do! I’ll write to Abby Morton in Trenton to send me Mrs. Henderson’s address, and I’ll write her a letter and ask her not to let Ida know she didn’t send the cake.”
Ida went into a confectionery store and invested in what Josie Pye was wont to call “ready-to-wear eatables” — fancy cakes, fruit, and candies. When she reached her room she found it full of expectant girls, with Miss Monroe enthroned in the midst of them — Miss Monroe in a wonderful evening dress of black lace and yellow silk, with roses in her hair and pearls on her neck — all donned in honour of Ida’s little celebration. I won’t say that, just for a moment, Ida didn’t regret that she had given up her cake.
“Good evening, Miss Mitchell,” cried Mary Craig gaily. “Walk right in and make yourself at home in your own room, do! We all met in the hall, and knocked and knocked. Finally Miss Monroe came, so we made bold to walk right in. Where is the only and original fruit cake, Ida? My mouth has been watering all day.”
“The other Ida Mitchell is probably entertaining her friends at this moment with my fruit cake,” said Ida, with a little laugh.
Then she told the whole story.
“I’m so sorry to disappoint you,” she concluded, “but I simply couldn’t tell that poor, lonely child that the cake wasn’t intended for her. I’ve brought all the goodies home with me that I could buy, and we’ll have to do the best we can without the fruit cake.”
Their “best” proved to be a very good thing. They had a jolly New Year’s Eve, and Miss Monroe sparkled and entertained most brilliantly. They kept their celebration up until twelve to welcome the new year in, and then they bade Ida good night. But Miss Monroe lingered for a moment behind the others to say softly:
“I want to tell you how good and sweet I think it was of you to give up your cake to the other Ida. That little bit of unselfishness was a good guerdon for your new year.”
And Ida, radiant-faced at this praise from her idol, answered heartily:
“I’m afraid I’m anything but unselfish, Miss Monroe. But I mean to try to be more this coming year and think a little about the girls outside of my own little set who may be lonely or discouraged. The other Ida Mitchell isn’t going to have to depend on that fruit cake alone for comfort and encouragement for the next twelve months.”
ANNE OF GREEN GABLES SERIES
Anne of Green Gables
I. Mrs. Rachel Lynde Is Surprised
II. Matthew Cuthbert Is Surprised
III. Marilla Cuthbert Is Surprised
VIII. Anne’s Bringing-Up Is Begun
IX. Mrs. Rachel Lynde Is Properly Horrified
XI. Anne’s Impressions of Sunday-School
XIII. The Delights of Anticipation
XV. A Tempest in the School Teapot
XVI. Diana Is Invited to Tea With Tragic Results
XIX. A Concert a Catastrophe and a Confession
XX. A Good Imagination Gone Wrong
XXI. A New Departure in Flavorings
XXII. Anne Is Invited Out to Tea
XXIII. Anne Comes to Grief in an Affair of Honor
