Mag's warning.

"Aren't we perfectly grand?" she demanded. "Did you ever see _anything_
as beautiful as us? See my gloves--almost as long as my arms! And my
neck doesn't look so awfully bony, does it? There's lots of it, anyway,
and it's white." She inflated her chest to full capacity, and looked
around the circle for approval. Philip was there, as well as Professor
Thorpe, who had come to fetch them in the Ark. Each had boxes in their
hands.

"O-oh!" cried Jacqueline in delight. "Presents! What have you brought
us?"

Professor Thorpe's boxes proved to contain flowers, and Philip presented
to each of them a charming antique fan.

"Why, Reverend! How did you know girls used such things? It must be your
French blood cropping out."

"I found them among mother's things," he explained, "and I knew she
would like you to have them."

The girl sobered, and stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. Jemima thanked
him quietly, and laid her fan on a table. Philip and Kate exchanged a
quick glance of understanding. It was evident that she meant to accept
nothing from a Benoix. Young Jemima Kildare was of the stuff that makes
the Kentucky blood-feuds possible.

There was an awkward pause, broken by Professor Thorpe. "We ought to be
starting, I think. The Ark, while willing, has its little weaknesses,
and it would not do for my guests to arrive and find neither host nor
guests of honor present."

"Wait a moment," said Kate. "I, too, have presentations to make."

She produced two white velvet boxes bearing the name of a famous New
York jeweler.

"Oh, what pretty little pinky-white beads!" cried Jacqueline, clasping
hers about her throat and prancing to a mirror to observe the effect.

Jemima examined hers, and then looked quickly at her mother.

"Are they pearls?" she asked.

"Yes," said Kate. "Small ones, but a good investment, I think. Some day
when you're older, girlies, perhaps you'll like to remember that your
mother earned the money that bought them." She spoke to both of them,
but it was to Jemima that her unconscious plea was made.

The older girl hesitated. Then she murmured, "Thank you, Mother. They
are beautiful," and fastened them about her throat.

Kate gave a little sigh of relief, echoed by James Thorpe. Both had
feared for a moment that she would refuse her mother's gift as she had
refused Philip's.

"Come, come," said Professor Thorpe, "we really must start. Two hours'
drive before us!"

Jacqueline clu