the kitchen
door, breathless.

"I want to see Susan, please," he said, "and tell Mr. Williams not to go
yet a minute."

"Here's a mystery," said Mrs. Lanham, returning to the sitting-room,
where the teacher was just rising to say good-night. "Here's Jack
Dudley, at the back door, out of breath, asking for Susan, and wishing
Mr. Williams not to leave the house yet."

Susan ran to the back door.

"Susan," said Jack, "the triplets have tied a string from the corner of
your fence to the locust-tree, and they're watching from Riley's porch
to see Mr. Williams fall into the mud-hole. Bob is cutting the string
at the tree, and I want you to go down along the fence and untie it and
bring it in. They will not suspect you if they see you."

"I don't care if they do," said Susan, and she glided out to the
cross-fence which ran along the alley, followed it to the front and
untied the string, fetching it back with her. When she got back to the
kitchen door she heard Jack closing the alley gate. He had run off to
join Bob, leaving the string in Susan's hands.

Dr. Lanham and the master had a good laugh over the captured string,
which was made of Pewee's and Riley's top-strings, tied together.

The triplets did not see Susan go to the fence. They were too intent on
what was to happen to Mr. Williams. When, at length, he came along
safely through the darkness, they were bewildered.

"You didn't tie that string well in the middle," growled Pewee at Riley.

"Yes, I did," said Riley. "He must have stepped over."

"Step over a string a foot high, when he didn't know it was there?" said
Pewee.

"Let's go and get the string," said Ben Berry.

So out of the gate they sallied, and quickly reached the place where the
string ought to have been.

"I can't find this end," whispered Pewee by the fence.

"The string's gone!" broke out Riley, after feeling up and down the tree
for some half a minute.

What could have become of it? They had been so near the sidewalk all the
time that no one could have passed without their seeing him.

The next day, at noon-time, when Susan Lanham brought out her lunch, it
was tied with Pewee's new top-string,--the best one in the school.

"That's a very nice string," said Susan.

"It's just like Pewee's top-string," cried Harry Weathervane.

"Is it yours, Pewee?" said Susan, in her sweetest tones.

"No," said the king, with his head down; "mine's at home."

"I found this one, last night," sa