On that Friday evening Louie again found herself a little less inclined for amusement than she knew to be good for her. She supposed she ought to work, for if book-keeping and typewriting and so forth were to be her living they might just as well be taken seriously; but she preferred to work where gossip was going on. So she began the evening in one of the days in the =E= of reference books, where Miss Windus and the thick-lipped Miss Levey were sitting on the short library-ladder, whispering and tittering. Louie opened one of the windows, for she found the place airless, and then idled towards her two fellow-students. She had gathered that Miss Levey did not like her. Miriam Levey was far less stupid than Kitty Windus, and it was not safe to hand her _clichés_ back to her. Indeed, she had given Louie a far too intelligent look when Louie had gratified this hunger for humour of hers at the unconscious Kitty's expense; and Louie had told herself that it might be as well to be a little more careful. They looked up as Louie joined them, but did not exclude her from their talk. "I _vill_ find out who she is!" Miss Levey was saying--her W's did sometimes become V's. "I shall plague him till I do!" "He won't tell you, my dear--not if he wouldn't tell Archie." "But did Archie actually say 'engaged'?" "Well, a person's either engaged or not, I suppose." "Oh no, my dear, not by long chalks! Vy, you might as well say that Archie and Evie are either engaged or not!" "Well, they aren't--yet." "'Yet'--there you are!" "Well, I'll bet they aren't, even after this week-end. Why, they're no age! _I_ don't believe in getting yourself engaged and done for before you've had a good look round!" Kitty tossed her head. "Vill you bet they aren't engaged in three months?" said Miriam Levey. No, Kitty wouldn't bet that. She returned to the original subject, whatever that had been. "It's all very well to say you'll find out, Miriam, but--how?" Miss Levey tittered, and then suddenly said: "Ssss--I'll show you now! Just you watch me----" She slipped noiselessly round to the cords of the window Louie had opened a few moments before. No doubt her sharp eyes had seen Mr. Jeffries approach. She gave him a helpless look, and he took the cords from her fumbling hands and closed the window for her. It was the more cleverly done that she detained Mr. Jeffries and managed to get closed the window which Louie wanted open at one and the same time. She turned her prominent brown eyes in gratitude to Mr. Jeffries. "Oh, thank you so much! You see, I've got rather a cold, and I'm going to a dance and don't vant to make it any vorse," she explained. "You don't dance, do you, Mr. Jeffries?" But Mr. Jeffries merely replied "No," and turned away at once. Miss Levey turned to Kitty again. "He needn't think he's put me off!" she said. "I _vill_ find out! I shall offer him some tickets now, for self and lady. And I bet if she dances I'll make him buy them!"