Chapter XXV
Good Cheer—Good Will
Success, despite the tempestuous history of the first six months of their existence, was staring the Morning Glories in the face. The club had come to stay, and a prosperous and useful future was assured. Prosperity meant that the treasury, among other things, had become more than a name, and the members of the club became possessed with a desire to spend the money that had been so laboriously earned, that was as burning as had been the desire to get it.
"The gentlemen Morning Glories have just got to be entertained," Mrs. Stout had declared at a meeting held the week following Barbara's wedding. "It ain't so much that we want to give them a good time, we want to show the men-folks that we can do somethin' without makin' a mess of it, though I must own that some good has come out of the trouble we've made already." There was no opposition, in fact, the ladies were delighted with the idea. Accordingly, plans for a reception and dinner were quickly made and promptly executed.
On the day appointed for the function, two weeks later, Mrs. Stout and Mrs. Blake stood in the gorgeously decorated Veterans' Hall, admiring the work of the committee, with the keenest satisfaction.
"Ain't it just elegant?" said Mrs. Stout.
"Beautiful," was Mrs. Blake's reply.
"Won't the men-folks be surprised?"
"They ought to be."