e, for the bower was not
waterproof, and the cold sleet came in and fell upon the half-dressed
child. She sank down on the seat, which was already drenched; but little
she cared. She crouched there, wondering what was to be the end, and
giving little cries of absolute anguish now and then.

CHAPTER XXVII.

"MY OWN IRENE!"

Irene went up to bed that night in her usual spirits. She longed for the
moment when she could, as usual, kiss little Agnes; but she was extra
tired, for she had passed a stimulating day, and had been on her best
behavior. She felt quite happy, and wondered if her mother, when her
allotted time at the Merrimans' was over, would send her and little
Agnes and Rosamund to another school somewhere else. She liked the
excitement of school-life, and thought that if she could find a home
where there was no girl like Lucy she would be perfectly happy. She
little knew that in all schools there are girls of the Lucy type, who
are not amiable, whose faults are far worse than those of ordinary
wildness or even ordinary disobedience. But on this occasion she felt
almost kindly toward Lucy, who nodded to her and said, "You and Agnes
must make the most of yourselves together, for you will miss Rosamund."

"Oh! we'll be quite happy together," said Irene, with a careless nod;
and then she went up to her room, opened the door gently, shut it
quietly behind her, and shading the candle with one hand, went over to
little Agnes's bed.

There was no Agnes there. But a huge hedgehog had curled itself up in a
ball close to the pillow where the little delicate head had been
pressed. Irene was afraid of no living creature, and she recognized the
hedgehog at once. She took it up and laid it on the window-sill. Then
she looked round her. Her face was white as death; her teeth chattered.
She suddenly left the room and went straight to Lucy's. She opened the
door without knocking.

"Lucy!" she said.

"What is it?" said Lucy, who was brushing out her long fair hair.

"Did you put a hedgehog into Agnes's bed?"

"Certainly not," said Lucy.

"Well, some one did as a trick, and the child isn't there."

"The child isn't there? There's only one person who could do that sort
of thing, and that is yourself, as you know very well," said Lucy. "But
is the child nowhere in the room?"

"You come and look for her, will you?" said Irene. Her tone and manner
had completely altered. She was forcing herself to use self-control