autiful china
dinner-service which her godmother had sent her, and absorbed in cooking
all manner of wonderful dishes for a grand dolls' feast, for which she
was sending invitations to all her dolls, young and old, ugly and
pretty, armless, footless, as were some, in the perfection of Parisian
toilettes as were others. For she had, like most only daughters, an
immense collection of dolls, though she was not as fond of them as many
little girls.

"I thought you didn't much care for dolls. It was one of the things I
liked you for at the first," said Hugh, in a slightly aggrieved tone of
voice. Lessons were over, and the children were busy at the important
business of cooking the feast. Hugh didn't mind the cooking; he had even
submitted to a paper cap which Jeanne had constructed for him on the
model of that of the "chef" downstairs; he found great consolation in
the beating up an egg which Marcelline had got for them as a great
treat, and immense satisfaction in watching the stewing, in one of
Jeanne's toy pans on the nursery fire, of a preparation of squashed
prunes, powdered chocolate, and bread crumbs, which was to represent a
"ragout a la"--I really do not remember what.

"I thought you didn't care for dolls, Jeanne," Hugh repeated. "It would
be ever so much nicer to have all the animals at our feast. We could put
them on chairs all round the table. That _would_ be some fun."

"They wouldn't sit still one minute," said Jeanne. "How funny you are to
think of such a thing, Cheri! Of course it would be fun if they _would_,
but fancy Dudu and Grignan helping themselves with knives and forks like
people."

Jeanne burst out laughing at the idea, and laughed so heartily that Hugh
could not help laughing too. But all the same he said to himself,

"I'm sure Dudu and the others _could_ sit at the table and behave like
ladies and gentlemen if they chose. How _very_ funny of Jeanne to forget
about all the clever things they did! But it is no use saying any more
to her. It would only make us quarrel. There must be two Jeannes, or
else 'they,' whoever they are, make her forget on purpose."

And as Hugh, for all his fancifulness, was a good deal of a philosopher,
he made up his mind to amuse himself happily with little Jeanne as she
was. The feast was a great success. The dolls behaved irreproachably,
with which their owner was rather inclined to twit Hugh, when, just at
the end of the banquet, greatly to his satisfaction, a