"Thanksgiving's only just a week from to-day," said May; "will there be time, Betty, to get everything ready?"
"Well, we'll have to fly round, of course. But if we invite everybody to-day, they can all get to work on their costumes at once. And a week's time enough, I should think. I hope Tilly will like the idea, but I don't know about her,--she's such a fuss."
"We'll soon know," laughed May, as Dixie was gently drawn to a standstill in front of Tilly Fenn's home.
The well-trained little pony always stood without being tied, so the girls jumped from the sleigh and ran up the steps, moderating their gay laughter as they decorously pushed the door-bell.
"Come up to my room, girls," called Tilly, over the banister, as they were admitted.
So in a few moments the three chums were busily talking of Betty's project.
"A real old-fashioned Thanksgiving party," said Betty, enthusiastically; "everything Puritan, you know. We'll all wear plain gray dresses and white fichus and aprons, and dear little Puritan caps, and the boys must rig up the right kind of clothes. What did men wear then?"
"Oh, knee-breeches and long stockings, and bunches of bows at the knees," said May, who was a history lover.
"Yes, and broad white collars, and sort of Norfolky jackets, and broad-brimmed hats," added Tilly.
"Oh, no; not a feather,--I think,--that isn't Puritanish. But a buckle,--I think,--well, anyway we can look up pictures, and see."
"Yes," agreed Betty, "and I'll fix up Jack's clothes. Mother'll help me. Then we'll have the feast of the real old-timey kind. Baked beans, you know,--and doughnuts, and cider,--"
"And nuts and gingerbread;--it will be lovely!"
"Well, I like it," said Tilly, a little hesitatingly, "but I don't know about a dress. Aunt won't help me,--I'm sure;--and I simply can't make one myself."
"I'll help you," said Betty, "and I'm sure Mother'll make you one, if you can't get one any other way. But perhaps you could borrow one. The old Adams ladies have lots of old-fashioned clothes."
"Yes, maybe I could," and Tilly's eyes brightened at this way out of her difficulty. "And I can make brown bread for the feast. That's old-fashioned."
"Oh, I'll provide all the supper," said Betty, "because it's my party. And afterward, we'll have old-fashioned dances, with a fiddler to call out the figures."