loved it, and never guessed how long it would be before her light
feet would keep time to music again.

"You'd better give Jack a hint about the party. Send over some
smart ladies, and say they have come to his Christmas ball,"
proposed audacious Molly Loo, always ready for fun.

So they put a preposterous green bonnet, top-heavy with plumes,
on a little lady in yellow, who sat in a carriage; the lady beside her,
in winter costume of velvet pelisse and ermine boa, was fitted to a
bride's head with its orange flowers and veil, and these works of
art were sent over to Jack, labelled "Miss Laura and Lotty Burton
going to the Minots' Christmas ball,"--a piece of naughtiness on
Jill's part, for she knew Jack liked the pretty sisters, whose gentle
manners made her own wild ways seem all the more blamable.

No answer came for a long time, and the girls had almost forgotten
their joke in a game of Letters, when "Tingle, tangle!" went the
bell, and the basket came in heavily laden. A roll of colored papers
was tied outside, and within was a box that rattled, a green and
silver horn, a roll of narrow ribbons, a spool of strong thread, some
large needles, and a note from Mrs. Minot:--

"Dear Jill,--I think of having a Christmas tree so that our invalids
can enjoy it, and all your elegant friends are cordially invited.
Knowing that you would like to help, I send some paper for
sugar-plum horns and some beads for necklaces. They will
brighten the tree and please the girls for themselves or their dolls.
Jack sends you a horn for a pattern, and will you make a
ladder-necklace to show him how? Let me know if you need