Chapter 19
SEATON WOKE up, hot and uncomfortable, but with a great surge of joy in his heart—this was his wedding day! Springing out of bed, he released the full stream of 'cold' water, filling the pool in a few moments. Poising lightly on the edge, he made a clean, sharp dive—and yelled in surprise as he came snorting to the surface. For Dunark had made his promise good; the water was only a couple of degrees above freezing point! After a few minutes of swimming and splashing in the icy water he rubbed himself down, shaved, put on shirt and slacks, and lifted his powerful base voice in the wedding chorus from "The Rose Maiden."
"Rise, sweet maid, arise, arise;
"Rise, sweet maid, arise, arise;
" 'Tis the last fair morning for thy maiden eyes,"
he sang lustily, out of his sheer joy in being alive, and was surprised to hear three other voices—soprano, contralto, and tenor—continue the song from the adjoining room. He opened the door.
"Good morning, Dick, you sounded happy," Crane said.
"So did you all, but who wouldn't be? Look what today is!" He embraced Dorothy ardently. "Besides, I found some cold water this morning."
"Everybody within a mile heard you discover it," Dorothy giggled. "We warmed ours up a little. I like a cold bath, too, but not in ice-water. B-r-r-r!"
"But I didn't know you two boys could sing." Margaret said.
"We can't," Seaton assured her. "We just barber-shop it now and then, for fun. But it sounded as though you can really sing."
"I'll say she can sing!" Dorothy exclaimed. "I didn't know it 'til just now, but she's soprano soloist in the First Episcopal, no less!"
"Whee!" Seaton whistled. "If she can stand the strain, we'll have to give this quartet a workout some day—when there's nobody around."
All four became silent, thinking of the coming event of the day, until Crane said, "They have ministers here, I know, and I know something of their religion, but my knowledge is vague. You know more about it than we do, Dick—tell us about it while we wait."
Seaton paused a moment, an odd look on his face. As one turning the pages of an unfamiliar book of reference, he was seeking the answer to Crane's question in the vast store of Osnomian information received from Dunark. He spoke slower than usual, and used much better English, when he replied.
"As well as I can explain it, it's a very peculiar mixture, partly theology, partly Darwinian evolution or its Osnomian equivalent, and partly pure pragmatism or economic determinism. They believe in a supreme being, the First Cause being its nearest English equivalent. They recognize the existence of an immortal and unknowable life-principle, or soul. They believe that the First Cause has laid down the survival of the fittest as the fundamental law, which belief accounts for their perfect physiques. . . ."
"Perfect physiques! Why, they're as weak as children!" Dorothy exclaimed.
"That's because of the low gravity," Seaton explained. "You see, a man of my size weighs only about eighty-six pounds here, on a spring balance, so he wouldn't need any more muscle than a boy of twelve or so on Earth. Either one of you girls could easily handle any two of the strongest men on Osnome. It'd probably take all the strength Dunark has, just to stand up on Earth.
"Considering that fact, they are magnificently developed. They have attained this state by centuries of weeding out the unfit. They have no hospitals for the feeble-minded or the feeble bodied; all such are executed. The same reasoning accounts for their cleanliness, physical and moral—vice is practically unknown. Clean thinking and clean living are rewarded by the production of a better mental and physical type. . . ."
"Especially since they correct wrong living by those terrible punishments Dunark told us about," Margaret put in.
"Perhaps, although the point is debatable. They also believe that the higher the type, the faster the evolution and the sooner will mankind reach what they call the Ultimate Goal and know all things. Believing as they do that the fittest must survive, and of course thinking themselves the superior type, it is ordained that Mardonale must be destroyed utterly, root and branch.
"Their ministers are chosen from the very fittest, next to the royal family, which is, and must remain, tops. If it doesn't, it ceases to be the royal family and a fitter family takes over. Anyway, ministers are strong, vigorous, and clean, and are almost always high army officers as well as ministers."
An attendant announced the coming of the emperor and his son, to pay the call of state; and, after the ceremonious greetings had been exchanged, all went into the dining-hall for first-meal. After eating, Seaton brought up the question of the double wedding. The emperor was overjoyed.
"Karfedix Seaton, nothing could please us more than to have such a ceremony performed in our palace. Marriage between such highly-evolved persons as are you four is demanded by the First Cause, whose servants we all are. Aside from that, it is an unheard of honor for any ruler to have even one other karfedix married under his roof, and you are granting me the honor of two! I thank you, and assure you that we will do our best to make the occasion memorable."
"Nothing fancy, please," Seaton said. "Just a simple, plain wedding will do very nicely."
"I will summon Karbix Taman to perform the ceremony," Roban said, paying no attention to Seaton's remark. "Our customary time for ceremonies is just before fourth-meal. Is that time satisfactory to all concerned?"
It was entirely satisfactory.
"Dunark, since you are more familiar than I with the customs of our illustrious visitors, you will take charge." Emperor Roban strode out of the room.
Dunark took up his microphone and sent out call after call after call.
Dorothy's eyes sparkled. "They must be going to make a production out of our weddings, Dick—the Karbix is the highest dignitary of the church, isn't he?"
"Yes, as well as being commander-in-chief of all the armed forces of Kondal. Next to Roban he's the most powerful man in the whole empire. They're going to throw a brawl, all right it'll make the biggest
"Uh-huh, I do already." She laughed rapturously. "I'll cry bitter and salty tears all over the place—I don't think. It's you that will suffer—in silence, I hope?"
"As silently as possible—check." He grinned; and she became, all of a sudden, serious.
"I've always wanted a big wedding, Dick—but remember I wanted to give it up and thought I had."
"I'll remember that always, sweetheart. As I have said before and am about to say again, you're a blinding flash and a deafening report—the universe's best."
As Dunark finished his telephoning, Seaton spoke to him.
"Dottie said, a while back, she'd like to have a few yards of that tapestry-fabric for a dress . . . but, says, she's going to get one anyway, only finer and fancier."
"Just so," Dunark agreed. "In high state ceremonials we always wear robes of state. But you two men, for some reason or other, do not wish to wear them?
"We'll wear white slacks and sport shirts. As you know—if you can find the knowledge—while the women of our race go in for ornamental dress, most of the men do not."
"True." Dunark frowned in perplexity. "Another one of those incomprehensible oddities. However, since your dress will be something no Kondalian has ever seen, it will actually be more resplendent than the robes of your brides.
"I have called in our most expert weavers and tailors, to make the gowns. Before they arrive, let us discuss the ceremony and decide what it will be. You are all somewhat familiar with our customs, but on this I make very sure. Each couple is married twice. The first marriage is symbolized by the exchange of plain bracelets. This marriage lasts two years, during which period either may divorce the other by announcing the fact."
"Hmmm . . ." Crane said, "Some such system of trial marriage is advocated among us every few years, but they all so surely degenerate into free love that none has found a foothold."
"We have no such trouble. You see, before the first marriage each couple, from lowest to highest, is given a mental examination. Any person whose graphs show moral turpitude is shot."
No questions being asked, Dunark went on, "At the end of the two years the second marriage, which is indissoluble, is performed. Jeweled bracelets are substituted for the plain ones. In the case of highly-evolved persons, it is permitted that the two ceremonies be combined into one. Then there is a third ceremony, used only in the marriage of persons of the very highest evolution, in which eternal vows are taken and the faidon, the eternal jewel, is exchanged. I am virtually certain that all four of you are in the eternal class, but that isn't enough. I must be absolutely certain. Hence, if either couple elects the eternal ceremony, I must examine that couple here and now. Otherwise, and should one of you be rejected by Tarnan, not only would my head roll, but my father would be intolerably disgraced."
"Huh? Why?" Seaton demanded.
"Because I am responsible," Dunark replied, quietly. "You heard my father give me the responsibility of seeing to it that your marriages, the first of their kind in Kondalian history, are carried out as they should be. If such a frightful thing as a rejection occurred it would be my fault. I would be decapitated, there and then, as an incompetent. My father would kill himself, because only an incompetent would delegate an important undertaking to an incompetent."
"What a code!" Seaton whispered to Crane, under his breath. "What a code !" Then, to Dunark, "But suppose you pass me and Tarnan doesn't? Then what?"
"That cannot possibly happen. Mind graphs do not lie and cannot possibly be falsified. However, there is no coercion. You are at perfect liberty to elect any one of the three marriages you choose. What is your choice?"
"I want to be married for good, the longer the better. I vote for the eternal, Dunark. Bring out your test-kit"
"So do I, Dunark," Dorothy said, catching her breath.
"One question first," Crane said. "Would that mean that my wife would be breaking her vows if she married again after my death?"
"By no means. Young men are being killed every day; their wives are expected to marry again. Most men have more than one wife. Any number of men and women may be linked that way after death—just as in your chemistry varying numbers of atoms unite to form stable compounds."
Crane and Margaret agreed that they, too, wanted to be married forever.
"In your case rings will be substituted for bracelets. After the ceremony you men may discard them if you like."
"Not me!" Seaton declared. "I'll wear them all the rest of my life," and Crane expressed the same thought.
"The preliminary examination, then. Put on these helmets, please." He handed one each to Dorothy and Seaton, and donned one himself. He pressed a button, and instantly the two could read each other's mind to the minutest detail; and each knew that Dunark was reading the minds of both. Moreover, he was studying minutely a device he held in both hands.
"You two pass. I knew you would," he said, and, a couple of minutes later, he said the same thing to Crane and Margaret.
"I was sure," Dunark said, "but in this case knowing it wasn't enough. I had to prove it incontrovertibly. But the robe-makers have been waiting. You two girls will go with them, please."
As the girls left Dunark said, "While I was in Mardonale I heard scraps of talk about a military discovery, besides the gas whose effects we felt. I heard also that both secrets had been stolen from Kondal. There was some gloating, in fact, that we were to be destroyed by our own inventions. I have learned here that what I heard was true."
"Well, that's easily fixed," Seaton said. "Let's get the Skylark fixed up and we'll hop over there and jerk Nalboon out of his palace—if there is any palace and if he's still alive—and read his mind. If not Nalboon, somebody else. Check?"
"It's worth trying anyway," Dunark said. "In any event we must repair the Skylark and replenish her supply of copper as soon as possible."
The three men went out to the wrecked spaceship and went through it with care. Inside damage was extensive and serious; many instruments were broken, including one of the object compasses focused upon Earth.
"It's a good thing you had three of 'em, Mart. I've got to hand it to you for using the old think-tank," Seaton said, as he tossed the useless equipment out upon the dock.
"Better save them, Dick," Dunark said. "You may have use for them later."
"Uh-uh. All they're good for is scrap."
"Then I'll save them. I may need that kind of scrap, some day." He issued orders that all discarded instruments and apparatus were to be stored.
"Well, I suppose the first thing to do is to set up some hydraulic jacks and start straightening," Seaton said.
"Why not throw away this soft stuff and build it of arenak?" Dunark suggested. "You have plenty of salt."
"That's really a thought. Yes, two years' supply. Around a hundred pounds, at a guess."
Dunark"s eyes widened at the amount mentioned, in spite of his knowledge of Earthly conditions. He started to say something, then stopped in confusion, but Seaton knew his thought.
"Sure, we can let you have thirty pounds or so; can't we, Mart?"
"Certainly. In view of what they are doing for us, I'd insist on it."
Dunark acknowledged the gift with shining eyes and heartfelt, but not profuse, thanks. He himself carried the precious stuff, escorted by a small army of commissioned officers, to the palace. He returned with a full construction crew; and, after making sure that the power-bar would work as well through arenak as through steel, he fired machine-gun-like instructions at the several foremen, then turned again to Seaton.
"Just one more thing and the men can begin. How thick do you want the walls? Our battleships carry one inch. We can't make it any thicker for lack of salt. But you have salt to give away; and, since we're doing this by an exact-copy process, I'd suggest four feet, same as you have now, to save a lot of time in making drawings and redesigning your gun-mounts and so on."
"I see. Not that we'll ever need it . . . but it would save a lot of time . . . and besides, we're used to it. Go ahead."
Dunark issued more orders. Then, as the mechanics set to work without a useless motion, he stood silent, immersed in thought.
"Worrying about Mardonale, Dunark?"
"Yes. I can't help thinking about that new weapon, whatever it is, that Nalboon now has."
"Why not build another ship, exactly like this one you're building, with four feet of arenak, and simply blow Mardonale off the map?"
"Building the ship would be easy enough, but X is completely unknown. In fact, as you know, it cannot exist here."
"You'd have to be ungodly careful with it, that's sure. But we've got a lot of it—we can give you a chunk of it."
"I could not accept it. It isn't like the salt."
"Sure it is. We can get a million tons of it any time we want it." He carried one of the lumps to the airlock and tossed it out upon the dock. "Take this nugget and get busy"
Seaton watched, entranced, as the Kondalian mechanics set to work with skills and with tools undreamed of on Earth. The whole interior of the vessel was supported by a complex falsework; then the plates and members were cut away as though they were made of paper. The sphere, grooved for the repellors and with the columns and central machinery complete, was molded of a stiff, plastic substance. This soon hardened into a rocklike mass, into which all necessary openings were carefully cut.
Then the structure was washed with a very dilute solution of salt, by special experts who took extreme pains not to lose or waste any fraction of a drop. Platinum plates were clamped into place and silver cables as large as a man's leg were run to the terminals of a tight-beam power station. Current was applied and the mass became almost invisible, transformed into transparent arenak.
Then indeed the Earth people had a vehicle such as had never been seen before. A four-foot shell of a substance five hundred times as strong and hard as the strongest and hardest steel, cast in one piece with the sustaining framework designed by the world's foremost engineer—a structure that no conceivable force could injure, housing inconceivable force!
The falsework was removed. Columns, members, and braces were painted black to render them plainly visible. The walls of the cabins were also painted, several areas being left transparent to serve as windows.
The second period of work was drawing to a close, and Seaton and Crane both marveled at what had been accomplished.
"Both vessels will be finished tomorrow, except for the instruments and so on for ours. Another crew will work during the sleeping-period, installing the guns and fittings."
Since the wedding was to be before fourth-meal, all three went back to the palace, Crane and Seaton to get dressed, Dunark to make sure that everything was as it should be.
Seaton went into Crane's room, accompanied by an attendant carrying his suitcase.
"No dress suits—shame on you!" Seaton chided. "I thought you'd thought of everything. You're slipping, little chum."
"I'm afraid so," Crane agreed, equably. "You covered it very nicely, though. Congratulations on your quick thinking. Only Dunark will know that whites are not our most formal dress."
"And he won't tell," Seaton said.
Dunark came in some time later.
"Give us a look," Seaton begged. "See if we pass inspection. I was never so rattled in my life; and the more I think about this brainstorm I had about wearing whites the less I think of it . . . but can't think of anything else we've got that would look half as good."
They were clad in spotless white, from tennis shoes to open collars. The two tall figures—Crane's slender, wiry, at perfect ease; Seaton's, broad-shouldered, powerful, prowling about with unconscious suppleness and grace—and the two high-bred faces, each wearing a look of keen anticipation, fully justified Dunark's answer.
"You'll do, fellows, and I'm not just chomping my choppers, either." With Seaton's own impulsive good-will he shook hands with them both and wished them an eternity of happiness.
"The next item on the agenda is for you to talk with your brides . . . ."
"Before the ceremony?" Seaton asked.
"Yes. This cannot be waived. You take them . . . No, you don't. That's one detail I missed. You—especially the girls—would think our formal procedure at this point somewhat indec . . . anyway, not quite nice in public. You put your arms around them and kiss them, is all. Come on."
Dorothy and Margaret had been dressed in their bridal gowns by Dunark's six wives, under the watchful eyes of his mother, the First Karfedix herself. Sitar stood the two side by side, then drew off to survey the effect.
"You are the loveliest things in the whole world!" she cried.
"Except for this horrible light," Dorothy mourned. "I wish they could see what we really look like—I'd like to, myself."
There was a peal of delighted laughter from Sitar and she spoke to one of the maids, who drew dark curtains over the windows, and pressed a switch, flooding the room with pure white light.
"Dunark made these lamps," Sitar said, with intense satisfaction. "I knew exactly how you'd feel."
The two Earthmen and Dunark came in. For moments nothing was said. Seaton stared at Dorothy, hungrily and almost doubting his eyes. For white was white, pink was pink, and her gorgeous hair shone in all its natural splendor of burnished bronze.
In their wondrous Kondalian bridal costumes the girls were beautiful indeed. They wore heavily-jeweled slippers, above which were tiered anklets, each a glaze of gems. Their arms and throats were so covered with sparkling, scintillating bracelets, necklaces, and pendants that little bare skin was to be seen. And the gowns!
They were softly shimmering garments infinitely more supple than the finest silk, thick-woven of metallic threads of a fineness unknown to Earth, garments that floated about or clung to those beautifully-curved bodies in lines of exquisite grace.
For black-haired Margaret, with her ivory skin, the Kondalian princess had chosen an almost-white metal, upon which, in complicated figures, sparkled numberless jewels of pastel shades. Dorothy's gown was of a dark and lustrous green, its fabric half hidden by an intricate design of blazing green and flaming crimson gems—the strange, luminous jewels of this strange world.
Each wore her long, heavy hair almost unbound, after the Kondalian bridal fashion: brushed until it fell like a shining mist, confined only from temple to temple by a structure of jewels in rare-metal filigree.
Seaton looked from Dorothy to Margaret, then back to Dorothy. He looked into violet eyes, deep with wonder and with love, more beautiful than any jewels in all her gorgeous costume. Disregarding the notables who had been filing into the room, she placed her hands on his shoulders; he placed his on her smoothly rounded hips.
"I love you, Dick. Now and always," she said, and her own violin had no more wonderful tones than did her voice.
"I love you, Dot. Now and always," he replied; and then they both forgot all about protocol; but the demonstration apparently satisfied Kondalian requirements.
Dorothy, eyes shining, drew herself away from Seaton and glanced at Margaret.
"Isn't she the most beautiful thing you ever laid eyes on?"
"She certainly is not—but I'll let Mart keep on thinking she is."
Accompanied by the emperor and his son, Seaton and Crane went into the chapel which, already brilliant, had been decorated anew with even greater splendor. Through wide arches the Earthmen saw for the first time Osnomians wearing clothing; the great room was filled with the highest nobility of Kondal, wearing their resplendent robes of state.
As the men entered one door Dorothy and Margaret, with the empress and Sitar, entered the other. The assemblage rose to its feet and snapped into the grand salute. Martial music crashed and the two parties marched toward each other, meeting at a raised platform on which stood the Karbix Taman, a handsome, stately man who carried easily his eighty years of age. Taman raised both arms; the music ceased.
It was a solemn and impressive spectacle. The room of burnished metal with its bizarre decorations, the constantly-changing harmony of color from invisible lamps, the group of nobles standing rigidly at attention in an utter absence of all sound as the karbix lifted his arms in invocation of the First Cause—all these things deepened the solemnity of that solemn moment.
When Taman spoke, his voice, deep with some great feeling inexplicable even to those who knew him best, carried clearly to every part of the great chamber.
"Friends, it is our privilege today to assist in a most notable event, the marriage of four personages from another world. For the first time in the history of Osnome has one karfedix the honor of entertaining the bridal party of another. It is not for this fact alone, however, that this occasion is to be memorable. A far deeper reason is that we are witnessing, possibly for the first time in the history of the universe, the meeting upon terms of mutual fellowship and understanding of the inhabitants of two worlds separated by unthinkable distances of trackless space and by equally great differences in evolution, conditions of life, and environment. Yet these strangers are actuated by the spirit of good faith and honor which is instilled into every worthy being by the great First Cause, in the working out of whose vast projects all things are humble instruments.
"In honor of the friendship of the two worlds, we will proceed with the ceremony.
"Richard Seaton and Martin Crane, exchange plain rings with Dorothy Vaneman and Margaret Spencer."
They did so, and repeated, after the karbix, simple vows of love and loyalty.
"May the First Cause smile upon this temporary marriage and render it worthy of permanence. As a servant and agent of the First Cause I pronounce you two and you two husband and wife. But we must remember that the dull vision of mortal man cannot pierce the veil of the future which is as crystal to the all beholding eyes of the First Cause. Though you love each other truly some unforeseen thing may come between you to mar the perfection of your happiness. Therefore a time is granted you during which you will discover whether or not your unions are perfect."
After a pause Taman went on.
"Martin Crane, Margaret Spencer, Richard Seaton, Dorothy Vaneman : you are before us to take the final vows which will bind your bodies together for life and your spirits together for eternity. Have you considered the gravity of this step sufficiently to enter into this marriage without reservation?"
"I have," the four replied in unison.
"Don, for a moment, the helmets before you"
They did so, and upon each of four oscilloscope screens there appeared hundreds of irregular lines. Dead silence held while Taman studied certain traces upon each of the four giant screens, which were plainly visible to everyone in the room.
"I have seen—each man and woman of this congregation has seen—that each one of you four visiting personages is of the evolutionary state required for eternal marriage. Remove the helmets . . . exchange the jeweled rings. Do you each individually swear, in the presence of the First Cause and before the supreme justices of Kondal, that you will be true and loyal, each helping his chosen one in all things, great and small; that never, throughout eternity, in thought or in action, will your mind or your body or your spirit stray from the path of truth and honor?"
"I do."
"I pronounce you married with the eternal marriage. Just as the faidon which each of you wears—the eternal jewel which no force of man is able to change or to deform and which gives off its inward light without change and without end—shall endure through endless cycles of time after the metal of the ring that holds it shall have crumbled in decay: even so shall your spirits, formerly two, now one and indissoluble, progress in ever ascending evolution throughout eternity after the base material which is your bodies shall have commingled with the base material from which it came."
The karbix lowered his arms and the bridal party walked to the door through ranks of uplifted weapons. They were led to another room, where the contracting parties signed their names in a register. Dunark then produced two marriage certificates plates of a brilliant purple metal, beautifully engraved in parallel columns of English and Kondalian script and heavily bordered with precious stones. The principals and witnesses signed below each column and the signatures were engraved into the metal.
They were then escorted to the dining-hall, where a truly royal repast was served. Between courses the nobles welcomed the visitors and wished them happiness. After the last course Taman spoke, his voice again agitated by the emotion that had puzzled his hearers during the marriage service.
"All Kondal is with us here in spirit, joining us in welcoming these our guests, of whose friendship no greater warrant could be given than their willingness to grant us the privilege of their marriage. Not only have they given us a boon that will make their names revered throughout the nation as long as Kondol shall exist, but also they have been the means of showing us plainly that the First Cause is upon our side; that our ages-old institution of honor is in truth the only foundation upon which can be built a race worthy to survive. At the same time they have been the means of showing us that our hated foe, entirely without honor, building his race upon a foundation of bloodthirsty savagery alone, is building wrongly and must perish utterly from the face of Osnome."
His hearers listened, impressed by his earnestness, but not understanding his meaning, and he went on, with a deep light shining in his eyes.
"You do not understand? It is inevitable that two peoples as different as are our two should be possessed of widely-differing knowledges and abilities. These friends, from their remote world, have already made it possible for us to construct engines of destruction which will obliterate Mardonale completely—"
A fierce shout of joy interrupted the speaker and the nobles sprang to their feet, saluting the visitors with weapons held aloft. As soon as they had reseated themselves Taman went on.
"That is the boon. The vindication of our evolution is as easily explained. These friends landed first in Mardonale. Had Nalboon met them in honor, he would have gained the boon. But he attempted to kill his guests and steal their treasures, with what results you already know. We, however, in exchange for the few and trifling services we have been able to render them, have received even more of value than Nalboon would have obtained, even had his plans not been nullified by their vastly higher state of evolution."
There was a clamor of cheering as Taman sat down. The nobles formed themselves into an escort of honor and conducted the two couples to their apartments.
Alone in one of their rooms, Dorothy turned to her husband with tears shining in her eyes.
"Dick, sweetheart, wasn't that the most wonderful thing you ever heard of? Grand, in the old meaning of the word—really grand. And that old man was simply superb. I'll never get over it"
"It was all of that, Dot. It got down to where I lived. So much so that I stopped having the jitters as soon as it started."
But, manlike, Seaton had had enough of solemnity for one day. "But do you know that I haven't had a good look at you yet, under light I can see by? Stand over there, beautiful, and let me feast my eyes."
"I will not." She responded instantly to his mood. "I haven't seen myself, either, and that's just as important . . ."
"More so," he said, with a wide and happy smile. "So we'll go over to that full-length mirror and both feast our eyes."
"Of course I saw Peggy, for about a second, but I can't tell much from that. She's su—" She broke off in the middle of a one-syllable word and stared into the mirror.
"That," she gasped, "is me? I, I mean? Dorothy Vaneman—I mean Seaton?"
"That is Dorothy Seaton," he assured her. "Yes. Irrevocably so."
She stuck out a foot, the better to examine the slipper. She lifted her gown well above her knees and studied anklets and legbands. She put her hands on her hips and wriggled, setting everything above the waist into motion. She turned around and repeated the performance, to watch the ornaments dance on her far-from-niggardly expanse of back. She studied the towering, fantastically-jeweled headdress. Then she turned to Seaton, sheer delight spreading over her expressive face.
"You know what, Dick?" she exclaimed, gleefully. "I'm going to wear this whole regalia, just exactly as it is, to the President's Ball!"
"You wouldn't. You couldn't. Nobody could have that much nerve."
"That's what you think. But you aren't a woman—thanks be! Just wait and see. You know that red-headed copy-cat, Maribel Whitcomb?"
"I've heard you mention her—unfavorably."
"Just wait 'til she sees this, the be-hennaed, be-padded vixen! Her eyes still stick out as though they had stalks, and she'll die of envy and frustration right there on the floor—she can't even try to copy this!"
"Check—to even more than the proverbial nineteen decimals. But we've got to change, or we'll be late."
"Uh-huh, I suppose so." Dorothy kept on looking backward at the mirror as they walked away. "One thing's sure, though, Dickie mine. I don't know about the 'deafening report' part, but I certainly am a blinding flash !"