ained. "I--I don't know...." The
General smiled lazily and patted the finger, picking at the great
sapphire.

"How soft its hands are," said the Princess. "They slip off, they
are so smooth! And how good--does it never cry?" This she said half
to herself, and Caroline and Miss Honey, knowing there was no need
to answer her, came and leaned against her knee unconsciously, and
twinkled their fingers at the baby.

"Hello, General! Hello!" they cried softly, and the General smiled
impartially at them and caressed the lady's finger.

The Princess stroked his cheek. "What a perfectly exquisite skin!"
she said, and bending over him, kissed him delicately.

"How good it smells--how--how different!" she murmured. "I thought
they--I thought they didn't."

Miss Honey had taken the lady's other hand, and was examining the
square ruby with a diamond on either side.

"My mother says that's the principal reason to have a baby," she
remarked, absorbed in the glittering thing. "You sprinkle 'em all
over with violet powder--just like doughnuts with sugar--and kiss
'em. Some people think they get germs that way, but my mother says
if she couldn't kiss 'em she wouldn't have 'em!"

The Princess bent over the baby again.

"It's going to sleep here!" she said, half fearfully, with an
inquiring glance at the two. "Oughtn't one to rock it?"

Miss Honey shook her head severely. "Not General," she answered, "he
won't stand it. My mother tried again and again--could I take that
blue ring a minute? I'd be awful careful--but he wouldn't. He sits
up and he lies down, but he won't rock."

"I might sing to him," suggested the Princess, brushing a damp lock
from the General's warm forehead and slipping her ringless finger
into his curved fist carefully. "Would he like it?"

"No, he wouldn't," said Miss Honey bluntly, twisting the ring around
her finger. "He only likes two people to sing--Delia and my mother.
Was that ruby ring a 'ngagement ring?"

Caroline interfered diplomatically. "General would be very much
obliged," she explained politely, "except that my Aunt Deedee is a
very good singer indeed, and Uncle Joe says General's taste is
ruined for just common singing."

The Princess stared at her blankly.

"Oh, indeed!" she remarked. Then she smiled again in that whimsical
expressive way. "You don't think I could sing well enough for
him--as well as your mother?"

[Illustration: With a great sweep of her arm, she brushed aside a
po