e?"

"No," I rallied a little spirit at that. It had been anything but a
joke.

He drew a long breath.

"I think I understand," he said slowly, "but--you could have saved me
something. I must have given you all a great deal of amusement."

"Oh, no," I protested. "I--I want to tell you--"

But he deliberately left me and went over to the door. There he turned
and looked down at Aunt Selina. He was a little white, but there was no
passion in his face.

"Thank you for telling me all this, Miss Caruthers," he said easily.
"Now that you and I know, I'm afraid the others will miss their little
diversion. Good night."

Oh, it was all right for Jim to laugh and say that he was only huffed
a little and would be over it by morning. I knew better. There was
something queer in his face as he went out. He did not even glance in my
direction. He had said very little, but he had put me as effectually in
the wrong as if he had not kissed me--deliberately kissed me--that very
evening, on the roof.

I did not go to sleep again. I lay wretchedly thinking things over and
trying to remember who Jezebel was, and toward morning I distinctly
heard the knob of the door turn. I mistrusted my ears, however, and so
I got up quietly and went over in the darkness. There was no sound
outside, but when I put my hand on the knob I felt it move under my
fingers. The counter pressure evidently alarmed whoever it was, for the
knob was released and nothing more happened. But by this time anything
so uncomplicated as the fumbling of a knob at night had no power to
disturb me. I went back to bed.

Chapter XX. BREAKING OUT IN A NEW PLACE

Hunger roused everybody early the next morning, Friday. Leila Mercer had
discovered a box of bonbons that she had forgotten, and we divided them
around. Aunt Selina asked for the candied fruit and got it--quite a
third of the box. We gathered in the lower hall and on the stairs and
nibbled nauseating sweets while Mr. Harbison examined the telephone.

He did not glance in my direction. Betty and Dal were helping him, and
he seemed very cheerful. Max sat with me on the stairs. Mr. Harbison had
just unscrewed the telephone box from the wall and was squinting into
it, when Bella came downstairs. It was her first appearance, but as she
was always late, nobody noticed. When she stopped, just above us on
the stairs, however, we looked up, and she was holding to the rail and
trembling perceptibly.

"Mr. Harbison,