"Of course. Pretty little ices of different shapes; Mrs. Bobs told me about them the other day."
"Oh, my, I wish the company had come and gone," exclaimed Jack fervently.
"You inhospitable child. They haven't even begun to come yet, so you will have to restrain your appetite for some time longer."
"I believe I'll go into the kitchen and see if they have opened the ice-cream yet," said Jack suddenly. "Come on, Jean."
"You will do no such thing. That would be perfectly disgraceful at a party. For pity's sake, don't let any one think you are so greedy. You make me ashamed of you," said Nan severely. And the twins, feeling that they must uphold the family name by appearing not to think of such things, took their eyes from the array of goodies and stationed themselves at the window to watch for arrivals.
"There's Carter," Jack presently announced.
"Anything I can do," said Carter putting his head in at the dining-room where all were assembled. "I say, how swell you girls are. My, you look stunning, Mrs. Corner; I like you in that rig."
Mrs. Corner laughed at the blunt compliment. "I'm glad I please you, sir," she said. "If you want to make yourself useful you may go up-stairs and ask the maid for my fan. I left it on the dressing-table, I think; it is the one of gray ostrich feathers."
Carter bounded up the stairs and came back in a twinkling with the pretty fan, a gift from Miss Helen to her sister. "Are you going to keep these girls busy all the time, Mrs. Bobs?" he said. "Mayn't I have one to talk to once in a while?"
"You certainly may," she told him. "I only want to make them useful so as to give an excuse for their presence at a grown-up function. If you see signs of weariness on any of their faces you may instantly drag off the tired one and give her your restful society."