ways she had suggested trying, was to sound a burglar or a fire alarm,
so that every one would rush out into the hall. But when the dreaded
moment actually arrived and A.O. stood in the middle of the floor with
his card in her hand, Elise merely looked up from her book with a
provoking grin.

"Oh, haven't I had you going for the last week!" she exclaimed. "Really
made you believe that I wanted to see your dear Jimmy-boy! A.O., you
are dead easy! I haven't had so much fun out of anything for ages."

Almost giddy with the sense of relief, A.O. hurried away, leaving Elise
poring over her French lesson. At the lower landing she paused to tear
Jimmy's card to atoms and drop them in a waste basket which was standing
there. Even his card might betray him, for it was not an elegant correct
bit of engraved board like the Lieutenant's. It was a large square card
inscribed by a professional penman; the kind who sets up stands on
street corners or in convenient doorways, and executes showy scrolls and
tendrils in the way of initial letters "while you wait."

As the door closed behind A.O., Elise sent her book flying across the
room, and the next moment was groping under the bed for a dress-box
which she had hidden there. A blond wig that she had bought while in
Washington for next week's tableaux tumbled out first, with a motley
collection of borrowed articles, which she had been at great pains to
procure.

Laughing so that she could hardly dress, Elise began to make a hurried
change. Five minutes later she stood before the glass completely
disguised. Cornie Dean's long black skirt trailed around her. A.O.'s
own jacket fitted her snugly, with Margaret Elwood's new black feather