"Won't anybody else hear us if we knock and call?"
"I'm dreadfully afraid not, but we'll try again."
So once more they thumped and shouted and the old hall echoed, but nobody came to release them. The situation was serious. If the caretaker had gone home they were very much locked in, for not only was the door of the museum secured, but also the door of the big hall, and the door leading to the courtyard. Until to-morrow morning they were as good as prisoners.
There still, however, remained the window. Miss Renton climbed on a chair and peered through the small leaded panes. Unfortunately, instead of opening on to the street, it only overlooked a kind of sunk well among the buildings, so it would be impossible to attract the attention of anybody outside.
Marion's eyes were filling with tears.
"Mother'll be so anxious when I don't turn up," she gulped. "She'll never think of coming to the museum to look for me."
"Nobody will," said Lesbia with a suspicious quaver in her voice.
"It'll be simply ghastly to stay here all night."
"And so cold."
"I'd give worlds for some tea."