owards her as far as the
chain would permit, and then tugging at it as hard as he could, to
the no small discomfort of the visitor, who, seeing no movement of
relief on the part of either parent, was forced to slip the chain
over his head, and trust Tommy to carry his favourite time-keeper to
his mother.

"Tommy'll be a watch-maker, I expect. Nothing pleases him so much as
a watch," remarked the father.

Mr. Pelby did not reply. He dared not, for he felt that, were he to
trust himself to speak, he should betray feelings that politeness
required him to conceal.

"There!" suddenly exclaimed the mother, catching eagerly at the
watch, which Tommy had dropped, and recovering it just in time to
save it from injury.

"Gim me! gim me! gim me!" cried Tommy, seizing her hands, and
endeavouring to get possession again of the valuable timepiece,
which had escaped so narrowly.

"There, now," said Mrs. Little, yielding to the child's eager
importunity, and permitting him again to take possession of the
watch. "But you must hold it tighter."

Mr. Pelby was on nettles; but he dared not interfere.

"Open it," said Tommy, endeavouring to loose the hinge of the case
with his tiny thumb-nail.

"Oh, no; you mustn't open it, Tommy."

"Open it!" resumed Tommy, in a higher and more positive tone.

"I can't open it," said the mother, pretending to make an earnest
effort to loose the case.

"_O-pen--it!_" screamed the child, in a loud angry tone.

"Here, take it to Mr. Pelby, he will open it for you." And the watch
was again intrusted to Tommy's care, who bore it, and, as fortune
would have it, safely too, to its owner.

Of course, Mr. Pelby could do no better, and so he displayed the
jewels and internal arrangement of his skeleton lever to the curious
gaze of the child. At first, Tommy was well pleased to look alone:
but soon the ends of his fingers itched to touch, and touch he did,
quite promptly; and, of course, Mr. Pelby very naturally drew back
the hand that held the watch; and just as naturally did Tommy
suddenly extend his and grasp the receding prize. With some
difficulty, Mr. Pelby succeeded in disengaging the fingers of the
child, and then hastily closing the watch, he slipped it into his
pocket.

"There, it's gone!" said he.

"Tee de watch!" replied Tommy.

"It's gone clear off."

"Tee de watch!" said Tommy more emphatically.

"Here, come see mine," said the father.

"No," replied the child, angrily.

Mr