and throw her arms around his neck, to completely subvert his morals.

"He is one of us, girls," she called in a whisper to her companions;
"come out. Rover will be as naughty as the rest of us, and go with us as
our body-guard to the fairies' field. Now, I will lock the door on the
outside, and we can be off. Ah, the moon is getting up splendidly, and
when we have secured Betty's basket, we shall be quite out of reach of
danger."

At Annie's words of encouragement the seven girls ventured out. She
locked the door, put the key into her pocket, and, holding Rover by his
collar, led the way in the direction of the laurel-bush. The basket was
secured, and Susan, to her disgust, and Mary Morris were elected for the
first part of the way to carry it. The young truants then walked quickly
down the avenue until they came to a turnstile which led into a wood.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

IN THE FAIRIES' FIELD.

The moon had now come up brilliantly, and the little party were in the
highest possible spirits. They had got safely away from the house, and
there was now, comparatively speaking, little fear of discovery. The more
timid ones, who ventured to confess that their hearts were in their
mouths while Annie was unlocking the side door, now became the most
excited, and perhaps the boldest, under the reaction which set in. Even
the wood, which was comparatively dark, with only patches of moonlight
here and there, and queer weird shadows where the trees were thinnest,
could not affect their spirits.

The poor sleepy rabbits must have been astonished that night at the
shouts of the revelers, as they hurried past them, and the birds must
have taken their sleepy heads from under their downy wings, and wondered
if the morning had come some hours before its usual time.

More than one solemn old owl blinked at them, and hooted as they passed,
and told them in owl language what silly, naughty young things they were,
and how they would repent of this dissipation by-and-by. But if the girls
were to have an hour of remorse, it did not visit them then; their hearts
were like feathers, and by the time they reached the fields where the
fairies were supposed to play, their spirits had become almost
uncontrollable.

Luckily for them this small green field lay in a secluded hollow, and
more luckily for them no tramps were about to hear their merriment.
Rover, who constituted himself Annie's protector, now lay down by her
side, and as she