Not that the china was of too ordinary a nature to attract, but that the pieces I saw, and indeed the full contents of the shelves, failed to include what I was vaguely in search of and had almost brought my mind into condition to expect.
"Haven't you another closet here ?" I faltered.

"These pieces are pretty, but I am sure you have some that are larger and with the pattern more dispersed--a platter or a vegetable dish." "No, no," murmured Miss Charity, drawing back as she let the door slip from her hand.

"Really, Thankful,"-- this to her sister who was pulling open another door,--"the look of those shelves is positively disreputable--all the old things we have had in the house for years.
Don't--" "Oh, do let me see that old tureen up on the top shelf," I put in.

"I like that." Miss Thankful's long arm went up, and, despite Miss Charity's complaint that it was too badly cracked to handle, it was soon down and placed in my hands.

I muttered my thanks, gave utterance to sundry outbursts of enthusiasm, then with a sudden stopping of my heart-beats, I lifted the cover and-- "Let me set it down," I gasped, hurriedly replacing the cover.