decorations must be pronounced more or
less a failure. She craned her head to the ceiling, and suddenly beamed
in triumph.

"I have it! The very thing! We will fasten the garlands to that middle
beam, and loop up the ends at intervals all round the walls. That will
break the squareness, and make the room look like a tent, with a ceiling
of flowers."

"Ah-h!" cried Rosalind; and clasped her hands with a gesture of relief.
"Of course! The vewy thing! We ought to have thought of it at the
beginning. Get the ladder at once, Jackson, and put in a hook or wing,
or something to hold the ends; and be sure that it is strong enough.
What a good thing that the weaths are weady! You see, your work will
not be wasted after all."

She was quite gracious in her satisfaction, and for the next two hours
she and Peggy were busily occupied superintending the hanging of the
evergreen wreaths and in arranging bunches of flowers to be placed at
each point where the wreaths were fastened to the wall. At the end of
this time, Rosalind was summoned to welcome the distinguished visitors
who had arrived by the afternoon train. She invited Peggy to accompany
her to the drawing-room, but in a hesitating fashion, and with a glance
round the disordered room, which said, as plainly as words could do,
that she would be disappointed if the invitation were accepted; and
Peggy, transformed in a moment into a poker of pride and dignity,
declared that she would prefer to remain where she was until all was
finished.

"Well, it weally would be better, wouldn't it? I will have a tway sent
in to you here, and do, Mawiquita, see that evewything is swept up and
made tidy at once, for I shall bring them in to look wound diwectly
after tea, and we must have the wooms tidy!"

Rosalind tripped away, and Peggy was left to herself for a lonely and
troublesome hour. The tea-tray was brought in, and she was just seating
herself before an impromptu table, when up came a gardener to say that
one of "these 'ere wreaths seemed to hang uncommon near the gas-bracket.
It didn't seem safe like." And off she went in a panic of
consternation to see what could be done. There was nothing for it but
to move the wreath some inches farther away, which involved moving the
next also, and the next, and the next, so as to equalise the distances
as much as possible; and by the time that they were settled to Peggy's
satisfaction, lo, table and tray had been whisked out of