Kit looked at the wall brackets as Bet switched on the lights.
"Oh, Bet, I've never seen anything so beautiful. See how that little light is reflected in the mirror behind it."
Bet suddenly rushed to the door. "Oh, Auntie Gibbs," she called. "Has Dad telephoned today?"
"Good! That means he'll come home to dinner. I just can't wait another week to have him see Kit."
"And I was mean enough to wish that he would be detained in the city. My dress looks so badly, I don't like to meet anyone."
"Now never you mind, Kit, my Dad wouldn't care at all," asserted Bet.
"Isn't there a dress of yours she can wear?" asked Auntie Gibbs.
"No, we've tried everything, she's about an inch broader than I am, and she can't get into anything except my bathrobe. Her own dress will look better than that, especially as Dad doesn't like to see girls sitting around in bath robes."
"Oh that Dad of yours! If he had his way, women would always be dressed up in those crazy Colonial things he has."
"That's a good idea! Kit, we're going to give you a gown from a hundred years ago and Dad will think you're marvelous." Bet ran to a large closet under the stairs and from an old chest brought out an armful of dresses of antique pattern. "Come on, girls, help me get Kit fixed up before Dad comes."
Kit's face was full of perplexity as the girls dragged her up the stairs and got her into a costume of pale yellow satin that set off her dark hair. It trailed behind her in a long sweeping train.
"You look as if you had just stepped out of a picture frame, Kit Patten!" exclaimed Joy with a curtsey.
"I've never seen anything as lovely as this!" gasped Kit as she fingered the heavy silk.
"Pooh! That's just one of the common dresses," laughed Shirley. "You should see some of his real elaborate costumes in the attic. One day he showed them to us. They're wonderful!"
"What does he do with all of them?" asked the puzzled Kit.
"Oh, Dad's a collector. Didn't you ever collect anything, Kit?"
"Oh, sure. I have a lot of birds' eggs and arrowheads and Indian baskets. I have heaps of baskets at home."
"Well, Dad collects Colonial dresses and everything else from that period. Some of the gowns came from Europe at about that time and are of gold cloth."