"Very well," said Miss Flint; "she seems somewhat old for your party, but she can help entertain the children. Now we will eat our luncheon at the side-table, for I don't want this one disturbed, and then after that you can dress for the party. You may wear your white cashmere frock with red ribbons, and see that your hair is smooth and tidy. I want you to look as neat as any of your guests." "Yes, 'm," said Ladybird, with a growing conviction that her aunts would not care to practise what they preached, so radically as she had arranged. "Aunt Priscilla," she said at luncheon, "perhaps you won't like some of the people I have invited; but you know you told me to invite those who would enjoy it most." "For the land's sake, Ladybird, what have you been doing now? If you've done anything ridiculous, you may as well out with it first as last." Like a flash, Ladybird realized that what she had done _was_ ridiculous. Right it might be, charitable it might be, even according to Scripture it might be, but none the less it certainly was ridiculous. "What is it, dearie?" said Aunt Dorinda, noticing Ladybird's dismayed countenance. "Whom have you invited?" "I asked Jim Blake," said Ladybird, thinking it wise to begin with the least objectionable one. "Jim Blake!" exclaimed Miss Priscilla. "Why, Lavinia Lovell, whatever possessed you to ask that ragamuffin! I shall send him home as soon as he appears." "Why, Aunt Priscilla, he's perfectly crazy to come, and you said to ask those who would enjoy it most." Miss Flint looked utterly exasperated. "Of course I meant within the bounds of decent society," she said; "I didn't suppose you intended to disgrace yourself and your relatives and your home! But never mind now. Go to your room and get dressed, and I will attend to Jim Blake when he arrives." "But, aunty--" "Not a word more. Do as I told you. I am busy." Ladybird went up-stairs feeling crushed and despondent; but when she began to array herself in the white cashmere with red ribbons, which was her favorite frock, the humor of the situation appealed to her. What her aunt would do when the unwelcome guests arrived she did not know; but, on the other hand, there was no way to avert the issue, and so there was nothing to be done but to await developments. "And anyway," she said to herself, "I haven't done anything wrong; I've done just what the Bible says, even if it is ridiculous." CHAPTER XIII A RIDICULOUS PARTY Stella came early, and Ladybird was tempted to confide in her, and perhaps ask her to enlighten Aunt Priscilla. But the child's sense of the dramatic was too strong for this, and notwithstanding her own precarious position, she preferred to wait and let the whole remarkable situation burst unheralded upon her unsuspecting aunts.