. The sandwiches were made. But there were
the last "rites," and every detail must be religiously attended to.

It must be remembered that the three main down-stairs rooms of the
parsonage were connected by double doors,--double doors, you
understand, not portieres! The front room, seldom used by the
parsonage family, opened on the right of the narrow hallway. Beyond it
was the living-room, which it must be confessed the parsonage girls
only called "living-room" when they were on their Sunday
behavior,--ordinarily it was the sitting-room, and a cheery, homey,
attractive place it was, with a great bay window looking out upon the
stately mansion of the Averys. To the left of the living-room was the
dining-room. The double doors between them were always open. The
other pair was closed, except on occasions of importance.

Now, this really was a crisis in the life of the parsonage family,--if
not of the parsonage itself. The girls had met, separately, every
member of the Ladies' Aid. But this was their first combined movement
upon the parsonage, and Prudence and Fairy realized that much depended
on the success of the day. As girls, the whole Methodist church
pronounced the young Starrs charming. But as parsonage people,--well,
they were obliged to reserve judgment. And as for Prudence having
entire charge of the household, it must be acknowledged that every
individual Lady looked forward to this meeting with eagerness,--they
wanted to "size up" the situation. They were coming to see for
themselves! Yes, it was undoubtedly a crisis.

"There'll be a crowd, of course," said Fairy. "We'll just leave the
doors between the front rooms open."

"Yes, but we'll close the dining-room doors. Then we'll have the
refreshments all out on the table, and when we are ready we'll just
fling back the doors carelessly and--there you are!"

So the table was prettily decorated with flowers, and great plates of
sandwiches and cake were placed upon it. In the center was an enormous
punch-bowl, borrowed from the Averys, full of lemonade. Glasses were
properly arranged on the trays, and piles of nicely home-laundered
napkins were scattered here and there. The girls felt that the
dining-room was a credit to them, and to the Methodist Church entire.

From every nook and corner of the house they hunted out chairs and
stools, anticipating a real run upon the parsonage. Nor were they
disappointed. The twins and Connie were not e