CHAPTER XIX
THE CONTEST
At six o’clock, Miss Larkin summoned the Maynards to supper. Delight, of course, accompanied them, and being in hospitable mood, Miss Larkin bade the younger Maynards invite Dorothy and Flip.
So it was a real Jinks Club feast, and a gay time they had. Substitutes had been put in their places at the trees, so they had no need to hurry.
“Have you heard about the contest, Mops?” said King, as he blissfully ate his chicken-salad, a luxury not often bestowed upon the Maynard children.
“No; what is it?”
“Why, Mr. Abercrombie has arranged a sort of game, something like a spelling match, only you guess trees instead of spelling words.”
“Can anybody be in it?” asked Delight, who was fond of guessing games.
“Yes, if you pay a quarter. Let’s all enter; will you, Miss Larkin?”
“No, King; I can’t guess riddles—never could. But I’ll look after our tree while you go to the contest—or whatever you call it.”
“Of course, we won’t get the prizes,” said Kitty, “for I s’pose the grown-up people will guess better than we do. But it’ll be fun to try.”