Page:Carroll Rankin--Dandelion Cottage.djvu/304

 378  re-shingled roof. Composed by all four, the note was written by Jean, whose writing and spelling all conceded to be better than the combined efforts of the other three. Bettie delivered the notes with her own hand, two days before the event, and on the morning of the party she went a second time to each house to make certain that neither of the expected guests had forgotten the date.

"Forget!" exclaimed Mr. Black, standing framed in his own doorway. "My dear little girl, how could I forget, when I've been saving room for that dinner ever since early last spring? Nothing, I assure you, could keep me away or even delay me. I have eaten a very light breakfast, I shall go entirely without luncheon"

"I wouldn't do that," warned Bettie. "You see it's our first dinner party and something might go wrong. The soup might scorch"

"It wouldn't have the heart to," said Mr. Black. "No soup could be so unkind."