eat it; but Tom, watching his chance while the
elders were talking, hastily stowed his own cake in his mouth at two
bites. As for Maggie, she presently let fall her cake, and by an
unlucky movement crushed it beneath her foot--a source of such disgrace
to her that she began to despair of hearing the musical snuff-box
to-day, till it occurred to her that Lucy was in high favour enough to
venture on asking for a tune.

So she whispered to Lucy, and Lucy, who always did what she was asked
to do, went up quietly to her uncle's knee, and, blushing all over her
neck while she fingered her necklace, said, "Will you please play us a
tune, uncle?" But Uncle Pullet never gave a too ready consent. "We'll
see about it," was the answer he always gave, waiting till a suitable
number of minutes had passed.

Perhaps the waiting increased Maggie's enjoyment when the tune began.
For the first time she quite forgot that she had a load on her
mind--that Tom was angry with her; and by the time "Hush, ye pretty
warbling choir" had been played, her face wore that bright look of
happiness, while she sat still with her hands clasped, which sometimes
comforted her mother that Maggie could look pretty now and then, in
spite of her brown skin. But when the magic music ceased, she jumped
up, and running towards Tom, put her arm round his neck and said, "O
Tom, isn't it pretty?"

Now Tom had his glass of cowslip wine in his hand, and Maggie jerked
him so as to make him spill half of it. He would have been an extreme
milksop if he had not said angrily, "Look there, now!"

"Why don't you sit still, Maggie?" her mother said peevishly.

"Little gells mustn't come to see me if they behave in that way," said
Aunt Pullet.

"Why, you're too rough, little miss," said Uncle Pullet.

Poor Maggie sat down again, with the music all chased out of her soul.

Mrs. Tulliver wisely took an early opportunity of suggesting that, now
they were rested after their walk, the children might go and play out
of doors; and Aunt Pullet gave them leave, only telling them not to go
off the paved walks in the garden, and if they wanted to see the
poultry fed, to view them from a distance on the horse-block.

For a long time after the children had gone out the elders sat deep in
talk about family matters, till at last Mrs. Pullet, observing that it
was tea-time, turned to reach from a drawer a fine damask napkin, which
she pinned before her in the fashion of an apro