"Dear Miss Beverley--Dear Madame--Knowing your liking for old brass-- um--um--I am taking the liberty of forwarding--" No! that's too sudden and businessy.--He _must_ offer some sort of explanation... "Coming across this old box the other day in the bazaar, and knowing your liking for old brass, I consulted with Mrs Middleton as to whether I might venture--" "Really, it's horribly difficult! Why didn't he just put in a card, and leave it to Doll to explain? I must accept, of course; it would be churlish to refuse, but as to answering _nicely_, that's another matter! A few lines in the third person would be the best way out of the difficulty--" "A parcel for you, miss." The waitress brought in a small box, oblong in shape, sealed and tied with a security which bespoke a long journey. Katrine's hasty hands scattered the wrappings on the floor, and even as they fell, the musty, pungent smell of the East filled the air, and her eyes looked with surprise upon a cedar-wood box, carved, and inlaid with delicate skill. Cedar wood! but Dorothea had said _brass_. It seemed inexplicable that the offering should consist of a thing in which she took no special interest. Katrine's hands weighed it carefully, and discovered an unexpected weight; she prized off the lid, and beheld yet a second parcel, wrapped in soft, rough silk. Ah! here came the brass. She drew her breath with a quick gasp of delight as the treasure came into sight,--a long, flat-shaped box, deeply carved with letterings, mingled with the most grotesque of figures. Katrine's growing experience made her aware of its antiquity. No other item in her possession was worthy to be named in comparison. It was a treasure trove, such as would delight the heart of the most fastidious collector. For a moment surprise and admiration engrossed her mind, then quickly following came another thought. The letter!--where was the letter? Was there no letter enclosed? Katrine dashed at the scattered wrappings, shook them apart, and failing to find any trace of what she sought, fumbled with the lid of the box itself. It was tightly jammed, but a little coaxing set it free, and in the cavity lay a sheet of foreign paper, closely covered with a man's strong, well-formed writing.