“I think we’ll cut through the back yard here into Foth Road and head out toward the country.”
They went around the side of the dormitory, and, to their surprise, saw Rhoda coming toward them across the back yard.
“Aren’t you up pretty early, Rhoda?” asked Jane casually, as the girl flushed and looked embarrassed.
“Not so very,” was the low reply. “I often run out here for a breath of fresh air before starting my work.”
“How fussed she acted,” commented Ruth, “just as if she’d been caught doing something she didn’t want anybody to know about.”
“Yes, I noticed that too,” said Patricia, carefully following her companions down the treacherous, broken stone ledges into the yard behind Arnold Hall.
“Why, Ruth,” cried Jane, “‘Big House’ is occupied! I didn’t know that; did you?” The girl regarded in surprise the three-story brick house across a narrow stretch of green lawn.
“No, I didn’t”—adding softly, “Come on; somebody is watching us from that bay window on the second floor.”
“How do you know?” demanded Jane, hurrying after her room mate.
“I saw a woman’s hand pull the curtain aside a little while we were waiting for Pat to come down the steps.”