dress that quite outshone the bride's dress,
only no one noticed it; but it was all lace and had tiny little pink
buds caught in the flounces, and she wore a beautiful hat with white
feathers.
The bride wore a white dress and a long white veil, and there were tiny
white flowers all around her head which held the veil in place.
But Takeo was far from looking the bridegroom, to Paper Doll's way of
thinking, though Marie Doll gave him no thought at all, for she thought
the bride was the important one, and as she told Frieda Doll, "You have
to have a bridegroom to be a bride, of course; but really he is not of
any importance that I can see."
They had been married a week, and, while Marie talked to Takeo, he, of
course, did not take the least notice of what she said. "Poor fellow,
he cannot understand," said Marie Doll. "He won't be any trouble,
though, because I shall be able to do as I like. He cannot tell me not
to."
"These foreigners, my dear," said Paper Doll, "are sometimes unpleasant
to live with. I cannot see how you came to marry him. Do make him
wear men's clothes."
"Oh, I think he looks quite out of the ordinary, and everyone stares at
him when we go out riding in the park with the little mistress," said
Marie Doll. "As I am French, you see we both are foreigners, so that
does not matter; and then, dear, Takeo is so comfortable to live with.
He is no bother at all."
But one night Marie Doll awoke to find her husband quite a different
man from what she thought, for beside her sat two little Japanese dolls.
When the clock struck twelve Marie Doll called to everyone: "Come quick
and see my baby girls!"
"Oh, dear! they look just like Takeo," said Paper Doll. "This place
will be filled with foreigners. It is too bad."
"I shall change their clothes at once," said Marie Doll.
And then it was Marie Doll and all the toys got the surprise of their
lives, for from the corner where he sat came Takeo, and when he stood
in front of his wife, he said, "Madam will not change the clothes of
our sons."
When Marie recovered from her surprise, she gasped: "Sons! They are
daughters!"
"They are sons, madam, and sons they will remain!" said Takeo, looking
at Marie very steadily.
"I thought you could not understand or speak our language," said Marie,
while all the others stood looking at Takeo in astonishment.
"I was made in this country, and so were you; but I was made to
represent a Japanese g
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