Judy | Page 8

let's go down to the kitchen," she said, "and get something to eat
now. I didn't eat much dinner, and I am starved. Aren't you, Anne?"
But Anne had been trained in the way she should go. "I--I haven't
thought of being hungry," she hesitated. "I never eat before I go to
bed."
"Oh, I do," said Judy, scornfully. "And dancing makes me ravenous."
"But Perkins has retired, and Mary, and everybody--" expostulated the
Judge.
"Who cares for Perkins?" asked Judy with her nose in the air.
"Well," said the Judge, who was hopelessly the slave of his servants,
"he might not like it--"
"Judge Jameson," said Judy, shaking a reproachful finger at him, "I
believe you are afraid of your butler."

"Well, perhaps I am, my dear," said the Judge, weakly, "but Perkins is
an individual of a great deal of firmness, and he carries the keys, and I
don't believe you will find anything, anyhow. And if you eat up
anything that he has ordered for breakfast, you will have an unpleasant
time accounting for it in the morning. I know Perkins, my dear--and he
is rather difficult--rather difficult. But he is a very fine servant," he
amended hastily.
"You leave him to me in the morning," said Judy, "I'll make the peace,
grandfather, and I simply can't be starved to-night."
"But Perkins--"
"Perkins won't say a word to you," said Judy, "and if he does, you can
say you were not in the kitchen, because you are to stay right here, and
Anne and I will bring things up, and make you a receiver of stolen
goods."
She was very charming in spite of her wilfulness, and when she ended
her little speech, by tucking her hand through the Judge's arm, and
looking up at him mischievously, the old gentleman gave in.
The two girls were gone for a long time, so long that the Judge nodded
on his bench.
He was waked by a shriek that seemed to come from the depths of the
earth.
"What--is the matter, what's the matter, my dear?" he cried, starting up.
There was another subdued shriek, then a hysterical giggle.
"Judy is shut up in the ice-box," announced Anne, hurrying up from the
basement.
"Bless my soul," ejaculated the Judge.
"We hunted around and found the key," explained Anne, as the Judge
stumped distractedly through the lower hall, "and Judy unlocked the

door of the ice-box and got inside, and she still had the key in her hand,
and I hit the door accidentally and it slammed on her, and it has a
spring lock and we can't open it."
"Bless my soul," said the Judge again.
The ice-box was a massive affair, almost like a small room. It was in a
remote corner of the lower hallway, and its walls were thick and
impenetrable.
"Let me out, oh, let me out," came in muffled tones, as the Judge and
Anne came up.
"My dear child, my dear child," said the Judge, "how could you do such
a thing?"
"I shall freeze. I shall freeze," wailed Judy.
"Are you very cold, Judy?" shivered Anne, sympathetically.
"It's so dark--and damp. Let me out, let me out," and Judy's voice rose
to a shriek.
"Now, my dear, be calm," advised the Judge, whose hands were
shaking with nervousness, "I shall call Perkins--yes, I really think I
shall have to call Perkins--" and he hurried through the hall to the
speaking tubes.
"Is there anything to eat in there?" Anne asked through the keyhole.
"Lots of things," said Judy. "I lighted a match as I came in, and there
are lots of things. But I don't want anything to eat--I want to get out--I
want to get out."
"Don't cry, Judy," advised Anne soothingly, "the Judge has called
Perkins and he is coming down now."
Perkins emerged into the light of the lower hallway in a state of
informal attire and unsettled temper. His dignity was his stock in trade,

and how could one be dignified in an old overcoat and bedroom
slippers? But the Judge's summons had been peremptory and there had
been no time for the niceties of toilet in which Perkins' orderly soul
revelled.
"There ain't no other key," he said, severely. "I guess we will have to
wait until mornin', sir."
"But we can't wait until morning," raged the Judge, "the young lady
will freeze."
"Oh, no, sir," said Perkins, loftily, "oh, no, sir, she won't freeze.
Nothing freezes in that there box, sir."
"Well, she will die of cold," said the Judge. "Don't be a blockhead,
Perkins, we have got to get her out now--at once--Perkins."
"All right, sir," said Perkins, "then I'll have to go for a locksmith, sir--"
"Can't you take off the lock?" asked the Judge.
Perkins drew