“I don’t know what Miss Dean knew. One of the hazers betrayed the others and left college.” Elizabeth proceeded to paint Dulcie Vale’s treachery in lurid colors. “Don’t worry about being caught,” she frowned, impatient at the interruption. “I know how to manage matters. The girl who planned the flivver that shut her crowd out of college thought herself a wizard. She was far from being one.”
“I wouldn’t consider such a risky scheme for two seconds if I weren’t bent on making things lively for that big booby of a Miss Forbes.” Alma’s eyes flashed vindictively. “Go ahead, Bess. We won’t interrupt you again.”
“Very well.” Elizabeth accepted the apology as her due. “To begin with, we will muss up her room on the night of the next show Miss Dean’s crowd give. I hear they are going to put on a concert soon. They have made a lot of money with those two plays they’ve already given. Catch them asking any of us to take part,” she interpolated enviously. “I wouldn’t if they begged me to be in one. But that’s neither here nor there. The night they give their old concert everybody from Wayland Hall will be over at the gym attending it. We’ll buy tickets for it. Supposedly, we’ll be there; only we won’t. Who can prove that we were not there? Not an easy matter? What?” Elizabeth intensely admired this imitation of Leslie Cairns on her part.
“Fine!” exclaimed Alma. “Since we don’t room at Wayland Hall, no one can possibly suspect us, Ida.”
“Suppose anyone happened to see us coming to the Hall?” Ida proposed to regard the risk from all points.
“No one will see you,” cut in Elizabeth pettishly. “You will have to come over here after everyone has started for the concert. I have a latch key that fits the front door. I found it one day in the hall near Remson’s office. I heard afterward, she had lost her key, but I hung on to the one I found. I’ve used it after ten-thirty several times. Maybe it isn’t a convenience! You can let yourself into the house with it and run upstairs in a flash. If one of the maids happened to see you she wouldn’t pay any attention to you, unless you came in too late. You’ll have to strike a happy medium as to the time you get here. Most of the girls will be gone from here by a quarter to eight. You ought to arrive at ten minutes of eight.”
“Easiest thing in the world,” Alma said confidently. “No one would think twice about seeing us. If they should it would only be to conclude we had come over to the concert with some of the Wayland Hall crowd. That key makes everything lovely. We’ll be able to let ourselves in without a bit of fuss.”
“Next I’ll tell you the programme.” Under pretense of showing the two freshmen what, to a casual observer, would have passed for notes made in the library, Elizabeth carefully went over with them the list of depredations to be carried out in Augusta’s room.
“Maybe she won’t look sick when she comes from the concert and sees what has happened!” gleefully predicted Alma. “It will serve that uppish room-mate of hers right. I’ll see she doesn’t escape. What about your room-mate, Bess? Can you keep the stuff we shall use out of her sight entirely?”
“She never sees anything but her books,” was the contemptuous reply. “Leave all that to me. I know what I’m doing. Remember what I say. No one will ever guess who upset baby’s room. It will go down in the annals of Wayland Hall as an absolute mystery.”