Punctual to a moment, the guests from the other hostels arrived and took their seats as audience. The performers, in the little room behind the platform, were breathlessly scuttling into their costumes, and all talking at once. "Where's my hat?" [Illustration: SHE STARED AT IT IN CONSTERNATION] "Do button this at the back for me, please!" "I can't find my boots!" "Oh, bother, this skirt has no hooks!" "Who's got the safety pins?" "Be careful, you'll tear that lace!" "I can't get into these shoes, they're too small!" "I've grown out of this skirt since last theatricals." "It's miles too short!" "Has anybody seen my belt?" Each one was so occupied in finishing her own hasty toilet that she could not give much thought to the others, and it was only when all were ready that Patricia asked: "Where's Chrissie?" The girls looked round in consternation. She was certainly not in the dressing-room. Betty ran on to the platform, drew aside the curtain a little, and, beckoning Annie Turner from among the audience, sent her and six other Intermediates in search of the missing performer. They returned in a few minutes to say that they could not find her. Marjorie, meantime, had explained the cause of the quarrel. "It's sickening!" raged Betty. "For her to go and spoil the whole thing, just out of temper! I'd like to shake her!" "Everybody's waiting for us to begin!" fluttered Rose. "We won't wait!" declared Patricia. "Let us take the second charade first, Chrissie doesn't come on in that; and, Betty, you go and ask Annie to take Chrissie's place. She doesn't act badly, and there'd be time to tell her what to do. She must fetch a mackintosh. Here's my broad belt and a soft felt hat. She can belong to an Australian regiment." Annie, summoned hastily behind the scenes, rose magnificently to the occasion. Coached by Betty and Marjorie, she grasped the outline of the part she must play with immediate comprehension. She donned the mackintosh, buckled the belt over her shoulder, cocked the soft hat over one eye, practised a military stride and an affectionate embrace, and declared herself ready for action. She was only just in time. The audience was already applauding the end of the first charade. The performers came trooping back, flushed and excited, and much relieved to find Annie so well prepared. "You mascot! You've saved our reputation!" exulted Patricia. "I'm never going to speak to Chrissie Lang again!" declared Betty. "It's abominable of her to let us down like this!" agreed Rose indignantly.