It was perhaps owing to the excitement of their spirited performance that the members of No.

2 Dormitory could not get to sleep that night.

They all lay wide awake in bed, and told each other tales about burglars, in whispers.

Verity's stories were blood-curdling in the extreme; she was a great reader, and had got them from magazines.

Her three room-mates listened with cold shivers running down their spines.