“You want keemono?” inquired Taro, eagerly.
“Yes,” she nodded.
He brought her his own.
She laughed with delight, and Iris and Plum Blossom clapped their hands. What fun to see the yellow-haired one arrayed in a boy’s kimono! But Marion had disappeared with the garment. A few minutes later she returned clad in it, to the uproarious delight of every one.
Taro himself wore with great pride one of Billy’s bathing-suits.
As the sampan moved down the surface of the tiny lake, Marion confided to Plum Blossom, who held one of her hands, while Iris held the other:
“I wanted so much to go into the water, but—I thought you didn’t want me. Oh, dear, I feel so comfy in this dear old loose thing,” she added.
“Tha’s nize,” said Plum Blossom.
“Vaery nize,” agreed Iris.
Summer, sitting in the stern of the boat, opened her paper parasol. The sight of it sent the little girls into another peal of laughter. When Billy upset the boat the parasol had shared the fate of its owner as it was thrust into her obi in front. The effect of its bath was ludicrously apparent. Being of paper, it split in several places as she opened it. Now as she held it loftily above her head, water of several shades of color rolled from it to splash upon its haughty owner, for just at this moment Summer was endeavoring to make an impression upon the sisters. She had succeeded beyond her expectations. The boat rocked with the wild gale of their mirth.