John Adams, that is authentic and very rare. Except for my Barbara
Frietchie tin one, it is perhaps the gem of my collection."

"Good!" Leathersham exclaimed, interestedly, "may I see it?" Petticoat
summoned a lackey and two minions and sent them to his curio room to fetch
the plates. But they returned with the startling announcement that all the
pieplate collection had disappeared!

"Heavens and earth!" Petticoat cried. "Lock the doors, search the pockets!
Why, that collection is worth millions!"

"What's the matter?" Warble inquired, seeing the hullaballoo. "Oh," as she
was told, "I used those plates, dear. I was making a lot of pies and our
pieplates gave out."

"Making a lot of pies?" Petticoat repeated, wonderingly, while Marigold
Leathersharn murmured, "How quaint!" in a supercilious way.

"Yes," went on Warble, unperturbed. "Want to see 'em?"

They did, and all went to look at the eight dozen custard pies in the
pantry windows.

"Whoopee!" shouted Petticoat, "here's where I take the helm! Cut out the
rest of the formal supper, and let's have a pie eating contest."

It warmed the cockles of Warble's heart to see how they all fell in with
this suggestion. Could it be? Was she really having some effect on their
terrible aestheticism at last?