"But, I say, Mr. Ellins," I begins, "how do I--"

"Don't ask me how, young man," he snaps. "What do I know about
tea-parties? Do as I tell you."

Say, that's some unique order to shoot at a private sec., ain't it?

And did I make good? Listen. Before nine o'clock that night I had the
thing all plotted out and half a dozen people gettin' busy. Course,
it's mostly Vee's program. She claps her hands when she hears the tale.

"Why, Torchy!" says she. "Isn't that just splendid! Certainly we can
do it."

And when Vee gets enthusiastic over anything it ain't any flash in the
pan. It's apt to be done, and done right. She tells me what to do
right off the reel. And you should have seen me blowin' that five
hundred like a drunken sailor. I charters a five-piece orchestra,
gives a rush order to a decorator, and engages a swell caterer, warnin'
Tessie by wire what to expect. Vee tackled the telephone work, and
with her aunt's help dug up about a dozen old families that remembered
the Bagstocks. How they hypnotized so many old dames to take a trip
'way downtown I don't know; but after Mrs. Tessie McCloud had watched
the fourth limousine unload from two to three classy-lookin' guests,
she near swallowed her gum.

"Muh Gawd!" says she. "Am I seein' things, or is it true?"

Not only dames, but a sprinklin' of old sports in spats and frock-coats