"We've come up to have a pasting bee," said Helen, "and we all have ideas for you to carry out."
"So have we," cried a new voice at the door, and Della and Tom came in, also laden with parcels and also bubbling with pleasure at seeing James so well again.
"We shall need quantities of smallish presents that you can manage here at your table just splendidly," explained Ethel Brown.
"And dozens of wrappings of various kinds that you can make, too."
"Great and glorious," beamed James. "'Lay on, Macduff.' I'll absorb every piece of information you give me, like a wet sponge."
"Let's do things in shipshape fashion," directed Roger. "What do you say to boxes first? We'll lay out here our patterns, and materials."
"Let's make one apiece of everything," cried Dorothy, "and leave them all for James to copy."
"And we can open the other bundles afterwards," said Della, "then those materials won't get mixed up with the box materials."
"Save the papers and strings," advised Ethel Brown. "We're going to need a fearful amount of both when wrapping time comes."
"The secretary has had a letter from Mademoiselle," Helen informed the invalid.