“Good!” cried Mr. Rawlins, clapping his hands. “Didn’t know you were such a gay young buck, Uncle Jim! You’ll have to come to dancing class and teach the youngsters the real thing!”
Flushed and smiling, Bernice said good-night to her host and partner, and ran away to the cloakroom.
“You were splendid, Bernie,” said Dolly, as she put on her wrap. “Wasn’t she, Dot?”
“Yes,” said Dotty, coldly. “But I don’t care for such boisterous dancing myself.”
“Oh, you don’t!” said Dolly, mad clear through. “Well, keep your preferences and opinions to yourself!” She turned her back on Dotty, and adjusted her scarf before the mirror. Her pink cheeks were scarlet, and her blue eyes flashed with indignation. It was the injustice of Dotty’s attitude that hurt her. She had only tried to give Bernice a good time, and she couldn’t see why that should make Dot so horribly snippy.
Then she heard exclamations and shouts out in the hall, and hurried out to see what it meant.
At first she thought the house was on fire. A red glow showed through the windows and from the open door. Then she discovered that it was a glow of red fire in honour of the occasion. Uncle Jim had arranged it to give them a gay and pleasant send-off. There were fires burning in all directions, and the effect was a general red glow as bright as day.
“How beautiful!” cried everybody, for the scene was like fairyland. And then they all thanked Uncle Jim over and over for the party, and for his kindness and thoughtfulness, and the motors came, and the young people were packed in and sent rolling homeward.
Dolly was a little silent, for she was deeply hurt at Dotty’s manner, and had to think things over before she decided what to do about it all.
Dotty, on the other hand, was unusually gay. She proposed singing songs, and herself started the tunes. She laughed and chattered with everybody else, but said no word to Dolly.