she announced.
"I opened the wrong one by mistake, and there was a silk dress inside."
She hesitated, not knowing how to ask for the information she desired,
for the aunt, like the father, never encouraged the asking of questions.

"That was my first silk dress," the woman said reminiscently. "My
grandfather gave it to me when I was a little girl so I could go to my
favorite aunt's wedding. I never wore it but twice, for my mother did
not believe in finery for children, and this being white, she was afraid
it would get soiled. Did you close that trunk?"

Tabitha went back to put things in order again, but could not resist one
more peep at the enticing box. How beautiful the silk looked, and how
daintily it was made! To be sure, there were no ruffles adorning the
soft folds, but the bottom of the skirt was beautifully scalloped, so
even and nice, and each scallop bound with a narrow strip of the same
material.

She lifted the dress out of its box and looked at it with shining eyes.
How rich one must be to own a silk dress! How she wished it belonged to
her! If it had been hers, she should have worn it more than twice--such
a dainty, pretty thing as that--and it was white. White? Yes. And she
wanted a white dress so much.

"Tabitha!"

"Yes, Aunt Maria."

"What are you doing? I want you to set the table. It is almost supper
time and Thomas will soon be here."

Tabitha dropped the dress hastily on the rug beside the trunk, put the
cover on the empty box and slipped it back in its place with the other
six. Down went the tray on top of them, the lid of the trunk fell with a
snap, and the white silk dress was no longer inside. With beating heart
and red face she carried the garment into her own tiny room and hung it
in the very darkest corner of the closet. Then she ran to set the
table.

How the next day ever passed she never knew, for before her eyes
wherever she looked danced that lovely, quaint old gown of shimmering
silk, and she could think of nothing else. It hid the map of Europe when
she opened her geography, it played leap-frog among common fractions
when she tried to do her sums, it waved at the head of the Continental
Army while she led those brave men to victory, and when it came to
spelling class she could think of nothing but "s-i-l-k."

But Exhibition Day came at last. Aunt Maria was not going, as Tabitha
well knew, so would not see her in the borrowed gown until too late to
raise any objections. S