e house, I know you will enjoy it."
"Indeed I shall," replied Celia. "Come on, girls, let's see what we can
find." And the three sallied forth to discover what might be of use.
An hour later they came back laden with small branches of scarlet oak,
with graceful weeds, with the little buttony chrysanthemums, and with
actually a few late roses which had braved the frost and were showing
pale faces in a sheltered corner when the girls came upon them. By this
time, the three cousins were well acquainted, the two younger the best
friends possible, so that when dinner was really ready they were quite
happy at being allowed to sit side by side.
It would fill a whole chapter if I were to tell you about all the good
things on that table. Grandpa carved a huge brown turkey at one end,
while Uncle Bert carved an equally huge and brown one at the other end.
Grandma served the flakiest of noble chicken-pies at her side of the
table, while Aunt Alice served an oyster-pie of the same proportions and
quite as delicious. The boys, not in the least disturbed by the memory
of the buckwheat cakes, were ready with full-sized appetites, while the
girls, after their scramble in search of decorations, had no reason to
complain of not being hungry. To Cousin Becky's lot fell one of the
wishbones, and to Edna's joy she had the other. Cousin Becky put hers up
over the front door after dinner, and it was the strangest thing in the
world that Mr. Howard Colby should be the first to come in afterward.
Edna decided to save hers till it was entirely dry.
"What are you going to do with it then?" asked Lulie.
"I haven't quite decided. I shall take it home, and maybe I'll pull it
with Dorothy or maybe I will make a pen-wiper of it for a Christmas
gift. I might give it to Ben."
"I never heard of wishbone pen-wipers," said Lulie. "Are they very hard
to make?"
"Not so very, if you have anyone to help you with the sealing-wax head.
Celia could help me with that. You make a head, you know, and then the
wishbone has two legs and you dress it up so it is a pen-wiper." This
was not a very clear description, but Lulie was satisfied, especially as
at that moment Ben came to them and said that everyone was going to play
games, in order that their dinners might properly digest.
"Everybody?" inquired Lulie. "The grandparents, too?"
"Of course," Ben told her. "We are going to begin with something easy,
like forfeits, and work up to the real snappy on
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