"We are just asking ourselves how you do it, my dear," she said as Molly came up to see that all was going well with her guests.
"Do it! I'll tell you a secret that I was not to divulge but I am simply bursting with it: Mother is in the pantry! She came in the back way, without my even knowing she had left Kentucky, and now she is directing operations. She refuses to appear until the party is over."
"Ah, that is the reason for that glow in your eyes!" exclaimed Miss Walker. "I used to say when you were a college girl that I could tell by your expression when the western mail had brought you a letter from Kentucky."
"I didn't know it showed so," blushed Molly, "but it does make me feel warm all over when I know my mother is near."
The last rice thrown and the bridal party gone! Molly and Judy all that was left of the gay girls! The old crowd once more dispersed! I wonder if they will ever come together again. It had been a perfect time, and Molly, although dead tired, was very happy that she had been able to gather them in under her roof. All that worried her now was the fact that Mildred was to be punished. How, she was not certain.
Mrs. Brown, no longer in her apron but now the most honored of all, was ensconced on the sofa with Dodo in her arms and Mildred snuggled up close to her side. The child's eyes were big and sad. Her little cropped head was drooping and her mouth trembling. Even Granny was not noticing her naughtiness. Evidently nobody loved her!
Kent was seated on the floor, his head against his mother's knee, where, without exerting himself, he could see Judy's animated face and bright fluffy hair. Perhaps the time was soon coming when he would have to be far away from these beloved women. He was sure of his commission now and was ready for his country's call, but oh, it was hard to be uprooted from the pleasant spot where love had planted him! Ah, well! The war could not last forever and maybe there was a good time coming for all of them. It was hard to leave Judy, but it would be harder to take her with him if duty sent him to France. He did not criticize Andy McLean in the least. He knew his own business and Nance wanted to go with him but he, Kent Brown, had no idea of exposing his Judy to any more horrors of war. The taste both of them had had of it was enough.