A QUILTING PARTY
Miss Aurora Bender's quilting party was to begin at three o'clock in the
afternoon, and the girls started early in order to see all the fun. They
were to stay to supper, and the young men were to come over and escort
them home in the evening.
When they reached Miss Bender's, they found that many and wonderful
preparations had been made.
Miss Aurora had two house servants, Emmeline and Nancy, but on this
occasion she had called in two more to help. And indeed there was plenty
to be done, for a quilting bee was to Miss Bender's mind a function of
great importance.
The last of a large family, Miss Bender was a woman of great wealth but
of plain and old-fashioned tastes. Though amply able to gratify any
extravagant wish, she preferred to live as her parents had lived before
her, and she had in no sense kept pace with the progress of the age.
When the three girls reached the old country house, they were met at the
front door by the elderly Nancy. She courtesied with old-time grace, and
invited them to step into the bedroom, and lay off their things.
This bedroom, which was on the ground floor, was a large apartment,
containing a marvellously carved four-post bedstead, hung with
old-fashioned chintz curtains and draperies.
The room also contained two massive bureaus, a dressing-table and various
chairs of carved mahogany, and in the open fireplace was an enormous
bunch of feathery asparagus, flecked with red berries.
"Oh," cried Patty in delight, "if Nan could see this room she'd go
perfectly crazy. Isn't this house great? Why, it's quite as full of
beautiful old things as Washington's house at Mt. Vernon."
"I haven't seen that," said Bertha, "but it doesn't seem as if anything
could be more complete or perfect in its way than this house is. Come on,
girls, are you ready?"
The girls went to the parlour, and there found the quilt all prepared for
working on. Patty had never before seen a quilt stretched on a
quilting-frame, and was extremely interested.
It was a very large quilt, and its innumerable small triangles, which
made up the goose-chase pattern, were found to present a methodical
harmony of colouring, which had not been observable before the strips
were put together.
The large pieced portion was uppermost, and beneath it was the lining,
with layers of cotton in between. Each edge was pinned at intervals to a
long strip of material which was wound round and round the frame. The
four corners of the frame were held up by being tied to the backs of four
chairs, and on each of the four sides of the quilt were three more chairs
for the expected guests to occupy.
Almost on the stroke of three the visitors arrived, and though some of
them were of a more modern type than Miss Bender, yet three or four were
quite as old-fashioned and quaint-mannered as their hostess.
"They are native up here," Bertha explained to Patty. "There are only a
few of the old New England settlers left. Most of the population here is
composed of city people who have large country places. You won't often
get an opportunity to see a gathering like this."
Patty realised the truth of this, and was both surprised and pleased to
find that these country ladies showed no trace of embarrassment or
self-consciousness before the city girls.
It seemed not to occur to them that there was any difference in their
effects, and indeed Patty was greatly amused because one of the old
ladies seemed to take it for granted that Patty was a country girl, and
brought up according to old-time customs.
This old lady, whose name was Mrs. Quimby, sat next to Patty at the
quilt, and after she had peered through her glasses at the somewhat
uneven stitches which poor Patty was trying her best to do as well as
possible, she remarked:
"You ain't got much knack, have you? You'll have to practise quite a
spell longer before you can quilt your own house goods. How old be you?"
"Seventeen," said Patty, feeling that her work did not look very well,
considering her age.
"Seventeen!" exclaimed Mrs. Quimby. "Laws' sake, I was married when I was
sixteen, and I quilted as good then as I do now. I'm over eighty now, and
I'd ruther quilt than do anything, 'most. You don't look to be
seventeen."
"And you don't look to be eighty, either," said Patty, smiling, glad to
be able to turn the subject by complimenting the old lady.
The quilting lasted all the afternoon. Patty grew very tired of the
unaccustomed work, and was glad when Miss Bender noticed it, and told her
to run out into the garden with Bertha. Bertha was not allowed to touch
the quilt with her incompetent fingers, but Elise sewed away, thoroughly
enjoying it all, and with no desire to avail herself of Miss Bender's
permission to stop and rest. Patty and Bertha wandered through the
old-fashioned garden, in great delight. The paths were bordered with tiny
box hedges, which, though many years old, were kept clean and free from
deadwood or blemish of any sort, and were perfectly trimmed in shape.
The garden included quaint old flowers such as marigolds, sweet Williams,
bleeding hearts, bachelors' buttons, Jacob's ladder and many others of
which Patty did not even know the names. Tall hollyhocks, both single and
double, grew against the wall, and a hop vine hung in green profusion.
Every flower bed was of exact shape, and looked as if not a leaf or a
stem would dare to grow otherwise than straight and true.
"What a lovely old garden," said Patty, sniffing at a sprig of lemon
verbena which she had picked.
"Yes, it's wonderful," said Bertha. "I mean to ask Miss Bender if I
mayn't bring my camera over, and get a picture of it, and if they're
good, I'll give you one."
"Do," said Patty, "and take some pictures inside the house too. I'd like
to show them to Nan."
"Tell me about Nan," said Bertha. "She's your stepmother, isn't she?"
"Yes," said Patty, "but she's only six years older than I am, so that the
stepmother part of it seems ridiculous. We're more like sisters, and
she's perfectly crazy over old china and old furniture. She'd love Miss
Bender's things."
"Perhaps she'll come up while you're here," said Bertha. "I'll ask mother
to write for her."
"Thank you," said Patty, "but I'm afraid she won't. My father can't leave
for his vacation until July, and then we're all going away together, but
I don't know where."
Just then Elise came flying out to them, with the announcement that
supper was ready, and they were to come right in, quick.
The table was spread in the large room which Patty had thought was the
kitchen.
It probably had been built for that purpose, but other kitchens had been
added beyond it, and for the last half century it had been used as a
dining-room.
The table was drawn out to its full length, which made it very long
indeed, and it was filled with what seemed to Patty viands enough to feed
an army. At one end was a young pig roasted whole, with a lemon in his
mouth, and a design in cloves stuck into his fat little side. At the
other end was a baked ham whose crisp golden-brown crust could only be
attained by the old cook who had been in the Bender family for many
years.
Up and down the length of the table on either side was a succession of
various cold meats, alternating with pickles, jellies and savories of
various sorts.
After the guests were seated, Nancy brought in platters of smoking-hot
biscuits from the kitchen, and Miss Aurora herself made the tea.
The furnishings of the table were of old blue and white china of great
age and priceless value. The old family silver too was a marvel in
itself, and the tea service which Miss Bender manipulated with some pride
was over a hundred years old.
Patty was greatly impressed at this unusual scene, but when the plates
were removed after the first course, and the busy maid-servants prepared
to serve the dessert, she was highly entertained.
For the next course, though consisting only of preserves and cake, was
served in an unusual manner. The preserves included every variety known
to housewives and a few more. In addition to this, Miss Aurora announced
in a voice which was calm with repressed satisfaction, that she had
fourteen kinds of cake to put at the disposal of her guests. None of
these sorts could be mixed with any other sort, and the result was
fourteen separate baskets and platters of cake.
The table became crowded before they had all been brought in from the
kitchen, and quite as a matter of course, the serving maids placed the
later supplies on chairs, which they stood behind the guests, and the
ladies amiably turned round in their seats, inspected the cake, partook
of it if they desired, and gracefully pushed the chair along to the next
neighbour.
This seemed to the city girls a most amusing performance, but Patty
immediately adapted herself to what was apparently the custom of the
house, and gravely looked at the cake each time, selected such as pleased
her fancy and pushed the chair along.
Noticing Patty's gravity as she accomplished this performance, Elise very
nearly lost her own, but Patty nudged her under the table, and she
managed to behave with propriety.
The conversation at the table was without a trace of hilarity, and
included only the most dignified subjects. The ladies ate mincingly, with
their little fingers sticking out straight, or curved in what they
considered a most elegant fashion.
Miss Aurora was in her element. She was truly proud of her home and its
appointments, and she dearly loved to entertain company at tea. To her
mind, and indeed to the minds of most of those present, the success of a
tea depended entirely upon the number of kinds of cake that were served,
and Miss Bender felt that with fourteen she had broken any hitherto known
record.
It was an unwritten law that each kind of cake must be really a separate
recipe. To take a portion of ordinary cup-cake batter, and stir in some
chopped nuts, and another portion and mix in some raisins, by no means
met the requirements of the case. This Patty learned from remarks made by
the visitors, and also from Miss Aurora's own delicately veiled
intimations that each of her fourteen kinds was a totally different and
distinct recipe.
Patty couldn't help wondering what would become of all this cake, for
after all, the guests could eat but a small portion of it.
And it occurred to her also that the ways of the people in previous
generations, as exemplified in Miss Bender's customs, seemed to show
quite as great a lack of a sense of proportion as many of our so-called
modern absurdities.
After supper the guests immediately departed for their homes. Carriages
arrived for the different ones, and they went away, after volubly
expressing to their hostess their thanks for her delightful entertainment.
The girls expected Winthrop and Roger to come for them in the motor-car,
but they had not told them to come quite so early as now seemed
necessary. In some embarrassment, they told Miss Bender that they would
have to trespass on her hospitality for perhaps an hour longer.
"My land o' goodness!" she exclaimed, looking at them in dismay, "why
I've got to set this house to rights, and I can't wait an hour to begin!"
"Don't mind us, Miss Bender," said Bertha. "Just shut us up in some room
by ourselves, and we'll stay there, and not bother you a bit; unless
perhaps we can help you?"
"Help me! No, indeed. There can't anybody help me when I'm clearin' up
after a quiltin', unless it's somebody that knows my ways. But I'd like
to amuse you children, somehow. I'll tell you what, you can go up in the
front bedroom, if you like, and there's a chest of old-fashioned clothes
there. Can't you play at dressin' up?"
"Yes, indeed," cried Bertha. "Just the thing! Give us some candles."
Provided with two candles apiece, the girls followed Miss Aurora to a
large bedroom on the second floor, which also boasted its carved
four-poster and chintz draperies.
"There," said Miss Aurora, throwing open a great chest, "you ought to get
some fun out of trying on those fol-de-rols, and peacocking around; but
don't come downstairs to show off to me, for you'll only bother me out of
my wits. I'll let you know when your folks come for you."
Miss Bender trotted away, and the girls, quite ready for a lark, tossed
over the quaint old gowns.
Beautiful costumes were there, of the period of about a hundred years
ago. Lustrous silks and dainty dimities; embroidered muslins and heavy
velvets; Patty had never seen such a sight. After looking them over, the
girls picked out the ones they preferred, and taking off their own frocks
proceeded to try them on.
Bertha had chosen a blue and white silk of a bayadere stripe, with lace
ruffles at the neck and wrists and a skirt of voluminous fulness. Elise
wore a white Empire gown that made her look exactly like the Empress
Josephine, while Patty arrayed herself in a flowered silk of Dresden
effect with a pointed bodice, square neck, and elbow sleeves with lace
frills.
In great glee, the girls pranced around, regretting there was no one to
whom they might exhibit their masquerade costumes. But Miss Bender had
been so positive in her orders that they dared not go downstairs.
Suddenly they heard the toot of an automobile.
[Illustration: "Patty arrayed herself in a flowered silk of Dresden
effect"]
"That's our car," cried Bertha. "I know the horn. Let's go down just as
we are, for the benefit of Winthrop and Roger."
In answer to Miss Bender's call from below, the girls trooped downstairs,
and merrily presented themselves for inspection.
Mr. Phelps had come with the others, and if the young men were pleased at
the picture the three girls presented, Miss Aurora herself was no less
so.
"My," she said, "you do look fine, I declare! Now, I'll tell you what
I'll do; I'll make each of you young ladies a present of the gown you
have on, if you care to keep it. I'll never miss them, for I have trunks
and chests full, besides those you saw, and I'm right down glad to give
them to you. You can wear them sometimes at your fancy dress parties."
The girls were overjoyed at Miss Bender's gift, and Bertha declared they
would wear them home, and she would send over for their other dresses the
next day.
So, donning their wraps, the merry modern maids in their antique garb
made their adieus to Miss Aurora, and were soon in the big motor-car
speeding for home.