"They are locked in. Here is the key."
"I must go for the constable."
A scuffling sound suddenly issued from the closet, and Gloriana cried in terror, "And leave me here alone with them?"
"There is no other way. I'll be gone but a minute. They surely can't get loose in that time!" And she darted from the room without giving Gloriana opportunity for further objections.
Hardly had the sound of her racing footsteps died away in the distance, however, when the red-haired guard, leaning against the door, half dead with fear, was electrified at hearing a muffled voice call through the keyhole, "I say, Glory, let us out, do! We were just a-foolin'. Didn't you know 'twas us? Please don't turn us over to the sheriff!"
"'Twas Tabitha's story about the Ivy Hall ghost that made us think of it," pleaded Toady. "We ain't sure-enough burglars. We just meant to scare you a little bit."
"And you sure scared us enough to make up," coaxed Billiard. "Please let us out before Tabitha gets back. She said she'd write Uncle Hogan the next time we got into trouble."
"And that will mean he will take us away from here," wheedled Toady. "He's awful hard on a fellow."
"You deserve it!" suddenly answered Glory, with a grimness that startled even the girl herself.
"Then you won't let us out?" cried the boys in great dismay.