CHAPTER XV
A SURPRISING FESTIVAL
It was a dark afternoon outside and in. Sallie and the Lakeville girlswere darning stockings in Henrietta's room and the light was really toopoor for so gloomy an occupation. They were glad when Maude dropped in,swept the stockings from the table and seated herself thereon. A fewmoments later Cora and little Jane Pool strolled in, followed shortly byDebbie Clark.
"Come on in, girls," said Maude. "'_Nous avons les raisins blancs etnoirs mais pas de cerises._' In other words, there are no chairs buthelp yourselves to the floor. You're just in time. Here's Mabel cross astwo sticks, Marjory terribly doleful for some unknown reason andHenrietta sulking every day at mail time and for hours afterwards. Sucha grouchy bunch! What shall I do to cheer you up?"
"It is rather dark just now," admitted Jean, "but you know we're allgoing to the ice cream festival in the basement of the Baptist churchtonight. That ought to cheer most anybody."
"Except Augusta Lemon," said Cora.
"Why?" asked Henrietta. "Because we have to go early and get away fromthere before the Theologs arrive on the scene at eight thirty?"
"No, but she's torn a great jagged hole in the front of her best dressand spilled ink on her second best frock. Since she's been going withGladys, she feels as if she _had_ to be dressy."
"We ought to help her out," said kind-hearted Jean.
"So we ought," said Maude, a wicked light beginning to dance in hergolden brown eyes. "I have a beautiful idea. I think we ought to helpher out a whole lot."
"How?" asked Marjory.
"Well, you know what a goose she is--how easy it is to make her do whatyou want her to do--"
"Yes," said Cora, "she hasn't any backbone."
"Not a particle," agreed Sallie.
"Well, then, I'll persuade her to let me dress her up for tonight. Let'sborrow the very gayest things we can find. Let's see how far we can go.Let's make her look perfectly awful."
"Oh, no," pleaded Jean.
"Now be good, Jean, and don't spoil our fun," begged Maude. "We justwant to cheer these gloomy children up. I know Augusta will be acheerful sight when we get her all dolled up."
"I'll do her hair," laughed Cora. "I'll _curl_ it."
"You _couldn't_," declared Marjory. "It's the straightest hair that evergrew."
"I'll try, anyway. But where are the gay clothes coming from?"
"There's that fearful sport skirt of Hazel Benton's," suggested Sallie."The one with the very wide green and white stripes. You might borrowthat, Maude."
"And my bright pink sweater," offered Debbie Clark.
"Dorothy Miller has a pair of awfully pink silk stockings," said littleJane Pool. "And Augusta herself has a pair of those silly high heeledpumps like Gladys's. Wouldn't it be fun to put pink bows on them!"
"Ruth Dennis has some on her lamp shade," offered Sallie. "And hercurtains are tied back with pink ribbons. They'd do for her hair."
"Good," laughed Maude. "Now there ought to be a blouse--who has thegayest one?"
"Isabelle has," said Mabel. "That robin's egg blue one."
"Good," said Maude. "Now I'll go and gather in all those duds and dumpthem in here. And then Cora and I will call on Augusta. After we get hertalked over, you can help dress her, Henrietta. The rest of you giggletoo easily--you'd give the show away. But you can peek in one at a timethrough the transom if you're very careful."
"I can provide a gorgeous string of bright red beads," offeredHenrietta. "And I know where I can get a pair of earrings. She'll be aperfect scream."
Augusta was not at all a pretty girl. She had a large, rather stupidface (Henrietta said she looked like a sheep) a meager amount of verystiff and very straight taffy colored hair, her complexion was pale andpasty and her figure was bad; mostly because she was not careful tostand nicely. She proved as easily led as Maude had predicted. Sheaccepted the girls' offer of assistance with alacrity.
"You'd be lovely with curls," persuaded Cora, wickedly. "I happen tohave a curling iron and an alcohol lamp in my pocket right now. I wasjust carrying them around--well, just carrying them around, you know.Matches too. Well now, we'll just light up the little lamp--like that--andwe'll try a little curl--like this. Sit still so I won't burn yourears--they stick out a good deal so I have to be careful. Here'sHenrietta--she'll tell us a lovely story while I curl. You're going to beso beautiful that nobody will know which is you and which is the icecream."
"Here's this adorable skirt," said Maude, returning with a gay armful ofgarments. "But you ought to have a bath."
"I had one last night," said Augusta.
"Then I'll dress your feet," said Henrietta, grabbing the pink silkstockings and flopping down on the floor.
"But they're _pink_," objected Augusta,
"They are Dorothy Miller's very newest ones," persuaded Maude, notdisclosing the fact that a color-blind aunt had given them to Dorothyfor Christmas. "She got them because--because her aunt read in 'The WellDressed Woman' that pink silk stockings should always be worn to icecream festivals."
"Did she really?" demanded round-eyed Augusta.
"Pink and green," declared Maude, hastily holding up the starched skirtto hide her own smiling countenance, "are complementary colors, Mrs.Henry says. You wear them together. The pink brings out the green andthe green brings out the pink. And robin's egg blue--that's your soulcolor, Augusta."
"It doesn't match the skirt," objected Augusta.
"It matches your _eyes_," said Maude. "Oh, Henrietta! Her feet arebeautiful! Yes, I _like_ the bows on her pumps."
"Ouch!" gasped Augusta, "you _did_ burn my ear."
"I'll be more careful," promised Cora, whose shoulders were shaking."Just two more lovely curls and I'll be done--you never saw such adorablecurls. _Much_ nicer than Gladys's."
"Now the pink sweater," said Henrietta.
Suddenly there was a crash outside the door, a sound of giggling and ofswift scurrying. It was Mabel's turn at the transom; and the chair hadtipped over. Her friends hustled her across the hall along with thechair and examined them both. There were bruises but nothing broken.
"What was that?" gasped Augusta. "Something hit my door."
"Nothing there," said Cora, peering into the hall. "The corridor'sperfectly empty. It was probably Miss Woodruff rising from her nap."
"Wouldn't it be better," suggested Maude, thoughtfully eying gorgeousAugusta, "if she were to wear her everyday dress over these things whenshe goes down to dinner!"
"Yes, indeed," agreed Henrietta. "I'll tell you what, Augusta. Let'skeep this a lovely surprise for the girls tonight. Not the curls. We'lljust slick those down a bit with a wide black ribbon. But we'll pullsome black stockings over the pink ones and cover your skirt and blouse.The first minute after dinner we'll rush right up and peel you and puton the pink bows and beads and things. _This_ is just sort of a dressrehearsal."
"The Highland Hall girls simply won't know you when they see you at thefestival," assured Maude, when Augusta had agreed to keep the secretuntil her arrival at the church parlors. Poor Augusta was not accustomedto so much attention from Maude, Henrietta and Cora, all of whom she hadadmired from a distance, and it pleased her. And, in their hilariousstate over the success of their joke, the three naughty girls failed torealize that in making a laughing stock of poor silly Augusta they werenot playing fair.
It is true that they suffered a few twinges during dinner time whenpleased Augusta beamed at them with a new friendliness and insisted ondividing her dessert among them; but when the proper time came, theypeeled her remorselessly, bedecked her with the ridiculous pink bows andsmuggled her into the procession without giving the secret away.
The girls not in the secret _were_ surprised; but after all, it was theplotters themselves who were the most completely astonished.
Augusta in all her pinkness--not to mention her blueness andgreenness--was a conspicuous object; she was visible from any place inthe big room. Now, the Theological students were not to ar
rive untilmuch later; but the younger boys from Hiltonburg were there in fullforce. There was an expectant flutter among the Highland Hall girls. Ona similar occasion, introduced by some of the day pupils, these sameboys had treated several of them to ice cream. Perhaps they'd do it now.Extra ice cream would be very welcome for they had all spent theirweekly pocket money and Doctor Rhodes felt that he was sufficientlygenerous when he provided one helping apiece for his large flock.
But now, with one accord, all the boys at the festival, attracted byAugusta's brilliant attire and not yet of an age to be critical, wereseized with a yearning to treat gorgeous Augusta to ice cream. Theybegged to be introduced. They begged to be allowed to offer Augusta icecream and yet more ice cream. And cake and yet more cake.
The wondering girls, staring at blushing Augusta, were amazed to seethat she was actually pretty, in spite of her outrageous clothes, forher curled hair fell tenderly and becomingly about her glowing face, hereyes were like stars and she fairly radiated happiness as she ate dishafter dish of ice cream. There seemed to be no limit to her capacity.
"And here _we_ are," breathed Henrietta, "sitting in a long row like somany sheep--"
"And only one dish apiece," groaned Maude. "Next time I'll pin all thepink bows on _myself_."