Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER CLASSMATES OR THE SECRET OF THE LOCKED TOWER BY JANET D. WHEELER AUTHOR OF “BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER INHERITANCE,” “BILLIE BRADLEY ON LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND,” ETC. ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY PUBLISHERS Cupples & Leon Company Publishers New York Copyright, 1921 Cupples & Leon Company Billie Bradley and Her Classmates PRINTED IN U. S. A. [Illustration: They marched through crying “Way for the Queen.”] Contents CHAPTER I—THIN ICE CHAPTER II—NEARLY FROZEN CHAPTER III—POLLY HADDON CHAPTER IV—GENEROUS PLANS CHAPTER V—BEARDING THE LION CHAPTER VI—TROUBLE CHAPTER VII—SETTLING A SCORE CHAPTER VIII—JUST LIKE BILLIE! CHAPTER IX—INTO SPACE CHAPTER X—THE CAVE CHAPTER XI—THE SIMPLETON CHAPTER XII—THE ACCUSATION CHAPTER XIII—BILLIE IS CHOSEN CHAPTER XIV—A BLOOD-STAINED HANDKERCHIEF CHAPTER XV—A DISCOVERY CHAPTER XVI—CHRISTMAS CHEER CHAPTER XVII—BILLIE ON GUARD CHAPTER XVIII—AMANDA’S REVENGE CHAPTER XIX—THE TOWER ROOM CHAPTER XX—STOLEN CHAPTER XXI—MORE MYSTERY CHAPTER XXII—FIRST PRIZE CHAPTER XXIII—DISGRACED CHAPTER XXIV—TRIUMPH CHAPTER XXV—PRETTY FROCKS CHAPTER I—THIN ICE Click! click! click! went three pairs of skates as three snugly-dressed girls fairly flew along the frozen surface of the lake. “Isn’t it glorious?” cried the laughing, brown-eyed one, who was no other than Billie Bradley, as she threw back her head and sniffed the crisp, cold air. “Who ever heard of the lake freezing over in the middle of November? And the ice is pretty solid, too.” “In spots,” added Violet Farrington, a slender, dark girl with black hair and dark eyes. “What do you mean—‘in spots’?” asked the third of the trio, Laura Jordon. Laura was as fair as Violet was dark, and now her blue eyes darted an anxious glance at her chum. “Do you think we shall find any thin ice?” “I don’t know, of course,” Violet answered quickly. “But you notice Miss Walters told us to stay close to the shore, and that certainly looks as if she weren’t any too certain about the ice.” Miss Walters was the much-loved principal of Three Towers Hall, the boarding school which the girls were attending, and to the three chums, Miss Walters’ word was law.