party had not come yet, and I was scared to death lest Sedalia had had
a tantrum and that Mr. Stewart would not get back in time. At last I
left the people to take care of themselves, for I had too much on my
mind to bother with them. Just after eleven Mr. Stewart, Mis' Lane,
Sedalia, and Pa Lane "arriv" and came at once into the kitchen to warm.
In a little while poor, frightened Gale came creeping in, looking
guilty. But she looked lovely, too, in spite of her plaid dress. She
wore her hair in a coronet braid, which added dignity and height, as
well as being simple and becoming. Her mother brought her a wreath for
her hair, of lilies of the valley and tiny pink rosebuds. It might seem
a little out of place to one who didn't see it, but the effect was
really charming.

Sedalia didn't know that Mr. Stewart had given Gale her dress, so, just
to be nasty, she said, as soon as she saw Gale, "Dear me, when are you
going to dress, Gale? You will hardly have time to get out of that
horse-blanket you are wearing and get into something decent." You see,
she thought it was one of my dresses fixed over for Gale. Presently
Sedalia asked me if I was invited to the "function." She had some kind
of rash on her face and Zebulon Pike noticed the rash and heard the
word "function," so he thought that was the name of some disease and
asked Mr. Stewart if the "function" was "catching." Mr. Stewart had
heard Sedalia, but knew "Zebbie" had not heard all that was said and
how he got the idea he had, so he answered, "Yes, if ye once get the
fever." So Zebulon Pike privately warned every one against getting the
"function" from Sedalia. There are plenty of people here who don't know
exactly what a function is, myself among them. So people edged away
from Sedalia, and some asked her if she had seen the doctor and what he
thought of her case. Poor girl, I'm afraid she didn't have a very
enjoyable time.