Kitty was giving a cotillion, an event of some importance in Woodford. Kitty's two cousins from Medford, Jack and Ferren Allen--Amherst men home for vacation--had come over to help with arrangements and make themselves generally agreeable at the party. "What am I to do with this, Kitty?" Jack asked, lifting a table. "Amanda says it stays here. Is that right?" "In other words, I'm not to be depended upon," Amanda said, laughing. "I told him that table was for the favors, and had to stay where it was." "That's true, Jack," Kitty called from the porch, where she and Ferren were struggling with rugs and Indian blankets. "Amanda's perfectly dependable. That's her one accomplishment--making the truth go as far as possible!" "See?" Amanda retorted, making a little _moue_. "Next time you'll take orders direct, and save time, won't you? Isn't it a lark, getting ready for a party? Oh, would you please straighten out these chairs? They have to go all round the room--so! Then perhaps you'd help Debby with the favors. They are in that box by the window. Kitty got the sweetest things in Boston. I do hope some nice man will present me with a pink fan. I'm pining for one for my new gown." "I shall try to remember," Jack promised humbly. "Pink, did you say?" At last everything was in place. Kitty gave a parting glance at the rooms. They must have fulfilled every requirement from the satisfied look on her face. "Boys," she called to her cousins, who were finishing a hasty lunch in the dining-room, "you'll have to hurry. It's a quarter past seven this blessed minute. How long does it take you to get into evening clothes?" "Not as long as it takes you by an hour," Ferren called back. "We'll go up to dress at eight, and then hang round for you." "Don't you ever think it! I dress like chain lightning. Come on, Amanda, we'll show them how long it takes us." Amanda, living near, had brought her clothes over, intending to dress with Kitty and stay all night. The girls scrambled through a half dozen things forgotten at the last minute, and then proceeded to dress with haste. But, sure enough, at a quarter past eight, Ferren, true to his word, emerged immaculate from his bedroom, and commenced beating a tattoo on Kitty's door. "Go away!" Kitty called. "We're all ready. We're just resting a minute." But Ferren, laughing scornfully, kept up the noise until the girls appeared. Kitty opened the door and gave him a push. "Go away now. You see we _are_ dressed! We only have to put on a few touches; Amanda's flowers and--" "I know those touches, Kitty. Come along!" In the front parlor Doctor Clark stood waiting to receive the guests with his daughter. Mrs. Clark, being an invalid, found herself unequal to such occasions.