The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1918-03-15
CHAPTER ~.
The ladiOos Aid,

bU0 A0010O Au0s
Now, this really was a crisis In the
life Of the parsonage family. The girls
had met. separately. every member of
the Ladies' Aid. But this was their
first combined movement upon the par
sonage. and Prudence and Fairy real
lied that much depended on the sue
cess Of the day. Az girls, the whole
Methodist church pronounced the
young STAIRS charming. But as par.
sonage people-well, they were obliged
to reserve judgment. And as for Pru-
dence having entire charge Of the
household, 1t must be acknowledged
that every individual Lady looked
forward to this meeting with eager
ness-they wanted to "size up" the sit
uation. They were coming to see for
themselves! Yes. 1t was undoubtedly
a crisis.
"There1l be q crowd, Of course" said
Fairy. "We1l just leave the doors
between the front rooms Open"
Eyes, but we'll close the dining-room
doors. Then we'll have the refresh
ments all out on the table, and when
we are ready Wen just fling back the
doors carelessly and-there you are"
So the table was prettily decorated
with flowers, and great plates Of sand
wtches and cake were placed upon 1t.
In the center was an enormous punch
bowl, borrowed from the Averys, full
OF lemonade. Glasses were properly
arranged on the trays. and piles of
nicely home-laundered napkins were
scattered here and there. The girls
felt that the dining room was a credit
to them, and to the Methodist church
entire.
From every nook and corner Of the
house they hunted out chairs and
stools, anticipating a real run upon the
parsonage. Nor were they disappoint-
ed. The twins and Connie were not
even arrayed In their plain little ging-
hams, clean, before the first arrivals
were ushered up into the front bed
room, ordinarily occupied by Prudence
and Fairy.
"There's Mrs. Adams and Mrs.
Prentiss, and Mrs." began Connie.
listening intently to the voices in the
next room.
"Yes." whispered Carol. "peek
through the keyhole, Lark, and see If
Mrs. Prentiss is looking under the bed
for dust. They say She"
'You'd better not let Prudence catch
you repeating"
"There's Mrs. Stone, and Mrs. Davis,
and"
''They say Mrs. Davis only belongs
to the Ladies' Aid for the sake of the
refreshments, and"
"Carol! Prudence will punish you"
'Well, don't believe it," protested
Carol. I'm just telling you what I've
heard other people say"
"We aren't allowed to repeat gos-
sip," urged Lark.
"No, and think it's a shame, too.
for it's awfully funny. Minnie Drake
told me that Miss varne Joined the
Methodist church as soon as she heard
the new minister was widower, so
she"
"Carolv
Carol whirled around sharply, and
flushed, and swallowed hard. For Pru-
dence was just behind her.
T-I-I-" but she could get no fur
ther.
Upon occasion Prudence was quite
terrible. $50 heard" she said dryly,
but her eyes were hard. "Now run up
stairs and out to the field, or to the
barn, and play. And, Carol, be sure
and remind me Of that speech tonight.
might forget It"
The girls ran quickly out, Carol well
in the lead.
'No wedding fee for me-" she
mumbled bitterly. Somehow I just
can't help repeating"
you don't want to-" said Lark, not
without sympathy. "You think it's
such fun, you know"
"Well, anyhow, I'm sure won't get
any cake tonight. 1t seems to me Pru.
dence is very-harsh sometimes"
'You can appeal to father, If you
like"