“I have a plan,” said Elise, “though I’m not sure we can arrange it for next week. But some day I think it would be nice for us to collect a lot of small children who don’t have much fun in their lives, and bring them here for a morning or an afternoon in the Casino and just let them romp and play all they like.”
“That’s a beautiful plan, Elise,” said Patty, her eyes shining; “and you’re a dear to think of it. Is your mother willing?”
“Yes,” said Elise; “she wasn’t awfully anxious to let me do it at first, but I coaxed her to and father was willing, so he helped me coax.”
Just here Roger appeared, carrying a large box of candy.
“Hope I don’t intrude,” he said, in his graceful, boyish way; “and I won’t stay a minute. But I thought that perhaps even merry Grigs could at times descend to prosaic chocolates.”
“I should say we could!” exclaimed Clementine; “really I don’t know anything merrier than a box of candy.”
“You’re a perfect duck, Roger, to bring it,” said Elise; “but you must run away now, for we can’t have boys at Grig meetings. There’s nothing merry about a boy.”
“All the more reason then,” said Roger, “why I should stay and be merryfied.”
“No, you can’t,” said his sister, “so go away now and please send mother here. She said she’d come and meet the girls, so tell her now’s her chance.”
With comical expressions of unwillingness, Roger went away and in a few moments Mrs. Farrington came.