ere before. On the other hand, she could
hardly believe in the reality of what she saw, she thought she must be
dreaming, for here was exactly what she had been pining for most in
the whole wide world of late, a secret spot, sacred to herself, where
she would be safe from intrusion.

She went downstairs for some oil for the lock, and patiently worked at
it until at last she succeeded in turning the key. Then, as it was too
late to do anything more that day, she locked the door, and carried
the key off in her pocket triumphantly.

Half the night she lay awake thinking of her secret chamber; and as
soon as Dan had gone out next morning, and she had done her
housekeeping, she stole upstairs with duster and brush, and began to
set it in order. All her treasures were contained in some old trunks
of Aunt Victoria's which were in the attic, but had not been unpacked
because she had no place to put the things. Dan had seen some of these
treasures at Rainharbour, and considered them old rubbish, and, not
thinking it likely that there would be anything else in the boxes, he
had taken no further interest in them. He would have liked to have
left them behind altogether, and even tried to laugh Beth out of what
he called her sentimental attachment to odds and ends; but as most of
the things had belonged to Aunt Victoria, she took his ridicule so ill
that he wisely let the subject drop. He had been somewhat hasty in his
estimation of the value of the contents of the boxes, however, for
there were some handsome curios, a few miniatures and pictures of
great artistic merit, some rare editions of books, besides laces,
jewels, brocades, and other stuffs in them.

When Beth had swept and dusted, she put down the carpet. Then she
began to unpack. Among the first things she found were the old French
books, a quarto Bible with the Apocrypha in it, Shakespeare in several
volumes, and her school-books and note-books; some ornaments, some
beautiful old curtains, and a large deep rug, like a Turkey carpet, in
crimson and green and purple and gold, worked by Aunt Victoria. This
she spread before the fireplace. The doorway she covered with a
curtain, and two more she hung on either side of the window, so that
they could not be seen from below. Her books of reference, desk,
note-books, and writing materials she put on the table, arranged the
ornaments on the mantelpiece, and hung the miniatures and pictures on
the walls. Then she sat down and lo