e could contemplate without a
qualm less venial experiments with the law of _meum et tuum_.

She entertained, in short, a project whose lawless daring enchanted
her imagination, if one as yet of vague detail. But with command of
the resources of this wonderful wardrobe, what was to prevent her from
appropriating a suitable costume and stealing forth, when the storm
had passed, to seek adventure, perhaps to taste for a night those joys
she had read about and dreamed about, longed for and coveted, all her
life long? Nothing could be more mad; there was no telling what might
not happen; there was every warrant for believing that the outcome
might be most unpleasant. But adventures are to the adventurous; and
surely this one had started off propitiously enough!

"And what I need she'll never miss. Besides, I can send back
everything in the morning, anonymously, by parcel-post. It's only
borrowing."

Already she had passed from contemplation to purpose and stood
committed to the enterprise, reckless of its consequence.

But she found it far from easy to make her selection; it wouldn't do
to fare forth _en decolletee_ without an escort--a consideration that
sadly complicated the search for just the right thing, at once simple
and extravagant, modish and becoming. Moreover, any number of
captivating garments positively demanded to be tried on, then clung
tenaciously to her pretty shoulders, refusing to be rejected.

She wasted many a sigh over her choice, which was ultimately something
darkish, a frock (I think) of dark-blue _crepe-de-chine_, designed
primarily for afternoon wear, but, supplemented by a light silk wrap,
quite presentable for evening; and it fitted to admiration.

This question once settled, she experienced little trouble finding
slippers and a hat to her taste.

The testimony of a small gilt clock startled her when at length she
stood ready for the next step in her nefarious career: the hour-hand
was passing ten. That seemed almost incredible.

Running into the unlighted boudoir, she caught back the
window-draperies, raised the sash, and peered cautiously out through
the slanted slats of the wooden blinds.

The sky that now shone down upon the city was a fair shield of stars
unblurred by cloud; the storm had passed without her knowledge.

Closing the window, Sally delayed for one last, rapturous survey of
herself in the cheval-glass, then put out the lights and went to the
door.

She hardly knew