"Sh!" reproved Mary Lee. "You know we stayed in Los Angeles because we wanted to be near Mrs. Roberts and Mr. St. Nick, and I am sure it couldn't be lovelier anywhere than where we live."
"Who is ready for the New Year's dinner?" asked Mr. Pinckney. "Aren't you all nearly starved?"
"Oh, I forgot about its being New Year," said Nan. "It certainly isn't a bit like any New Year we ever knew, but it is one I shall never forget."
"Shall we wear our crowns to dinner?" asked Jack.
"If you like," Mr. Pinckney told her.
But the coronets being rather limp from wear, were taken off and the party went down to the dining-room in the rest of their festal array. While a delicious dinner was served them they made merry over the favors provided by Mr. Pinckney whose ingenuity in this direction brought a great clapping of hands. For Carter there was a tiny automobile, for Nan a little piano, for the señorita a guitar, for Mary Lee a glass box of great California prunes, the many sided box top showing the prismatic colors. Jack received a little toy kid, Jean an astronomical globe with the sign of the Gemini prominent. Before Mrs. Corner's place was a five-sided box of candy to represent the five Corners. Miss Helen had a book called "A Little Corner in the World"; for Mrs. Roberts was a bobbing Chinese figure and for Mr. Roberts a toy bob-sled.
"Father has had the best sort of time getting these, I know," said Mrs. Roberts. "I can just see him prowling around the shops. It is the way he used to about our Christmas gifts when we were children."
"I came near getting a nanny-goat for Miss Zeph," said Mr. Pinckney, "but I didn't want to destroy the effect of the kid."
"But you ought to have had a Santa Claus," said Jack regretfully. "What are you doing, Carter?"
"Just wait a minute," he said, keeping busily on with the manipulation of an orange. Every one's eyes were upon him as he deftly cut away the skin, made eyes of raisins, a nose of a candied cherry, daubed the cheeks with currant jelly, and smeared the chin with the same, then leaning over he took the jeweler's cotton from the box containing Mrs. Roberts' Chinese figure, made a beard and hair of it, stuck the orange on top of a larger one by means of matches, made arms of flower stalks, and legs of orange twigs, a tiny pipe was improvised and stuck in the mouth of the figure, then with a flourish Carter presented it to Mr. Pinckney who received it amid shouts of laughter.