lf-assertion as may be supposed to belong to that class of the
doll-community which is constructed so as to squeak when squeezed. As
Katie Durant squeezed her friend pretty often, both mentally and
physically, cousin Fanny squeaked a good deal more than usual during her
occasional visits to Yarmouth, and even after her return home to
Margate, where she and her widowed mother dwelt--as Queeker poetically
said--"in a cottage by the sea." It was usually acknowledged by all her
friends that Fanny had increased her powers amazingly while absent, in
so much that she learned at last to squeak on her own account without
being squeezed at all.

After the cousins had talked in private until they had made themselves
almost too late for the singing-class, they issued from the house and
betook themselves to the temple of music, where some amazing pieces were
performed by some thirty young vocalists of both sexes to their own
entire satisfaction, and to the entire dissatisfaction, apparently, of
their teacher, whose chief delight seemed to be to check the flow of
gushing melody at a critical point, and exclaim, "Try it again!" Being
ignorant of classical music we do not venture to give an opinion on
these points, but it is important to state, as bearing on the subject in
a sanitary point of view, that all the pupils usually left the class in
high spirits, with the exception of Queeker, who had a voice like a
cracked tea-kettle, knew no more about music than Katie's cat--which he
adored because it was Katie's--and who went to the class, which was
indebted for its discord chiefly to him, wholly and solely because Katie
Durant went to it, and thus afforded him an opportunity of occasionally
shaking hands with her.

On the present evening, however, being of a shy disposition, he could
not bring himself to face cousin Fanny. He therefore left the hall
miserable, and went home with desperate intentions as to the moon.
Unfortunately that luminary was not visible, the sun having just set,
but from his bedroom window, which commanded a view of the roadstead, he
beheld the lantern of the Saint Nicolas Gatt floating-light, and
addressed the following lines to it with all the fervour incident to a
hopeless affection:--

"Why blaze, ye bright benignant beaming star,
Guiding the homebound seaman from afar,
Lighting the outbound wand'rer on his way,
With all the lightsome perspicuity of day?
Why not go out at once! and let be hurl