“Not by no means I won’t!” she snudge. “I have invite considerable guests for slight tea-drunk. I asked them for 4. P. M. So I shall expect them about 6:30.”
“How much people you expect, if any?” I require.
“Folks who comes to afternoon tea-drunk are like mice what comes to traps. You never can tell how many you will catch. Sometimes refreshment-bait are entirely wasted without a nibble. Sometime they come in such quantities they carries off the trap. Sometime, when you ask folks to tea, they behave shyly like rabbits. Sometimes they make forward stampede like mules, all attempting to rush at once.”
“Then you cannot give me any statistic to estimate how many persons will arrive up to your Wednesday to-morrow?”
“I asked 80 persons. Perhapsly 8 or 200 will arrive. Who knows what?”
“Do all them persons expect to eat from your food?” I asked, for cold eyebrows.
“Folks does not come to teas to eat entirely, but to eat somewhat,” she reproof. “Mutton chops, oyster, and soup would seem too heavyweight for such festival. Yet they would act disappointed and peevly if they could not have some lightweight refreshment.”
“Ham plus eggs would do for them, perhapsly?” I snuggest.
“Nothing would seem more toothless for such occasion,” she growell. “Slight nibble of cakes, slight squench of chocolate will be too sufficient with conversation. Therefore, I ask you to attend to refreshments for to-morrow. Please prepare following lightweight foods for them:
5 doz. devilish ham samditches.