_Billsbury, Wednesday, May 28th_.--Great doings here to-day. For
weeks past all the Conservative Ladies of Billsbury have been hard at
work, knitting, sewing, painting, embroidering, patching, quilting,
crocheting, and Heaven knows what besides, for the Bazaar in aid of
the Conservative Young Men's Club and Coffee-Room Sustentation Fund.
You couldn't call at any house in Billsbury without being nearly
smothered in heaps of fancy-work of every kind. When I was at the
PENFOLDS' on Monday afternoon, the drawing-room was simply littered
with bonnets and hats, none of them much larger than a crown piece,
which Miss PENFOLD had been constructing. She tried several of them
on, in order to get my opinion as to their merits. She looked very
pretty in one of them, a cunning arrangement of forget-me-nots and
tiny scraps of pink ribbon. Mother promised some time ago to open the
Bazaar, though she assured me she had never done such a thing before,
and added that I must be sure to see that the doors moved easily, as
new doors were so apt to stick, and she didn't know what she should
do if she had to struggle over the opening. I comforted her by telling
her she would only have to say a few brief words on a platform,
declaring the Bazaar open. For the last week I have had a letter from
her by absolutely every post, sending draft speeches for my approval.
After much consideration I selected one of these, which I returned to
her. I heard from home that she was very busily occupied for some time
in learning it by heart. When cook came for orders in the morning, she
was forced to listen while Mother said over the speech to her. Cook
was good enough to express a high opinion of its beauties.
Yesterday evening Mother arrived, with the usual enormous amount of
luggage, including the inevitable _Carlo_. After dinner I heard her
repeat the speech, which went off very well. This is it:--"Ladies
and Gentlemen, I am so pleased to be here to-day, and to have the
opportunity of helping the dear Conservative cause in Billsbury. I am
sure you are all so anxious to buy as many of these lovely things as
you can, and I therefore lose no time in declaring the Bazaar open."
Simple, but efficient.
The opening to-day was fixed for 2:30, the Bazaar being held in the
large room of the Assembly Rooms, which had been arranged to represent
an Old English Tillage. At one o'clock Colonel and Mrs. CHORKLE,
Alderman and Mrs. TOLLAND, and one or two others, lunched with us, and
afterwards we all drove off together in a procession of carriages. I
insisted on _Carlo_ being left behind, locked up in Mother's bed-room,
with a dish of bones to comfort him, and an old dress of Mother's to
lie on. That old dress has been devoted to _Carlo_ for the last two
years, and no amount of persuasion will induce _Carlo_ to take another
instead. We tried him with a much better one a short time ago, but
he was furious, tore it to ribbons and refused his food until his old
disreputable dress had been restored to him.
The Bazaar proceedings began with a short prayer delivered by the
Bishop of BRITISH GUIANA, an old Billsbury Grammar-School boy, who
was appointed to the bishopric a month ago. Everybody is making a
tremendous fuss about him here of course. As soon as the prayer was
over, Colonel CHORKLE rose and made what he would call one of his
"'appiest hefforts." The influence of lovely woman, Conservative
principles, devotion to the Throne, the interests of the Conservative
Young Men's Sustentation Fund, all mixed up together like a hasty
pudding. Then came the moment for Mother. First, however, WILLIAMINA
HENRIETTA SMITH CHORKLE had to be removed outside for causing a
disturbance. Her father's speech so deeply affected this intelligent
infant, who had come under the protection of her nurse, that she burst
out into a loud yell and refused to be comforted. The Colonel's face
was a study--a mixture of drum-head Courts-martial and Gatling guns.
Mother got through with her little speech all right. As a matter
of fact she read it straight off a sheet of paper, having finally
decided that her memory was too treacherous. We both set to work and
bought an incredible amount of things. After half an hour I found
myself in possession of six bonnets made by Miss PENFOLD, three
knitted waistcoats, four hand-painted screens, two tea-tables also
hand-painted, a lady's work-basket, three fancy shawls, a set of glass
studs and a double perambulator, which I won in a raffle. Mother got
three dog-collars, a set of shaving materials (won in a raffle),
two writing cases, five fans, two pictures by a local artist, four
paper-knives, two carved cigar-boxes, a set of tea things, and five
worked table-covers.
When we got back, we found that _Carlo_ had nearly gnawed his way
through the bed-room door, and was growling horribly at the boots and
the chambermaid through the keyhole. Charming dog!
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