"PASTURES NEW"
"Dis mawnin' early come a black man—black man wid a black mus-tash, and one ob dem fezzies on. He said, 'Gib dis to young Fen Eifendi,—he know.' I say, 'I ain't offended nobuddy.' But I tuk dis yer little passel, though I done distrus' sech a lookin' man. I thought mebbe—"
"That's quite enough, Jackson," said Mrs. Norvell, from behind the coffee-urn.
"'Scuse me, missis, 'scuse me!" muttered the steward, withdrawing. "Jest 'splainin'—"
Fen tucked the package beside him, whither the eyes of his cousins followed it.
"Is it from your Djinn? Aren't you going to even look at it?" they demanded in chorus.
"I know perfitly well what's in it," said Fen, imperturbably.
The first moment he was alone, however, he opened the parcel, which contained, sure enough, the little black box
67
