iosity setting every nerve a-tingle, yet she
still unafraid. Stepping behind the open door she waited what next,
and trying to accustom her eyes to the absolute darkness of the place.
The long row of windows on the outer wall were covered by wooden
shutters, as she had noticed from the ground, and with them closed the
only light which could enter came through a small scuttle, or skylight
in the center of the ceiling.

From her retreat behind the door she listened breathlessly. The
rat-a-tat-tat had died away in the distance, whither she now dared not
follow because of the darkness; and presently she heard a noise like
the slipping of boards in a cattle shed.

Then footsteps returning, swiftly and softly, as of one in bare or
stockinged feet. There was a rush past her, the door to which she
clung was snatched from her and shut with a bang. This sound went
through her with a thrill, and vividly there arose the memory of a
night long past when she had been imprisoned in an empty barn, by the
wild freak of an old acquaintance of the mountain, and half-witted
Peter Piper for sole companion. Then swiftly she felt her way back
along the door till her hand was on its lock--which she could not
move. Here was a situation suitable, indeed, for any Hallowe'en!

CHAPTER IX

THE NIGHT THAT FOLLOWED

It was long past the hour when, on ordinary nights, Oak Knowe would
have been in darkness, relieved only by a glimmer here and there, at
the head of some stairway, and in absolute stillness.

But the Hallowe'en party had made everything give way and the servants
were up late, putting the great Assembly Hall into the spotless order
required for the routine of the next day.

Nut shells and scattered pop corn, apple-skins that had been tossed
over the merrymakers' shoulders to see what initial might be formed,
broken masks that had been discarded, fragments of the flimsy
costumes, splashes of spilled cider, scattered crumbs and misplaced
furniture, made Dawkins and her aids lift hands in dismay as, armed
with brooms and scrubbing brushes they came to "clear up."

"Clear up, indeed! Never was such a mess as this since ever I set foot
at Oak Knowe. After the sweepin' the scrubbin'; and after the
scrubbin' the polishin', and the chair fetchin' and--my heart! 'Tis
the dear bit lassie she is, but may I be further afore Dorothy Dixie
gets up another Hallowe'en prank!" grumbled Dawkins, yet with a tender
smile on her lips, remembe