He said the shivers had become _chronic_! We laughed at Rob, but even
the funny things he said couldn't drive away the thoughts of the story
that Gwen Harcourt had told."

* * * * * * * *

The bright, sunny days sped as swiftly at Avondale, as they had at the
shore.

Hints of pleasures that already were being planned for the coming
Winter were floating as freely as if the wind carried them, and all
over Avondale, wherever small girls and boys were at play, one might
hear scraps of conversation that told of anticipated pleasures.

Some of the gossip reached Aunt Judith's cottage, and she resolved to
do a bit of entertaining, if not on the grand scale in which her
neighbors indulged, at least in a manner that her little friends would
enjoy.

She laughed softly as she moved about the tiny rooms, and thought of
the quaint, merry party that would at least be original.

"The cottage is small, and so it will have to be a little party, but
we'll call it 'small and select,'" she said.

A light tap at the door, made her turn, and she hastened to open the
screen door, that Rose might enter.

"The fine house, and fine friends don't make you forget your Aunt
Judith, dear," she said.