ummons was generally only
given in summertime, as Miss Poppleton was afraid of the girls catching
cold. Gipsy had read the printed card of "Directions in case of Fire",
and had examined the chute with intense interest.

"I'd just love to go sliding down it out of our bedroom window," she
exclaimed. "It would be almost as much fun as toboganning."

"Rather freezing work on these sharp nights. There was ice on the
puddles this morning," said Dilys. "No fire-drill practice for me, thank
you! I prefer to stop snug in bed."

"You've no spirit of adventure in you," returned Gipsy.

"I've got sound common sense instead, and that's what you don't possess,
Yankee Doodle!"

"All the same, that summons is going to come off, by hook or by crook!"
said Gipsy to herself. "It would be a kindness to the school to give it
a chance to see whether it's prepared for emergencies. Gipsy Latimer, I
guess you'll have to be the philanthropist! But you've no need to flaunt
your noble deed. 'Do good by stealth, and blush to find it fame', in
fact."

If Gipsy, before she went to bed that night, contrived to tie a long
piece of string to the bell chain in the passage, and to secure the
other end to her bedpost, she did not blazon the fact abroad, and the
string was so neatly laid against the edges of skirting board and under
mats that nobody happened to notice it. At 3 a.m., when the whole of
Briarcroft was wrapped in deepest slumbers, there suddenly came the
great _clang-clang_ of the fire bell, resounding and echoing through the
quiet house. Everybody woke in a hurry, and the head of each dormitory
at once switched on the electric light and assumed command. The
well-trained girls dipped their towels in water and put them over their
mouths, threw the red blankets from their beds round their shoulders,
and lined up along the corridor. Miss Lindsay was already there, and
gave the command to march, and away trooped the boarders downstairs and
out of the front door on to the lawn, where they ranged themselves to be
counted. The light streaming through the front door revealed a strange
sight--all the girls in night gear, with their scarlet blankets trailing
on the ground. The juveniles were clasping dolls and other treasures,
and some of the others had caught up big sponges in their confusion. The
whole exit had only taken about a hundred seconds from the sounding of
the bell, and if Gipsy was last, and clutched a roll of string in her
hand, nob