lico dress.

She waited for no ceremony, but rushed up to Toby, and taking him in her
arms, gave him such a squeeze that there seemed to be every possibility
that she would break all the bones in his body; and she kept him so long
in this bear-like embrace that Mr. Stubbs reached his little brown paws
over and got such a hold of her hair that all present, save Signor
Castro, rushed forward to release her from the monkey's grasp.

"You dear little thing!" said Mrs. Treat, paying but slight attention to
the hair-pulling she had just undergone, and holding Toby at
arm's-length, so that she could look into his face, "you were so late
that I was afraid you wasn't coming; and my dinner wouldn't have tasted
half so good if you hadn't been here to eat some."

Toby hardly knew what to say for this hearty welcome, but he managed to
tell the large and kind-hearted lady that he had had no idea of missing
the dinner, and that he was very glad she wanted him to come.

"Want you to come, you dear little thing!" she exclaimed, as she gave
him another hug, but careful not to give Mr. Stubbs a chance of grasping
her hair again. "Of course I wanted you to come, for this dinner has
been got up so that you could meet these people here, and so that they
could see you."

Toby was entirely at a loss to know what to say to this overwhelming
compliment, and for that reason did not say anything, only submitting
patiently to the third hug, which was all Mrs. Treat had time to give
him, as she was obliged to rush behind the canvas screen again, as there
were unmistakable sounds of something boiling over on the stove.

"You'll excuse me," said the skeleton, with an air of dignity, waving
his hand once more toward the assembled company, "but, while introducing
you to Mr. Tyler, I had almost forgotten to introduce him to you. This,
ladies and gentlemen"--and here he touched Toby on the shoulder, as if
he were some living curiosity whose habits and mode of capture he was
about to explain to a party of spectators--"is Mr. Toby Tyler, of whom
you heard on the night when the monkey cage was smashed, and who now
carries with him the identical monkey which was presented to him by the
manager of this great show as a token of esteem for his skill and
bravery in capturing the entire lot of monkeys without a single blow."

By the time that Mr. Treat got through with this long speech Toby felt
very much as if he were some wonderful creature whom the skelet