ys and little fancy articles were to be at a special stall, and would
be sold for the benefit of the "War Orphans' Fund," and those that were
not quite up to standard would nevertheless be on view, and would be
sent away afterwards to help to deck Christmas trees in the slums. _THE_
stall, as the girls called it, was of course the center of attraction.
It was draped with colored muslins in the rainbow tints, and though real
irises were unobtainable, some vases of artificial ones formed a very
good substitute. The home-made toys were really most creditable to the
handicraft-workers, and had been ingeniously contrived with bobbins,
small boxes, and slight additions of wood, cardboard, and paper, aided
by the color-box. Windmills, whirligigs, carts, engines, trains, dolls'
house furniture, jigsaw puzzles, cardboard animals with movable limbs,
black velveteen cats with bead eyes, beautifully dressed rag dolls, wool
balls and rattles for babies, and dear little books of extracts, were
some of the things set out in a tempting display. Fil, whose slim
fingers excelled in dainty work, had contributed three charming booklets
of poetry and nice bits cut from magazines and newspapers, the back
being of colored linen embroidered with devices in silk. They were so
pretty that they were all snapped up beforehand, and could have been
sold three times over.

"You promised one to me--you know you did!" urged Linda Slater, much
aggrieved at the non-performance of an order.

"Well, I thought I'd have time to do four, and could only manage three,"
apologized Fil. "You see, they really take such ages, and Miss Strong
was getting raggy about my prep."

"You _might_ make me one for my birthday!" begged Evie.

"Certainly not! Those that ask shan't have!"

"Well, couldn't you do some during the Christmas holidays?"

"No, I can't and shan't!" snapped Fil. "I'm sick to death of making
booklets, and I'm not going to touch one of them during the holidays.
You seem to think I've nothing else to do except cut bits out of
magazines for your benefit!"

"There! There! Poor old sport! Don't get baity!"

"You shouldn't do them so jolly well, and then you wouldn't get asked!"

_The_ stall occupied a position of importance at the end of the lecture
hall, and the rest of the exhibits were put round on trestle tables.
They were what Ingred described as "a mixed lot." Some of the animals
were bulgy in their proportions, or shaky in their cardboard lim