, with infinite relish, "He rides the
whirlwind, Sammy, and directs the storm!"

"Noble words!" said the Reverend Samuel. "Noble and consoling words!"

"I say," whispered Allan, "if he goes on much longer in that way, what's
to be done?"

"I told you, papa, it was a risk to ask them," added Miss Milroy, in
another whisper.

"My dear!" remonstrated the major. "We knew nobody else in the
neighborhood, and, as Mr. Armadale kindly suggested our bringing our
friends, what could we do?"

"We can't upset the boat," remarked young Pedgift, with sardonic
gravity. "It's a lifeboat, unfortunately. May I venture to suggest
putting something into the reverend gentleman's mouth, Mr. Armadale?
It's close on three o'clock. What do you say to ringing the dinner-bell,
sir?"

Never was the right man more entirely in the right place than Pedgift
Junior at the picnic. In ten minutes more the boat was brought to a
stand-still among the reeds; the Thorpe Ambrose hampers were unpacked
on the roof of the cabin; and the current of the curate's eloquence was
checked for the day.

How inestimably important in its moral results--and therefore how
praiseworthy in itself--is the act of eating and drinking! The social
virtues center in the stomach. A man who is not a better husband,
father, and brother after dinner than before is, digestively speaking,
an incurably vicious man. What hidden charms of character disclose
themselves, what dormant amiabilities awaken, when our common humanity
gathers together to pour out the gastric juice! At the opening of the
hampers from Thorpe Ambrose, sweet Sociability (offspring of the happy
union of Civilization and Mrs. Gripper) exhaled among the boating party,
and melted in one friendly fusion the discordant elements of which that
party had hitherto been composed. Now did the Reverend Samuel Pentecost,
whose light had hitherto been hidden under a bushel, prove at last that
he could do something by proving that he could eat. Now did Pedgift
Junior shine brighter than ever he had shone yet in gems of caustic
humor and exquisite fertilities of resource. Now did the squire, and the
squire's charming guest, prove the triple connection between Champagne
that sparkles, Love that grows bolder, and Eyes whose vocabulary is
without the word No. Now did cheerful old times come back to the major's
memory, and cheerful old stories not told for years find their way to
the major's lips. And now did Mrs. Pentecost, comin