under his ceaselessly busy hands.

She did notice with a shudder the appearance of an owl that sat for a
while on his shoulder and then turned into a big fur muff which was all
right as long as he held it, but walked away on four legs when he tossed
it to the floor.

A shower of brilliant things followed like shooting stars; two or three
rose trees grew, budded, and bloomed before her eyes; and he laid the
fresh, sweet blossoms in her hands. They turned to violets later, but
that did not matter; nothing mattered any longer as long as she could lie
there and gaze at him--the most splendid man her maiden eyes had ever
unclosed upon.

About two thousand yards of brilliant ribbons suddenly fell from the
ceiling; she looked at him with something perilously close to a sigh. Out
of an old hat he produced a cage full of parrots; every parrot repeated
her first name decorously, monotonously, until packed back into the hat
and stuffed into a box which was then set on fire.

Her heart was pretty full now; for she was only eighteen and she had been
considering his poverty. So when in due time the box burned out and from
the black and charred _débris_ the parrots stepped triumphantly forth,
gravely repeating her name in unison; and when she saw that the
entertainment was at an end, she rose, setting her ice-cream soda upon a
table, and, although the glass instantly changed into a teapot, she
walked straight up to him and held out her hand.

"I've had a perfectly lovely time," she said. "And I want to say to you
that I have been thinking of several things, and one is that it is