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a pretty little girl about seventeen. They had quite a little fun writing and reading the [rhymes?]. Then came refreshments, lemon ice and cake, and while we ate Nellie read out the [rhymes?]. Then Miss Keating told a story and we told a round robin story which was quite amusing. While it was going round Mr. Keating suddenly wished me merry Christmas, and we knew by that it was twelve o'clock. They were soon gone then, but we think they all enjoyed themselves. We had three kinds of cake. Mrs. Johnson baked one and we all three baked the others. We had a great time doing it too.

Nellie and Mrs. J. did most of the mixing. The first was a layer cake,--a chocolate layer between two white ones and chocolate [icing?]. It looked fine when they poured it into the pans and it was fine, so fine that it raised up and ran over. Then it burned in the oven and made such a smoke we knew it would ruin the baking layers. So we opened the oven door now and then to let the smoke out and then of course the cake fell. So the first was a failure. I wrote the following on the order slate while Nellie and Mrs. J. mixed another.

A cake we did make
And it ran, O my!
And it smelled as it baked
And looked, O my!

But we ate it tho foul
And rued it too late,
For we sent up a howl
From the effects of that cake.