“Here it is, the finest one I got. That’s one I got yet when I went housekeepin’. I don’t use it often, it’s a little long for the kitchen table.” Mrs. Landis proudly exhibited her old linen table-cloth. “Now then, take hold.”
In a few minutes the cloth was spread upon the table and the best dishes brought from a closet built into the kitchen wall.
“How many plates?” asked Amanda.
“Why, let’s count once. Eleven of us and Isabel makes twelve and--won’t you stay, too, Amanda?”
“Oh, no! I’d make thirteen,” she said, laughing.
“Ach, I don’t believe in that unlucky business. You can just as well stay and have a good time with us. You know Isabel.”
“Yes, I know her. But really, I can’t stay. I must get home early. Some other time I’ll stay.”
“All right, then, but I’d like it if you could be here.”
“I’ll put twelve plates on the table.”
“What I don’t know about is the napkins, Amanda. We used to roll them up and put them in the tumblers and then some people folded them in triangles and laid them on the plates, but I don’t know if that’s right now. Mine are just folded square.”