But suddenly the night was shattered by a bell, a bell riotous and loud, somewhere close to the ear of the sleeping Phyllis. She sprang out of bed with a shriek. Gale sat up and put her hands over her ears. Another bell joined the first and together their voices made a clatter that disturbed sleepers all over the building. Phyllis dashed wildly about, seeking the cause of the clatter. She found an alarm clock under the bed, whose bell was the cause of the initial outburst. She turned it off while Gale sought the second bell. But Gale had no sooner found the clock hidden in her suitcase than another bell broke forth and another and another. The place was alive with bells, each louder and more shrill than the one before.
The girls sat in the center of the floor and looked helplessly at one another.
“Let ’em ring,” Phyllis advised.
“That’s all we can do,” Gale conceded laughingly. “I wonder whose idea this was?”
“What?”
“I said——” Gale began to repeat patiently, but it was no use. Phyllis could not hear her above the clatter. It seemed a million bells were ringing. Never had the girls heard such a varied assortment of bell sounds.
Gradually the bells began to stop. Gently the tinkling died out and the girls climbed back into bed. But they were no sooner settled than the loudest and most disturbing gong of all started.
“Sounds like a fire alarm,” Phyllis shouted.
She was hastily rummaging in her closet. Her search disclosed a big alarm clock hidden in a hat box. She brought it out.
“How do you shut it off?” she yelled to Gale.