Absolute horror filled Fanny's mind now. What was she to do? She was so bewildered that for a time she could scarcely think coherently. Then she made up her mind that, come what would, she must get that packet out of her own bedroom before the servants came in on the following day. She was so absorbed with the thought of her own danger that she had no time to think of the very grave danger which assailed poor little Betty Vivian. If she had disliked Betty before, she hated her now. Oh, how right she had been when, in her heart of hearts, she had opposed Betty's entrance into the school! What trouble those three tiresome, wild, uncontrollable girls had brought in their wake! And now Betty--Betty, who was so adored--Betty, who, in Fanny's opinion, was both a thief and a liar--was dangerously ill; and she (Fanny) would in all probability have to appear in a most sorry position. For, whatever Betty's sin, Fanny knew well that nothing could excuse her own conduct. She had spied on Betty; she had employed Sibyl Ray as a tool; she had got Sibyl to take the packet from under the piece of heather; and that very night she had excited the astonishment of her companions in the Speciality Club by proposing a ridiculously unsuitable person for membership as poor Sibyl. "Things look as black as night," thought Fanny to herself. "I don't want to go to bed. I wish I could get out of this. How odious things are!" Just then she heard footsteps outside her door--footsteps that came up close and waited. Then, all of a sudden, the door was flung violently open, and Sylvia and Hester entered. They had been crying so hard that their poor little faces were disfigured almost beyond recognition. Sylvia held a small tin box in her hand. "What are you doing, girls? You had better go to bed," said Fanny. Neither girl took the slightest notice of this injunction. They looked round the room, noting the position of the different articles of furniture. Then Sylvia walked straight up to the screen behind which Fanny's bed was placed. With a sudden movement she pulled down the bedclothes, opened the little tin box, and put something into Fanny's bed. "It's Dickie!" said Sylvia. "I hope you will like his company. Come, Hetty." Before Fanny could find words the girls had vanished. But the look of hatred on Sylvia's face, the look of defiance and horror on Hetty's, Fanny was not likely to forget. They shut the door somewhat noisily behind them. Then, all of a sudden, Hetty opened it again, pushed in her small face, and said, "You had better be careful. His bite is dangerous!"