“Did the vow stipulate that you couldn’t wear colors Christmas Eve?”
“No, not exactly.”
“Well, then, get into your scarlet frock, because I’ll never tell you if you wear that black one, and I’ll put on some old gay-colored rag, too, and after supper I’ll tell you a thrilling tale.”
“I’ll put on the red dress,” said Judy, “if you promise never to tell Nance, but I can’t wait until after supper to hear the story.”
“You’ll have to. It’s a long tale and there won’t be time to dress and tell it, too.”
“Well,” consented Judy, “because it’s Christmas Eve, the very time to tell thrilling tales if they are true, I’ll agree.”
And obediently she attired herself in the scarlet dress, while Molly put on a blue blouse that, by a happy chance, matched the color of her eyes as perfectly as if they had been cut from the same bolt.
“Did it really happen to me,” she kept thinking, “or did I dream it after all?”
There was no chance to tell Judy the story after supper, because the two girls were summoned to the parlor almost immediately to see three callers, Andy, Dodo Green and Lawrence Upton.
During the visit Molly seized the opportunity to ask the younger Green where his brother was spending his Christmas.