Montfort laughed.

"Leave me some remnant of dignity, Meg," he said. "How can you expect me
to confess that I sat in the coal-scuttle? Have you no reverence for
gray hairs?"

"Oh, a very great deal, dear Uncle; but there were no gray hairs in the
coal-scuttle days; and my only regret about you is the not having known
you when you were a boy."

"Horrid monkey, I have been given to understand," said her uncle,
lightly. "Go on, Hugh; tell us some more of the things that Jim--your
father--remembers. Old Jim! it's a great shame that he never comes to
look up the old place himself."

"It is indeed, sir!" said Hugh. "I've always thought so, and now that I
see the place--oh, I shall send him, that's all, as soon as ever I get
home. There are the Indian clubs; oh, the carved one--is it true that
that was given to Grandfather Montfort by a Fiji chief, or was the Pater
fooling us? He sometimes makes up things, he acknowledges, just for the
fun of it."

"True enough, I believe!" said Mr. Montfort, taking down the great club,
covered from end to end with strange and delicate carving.

"Did he ever tell you how near he came to breaking my head with this
club? He may have forgotten; I have not. We used to keep it in our room,
the great nursery up-stairs, Margaret; you must show that to Hugh by and
by. I woke up one night, and was afraid the crow that I was taming in
the back garden might be hungry. I got out of the window and shinned
down the spout. The crow was all right; but when I came back, Jim woke
up, and took me for a burglar, and went for me with the club, thinking
it the chance of his life. I was only half-way through the bars when he
caught me a crack--I can hear my skull rattle with it now."

"Oh, Uncle John! and you held on?"

"My dear, I held on; it would have been rather unfortunate for me to let
go at the moment. I sung out, of course; and when I got through I fell
upon my friend James, and Roger had to wake up and come and drag us from
under the bed before he could separate us. Sweet boys! do you and your
brothers indulge in these little endearments, Hugh? Jim was a glorious
fighter."

Hugh laughed. "Jim and George used to have pretty lively scraps
sometimes," he said. "It wasn't so much in my line, but I took it out in
airs, I fancy. The poor fellows couldn't punch my head, and it must have
been hard lines for them sometimes. As for Max and Peter, they are
twins, you know. I doubt if either of them knows ex