When at last she stood on the stone steps of the schoolhouse, her courage returned, and, without hesitation, she thrust the key in the lock of the door.

It turned with a harsh, grating sound, and the little girl’s heart beat rapidly as she pushed open the heavy door.  The hall was as black as a dungeon, but by groping around she found the banister rail, and so made her way upstairs.

Her resolution was undaunted, but the awful silence of the empty, dark place struck a chill to her heart.  She ran up the stairs, and tried to sing in order to break that oppressive silence.  But her voice sounded queer and trembly, and it made echoes that were worse than no sound at all.

She had to go up two flights of stairs, and as she reached the top of the second flight she was near her own classroom.  As she turned the doorknob, the street door, downstairs, which she had left open, suddenly slammed shut with a loud bang.  The sound reverberated through the building, and Midget stood still, shaking with an unconquerable nervous dread.  She didn’t know whether the door blew shut or had been slammed to by some person.  She no longer pretended to herself that she was not frightened, for she was.

“I know I’m silly,” she thought, as two big tears rolled down her cheeks, “but if I can just get that book, and get out of here, won’t I run for home!”

Feeling her way, she stumbled into the classroom.  A faint light came in from the street, but not enough to allow her to distinguish objects clearly.  Indeed, it cast such wavering, ghostly shadows that the total darkness was preferable.

Counting the desks as she went along, she came at last to her own, and felt around in it for her speller.

“There you are!” she exclaimed, triumphantly, as she clutched the book.  And somehow the feeling of the familiar volume took away some of the loneliness.

But her trembling fingers let her desk-cover fall with another of those resounding, reechoing slams that no one can appreciate who has not heard them under similar circumstances.

By this time Marjorie was thoroughly frightened, though she herself could not have told what she was afraid of.  Grasping the precious speller, she started, with but one idea in her mind, ­to get downstairs and out of that awful building as quickly as possible.

She groped carefully for the newel-post, for going down was more dangerous than coming up, and she feared she might fall headlong.

Safely started, however, she almost ran downstairs, and reached the ground floor, only to find the front door had a spring-lock, which had fastened itself when the door banged shut.

Marjorie’s heart sank within her when she realized that she was locked in the schoolhouse.

She thought of the key, but she had stupidly left that on the outside of the door.

“But anyway,” she thought, “I don’t believe you have to have a key on the inside.  You don’t to our front door at home.  You only have to pull back a little brass knob.”

The thought of home made a lump come into poor Marjorie’s throat, and the tears came plentifully as she fumbled vainly about the lock of the door.

“Oh, dear,” she said to herself, “just s’pose I have to stay here all night.  I won’t go upstairs again.  I’ll sit on the steps and wait till morning.”

But at last something gave way, the latch flew up, and Marjorie swung the big door open, and felt the cool night air on her face once more.

It was very dark, but she didn’t mind that, now that she was released from her prison, and, after making sure that the door was securely fastened, she put the key safely in her pocket, and started off toward home.

The church clock struck eight just as she reached her own door, and she could hardly believe she had made her whole trip in less than an hour.  It seemed as if she had spent a whole night alone in the schoolhouse.  She rang the bell, and in a moment Sarah opened the door.

“Why, Miss Marjorie, wherever have you been?” cried the astonished maid.  “I thought you was up in your own room.”

“I’ve been out on an errand, Sarah,” answered Midge, with great dignity.

“An errand, is it?  At this time o’ night!  I’m surprised at ye, Miss Marjorie, cuttin’ up tricks just because the folks is away.”

“Hello, Mopsy!” cried Kingdon, jumping downstairs three at a time.  “What have you been up to now, I’d like to know.”

“Nothing much,” said Marjorie, gaily.  Her spirits had risen since she found herself once again in her safe, warm, light home.  “Don’t bother me now, King; I want to study.”

“Mother’ll study you when she knows that you’ve been out walking alone at night.”

“I don’t want you to tell her, King, because I want to tell her myself.”

“All right, Midge.  I know it’s all right, only I think you might tell me.”

“Well, I will,” said Midget, in a sudden burst of confidence.

Sarah had left the room, so Marjorie told King all about her adventure.

The boy looked at her with mingled admiration and amazement.

“You do beat all, Mopsy!” he said.  “It was right down plucky of you, but you ought not to have done it.  Why didn’t you wait till I came home, and I would have gone for you.”

“I didn’t mean to go, you know, at first.  I just went all of a sudden, after I had really started to come home.  I don’t think Mother’ll mind, when I explain it to her.”

“You don’t, hey?  Well, just you wait and see!”

It was not easy to settle down to studying the speller, after such an exciting adventure to get it, but Marjorie determinedly set to work, and studied diligently till nine o’clock, and then went to bed.

Next morning her father awakened her at an early hour, and a little before seven father and daughter were seated at a cozy little tete-a-tete breakfast.

At the table Marjorie gave her father a full description of her experiences of the night before.

Mr. Maynard listened gravely to the whole recital.

“My dear child,” he said, when she finished the tale, “you did a very wrong thing, and I must say I think you should have known better.”

“But I didn’t think it was wrong, Father.”

“I know you didn’t, dearie; but you surely know that you’re not allowed out alone at night.”

“Yes; but this was such a very unusual occasion, I thought you’d excuse it.  And, besides King was out at night.”

“But he’s a boy, and he’s two years older than you are, and then he had our permission to go.”

“That’s just it, Father.  I felt sure if you had known all about it, you would have given me permission.  I was going to telephone and ask you if I might go to Mr. Cobb’s, and then I thought it would interrupt the dinner party.  And I didn’t think you’d mind my running around to Mr. Cobb’s.  You know when I went there, I never thought of going to the schoolhouse last night.”

“How did you come to think of it?”

“Why, I wanted my speller so much, and when I saw the schoolhouse roof sticking up above the trees, it made me think I could just as well run over there then, and so have my book at once.”

“And you had no qualms of conscience that made you feel you were doing something wrong?”

“No, Father,” said Marjorie, lifting her clear, honest eyes to his.  “I thought I was cowardly to be so afraid of the dark.  But I knew it wasn’t mischief, and I didn’t think it was wrong.  Why was it wrong?”

“I’m not sure I can explain, if you don’t see it for yourself.  But it is not right to go alone to a place where there may be unseen or unknown dangers.”

“But, Father, in our own schoolhouse?  Where we go every day?  What harm could be there?”

“My child, it is not right for any one to go into an untenanted building, alone, in the dark.  And especially it is not right for a little girl of twelve.  Now, whether you understand this or not, you must remember it, and never do such a thing again.”

“Oh, Father, indeed I’ll never forget that old speller again.”

“No; next time you’ll do some other ridiculous, unexpected thing, and then say, ‘I didn’t know it was wrong.’  Marjorie, you don’t seem to have good common-sense about these things.”

“That’s what grandma used to say,” said Midge, cheerfully.  “Perhaps I’ll learn, as I grow up, Father.”

“I hope you will, my dear.  And now, I’m not going to punish you for this performance, for I see you honestly meant no wrong, but I do positively forbid you to go out alone after dark without permission; no matter what may be the exceptional occasion.  Will you remember that?”

“Yes, indeed!  That isn’t hard to remember.  And I’ve never wanted to before, and I don’t believe I’ll ever want to again, until I’m grown up.  Do you?”

“You’re a funny child, Midget,” said her father, looking at her quizzically.  “But, do you know, I rather like you; and I suppose you get your spirit of adventure and daring from me.  Your Mother is most timid and conventional.  What do you s’pose she’ll say to all this, Mopsy mine?”

“Why, as you think it was wrong, I s’pose she’ll think so, too.  I just can’t make it seem wrong, myself, but as you say it was, why, of course it must have been, and I promise never to do it again.  Now, if you’ve finished your coffee, shall we begin to spell?”

“Yes, come on.  Since you have the book, we must make the most of our time.”

An hour of hard work followed.  Mr. Maynard drilled Marjorie over and over on the most difficult words, and reviewed the back lessons, until he said he believed she could spell down Noah Webster himself.

“And you must admit, Father,” said Marjorie, as they closed the book at last, “that it’s a good thing I did get my speller last night, for I had a whole hour’s study on it, and besides I didn’t have to go over there for it this morning.”

“It would have been a better thing, my child, if you had remembered it in the first place.”

“Oh, yes, of course.  But that was a mistake.  I suppose everybody makes mistakes sometimes.”

“I suppose they do.  The proper thing is to learn by our mistakes what is right and what is wrong.  Now the next time you are moved to do anything as unusual as that, ask some one who knows, whether you’d better do it or not.  Now, here’s Mother, we’ll put the case to her.”

In a few words, Mr. Maynard told his wife about Marjorie’s escapade.

“My little girl!” cried Mrs. Maynard, catching Marjorie in her arms.  “Why, Midget, darling, how could you do such a dreadful thing?  Oh, thank Heaven, I have you safe at home again!”

Marjorie stared.  Here was a new view of the case.  Her mother seemed to think that she had been in danger rather than in mischief.

“Oh,” went on Mrs. Maynard, still shuddering, “my precious child, alone in that great empty building!”

“Why, Mother,” said Marjorie, kissing her tears away, “that was just it.  An empty building couldn’t hurt me!  Do you think I was naughty?”

“Oh, I don’t know whether you were naughty, or not; I’m so glad to have you safe and sound in my arms.”

“I’ll never do it again, Mother.”

“Do it again?  Well, I rather think you won’t!  I shall never leave you alone again.  I felt all the time I oughtn’t to go off and leave you children last night.”

“Nonsense, my dear,” said Mr. Maynard, “the children must be taught self-reliance.  But we’ll talk this matter over some other time.  Marjorie, you’ll be late to school if you’re not careful.  And listen to me, my child.  I don’t want you to tell any one of what you did last evening.  It is something that it is better to keep quiet about.  Do you understand?  This is a positive command.  Don’t ask me why, just promise to say nothing about it to your playmates or any one.  No one knows of it at present, but your mother, Kingdon, and myself.  I prefer that no one else should know.  Will you remember this?”

“Yes, Father; can’t I just tell Gladys?”

Mr. Maynard smiled.

“Marjorie, you are impossible!” he said.  “Now, listen!  I said tell no one!  Is Gladys any one?”

“Yes, Father, she is.”

“Very well, then don’t tell her.  Tell no one at all.  Promise me.”

“I promise,” said Midget, earnestly, and then she kissed her parents and ran away to school.

Kingdon had also been bidden not to tell of Marjorie’s escapade, and so it was never heard of outside the family.

When it was time for the spelling-match, Marjorie put away her books, and sat waiting, with folded arms and a smiling face.

Miss Lawrence was surprised, for the child usually was worried and anxious in spelling class.

Two captains were chosen, and these two selected the pupils, one by one, to be their aids.

Marjorie was never chosen until toward the last, for though everybody loved her, yet her inability to spell was known by all, and she was not a desirable assistant in a match.

But at last her name was called, and she demurely took her place near the foot of the line on one side.

Gladys was on the other side, near the head.  She was a good speller, and rarely made a mistake.

Miss Lawrence began to give out the words, and the children spelled away blithely.  Now and then one would miss and another would go above.

To everybody’s surprise, Marjorie began to work her way up toward the head of her line.  She spelled correctly words that the others missed, and with a happy smile went along up the line.

At last the “spelling down” began.  This meant that whoever missed a word must go to his seat, leaving only those standing who did not miss any word.

One by one the crestfallen unsuccessful ones went to their seats, and, to the amazement of all, Marjorie remained standing.  At last, there were but six left in the match.

“Macaroni,” said Miss Lawrence.

“M-a-c-c-a-r-o-n-i,” said Jack Norton, and regretfully Miss Lawrence told him he must sit down.

Three more spelled the word wrongly, and then it was Marjorie’s turn: 

“M-a-c-a-r-o-n-i,” said she, triumphantly, remembering her father’s remark that there were no double letters in it.

Miss Lawrence looked astounded.  Now there were left only Marjorie and Gladys, one on either side of the room.  It was an unfortunate situation, for so fond were the girls of each other that each would almost rather fail herself than to have her friend fail.

On they went, spelling the words as fast as Miss Lawrence could pronounce them.

Finally she gave Gladys the word “weird.”

It was a hard word, and one often misspelled by people much older and wiser than these children.

“W-i-e-r-d,” said Gladys, in a confident tone.

“Next,” said Miss Lawrence, with a sympathetic look at Gladys.

“W-e-i-r-d,” said Marjorie, slowly.  Her father had drilled her carefully on this word, bidding her remember that it began with two pronouns:  that is, we followed by I. Often by such verbal tricks as this he fastened the letters in Marjorie’s mind.

The match was over, and Marjorie had won, for the first time in her life.

Gladys was truly pleased, for she would rather have lost to Marjorie than any one else, and Miss Lawrence was delighted, though mystified.

“I won!  I won!” cried Marjorie, as she ran into the house and found her mother.  “Oh, Mother, I won the spelling-match! Now, aren’t you glad I went after my book?”

“I’m glad you won, dearie; but hereafter I want you to stick to civilized behavior.”

“I will, Mother!  I truly will.  I’m so glad I won the match, I’ll stick to anything you say.”

“Well, my girlie, just try to do what you think Mother wants you to, and try not to make mistakes.”