very low voice, still leaning over the back of the lady's chair and
speaking in her ear.

"Yes, she is so; but hush, dear boy! This is not the place to discuss
Odalite. Besides, it is not polite to whisper in company," said Mrs.
Force, with a smile at the quoted commonplace.

Le lifted his head, and took his elbows off the lady's chair, only to see
his two young cousins, Wynnette and Elva, standing on each side of him.

He caught them both, the one in his right arm, the other in his left, and
drew them to his side.

"We are so glad you have come back, Le! We missed you so awfully
yesterday--Wynnette and I did!" said Elva.

"Yes, the house was as dull as ditch water--I mean the mansion was
excessively melancholy!" added Wynnette.

"I am sorry to hear that! And all on account of my absence?" laughingly
inquired Leonidas.

"Largely, at any rate."

"My darlings," said Mrs. Force, "I thought you were in the schoolroom,
busy with Miss Meeke in dressing dolls for the Sunday school Christmas
tree."

"So we were, mamma, but Dr. Ingle came, and we all went down into the
drawing room to see him," replied Elva.

"He always does cry for her--I mean inquire for Miss Meeke--and she always
goes down to see him, and makes us go down with her. And he doesn't like
it at all, and neither do we. Why, the other evening, when he came just
after tea, when you had a headache and Odalite was sitting with you, and
we were in the drawing room with Miss Meeke, after a little while, he
said:

"'Do you not think that it is very unhealthy for children to sit up so
late?'

"And she laughed and said:

"'Their regular bedtime is nine o'clock. It is not yet seven.'

"And it is always so. He always looks at us as if he was saying to
himself:

"'Two is company,
Four is trumpery.'

"But this time, thank goodness, we happened to hear Le's voice in the
hall, and we skedaddled--I mean we left the drawing room and came in here,
mamma, dear," said Wynnette.

"What did Ingle talk about, or find to talk about, while you two were
hanging around him like a wet blanket?" inquired Le, who often amused
himself at Wynnette's expense.

"Oh, not much. He couldn't make love to Nat right before our four looking
eyes--I mean he couldn't pay his addresses to Miss Meeke in our presence.
Neither could he talk to Nat about old Col. Notley's gout, or old Mrs.
Gouph's dropsy, like he does to mamma--I me