"I'll take care to publish that," said Mr. Van Brunt.
"Don't you go and do such a thing," said Miss Fortune earnestly. "I shall have the whole country on my hands. I won't have but just as many on 'em as'll do what I want done; that'll be as much as I can stand under. Don't you whisper a word of it to a living creature. I'll go round and ask 'em myself to come Monday evening."
"Monday evening--then I suppose you'd like to have up the sleigh this afternoon. Who's acoming?"
"They'll every soul come that's asked, that you may depend; there ain't one on 'em that would miss of it for a dollar."
Miss Fortune bridled a little at the implied tribute to her housekeeping.
"If I was some folks I wouldn't let people know I was in such a mighty hurry to get a good supper," she observed rather scornfully.
"Humph!" said Mr. Van Brunt; "I think a good supper ain't a bad thing; and I've no objection to folks knowing it."
"Pshaw! I don't mean _you_," said Miss Fortune; "I was thinking of those Lawsons, and other folks."
"If you're agoing to ask _them_ to your bee you ain't of my mind."
"Well, I am though," replied Miss Fortune; "there's a good many hands of 'em; they can turn off a good lot of work in an evening; and they always take care to get me to _their_ bees. I may as well get something out of them in return if I can."
"They'll reckon on getting as much as they can out o' _you_, if they come, there's no sort of doubt in my mind. It's my belief Mimy Lawson will kill herself some of these days upon green corn. She was at home to tea one day last summer, and I declare I thought----"
What Mr. Van Brunt thought he left his hearers to guess.
"Well, let them kill themselves if they like," said Miss Fortune; "I am sure I am willing; there'll be enough; I ain't agoing to mince matters when once I begin. Now let me see. There's five of the Lawsons to begin with--I suppose they'll all come; Bill Huff, and Jany, that's seven----"
"That Bill Huff is as good natured a fellow as ever broke ground," remarked Mr. Van Brunt. "Ain't better people in the town than them Huffs are."
"They're well enough," said Miss Fortune. "Seven--and the Hitchcocks, there's three of them, that'll make ten----"
"Dennison's ain't far from there," said Mr. Van Brunt. "Dan Dennison's a fine hand at a'most anything, in doors or out."