Roger was entirely willing to lend his muscles to so good a cause and soon had the mass grained and white.
"Good work; one boiling for two batches!" he declared. "That pleases my notions of scientific management."
When the door-bell rang for the first arrivals the whole thing was almost cold, and Mary, who was always willing to help in an emergency, hastened the chilling process by popping the tins into the ice box.
"They're not warm enough any longer to melt the ice," she decided, "so I'll just hurry 'em up a bit."
After all the discussion about the city dwellers' dislike of going into the suburbs it was the Watkinses who came first.
"We're ahead of the hour," apologized Della. "We couldn't time ourselves exactly for so long a distance."
"The Hancocks will come just on the dot, I've no doubt," laughed Tom. "Old James is just that accurate person!"
As the clock's hand was on the appointed minute a whir at the bell announced Margaret and James, both dripping from their run from the corner.
"Mrs. Morton's compliments and she thought they had better drink this so they won't get cold."
"Our compliments and thanks to Mrs. Morton," returned Tom, his hand dramatically placed over a portion of his person which is said to be the gateway to a boy's heart.