your orders, guards."

The door was opened ever so quietly and the sentinel outside assured
them that nobody had stirred. All had been so far conducted so
carefully that even the other girls not in the plot were not awakened.
As Ruth was led past the door of the larger room, which she knew Mary
Cox and her three chums occupied, she heard the unmistakable snoring of
a sound sleeper within. It made her doubt if, after all, those four
who had appeared so friendly to Helen and herself that evening, were
among the hazers; and she heard one of her guards whisper:

"Miss Picolet never has to look into _that_ room to learn if they're
asleep. Listen to Heavy, will you?"

But this puzzlement did not stick in Ruth's mind for long; the guards
hustled her down the stairs and the outer door was opened.

"If the cat should suddenly come back, wouldn't we just _catch_ it?"
whispered one girl to the other.

"Now, don't you be forever and ever going to that fountain," said the
other to Ruth. "For if you are long, we'll just shut the door on you
and run back."

As she spoke she let go of Ruth's arm and jerked the gag out of her
mouth. Then the two pushed the new girl out of the door and closed it
softly. Ruth could hear them whispering together behind the panels.

Like Helen, she had been given her bath-gown. She was not cold. But
it was truth that the memory of her chum's state of mind when she had
come back from the visit to the fountain, gave Ruth Fielding an actual
chill. Helen had set out upon _her_ venture without much worriment of
mind; but she had been badly frightened. Ruth believed this fright had
been wickedly planned by the hazing crew of girls; nevertheless she
could not help being troubled in her own mind as she looked out into
the dimness of the campus.

Not a sound rose from this court between the buildings. A few dim
night-lights were visible in the windows about the campus; but the
lamps that illumined the walks and the park itself were burned out.
The breeze was so faint that it did not rustle the smallest branches of
the trees. There was not a sound from anywhere upon the campus.

Remembering the promise of the two girls who had thrust her out of the
house, Ruth thought it best for her to get the unpleasant business over
as quickly as possible. Although she could not see the sunken fountain
from the steps of the dormitory where she stood, she knew which path to
take to get to it the quickest. Sh