“I’m all aglow with good cheer. I could dance and sing. It must be a sort of Christmas spirit in the air. I do adore to get presents. I think I have more curiosity in my nature than you, Molly. Why don’t you open the rest of yours?”
Molly was lost in admiration of a beautiful little copy of Maeterlinck’s “Pelléas et Mélisande” sent to her by Mary Stewart.
“Because I like to eat my cake slowly,” she answered, “and get all the fine flavor without choking myself to death. Oh,” she cried, taking the tissue paper off a small parcel, “how lovely of your mother, Judy, to send me this beautiful lace collar!”
“It’s just like the one she sent me,” answered Judy, as pleased as a child over Molly’s enthusiasm. “But do look in the other boxes. What’s that square thing? If it were mine, I should be palpitating with curiosity.”
If Judy had guessed what the square box contained, she would not have been so eager to precipitate an embarrassing situation.
“Very well, Mistress Judy, we’ll find out immediately what’s inside. Where did it come from, anyway?”
“There’s not the slightest inkling of who sent it,” answered Judy, examining the address printed in a sort of script. “Whoever sent it knew how to do lettering, certainly. But the postmark is smeared.”
Molly cut the string and removed the brown paper wrapping. The article inside the box was folded in a quantity of tissue paper.
“It has as many coverings as a royal Egyptian mummy,” exclaimed Judy impatiently.
It had indeed. After stripping off several layers of paper it was necessary to cut another string before the rest of the paper could be removed.