Well , I expected that cake last year -- and it did n't come . I ca n't tell you how disappointed I was . You 'll think me very childish . But I was so lonely , with no home to go to like the other girls . But she sent it this year , you see . It is so nice to think that somebody has remembered me at New Year 's . It is n't the cake itself -- it 's the thought behind it . It has just made all the difference in the world . There -- just sample it , Miss Mitchell . '' The other Ida cut a generous slice from the cake and passed it to her guest . Her eyes were shining and her cheeks were flushed . She was really a very sweet-looking little thing -- not a bit like her usual pale , timid self . Ida ate the cake slowly . What was she to do ? She could n't tell the other Ida the truth about the cake . But the girls she had asked in to help eat it that very evening ! And Miss Monroe ! Oh , dear , it was too bad . But it could n't be helped . She would n't blot out that light on the other Ida 's face for anything !
Of course , she would find out the truth XXXXX time -- probably after she had written to thank Mrs. Henderson for the cake ; but meanwhile she would have enjoyed the cake , and the supposed kindness back of it would tide her over her New Year loneliness .
Ida about behind evening from in like that to with