followed that of President Norton, droned on and on in the heat of the late June morning. She looked down into the auditorium where her parents were sitting, but her searching eyes could not locate them. She glanced to- ward the opposite corner of the platform where David sat in com- pany with the rest of the faculty. She caught his eye and smiled in answer to his quick wave.
 Her thoughts began to wander. How different this Commencement Day was to what she had antici- pated a few weeks before! She had been afraid then that she might never even graduate, for even after her innocence and Da- vid's had been established in con- rection with the theft of the pro- cess, there had been a faculty com- fnittee to face on the subject of her marriage. Dean Mathews, the librarian, and some of the other professors, had wanted to drop her from school in spite of every thing, but the words of Professor Maxwell and Professor Bendorff had finally swayed their judg- ment. She had been given great deal of advice; some good, kind ly and well meant, some acid and disappearing. But in the main everyone had been amazingly gen. erous and understanding.
 Then, too, the last of Hoyt's threats had been hanging over her. For many days, even after his father had been notified of his sons part in the theft of the pro- cess, she had not known whether or not he would refuse to give her father an extension of time on his loau. Coral shuddered a little at the recollection of those days, when with her graduation day growing nearer and nearer, she saw in its approach only financial catastrophe for her beloved father. But even that had come out all right, she thought happily.
 MT. Marquis had given her fa- ther an unlimited extension of time on his loan. He had even made a special trip to the univer- sity to see President Norton and attempt to make up in some way for his sons conduct. He had called on Coral, too, and told her how deeply he regretted his part in sanetioning Hoyt's threat of foreclosure.
 If I had known he had said, "that you were not really in love with Hoyt I should never have permitted him to threaten you in such a way. But I was honestly convinced, Coral, until heard of your marriage, that you were only flirting with him, intended to mar " him, but wanted to tease him q little. I knew the boy was un- happy about it, so tried to help him a bit. I see now how wrong I was." He had asked her for giveness, then, and though Coral had laughed and made light of her former fears, she knew deep in her heart that nothing could ever completely wipe out their scar.
 She was recalled from her reverie, then, by the realization that Dean Mathews had stopped speaking and that President Norton stood once