to the bazaar to assist
in bargaining; then, coming by chance across a good specimen, it might
have occurred to a generously-minded man to secure it in its turn.
Katrine would have found the whole transaction natural enough if the
gift had been offered through Dorothea's mediumship--But to write
direct!

A letter! What would that letter contain? A few brief lines of formal
explanation; a colourless, characteristic thing, as lifeless as the
sheet on which it was written? Assuredly so. How in the name of
fortune could it be anything else? Katrine stifled a stab of
disappointment, and set herself resolutely to foretell the words which
she was presently to read.

"Dear Miss Beverley--Dear Madame--Knowing your liking for old brass--
um--um--I am taking the liberty of forwarding--" No! that's too sudden
and businessy.--He _must_ offer some sort of explanation... "Coming
across this old box the other day in the bazaar, and knowing your liking
for old brass, I consulted with Mrs Middleton as to whether I might
venture--" "Really, it's horribly difficult! Why didn't he just put in
a card, and leave it to Doll to explain? I must accept, of course; it
would be churlish to refuse, but as to answering _nicely_, that's
another matter! A few lines in the third person would be the best way
out of the difficulty--"

"A parcel for you, miss."

The waitress brought in a small box, oblong in shape, sealed and tied
with a security which bespoke a long journey. Katrine's hasty hands
scattered the wrappings on the floor, and even as they fell, the musty,
pungent smell of the East filled the air, and her eyes looked with
surprise upon a cedar-wood box, carved, and inlaid with delicate skill.
Cedar wood! but Dorothea had said _brass_. It seemed inexplicable that
the offering should consist of a thing in which she took no special
interest. Katrine's hands weighed it carefully, and discovered an
unexpected weight; she prized off the lid, and beheld yet a second
parcel, wrapped in soft, rough silk. Ah! here came the brass. She drew
her breath with a quick gasp of delight as the treasure came into
sight,--a long, flat-shaped box, deeply carved with letterings, mingled
with the most grotesque of figures. Katrine's growing experience made
her aware of its antiquity. No other item in her possession was worthy
to be named in comparison. It was a treasure trove, such as would
delight the heart of the most fastidious collector.

F