As they had expected, it was not long before two stealthy figures came tiptoeing in, and were taken red-handed in the very act of constructing an apple-pie bed. The vials of wrath which descended upon the would-be practical jokers were enough to damp the spirits of even such madcaps as Raymonde and Aveline. After all, monitresses are monitresses, and to affront them is rather like twisting a lion's tail. Miss Gibbs herself could not have been more scathing in her sarcasms than Linda. For once the Mystics retired crushed, and with a due respect for their seniors. It was not in the nature of things, however, for Raymonde's spirits to remain long below zero. After a decent period of immersion they once more rose to the surface. The occasion of their revival was sufficient to awaken enthusiasm in the most down-trodden and monitress-ridden of school-girls. A report was rumoured through the Grange; nobody seemed to know quite where it started, or what was the fount of information, but everybody said it was perfectly true, and girl whispered to girl the astounding secret. "The Bumble and the Wasp are going out to dinner on Thursday, and are to stay the night, only we're not supposed to get a hint of it, so don't breathe a word, or let on you've heard." Circumstantial evidence seemed to confirm the statement. Emily, the sewing-maid, had been seen in the linen-room employed on some renovations to Miss Beasley's best evening dress; Miss Gibbs's suit-case had been brought down from the box-room to have its lock and handles polished; and Dorothy Newstead, concealed behind a laurel bush during a game of "Hide-and-seek," had overheard the Principal give instructions to the gardener to order a conveyance for Thursday evening at half-past six. Certainly nothing could be more conclusive. Excitement was rife. Never in all the annals of the school had Miss Beasley and Miss Gibbs together taken a night off! "It seems a shame to waste such a golden opportunity!" said Raymonde enthusiastically. "Gibbie was talking to us only to-day about seizing our opportunities. "'Gather ye rosebuds while ye may, Old Time is still a-flying, And this same flower that smiles to-day To-morrow will be dying!' She quoted it most impressively." "She didn't go on to the verse about getting married while you'd the chance, though!" chuckled Ardiune. "No, my child. Such a subject as matrimony is not supposed to be a fitting topic for a ladies' school. Gibbie always gracefully shelves it. But you're side-tracking, and I want to get back to my point. I was talking of opportunities, and never in the whole of our school-days shall we get such another as next Thursday. How are we going to make use of it? I vote for a beano in our dormitory." "What's a 'beano'?" demanded Fauvette's plaintive voice. "You're always saying things I don't understand."