"What is that?"
The question came in an anxious and wideawake tone from within the room.
"I don't know. Oh, there it is again!"
The voice this time was Effie's.
"It sounds as if it were under the bed!"
"Oh, surely it's not a rat!"
"Now for it!" whispered Cicely, pulling the second string.
The result was all they could have desired. A series of yells proceeded from the four-post bed, sufficient not only to rouse the occupants of the other rooms on the landing, but to bring Miss Frazer hurrying up from the library. Lindsay and Cicely dropped their strings and fled, not a second too soon. They could hear Miss Frazer striking a match to light the candle, and her exclamation when she discovered the cause of the uproar.
"All the girls have turned out to see what's the matter," said Cicely. "If you and I don't go too, they'll know who's done it."
"I think we shall have to own up, in any case," replied Lindsay.