"I brought you a little present," he said when she had finished.
She took the package he handed her, exclaiming with a slight flush of embarrassment, "A s'prise! Nobody but Dan ever gave me a present." Then her eyes darkened with suspicion. "Did you bring me this because of what I did?"
"Now don't be silly! I knew nothing about your part in the comedy until Doc told me. You are a most difficult person."
Slowly she unwrapped the parcel, and then with a gasp lifted a splendidly embroidered kimono from its box.
"Oh-h!" Her eyes were round and astonished. "Oh-h! It's for ME!"
It was a regal garment of heavy silk, superbly ornamented with golden dragons, each so cunningly worked that it seemed upon the point of taking wing. "Why, their eyes glitter! And—they'd breathe fire if I jabbed them. Oh-h!" She stared at the gift in helpless amazement. "Is it mine, HONESTLY?"
He nodded. "Won't you put it on?"
"Over these things? Never!" Again Miss Appleton blushed, for she recalled that she had prepared for his coming with extraordinary care. Her boots were even stouter than usual, her skirt more plain, her waist more stiff, and her hair more tightly smoothed back. "It would take a fluffy person to wear this. I'll always keep it, of course, and—I'll worship it, but I'm not designed for pretty clothes. I'll let Natalie wear—"
"Natalie has one of her own, done in butterflies, and I brought one to her mother also."
"And you bought this for me after you had seen that fiendish story over my signature?"