CHESSY CATS
After that game they played several other animal games, some quiet and
some noisy, and then Mr. Maynard announced that they would play "Chessy
Cats."
"What in the world is that?" said Gladys to King. "I never heard of it."
"Nor I," he responded; "probably Father made it up. Well, we'll soon
see."
Mr. Maynard chose two captains, one being Gladys, as it was really her
party, and the other Flip Henderson.
These two captains were asked to stand opposite each other at the end of
the room, and to "choose sides."
"You must each," said Mr. Maynard, "choose the girls or boys who seem to
you most like Chessy Cats."
This advice was not very intelligible, but as it was Gladys' turn to
choose first, she chose King.
Then Flip chose Marjorie, as it seemed to him polite to take his hostess.
Then in a burst of good feeling Gladys chose Delight, and though she
wanted to refuse, she stifled her ill-nature and stood up next to King.
Then the choosing went on until all were taken, and the two long lines
stood on either side of the room.
"You see," said Mr. Maynard, "this is a contest of happiness. I want to
see which line of children represents the greater amount of merriment.
Will you all please smile?"
Every face broke into a grin, and Mr. Maynard looked at them
thoughtfully.
"You all seem happy," he said; "a fine lot of Chessy Cats. You know
Chessy Cats are remarkable for their wide grins. But as I have a prize
for the side that shows most grin, I have to be careful of my decision.
Miss Hart, if you will help me, I think we'll have to find out _exactly_
which row of Chessy Cats grins the widest."
Miss Hart, smiling like a Chessy Cat herself, came forward with a lot of
short strips of white paper in her hand. She gave half of these to Mr.
Maynard, and then the fun began.
They actually measured each child's grin, marking on the paper with a
pencil the exact length of each mouth from corner to corner as it was
stretched in a smile. Of course a fresh paper was used for each, and wide
indeed was the grin when the grinner realized the absurdity of having his
smile measured!
Then, of course, each tried to grin his very widest, for the success of
his line and the glory of his captain. Delight's little rosebud mouth
couldn't make a very wide grin, but she stretched it as wide as possible,
showing her pretty white teeth, and held it motionless while it was
measured.
It was astonishing how wide some of them could stretch their smiling
mouths, and how absurd they looked while standing stock still to be
measured. Their ridiculous grimaces caused shouts of laughter from the
Chessy Cats who were not being measured at the moment.
"Midget! she's the one that counts!" cried King. "She's got a smile like
an earthquake! Flossy Flouncy, here, she won't count half as much!"
Marjorie only laughed at King's comment, and spread her rosy lips in a
desperate effort to beat the record.
At last all were measured, and taking a pair of scissors, Miss Hart
clipped the ends off the papers where the mark was, and thus each paper
represented the exact width of a smile.
The papers of each side were then placed end to end, and the whole length
measured. The result was fifty-four inches of smile for Flip's side, and
fifty-two for Gladys'.
"Hooray, Mopsy!" cried King. "I knew your mouth was two inches bigger
than Delight's!"
"Oh, no, brother," rejoined Midge, "it's because your mouth is so tiny
you can't smile very well!"
But whatever the reason, there was a good two inches difference in the
aggregate, so Flip Henderson's side was the winner.
"As all the Chessy Cats grinned nobly, you must all have prizes," said
Mr. Maynard, and so to the winning side were given boxes of candy with a
funny figure of a grinning Chessy Cat on top. Both boxes and cats were
bright red, and gay little prizes they were.
"But as the other side were too sad and solemn to grin broadly, we'll
give them black cats," said Mr. Maynard, and all of Gladys' line received
prizes exactly like the others, except that the cats were black. Of
course, they were equally pretty and desirable, and were really souvenirs
of the party instead of prizes.
Then they all went to the dining-room for supper. Miss Hart played a
merry march on the piano, and King, escorting Gladys, went first,
Marjorie and Flip followed, and then all the children came, two by two.
To carry out the idea of an "animal party," the table had been cleverly
arranged to represent a farmyard. All the middle part of it was enclosed
by a little fence that ran along just inside the plates, and in the
enclosure were toy animals of all sorts. Downy yellow chickens, furry
cats, woolly sheep, and comical roosters stood about in gay array. Also
there were Teddy Bears, and possums and even lions and tigers, which
though not usually found in farmyards, seemed amicably disposed enough. A
delightful feast was eaten, and then, for dessert, Sarah brought in a
great platter of ice cream in forms of animals. And with these animals
crackers were served, and many merry jests were made as the children bit
off the heads of ferocious wild beasts, or stabbed the ice cream animals
with their spoons. As they left the table, each guest was invited to take
one animal from the "farmyard," to carry away.
Rosy Posy announced frankly, "Don't anybuddy take de Teddy Bear, 'cause
me wants it."
They all laughed, and needless to say, the bear was left for the baby,
whose turn came last.
Delight chose a little white kitten, with a blue ribbon round its neck,
and Gladys took a fierce-looking tiger.
Everybody agreed they had never attended a jollier party, and the smiles,
as they said good-bye, were indeed of the Chessy Cat variety.
"Ourday isn't over yet, Father," said Midge, after the last guest had
gone.
"Oho, I think it's time little Chessy Cats went to bed," said Mr.
Maynard.
"No, indeed! the party was from four to seven, and though they staid a
little later, it's only half-past seven now. And Ourday nights we always
stay up till half-past eight."
"My stars! a whole hour more of Chessy Cats! That's enough to make any
one grin. All right Midgety, what do you want me to do?"
"It's King's choose," said Marjorie; "it's his Ourday, you know."
So King chose "Twenty Questions," a game of which he never tired, and a
jolly hour they all spent in playing it.
Then bedtime was definitely announced, and it was a lot of rather tired
Chessy Cats who climbed the stairs, after many and repeated good-nights.
As Gladys' visit was to be such a short one Mrs. Maynard advised Midget
not to go to lessons during her stay.
Marjorie was a little disappointed at this, but she couldn't very well go
off and leave Gladys, and it would have been awkward to take her, so she
staid away herself. The two girls had good times, and both Mr. and Mrs.
Maynard planned many pleasant things for their enjoyment, but still
Marjorie was not altogether sorry when on Tuesday Gladys took her
departure.
"What's this fuss about Gladys and Delight?" asked Mr. Maynard, as they
all sat chatting Tuesday evening.
"Oh, Father, it's so silly!" said Marjorie; "I don't know what to make of
Delight. It isn't a bit Glad's fault. She was as sweet as pie; but
Delight was as sour as buttermilk."
"She's jealous, I suppose."
"Yes, I suppose that's it. But, you see, Father, she's a different girl
from us."
"Different how?"
"Oh, I don't know exactly. But she's sort of a spoiled child, you know,
and whatever she has, she hates to have any one else touch it."
"Even you."
"Yes, even me. I like Delight an awful lot, but I like Gladys too."
"Of course you do. Now, Midget, listen to your old and wise Father.
Forget all this foolishness. Gladys is gone now, and Delight is your very
good friend, your best friend in Rockwell. Just keep on being friends
with her, and do all you can to be a good friend. Don't discuss Gladys
with her, don't discuss her actions, or her jealousy, or whatever
foolishness is in her pretty little noddle. You are both too young to
take these things seriously. But if you are a kind, loyal little friend
to her, she will soon learn to be the same to you."
"But, Father, she wants me all to herself. She doesn't like to have me be
friends with the other girls in Rockwell even."
"That you mustn't stand. Just go on in your own way. Be friendly with
whom you choose, but always be kind and considerate of Delight's
feelings. Of course, you two having your lessons alone together is
largely responsible for this state of things. School would be better for
you both in many ways. But you like the present arrangement, and Miss
Hart is a blessing to you both. I think she can help you in persuading
Delight to be a little less exacting."
"Yes, Father, she does; she understands the case, and she's always trying
to make Delight less selfish."
"And perhaps,--I hate to suggest it,--but _possibly_ Miss Mopsy Maynard
_might_ have some little tiny speck of a fault,--just a microscopic flaw
in her character--"
"Now, Father, don't tease! I know I have! I'm a bad, impulsive,
mischievous old thing, and I never think in time,--then the first thing I
know I've done something awful! Delight's not a bit like that."
"Oh, you needn't give yourself such a dreadful character. I know you
pretty well, and I'm quite pleased, on the whole, with my eldest
daughter. But I do want you to learn to be a little less heedless; you
know heedlessness is, after all, a sort of selfishness,--a disregard of
others' convenience."
"I'm going to try, Father. I'll try real hard, and if I don't succeed,
I'll try, try again."
"That's my good little Mopsy. Now, skip to bed, and don't let these
serious matters keep you awake. Forget them, and dream of fairies and
princesses dressed in pearls and roses and all sorts of lovely things."
"And blue velvet robes trimmed with ermine?"
"Yes, and golden sceptres, and swanboats to ride in on lakes where pond
lilies bloom."
"And golden chariots, with milk white steeds, garlanded with flowers."
"Yes,--and that's about all; good-night."
"And enchanted carpets that carry you in a minute to India and Arabia."
"Yes, and upstairs to bed! Good-night."
"And knights in armor, with glittering spears--"
"Good-night, Marjorie Maynard!"
"Good-night, Father. And rose-gardens with fountains and singing birds--"
"Skip, you rascal! Scamper, fly, scoot! Good-night for the last time!"
"Good-night," called Marjorie, half way up-stairs, "good-night, Father
dear."
"Good-night, Midget, good-night."