crept singly or in twos and threes
toward the farther end of the hall until all the hundred-odd girls of
Three Towers were gathered there except two. Two of them had stayed
behind, and so absorbed were the other girls that they never noticed the
absence of Amanda Peabody and Eliza Dilks.

It may be that Rose noticed, for as she left the dormitory she looked
over at them and smiled a little. She had guessed at the truth.

For Amanda and Eliza disliked Billie so bitterly that they would even go
hungry for the chance of getting even with her. Miss Ada and Miss Cora
would be very glad to know who had been the ring-leader in the
rebellion!

In the meantime the girls, satisfied that every one was present, had
started softly down the back stairs which led them by the shortest way
to the kitchen.

As Billie had said, they did not care if they were discovered, except
that if they were caught they would probably have a harder time getting
what they wanted.

Billie was in the lead with Vi and Laura close behind her. They hardly
made any noise at all, and before they knew it they were facing the
closed door that led to the kitchen.

Billie swung it open cautiously and looked inside. The kitchen was dark,
but she knew where the electric switch was, and the next minute the room
was flooded with light.

The sudden glare rather frightened the girls, and they hesitated for a
moment--but only a moment. They were terribly hungry, and just across
the kitchen was the pantry, and back of that, the storeroom.

"Come on, girls," Billie whispered. "Here's where we get the best of
'The Pickles.'"

They found cold ham in the refrigerator, they found bread and butter and
crackers and jam. In the twinkling of an eye all these dainties had
disappeared, and they were looking around for more.

Next they raided the storeroom. They found tiers upon tiers of canned
goods, and Billie, because she was the first to find a can-opener, was
pronounced "official can-opener," and opened cans till her arm ached.

But how good that stolen food tasted! They ate ravenously. They ate with
knives and forks and spoons, and when these ran short, they even ate
with their hands. And by and by the brightness came back to their eyes,
the color to their cheeks, and they chattered like joyful magpies.

When they could eat no more, they filled their pockets with biscuits and
crackers and started back the way they had come.

But they only started, for as Billie