ne else is in bed, and what are you doing up this time of night?"

"I had to get up, Mrs. Stone."

"Why, may I enquire?"

"I am going to the bath-room."

"Then, why in the world don't you _go_ and not stand huddled up here as
though you were bent on some mischief? It is no wonder that we suspect you
when you take such extraordinary ways of doing perfectly simple things. Go
on at once, and, if you have been hesitating because you are timid, I'll
wait here till you return," and down she planted herself upon the top step
to mount guard.

Groaning inwardly, away went Lou, muttering: "If I don't keep you perched
there till you nearly freeze, my name isn't Lou Cornwall!"

And keep her she did, till Mrs. Stone had another trouble added to her
many, for she began to fear that Lou had been taken ill, and went to the
bath-room door to speak to her. Finding that she could not hold out any
longer, out she came, and, after receiving some very emphatic admonitions
from Mrs. Stone, crept away to her room disgusted with herself, the world
at large, and Mrs. Stone in particular.

Meantime, the other girls began to suspect that Lou had fallen into
ambush, and sent out a scout to reconnoiter, and it was not many seconds
before the scout came scuttling back with the alarming information that
the enemy was close at hand; in fact, that she was even now coming upon
them in force, for, when Mother Stone found that Lou did not come from the
bath-room as promptly as she thought she should, all her suspicions were
instantly aroused, and she was keen to make discoveries.

The girls had planned to meet in Toinette's room, and creep from there to
the old laundry as soon as all were assembled. About a dozen were already
there, but, when the scout returned with such dire tidings, they decided
that discretion was the better part of valor, and all made haste to get
back to their rooms ere the enemy appeared. But, alack-a-day! that enemy
could flit about in a surprisingly lively manner, and, ere some of them
had reached safety behind their own doors, she came in view. To get to
their rooms now was out of the question, so, making a virtue of necessity,
they all slipped into a large closet used by the housemaids for their
brooms, etc.

Whether it was from a wholesome fear that Miss Preston would be very apt
to criticize a too pronounced vigilance that Mrs. Stone refrained from
opening the girls' doors, but contented herself with simply listening,