out of
the sabots. Fil's ringlets, alas! were already beginning to untwist, and
Ingred's jumper, put on in too big a hurry, showed symptoms of splitting
down the seam. There was no time for repairs of any sort, however. They
were five minutes late, and the rest of the company were assembled on
the lawn. The boarders from the hostel, together with mistresses and
seniors who had come by invitation, made a total of more than fifty
persons, all in fancy dress.

These gay costumes were a pretty sight against the background of trees
and bushes and flower-beds. The sun had set, leaving a yellow glow in the
sky, and the Chinese lanterns were beginning to glow in the gathering
twilight. It was certainly a varied crowd; all centuries had met
together. A Japanese damsel walked arm-in-arm with a Lancashire witch;
an Italian peasant hob-a-nobbed with "The Queen of Sheba," a Spanish
lady was talking to "Old Mother Hubbard," while such characters as "A
Medicine Bottle," or "An Aeroplane" rubbed shoulders with an "Egyptian
Princess" or "Dick Whittington's Cat."

Miss Burd, garbed appropriately as Chaucer's Prioress, received the
company at the top of the sun-dial steps, looking, in the opinion of the
Foursome League, quite sufficiently like the ghost of yesterday to have
justified squeals had they met her alone. When the ceremony of
introduction was over, the guests dispersed about the lawn, Miss Perry
struck up a waltz on the piano, and the fun began. Dancing on the grass,
in the growing darkness, with the Chinese lanterns sending out a soft
but uncertain radiance overhead, was a new experience to most of the
school. It was difficult not to step on to the flower-beds, or to brush
against the bushes. Trailing garments were decidedly in the way, and
came to grief. There was a delirious sort of Eastern feeling about it--a
kind of combination of "The Thousand and One Nights" and the "Rubaiyat
of Omar Khayyam." The Abbey tower for once seemed out of place, and
ought to have changed miraculously into a pagoda or a minaret.

It was after the girls had been dancing for some little time that Ingred
first noticed a couple whom she did not remember to have seen before.
They followed persistently in her steps, and even gently bumped into her
once or twice, thus compelling her attention. She looked at them,
considerably mystified. One was attired in Early Victorian Costume, with
a crinoline, a little tippet, and a poke bonnet, from which peeped