Margy was the only one of the three girls who was deeply interested in the question of what she should wear. Margy dearly loved pretty clothes and, if her mother had allowed her, it is to be feared she would have worn her most fetching frock to the beach party, a white lace affair with a pink sash. As it was, she had to be content with her pongee, but at least, so she said, she could do her hair a new way. She meant part it a new way, for it was bobbed.
After supper she went upstairs to dress, knowing by experience that it would take her longer than either Polly or Jess. Polly, drying dishes for Mrs. Larue, was startled a few minutes later to hear a frantic call from Margy.
"Polly!" called her chum. "Oh, Polly! Jess! Listen, girls!"
Dish towel in hand, Polly ran out into the hall. Margy was leaning over the banisters, distress pictured vividly in her anxious face.
"Polly, who do you suppose is coming?" whispered Margy. "I happened to look out of the bathroom window, and I saw them coming down the road! Mattie Helms and Carrie Pepper!"
"Perhaps they're not coming here," Polly whispered back hopefully, but at that instant the screen door banged and Jess flew into the hall.
"Say, Carrie Pepper and Mattie Helms are coming!" she cried. "I saw them up the road. Who invited them to our party?"
Polly's sense of humor helped her to see the funny side.
"You sound as though you were telling us, 'the enemy are advancing!'" she giggled. "I don't know who invited Mattie and Carrie, but if they have come, we'll just have to be nice to them, I suppose. Maybe they didn't know we were going to have a beach party and this is just a call they're making."