atorium was on the top
story of the Villa Camellia, and by peeping from its window she could
command a view of the iron balcony that fronted the rooms below. She
calculated that she was probably exactly above dormitory 10, occupied by
Joan, Esther, Mary, and Agnes, and that these chums would later on be
engaged there at their preparation. With a little ingenuity it should be
possible to communicate with them. She unfortunately had neither pencil
nor paper with her, so could not write a note, but she took off her
brooch and fastened it to the end of a long piece of string, which by
extra good luck happened to be in her pocket. When she judged that the
right moment had arrived she lowered her signal so that it would tap on
the balcony. There was, of course, a certain amount of risk about the
venture, for she might have miscalculated, and be dropping her token
into the midst of enemies instead of friends. Greatly to her relief,
however, Agnes appeared through the French window, and, after examining
the brooch with apparent surprise, glanced upwards and saw Peachy's
face. She gave a comprehensive smile, put her fingers on her lips for
silence, bolted into her dormitory, and returned with a package of
chocolate which she tied firmly to the end of the string, then waved her
hand and darted back to her preparation.

Peachy drew up her present, chuckling with delight. She felt almost like
a captive of the Middle Ages, and was beginning to plan a romantic
escape down an improvised rope ladder, when it occurred to her that she
would scarcely know what to do with her liberty if she regained it.

"Botheration!" she mused. "Unless I square things up I can't walk in to
tea, and I can't haunt the garden like a wandering ghost, and I've no
money to pay my passage on the steamer, so I can't go home to Naples.
Nothing for it but to stay here, I suppose, and see who gets tired out
first."

When the Camellia Buds were able to meet together again at a secret
conclave in the garden, Agnes announced the important fact of having
established communication with the prisoner. After an animated
discussion they decided to write her a round-robin letter and set forth
their idea of the situation. Each composed a sentence in turn, and Lorna
acted as scribe. It ran thus:

_The Grotto._

_To our noble friend and Camellia Bud_--
_Greeting!_

_The Sorority desires to express a vote
of sympathy fo