A month later the "Natchitoches" sailed for the Bahamas. It was to be a
six months' cruise only; and on her return she was for a while to make
part of the home squadron. This furnished a good opportunity for her
first lieutenant to marry; so it was agreed that the wedding should take
place in June, and Katy set about her preparations in the leisurely and
simple fashion which was characteristic of her. She had no ambition for a
great _trousseau_, and desired to save her father expense; so her outfit,
as compared with that of most modern brides, was a very moderate one, but
being planned and mostly made at home, it necessarily involved thought,
time, and a good deal of personal exertion.
Dear little Clover flung herself into the affair with even more interest
than if it had been her own. Many happy mornings that winter did the
sisters spend together over their dainty stitches and "white seam." Elsie
and Johnnie were good needle-women now, and could help in many ways. Mrs.
Ashe often joined them; even Amy could contribute aid in the plainer
sewing, and thread everybody's needles. But the most daring and
indefatigable of all was Clover, who never swerved in her determination
that Katy's "things" should be as nice and as pretty as love and industry
combined could make them. Her ideas as to decoration soared far beyond
Katy's. She hem-stitched, she cat-stitched, she feather-stitched, she
lace-stitched, she tucked and frilled and embroidered, and generally
worked her fingers off; while the bride vainly protested that all this
finery was quite unnecessary, and that simple hems and a little Hamburg
edging would answer just as well.
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