This time, the sound was distant and diminishing.

On a sudden it stopped.

The midnight silence was disturbed no more.
What did this mean?
Had one among the many persons in authority under Miss Ladd's roof heard the girls talking, and ascended the stairs to surprise them in the act of violating one of the rules of the house?
So far, such a proceeding was by no means uncommon.

But was it within the limits of probability that a teacher should alter her opinion of her own duty half-way up the stairs, and deliberately go back to her own room again?
The bare idea of such a thing was absurd on the face of it.

What more rational explanation could ingenuity discover on the spur of the moment?
Francine was the first to offer a suggestion.