Written by seven different girls, the invitations were not exactly alike, but if Leigh’s was a model of composition and Phoebe’s a wild scribble, as she claimed, they all presented the same facts. It was on Saturday at six o’clock at the home of Jean Gordon that the pleasure of Miss So-and-So’s society was requested by the S. P. Club for an Attic Party. Costumes were also suggested, though that was not required.
With the one invitation to the Black Wizards they took great pains. A small copy of the Black Wizard poster was made into a cover for the invitation. The request that the Wizards offer a “stunt” for the occasion was put as attractively as possible. It was a large square envelope in which Jean handed this invitation to Billy Baxter, with the explanation that the other invitations were being sent through the mail, but that he was entrusted with the care of this one, to be put into the hands of their president or High Wizard or whatever they had.
“Here is the list of girls we have invited, Billy, and if there is any one that any of the Black Wizards want asked, it will not be too late, if you let me know to-morrow morning. We do want you to do something after dinner, as Leigh calls it. We have supper at our house. But we are going to have a real chicken dinner, though, and we hope that the boys will like it.”
“Sure we’ll like it,” said Billy, turning over the invitation in his hands. “I don’t know what they’ll think about the stunt, though, especially the senior boys.”
“Let them out of it, then, and you juniors and sophomores do it. Now, tell me sure, Billy, if I have the list of boys all right. I thought that there might be some that did not wear the pin and we haven’t heard about. They’re all invited, of course, but we have to fix places at the table.”
Jean showed Billy the list, which was complete, to her relief. “Are you actually going to have a party in an attic, Jean? I thought you had only one big room up there.”
“We have one big room finished in front, but the whole attic is floored and runs all over the house, so we are going to have one big table and I wish that you would help Jimmy Standish fix it for us, the way they do at the church suppers. Molly said she thought we could borrow the tables they have at their church, if we were careful.”
“Sure we can. I’ll get the truck from the store and Jimmy and I can bring them over and fix them for you. How many will you need?”
“Oh, just two or three, maybe only one. Come over after school and I’ll take you up there. Molly and Nan and I are going to be there and Jimmy will probably be over, too. But be sure to tell the boys that we’re sending out the invitations early so they’ll have time to think up whatever stunt they want to. We hope that it will be a funny real Black Wizard one.”
“Our stuff is all secret, Jean.”