"Well, no sooner was Edith Worster the other side of our hall door than I rushed to the library and pulled down book after book in my hunt for these same essays of Elia. I knew they were around somewhere, but whether the book was big or little, thick or thin, I didn't know. But after a while I found it, and then I got into that big sleepy hollow down there and read the essay Edith spoke about. _Read it all through_, remember; just put that to my credit." "I will, Maud; but what's that got to do with your party?" "_Do?_ It _did_ the party, that's all. Only listen, for my party was splendid. Didn't it have a go, though! It was simply delicious!" and Maud smacked her lips over the remembrance. "Oh, you ought to have seen it for yourself, grandma! You'll hear lots of talk about it yet, though, you'll see if you don't," and Maud wagged her head sagely. "Well, I'm listening and impatient," and grandma's work was dropped in her lap, while her eager face glowed with the one word "more"--for grandma, as she herself expressed it, was very fond of young folks' doings, and, moreover, Maud was her only grandchild. "It must have been a good fairy that whispered it to me, for no sooner had I finished the essay than the thought came, why not try that scheme for a party? I knew I was promised a party for my sixteenth birthday, and I had heard mamma say, only that very morning, the invitations must soon go out; and then poor mamma sighed, while she said: 'I wish we could think of something new, Maud. Parties are so hackneyed nowadays--the same old things given over and over.' So when the good fairy whispered, I tripped away to mamma, book in hand, as fast as my feet would take me. And then such a scene of excitement as I made! Mamma begged of me to sit down and talk understandingly if I could. For her part, she didn't know what I was trying to get at. And I don't wonder, for she never had heard me mention _The Essays of Elia_ before in all my life. I think poor mamma thought I had gone quite mad. Oh, grandma, such fun!" and Maud laughed heartily over the remembrance of it. "However, after awhile I calmed down, as grandpa advises me sometimes, and I explained to mamma about Edith Worster's call, and how I happened to hear of this particular thing; and then, because it was the easiest way, I read mamma the essay, adding, 'Now that would make me a brand-new party.' To this idea mamma instantly agreed, and we sent out the invitations so worded that each one knew perfectly he was to wear a costume that would represent a day in the year. And in order that I wouldn't have too many of one kind and too few of the other, each invitation suggested the kind of a day that was meant. In this way I had June Days, Rainy Days, Lenten Days, etc., etc."