e guest of the
occasion took her place at the table.

"I'm absolutely astounded," she announced. "Where did you get all this
spread? You don't mean to tell me Antonio was _allowed_ to go and buy
it! It's too topping for words!"

"We thought it had gone out of the window, a moment ago," said Jess,
explaining their horrible predicament as she wielded the teapot.

The Camellia Buds listened aghast. Somebody had evidently been playing a
shameful trick upon them.

"It's Mabel!"

"Or Bertha!"

"No, no! They'd have taken the cakes quite away instead of only hiding
them!"

"Then it must be Winnie or Ruth!"

"Quite likely. They knew we were having the party."

"The wretches!"

"We'll pay them out afterwards!"

"What a mean thing to do!"

"They were honest, at any rate, and didn't take so much as a biscuit."

"They'd have heard about it if they had!"

"'All's well that ends well!'"

"And we'd better clear the dishes while we can. Have another piece of
iced sandwich, Mary!"

"No, thanks! I really don't want any more."

The Camellia Buds, having disposed of the feast, and having yet half an
hour of the birthday party left on their hands, decided to hold what
they called a "Mixed Recitation Stunt." They sat in a circle on the
floor and counted out till the lot fell upon one of them, whose pleasing
duty it became to act entertainer for the next five minutes, when she
was entitled to hand the part on to somebody else. Fate, aided perhaps
by a little gentle maneuvering, gave the first turn to Jess.

"I adore poetry, but I never can remember it by heart," she protested,
"so don't expect me to 'speak a piece,' please. No, I'm not trying to
get out of it. I'll do my bit the same as everybody else. Stop giggling
and listen, because I'm going to tell you something spooky. It's a real
Highland story. It happened to an aunt of mine. Are you ready? Well then
be quiet, because I'm going to begin:

"I have an aunt who lives in the Highlands. Her name is Jessie
M'Gregor. Yes, I'm named after her! Some of her family had had the gift
of second sight, but not all of them. Her grandmother had it very
strongly, and used to foretell the strangest things, and they always
came true. Aunt Jessie was a seventh child. That's always supposed to
give people the power of seeing visions. If she'd been the seventh child
_of_ a seventh child then she'd have been a 'spey wife' and foreseen the
future, but she wasn't that exactly. She came