"Now, don't begin reciting old chestnuts like that," sniffed Bess.
"It is an announcement of revolt, not a recitation, I'd have you know," declared the red-haired girl.
"What do you mean, Laura?" Nan asked, suddenly seeing that Laura really had some meaning underneath her raillery.
"Hush, children!" crooned the red-haired girl. "What is our greatest trial—our most implacable enemy—in this fair Garden of Eves? Tell me!"
"Mrs. Cupp," sighed Nan.
"Nay, nay! She is but the slave of the lamp," responded Laura, still in flowery fashion. "The bete noire of the girls of Lakeview Hall is the half-past nine o'clock curfew. And I vow it shall not ring to-night!"
"Why won't it?" asked Nan, finally grown suspicious.
"Because," hissed Laura, her eyes dancing, "I climbed up into the tower this forenoon and unhooked and hid the bell-clapper. They won't find it for one while, now you mark my word!"
"Oh, Laura!" gasped Nan; but then she, too, had to join in the peal of laughter that the other girls in Room Seven, Corridor Four, emitted.
"What a joke!" exclaimed Bess.