“I’ll cut the cake,” offered Mrs. Todd, “while you attend to the ice-cream, Marietta. The punch is all ready, isn’t it? Lucilena can carry it in, can’t she?”
“Yes, indeed she can, and then she can open the freezer.”
“Oh, and please don’t let her get salt in it,” begged Ellen.
Mrs. Hale laughed. “I can promise she won’t do that; she has opened too many freezers to make a mistake.”
Ellen stood by, anxiously watching the process as Lucilena removed the ice, carefully wiping the top of the freezer before taking it off. Ellen peered interestedly in at the contents. “It looks mighty good,” she remarked.
“It bleedged to be,” responded Lucilena, picking up a spoon and deftly whipping off a taste which she put into her capacious mouth. “Jes’ sample it to see if all right,” she explained. But immediately her expression changed. “Law, Miss Mar’etta,” she cried, “it got no mo’ flavah dan nothin’ ’tall. I done fergits to put in dat bernilla. What we do ’bout it?”
“O dear!” exclaimed Ellen in distress.
Both Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Todd came over to see if Lucilena were really right about it. “It is as flat as can be; I am so sorry,” said Mrs. Hale after critically trying a spoonful. “I don’t know what we can do about it; I suppose we shall have to serve it just as it is.”
Ellen looked ready to cry. After all her efforts, to have such a thing happen was too much. Lucilena stood, arms akimbo, head one side, looking down at the freezer as if she expected a genie to appear and set things right. Ellen, with clasped hands, gazed pleadingly at Mrs. Todd, who looked aloft as she spatted her hands together thoughtfully. Mrs. Hale shook her head mournfully at Lucilena.
Presently Mrs. Todd thought of the remedy. “Put the cover back on the freezer, Lucilena,” she ordered. “We can serve it with chocolate sauce and no one will know the difference. It won’t take long to make it. I’ll run over home and get the chocolate; I have plenty.” She hurried off.