"Here they are!" Phyllis exclaimed, going over to the table and picking up a dress. "Aren't they ducks?"
"Don't touch, please," Miss Pringle said nervously; "they're only pinned."
She picked up one of the costumes and beckoned to Sally.
"This is yours, Miss Ladd. Slip it over your head."
The others crowded around and admired.
"Oh, Sally, it's a love!" Phyllis enthused.
Miss Pringle shook her head and sighed.
"I can't understand why you are having them all alike," she complained. "Now, if you had only consulted me I could have designed such a pretty one for each of you; but, no, you must have your own way."
"But we want them alike for a special reason," Sally explained. "It's to be a regular masquerade, you know, and we thought that four costumes just alike would confuse people,"—she stopped, discouraged by the lack of Miss Pringle's attention.
The costume was a domino made of strips of colored silks with a big hood lined with pale yellow. Each stripe ended in a point, and a tiny bell hung from each one.