Anne , in her flannel blouse and serge skirt , with her hair rather blown from her windy walk home , was sitting squarely in the middle of the floor , teasing the Sarah-cat with a wishbone . Joseph and Rusty were both curled up in her lap . A warm plummy odor filled the whole house , for Priscilla was cooking in the kitchen . Presently she came in , enshrouded in a huge work-apron , with a smudge of flour on her nose , to show Aunt Jamesina the chocolate cake she had just iced . At this auspicious moment the knocker sounded . Nobody paid any attention to it save Phil , who sprang up and opened it , expecting a boy with the hat she had bought that morning . On the doorstep stood Mrs. Gardner and her daughters . Anne scrambled to her feet somehow , emptying two indignant cats out of her lap as she did so , and mechanically shifting her wishbone from her right hand to her left . Priscilla , who would have had to cross the room to reach the kitchen door , lost her head , wildly plunged the chocolate cake under a cushion on the inglenook sofa , and dashed upstairs . Stella began feverishly gathering up her manuscript . Only Aunt Jamesina and Phil remained normal . Thanks to them , everybody was soon sitting at ease , even Anne . Priscilla came down , apronless and smudgeless , Stella reduced her corner to decency , and Phil saved the situation by a stream of ready small talk . Mrs. Gardner was tall and thin and handsome , exquisitely gowned , cordial with a cordiality that seemed a trifle forced . Aline Gardner was a younger edition of her mother , lacking the cordiality . She endeavored to be nice , but succeeded only in being haughty and patronizing . Dorothy Gardner was slim and jolly and rather tomboyish . Anne knew she was Roy 's favorite sister and warmed to her . She would have looked very much like Roy if she had had dreamy dark eyes instead of roguish hazel ones . Thanks to her and Phil , the call really went off very well , except for a slight sense of strain in the atmosphere and two rather untoward incidents .
Rusty and Joseph , left XXXXX themselves , began a game of chase , and sprang madly into Mrs. Gardner 's silken lap and out of it in their wild career .
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