"I—I haven't decided yet," Gloriana was forced to admit.
"But Tabitha will be back directly."
"Yes, she's a swift runner. I don't think she will be gone long." Glory was beginning to enjoy the strange situation.
"Oh, Glory, don't keep us here, please! prayed Billiard desperately.
"We'll never play burglar again!" promised repentant Toady.
"No, it will be something else the next time," said their jailer heartlessly.
"If you'll just set us free this time, we'll be reg'lar sissy girls all the rest of the summer," they cried.
"You have promised so many times—" Glory began wearily.
"Oh, I can hear her coming!" cried Toady, half frantic at thought of the constable whom Tabitha had gone to summon.
Gloriana thought she could, also, and swiftly turning the key in the lock, she let the quaking prisoners out, urging them on with a violent push as they scurried past her, and hissing in their ears, "Scamper! If you aren't in bed when she gets here, she'll know you did it."