"Do let Dawn stay to tea, father," Christina begged. "I've had mine out, but he has had none."
But Dawn was already flying down the broad staircase. Looking up when he reached the bottom, he waved his cap.
"Good-bye, you proper people. I like tea with dad better than with the King himself! And I'll come round and see you to-morrow Tina!"
[CHAPTER XIII]
MISS BERTHA'S BONNET
"OF course you must take home presents for everybody. People always buy things when they come to London, and we'll begin with a present for Miss Bertha!"
It was Dawn who spoke. The three children were in Kensington Gardens. Blanche was with them, but she was now on a seat reading a book. They had been having a series of games, and, tired out, were consulting as to the next move.
"What can we buy her?" asked Christina. "It must be something very, very nice."
"The great thing," said Dawn wisely, "is to give people what they like, not what you like yourself. When I was a small kid I gave dad a penny trumpet on his birthday. He didn't pitch it out of the window, but he pretended he liked it. Of course I know better now, and I generally give him some tobacco."
"We've got to think what old ladies like," asserted Puggy. "My sister Ena gave the old women in the almshouses a pound of tea and a shawl."