he said. "And you--you rescued the
baby. So--you may call me Harry, without the Miss, you know."

"I'll try to deserve the honor," replied Roy very gravely.

Harry observed him suspiciously.

"There you go being polite and nasty," she said crossly. Then, with a
sudden change of manner, she advanced toward him with one very brown and
somewhat dirty little hand stretched forth and a ludicrous smirk on her
face. "I forgot you were a new boy," she said. "I hope your stay with us
will be both pleasant and profitable."

Roy accepted the proffered hand bewilderedly.

"There," she said, with a little shake of her shoulders and a quick
abandonment of the funny stilted tone and manner, "there, that's done.
Mamma makes me do that, you know. It's awfully silly, isn't it?"

Methuselah, who, during the conversation, had remained perched silently
on the girl's shoulder, now decided to take part in the proceedings.

"Well, I never did!" he exclaimed hoarsely. "Can't you be quiet? Naughty
Poll! Stop your swearing! Stop your swearing!"

This resulted in his banishment, Roy, at Harry's request, returning the
borrowed box to its place, and the parrot being placed therein with
strict injunctions to remain there.

"Doesn't he ever get away?" asked Roy.

"Oh, yes, sometimes. Once he got into the stable and went to sleep on
the head of John's bed. John's the gardener, you know. And when he came
in and saw Methuselah sitting there he thought it was an evil spirit and
didn't stop running until he reached the cottage. My, he was scared!"
And Harry giggled mischievously at the recollection.

Then Roy was formally introduced to the numerous residents of the
enclosure. Snip, a fox terrier, had already made friends. Lady Grey, a
maltese Angora cat, who lay curled up contentedly in one of the lower
tier of boxes, received Roy's caresses with well-bred condescension.
Joe, one of her kittens, and a brother of the disgraced Spot, showed
more interest and clawed Roy's hand in quite a friendly way. In other
boxes were a squirrel called "Teety," two white guinea pigs, a family of
rabbits, six white mice and a bantam hen who resented Roy's advent with
a very sharp beak. And all about fluttered grey pigeons and white
pigeons, fan-tails and pouters and many more the names of which Roy
quickly forgot. And while the exhibition was going on Roy observed the
exhibitor with not a little interest.

Harriet--begging her pardon! Harry--Emery was fourteen