"Hallo!" cried a surprised voice. "Here, Miss Linda, don't shoot." The girls who had drawn back from the window clutched one another, but felt an immense relief. There were footsteps on the porch and presently two figures appeared before the open window. "Hallo, in there," called someone. "It's only I, Berk Matthews, Miss Linda." The two girls approached the window. "What in the world are you doing prowling around here at this time of night, trying our bolts and bars?" asked Linda, indignantly. "You scared us nearly to death." "And don't you reckon you gave us a good scare. It is lucky you don't see one of us weltering in gore, Linda Talbot. Just like a girl to be reckless with fire-arms." Bertie stifled a giggle and pinched Linda's arm. "It would serve you right to welter," Linda replied severely. "What right had you to try to frighten us, I demand?" "We didn't intend to, but I promised Miss Ri faithfully that I would make a point of coming around here after you had gone to bed to see if by any chance some door or window had been left insecure." "Well, you might have told us what you were going to do," returned Linda somewhat mollified. "I couldn't," returned Berkley meekly, "for I haven't seen you since, and--Do you happen to know Mr. Jeffreys? Here, Jeffreys, I want to present you to Miss Talbot and--who is with you, Linda?" "Bertie Bryan." "And Miss Bryan. It is rather dark to tell which from t'other, but I would like especially to warn you against Miss Talbot. She carries a pistol and in her hot rage against us may still yearn for prey." "It was Bertie who fired the first shot," declared Linda with a gravity which brought a giggle from Bertie. "Don't tell what it was," whispered Linda to her. "Oh," said Mr. Jeffreys, "I have met Miss Bryan, so it will not be difficult to identify her when she is brought up with intent to kill." "Well, whatever happens to-morrow, we mustn't keep these ladies from their slumbers now," said Berkley. "I'm awfully sorry, girls, really I am, that we frightened you. We tried not to make any noise. Let's be friends. We will forgive you for the shooting if you will forgive us for the scare." "But," said Linda, "the laugh is entirely on our side, for--it wasn't a pistol. Please shut in the shutters, Berk, and I'll fasten them inside." "It wasn't a pistol? Then what in the world was it?" Berkley paused in the act of closing the shutters. "Paper bags!" returned Linda pulling the shutters together with a bang and closing the window, while upon the quiet of the night rang out a hearty peal of laughter from the two outside. "It's lucky I didn't use a bottle of ammonia to throw in their faces," remarked Linda as the girls climbed the stairs. "That was my first thought, but the bags were handy in my washstand drawer." "It was an awfully good joke," replied Bertie, "and I wouldn't have missed it, scared as I was at first. I was dreadfully afraid of burglars getting in and chloroforming us."