"
They had these refreshments out on the porch, in the sunshine, with
their dolls for guests and a great deal of chatter for sauce. Nobody
said another word about how to give the clothes to 'Lias, till, just as
the girls were going away, Betsy said, walking along with the two older
ones, "Say, don't you think it'd be fun to go some evening after dark
and leave the clothes on 'Lias's doorstep, and knock and run away quick
before anybody comes to the door?" She spoke in an uncertain voice and
smoothed Deborah's carved wooden curls.
"Yes, I do!" said Ellen, not looking at Betsy but down at the weeds by
the road. "I think it would be lots of fun!"
Little Molly, playing with Annie and Eliza, did not hear this; but she
was allowed to go with the older girls on the great expedition.
It was a warm, dark evening in late May, with the frogs piping their
sweet, high note, and the first of the fireflies wheeling over the wet
meadows near the tumble-down house where 'Lias lived. The girls took
turns in carrying the big paper-wrapped bundle, and stole along in the
shadow of the trees, full of excitement, looking over their shoulders at
nothing and pressing their hands over their mouths to keep back the
giggles. There was, of course, no reason on earth why they should
giggle, which is, of course, the very reason why they did. If you've
ever been a little girl you know about that.
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