uspiciously.

"Oh, nobody in particular. Only Madame Bertier was asking me one day if
there were any caves along the coast. I thought she'd like to see this
one."

"You're not to bring that Russian woman here! I don't like her. I hope
you did not tell her about it?"

"Of course not!"

"Honest Injun?"

"Crystal clear I didn't!"

"It's _our_ secret, and _nobody_ is to know," said Claudia, still
ruffled. "Let us all take a sort of oath!"

"Right oh! _I_ shan't break it!" agreed Lorraine emphatically.

"Will you swear, Morland?" urged Claudia.

"Who's going to tell?" asked Morland huffily. "What a fuss you girls
make about nothing. The cave might be full of diamonds instead of only
shells!"

"Only shells, indeed!" Claudia's tone was belligerent.

"I wish you'd both help me to collect some shells," put in Lorraine,
trying to patch up peace. "I want some more desperately badly for the
museum."

A duty which Lorraine had undertaken during the holidays was the
arrangement of the school museum. She was the curator, but during term
time she was so fully occupied that she had never been able to sort and
label the specimens which the girls had brought to her. The whole
collection had been so far stored away in boxes. Now, however, Miss
Kingsley had set apart special premises for the museum. There was an
unused room at The Gables that in the days of former tenants had been
occupied by the coachman. It adjoined the house, but was approached by
an outside staircase from the yard. It had been filled with lumber, but
Miss Kingsley had had this cleared away, the floor had been scrubbed,
and some old desks moved in to serve as cases for the specimens.

Miss Kingsley and Miss Janet had gone away for Easter, and the servants
were also taking a much-needed rest. The Gables therefore was shut up
for the holidays, though the charwoman, who lived in a cottage close by,
went in to scrub and clean. Before leaving, Miss Kingsley had given
Lorraine the key of the museum, so that she might enter it when she
wished, quite independently of going to the house.

Lorraine spent very happy mornings there--sometimes alone, sometimes
with Claudia to help her. With the aid of natural history books from the
school library, she identified and labelled the specimens to the best of
her ability. It was a quiet kind of work that appealed to her. She felt
that the room was going to be a tremendous acquisition to the school.
All sorts of treasures