A QUILTING PARTY
Miss Aurora Bender’s quilting party was to begin at three o’clock in the afternoon, and the girls started early in order to see all the fun. They were to stay to supper, and the young men were to come over and escort them home in the evening.
When they reached Miss Bender’s, they found that many and wonderful preparations had been made.
Miss Aurora had two house servants, Emmeline and Nancy, but on this occasion she had called in two more to help. And indeed there was plenty to be done, for a quilting bee was to Miss Bender’s mind a function of great importance.
The last of a large family, Miss Bender was a woman of great wealth but of plain and old-fashioned tastes. Though amply able to gratify any extravagant wish, she preferred to live as her parents had lived before her, and she had in no sense kept pace with the progress of the age.
When the three girls reached the old country house, they were met at the front door by the elderly Nancy. She courtesied with old-time grace, and invited them to step into the bedroom, and lay off their things.
This bedroom, which was on the ground floor, was a large apartment, containing a marvellously carved four-post bedstead, hung with old-fashioned chintz curtains and draperies.
The room also contained two massive bureaus, a dressing-table and various chairs of carved mahogany, and in the open fireplace was an enormous bunch of feathery asparagus, flecked with red berries.
“Oh,” cried Patty in delight, “if Nan could see this room she’d go perfectly crazy. Isn’t this house great? Why, it’s quite as full of beautiful old things as Washington’s house at Mt. Vernon.”
“I haven’t seen that,” said Bertha, “but it doesn’t seem as if anything could be more complete or perfect in its way than this house is. Come on, girls, are you ready?”