"How do you know about the pictures if you must not go there!" asked Desireè. "Aha, Miss Lucille, I have caught you this time!" "You have done nothing of the sort," said I. "Mother Bursar let us accompany her through the rooms but she said we must go no where else without her." Desireè went and looked through the open doors, and even ventured a few steps into the room, but soon returned. I fancy she was afraid. "And where does this go?" she asked, turning to a little door opening under the great stairs. "I don't know, I never noticed it!" I answered. "It does not matter where it goes, since we are not to leave this hall!" said Amabel. "Don't touch it, Desireè." "I shall not ask your leave, Misè!" returned Desireè, still working at the door. I suppose the lock was rusted, for it yielded in her hand, and she opened it. Amabel and myself came behind her and looked. The door opened on a stone stair, which led downward. It was dark at first, but gazing steadfastly we could discern a dim light below. A damp, mouldy air blew in our faces. I shuddered, I knew not why, and turned away. "Look at her. She pretends to fear nothing, and she is scared at the very sight of this old hole!" said Desireè. "Now I will wager anything that she would never dare go down these stairs and walk twenty paces away from them!" And Desireè laughed scornfully. "Whether she is afraid or not, she must not do it!" said Dénice. "The Mother Bursar has forbidden it." "She did not forbid it—she said nothing about it!" said I. "She forbade us to leave the hall, and that is enough!" retorted Dénice. But Desireè persisted in daring me to descend the stairs, and at last I was just foolish enough to undertake it. Amabel strove with tears in her eyes to dissuade me, but seeing that I was determined, she expressed her intention of going with me. "Don't go, oh, don't go!" pleaded Dénice; but, seeing us both preparing to descend, she suddenly pulled herself free from Desireè, who was holding her fast, and ran out of the hall. The stairs were sound enough, but slippery with damp and mould. They landed us in a very small square apartment, lighted by a grating close to the top. From this room, long, dark passages led away in two or three directions. I must confess, I was dreadfully scared, but Desireè's taunts had roused my pride, and I walked firmly on down one of the long alleys. I remember just how soft and velvety the ground felt under my feet, and how our footsteps yet seemed to wake a strange echo, as if some one were coming to meet us. "There, you have walked twenty steps," said Amabel. "Now let us turn round." "Just a few more, to be sure," said I. I took a step or two more, but was checked by a sort of suppressed cry from Amabel. "O Lucy, I cannot see the light at all!" I turned round quickly enough at that. Sure enough, no light was to be seen. We were in total darkness.