and listened again, almost holding her breath in the effort to
hear.

The chimney ran up between her bedroom and the little tower room opening
into it; the library was under her bedroom, and opening from it was the
ground floor room of the tower, which was very strongly built, had only
the one door and very narrow slits of windows set high up in the thick
stone walls.

In a safe in that small room were kept the family plate, jewelry, and
money; though no very great amount of the last named, as the captain
considered it far wiser to deposit it in the nearest bank.

The door of the strong room, as it was called, was of thick oak plank
crossed with iron bars, and had a ponderous bolt and stout lock whose
key was carried up stairs every night by the captain.

Listening with bated breath, Lulu's ear presently caught again a faint
sound as of a file moving cautiously to and fro on metal.

"Burglars! I do believe it's burglars trying to steal the money and
silver and Mamma Vi's jewelry that are in the safe," she said to herself
with a thrill of mingled fear and excitement.

With that she crept into the tower room, softly opened the register
there, and applied her ear to it. The sound of the file seemed a trifle
louder and presently she was sure she heard gruff voices, though she
could not distinguish the words.

Her first impulse was to hurry to her father and tell him of her
discovery; the second thought, "If I do, papa will go down there and
maybe they'll kill him; and that would be a great, great deal worse than
if they should carry off everything in the house. I wish I could catch
them myself and lock them in there before I wake papa. Why couldn't I?"
starting to her feet in extreme excitement; "they're in the strong room,
the bolt's on the library side of the door, and probably they've left
the key there, too, in the lock. If I'm going to try to do it, the
sooner the better. I'll ask God to show me how and help me."

She knelt on the carpet for a moment, sending up her petition in a few
earnest words, then rising, stood for an instant thinking very fast.

She could gain the library by a door opening into a back hall and very
near that into the strong room, whose door, if open, would be in a
position to conceal her approach from the burglars till she could step
behind it; so that her scheme seemed not impracticable.

She hastily put on a dark dressing-gown over her white night dress, and
thick felt slippers on h