“No; there’s the letter. Read it when you have leisure. I thought from the way she wrote that she knew you well. Odd, isn’t it? But we’ll go. It is the best place to visit.”
“But we cannot go for several weeks. I’m to lead Sabbath evening.”
“And I can’t go until Anna Cresswell can be here. She has been going away on Saturday. They need a soprano. And she and I appear to be the only availables.” Mary shook back her hair, as she adjusted the last pin in her cuff. “There’s the last bell, Elizabeth, and you’re not half ready. Well, I’ll hurry on, and if you are locked out, I’ll get Maggie to bring your dinner up here. She’ll do anything if you give her a small tip.”
CHAPTER VI.
HOW “SMILES” WAS SCALPED.
Azzie Hogan was the last to appear at the spread. The first course had been diverted to its proper use, and the ice which marked the manner of both Mary Wilson and Landis Stoner because of the presence of Miss O’Day had thawed enough to permit a feeling of ease among the girls, when Azzie arrived.
There was a motley array of every color of kimono that the mind of girl could conceive. Their wearers were being comfortable on chairs and stools so far as they held out. The girls in excess of the number had curled themselves up, Turkish fashion, on cushions on the floor.
“Smiles must have allowed Azzie to practice,” said Mary Wilson, with a leg of chicken held aloft.