brought several small presents besides the crochet hook, a pipe for
his father, and two other trifles--a small vase and a photograph of a
plant which was the pride of the Berlin gardens that year--an aloe, no
yucca, but one of the true rare blooming sort, in full flower. Julia
was asked to take her choice of these two; she chose the photograph
because it seemed to her much more characteristic of the giver, and
also because it was easier to put away. She had no idea of pleasing
Joost by so doing; to tell the truth she hardly felt desirous of
pleasing him, for though she had refrained from taking his blue
daffodil and was in a way satisfied that she had done so, she did not
feel exactly grateful to him for unconsciously standing between her
and it, from which some may conclude that virtue was not an indigenous
plant with Julia.

When Denah arrived after dinner she was given the vase. Before Joost
went away she had expressed in his hearing a wish that she had
something from Berlin; she had said it rather pronouncedly as one
might express a desire for a bear from the Rocky Mountains, or a ruby
from Burmah; she could hardly have received one of those with more
enthusiasm than she did the vase. She admired it from every point of
view and thanked Joost delightedly; the delight, however, was a little
modified when Mijnheer let slip the fact that Julia also had a present
from Berlin.

"Have you?" she asked suspiciously. "What is it? Show me."

Julia fetched the photograph and exhibited it with as little elation
as possible. Denah did not admire it greatly, she said she much
preferred her own present.