Mimi laughed aloud as she had a mental picture of Mrs. Cole wrinkling up her nose and sniffing. Any kind of conspiracy intrigued her and she set about changing her appearance in high glee.
From girls larger than they, they had borrowed skirts and long coats. Even their shoes were so large and run over, Mimi’s feet flapped like Charlie Chaplin’s as she moved nearer the mirror.
“My own Mother wouldn’t know me,” she commented.
“No, but Mrs. Cole will unless you do something about that unruly mop of red hair,” Sue contradicted.
Here was a problem. A beret would expose her features. The hair was not long enough to tuck under a hat with a brim and stay up. Regardless of the number of bobby pins put in, drake tails kept slipping down around Mimi’s neck.
Then Chloe had an inspiration.
“Wear a veil. Lots of the colored people do.”
There was a fifteen minute search for a veil. At that, a makeshift was used. Chloe draped a piece of black georgette around the crown of the hat and let it hang over where the red hair shone the brightest.
By the time Mimi was ready, Betsy was practically losing her skirt. When she moved toward the door it fell at her feet. Another five minute search. Sue dashing about borrowing safety pins. Now Betsy switched her hips rapidly like a Spanish dancer but the skirt stayed in place.
Looking more like caricatures or comic valentines than bona fide servants, the two girls ventured forth.