Silence followed her command. Suddenly a louder burst of laughter greeted her ears. From the closets on both sides of the room her chums emerged, fairly tumbling over one another. "If you will go out by yourself on secret basket-hangings you must expect things to happen while you're gone," Jerry playfully upbraided. "I never dreamed of any such lovely surprise." Marjorie looked almost distressed. "And I was so mean to my little pals. I wouldn't tell 'em who my violet May basket was for. You shouldn't have taken all this trouble for me, dear children. I'm not worth one little bit of it." "Go tell that to the second cousin of your grandmother's great aunt," was Leila's refreshing response. "We all have good taste. Don't belittle it. Since you feel a wee bit conscience-stricken over the violet basket, you may square yourself by telling us who it was for." "I can guess," boasted Muriel. "It was for Miss Humphrey." "No." Marjorie shook her head. "Then I don't know; unless it was for Doctor Matthews," Muriel essayed with an innocent air. "You have a speaking acquaintance with him, I believe." A shout of mirth followed this ingenuous guess. "Don't guess again," Marjorie implored. "I won't. I've guessed wrongly both times. I don't know anyone else who might be in line for that scrumptious basket." "I know where it went, but I'll let Marjorie tell you," Jerry said calmly. "I told the girls they would have time to fix up the surprise before you came back. Vera did that lettering on one of her sheets in about five minutes. Maybe we didn't hustle, though." She had now turned to Marjorie. "Do you believe I know where you were?" Marjorie looked into Jerry's eyes and smiled. "Yes, I think you know," she answered. "I'm going to tell you all." She swept her friends with affectionate eyes. "That basket was for Miss Susanna. I ran all the way to Hamilton Arms with it. I was a little afraid of getting caught by the servants, but I didn't meet a soul inside the gate." It was her friends' turn to be astonished. A round of exclamatory remarks went up at the information, followed by eager questions. "I can't explain why I did it," Marjorie began when the commotion had subsided. "I thought of Miss Susanna when first we planned to hang May baskets. I felt as though she needed one. She will never know who hung it. I hope it makes her happy. What _I_ didn't expect was _this_." She pointed to her own wealth. "We felt sorry for you in your lonely old age," giggled Helen. "We thought you needed something to cheer you up. But we're not going to hang around here all evening. We are going to give Miss Remson a May shower. Get the basket you made for her and come along. This is my party. I've ordered Nesselrode pudding and French cakes from the Colonial. Think of that!" "Wonderful!" Marjorie's eyes were dancing. "She will be so delighted to have a surprise party. _She_ really deserves one."