Each girl had been instructed to learn some little piece or poem which
she was to recite on the great occasion. Some of the girls protested on
the ground that they were poor at memorizing, but Billie had been firm.

"No recite, no eat," she had said; and so the girls, some joyfully,
some reluctantly, had set to work to learn their pieces.

And Billie, full of energy and enthusiasm, had gone to work and got up a
regular program with the names of the girls and the recitations they
would give. Laura and Vi had helped her make duplicates of the program
so that there was one for each girl.

And the strangest thing about the whole affair was that Caroline Brant,
junior student and grind, had agreed to make one of the party.

Billie's chums called her a witch, for since Caroline Brant had come to
Three Towers Hall she had never been known to take a hand in one
adventure, no matter how harmless it may have been. And Rose, growing
more and more resentful as she saw even her most faithful followers
deserting her for Billie, became more sure that she would have to make
use of Amanda and "The Shadow."

Neither Billie nor any of the other girls knew Caroline Brant's real
reason for accepting Billie's invitation. The fact was that Caroline had
fallen in love with Billie at first sight, perhaps because she was just
the opposite of Caroline herself, and had since become as fond of her as
if she had been her younger sister.

But all the time, while she had seemed to be engrossed in her studies,
she had been keeping one eye on Billie, and with that one eye had seen
pretty nearly everything that had happened.

She was as proud of Billie's growing popularity as if it had been
herself, but she knew Rose would never stand for the taking of her place
by any one. And that was what Billie was very surely doing.

She knew that Amanda and Eliza disliked Billie and would do almost
anything to get her into trouble.

And then there was that fourth enemy of Billie's, Miss Cora Dill.
Caroline knew that if Miss Cora were to catch Billie in any sort of
scrape she would never in the world give her the benefit of the doubt.

And most of all, Caroline knew that Billie, with her imp of mischief,
would be the very last to try to keep out of a scrape, and that sooner
or later one of her four enemies would get just the proof she wanted to
take to Miss Walters.

In that case, so great was her affection for Billie, Caroline had
desperately decided