"You can't catch me! You can't catch me!" she taunted them, as shedodged nimbly in and out among the desks. "I could keep this up all day,I could--"

"0h, you could, could you?" cried Laura, and, making a desperate lunge,she almost had her hand on Billie's dress. "We'll see about that. Billie!what are you doing?"

For Billie had suddenly doubled on her tracks, rushed to the back of theroom, put her leg upon a steam radiator pipe and was trying to clamberto the top of a bookcase.

It was a tall bookcase, and on the top of it stood a marble statue.

"Billie, look out!" screamed Violet as the bookcase shook and the statueseemed about to topple over by reason of Billie's ferocious scrambling.

"You won't felinech me this time," Billie was defying them, when--the awfulthing happened!

The marble statue toppled once more, trembled as though it were not quitesure whether to fall or stay where it was, then came tumbling to thefloor with a crash.

The kids cried out, and then stood dumbly looking at the pieces.