"if you wake the baby I'll kill
you."

The question of his name was still not quite settled, and once more we
gave ourselves up to thought.

"Seeing that he's the very newest little Rabbit," said Myra, "I do think
he might be called after some very great cricketer."

"That was the idea in christening him 'Samuel,'" said Archie.

"Gaukrodger Carkeek Butt Bajana Mannering," I suggested--"something like
that?"

"Silly; I meant 'Charles,' after Fry."

"'Schofield,' after Haigh," murmured Thomas.

"'Warren,' after Bardsley, would be more appropriate to a Rabbit," said
Simpson, beaming round at us. There was, however, no laughter. We had
all just thought of it ourselves.

"The important thing in christening a future first-class cricketer,"
said Simpson, "is to get the initials right. What could be better than
'W. G.' as a nickname for Grace? But if 'W. G.'s' initials had been 'Z.
Z.,' where would you have been?"

"Here," said Archie.

The shock of this reply so upset Simpson that his glasses fell off. He
picked them out of the fender and resumed his theme.

"Now, if the baby were christened 'Samuel Thomas' his initials would be
'S. T.,' which are perfect. And the same as Coleridge's."

"Is that Coleridge the wicket-keeper, or the fast bowler?"

Simpson opened his mouth to explain, and then, just in time, decided not
to.

"I forgot to say," said Archie, "that anyhow he's going to be called
Blair, after his mamma."

"If his name's Blair Mannering," I said at once, "he'll have to write a
book. You can't waste a name like that. _The Crimson Spot_, by Blair
Mannering. Mr. Blair Mannering, the well-known author of _The Gash_. Our
new serial, _The Stain on the Bath Mat_, has been specially written for
us by Mr. and Mrs. Blair Mannering. It's simply asking for it."

"Don't talk about his wife yet, please," smiled Dahlia. "Let me have him
a little while."

"Well, he can be a writer _and_ a cricketer. Why not? There are others.
I need only mention my friend, S. Simpson."

"But the darling still wants another name," said Myra. "Let's call him
John to-day, and William to-morrow, and Henry the next day, and so on
until we find out what suits him best."

"Let's all go upstairs now and call him Samuel," said Samuel.

"Thomas," said Thomas.

We looked at Dahlia. She got up and moved to the door. In single file we
followed her on tip-toe to the nursery. The baby was fast asleep.

"Thomas," we all said in a whispe