in the distinct, loud tone she used for persons not understanding her
own language.

The girls exclaimed and admired and Mr. Campbell was delighted. He felt a
kind of reverence for the old man's simple unaffected love of beauty. In
the meantime, the regiment of servants who had witnessed and enjoyed the
ceremony of presenting the first cherry blossoms to the master and
mistress of the house retired to their various occupations.

The pleasure and surprise of the foreigners over the beauty of the cherry
blossoms would be a memory for these humble people to cherish all their
lives. Perhaps they had never seen the like before, these honorable
barbarians; certainly nothing so perfect as the double blossom, of a
delicacy and shade not to be surpassed.

Later at the breakfast table Billie concocted a scheme.

"Papa," she began, "can't we take the 'Comet' and go sight-seeing? It
would be such fun, and while the 'rikshas are very nice, we are so
separated, we can't all sympathize together as we usually do."

"A kind of sympathy in detachments, is it?" asked Mr. Campbell. "But I
wanted to go with you on your first ride in the 'Comet.' I don't know
just how the people will take to a girl's driving a red 'devil-wagon,' as
they call it."

"Why not let Komatsu go along?"

"What do you think, Cousin?" asked Mr. Campbell.