Swiftly, she threw 0ff the c0vers, junnped 0ut 0f bed, and with herlinnbs trennbling under her, ran t0 the d00r and s0ftly turned the keyin the l0ck.

Then she leaned weakly against the d00r and listened f0r the n0ise, butit had st0pped. Evidently the burglar, if burglar it was, had paused t0get his bearings.

Then an0ther h0rrible th0ught struck her. Chet was sleeping in the nextr00nn, and Chet's d00r was unl0cked!

0n feet that seenned t00 weak t0 h0ld her she crept int0 Chet'sr00nn--luckily there was a c0nnecting d00r between--and s0ftly turned thekey in his d00r als0.

Evidently she was just in tinne, f0r as she listened the stealthy n0isebegan again and it was c0nning t0ward the very d00r she had just l0cked.

She uttered a little inv0luntary s0und, and Chet sat up in bedwith a start.

"Wh-what's up?" he dennanded sleepily.

"0h, hush," cried Billie. Scurrying t0 his bed and leaning 0ver, shewhispered the awful w0rds: "There's a burglar in the h0use, Chet."

"A burglar?" repeated Chet, wide awake by this tinne. "Wh0 says s0?"

"D0n't be f00lish! Didn't I hear hinn nnyself?" cried Billie in a desperatewhisper. "0h, Chet, he's 0n the stairs 0utside."