ate; she takes off the brush and lays it by the
side of the pineapple, and with a ladle dips out some of the
inside on her dessert plate.

It took quite a time to prepare this, but they all liked to do it, and
enjoyed the surprise it was going to be when it was first passed. Mother
Blair said she did _so_ hope she might take off the pineapple's cover,
and when they came to think of it, as she was always served first, of
course she would!

Well, the Hallowe'en supper was a perfect success. Jack, though nervous,
proved that his camping lessons were not wasted, and Mildred's
chafing-dish was as easy to manage as could be. But the next day when
they all talked it over, not one of the family and not one of the guests
had had a single ghost-dream after all!

CHAPTER XII

WHEN MOTHER BLAIR WAS SICK

One day Mother Blair woke up with a very sore throat, and the doctor
said, when he had looked at it, that she must stay in bed for a day or
two, and that Brownie had better go visiting.

"But where can I go, school and all?" the little girl asked Mildred very
soberly after the doctor had gone. "If I lose my goggerfy lessons now I
won't be the top of the class, and I thought I was sure to be; and when
I'm the very top of all, you know Father gives me a dollar."

"Perhaps Miss Betty would like to have you visit her," Mildred said;
"wouldn't that be fun? You could come in every single day and see how
things are going with us, and we could wave at you out of the
window--Mother could, I mean,--and it would be just lovely. I'll run
over and ask her if you may come."

Miss Betty said she would be perfectly delighted to have a visit from
Brownie, and Mother Blair said in a very croaky voice that it was a
bright idea. So that very morning Brownie packed a bag and Jack carried
it over for her, and she went visiting.

Mildred found she could be excused from school for a day or two, so she
became nurse; and Norah said she guessed she could run the house alone
after all the years she'd been learning how; so everything was just as
smooth as could be.

When her mother's room was made all tidy and she had settled down to
take a nap, Mildred ran across to Miss Betty's house to ask her what to
give her mother to eat.

"The doctor said soft things, because her poor throat is so sore. What
do you think I'd better give her for lunch, Miss Betty?"

"Invalids have to have nourishing things, Mildred, strong soups and eggs