"Why, I guess so. Will it be very long? I'm afraid it will bubble and bubble until somebody hears it. And oh! That darling hat!"
"Not long, I fear."
"I'll try," promised Jeanne.
"Give me that package. Now, run along to bed. I guess everybody else is asleep."
It was a long time before excited Jeanne was able to sleep, however. One by one she was recalling the new garments. She wished that she might have had the new shoes under her pillow for just that one night.
Perhaps the only thing that saved the secret next day was the wonderful tale that she told the children, after she had led them to the farthest corner of the old wharf.
"The beautiful princess," said she, "wore a lovely white thing called a chemise—the prettiest thing there ever was. It was trimmed with lovely lace that had a blue ribbon run through it. There was a beautiful white petticoat over that and on top of that a dress."
"What for," asked Sammy, the inquisitive, "did she cover up her pretty chemise with all those things? Was she cold?"
"Oh, no. Only grand. A chemise is to wear under."
"I'm glad I'm not a princess," said Michael. "Botherin' all the time with blue ribbons. Didn't she wear no crown?"