for this was not, as Dick explained, a breakfast served by Gunter, but a
dinner suitable to people who had been engaged for some time back. At this
joke no one knew if they should laugh or not, and Mortimer slyly attracted
the attention of the company to Bret and Leslie, who were examining the
cake.

Then all spoke at once of the presents. They were of all sorts, and had
come from different parts of the country. Mr. Cox had given a large diamond
ring. Leslie had presented Kate with a handsome inkstand. Bret had bought
her a small gold bracelet. Dubois, whose fancies were light, offered a fan;
Beaumont, a pair of earrings; Hayes, a cigarette case; Dolly Goddard, a
paper-knife; Montgomery, a brooch which must have cost him at least a
month's salary. Mortimer exclaimed that his wife had been behaving rather
badly lately, and that in consequence he had been unable to obtain from
her--what he had not been able to obtain Dick did not stop to listen to. At
that moment the gold chain, the present from the chorus, caught his eye.
The kindness of the girls seemed to affect him deeply, and, interrupting
Kate, who was thanking her friends for all their tokens of good-will, he
said:

'I must really thank the ladies of the chorus for the very handsome present
they made me. How sorry I am that they are not all here to receive my
thanks I cannot say; but those who are here will, I hope, explain to their
comrades how we were pressed for space.'

'One would think you were refusing a free admission,' snarled Mortimer.

'What a bore that fellow is!' whispered Dick to Mr. Cox, the proprietor of
the company, who had come down from London to arrange some business with
his manager.