We must have looked horribly guilty , but none of the grown-ups suspected anything . Uncle Alec brought in the axe , and pried off the cover of the old blue chest , while everybody stood around in silence . Then came the unpacking . It was certainly an interesting performance . Aunt Janet and Aunt Olivia took everything out and laid it on the kitchen table . We children were forbidden to touch anything , but fortunately we were not forbidden the use of our eyes and tongues . `` There are the pink and gold vases Grandmother King gave her , '' said Felicity , as Aunt Olivia unwrapped from their tissue paper swathings a pair of slender , old-fashioned , twisted vases of pink glass , over which little gold leaves were scattered . `` Are n't they handsome ? '' `` And oh , '' exclaimed Cecily in delight , `` there 's the china fruit basket with the apple on the handle . Does n't it look real ? I 've thought so much about it . Oh , mother , please let me hold it for a minute . I 'll be as careful as careful . '' `` There comes the china set Grandfather King gave her , '' said the Story Girl wistfully . `` Oh , it makes me feel sad . Think of all the hopes that Rachel Ward must have put away in this chest with all her pretty things . '' Following these , came a quaint little candlestick of blue china , and the two jugs which were to be sent to James ' wife . `` They ARE handsome , '' said Aunt Janet rather enviously . `` They must be a hundred years old . Aunt Sara Ward gave them to Rachel , and she had them for at least fifty years .
I should have thought one would have been enough for XXXXX ' wife .
Alec Cecily James King Olivia Rachel Ward grown-ups jugs old