ar, I
think, and none of the others would. Jean and I used to dance with each
other, but it was just jumping up and down, for we didn't know anything
else."

Rita sighed, and felt the weight of empire on her shoulders. "You shall
learn," she said again. "I will teach you. But not here, it is too dim
and dusty. The courtesy, however, we can try. Mesdames! Raise the skirt,
thus, the left foot in advance; the _left_, Peggy, child of despair! now
bend the right knee, and slowly, slowly, sink thus, with grace and
dignity. Oh, pity on me, what have you done now?"

Poor Peggy had done her best, but when it came to sinking slowly and
gracefully, it was too much for her. She stepped on her train, tripped,
lost her balance, and fell heavily back against the wall. She clutched
the wooden panel behind her, and felt it move under her fingers.

"Oh, mercy!" she cried, "it's moving! The wall is moving! Margaret,
catch hold of my hand!"

Margaret caught her hand, and helped her to her feet. When she moved
away from the wall, it was seen that the wooden panel had indeed moved.
It had slid open a few inches, and blackness looked through at them.
Peggy clutched her cousins and trembled. Where was now the courage, the
coolness, which had made her the heroine of the morning's adventure?
Gone! Anything in the ordinary course of nature, bogs and such matters,
Peggy was mistress of, but black spaces, with possible white figures
lurking in them, were out of her province.

"Margaret," she whispered, "do you see? It is open!"

"Yes, I see!" said Margaret. "What a delightfully mysterious thing,
girls! A secret chamber, perhaps, or a staircase! It must be a
staircase, for it is in the thickness of the wall behind the chimney. Do
run and get a lamp, Peggy, like a good girl, and we will see. How damp
and earthy it smells!"

Peggy flew, only too glad to get away from the black, yawning hole. She
was back in three minutes with the lamp, and the three cousins peered
into the open space, Margaret holding the lamp high above her head, so
that the light might penetrate as far as possible.

It was indeed a staircase; a narrow, winding way, wide enough for one
person, but no more. It plunged down like a black pit, and its end could
not be seen.

"But this is superb!" cried Margaret. "Shall we explore it, girls? I
don't suppose there can be any objection, do you? It is probably never
used."

"By all means, let us explore!" said Rita. "But do you