hich to make chocolate, hidden away in Helen Cameron's
shirt-waist box.

Ruth and Helen went to bed after removing their frocks and shoes only
and waited to hear the "cheep, cheep" of Miss Scrimp's squeaky shoes as
she passed up through the house, turning down the hall lights, and then
went down again. The hour for the girls to gather was set for
half-past ten. First of all, however, The Fox was to go down and
listen at Miss Picolet's door to make sure that she had gone to bed.
Then Miss Cox was to tap softly but distinctly at the door of each
invited guest as she came back to their corridor.

Meanwhile Helen and Ruth popped out of bed (it had been hard to lie
there for more than an hour, waiting) and began to lay out the things.
The bedspreads were laid back over the foot of each bed and the feast
was laid out upon the bed-clothes. Mary Cox warned them to have the
spreads ready to smooth up over the contraband goodies, should the
French teacher get wind of the orgy.

"Forewarned is forearmed," urged Mary Cox. "We know what old Picolet
_is_!"

"But 'four-armed' doesn't always mean 'fore-handed'," chuckled Jennie
Stone.

"Nor quadrumanous!" snapped the Fox. "If _you_ had four hands, Heavy,
there would be little chance for any of the rest of us at Helen's
party. My goodness me! how you _would_ mow the good things away if you
had four hands instead of two."

"It isn't that I'm really piggish," complained Miss Stone. "It's
because I need more nourishment; there is so much of me, you know,
Mary."

"And if you hadn't been stuffing yourself like a Strasburg goose all
your life, there wouldn't be so much of you. Ha! it's the old story of
the hen and the egg--which was here first? If you didn't eat so much
you wouldn't be so big, and if you weren't so big you wouldn't eat so
much."

All this, however, was said after the girls had begun to gather in
Number 2 duet, and Belle Tingley, who had drawn the unlucky short
toothpick, was banished to the corridor to keep watch--but with a great
plateful of goodies and the "golden goblet" used in the hazing
exercises, filled to the brim with hot chocolate.

"Though, if Miss Picolet is awake she'll smell the brew and will be up
here instanter," declared the Fox, crossly, as Belle insisted in having
her share of the drinkables as well as eatables.

Miss Picolet was forgotten in the fun and the feasting, however. There
were twenty girls in the room, and they had to sit