"Ladies, Miss Chicken Little Jane Morton, I have the great honor on this suspicious occasion to present to you on behalf of my unworthy self, a slight testimonial of my deep respect and undying affection--Alice, stop winking at Marian--Mrs. Morton, is it fitting for a wife to stop the flow of her husband's eloquence by winking? I wish you'd take Alice in hand. I think she needs some lessons in the proprieties. As I was saying, I wish to present this trifle to you, and the only expression of gratitude I desire in return, is thirty kisses to be delivered one daily, on or before the twelfth hour of each day, to which witness my seal and hand." With another bow, he resigned the parcel to Chicken Little. She promptly tendered one kiss in advance. Then stripped off the papers with eager fingers. A charming white leghorn hat appeared. It was faced with pale blue and trimmed with knots of apple blossoms and black velvet ribbon. "How charming!" exclaimed Mrs. Morton. "Dick, I didn't suppose you had such good taste!" added Marian. "Try it on quick, Chicken Little." Chicken Little's shining eyes and clear, fair skin fitted like a charm under the pale blue. Dick was jubilant. "I saw that hat in a shop window and I thought it looked exactly like Chicken Little. Who says a man can't pick out a hat?" He departed without waiting for any disparaging remarks. Alice's present came next, a charming muslin with sash and hair ribbons the exact shade of the blue hat facing. "If it only fits, Jane. I left some to let out in the hem, but you are bigger every way than I thought. I tried it on Katie." "Changing it a little at the waist will make it perfect," Marian reassured her. "Oh, I am so glad it is snug, and just the right length, Alice. Mother--" Chicken Little stopped suddenly, she couldn't be criticising mother before company. "You see I grow so dreadfully fast that Mother has to make everything too big so it'll last a while." Marian supplemented this explanation later to Alice. "Poor child, Mother Morton does make her clothes too big! And it doesn't do a bit of good for they hang on her the whole season and by the next they're either worn or faded--and she generally manages to out-grow them, in spite of their bigness." The girl's parcel was found to contain candy and a duck of a fan. But Alice's wedding things soon put everything else in the shade. The dainty sets of underwear with their complicated puffs and insertings, frilled petticoats, silk and muslin and poplin gowns, hats and parasols, lay in a rainbow colored heap on the bed and chairs. "Alice," said Marian, caressing some of the dainty lingerie, "who is going to iron all these puffs and ruffles? It would take hours to do them right, especially the petticoats." "I know, Marian--I asked Aunt Clara the same question. And do you know what I have done?" Her audience looked interested.