_North American Review_?"

Catherine confessed that she had not.

"There was a corking article in it on municipal corruption, comparing
San Francisco, New York and Pittsburg as to graft, police efficiency and
so on. They say Pittsburg spends two million dollars a year--"

"My upper legs is going barefoot."

Catherine lifted her eyes with a flash of pleasure. Elsmere Swinburne
was the occasional relief from his big brother's monotony. Catherine
loved little folk, and though Elsmere was known to be a rascal who would
have tried the patience of Job, she somehow always found forgiveness for
his enormities, and a delighted appreciation for his funny sayings. Just
now he stood proudly before her, his hands in his pockets, his eyes
fixed upon his fashionably clad little legs, with bruised brown knees
showing above new half-hose.

"My mamma buyed 'em for me. Her buys me everything."

Catherine smiled, but shook her head a little. Mrs. Swinburne was a
source of grief to all her neighbors, because of her persistent refusal
to allow Algernon the chance at college that he desired, and even more
because of her unwise indulgence of her younger son's lightest wishes.

Algernon cleared his throat and took up the thread of his narrative.
"Pittsburg, this fellow Chapman in the _Review_ says, spends two
million dollars a year on--"

"Talking, talking, all the time Algy talking," Elsmere broke in.
"_I_ want to talk. Tell Caffrin 'bout my cat-pussy. Her awful sick.
Her--"

Catherine sprang up. Elsmere's conversation often needed to be
suppressed.

"Let's play tennis. Algernon, will you get the balls and rackets? You
know where they are,--just inside the hall there. And Elsmere may run
after balls for us. He can, so nicely!"

Algernon obeyed the unexpected request patiently, and when he was gone,
Catherine averted her face for the space of a minute. What she had hoped
for came to pass, and when Algernon returned, his small brother had
quietly vanished. "The older one may be monotonous, but the younger one
is positively dangerous," Catherine thought to herself, as she took the
balls from Algernon, saying:

"Let's not play, after all. It's so very warm and Elsmere thought he
didn't want to run after balls. You don't mind, do you?"

"Why, no, I wasn't keen about playing," and Algernon, unconscious of the
maneuver he had helped to execute, dropped back upon the railing and
continued his _resume_ of the _North American_ article.