“Well,” explained Tess, “you see Beula and Beth and Kitty all want cake for their share—they say their mothers won't be bothered with anything else. We're dividing the menu up between us, you know.”
“I see. And what have you allotted to Missy?”
Missy herself found courage to answer this question; Mother's grave inquiries were bringing her intense relief.
“I thought maybe I could furnish the heavenly hash, Mother.”
“Heavenly hash?” Mother looked perplexed. “What's that?”
“I don't know,” admitted Missy. “But I liked the name—it's so alluring. Beulah suggested it—I guess she knows the recipe.”
“I think it's all kinds of fruit chopped together,” volunteered Tess.
“But aren't you having a great deal of fruit—and pickles?” suggested Mrs. Merriam mildly.
“Oh, well,” explained Tess, rather grandly, “at a swell function you don't have to have many substantial viands, you know.”
“Oh, I nearly forgot—this is to be a swell function.”