THE RED RUGS OF TARSUS
and Mother Christie came down to say good- by, and Socrates with them. The new Ameri- can Consul had just arrived from Patras. (He turned out to be a college classmate of Herbert's!) A christening party was impro- vised for our farewell. So Scrappie got her name, Christine Este, and the Consul gave a combination birth and baptismal certificate, with the Eagle stamped upon it. I wore my blue dimity dress. Herbert put a big rocking- chair behind me, so that I could flop down in it the first minute I felt tired. Scrappie wore the prettiest of her long dresses, and under her chin was tucked an Indian embroidered handkerchief that Mrs. Doughty- Wylie had long ago given me against the christening day. It was an odd gathering, missionaries, Eng- lish and American naval officers, sailors from the warships, Armenian friends, some of our boys, including Socrates, and others I did not know who came to help eat the cake and drink the sherbet. In the Orient, one's door is open [189]
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