ejected till somebody came and saw him into his
rights--or, failing his rights, into his trousers; or he might commence
a house-to-house canvass, up one side of the corridor and down the
other, in hopes of finding either an empty chamber or one tenanted by a
friend.

There was a good deal to be said for each, though on the whole he
personally inclined to the last course. Indeed he went so far as to
grope his way to the end of the passage with a view to starting fair,
when a sound of footsteps and a white flutter ahead sent his heart to
his mouth, and made him shiver with something more than the evening
breeze.

He stood where he was, rooted to the spot, and listened. An awful
silence seemed to fall upon the place. Had he hit on the Templeton
ghost?--on the disembodied spirit of some luckless martyr to the
ferocity of a last century bully? Or, was it an ambuscade prepared for
himself? or, was it some companion in--

Yes! there was a sob, and Heathcote's soul rejoiced as he recognised it.

"Is that you, young 'un?" he said in a deep whisper.

The footsteps suddenly ceased, the white flutter stopped, and next
moment there rose a shriek in the still night air which made all
Westover's jump in its sleep, and opened, as if by magic, half the doors
in the long corridor. Aspinall had seen a ghost!

Amid all the airily-clad forms that hovered out to learn the cause of
the disturbance, Heathcote felt comforted. His one regret was that he
was unable to recognise his friend the junior, in whose debt he was in
nocturnal garb; but he recognised Dick to his great delight, and
hurriedly explained to him as well as to about fifty other enquirers,
the circumstances--that is, so much of them as seemed worth repetition.

Between them they contrived to reassure the terrified Aspinall, who, it
turned out, had been the victim of a similar trick to that played on
Heathcote.

"Where are you sleeping?" said the latter to Dick.

"The old place. Where ever did you get to?"

"I'll tell you. Has any one got my bed there?"

"No. Come on--here, Aspinall, catch hold--look sharp out of the
passage. Are you coming, too, Heathcote?"

To his astonishment, Heathcote darted suddenly from his side and dived
in at an open door. Before his friend could guess what he meant, he
returned with a bundle of clothes in his arms, and a triumphant smile on
his face.

"Hurrah!" said he. "Got 'em at last!"

"Whose are they?" asked Dick.

"M