fore she answered
any questions. "Twelve is enough, don't you think so! Perhaps we'd like
to dance, or if the moon should be very bright, we could play croquet
and row on the pond."

"Quite delightful ideas. And what evening, dear?"

"Next--the picnic is on Wednesday. I guess on Friday evening would be
the best; Miss Barnett goes home on the next Tuesday."

"On Friday evening next. Well, I will spend the meantime studying up my
receipt-book, for its been a long time since I made a fancy cake,"
laughed Mrs. Dering. "As to the parlor, I think you had better go right
in and see what is needed there."

"So we had. Come on girls;" and off fluttered Bea, with a blithe song on
her lips, and followed by Kittie and Kat, who were consumed with
excitement at the prospect of a picnic and party in one week.

The parlors were quite large double rooms that had never been fully
furnished, but had received chairs and a table or two, by degrees; a
lounge at one time, a couple of stools at another, and, lastly, a
what-not, at which point contributions towards furnishing them ceased.
The carpet was rather shabby, from long use, and in one or two places
was worn perfectly white, which must be remedied in some way, as they
looked alarmingly big. The girls opened the door, and Kat immediately
said:

"Curtains must be washed."

"Sweeping the carpet with salt and tea-leaves brightens it up," added
Kittie, throwing open the blinds, and letting the sunlight in.

"Goodness, how that makes everything look!" cried Bea, in sudden dismay.

"But it doesn't shine at night," said Kat, consolingly. "Bless me! how
the back of the big chair is worn! what shall we do?"

"Make a big tidy out of darning-cotton," answered Kittie. "That's pretty
and cheap, and I know a lovely stitch, and can put long fringe on."

"Capital idea!" assented Kat, with an approving nod.

"We'll have to bring something in out of the sitting-room," said Bea,
pushing the chairs around, with a view to making one fill the space
required by two. "There's so much room, and it makes things look so
skimpy."

"Don't have everything pushed back so," advised Kittie, giving a twitch
here and a pull there, that brought things to more social angles, and
left less space. "See that fills out some, and in that corner we can put
the wire rack and fill it with flowers and vines."

"But the rack is so rusty," said Bea, only half relieved.

"There's some green paint in the woodshed, and