"You come right along up here, Laura. I have lot of costumes and you can take your pick."
Laura arrived in ordinary clothes and Bet and Kit conducted her to the attic to choose a Colonial gown.
When the door to the narrow stairway was opened, Bet heard a queer scraping sound as if one of the old trunks had been moved.
"What's that?" asked Kit. "Do you suppose it's rats?"
"No, don't worry! It isn't anything!" But as Bet switched on the light and reached the top step she was just in time to see a figure in bright clothes go out the window. She heard the sound of a thud on the veranda of the second floor and running feet along the corridor.
"Don't be silly, Bet! I thought you were too big to be frightened in the dark."
"Well look at that window, Kit Patten! Did we leave it open? We certainly didn't. And look how the costumes are all tumbled out of the chests! A man has been in here, anyway. I saw him slide out that window."
"And look at the footprints!" exclaimed Kit.
"Nothing to worry about. This is a costume party and someone is playing a trick on us," decided Kit.
"Maybe so," assented Bet. "But if so, why didn't they play their tricks instead of just mussing things up and then running away?"
Grabbing a gown of gold cloth, Bet exclaimed, "Come on, girls, let's get out of here. It's spooky!"
"Lock the window first, Bet. Then if anyone is prowling around they can't get back this way," Kit suggested.
"Who could it have been?" puzzled Bob Evans when they reported the episode to the guests. "I know all the boys, and none of them would do a thing like that."
Phil and Bob rushed out to the veranda but saw no one on the grounds. Uncle Nat's sharp eyes soon picked up the footprints in the snow and followed them to the road where they were lost. On his return, he let Smiley Jim out of the basement, and the dog ran around the house, quite excited, with so many people around.
The young people decided that it might be one of the guests trying to fool the others.
"But I don't believe it," said Bet emphatically.
The gown chosen for Laura Sands was an old French costume and when the girls dressed her she looked like a queen.
"Why girls, she looks exactly like a picture of Marie Antoinette, don't you think so, Bet?" called Kit.
