Nan Sherwood's Summer Holidays Part 3

But the cat was not to be appeased. At the sound of Rhoda's voice directed toward it, it moved, slowly, around the edge of the room with its back still arched, however, and its heavy tail slowly curling.

"Ooh, it _is_ mad!" Grace exclaimed as she got up from her place on the floor. "Better get it out of here."

"What do you suppose I'm trying to do?" Bess helplessly asked.

Laura took command of the situation. "Now, don't move, any of you," she warned. "I've a way with cats."

"And it doesn't work," Amelia rejoined, as the black ball of fury snarled at the red-headed girl.

"Well, I'll show you, Mrs. Cat, who is boss." Laura's temper had been aroused. She grabbed Grace's green suede jacket.

"Get out of here--now," she ordered, shaking it before the animal.

The cat turned, leaped over a chair, jumped up on a bookcase, sprang to the window-sill and pus.h.i.+ng out the already loose screen, it leaped across s.p.a.ce to a tree outside, jumped to the ground and was disappearing around a corner just as the girls, recovering from their surprise, got to the window.

"Well, that is that." Laura pretended to wash her hands of the whole matter. "Did I get rid of that cat, or didn't I?"

"You did!" Bess agreed emphatically, as she slammed down the window as though to preclude the possibility of the animal's doing a leap in reverse as she had seen swimmers do in news reels. "But will you tell me," she asked, "what it all means?"

"Simply that someone left a door open downstairs," answered the practical Amelia.

"And the cat smelled a mouse. So she came up here." Rhoda dismissed the question.

"Oh, you two know what I mean," Bess exclaimed impatiently. "I don't like black cats, especially when they walk right in on a party I'm planning."

"You think it casts a great big black spell over everything?" Laura supplied.

Bess shook her head. She was almost in tears.

"Oh, come, Bess," Rhoda put her arm around the girl's shoulder. "Don't be like that. That black cat can't do you or anybody else any harm.

Don't be superst.i.tious."

Bess smiled through her tears. "Guess I was more upset than I thought,"

she half apologized. "If that door is closed," she nodded toward the one the cat had entered, "let's go on with what we were talking about."

The party! The girls now all sat down close together in a circle on the floor. It was Bess who remembered in spite of her recent scare.

"Say, you two," she said, addressing Laura and Amelia. "You had a secret, too. What was it?"

Both the girls looked guilty.

"You fooled me!" Bess was indignant.

"No, not exactly that, O Suspicious One," Laura denied, "But the truth is that Amelia and I had thought of a going away party too, and we were down in the village to find out about how much it would cost."

"Just a whole gang of people with a single idea," Rhoda laughed.

"And that idea is Nan!" Bess agreed. "Now let's get busy before she comes," she continued as she raised her arm to note the time. The watch had been a Christmas present and Bess was still self-conscious about it and very, very proud. "It's four-thirty," she said. "We'll all have to get ready for dinner shortly, and Nan will be here, if she isn't coming already," she added as she heard footsteps in the hall.

"Sounds like Mrs. Cupp," Laura whispered.

"It was," Bess breathed a sigh of relief. "No one else rustles like that."

"Good reason," Laura couldn't help adding. "No one else has a figure like that."

The girls giggled appreciatively.

"How will we organize this?" Bess appealed to Rhoda for help.

"Let's have committees," Grace answered the question.

"I'll take charge of food," Laura jumped in with a suggestion.

"Not if I have anything to do about it," Amelia contributed her bit.

"And I'd like to know why not!" Laura retorted.

"Simply because I was just down in the village with you and I know what kind of food we would get, if you did the buying, just one course after another of chocolate sodas with chocolate cream, and then you would top it all off with devil's food cake a la mode." With this, Amelia looked significantly at the spot on the front of Laura's skirt.

"Oh, darling, let's make peace," Laura capitulated, "or we will never accomplish anything at all this afternoon. I nominate Rhoda to have charge of the food. Do I hear a second?"

"I second the motion," Bess replied. "All in favor say 'Aye'."

There was a chorus of "Ayes".

"The motion is carried," Bess, the self-appointed chairman closed the question. "Now, who wants to take charge of the guest list?"

"Aren't we getting pretty high-hat with guest lists, and all?" Laura asked. "Just ask the people to come. There doesn't have to be any fuss about it."

"Oh, Laura, it's about time you grew up," Bess silenced her friend.

"We're going to do this party up right. It's not going to be a secret midnight spread, though they are fun," and her eyes twinkled as she remembered the one down in the boathouse at which they had entertained Mrs. Cupp.

"Let's make this different than anything we have ever had before. Let's make it dignified and have everybody wear party dresses. Let's invite Dr. Beulah and Professor Krenner. Nan loves them both. I'm sure she would feel very proud, if they came."

"Bess, you will have to hire a hall," Grace rather timidly interposed.

"How can we ever entertain all those people? They'll scare the life out of me. Just imagine going up to Dr. Beulah and saying, 'We are going to have a party, will you come to it?' What if she said, 'No!' Then what would the person who had asked her say? Why, it gives me gooseflesh just to think about it."

"Never you mind, little Gracie, you won't have to do the asking," Laura rea.s.sured her, "We'll let either Bess or Rhoda do that."

"That's an idea!" Amelia approved. "Rhoda already has a job. Bess, you make up a list of people you think we ought to invite and then you invite them. It seems to me, though, if you are going to do it in a grand manner, you really ought to write out the invitations, and that you will have to invite Mrs. Cupp."

The girls groaned.

"That's right." Amelia stuck to her point.

For a second Bess looked crestfallen, almost as though she had rather give up the party than have grim looking Mrs. Cupp present watching over it.

Laura, however, cheered her up. "Never mind, Bess," she consoled, "she's really not so bad, you know, after you have thawed her out with something warm to drink and given her something good to eat. Really, she can be quite human when she wants to be."