"They don't see the horror of it at all, you can count on that, Agnes," said Nasmith, not wishing to smile too openly at his sister's point of view. "They won't find it half so horrible as wrestling with forks and knives at dinner to-night."
"I can borrow some chopsticks from the servants."
"Oh no, the experience will be a thrilling one for them to remember. This will be their first introduction to foreign ways. The more highly colored the impression the better they will like it."
Nancy and Edward were called into consultation for the dispatch of a messenger to their father; then they were ushered into the room, where they stood shyly, not daring to take note of their surroundings.
"You must make yourselves at home," said Mrs. Ferris gently. "I am awfully glad my brother brought you here. We'll take good care of you and see that you get back to your father safely. I'll call the children now; they are dying to meet you."
Nancy had only time enough to notice her pleasant face and the oddness of her light wavy hair—it seemed rather untidy to the Chinese taste in the way it was heaped on top of her head—before the children trooped in. She did not wish to stare too curiously, but her interest in seeing Western girls for the first time directed her eyes with irresistible fascination toward the newcomers.
"These are the twins, Helen and Elizabeth," said Mrs. Ferris, as two girls of Nancy's own height came forward. Each of them stretched out her hand, momentarily puzzling Nancy, who had forgotten that this was the foreign way of greeting. She tried to make up for her lapse by hastily putting out her left hand, so that her new friends in their turn were nonplused till frank laughter on all sides set matters right and helped Nancy to feel more at ease.
The girls saved Edward from accident by merely bowing.
"This is David," continued the mother, introducing a boy of twelve, who grasped Nancy's hand warmly before she had time to be perplexed.
"And this is Patricia."