Seek the hearth in circle mystic,
Till the conjured fire-light shows
Where Youth's bubbling Fountain flows,
And Betsinda holds the Rose.

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

We two--the author and his illustrator--did not know what we had done
until the newspapers told us. But the press has explained it in the
following poised and consistent criticism:

"Too many suggestions of profanity."
--_Congregationalist_, Boston, 8 Dec. '92.

"It ought to be the delight of the nursery."
--_National Tribune_, Washington, 22 Dec. '92.

"Grotesque and horrible."
--_Zion's Herald_, Boston, 21 Dec. '92.

"Some excellent moral lessons."
--_Citizen_, Brooklyn, 27 Nov. '92.

"If it has any lesson to teach, we have been unable to find
it."
--_Independent_, New York, 10 Nov. '92.

"The story is a familiar one."
--_Detroit Free Press_, 28 Nov. '92.

"Refreshingly novel."
--_Cincinnati Commercial Gazette_, 17 Dec. '92.

"It is a burlesque."
--_Atlantic Monthly_, Dec. '92.

"All those who love lessons drawn from life will enjoy this
book."
--_Christian Advocate_, Cincinnati, 2 Nov. '92.

"The style of this production is difficult to define."
--_Court Journal_, London, 26 Nov. '92.

"One wonders why writer and artist should put so much
labor on a production which seems to have so little reason
for existence."
--_Herald and Presbyterian_, Cincinnati.

Now the public knows exactly what sort of book this is, and we cannot
be held responsible.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
PAGE
How Sir Godfrey came to lose his Temper 19

CHAPTER II.
How his Daughter, Miss Elaine, behaved herself in Consequence 35

CHAPTER III.
Reveals the Dragon in his Den 52

CHAPTER IV.
Tells you more about Him than was ever told before to Anybody 62

CHAPTER V.
In which the Hero makes his First Appearance and is Locked Up
immediately 77

C