ook here,' he exclaimed; 'now we're all together, I vote we go and
explore!'

'You're always wanting to explore,' I said. 'What on earth is there to
explore for in this house?'

'Biscuits!' said the inspired Edward.

'Hooray! Come on!' chimed in Harold, sitting up suddenly. He had been
awake all the time, but had been shamming asleep, lest he should be
fagged to do anything.

It was indeed a fact, as Edward had remembered, that our thoughtless
elders occasionally left the biscuits out, a prize for the night-walking
adventurer with nerves of steel.

Edward tumbled out of bed, and pulled a baggy old pair of
knickerbockers over his bare shanks. Then he girt himself with a
belt, into which he thrust, on the one side a large wooden pistol,
on the other an old single-stick; and finally he donned a big
slouch-hat--once an uncle's--that we used for playing Guy Fawkes and
Charles-the-Second-up-a-tree in. Whatever the audience, Edward, if
possible, always dressed for his parts with care and conscientiousness;
while Harold and I, true Elizabethans, cared little about the mounting
of the piece, so long as the real dramatic heart of it beat sound.

Our commander now enjoined on us a silence deep as the grave, reminding
us that Aunt Eliza usually slept with an open door, past which we had to
file.

'But we'll take the short cut through the Blue Room,' said the wary
Selina.

'Of course,' said Edward approvingly. 'I forgot about that. Now then!
You lead the way!'

The Blue Room had in prehistoric times been added to by taking in a
superfluous passage, and so not only had the advantage of two doors, but
also enabled us to get to the head of the stairs without passing the
chamber wherein our dragon-aunt lay couched. It was rarely occupied,
except when a casual uncle came down for the night. We entered in
noiseless file, the room being plunged in darkness, except for a bright
strip of moonlight on the floor, across which we must pass for our exit.
On this our leading lady chose to pause, seizing the opportunity to
study the hang of her new dressing-gown. Greatly satisfied thereat, she
proceeded, after the feminine fashion, to peacock and to pose, pacing a
minuet down the moonlit patch with an imaginary partner. This was too
much for Edward's histrionic instincts, and after a moment's pause he
drew his single-stick, and, with flourishes meet for the occasion,
strode on to the stage. A struggle ensued on approved lines, at the e