don't breathe a word, or let on you've heard."

Circumstantial evidence seemed to confirm the statement. Emily, the
sewing-maid, had been seen in the linen-room employed on some
renovations to Miss Beasley's best evening dress; Miss Gibbs's
suit-case had been brought down from the box-room to have its lock and
handles polished; and Dorothy Newstead, concealed behind a laurel bush
during a game of "Hide-and-seek," had overheard the Principal give
instructions to the gardener to order a conveyance for Thursday
evening at half-past six. Certainly nothing could be more conclusive.
Excitement was rife. Never in all the annals of the school had Miss
Beasley and Miss Gibbs together taken a night off!

"It seems a shame to waste such a golden opportunity!" said Raymonde
enthusiastically. "Gibbie was talking to us only to-day about seizing
our opportunities.

"'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying,
And this same flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow will be dying!'

She quoted it most impressively."

"She didn't go on to the verse about getting married while you'd the
chance, though!" chuckled Ardiune.

"No, my child. Such a subject as matrimony is not supposed to be a
fitting topic for a ladies' school. Gibbie always gracefully shelves
it. But you're side-tracking, and I want to get back to my point. I
was talking of opportunities, and never in the whole of our
school-days shall we get such another as next Thursday. How are we
going to make use of it? I vote for a beano in our dormitory."

"What's a 'beano'?" demanded Fauvette's plaintive voice. "You're
always saying things I don't understand."

"You're young, child!" returned Raymonde indulgently, "and you can't
be expected to know everything. A beano is a bean-feast. Now don't
look alarmed! We're not going to eat beans; we'll have something far
more appetizing--sardines, and tinned peaches, and biscuits, and
anything else we can get. If the Bumble and the Wasp gad off to enjoy
themselves, why shouldn't we make a night of it too?"

"How about those kids?"

"They'll join in. It shall be an affair for the whole dormitory. We'll
share the treat, for once!"

"You won't get the monitresses to join," interposed Katherine
dubiously.

"Shan't ask them! I've settled all that in my mind. You know the big
oak door across the passage that leads to their rooms? Well, I'm going
to fasten