“Nor I,” Gertrude Willis declared. “The party was planned to be a surprise for Granny Dorset, but think of the joyous surprise which is in store for those poor Quigleys. They will expect to return to the poorhouse after the party, and when they find that they are to have a home, oh, Adele, won’t they be the happiest old people in all the world!”
“Girls!” Adele cried suddenly. “We did plan on having the party out in our meadow cabin, but wouldn’t it be much nicer to have it right here? That is, of course, if you are willing, Miss Grackle.”
“That is really a first-rate idea!” Miss Grackle declared. “And then, instead of having a cold chicken supper, we can have a warm one.”
Adele’s mother, when she heard of the change, agreed that it was a splendid plan. Kate offered to cook the chickens and things in her own kitchen, and then, at the last moment, they were to be taken to the cottage and kept warm until served.
When Saturday morning dawned, Adele, at an early hour, drove over to the orphanage and readily obtained permission for Eva and Amanda to spend the day with her. On their way back they gathered armfuls of bright red leaves from the sumac bushes, and graceful stalks of golden-rod and purple aster. These they took to the cottage where the Quigleys were to live, and Adele filled bowls and pitchers and set them about everywhere.
Soon thereafter the other six girls arrived, and then what a hustling and bustling there was! The living-room table was covered with a snowy-white cloth, and on it was laid Miss Grackle’s choice old-fashioned blue-and-white china and the newly polished silver, and in the very center was a blue bowl of golden-glow.
“Now,” Adele said as she stood back and surveyed the scene, “everything is ready for the surprise-party and we may rest a while from our labors. At two o’clock Bob Angel and Gertrude Willis are to go to the poorhouse to get the Quigleys, and at two-thirty Brother Jack and Eva may go after Granny Dorset. I think it would be nice to have all of the guests here before she arrives.”
“Here comes an automobile up the drive now!” Betty Burd exclaimed. “Who do you suppose is in it?”
“Oh, it’s brother Bob in our car,” Bertha declared.
The girls skipped out to the driveway, and Bob, leaping to the ground, made a deep bow as he said, “Ladies, this is a free bus which will gladly convey you to your several homes, if you care to entrust your lives to my keeping.”