Astra Read Online Free PDF Page B

back at Clytie.
    “Now look here, Clytie, you must have been doing something more than just getting books! With whom did you walk up the street and talk?”
    “Not a soul, Mother. I didn’t meet anyone I knew at all this afternoon. Did I, Astra?”
    But for once, this last time it had happened, Astra had escaped up to her room before an inquisition, though she still had a faint fear that it all might be brought up again later, in a full family conclave, and she be made to tell all she knew of the afternoon. The trouble was that Astra had been taught not to lie, even when she was in an unpleasant situation, and they all knew it. They knew that when she admitted a thing it was so, and there was no disputing it. But they also had their ways of punishing her for it if the truth put the adored Clytie in an unpleasant light in her parents’ eyes. For often, when Astra had been forced to tell the truth about some ill-advised action of Clytie’s, it was Astra who was treated as if she were the offender, and Clytie got off scot-free.
    So the days had been going by, each one a problem in itself, and Astra had been growing heartsick and sad.
    Moreover Clytie’s borrowing habit had increased lately, until it had come about that there was scarcely enough in Astra’s allowance check after board was paid and Clytie had dipped into it to cover Astra’s actual needs in the way of clothing, stationery, and so forth.
    Astra had worried a lot about this, for she felt guilty letting it go on without the knowledge of Clytie’s parents, and yet if she told them there would be a terrible row, and she would inevitably be accused of being stingy. So clever was Clytie that she knew just how to work it this way without having the situation reflect in the least upon herself. Astra had prayed about it and come to the conclusion that she must not let this go on, no matter what might happen to herself.
    And so, when it was arranged that the Lesters were to go to California to visit Duke’s mother and father and to attend a cousin’s wedding—a cousin who was not related to Astra—and she was to be left at home, she decided the time had come for her to think this thing through by herself and work it out somehow so that life would be livable and she need not feel continually condemned.
    Then the very day before the Lesters started, Astra’s check arrived. Astra cashed it at once, because she wished to pay her board before they left. After that was done, she put the remainder in a safe place, a
new
place, where she had not kept money before. A little carved wooden box with a spring lock. She put the box carefully away among her least-used garments in her lower bureau drawer and locked the drawer, putting the key on a ribbon around her neck.
    She wasn’t just sure why she did all this, but of late she had a suspicion that Clytie did not hesitate to go to her purse if she were in need of a trifle. Yet she had no proof of that, and she felt almost condemned for locking that drawer.
    But locks meant nothing at all to Clytie. Nothing indeed was sacred when Clytie wanted something.
    Clytie came to her as usual. She spoke nonchalantly, as if she were somehow conferring a favor on Astra.
    “How about a little loan, Astra darling?” she said. “And could you make it a little larger than usual? I spent more than I meant to on that wedding gift, and I’m afraid I’m going to run short before I get back.”
    Astra was ready for her this time, however. She looked up pleasantly from the letter she was writing and gave Clytie a faint smile.
    “Sorry, Clytie, but I can’t possibly spare anything this time. I’m getting some new clothes, and I have a few plans I want to carry out while you are away. Besides, I’ll be entirely on my own and have no one to borrow from, so I have to be economical. You haven’t paid me back yet what you owe me, you know.”
    “Why, the ridiculous idea!” sneered Clytie. “Why should I pay you back those little trifles