ones from the village--came in calico dresses and sun-bonnets.
And they were so free and easy--sewed fast and talked fast while they
were there; and then if they had to go home a little bit, they'd just
pop on their bonnets and off they'd go. Mrs. Clarkson thought it was
going to rain, and she ran home to take in her wash, and another lady
went home two or three times to see how her dinner was getting on.

"Some of them stayed at the hotel to dinner, and all that did stay
brought something with them, pies mostly, though some brought pickles,
preserves, and frosted cake. And every time Mrs. Dutton saw something
being smuggled through the hall she'd call out,

"'Now I told you not to bring anything. The dinner is _my_ part of this
missionary meeting.'

"Then they'd all laugh. They were all real kind and pleasant. And such a
dinner! I do believe we had some of _everything_. And supper was just
the same way."

The hotel, though the boast of the surrounding country, was a very plain
establishment, being nothing more than a tolerably large, simply
furnished frame house accommodating about forty persons. But it was
bright and home-like and beautifully situated.

"Mrs. Thurston's meeting," as they called it, was held in the large,
uncarpeted dining-room, and the dinner tables were set in the shady back
yard.

The sewing-room was a busy scene, with Miss Dora and two other ladies
making the machines whir and groups of workers getting material ready
for the machines or "finishing off." Mrs. Thurston, appealed to from all
sides, quietly directed the work,--while Miss Fanny was here, there, and
everywhere, helping everybody. Almira heard, in the course of the day,
that Miss Fanny was quite wealthy, that she had contributed a great deal
towards getting up the box, and was going to pay the freight.

There were several children besides Marty and Evaline. They were
employed to run errands, pass articles from one person to another, and
fold the smaller pieces of clothing as they were completed. As the day
wore on and the novelty of the thing wore off, most of the children got
tired and went out to play; but Marty, though she ran out a few minutes
occasionally, spent most of the time in the work-room, keeping as close
as possible to Mrs. Thurston, to whom she had taken a great fancy.

Soon after dinner Miss Fanny came to Mrs. Thurston and said,

"Now, Mrs. Thurston, if you don't get out of this commotion a while you
will have on