CHAPTER XIV
BILLIE SNORES SUCCESSFULLY
It was a wonder any of the girls could keep their minds on their lessonsthat morning. As a matter of fact, they recited so poorly for Miss Adaand Miss Cora that the two "Dill Pickles" turned sourer than ever andthreatened to report them to Miss Walters.
But what did they care? The night was before them!
Seven o'clock came, then eight o'clock, and then nine. The gong rang for"lights out," and every girl was in bed and, apparently, sound asleep.
But underneath the bed of each and every girl who was to be in the partywas a box or a basket filled to the brim with smuggled dainties.
These containers held cold meat and pickles from the delicatessen shopnear by. There was jelly. Olives and biscuits and fancy cakes withfoolish icing on top were there--everything in fact that goes to themaking of a first class midnight feast.
Miss Ada Dill, making her evening round of the dormitories to see thatall was well and every girl in her place, found nothing to arouse hersuspicions until she came to Billie's dormitory. Then she paused,started to close the door, opened it again and stood still, intentlylistening.
And it was Billie who, in her eagerness not to be discovered, almostgave the thing away. For Billie was snoring, gently but decidedlysnoring, and to Miss Ada's trained ear, the snore did not sound natural.
So in she came, and Billie, watching out of the corner of one eye, felta panicky desire to pull the covers over her head and hide.
Suppose Miss Ada should discover that five of the girls in dormitory "C"were not undressed at all, but wore their nightgowns over their clothes?
Suppose--but this was too awful even to imagine--Miss Ada shoulddiscover those baskets under the beds. Billie shivered and almost gavethe thing away a second time.
Miss Ada slowly made the rounds of the beds, scrutinizing each girlsharply and passing them by one by one reluctantly until she came toBillie's bed.
Billie was still snoring gallantly--she did not know what else to do. Ifshe stopped now it would be a dead give away. And yet to keep on wasalmost impossible.
Poor little Billie! Afterward she could laugh at it, but at the time itseemed nothing short of a nightmare. She knew that Laura and Vi andRose and Caroline were awake and waiting for the terrible moment whenMiss Ada should discover the conspiracy.
If she could only keep on snoring for a minute longer! thought Billiedesperately. And then the unbelievable thing happened. Instead ofcommanding her in no uncertain tones to get out of bed, Miss Adaturned--slowly but surely turned--and marched out of the room.
Not until the door was shut could Billie believe that she was reallysafe. And not until she heard Miss Ada's footsteps die off down the halldid she dare to stop snoring.
Then she drew a long breath and stretched out arms cramped by lying solong in the same position. And in the dark stillness of the dormitoryshe heard four more sighs--distinct and very plaintive.
For a full five minutes the girls lay still, hardly daring to breathe,afraid that Miss Ada would change her mind and come back again.
But as the minutes passed and nothing happened, their courage returnedand Billie began to feel jubilant. She must be a good actress indeed tofool Miss Ada!
And then----
Five ghostly figures sat up in bed, pushed back the bed clothes, andslid silently to the floor. Once on their feet they shed theirnightgowns and their dark dresses only made a blurr in the blackness ofthe room.
Still noiseless as mice, they drew out the precious baskets from underthe beds and crept over to where Billie was waiting for them.
"Where do we go from here, girls?" said Laura in a hysterical whisper."Goodness, but I'm scared to death."
"Keep quiet or you'll have something to be scared about," Billiedirected in a fierce little whisper. "Come on--I think the road'sclear."
They tiptoed to the door, and Billie opened it cautiously and peepedout. There was no one in sight, and she stepped out into the hallquickly, motioning to the girls to follow her.
Caroline, the last to leave the dormitory, stopped for a moment andlooked about at the sleeping girls. Then, satisfied that they werereally asleep and that none of them suspected the prank, she followedthe other girls out into the hall and closed the door carefully behindher.
They found their fellow conspirators in dormitory "F" already up andstirring. The lights were lit, hampers were out on the table ready to beopened, and the real fun of the party was commencing when the fivearrived.
They were greeted with subdued enthusiasm, for no one dared to speakabove a whisper, and Connie demanded to know why Billie was late.
"We couldn't do a thing without you," she said. "You had the program andeverything----"
"And besides," finished Nellie, "we'd promised not to start anythinguntil you came."
"We thought you'd been caught," Connie added reproachfully.
"We were just about to put out the lights and get into bed ourselves,"chimed in another girl, "because we thought if you were caught, Miss Adawould come over here and catch us too."
"But what made you late?" asked Connie again.
"If you'll stop talking and listen a minute," said Billie, her eyesshining with excitement, "I'll tell you what a narrow escape we had."
The girls gathered around eagerly while she told her story, and when shehad finished they gazed at her with horrified eyes.
"Billie, what ever made you do such a thing?" cried Nellie. "Why, if youhad just kept still she probably would never have suspected a thing."
"I know that now," said Billie ruefully. "It was a crazy thing to do,but when I'd once started it I didn't dare stop."
"Well, I think you deserve a gold medal," said Laura loyally. "If it hadbeen me----" this wasn't correct English, but Laura was too excited tonotice it--"I'd have giggled or something and given the whole thingaway."
"Goodness! wouldn't Miss Ada be happy if she could really catch us atsomething," said Nellie, but the girls would not listen to her.
There wasn't a bit of danger. Weren't they going to have somebody at thedoor to mount guard and to warn them of the slightest noise downstairs?
They had decided to draw lots to see who should be chosen for this verydisagreeable position of guard and now they set to work at once to "getthe agony over with" as Rose Belser said.
Rose had been very quiet, for her, and there was a queer expression inher eyes when she looked at Billie that would have made the latterwonder if she had had time to notice it. However, there was one girl whodid notice it, and that was Caroline Brant.
Strangely enough, it was Rose who drew the blank that made her "guardianof the portal" for the first twenty minutes. At the end of that time thegirls would draw again and let another poor unfortunate take her place.
Rose was inclined to grumble at her hard luck at first, for she wantedto be in the fun as much as any of the girls. But suddenly there came toher an idea--a way that she might punish Billie for daring to become sopopular at Three Towers Hall.
Of course, she could not hurt Billie without hurting all the rest of thegirls but--her lips shut tight and her eyes narrowed to slits--goodnessknew they deserved it. It was they who had helped to make Billie sopopular.
The plan she had thought of was very easy. All she had to do was to slipfrom dormitory "F" into her own, leaving both doors open a little sothat the light from one could shine into the other.
Then, as she passed Amanda Peabody's cot, just a little jostling toawaken her and the thing would be as good as done. Amanda, seeing thelight, would be sure to investigate, and, while she was gone, she, Rose,could undress quickly, put on her gown, and slip into bed. Then when thediscovery came--and Rose knew Amanda well enough to be sure there wouldbe a discovery--she would be safe in bed and unsuspected. That is,unless the girls should tell.
She looked over her shoulder at the happy scene in dormitory "F," andfor a minute she felt guilty. Then one of the girls came over and put anarm about Billie and he
r lips tightened again.
Of course if the girls knew that she had been the one to give them away,no one would have anything to do with her. She would probably have toleave Three Towers Hall.
But how would they know? She could tell them that she had slipped intodormitory "C" to get a handkerchief--or something else, she could thinkthat up later--and while she was gone, Amanda had slipped out and giventhe alarm. It was all very simple.
She looked back into the room where the fun was in full swing and oncemore her heart forsook her. It would be a dreadful thing for the girls.They would probably be expelled from Three Towers.
But here was her chance, if she was going to do it--and it might be heronly one. One of the girls was giving a whispered and funny recitation,and the girls were doubled up with laughter, fairly holding on tothemselves to keep from making a noise.
The look in Rose's eyes hardened. She forsook her post