"Oh, you masculines make me tired," said Lee. "You haven't any of you the spirit of a canary bird, from the king down to the page who says, 'the knight is without.'"
"I always thought that was a silly speech," said Janet. "At eight o'clock, of course the night is without, and within, too, for that matter. I should say: 'Sir Belidor is without.'"
"I've learned it the other way," complained Nettie Slingluff, "and I'll have to say it so. I'd be sure to forget at the last minute if you mix me up."
"Nettie has three whole speeches to make," said Lee chidingly. "You forget that, Janet, and the shortest of them is not less than three words in length. I am surprised that you should want to burden her over-taxed brain with any alterations at this late moment."
Nettie pouted, but maintained that it was all very well for those girls who were to wear costumes familiar to them, but if they had on clothes which made them feel that they were not acquainted with themselves, perhaps they would not be so ready to make fun. "If I had to be a girl, I shouldn't be afraid," she declared.
"Well, take my part, I'm willing," said Lee.
But Nettie said it was too late, and every one laughed, for only Lee could do justice to the character which had been especially created for her.
Janet, as the beautiful princess, looked regal, Teddy declared, when she donned her trailing robes and appeared at Cordelia's door to display herself. "Is this ermine all right?" she asked. "I had to dab on those black splashes in such a hurry, that I'm afraid they are not very even."
"Oh, they'll do," said Cordelia, looking her over critically. "It looks very erminish, Janet; no one would suspect it to be canton-flannel and black paint. That train is stunning. You extravagant creature to buy all that velvet stuff!"
"It is only velveteen," said Janet. "I bought it 'on a bargain,' as Dicky says, and I can use it next winter for a gown if I want to; that is why I chose blue. Wasn't Miss Thurston dear to lend me this gorgeous brocade skirt and the bodice and all these jewelly things? Polly told her what I lacked and she offered these."