ey were compelled to sit flat on the floor.

The intruder, whoever he might be, crawled cautiously through the
window--they could hear the buttons of his coat strike against the
sill--and leaped lightly to the floor. He lowered the window again, and
then, after tiptoeing about among the benches, came straight to the
closet. As Tasma Tid had not taken time to fasten it on the inside, the
door was easily opened. Dark as it was, Nan and the African could see
that the intruder was a man, but, beyond this, they could distinguish
nothing. Nan and her companion would have breathed freer if recognition
had been possible, for the new-comer was Gabriel, who had determined to
take this method of discovering the aim and object of the Union League.

Once in the closet, Gabriel took pains to make the inside fastenings
secure. It was one of the whims of Mr. McManus, the school-master, who
had so often caused Gabriel's head and the blackboard to meet, that the
fastenings of this closet should be upon the inside. It tickled his
humour to feel that a refractory boy should be his own jailer, able, and
yet not daring, to release himself until the master should rap sharply
on the door.

Gabriel was less familiar with these fastenings than he had formerly
been, and he fumbled about in the dark for some moments before he could
adjust them to his satisfaction. He made no effort to explore the
closet, taking for granted that it could have no other occupant. This
was fortunate for Nan, for if he had moved about to any extent, he would
inevitably have stumbled over the African and her young mistress, who
were crouched and huddled as far under the stairway as they could get.

Gabriel stood still a moment, as if listening, and then he sat flat on
the floor, and stretched out his legs with a sigh of relief. After that
there was a long period of silence, during which Nan had a fine
opportunity to be very sorry that she had ever ventured out on such a
fool's errand. "If I get out of this scrape," she thought over and over
again, "I'll never be a tomboy; I'll never be a harum-scarum girl any
more." She had no physical fear, but she realised that she was placed in
a very awkward position.

She was devoured with curiosity to know whether the intruder really was
Gabriel. She hoped it was, and the hope caused her to blush in the dark.
She knew she was blushing; she felt her ears burn--for what would
Gabriel think if he knew that she was crouching on th