The patience with which he bore being dressed up in
all kinds of costumes, being made to represent grannie with her
spectacles, and lame John with his crutch, and a soldier in full-dress
uniform, and a sailor with a broken arm, and everything in the world, in
short, except a spirited little dog with four legs, was truly wonderful.
He never did attempt to bite, and he was only once guilty of barking; but
during the grandmother exhibition he could not help throwing up his head
and giving a prolonged and unearthly howl. But the naughty baby only
laughed quite merrily over the howl, and the two children begged of Snip-
snap to do it again. He never did howl any more--that was his last
despairing protest--in future he submitted to the baby's caprices, but
with the air of a broken-hearted dog.

Peter and Flossy had commenced their care of the baby without any special
love for her, but of course they could not long hold her in their arms,
and play with her, and think for her, and earnestly desire to win her
smiles and banish her tears, without the usual thing happening. The baby
stole their little hearts into her own safe keeping. Notwithstanding his
sufferings she also stole Snip-snap's heart. After that the baby was of
course mistress of the situation.

The children took care of her by day, and the lodgers knew nothing about
her existence; but at night Martha, the old nurse, went into her nursery
and slept with her, and attended to her wants. Peter and Flossy having
learned the mystery of amusing the small mite, were tolerably happy about
her during the daytime, but at night they were obliged to be parted from
her, and in consequence at night they were full of fears. Martha meant
to be kind, but she was tired, and she often slept soundly, and did not
hear the baby when she awoke and demanded attention.

Flossy became quite a light sleeper herself, and would sometimes steal
into the nursery and try to quiet the baby; so that, on the whole, for
some time, even at night, the lodgers heard no sound of the new little
inmate. But all happy and worthy things come to an end, and so, alas!
did the baby's good behaviour. There came a night, about three months
after her arrival, and when she was about six months old, when baby was
very restless, cross, and fidgety, with the cutting of her first tooth.
The children had quite worn themselves out in her cause in the daytime,
and Snip-snap had allowed himself to be arrayed in a