,
Batta."

"What a pretty centerpiece, Mrs. Katzenstein!"

"Do you like it, Mrs. Kronfeldt? Birdie made it when the whip-stitch
first came out. We got the doilies, too."

"I think it's good for a girl to be so practical," said Mrs. Gump,
squeezing an arc of a lemon over her sardine. "If I had a daughter she
should know how to do things round the house, even if she didn't have to
use it."

"I'm not the kind to brag on my children; but, if I do say so myself, my
girls can turn their hands to anything. If the day ever comes--God
forbid!--when they should need it they'll know how."

"Exactly."

"When my Ray got engaged she made every monogram for her trousseau. I
can prove it by Batta what a trousseau that girl had--and she made every
monogram for every piece. She never comes home with the children to
visit that she don't say: 'Mamma, thank Heaven, Abe is doing so grand
and I don't need to--but there ain't a woman in Kansas City can beat me
on housekeeping.'"

"This is delicious grape-jelly, Mrs. Katzenstein."

"That's some more of Birdie's doings. Honest, you may believe me or not,
Mrs. Gump, but I have to fight to keep that girl away from the kitchen
and housework! Yesterday it was all I could do to get her to go to Rosie
Freund's linen shower; she wanted to stay home and help me with to-day's
_Kuechen_. This morning, after last night, she was up before eight! Such
a child!"

"I suppose you heard of poor Flora Freund's trouble, didn't you,
Salcha?"

"Yes, Batta; you could have knocked me down with a feather! But Mr.
Katzenstein always said the new store was too big. And such a failure,
too!"

"I guess Flora won't have so many airs now! Down to her feet she got a
sealskin coat this winter."

"I always say to Mr. Katzenstein we ain't such high-fliers, but we are
steady. Try some of that pickled herring, Mrs. Gump. I put it up
myself."

"I guess you heard of Stella Loeb's engagement, Birdie, didn't you?"
inquired Mrs. Mince, spreading the grape-jelly atop a finger-roll. "To a
Mr. Steinfeld from Cleveland."

"Yes, I hear she's doing grand; but so is he. To get in with the Loeb
Brothers' crowd ain't so bad."

"Yes, they're all grand matches!" exclaimed Mrs. Ginsburg. "It's just
like Meena says; they're all gold pocket-book and automobile matches
when they're with out-of-town men; but Cleveland--I don't wish it to her
to live in Cleveland--not that I've ever been there, but I don't envy
girls that marry o