The girls looked at each other with a sense of relief--but they
waited to hear the opinion of the queen. Emily, as usual,
justified the confidence placed in her. She discovered an
ingenious method of putting Cecilia's suggestion to the test.

"Let's go on talking," she said. "If Cecilia is right, the
teachers are all asleep, and we have nothing to fear from them.
If she's wrong, we shall sooner or later see one of them at the
door. Don't be alarmed, Miss de Sor. Catching us talking at
night, in this school, only means a reprimand. Catching us with a
light, ends in punishment. Blow out the candle."

Francine's belief in the ghost was too sincerely superstitious to
be shaken: she started up in bed. "Oh, don't leave me in the
dark! I'll take the punishment, if we are found out."

"On your sacred word of honor?" Emily stipulated.

"Yes--yes."

The queen's sense of humor was tickled.

"There's something funny," she remarked, addressing her subjects,
"in a big girl like this coming to a new school and beginning
with a punishment. May I ask if you are a foreigner, Miss de
Sor?"

"My papa is a Spanish gentleman," Francine answered, with
dignity.