She dressed carefully and watched the time at home, for she wanted to arrive early enough and no too early. For some reason she had forgotten that Chet had said they would call for her. Perhaps it was Chet’s remark about not forgetting that misled her! She was dressed, however, when a jolly load drove up and Chet ran up the Lee steps to ring the bell. Ted, Chet and several girls were in the car, Ted driving, and they added Betty to their number, when she came running along by Chet. There was quiet merriment afoot and Ted called back, “Can you add another blossom to our bouquet of beauty, Chet?”
“Listen,” said Betty, climbing in. “I can sit on somebody’s lap back here.”
“Spoil the ruffles, Betty—wait till I turn down that seat. There you are! You are the last.”
The dinner was good and Mrs. Dorrance seemed to enjoy her young guests. Betty supposed that one of the older girls must be some special friend of Ted’s, his latest inamorata, but there was nothing to indicate it. Ted was his happy self and host to all of them alike. In all, there were four girls, Mrs. Dorrance, Ted and Chet. The time after dinner, indeed, during the meal, was partly taken in explanation of what Mrs. Dorrance wanted the girls to do and a discussion of what costume should be worn. A display of nations was one of the features of the festival and the girls all decided that since they might have their choice among several nations they would represent Holland.
“Do you have to sell just Dutch things?” asked one.
“No, indeed,” said Mrs. Dorrance, “but we’ll have some Dutch specialties in the line of things to eat, you know, if there are any——”
Mrs. Dorrance stopped to think and one of the girls spoke quickly—“Oh, and some china with windmills on it, and wooden shoes and little things like that, to give a Dutch atmosphere.”
“I speak to buy some ‘Old Dutch Cleanser,’” gravely said Ted and raised a laugh, though Mrs. Dorrance said that a few boxes of that “well-advertised commodity” would probably be a funny feature and sell, at that.
“I’ll paint a china cup and saucer with a Dutch design,” said a girl that Betty hoped was Ted’s friend, for she was so sweet. “I’m doing that sort of thing in art now, and I’ll just make that little contribution.”
“We ought to have a little girl or two, to clatter around in wooden shoes,” remarked Mrs. Dorrance. “Betty, you have two sisters. Would they like to do it, or would it be too much trouble for your mother? Our old down town church is short of children that I can ask, or that could assist without a good deal of help on my part.”