is going on upstairs."

"A party for us? What kind of a party?"

"Lovely grown-up afternoon tea!" laughed her mother. "You can invite
Miss Betty yourself won't that be nice?"

"_Perfectly_ lovely! Do tell faster!"

"Well, first you make for the picnic some sweet sandwiches like those we
planned for the school lunches; these are simply, to begin with:"

ORANGE MARMALADE SANDWICHES

Spread thin white bread and butter with orange marmalade; trim off
the crusts and cut into even shapes; a round cooky cutter makes
pretty sandwiches.

"I've made those for Jack, lots of times," said Mildred, as she wrote
this down, "only I didn't cut them in round shapes, because boys don't
care about that."

"No," said her mother, smiling, "boys don't, but girls do! So make part
of these in rounds, and put them away, and send the square ones
upstairs. And when it's time for our party, just toast ours quickly, and
you will find them the most delicious things you ever ate, especially
with tea; that's what we three will have."

"Those will be Miss Betty's surprise!" laughed Mildred, as she wrote
down the word _toasted_ after the title of the sandwiches. "Now what
next?"

"Suppose you try some very easy cookies; those are just the thing for a
picnic; you can make them Saturday morning, and then they will be fresh.
Here is the rule:"

SPICY COOKIES

Sprinkle the baking board with flour and rub it smoothly over; do
the same to the rolling-pin, and scatter a little flour evenly
also over the bottom of some shallow tins. Have a panful of sifted
flour ready on the table, as you may need to do this several
times.

3/4 cup of sugar.
3 tablespoonfuls of butter.
6 tablespoonfuls of milk.
1 egg.
1-1/2 cups of flour.
1/4 teaspoonful of soda.
1/4 teaspoonful of salt.
1 tablespoonful of hot water.
1/4 teaspoonful of cloves.
1/4 teaspoonful of cinnamon.

Melt the butter, add the sugar, and rub together. Beat the egg
without separating, and put in next. Mix the soda and hot water,
put the milk with this; put the salt in the flour; add part of the
flour to the sugar and other things, and then part of the milk,
and so on; then put in the spices and stir all together. Put the
dough on the board, roll it out thin, and with a cutter mark it
all over; then lift out the pieces with a cake turner, very
carefully, and ar