esence. He quieted her with a
gesture, scolded her under his breath, kindly:

"Shut up, Lily!... Aren't you ashamed of yourself, Lily?"

And he looked at Nunkie with an air of saying:

"You old rogue!"

As for the Three Graces, it was a pleasure to watch them: their pluck was
infectious.

"To work!" said Pa. "Let's have a somersault, eh?"

And, at a sign from him, two of the apprentices, assisted by Tom, fixed a
little steel-legged table in the middle of the stage, bore down upon it
with all their weight. The bike, set at full speed, stopped short as it
struck the table; and Lily, carried on by the impulse, continued her
whirl, full on her back, and, carrying the machine with her, came to the
ground on the other side of the table and went on riding. But that shook
her, in her stomach, her heart, everywhere. Each time, she was nearly
succeeding, but it wasn't quite right.

"I can see," said Pa, "you want to make me lose my temper!"

"But, Pa, it hurts!"

"Oh, those blasted little brats!" shouted Pa angrily. "Rickety machines,
every one of them: no more energy than a sparrow and lazy into the
bargain!"

Then, suddenly, Lily succeeded magnificently.

"You see you can do it when you like, you obstinate little wretch!" said
Pa. "Now try not to miss it again, next time! That will do for to-day," he
added, seeing Lily out of breath. "Go and get dressed, my Lily."

The Three Graces were finishing also. Good old Nunkie wiped the
perspiration from their foreheads with his big checked handkerchief,
invited Clifton to come with Lily and choose the sleeve-links and
suggested that they could have a chat at the restaurant.

"Would you like to, Lily?" asked Pa.

"Yes, Pa."

"Very well, then."

The girls would go back alone. Tom, having carried up the bikes, was told
to run home and fetch Miss Lily's new dress and boots, Mrs. Clifton's
brooch and big hat. And, half an hour later, Lily, who had crawled up to
her dressing-room stiff-legged, exhausted, feeling sixty, came tripping
down the stairs all freshly dressed, wearing the great hat of her mother,
and a pair of creaking boots. She soon recovered when she was dressed out.
She drew up her dainty figure, so as to be level with the imposing group
of Pa, Nunkie and the Three Graces.

Lily, very proud of herself, spun out the pleasure of drawing on her
gloves to go shopping with those big girls, who had had love stories. Then
they discussed what restaurant.... Nunkie,