u."

Bindle pulled her down upon his knee and kissed her. "You ain't goin'
agin your ole uncle, are you, Millikins?" he cried; then suddenly
turning to Mr. Hearty he enquired, "Ain't we goin' to 'ave any 'ymns,
'Earty? 'Ere, I say, can't you stop Wheezy Willie doin' that, ole
sport?" this to Mr. Gupperduck who was still struggling to silence the
mutinous E sharp; "sets my teeth on edge, it does. I'm in rare voice
to-night, bought some acid drops, I did, as I come along, an' 'ad two
raw eggs in the private bar of The Yellow Ostrich."

Bindle ran up a dubious scale to prove his words.

"Oh! do be quiet, Uncle Joe," laughed Millie. "You'll frighten Mr.
MacFie away."

Bindle turned and regarded the solemn visage of Mr. MacFie; his long
immobile upper lip; his sandy hair, parted in the middle and brushed
smoothly down upon his head.

"No, Millikins," he said with conviction, "there ain't nothink wot'll
frighten a Scotchman out of England. They know wot's wot, they do.
Ain't that so, sir?" he enquired of Mr. MacFie.

Mr. MacFie regarded Bindle as if he were talking in a foreign tongue.

Mr. Gupperduck laid his accordion on a chair, giving up the unequal
struggle. The others, taking this as a signal that music was over for
the evening, seated themselves in various parts of the room.

"I'm glad you're 'ere, sir," said Bindle to Mr. MacFie. "I wanted your
advice on somethink in the Bible. Now then, Millikins, you got to sit
down beside me. Can't sit on your uncle's knee when we're talkin'
about the Bible. Wot'll Charlie say?" Then turning to Mr. MacFie with
what he imagined to be great subtlety and tact, Bindle enquired, "You
ain't met Charlie Dixon, 'ave you, sir?"

Mr. MacFie shook a mournful head in negation.

"'E's goin' to marry Millikins, ain't 'e, Millikins?"

Millie cast her eyes down and, with heightened colour, bowed her head
in affirmation of Bindle's statement.

"Pretty pair they'll make too," said Bindle with conviction. "I 'ope
you'll be marryin' 'em, sir."

Mr. MacFie looked uncomfortable.

"But that ain't wot I wanted to talk to you about," continued Bindle.
"I 'appened to pick up the Bible to-day,"--Mrs. Bindle looked sharply
at him,--"and it sort of opened at a place where there was a yarn
about war, so I read it.

"It was about a cove called Urrier an' a king named David."

"Uriah the Hittite," murmured Mr. Hearty.

"Urrier 'ad got a smart bird,--that's a gal, sir," Bindle explained to
Mr