Then she started down the hall toward the spiral stairway.

It was a narrow hall with several cross passages, and at one of them she paused, wondering if it did not lead to Eugenia's and Betty's rooms.
To her speechless surprise, a door popped open and a cupful of water was dashed full in her face.

Spluttering and angry, she drew back in time to avoid another cupful, which came flying through the transom above the same door.

Retreating still farther down the passage, and wiping her face as she went, she kept her gaze on the door, walking backward in order to do so.
Another cupful came splashing out into the hall through the transom.

A boy, tiptoeing up to the door, dodged back so quickly that not a drop touched him; then with a long squirt gun that he carried, he knelt before the keyhole and sent a stream of water squirting through it.