om the lap of Mrs. Little--whose collar he had been rumpling so
that it was hardly fit to be seen--as soon as he saw the cloth laid;
and, running for a chair, he was soon perched up in it, calling
lustily for "meat."

"Oh, no, no, Henry! dinner not ready yet!" said Mrs. Pelby, starting
forward, and endeavouring to remove the child from his seat; but
Henry screamed and resisted.

"Oh, let him sit, mother!" interfered Mr. Pelby. "The little dear
don't understand waiting as we do."

"Yes, but, father, it is time that he had learned. Tea isn't near
ready yet; and if he is allowed to sit here, he will pull and haul
every thing about," responded Mrs. Pelby.

"Oh, never mind, mother! Give him some meat, and he'll be quiet
enough. I never like to see little folks made to wait for grown
people; they cannot understand nor appreciate the reason of it."

And so little Henry was permitted to remain at the table, picking
first at one thing and then at another, much to the discomfort and
mortification of his mother, who could not see in this indulgence
any thing very interesting. Mrs. Little was relieved, although her
collar was disfigured for the evening past hope.

After a while tea was announced, and the company sat down.

"Me toffee! me toffee!" cried Henry, stretching out his hands
impatiently. "Me toffee, ma! me toffee, ma!" as soon as Mrs. Pelby
was seated before the tea-tray, and had commenced supplying the cups
with cream and sugar.

"Yes--yes--Henry shall have coffee. H-u-s-h--there--be quiet--that's
a good boy," she said, soothingly. But--

"Me toffee, ma! me toffee, ma! me toffee, ma!" was continued without
a moment's cessation. "Ma! ma! ma! me toffee! me toffee!"

"Yes, yes, yes! you shall have coffee in a moment; only be patient,
child!" Mrs. Pelby now said, evidently worried; for Henry was crying
at the top of his voice, and impatiently shaking his hands and
vibrating his whole body.

But he ceased not a moment until his mother, before any of the
company had been served, prepared him a cup of milk and warm water,
sweetened. Placing his lips to the edge of the cup, Henry drank the
whole of it off before the table was more than half served.

"Me more toffee, ma!"

Mrs. Pelby paused, and looked him in the face with an expression of
half despair and half astonishment.

"Me more toffee, ma!" continued Henry.

"Yes, wait a moment, and I'll give you more," she said.

"More toffee, ma!" in a louder voice.