"Take this tray from me, Avelyn," she commanded. "Dear me, you're all in the dark here! Has nobody been to light the gas yet?"
"No, Miss Dickens."
"I must fetch some matches, then. Be careful not to upset that tray as you put it down."
The second her back was turned the boys flew to the window, and, dropping out one after the other, made their way safely down the spout into the garden below, whence they waved parting salutations, and retreated with all speed. Avelyn had just time to hide the toffee and the Tit Bits before Miss Dickens returned with the matches and lit the gas. She assumed an air of appropriate subjection and melancholy before her mistress, which at the moment she certainly did not experience.
Until four o'clock on Friday her punishment continued. Not a single word was exchanged between herself and her schoolfellows. She had never felt so glad to go home. The week-end made a break, and when she returned to school on Monday she found herself apparently forgiven at head-quarters, and no more a black sheep, but an ordinary member of society. Her room-mates' attitude was a mixture of admiration and gratitude.
"You're the limit, Ave!" said Irma.
"I'd never have thought of it myself," admitted Janet.
"It was such a topping idea!" chuckled Laura.
"And we all got just the very time of our lives at 'The Temple Bells', thanks to you!" added Ethelberga.
"But I never intended it for anything but a joke!" protested Avelyn.