u're evidently practising your very best company smile for this
evening. What a disappointment it would be to you, now, if you were not
able to play that piece after all!"

Honor had a resourceful mind. Very gently she put her hand inside the
door and abstracted the key, which, with equal caution, she fitted into
the keyhole on the outside; then, quickly shutting the door, she locked
it, and ran away before Flossie had even discovered that anybody Was
there. The latter naturally noticed the slight noise and turned round,
but she was too late; and though she rattled the handle, and knocked
and called, it was of no avail. Honor, as it happened, had been the
last girl to go downstairs, and there was nobody left on either landing
to hear even the most frantic thumps. Flossie rushed to the electric
bell, hoping to bring a servant to her assistance; but it was out of
order, and would not ring. She was in a terrible dilemma: if she made
too much noise one of the teachers, or even Miss Maitland herself,
might come upstairs to see what was the matter; on the other hand,
there she was locked up fast and secure, missing the "evening", and
with an equal chance of being found out in the end, and asked to give
some explanation of her presence in the mistress's room.

In the meantime, Honor went downstairs chuckling. She entered the
drawing-room in the highest of spirits, paid her respects to Miss
Maitland, and found a seat close to the door. The musical part of the
performance, she ascertained, was to come first, and after coffee there
were to be recitations, and a dialogue in French. A neat programme had
been written out and was laid on the top of the piano, so that it could
be referred to by Vivian Holmes, who was conductress of the ceremonies.

It was late already, and the proceedings began immediately. The room
was crowded, and amongst the forty girls nobody seemed to have
particularly remarked Flossie's absence, and no enquiry was made for
her, until the close of the song that preceded her violin solo.

"Where is Flossie Taylor?" whispered Vivian then, with a look of marked
annoyance on her face. "Her _Serenade_ comes next. She ought to be
standing by the piano. Has anybody seen her? Please pass the question
on."

She paused a moment or two in great impatience; then, as no Flossie put
in an appearance, she turned to Meta Fletcher and May Turner, who
followed on the programme, and asked them to begin their duet.

"I can't w