A tall figure, clothed in some long white garment, was gliding towards them. It kept in the shadow, and they could see no details, only a light mass that was slowly and steadily advancing apparently straight to where they were crouching beside the wall. Fil was trembling like a leaf, Nora declared afterward that her hair stood on end, Ingred and Verity felt shivers run down their spines. Nearer and nearer came the white figure. Its approach was more than flesh and blood could stand. With a wild shriek Fil dashed across the lawn, followed closely by Nora, Ingred, and Verity. "Girls!" cried a clear and well-known voice. "Girls! Stop! What are you doing here?" There was no mistaking the tone of command of the head-mistress. Four amazed and crestfallen damsels halted and turned back, to find Miss Burd, attired in a white dressing-gown, standing in the moonlight on the grass. "What is the meaning of this?" she asked. "And why aren't you all in bed?" It is always difficult to give explanations, and (to such a matter-of-fact person as Miss Burd) it seemed particularly silly to have to confess that they had come out ghost-hunting, and had mistaken her for a spirit. She emptied the vials of her scorn upon their dejected heads. "Don't let me hear of any more nonsense of this sort!" she finished. "I should have thought you were too intelligent to believe in such rubbish. As for leaving your dormitory at this hour, you deserve to be locked in the cycle-shed for the night. I shall, of course, report you to Mrs. Best, and none of you will play tennis for a week, as a punishment." Miss Burd, bristling with anger, swept the delinquents before her to the door of the hostel, and watched them flee upstairs, then went to lay the matter before Mrs. Best. In Dormitory 2, four girls got into bed at topmost speed. "Of all the ill-luck!" mourned Fil. "I didn't know Miss Burd prowled about the garden in a dressing-gown," exclaimed Ingred. "She _did_ look exactly like a ghost!" confirmed Verity. "Tennis off for a whole week! Blossom will be furious! It's too absolutely grizzly for anything!" groused Nora. "I wish the wretched old ghost had been at Jericho before we went to look for it!" CHAPTER XX Under the Lanterns It is an ill wind that blows nobody good, and though Nora, Fil, Ingred, and Verity might chafe at being debarred from tennis for a whole week, their adventure in the garden had given them an idea. How it exactly originated could not be decided, for each fiercely claimed the full credit for it. Its evolution, however, was somewhat as follows: Stage 1. How lovely the garden looked in the evening. Stage 2. Why should we not _all_ enjoy it some time? Stage 3. Miss Burd evidently does. Stage 4. And looked very fascinating in her white dressing-gown. Stage 5. It was exactly like a fancy dress. Stage 6. Why should not we all wear fancy dress?