,
but left the room with the child just as Mrs. Herne entered.

Clara said: "Why, Stella, dear, what is the matter?" Stella laughed, and
said: "I have got some new figures on my wedding dress. Don't you think
they are pretty?"

On seeing Stella's skirt and underskirt all saturated with ink in
places, Clara was not quite prepared to enter into the same laughable
mood as her guest, but said:

"Stella, dear, how well you take it! I wish I could be that way."

To which Stella replied: "I would not have a disturbed mind for a dozen
of the best dresses ever made. Clara, nothing is so dear and sacred to
me as 'the peace of mind which passeth all understanding.'"

Clara said: "I see you kept the ink from going on my new carpet, by
rolling your skirts up. It's just like your thoughtfulness, dear."

Mrs. Wentworth came running into the room, saying: "Penloe is waiting
outside with the team. What will you do?" Stella smiling, went to the
door, and holding out the front of her dress said, laughing, "Penloe,
how do you like these hieroglyphics on my dress?"

Penloe laughed, and said: "They are different to any I have ever seen
deciphered."

In about fifteen minutes Stella took her seat beside Penloe, with some
new garments on, which she had brought with her, and they went on their
way to Mrs. Harding's.

After they were gone, Mrs. Wentworth said to Mrs. Herne: "I never seen
anything like those two in all my life. If that had happened to me I
would have been so mad that I would have cursed and swore, and felt like
warming the child's hide. And as for my husband, do you think he would
have laughed and sat in the buggy, like a hen on her nest? No, he would
have been in and out of the buggy many times; every minute he would be
looking up at the house to see if I was coming, and now and then calling
out to ask me if it took me all day to change my dress. Then he would
think he had something to do about the horse's head, then back to his
seat, then out again, doing something to the back of the buggy, then he
would look up at the house again, with a frown on his face, and call
out, 'Are you never coming?' He would be as restless as a fox in a
cage."

Mrs. Herne smiled at the description of Mr. Wentworth's disposition, as
given by his wife, and said, in a quiet tone: "We all need more patience
and self-control."

On the following day all were very busy in the Herne household, making
preparations for the party. Penloe and Stell