"And why not five, since you are adding to the number," asked Mary.
"Meaning for the fifth the beauteous lady who lingers in her room?" he demanded.
"She out-graces us all," exclaimed Billie. "But what did you bring with you? Do tell us. We are dying of curiosity."
The bachelor's lips twitched with a crafty smile and he shook one finger at them like the sly old comedian he was.
"Walt!" he said, disappearing into the hall and reappearing in a moment with an aged, gnarled dwarf apple tree growing in a green vase, and a lacquered box beautifully inlaid with mother-of-pearl.
"Do you think I have the ghost of a chance?" he asked them in a whisper.
The girls were consumed with giggles.
"Not the ghost," laughed Billie. "She wouldn't stay in Japan, not if you brought her all the Emperor's chrysanthemums in a single bunch."
"But what's in the box, Mr. Buxton?" demanded Nancy.
"You shall see," he answered. "Wait until the Fifth Grace appears."