Produced by Kevin Handy Joshua Hutchinson Charles Franksand the Online Distributed Proofreading TeamThe Girls of Central High Aiding the Red CrossORAMATEUR THEATRICALS FOR A WORTHY CAUSEBYGERTRUDE W MORRISONCONTENTSCHAPTERI THE ODDEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENEDII THE RED CROSS GIRLIII ODDIV THE MYSTERY MANV SAND IN THE GEARSVI THE BANKNOTEVII SOMETHING EXCITINGVIII THE FOREFRONT OF TROUBLEIX THE ICE CARNIVALX BUT WHO IS HEXI A REHEARSALXII BUBBLE BUBBLEXIII MOTHER WIT HAS AN IDEAXIV CHAINS ON HIS WHEELSXV PIE AND POETRYXVI EMBER NIGHTXVII A STARTLING ANNOUNCEMENTXVIII WHERE WAS PURTXIX LAURA LISTENSXX TWO THINGS ABOUT HESTERXXI AND A THIRD THINGXXII THE CASE FOR AND AGAINST PURTXXIII THE LAST REHEARSALXXIV MR NEMO OF NOWHEREXXV IT IS ALL ROUNDED UPCHAPTER ITHE ODDEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENEDWell if that isnt the oddest thing that ever happened murmured LauraBelding sitting straight up on the stool before the high desk in herfathers glassenclosed office from which elevation she could look downthe long aisles of his jewelry store and out into Market StreetCenterports main business thoroughfareBut Laura was not looking down the vista of the electrically lighted shopand into the icy street Instead she gave her attention to that which layright under her eyes upon the desk top She looked first at the neatfigures she had written upon the page of the day ledger after carefullyproving them and thence at the packet of bills and piles of coin on thedesk at her right handIt is the oddest thing that ever happened she affirmed as though inanswer to her own first declarationIt was Saturday evening and it was always Lauras duty to straighten outher fathers books for him on that day for although she was a high schoolgirl she was usually so well prepared in her studies that she could givethe books proper attention weekly Laura had taken a course in bookkeepingand she was quite familiar with the business of keeping a simple set ofbooks like theseShe never let the day ledger and the cash get far apart It was her customto strike a balance weekly and this she was doing at this time Or she wastrying to But there seemed to be something entirely wrong with the cashitselfShe knew that the figures on the ledger were correct She had asked herfather and even Chet her brother who was helping in the store thisevening if either of them had taken out any cash without setting the sumdown in the proper recordIt is an even fifty dollarsneither more nor less she had told themwith a puzzled little frown corrugating her pretty foreheadThey had both denied any such actChet of course vigorouslyWhat kind of hardware are you trying to hang on me Mother Wit hedemanded of his sister I know Christmas will soon be on top of us and afellow needs all the money there is in the world to buy even one girl adecent present But I assure you I havent taken to nicking papas cashdrawerI dont know but mother is right Laura sighed Your language isbecoming something to listen to with fear and trembling And I am notaccusing you Chetwood Im only asking youAnd Im only answering youemphatically chuckled her brotherIt is no laughing matter when you cannot find fifty dollars she toldhimYoud better stir your wits a little then Sis he advised You knowJess and Lance will be along soon and we were all going shopping togetherand skating afterward Lance and I want to practice our grapevine whirlBut being advised to hurry did not help For half an hour since Chet hadlast spoken the girl had sat in a web of mystery that fairly made her headspin Her ledger figures were proved over and over again But the cashThen once more she bent to her taskThe piles of coin were all right she finally decided She counted them overand over again and they came to the same penny exactly So she pushed thecoin asideThen she slowly and carefully counted again the banknotes turning themone by one face down from left to right The amount added to the sum ofthe coins was equal to the figures on the ledger Then she did what shehad already done ten or a dozen times She recounted the bills turningthem from right to leftShe was fifty dollars shortChristmas was approaching and the Belding jewelry store was of courserather busier than at other seasons That was why Chet Belding was helpingout behind the counters Out there he kept a closer watch on the frontdoor than Laura with her financial trouble couldSuddenly he darted down the long room to welcome a group of young peoplewho pushed open the jewelrystore door They burst in with a hail of merryvoices and a clatter of tongues that drowned every other sound in the storefor a minute although there were but four of themEasy Easy begged Mr Belding who was giving his attention to acustomer near the front of the store Take your friends back to Laurascoop ChetwoodHushed for the moment the party drifted back toward Lauras desk Theyoung girl was still too deeply engaged with the ledger and cash to look upat firstWhat is the matter Mother Wit demanded the taller of the two girls whohad just come ina most attractivelooking maiden whom Chet had at oncetaken on his armEngine trouble chuckled Lauras brother The old thing just wontbudge Isnt that it LauraThe tall youthdark and delightfully romanticlooking any girl would havetold youwent around into the little office and looked over LaurasshoulderWhats gone wrong Laura he asked with sympathy in his voice andmannerYou want to get a move on Mother Wit cried the youngest girl of thetroop saucy looking and with ruddy cheeks and flyaway curls This wasClara Hargrew whom her friends called Bobby and whose father kept the biggrocery store just a block away from the Belding jewelry store Everybodywill have picked over the presents in all the stores and got the best ofeverything before we get thereThats right said the last member of the group and this was a short andsturdy boy who had the same mischievous twinkle in