"Prize contes'! What's dat?"

"Why, they give a prize for the best cake sent in."

"All right, den. Leab it all to me. I'll sho'ly make a cake what'll
catch dat prize. You all shoo out ob here now."

"No, no, Maria, you don't understand," and Dolly began to explain. "We
must make the cakes ourselves. You can't do it, because you're not under
sixteen--are you?" And the laughing blue eyes looked quizzically at the
old darky.

"Sixteen! Laws, chile, I's a mudder in Israel. I got chilluns and
grandchilluns. I ain't been sixteen since I can 'member. But, lawsy,--a
young un of sixteen can't make no cake worth eatin'!"

"But we can, if _you_ teach us, Maria," said Dotty, with tactful
flattery.

"Well, mebbe dat's so, if I do the most of it, and you jes' bring me the
things."

"No, that won't do; we must do it ourselves, but you must show us how."

At last they convinced Maria of her part in the undertaking, and with
more or less good-natured grumbling, she proceeded to enlighten the
girls in the mysteries of cake making.

The old cook was not trammelled by definite recipes and her rules seemed
to be "a little of dis," and "a right smart lot of dat."

But, even so, she was a good teacher, and at the end of the first
lesson, the girls had each a round cake, plain, but light and wholesome,
well-baked and delicately browned.

These were proudly exhibited at the family luncheon, and were at once
appropriated by Bob and Bert, who immediately constituted themselves a
Court of Final Judgment, and declared their intention of eating all the
preliminary cakes that would be made during the week's lessons.

So interested did the girls become, that every morning they spent in the
kitchen.

Mr. Rose expressed a mock terror lest his bills for butter and eggs
should land him in the poor-house, but the cake-making went on, and more
and more elaborate confections were turned out by the rapidly
progressing cooks.

Mrs. Rose declared that it was her opinion that doctors' bills were
imminent, if indeed the whole family would not soon be in the hospital;
but though the boys and Genie ate a fair portion of the cakes, much more
was consumed by the neighbouring young people, who formed a habit of
drifting in to Crosstrees camp afternoons to sample the morning's work.

The days brought plum cakes and marble cakes; chocolate, cocoanut,
custard and jelly cakes.

Once having achieved the knack of making the cake itself, the fillings
or