eally,' thought Mr. Tubbs, 'this is dreadful! What can I do!'

"Just then one of his children ran into the room.

"'Johnny, come to me,' said his father imploringly. 'Come to your
father.'

"'My father!' said Johnny, shying out of the room. 'You ain't my
father. My father isn't as tall as a tree.'

"'You see how absurd your claim is,' said Mrs. Tubbs. 'You'll oblige me
by leaving the house directly.'

"'Leave the house--my house!' said Tubbs.

"'If you don't, I'll call in the neighbors,' said the courageous woman.

"'I don't believe they'd dare to come,' said Tubbs, smiling queerly at
the recollection of what a sensation his appearance had made.

"'Won't you go?'

"'At least you'll let me have some dinner. I am 'most famished.'

"'Dinner!" said Mrs. Tubbs, hesitating. 'I don't think there's enough
in the house. However, you can sit down to the table.'

"Tubbs attempted to sit down on a chair, but his weight was so great
that it was crushed beneath him. Finally, he was compelled to sit on
the floor, and even then his stature was such that his head rose to the
height of six feet.

"What an enormous appetite he had, too! The viands on the table seemed
nothing. He at first supplied his plate with the usual quantity; but as
the extent of his appetite became revealed to him, he was forced to make
away with everything on the table. Even then he was hungry.

"'Well, I declare,' thought Mrs. Tubbs, in amazement, 'it does take an
immense quantity to keep him alive!'

"Tubbs rose from the table, and, in doing so, hit his head a smart whack
against the ceiling. Before leaving the house he turned to make a last
appeal to his wife, who, he could not help seeing, was anxious to have
him go.

"'Won't you own me, Mary?' he asked. 'It isn't my fault that I am so
big.'

"'Own you!' exclaimed his wife. 'I wouldn't own you for a mint of
money. You'd eat me out of house and home in less than a week.'

"'I don't know but I should,' said Mr. Tubbs mournfully. 'I don't see
what gives me such an appetite. I'm hungry now.'

"'Hungry, after you've eaten enough for six!' exclaimed his wife,
aghast. 'Well, I never!'

"'Then you won't let me stay, Mary?'

"'No, no.'

"With slow and sad strides Thomas Tubbs left the house. The world seemed
dark enough to the poor fellow. Not only was he disowned by his wife and
children, but he could not tell how he should ever earn enough to keep
him alive, with the frightful appetite which