On Friday all was bustle and preparation for the entertainment which was to take place on the next day. Minnie was everywhere at once, and yet was in constant request. The girls had begged and been granted a holiday that their preparations might be as complete as possible, and their unfailing allies--the children of Hollowmell--were at hand to render them every possible sort of help. Next morning Minnie was flying round, "more like a bird than a human being," as her father observed. She had to see that the prizes--of which there were a considerable number to be distributed--were carried down to the hall, and innumerable other things about which she was in a fever of excitement. The dinner was ordered for half-past two precisely, and by that hour everybody had arrived. It was a goodly sight in Minnie's eyes to see them come in--the miners and their wives and children--all looking clean and respectable, and many of them even looking very well-dressed, as indeed they could all well afford to be, if they had not been in the habit of taking their earnings to the public-house in preference to any other place. Pat Malone was there and all his children, accompanied by Molly Gray, who had been promoted to the dignity of his housekeeper since the death of his wife. In the morning Minnie had informed her father of the expected presence of some of the young ladies' parents and friends, and Mr. Kimberly suggested the propriety of inviting these to dinner in his own house, at a later hour. This proposal, however, was met by Minnie with decided disapproval, who requested instead that they should be invited to sit down with the company. "I don't wish the people to think they are a show," she declared, "and that all this is merely for the amusement of us and our friends--they must either dine with my people or stay out of the hall till dinner is over." Every one accepted the invitation--in fact, Mrs. Cameron declared that for her part, she had come for that purpose and no other, and moreover, she believed they had all come with a similar intention. "Now, my good friends," said Mrs. Cameron, as they prepared to enter the banqueting-hall, "don't sit all together at one end of the table, and look exclusive. Mix yourselves up among the company and make yourselves sociable, and don't, whatever you do, seem to be trying to set them a good example, in the way of eating, or you'll spoil their pleasure and their appetites too." After which advice, delivered with much energy, she accepted Mr. Kimberly's arm and proceeded into the hall, followed by the other guests. It was a day, never to be forgotten in the annals of Hollowmell, and for years its inhabitants talked about it, and dated events from it. The dinner was a great success, and although there was no liquor of an intoxicating kind in the bill of fare, there were many healths proposed, and toasts drunk in the harmless beverages which were upon the table in abundance.