weather was quite mild; already the buds were beginning to swell on
the trees, and the crocuses were starting up in the little grass plot in
front of Nettie's home. Edna stopped to look at them as she passed out.
She was full of Nettie's secret but she had promised not to tell. She
wished Cousin Ben would come back so she could talk it over with him,
but he was not to return till late in the day and meantime she must
occupy herself and not say a word of what was uppermost in her mind.

She found Celia and Agnes in the library talking earnestly. There was a
pleasant aroma of gingerbread pervading the house, and the fire in the
open grate looked very cheerful. What a dear place home was, and how
glad she was always to get back to it. Agnes held out her hand as she
came in. "Well, chickabiddy," she said, "where have you been? You are as
rosy as an apple."

"I've been down to Nettie's. I'm glad I don't have to darn my
stockings."

"Does Nettie have to?"

"Yes, and she has to wash the dishes, too. I did darn my stockings last
year, but Katie does them all this year, so I don't even have to be
sorry for mother and think of her doing them, for Katie is paid to do
them."

Agnes laughed. "But I have no doubt you would do them just as cheerfully
as Nettie does, if you had to do them."

"I don't know about the cheerful part, but I wouldn't yell and scream."

"Let us hope you would not," said Celia. "I should hope you knew better
than to behave like that."

"Of course," said Edna. "What were you talking about, you two?"

"Shall we tell her, Agnes?" asked Celia.

"Why not? It will soon be talked over by all of us."

"Well, we were talking of having something very special for the last
meeting of the club, after school closes. You see most of the girls go
away for the summer, and we shall have to give the club a holiday, too."

"What nice special thing were you thinking of?"

"We thought if we could have some nice little fairy play and have it out
of doors, it would be lovely. We would invite our parents and the
teachers and have a real big affair."

"How perfectly lovely. What is the play?"

"Oh, dear, we haven't come to that yet. We did think some of having
'Alice in Wonderland,' but that has been done so often. We were wishing
for something original."

"Why don't you get Cousin Ben to help you? He has so many funny things
to say about the woodsy creatures."

"The very one. Why didn't we think of him before, Agn