amp in the window. She locked the
door of the Observatory, and caused the old gardener to patrol the
grounds at intervals after dark to watch for further signals, but
nothing more occurred. After weeks of vigilance and suspicion she came
to the conclusion that it must have been a practical joke on the part of
one of the girls. Chrissie in her private talks with her chum upheld
that view of the matter, but Marjorie had her own opinions. She often
looked at Miss Norton and wondered what secrets were hidden under that
calm exterior. To all outward appearance the house mistress was
scholastic, cold, and entirely occupied with her duties. She was
essentially a disciplinarian, and kept St. Elgiva's under a strict
regime. Her girls often wished she were less conscientious in her
superintendence of their doings.

The possession of a mutual secret shared by themselves alone seemed to
draw Chrissie and Marjorie closer together than ever. Not that Chrissie
gave her chum any more of her real confidence, for she was the kind of
girl who never reveals her heart, but she seemed to become more and
more interested in Marjorie's affairs. She enjoyed the latter's home
news, and especially letters from the front.

"I envy you, with three brothers in the army!" she admitted one day with
a wistful sigh.

"Yes, it's something to know our family is doing its bit," returned
Marjorie proudly. "Haven't you any relations at the front?" she added.

Chrissie shook her head.

"My father is dead, and my only brother is delicate."

Marjorie forbore to press the question further. She could see it was a
tender subject.

"Probably the brother is a shirker or a conscientious objector," she
thought, "and to such a patriotic girl as Chrissie it must be a dreadful
trial. If Bevis or Leonard or Larry seemed to hang back I'd die of
shame."

Judging from the photo of Chrissie's brother which stood on her
dressing-table, he did not look an engaging or interesting youth. The
dormitory, keenly critical of each other's relatives, had privately
decided in his disfavour. That Chrissie was fond of him Marjorie was
sure, though she never talked about him and his doings, as other girls
did of their brothers. The suspicion that her chum was hiding a secret
humiliation on this score made warm-hearted Marjorie doubly kind, and
Chrissie, though no more expansive than formerly, seemed to understand.
She was evidently intensely grateful for Marjorie's friendship, and