Jane in horror. "Mr. Elwood betted three
chocolate creams upon Charley, and Pica took it! Father! Come and
call Meg away."

She spoke exactly as if she were summoning him to snatch her sister
from ROUGE ET NOIR at Monaco; and her face was indescribable when
her aunt Edith set us all off laughing by saying, "Fearful
depravity, my dear."

"Won't you come, father?" continued Jane; "Mr. Methuen, won't you
come and stop those young men?"

Mr. Methuen smiled a little and looked at Horace, who said--

"Hush, Janie; these are not things in which to interfere."

"Then," quoth Jane sententiously, "I am not astonished at the
dissipation of the university."

And away she flounced in tears of wrath. Her mother went after her,
and we laughed a little, it was impossible to help it, at the bathos
of the chocolate creams; but, as Mr. Methuen said, she was really
right, the amusement was undesirable, as savouring of evil. Edith,
to my vexation, saw no harm in it; but Horace said very decidedly he
hoped it would not happen again; and Margaret presently returned,
saying she hoped that she had pacified Jane, and shown her that to
descend as if there were an uproar in the school would only do much
more harm than was likely to happen in that one evening; and she
said to me afterwards, "I see what has been wanting in our training.
We have let children's loyalty run into intolerance and rudeness."
But Meg was quite innocent of there being any harm in it, and only
needed reproof for being too much charmed by the pleasure for once
to obey her dictatorial sister.

13, TEN A.M.--Horace has had it out with sundry of the young ladies,
so as to prevent any more betting. Several had regretted it. "Only
they did so want to get rid of the bon-bons! And Jane did make such
an uproar." After all, nobody did really bet but Charley and the
young Elwood, and Pica only that once. Jane candidly owns that a
little gentleness would have made a difference.

Again I see this obtuseness to courtesy towards strangers. Our
despised church has become popular, and so many of the young folks
choose to accompany us that they overflowed into the free seats in
the aisle, where I had a full view of them from above. These
benches are long, and I was sorry to see the girls planting
themselves fast at the outer end, and making themselves square, so
as to hinder any one else from getting in, till the verger came and
spoke to them, when Charley giggled offen