"O!--the courtship of Miles Standish?"

"Miles Standish was his friend, papa."

"Yes, I know now. And are you Priscilla?"

"Yes, papa."

"And who is Miles Standish?"

"O, nobody; he is not in the picture; it is John Alden."

"I think I remember. Who is John Alden, then?"

"Papa, they have put Alexander Fish in, because he has long curling
hair; but I think Preston's hair would do a great deal better."

"Preston is under some obligation to the others, I suppose, because he
is manager. But how does Alexander Fish abuse his privileges?"

"Papa," said Daisy unwillingly,--"his face is turned away from the other
people, so that nobody can see it but me;--and he winks."

Daisy brought out the last word with an accession of gravity impossible
fully to describe. Mr. Randolph's mouth twitched; he bent his head down
upon Daisy's, that she might not see it.

"That is very rude of him, Daisy," he said.

"Papa," said Daisy, who did not relish the subject, and chose a
departure,--"what is a _Puritan_?"

"A Puritan!"

"Yes, papa. What is it? Priscilla was a Puritan."

"That was a name given to a class of people in England a long time ago."

"What did it mean?"

"They were a stiff set of people, Daisy; good enough people in their
way, no doubt, but very absurd in it also."

"What did they do, papa?"

"Concluded to do without whatever is graceful and beautiful and
pleasant, in dress or arts or manners. The more disagreeable they made
life, they thought it was the better."

"Why were they called that name? Were they purer than other people?"

"I believe they thought themselves so."

"I think they look nice in the picture," said Daisy meditatively. "Are
there any Puritans now, papa?"

"There are people that are called Puritans. It is a term apt to be
applied to people that are stiff in their religion."

"Papa," said Daisy when an interval of five minutes had passed,--"I do
not see how people can be stiff in their religion."

"Don't you. Why not?"

"Papa, I do not see how it can be _stiff_, to love God and do what he
says."

"No--" said Mr. Randolph; "but people can be stiff in ways of their own
devising."

"Ways that are not in the Bible, papa?"

"Well--yes."

"But papa, it cannot be _stiff_, to do what God says we must do?"

"No,--of course not," said Mr. Randolph getting up.

He left her, and Daisy sat meditating; then with a glad heart ran off
and ordered her pony chaise. If tableaux were to be