Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1886-10-23
IHE GARDEN PARTY

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FiI1roud, and perhapi it;0nly compli-.
fscated matters that they were so
l.pretty.
when Mrs. Stnalt Seymour
Esent them an invitation to her gar
Iden party, they looked at one an
a:0ther in silent longing, mixed with
Tdismay.
"Wouldn'tit be NICE" said Lilias,
with Il little gasp.
1--WE should meet everybody"
l.said Louise, thinking only OF one
aparticlllar person, handsome
| young major of artillery. who was
Visiting at the Seymour mansion
lust at that time.
Sand we never get chance to
lgo anywbere!n sighed Lllias.
"Bntit's no use!" declared Louise.
"We haven't thing to we;lr!"
4sBut, Louise, think!' urged Lii
LAS. "There are our two white or
candle tllcsses.n
"Hnrrid, scant, old fashioned
things!r said Louise. "Bestles, tho
last time it was dono up, there was
!. u hole irOne1 through the bottom
| hounce of mine."
Eyes, l know" said Llias.-
4"Neither Of than in itself is fit to
wear; but L was thinking that we
. could take the best part of each
and contrive quite u respectable
gown out of BOTH"
s.Oh, you darling!" cried Louise,
ecstatically. "But," with II sudden
catching of her breath, "only one
dresss Then only one of us could
], go. It must be you, Lilias!'
/ "No, not me-" said Lilias; 'syou
are the younger"
/ "But yon are u thousand times
1.-THE prettier!" cried the enthusiastic
sLouiSe.
.sAnd it was my fault that Aunt
Parkius' box of cast off dresses was
mailed up and sent back" said Lii
Has; ssand that SHE was offended by
t'my writing Observation-Disclosures about
not wanting anything that WAS only
fit for the rag bag"
s.It was.true!" flashed out Louise.
"Sle would have been ashamed to
offer The wretched scraps to her
maid. If she really wanted to help
us, why didn't she send a gift Of
money, or Of something that We
could uSeg"
sit was all my pride and haugh-
tlness!" sighed Lilias. .'And now |
deserve to do penance for it. Well
fix the white organdic dress over,
dear, and yon shall wear 1t. | saw
a beautiful pattern in the old leaf
of a fashion book that w.,s wrapped
around the roses that Mrs. Sey-
mour sent mamma, and | almost
know how l can arrange it to look
nice"
But" sighed Louise, ''the bon
nett"
"Must you have bonnetW
"For garden partyf Ofcourse,"
decided Louise. .Everybody wears
them"
"Can't we trim the old one7"
"With what7" said despaIring
Louise. "Oh, Lily, we must give it
up, after ALL"
mo we won't!" said Lllias. awe
can do something, am quite sure
of that. Only; give me time to
think; and in the meanwhile, get
your scissors-we must rip he old
at once; aud while we are
working, we'll spur up our inven-
tive powers"
But no ingenuity on earth can
make something out of nothing;and
the more Lllias and Louise pom
Edercd, the less satisfactory became
the prospect of a bnnne: fit to wear
TO Mrs. Stuart Seymour's garden
party.
"If can't go like a lady won't
go at all,n said poor Louise, with
tears in her eyes. 81 hate being
shabby genteel."
But when Louise was down in
the kitchen, Washing and ironing
sundry bits oil lace which had been
ripped off the two dresses, which
were now being condensed into one,
a sudden, bright idea blazed into
Lilias's brain.
81 almost knew Icould do it,"
She said, speaking out aloud i'll her
earnestness. "The very coarsest
rye straw, with black lace strings,
made out OF mammals old thread
barbe, and az cluster of pink ever
lasting flowers pinned Oh the side;
and l saw them carting a load OF
such lovely rye straw inio MIR. Oar.
ling's barn yesterday. don't think
it would be a sin for me to take just
a few. at allevents .hall run the
risk; and L WON'T tell Louise until l
know whether it will bea failure or
not. Iii braid itin the fancy pat
tern learned at Mrs. Follett's when
! was at boal ding school,and can
shape it over the little earthenware
crock that we cook oatmeal in"
Very early the next morning,
while the September sky was yet
glowing with the golden tints of
dawn, Eilias Ld,lon arose and bur
riedly dressed; herself, ran across
the dew STEPPED meadows and
woods, and climbed audaciolSly
INTO the windows OF Rufus Darling's
great red barn.