"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Patricia indignantly. "We're locked out!"
"We can ring if Bruce has no other key," said Elinor hastily. "She'll surely let us in."
So, as there was no other key, Patricia put her finger to the bell on the lintel and kept it there till the knob rattled and the door was flung open wide. Judith was standing in the middle of the big, comfortable studio and her face was flushed, but not one word did she say in explanation of her singular behavior.
Elinor and Patricia were so occupied with the room that she almost escaped reproof, but Patricia, as she turned from admiring the stairway that wound up one side of the studio to a nook in the peaked roof above, caught a very knowing look on her little sister's face which was meant for Bruce, and she pounced on her immediately.
"What is the matter with you today, Ju?" she asked in an undertone, "I do wish you'd behave yourself. Bruce will be sorry he asked us if we're going to act like wild Indians."
Judith's only reply was a giggle.
Bruce and Elinor were inspecting the rooms on the other side of the studio, and had passed out of sight behind the second doorway. Patricia forgot her censorship as the spirit of the explorer rose in her.
"Let's look at these rooms, Ju," she proposed, with a hand on the heavy curtain at her right.
Judith caught her hand with a cry of dismay.
"It's not fair, till Elinor comes, too!" she protested hotly. "Wait, they'll be back. I'll call them."