It was amazing how everyone joined in preparing for those children.

“It’s so much better fun than just having an ordinary party,” Rosa remarked, as she and Nancy folded the paper napkins, “because in doing this we are doing something worth while, and just a party is—only a party,” she deduced in her own naive way.

“Yes,” added Nancy, “this is more than a party; it’s a picnic. And isn’t Margot lovely about it?”

“She’s going to have the best fun of any of us, for Margot loves children, especially strange children,” Rosa said, slyly.

“If only we could get Orilla to come,” Nancy continued, “but her mother was away all night and when she reached home this morning Orilla had gone out. I didn’t have a272 chance to tell you that, Rosa,” said her cousin. “You were so busy with the baker boy when I got back.”

“Oh, I knew you wouldn’t locate Orilla. It takes more than a little hunting to do that. She flits around like a squirrel,” replied Rosa. “But I’m not worrying about her. We have enough on our own hands now,” and she proceeded to count and classify the paper plates.

“But she promised to come and she did seem so dreadfully upset last night,” Nancy insisted upon saying. “I’m glad our party will be over early this afternoon. Directly after they leave we must go tell Orilla about the room. I can hardly wait, can you?”

“That was a great idea of yours, Nancy, and so simple. If we had waited to ask Betty and Dad as I thought of doing it would have been ages before we got our answer. But you asked Margot—”

“Margot is in charge here. There always has to be someone in charge of every place.”

“So simple when you think; but I don’t always think,” laughed Rosa. “Won’t Orilla273 be tickled? And why on earth shouldn’t she use that old room since it means so much to her?”

“If you’ll behave, Rosa,” Nancy ventured. “You are not like Orilla, you know; you have everything.”

“But sense, and you’ve got the family supply of that.”

“Now don’t go offending me,” warned Nancy. They had little time for this conversation and it was being pretty well mixed up with paper plates and napkins. “You know how unpopular a smart girl is, Rosa,” and Nancy dropped her big dark eyes with something like a suspicious blinking.

“Ye-ah, all right, you’re a dumb-bell, if you like that better, but I don’t know what I’m saying. I can’t think of a thing but children. What do you suppose they’ll do and say? Think they ever saw a mountain house before?”

“Why, Rosa? How absurd. They’re just like any other children, only not so well off. Maybe they’ll know more about mountain274 houses than we do,” said Nancy, indignantly.

“That’s so. Maybe they go on excursions every week,” contributed Rosa. They were ready now to wash up and go to meet the train.

“It isn’t likely they go often, because there’s such a lot of them to pass the trips around to,” Nancy reasoned out.

“Gosh!” ejaculated Rosa. “How you can think!”

“But please don’t call me smart, remember how I hate that,” again came the warning.

“Don’t blame you. Smart girls are a pest and, as you say, unpopular,” replied Rosa. “That’s one blessing in my favor. But don’t let’s fight about it,” concluded Rosa. “Hurry along. We’ve got to get three cars, you know.”

The two girls were wearing their simplest frocks, out of consideration for the coming visitors, but Nancy in her candy-stripe with the red bindings and red belt, and Rosa in her blue chambray, to match her eyes, looked pretty enough and well dressed enough for any picnic.

275 The bustle and excitement into which Fernlode had been thrown by the girls’ sudden resolve, to take over what should have been Orilla’s party, was little short of that which goes to make up “a swell affair,” as Thomas the butler expressed it, when he insisted upon using the tea carts on the lawn. He knew, he pointed out, how the Fernells did things, and that was the way they were going to be done this time.

Margot claimed that she also knew something of the Fernlode prestige, so she insisted upon a number of things, among them being favors for each guest. These were substantial, as she said, being a half dozen handkerchiefs in a pretty pictured box for each of the twelve children to be entertained.

“And if there’s more girls than boys I suppose you and I, Nancy, will have to chip in our best hankies to make up the right kind,” cryptically stated Rosa. To which suggestion Nancy merely groaned.

Altogether “the help” as well as the hostesses were enjoying the preparations, and now276 the girls were racing off to meet the train.

There came, first, the Fernell big open touring car, which Chet the chauffeur drove, then the town car with the three seats which Gar drove, and Dell Durand drove their own touring car, so that provided plenty of room, surely. Two cars would have been ample, but Rosa was afraid “an extra batch” might come, and it would have been dreadful not to have had room enough.

It was really queer to be expecting strangers and not even to know what they would look like, but when the train pulled in, and the conductor began handing children down from the cars, both Rosa and Nancy were too excited to care what they looked like.

Both girls, with Dell, pushed their way to the platform and claimed as many of the youngsters as could be lined up before them.

“I’m Miss Geary,” announced the pleasant, stately, middle-aged woman who was in charge of the outing, “and I suppose,” she said to Dell, “you are Miss Rigney.”

“Miss Rigney is ill,” Dell quickly replied,277 “but this is Rosalind Fernell and this is Nancy Brandon, both of Fernlode. I&rsquo............