Dora forgot her dress as they went up the steps and were ushered into the brilliantly lighted hall.
They were the first arrivals, for the Hazeltine children were to assist in receiving the others, so when they came downstairs there were only Aunt Marcia, handsome and stately as usual, and Cousin Helen, looking exceedingly pretty in her pale-blue gown. The next comer was a tall gentleman whom Bess and Louise seemed to know very well. They called him Mr. Caruth, and were evidently delighted to see him.
"I am glad you came home in time for the party," Louise said to him; and Carl with an eye to business added, "You must come to our entertainment on New Year's eve, Mr. Caruth."
"What do you charge for reserved seats?" asked the gentleman, laughing.
"Suppose we give him an arm-chair and make him pay a dollar for it," suggested Miss Hazeltine.
"He is a very nice man," Bess whispered to Dora. "We wish he would marry Cousin Helen, for then he would be related to us."
"Upon my word!" Miss Hazeltine exclaimed, so suddenly that Bess gave a guilty start, "I have forgotten my office; come here and be decorated before any more arrive." From a basket she took a handful of badges.
"What are these for?" Louise asked as her cousin pinned one on her shoulder.
"You will find out by and by," said Uncle William, coming in with a red rose in his buttonhole.
And now the fun began. The children came in so rapidly that Cousin Helen had to have an assistant to fasten on the badges, and Mr. Hazeltine was here, there, and everywhere, seeing that no one was left out of the good time. They played games and danced, grown people and all, and later in the evening Mr. Frank Hazeltine actually induced Aunt Marcia to take part in "Tucker," to the delight of her young relatives.