"Miss Katherine Eleanor Bates," she said. "Bates Corners,
Hartley, Indiana. Please call my carriage?"
The milliner laughed heartily. "That's the spirit of '76," she
commended. "I'd be willing to wager something worth while that
this very hat brings you the carriage before fall, if you show
yourself in it in the right place. It's a perfectly stunning hat.
Shall I send it, or will you wear it?"
Kate looked in the mirror again. "You may put a fresh blue band
on the sailor I was wearing, and send that to Dr. Gray's when it
is finished," she said. "And put in a fancy bow, for my throat,
of the same velvet as the hat, please. I'll surely pay you the
last week of September. And if you can think up an equally
becoming hat for winter -- --"
"You just bet I can, young lady," said the milliner to herself as
Kate walked down the street.
From afar, Kate saw Nancy Ellen on the veranda, so she walked
slowly to let the effect sink in, but it seemed to make no
impression until she looked up at Nancy Ellen's very feet and
said: "Well, how do you like it?"
"Good gracious!" cried Nancy Ellen.
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