id little thing--oh, oh--it's under this box--oh--" A piercing
scream rent the air.

At the same instant seven girls darted for the door. They tumbled over
each other in a mad effort to escape. Blue Bonnet found herself alone in
a dark hall not knowing which way to turn. She stood still a moment, her
heart beating violently. It was not a pleasant situation. The other
girls knew the building perfectly--every nook and cranny--just where to
go. She felt against the wall and a knob met her fingers. A second later
she was in a room lit by a dim moon. Feeling her way along the wall to
the window she threw up the blind. In the nearest corner a form huddled.

"Who is in this room?" Blue Bonnet whispered.

"Oh, Blue Bonnet," came the answer, "is it you? I was going back to find
you. I thought you'd be scared to death. Isn't this the worst ever? Who
would have thought Wee could have been such a fool! Take hold of my
hand; I know every step of the way."

"Do you think any of the girls have been caught, Annabel?"

"I don't know. If they haven't it's good luck, not good management. Look
out--there ought to be a step here--yes, there is, walk carefully. No
sprained ankles to-night."

Just how they reached their rooms Blue Bonnet never quite knew. She
trusted Annabel and followed meekly as a newly born lamb should. When
they parted at Blue Bonnet's door Annabel gave Blue Bonnet a swift hug.

"You're game clear through," she said. "I think everything is all
right. I can't hear a sound anywhere."

Somewhere down the length of the hall a clock struck. Annabel and Blue
Bonnet both counted: one--two--three!

"Three o'clock and all is well!" Annabel said. "Good night. Don't
worry."

* * * * *

It was at breakfast the next morning that Madam de Cartier remarked to
one of the girls at the French table:

"I fancied I heard a scream last night--or this morning, rather. It
sounded down Commonwealth Avenue. A piercing scream, as though some one
were in great distress. Did any one else hear it?"

"Yes, Madam de Cartier," Sue Hemphill said, equal to the occasion. "It
was dreadful, wasn't it? As if some one were horribly frightened. It was
about three o'clock, I think. I was awake and heard the clock striking
on the lower corridor. What could it have been?"

"I really don't know, Miss Hemphill, though I have a theory. I may be
quite wrong, however. It seems strange, doesn't it? This street is so
eminen