Hermie went a circuitous route round the back of the cottage, so anxious was she to reach her bedroom without having her hot cheeks challenged by the sharp eyes of Floss or Roly. And there on the back verandah, where they never went, the two little figures were sitting, one at either end with their backs against a post.
'It's time you were in bed,' were the natural words that sprang to her lips, when she found she might not elude them.
Two laughs bubbled up. 'We're not going to bed for hours,' they said; 'we're having a 'speriment.'
'A what?' said Hermie.
'See this,' said Floss, standing up, 'we're both tied to the posts with the clothes-line. Such larks! Brownie said she wanted to try a 'speriment on us, and see if we could sit still for two hours. If we do, she's going to give me her little gold brooch, and Roly the green heart out of her work-box.'
'We can swop them at school for usefuller things,' interpolated Roly.
'The best is,' giggled Floss, 'we like sitting still, we'd been running about all day. And she forgot to tell us not to speak to each other, and she didn't put us too far to play knuckle-bones. I've wonned Roly three times.'
But Hermie had gone in, an impatient doubt as to Miss Browne's sanity crossing her mind.
She found Bart climbing out of the dining-room window.
'Did you go doing that?' he demanded.