r of books, and when I am
tired of frightening the servants, and terrifying Frosty, and annoying
mother, I spend days at a time in his library swallowing down the
contents of his books. There is no other word for it. So I know odds and
ends of all sorts of things."

"You must know things properly henceforth. But what was that you said
about penance?"

"Do you want us to do penance for our sins? The monks were very fond of
standing out in the cold in their night-shirts. Do you want us both to
do that to-night? It will terrify mother, and the servants will think we
are a pair of ghosts. I should rather enjoy that."

"I don't want anything silly of that sort. Come along now, Irene. The
very first thing you have got to do is to beg Miss Frost's pardon."

"I beg Frosty's pardon! But she is in bed. She says they are running up
and down inside her."

"You know you were exceedingly cruel. It was a very low sort of trick
to play. I can understand a girl being wild and doing all sorts of
things that perhaps she ought not to do, and even neglecting her
lessons; but to terrify a poor, harmless governess! And you have
terrified more than one. You'll have to drop that sort of thing now,
Irene."

"It strikes me you are a poor sort after all," said Irene, gazing at
Rosamund attentively.

"Well, whether I am poor or not, I'm going to stay with you for a bit,
and if you get any better I'll stay on; but if you get no better I shall
go straight home to mother, for you will be hopeless. There now, you
know."

"Oh, it is so delightful to have you! You don't know what you are to me.
The courageous way you speak! I don't believe you'd be a bit afraid if I
put a frog on your neck."

By almost sleight-of-hand Irene suited the deed to the word, for a cold
frog of enormous size suddenly began to crawl along Rosamund's neck.
Rosamund suppressed a shudder, for she would not for the world show the
girl that she loathed frogs; but she took the creature and laid it
gently on the ground.

"That is very silly," she said. "You are not to do it again."

"I am not to do it again?"

"No; not to me or to any one else."

"I thought I'd put a small toad just inside the teapot for James when he
was going to make the tea this afternoon, for it would jump up and
finish that affair of the wasps and spiders that occurred this morning."

"You are not to do it. It is ridiculous; there's neither sense nor fun
nor anything else in it. It is downright,