Among the many letters was one for Tavia, and it bore the Dalton postmark.
CHAPTER XVII
SPRUCE BOUGHS AND LAUREL WREATHS
Mrs. Brownlie's immense parlors were stripped of all movable furniture in preparation for the charity entertainment.
Strong linen crash covered the handsome carpets, and the camp stools to be used on the evening of the performance had already arrived.
That afternoon the Fire Bird brought the evergreens from The Cedars—those which had been gathered some few days before and had since been stored carefully in the garage—and an additional supply came from Ferndale, the result of an enterprising expedition to the woods, under the management of Miss Agnes Sinclair.
Besides a necessary rehearsal, the evening was to be spent in decorating for the play. Mrs. White had requested every one to be on hand early, and now the young folks were arriving.
Little Mary Mahon was the first to come—in accordance with Dorothy's arrangements, for Mary was to rehearse her part before the others would get there, and just what her number would be was to be kept secret.
The Brownlie girls, Eva and Edith, understood the remark Dorothy made as she entered, and so left the parlors entirely at her disposal, even locking the door from the hall and throwing open the library to accommodate any one who might come before Mary's "practice" was over.