"Jo! Jo! Where are you?" cried Meg at the foot of the garret stairs.

"Here!" answered a husky voice from above, and, running up,
Meg found her sister eating apples and crying over the Heir of
Redclyffe, wrapped up in a comforter on an old three-legged sofa
by the sunny window. This was Jo’s favorite refuge, and here she
loved to retire with half a dozen russets and a nice book, to enjoy
the quiet and the society of a pet rat who lived near by and didn’t
mind her a particle. As Meg appeared, Scrabble whisked into his
hole. Jo shook the tears off her cheeks and waited to hear the news.

"Such fun! Only see! A regular note of invitation from Mrs.
Gardiner for tomorrow night!" cried Meg, waving the precious paper
and then proceeding to read it with girlish delight.

"’Mrs. Gardiner would be happy to see Miss March and Miss Josephine
at a little dance on New Year’s Eve.’ Marmee is willing we should go,
now what shall we wear?"

"What’s the use of asking that, when you know we shall wear
our poplins, because we haven’t got anything else?" answered Jo
with her mouth full.

"If I only had a silk!" sighed Meg. "Mother says I may when
I’m eighteen perhaps, but two years is an everlasting time to wait."

"I’m sure our pops look like silk, and they are nice enough for
us. Yours is as good as new, but I forgot the burn and the tear in
mine. Whatever shall I do? The burn shows badly, and I can’t take
any out."

"You must sit still all you can and keep your back out of sight.
The front is all right. I shall have a new ribbon for my hair, and
Marmee will lend me her little pearl pin, and my new slippers are
lovely, and my gloves will do, though they aren’t as nice as I’d like."

"Mine are spoiled with lemonade, and I can’t get any new ones,
so I shall have to go without," said Jo, who never troubled herself
much about dress.

"You must have gloves, or I won’t go," cried Meg decidedly.
"Gloves are more important than anything else. You can’t dance
without them, and if you don’t I should be so mortified."

"Then I’ll stay still. I don’t care much for company dancing.
It’s no fun to go sailing round. I like to fly about and cut capers."

"You can’t ask Mother for new ones, they are so expensive, and
you are so careless. She said when you spoiled the others that she
shouldn’t get you any more this winter. Can’t you make them do?"

"I can hold them crumpled up in my hand, so no one will know
how stained they are. That’s all I can do. No! I’ll tell you how
we can manage, each wear one good one and carry a bad one. Don’t
you see?"

"Your hands are bigger than mine, and you will stretch my glove
dreadfully," began Meg, whose gloves were a tender point with her.

"Then I’ll go without. I don’t care what people say!" cried Jo,
taking up her book.

"You may have it, you may! Only don’t stain it, and do behave
nicely. Don’t put your hands behind you, or stare, or say
‘Christopher Columbus!’ will you?"

"Don’t worry about me. I’ll be as prim as I can and not get
into any scrapes, if I can help it. Now go and answer your note,
and let me finish this splendid story."

So Meg went away to ‘accept with thanks’, look over her dress,
and sing blithely as she did up her one real lace frill, while Jo
finished her story, her four apples, and had a game of romps with
Scrabble.

On New Year’s Eve the parlor was deserted, for the two younger
girls played dressing maids and the two elder were absorbed in the
all-important business of ‘getting ready for the party’. Simple
as the toilets were, there was a great deal of running up and down,
laughing and talking, and at one time a strong smell of burned hair
pervaded the house. Meg wanted a few curls about her face, and Jo
undertook to pinch the papered locks with a pair of hot tongs.

"Ought they to smoke like that?" asked Beth from her perch
on the bed.

"It’s the dampness drying," replied Jo.

"What a queer smell! It’s like burned feathers," observed Amy,
smoothing her own pretty curls with a superior air.

"There, now I’ll take off the papers and you’ll see a cloud
of little ringlets," said Jo, putting down the tongs.

She did take off the papers, but no cloud of ringlets appeared,
for the hair came with the papers, and the horrified hairdresser
laid a row of little scorched bundles on the bureau before her victim.

"Oh, oh, oh! What have you done? I’m spoiled! I can’t go! My
hair, oh, my hair!" wailed Meg, looking with despair at the uneven
frizzle on her forehead.

"Just my luck! You shouldn’t have asked me to do it. I always
spoil everything. I’m so sorry, but the tongs were too hot, and so
I’ve made a mess," groaned poor Jo, regarding the little black
pancakes with tears of regret.

"It isn’t spoiled. Just frizzle it, and tie your ribbon so
the ends come on your forehead a bit, and it will look like the
last fashion. I’ve seen many girls do it so," said Amy consolingly.

"Serves me right for trying to be fine. I wish I’d let my hair
alone," cried Meg petulantly.

"So do I, it was so smooth and pretty. But it will soon grow
out again," said Beth, coming to kiss and comfort the shorn sheep.

After various lesser mishaps, Meg was finished at last, and
by the united exertions of the entire family Jo’s hair was got up
and her dress on. They looked very well in their simple suits,
Meg’s in silvery drab, with a blue velvet snood, lace frills, and
the pearl pin. Jo in maroon, with a stiff, gentlemanly linen
collar, and a white chrysanthemum or two for her only ornament.
Each put on one nice light glove, and carried one soiled one, and
all pronounced the effect "quite easy and fine". Meg’s high-heeled
slippers were very tight and hurt her, though she would not own it,
and Jo’s nineteen hairpins all seemed stuck straight into her head,
which was not exactly comfortable, but, dear me, let us be elegant
or die.

"Have a good time, dearies!" said Mrs. March, as the sisters
went daintily down the walk. "Don’t eat much supper, and come
away at eleven when I send Hannah for you." As the gate clashed
behind them, a voice cried from a window . . .

"Girls, girls! Have you you both got nice pocket handkerchiefs?"

"Yes, yes, spandy nice, and Meg has cologne on hers," cried Jo,
adding with a laugh as they went on, "I do believe Marmee would ask
that if we were all running away from an earthquake."

"It is one of her aristocratic tastes, and quite proper, for a
real lady is always known by neat boots, gloves, and handkerchief,"
replied Meg, who had a good many little ‘aristocratic tastes’ of
her own.

"Now don’t forget to keep the bad breadth out of sight, Jo.
Is my sash right? And does my hair look very bad?" said Meg, as
she turned from the glass in Mrs. Gardiner’s dressing room after
a prolonged prink.

"I know I shall forget. If you see me doing anything wrong,
just remind me by a wink, will you?" returned Jo, giving her
collar a twitch and her head a hasty brush.

"No, winking isn’t ladylike. I’ll lift my eyebrows if any
thing is wrong, and nod if you are all right. Now hold your
shoulder straight, and take short steps, and don’t shake hands if
you are introduced to anyone. It isn’t the thing."

"How do you learn all the proper ways? I never can. Isn’t
that music gay?"

Down they went, feeling a trifle timid, for they seldom went
to parties, and informal as this little gathering was, it was an
event to them. Mrs. Gardiner, a stately old lady, greeted them
kindly and handed them over to the eldest of her six daughters.
Meg knew Sallie and was at her ease very soon, but Jo, who didn’t
care much for girls or girlish gossip, stood about, with her back
carefully against the wall, and felt as much out of place as a
colt in a flower garden. Half a dozen jovial lads were talking
about skates in another part of the room, and she longed to go
and join them, for skating was one of the joys of her life. She
telegraphed her wish to Meg, but the eyebrows went up so alarmingly
that she dared not stir. No one came to talk to her, and one by
one the group dwindled away till she was left alone. She could
not roam about and amuse herself, for the burned breadth would
show, so she stared at people rather forlornly till the dancing
began. Meg was asked at once, and the tight slippers tripped
about so briskly that none would have guessed the pain their
wearer suffered smilingly. Jo saw a big red headed youth
approaching her corner, and fearing he meant to engage her, she
slipped into a curtained recess, intending to peep and enjoy
herself in peace. Unfortunately, another bashful person had
chosen the same refuge, for, as the curtain fell behind her,
she found herself face to face with the ‘Laurence boy’.

"Dear me, I didn’t know anyone was here!" stammered Jo,
preparing to back out as speedily as she had bounced in.

But the boy laughed and said pleasantly, though he looked
a little startled, "Don’t mind me, stay if you like."

"Shan’t I disturb you?"

"Not a bit. I only came here because I don’t know many
people and felt rather strange at first, you know."

"So did I. Don’t go away, please, unless you’d rather."

The boy sat down again and looked at his pumps, till Jo
said, trying to be polite and easy, "I think I’ve had the pleasure
of seeing you before. You live near us, don’t you?"

"Next door." And he looked up and laughed outright, for Jo’s
prim manner was rather funny when he remembered how they had chatted
about cricket when he brought the cat home.

That put Jo at her ease and she laughed too, as she said, in
her heartiest way, "We did have such a good time over your nice
Christmas present."

"Grandpa sent it."

"But you put it into his head, didn’t you, now?"

"How is your cat, Miss March?" asked the boy, trying to look
sober while his black eyes shone with fun.

"Nicely, thank you, Mr. Laurence. But I am not Miss March, I’m
only Jo," returned the young lady.

"I’m not Mr. Laurence, I’m only Laurie."

"Laurie Laurence, what an odd name."

"My first name is Theodore, but I don’t like it, for the
fellows called me Dora, so I made them say Laurie instead."

"I hate my name, too, so sentimental! I wish every one would
say Jo instead of Josephine. How did you make the boys stop calling
you Dora?"

"I thrashed ’em."

"I can’t thrash Aunt March, so I suppose I shall have to bear
it." And Jo resigned herself with a sigh.

"Don’t you like to dance, Miss Jo?" asked Laurie, looking
as if he thought the name suited her.

"I like it well enough if there is plenty of room, and everyone
is lively. In a place like this I’m sure to upset something,
tread on people’s toes, or do something dreadful, so I keep out
of mischief and let Meg sail about. Don’t you dance?"

"Sometimes. You see I’ve been abroad a good many years, and
haven’t been into company enough yet to know how you do things here."

"Abroad!" cried Jo. "Oh, tell me about it! I love dearly to
hear people describe their travels."

Laurie didn’t seem to know where to begin, but Jo’s eager
questions soon set him going, and he told her how he had been at
school in Vevay, where the boys never wore hats and had a fleet of
boats on the lake, and for holiday fun went on walking trips about
Switzerland with their teachers.

"Don’t I wish I’d been there!" cried Jo. "Did you go to Paris?"

"We spent last winter there."

"Can you talk French?"

"We were not allowed to speak anything else at Vevay."

"Do say some! I can read it, but can’t pronounce."

"Quel nom a cette jeune demoiselle en les pantoufles jolis?"

"How nicely you do it! Let me see . . . you said, ‘Who is the
young lady in the pretty slippers’, didn’t you?"

"Oui, mademoiselle."

"It’s my sister Margaret, and you knew it was! Do you think
she is pretty?"

"Yes, she makes me think of the German girls, she looks so
fresh and quiet, and dances like a lady."

Jo quite glowed with pleasure at this boyish praise of her sister,
and stored it up to repeat to Meg. Both peeped and critisized and
chatted till they felt like old acquaintances. Laurie’s bashfulness
soon wore off, for Jo’s gentlemanly demeanor amused and set him at
his ease, and Jo was her merry self again, because her dress was
forgotten and nobody lifted their eyebrows at her. She liked the
‘Laurence boy’ better than ever and took several good looks at him,
so that she might describe him to the girls, for they had no
brothers, very few male cousins, and boys were almost unknown
creatures to them.

"Curly black hair, brown skin, big black eyes, handsome nose,
fine teeth, small hands and feet, taller than I am, very polite,
for a boy, and altogether jolly. Wonder how old he is?"

It was on the tip of Jo’s tongue to ask, but she checked
herself in time and, with unusual tact, tried to find out in a
round-about way.

"I suppose you are going to college soon? I see you pegging
away at your books, no, I mean studying hard." And Jo blushed
at the dreadful ‘pegging’ which had escaped her.

Laurie smiled but didn’t seem shocked, and answered with a
shrug. "Not for a year or two. I won’t go before seventeen,
anyway."

"Aren’t you but fifteen?" asked Jo, looking at the tall lad,
whom she had imagined seventeen already.

"Sixteen, next month."

"How I wish I was going to college! You don’t look as if
you liked it."

"I hate it! Nothing but grinding or skylarking. And I don’t
like the way fellows do either, in this country."

"What do you like?"

"To live in Italy, and to enjoy myself in my own way."

Jo wanted very much to ask what his own way was, but his
black brows looked rather threatening as he knit them, so she
changed the subject by saying, as her foot kept time, "That’s a
splendid polka! Why don’t you go and try it?"

"If you will come too," he answered, with a gallant little bow.

"I can’t, for I told Meg I wouldn’t, because . . ." There Jo
stopped, and looked undecided whether to tell or to laugh.

"Because, what?"

"You won’t tell?"

"Never!"

"Well, I have a bad trick of standing before the fire, and so
I burn my frocks, and I scorched this one, and though it’s nicely
mended, it shows, and Meg told me to keep still so no one would
see it. You may laugh, if you want to. It is funny, I know."

But Laurie didn’t laugh. He only looked down a minute, and
the expression of his face puzzled Jo when he said very gently,
"Never mind that. I’ll tell you how we can manage. There’s a long
hall out there, and we can dance grandly, and no one will see us.
Please come."

Jo thanked him and gladly went, wishing she had two neat gloves
when she saw the nice, pearl-colored ones her partner wore. The
hall was empty, and they had a grand polka, for Laurie danced well,
and taught her the German step, which delighted Jo, being full of
swing and spring. When the music stopped, they sat down on the
stairs to get their breath, and Laurie was in the midst of an account
of a students’ festival at Heidelberg when Meg appeared in search of
her sister. She beckoned, and Jo reluctantly followed her into a
side room, where she found her on a sofa, holding her foot, and
looking pale.

"I’ve sprained my ankle. That stupid high heel turned and
gave me a sad wrench. It aches so, I can hardly stand, and I don’t
know how I’m ever going to get home," she said, rocking to and fro
in pain.

"I knew you’d hurt your feet with those silly shoes. I’m
sorry. But I don’t see what you can do, except get a carriage, or
stay here all night," answered Jo, softly rubbing the poor ankle as
she spoke.

"I can’t have a carriage without its costing ever so much. I
dare say I can’t get one at all, for most people come in their own,
and it’s a long way to the stable, and no one to send."

"I’ll go."

"No, indeed! It’s past nine, and dark as Egypt. I can’t stop
here, for the house is full. Sallie has some girls staying with her.
I’ll rest till Hannah comes, and then do the best I can."

"I’ll ask Laurie. He will go," said Jo, looking relieved as
the idea occurred to her.

"Mercy, no! Don’t ask or tell anyone. Get me my rubbers, and
put these slippers with our things. I can’t dance anymore, but as
soon as supper is over, watch for Hannah and tell me the minute she
comes."

"They are going out to supper now. I’ll stay with you. I’d
rather."

"No, dear, run along, and bring me some coffee. I’m so tired
I can’t stir."

So Meg reclined, with rubbers well hidden, and Jo went blundering
away to the dining room, which she found after going into a
china closet, and opening the door of a room where old Mr. Gardiner
was taking a little private refreshment. Making a dart at the
table, she secured the coffee, which she immediately spilled,
thereby making the front of her dress as bad as the back.

"Oh, dear, what a blunderbuss I am!" exclaimed Jo, finishing
Meg’s glove by scrubbing her gown with it.

"Can I help you?" said a friendly voice. And there was Laurie,
with a full cup in one hand and a plate of ice in the other.

"I was trying to get something for Meg, who is very tired, and
someone shook me, and here I am in a nice state," answered Jo,
glancing dismally from the stained skirt to the coffee-colored glove.

"Too bad! I was looking for someone to give this to. May I
take it to your sister?"

"Oh, thank you! I’ll show you where she is. I don’t offer to
take it myself, for I should only get into another scrape if I did."

Jo led the way, and as if used to waiting on ladies, Laurie
drew up a little table, brought a second installment of coffee and
ice for Jo, and was so obliging that even particular Meg pronounced
him a ‘nice boy’. They had a merry time over the bonbons and mottoes,
and were in the midst of a quiet game of Buzz, with two or three
other young people who had strayed in, when Hannah appeared. Meg
forgot her foot and rose so quickly that she was forced to catch
hold of Jo, with an exclamation of pain.

"Hush! Don’t say anything," she whispered, adding aloud, "It’s
nothing. I turned my foot a little, that’s all," and limped upstairs
to put her things on.

Hannah scolded, Meg cried, and Jo was at her wits’ end, till
she decided to take things into her own hands. Slipping out, she ran
down and, finding a servant, asked if he could get her a carriage.
It happened to be a hired waiter who knew nothing about the
neighborhood and Jo was looking round for help when Laurie, who had
heard what she said, came up and offered his grandfather’s carriage,
which had just come for him, he said.

"It’s so early! You can’t mean to go yet?" began Jo, looking
relieved but hesitating to accept the offer.

"I always go early, I do, truly! Please let me take you home.
It’s all on my way, you know, and it rains, they say."

That settled it, and telling him of Meg’s mishap, Jo gratefully
accepted and rushed up to bring down the rest of the party. Hannah
hated rain as much as a cat does so she made no trouble, and they
rolled away in the luxurious close carriage, feeling very festive
and elegant. Laurie went on the box so Meg could keep her foot up,
and the girls talked over their party in freedom.

"I had a capital time. Did you?" asked Jo, rumpling up her
hair, and making herself comfortable.

"Yes, till I hurt myself. Sallie’s friend, Annie Moffat, took
a fancy to me, and asked me to come and spend a week with her when
Sallie does. She is going in the spring when the opera comes, and
it will be perfectly splendid, if Mother only lets me go," answered
Meg, cheering up at the thought.

"I saw you dancing with the red headed man I ran away from. Was
he nice?"

"Oh, very! His hair is auburn, not red, and he was very polite,
and I had a delicious redowa with him."

"He looked like a grasshopper in a fit when he did the new step.
Laurie and I couldn’t help laughing. Did you hear us?"

"No, but it was very rude. What were you about all that time,
hidden away there?"

Jo told her adventures, and by the time she had finished they
were at home. With many thanks, they said good night and crept in,
hoping to disturb no one, but the instant their door creaked, two
little nightcaps bobbed up, and two sleepy but eager voices cried
out . . .

"Tell about the party! Tell about the party!"

With what Meg called ‘a great want of manners’ Jo had saved some
bonbons for the little girls, and they soon subsided, after hearing
the most thrilling events of the evening.

"I declare, it really seems like being a fine young lady, to
come home from the party in a carriage and sit in my dressing gown
with a maid to wait on me," said Meg, as Jo bound up her foot with
arnica and brushed her hair.

"I don’t believe fine young ladies enjoy themselves a bit more
than we do, in spite of our burned hair, old gowns, one glove apiece
and tight slippers that sprain our ankles when we are silly enough
to wear them." And I think Jo was quite right.