she had when she was married,
and put them in a gem-jar, and I've often heard her tell what a
comfort they were to her when she came home all tired and couldn't
get the stains out of some one's tablecloth. She had a piece of the
cake, too, sealed up in a vaseline jar, and the very maddest I ever
saw Ma was when she found Danny eatin' it--he et her clove apple the
same day, and we couldn't do a thing to him because it was his
birthday."

Martha looked at Pearl wonderingly. There were no dried lilacs or
sealed vaseline jars in her family, but she understood vaguely what
it might mean.

"You are going to be the bridesmaid, Pearl," Martha said. "Arthur
told me so!"

"Oh, goody!" Pearl cried, but a sudden thought occurring to her, she
said, "You should be it yourself, Martha. Why don't you?"

"I'll tell you why, Pearl," said Martha. "I would look awful beside
Thursa. She is fair and fluffy-haired, and she'd make me look worse
than usual. Arthur asked me, but I told him I couldn't very well.
Anyway, there is the gravy to make and the pudding-sauce, and I'll
have to be right there over it. You'll do it, won't you, Pearl?"

"Oh, yes, I'll do it," said Pearl. "Sure thing. Glad of the chance to
wear the white dress Camilla made me and my bracelet--and--and all!"
She was about to ask Martha, question, but changed her mind suddenly
and went on: "I just hope there'll be a lovely blue sky and snow on
the ground and a real glitterin' sunshine, like what Christmas ought
to be, with everything so lovely that it just hurts, and so much
Christmas in it that you're dead sure the air is full of angels. And,
Martha, we'll put blue ribbons on the table to make them think of the
blue sky that was over them on their weddin' day. I tell you, Martha,
it's a great thing to have blue skies to think of, even if you
haven't got blue skies over you. It heartens a person up wonderful to
know that up through the clouds the sky is blue anyway. It's just
like havin' on a clean shirt, Martha, even if your outside clothes
are not very clean. So, if there's a blue sky we'll try to pin down
some of it, so they can use it when they need it. When is she comin',
Martha?"

"Next week, she is in Brandon now. She is staying there a few days to
see the shops, Arthur said."

Pearl wrinkled her forehead. "Isn't it a wonder she don't come
hustlin'? You'd think she'd be far more anxious to see him than any
store. She's seen loads of stores, and she hasn't see