Then Ruth crept into her own bed and lay looking at the whiter patch of
the nearest window long after Helen's gentle, regular breathing
announced her chum asleep. There were few other sounds about the
dormitory. A door shut softly in the distance. Somewhere a dog barked
once. Ruth was not sleepy at all. The day's doings passed in a not
unpleasant procession through her mind.

It seemed a week--yes! a month--since she had left the Red Mill that
morning. She again went over the pleasant road with the Camerons and
Mrs. Murchiston to Cheslow. She remembered their conversation with
good Dr. Davison, and wondered if by any possibility the time would
come when poor Mercy Curtis could go to school--perhaps come to this
very Briarwood Hall.

The long ride on the train to Lake Osago was likewise repeated in
Ruth's mind; then the trip by boat to Portageton. She could not fail
to recount the mysterious behavior of the big man who played the harp
in the boat orchestra, and Mademoiselle Picolet. And while these
thoughts were following in slow procession through her mind she
suddenly became aware of a sound without. The nearest window was
open--the lower sash raised to its full height. It was a warm and
windless night.

The sound was repeated. Ruth raised her head from the pillow. It was
a faint scratching--at the door, or at the window? She could not tell.

Ruth lay down again; then she sat upright in her bed as the sound
continued. Every other noise about the house now seemed stilled. The
dog did not bark. There was no rustle in the trees that shaded the
campus. Where was that sound? At the door?

Ruth was not afraid--only curious. If somebody was trying to attract
her attention--if somebody wished to communicate with her, to get into
the room----

She hopped out of bed. Helen still slept as calmly as though she was
in her own bed at home. Ruth went softly to the door. She had latched
it when they came in. Now she pushed the bolt back softly. Was there
a rustle and a soft whisper behind the panels?

Suddenly, as the fastening was removed, the door was pushed inward.
Ruth stepped back. Had she been of a very nervous disposition, she
would have cried aloud in fright, for two figures all in white stood at
the door.

"Hush!" commanded the taller of the two shrouded figures. "Not a word."

Thus commanded, and half frightened, as well as wholly amazed, Ruth
remained passive. The two white figures e