Mary Louise entered the drawing-room and ran against a chair that stood in her way.  Until now she had not made the slightest noise, but the suit case banged against the chair and the concussion reverberated dully throughout the house.

The opposite door opened and a light flooded the hall.  From where the girl stood in the dark drawing-room she could see Miss Stearne standing in her doorway and listening.  Mary Louise held herself motionless.  She scarcely dared breathe.  The principal glanced up and down the hall, noted the locked doors and presently retired into her room, after a little while extinguishing the light.

Then Mary Louise felt her way to a window, drew aside the heavy draperies and carefully released the catch of the sash, which she then succeeded in raising.  The wooden blinds were easily unfastened but swung back with a slight creak that made her heart leap with apprehension.  She did not wait, now, to learn if the sound had been heard, for already she had wasted too much time if she intended to catch her train.  She leaned through the window, let her suit case down as far as she could reach, and dropped it to the ground.  Then she climbed through the opening and let herself down by clinging to the sill.  It was a high window, but she was a tall girl for her age and her feet touched the ground.  Now she was free to go her way.

She lost no time in getting away from the grounds, being guided by a dim starlight and a glow in the east that was a promise of morning.  With rapid steps she made her way to the station, reaching it over the rough country road just as the train pulled in.  She had been possessed with the idea that someone was stealthily following her and under the light of the depot lamps her first act was to swing around and stare into the darkness from which she had emerged.  She almost expected to see Miss Stearne appear, but it was only a little man with a fat nose and a shabby suit of clothes, who had probably come from the village to catch the same train she wanted.  He paid no attention to the girl but entered the same car she did and quietly took his seat in the rear.

CHAPTER VIII

A FRIENDLY FOE

It required two days and a night to go by rail from Beverly to Dorfield and as Mary Louise had passed a sleepless night at the school she decided to purchase a berth on the sleeper.  That made a big hole in her surplus of eight dollars and she also found her meals in the dining car quite expensive, so that by the time she left the train at Dorfield her finances would be reduced to the sum of a dollar and twenty cents.

That would not have disturbed her, knowing that thereafter she would be with Gran’pa Jim, except for one circumstance.  The little man with the fat nose, who had taken the train at Beverly, was still on board.  All the other passengers who had been on the train at that time had one by one left it and been replaced by others, for the route lay through several large cities where many alighted and others came aboard.  Only the little man from Beverly remained, quiet and unobtrusive but somehow haunting the girl’s presence in an embarrassing manner.