abundance, while great silver
baskets were heaped with luscious fruits.

What a treat it was! How they laughed and talked as they enjoyed the
feast! How bright the lights, how sweet the scent of the lovely flowers
with which every room was decorated!

From the drawing-room the tender music floated in. Oh, it was like a
dream of fairyland!

Nina Earl watched Patricia closely.

"I guess you never saw a finer party than _this_," she said.

Patricia stared for a moment, then she said just what one might have
expected.

"This _is_ a lovely party, and I never saw a grander one except one I
went to when I was in N' York, where they had a cake as big as this
whole table, and--"

"Then the table to hold such a cake as that must have been pretty big to
get inside of any room!" laughed Reginald.

"Well, you didn't see it, so you can't know how grand it looked,"
Patricia replied, and as that was quite true, Reginald had nothing to
say.

Lola Blessington sat beside Nancy, and many of the older guests watched
the two as they talked together, and thought how charming they were,
and how very unlike.

Lola's blue eyes were merry, and her sea-nymph's costume was very
becoming, while Nancy's fine dark eyes and graceful figure never looked
prettier than in her lovely shepherdess frock.

At Nancy's right sat Dorothy, and her beautiful little face showed the
joy that was in her heart. She was always happiest when giving pleasure
to others.

And when at last the feast had been enjoyed, more merry games had been
played, and tripping feet had danced to lively measures, then the great
hall clock hands pointed to the hour, and the guests remembered that it
was quite time to be thinking of home.

A surprise awaited the merrymakers, for when good-nights had been said,
and they stepped out into the crisp air, they shouted with delight, for
lo, while they had been in the warm, flower-scented rooms, a snowstorm
had been covering the steps, the gardens, the avenue with a white velvet
carpet!

"Hurrah!" shouted Reginald, "this is the first snowstorm, and there'll
be fun every day as long as it lasts."

Long icicles hung like diamond pendants from roof and balcony, and still
the snow-flakes like downy feathers were falling lazily, as if they knew
not whether to pause, or to continue to descend.

And when the last carriage had rolled down the driveway Dorothy turned,
and clasping Nancy's hands, she said:

"Oh, there never was such