d to get away from the unlucky subject of trunks.

"I don't know," Edith answered, "for I wasn't there. He must have been
surprised and frightened and pleased all at once. How interesting it
must be to have something happen to you that never happened to anybody
before!"

"But it's all happened before," he objected. "Is there anything new
under the sun?"

"It's been new, at one time or another. We're always too late, that's
all. Somebody ate the first oyster and somebody went to sleep first and
somebody wore the first false hair.

"No," she continued, with a rose-pink flush mantling her face, "I don't.
If I did, I wouldn't mind saying so, but Nature gave me quantities of
it, so why should I borrow more? Besides, I don't believe there is any
more like it, so I couldn't, anyway."

"No," he returned, thoughtfully, "I don't believe there is any more like
it, either. Your wish to be first in something is surely gratified, for
there never was such hair as yours and never will be again."

[Sidenote: Red Hair and Auburn]

"Mother's was like it."

He shook his head. "No, it wasn't. I never saw your mother, but I know
better than that."

"Ask your mother. There she is now."

Madame appeared at the head of the stairs, on the way to her room, to
dress for luncheon. She paused to smile at the two who sat on the
window-seat, then would have gone straight on had not Edith called to
her.

"Mrs. Marsh! Isn't my hair exactly like my mother's?"

Madame came to her, turned the shining head a little more toward the
sun, and patted the fluffiness caressingly. "No," she said, "though your
mother had glorious hair, it was nothing like this. Hers was auburn and
smooth, yours is reddish-gold--almost copper-coloured--and fluffy.
Besides, you must have nearly twice as much of it."

"There," said Alden, "I told you so."

"But," persisted Edith, "if it's really copper-coloured, it's common.
Look at the lady on the copper cent, for instance."

"The lady on the copper cent," returned Alden, "is a gentleman who wears
feathers."

"But under his feathers he has hair the colour of this."

"He may not have any hair at all."

[Sidenote: What's the Matter with Her?]

They both laughed, and Madame smiled, though she did not quite
understand what they were talking about. She was still smiling when she
reached her own room, for she found it very pleasant to have Edith
there, and was delighted to have Alden come to a realising sense of hi