tever they fancied. They had no regular hour
for going to bed, but fell asleep everywhere, and were removed with the
utmost precaution. Mrs. Sykes, going there, would find them jumping up and
down with muddy feet on the drawing-room sofas or playing on the new grand
piano with the poker. Miss Noel one day found Mr. Brown in a great state
of perturbation, calling out, "Helen! Jane! Bijou! Come here, quick! The
baby is bumping his head on the floor!" (The baby being three years old.)
"Don't get angry, darling. If you won't bump your head, grandpa will bring
you a wax doll from Kalsing to-morrow." Another day, baby's sister in
banging on the window-pane struck through the glass and cut her fist.
"Poor little dear! Poor childie! Let me bind it up quickly. Harry, love,
bid nurse fetch the arnica at once," exclaimed Miss Noel; but the patient
stamped and shrieked, and would not have her hand examined or doctored by
anybody, whereupon her admiring mother said, "Jenny has always been that
way. She has a great deal of character, Miss Noel."

"A very undisciplined one, I fear," replied that lady emphatically. She
could scarcely believe that she heard aright when, on asking this model
parent what her plans were for the summer, she said,--

"I am going to try Saratoga again. We were there last year, and I went
prepared to stay until the 1st of October. I liked it very much; it was
very gay and pleasant; but Harry got tired of it, and wouldn't stay after
the second week, so I packed up and went to Long Branch, which he has
always liked."

"Your brother, or uncle?" inquired Miss Noel, in perfect good faith.

"No, my little Harry," replied the placid mother.

The very appearance of the children, fragile, delicate-looking, nervous,
was in striking contrast to the solid, rosy, somewhat stolid English
children to whom she was accustomed. They were pretty, quite abnormally
intelligent she thought, and as attractive as such rearing would permit
them to become; but their habits and manners positively afflicted her. She
pined to put them to bed at seven o'clock, keep them four or five hours of
every day in the open air, give them simple, nourishing food,--in short,
inaugurate the wholesome nursery system of her own country. To see them
sitting down to table without saying their grace or putting on their
pinafores, and order of the servant soups full of condiments, veal, any or
all of eight vegetables, pickles, tarts, pudding, jelly, custa