home from school, and I'm
going to haunt the gymnasium every spare moment that I have. I hope I
shall lose ten more; then I'll be down to one hundred and forty pounds
and--" Elfreda stopped.

"And what?" queried Miriam.

"I can make the basketball team," finished Elfreda. "What is going on in
the hall, I wonder?" Stepping to the door she called, "What's the
matter, Grace? Can't you get into your room?"

"Evidently not," laughed Grace. "It is locked. I suppose Mrs. Elwood
locked it to prevent the new girls from straying in and taking
possession."

"H-m-m!" ejaculated Elfreda, walking over to the door and examining the
keyhole. "Your supposition is all wrong, Grace. The door is locked from
the inside. The key is in it."

"Then what--" began Grace.

"Yes, what?" quizzed Elfreda dryly.

"'There was a door to which I had no key,'" quoted Miriam, as she joined
the group.

"Don't tease, Miriam," returned Grace, "even through the medium of Omar
Khayyam. The key is a reality, but there is some one on the other side
of that door who doesn't belong there. Whether she is not aware that she
is a trespasser I do not know. However, we shall soon learn." Grace
rapped determinedly on one of the upper panels of the door.

"I'll help you," volunteered Elfreda.

"And I," agreed Anne.

"My services are needed, too," said Miriam Nesbit.

Four fists pounded energetically on the door. There was an exclamation,
the sound of hasty steps, the turning of a key in the lock, and the door
was flung open. Facing them stood a young woman no taller than Anne,
whose heavy eyebrows met in a straight line, and who looked ready for
battle at the first word.

"Will you kindly explain the reason for this tumult?" she asked in a
freezing voice.

"We were rather noisy," admitted Grace, "but we did not understand why
the door should be locked from the inside."

"Is it necessary that you should know?" asked the black-browed girl
severely.

Grace's clear-cut face flushed. "I think we are talking at cross
purposes," she said quietly. "The room you are using belongs to my
friend Anne Pierson and to me. During our freshman year it was ours, and
when we left here last June it was with the understanding that we should
have it again on our return to Overton."

"I know nothing of any such arrangement," returned the other girl
crossly. "The room pleases me, consequently I shall retain it. Kindly
refrain from disturbing me further." With this signi