matter much what became of her. "But if I can't keep at it all
night----" she said to the mist and the river.

CHAPTER XIX

A LAST CHANCE

Helen's choice of closed windows in preference to invading companies of
moths and June-bugs had made the room so insufferably warm that between
heat and excitement Betty could not get to sleep. Instead she tossed
restlessly about on her narrow couch, listening to the banging of the
trolleys at the next corner and wishing she were still sitting on the
breezy front seat, as the car dashed down the long hill toward the
station. At length she slipped softly out of bed and opened the door.
Perhaps the breeze would come in better then. As she stood for a moment
testing the result of her experiment, she noticed with surprise that
Eleanor's door was likewise open. This simple fact astonished her,
because she remembered that on the hottest nights last fall Eleanor had
persisted in shutting and locking her door. She had acquired the habit
from living so much in hotels, she said; she could never go to sleep at
all so long as her door was unfastened. "Perhaps it's all right,"
thought Betty, "but it looks queer. I believe I'll just see if she's in
bed." So she crept softly across the hall and looked into Eleanor's
room. It was empty, and the couch was in its daytime dress, covered with
an oriental spread and piled high with pillows. "I suppose she stopped
on the campus and got belated," was Betty's first idea. "But no, she
couldn't stay down there all night, and it's long after ten. It must be
half past eleven. I'll--I'd better consult--Katherine."

She chose Katherine instead of Rachel, because she had heard Eleanor
speak about going to Paradise, and so could best help to decide whether
it was reasonable to suppose that she was still there. Rachel was
steadier and more dependable, but Katherine was resourceful and
quick-witted. Besides, she was not a bit afraid of the dark.

She was sound asleep, but Betty managed to wake her and get her into the
hall without disturbing any one else.

"Goodness!" exclaimed Katherine, when she heard the news. "You don't
think----"

"I think she's lost in Paradise. It must have been pitch dark down there
under the trees even before she got started, and you know she hasn't any
sense of direction. Don't you remember her laughing about getting turned
around every time she went to New York?"

"Yes, but it doesn't seem possible to get lost on that lit