es de compahny's parsing inter
de hall, I hurries roun' tru _dish_ yer do'--de do' from de
_dinin_'-room--gits out dat ar lamp mighty quick, an' has it onter de
middle ob de suppah table befo' de _fuss_ head ob de compahny appeahs at
de hall do'. An' I follers de same course _ob_wersed w'en de compahny
retiahs."

"Very well," said Mrs. Carew. "Now mind you do it."

Hearing the gate-latch fall, she hurried into the front room to be ready
to receive her dearest Katrina. But it was only Mrs. Thorne, who, with
Garda, entered without knocking; the evening was warm and the hall door
stood open, the light from within shining across the broad piazza, and
down the rose-bordered path to the gate. Mrs. Carew herself accompanied
her friends up-stairs, and stood talking while they laid aside their
light wraps; these guests were to spend the night, having come up from
East Angels in their boat, old Pablo rowing.

"We shall be ten," said their hostess; "a good number, don't you think
so? I shall have whist, of course, later--whist and conversation." Here
Mrs. Thorne, having taken from her basket a small package, brought forth
from their careful wrappings two pairs of kid gloves, one white, the
other lavender; they did not appear to be new.

"You are not going to wear _gloves_?" said Mrs. Carew, interrupting
herself in her surprise. "It's only a small tea-party."

"No entertainment given by you, dear friend, can be called small; it is
not a question of numbers, but of scope, and your scope is always of the
largest," replied the mistress of East Angels, beginning to cover her
small fingers with the insignia of ceremony. "Our only thought was to do
you honor, we are very glad to have this little opportunity."

Garda put her gloves in her pocket. She had the white ones.

"My daughter," said Mrs. Thorne, admonishingly.

"But, mamma, I don't want to wear them; I don't like them."

"We are obliged, in _this_ world at least, my child, to wear many
things, gloves included, which we do not especially like," said Mrs.
Thorne, with the air of expecting to wear only the choicest garb (gloves
included) in the next. "Do not interfere with my plan for doing honor to
our dear friend."

Garda, with a grimace, took out the gloves and put them on, while the
dear friend looked on with much interest. There was not a trace of
jealousy in her glance, a Gwinnet, in truth, could not have cause for
jealousy; she was really admiring the little New Eng