Allie, taking me by the
hand; 'come and be introduced to all my friends.'

"I thought the introducing would never come to an end, so many were
the friends with whom I had to shake hands; there were boys from
school, and boys who never had been to school; there were short boys
and tall boys, fat boys and lean boys; square boys and round boys; in
fact, there were boys of all sorts and sizes; some who said very
languidly, 'Ah! how d'ye doo?' and others who seized me by the hand
and vowed I was a 'brick.'

"But the girls!--I beg their pardon, I mean young ladies!--how shall I
describe them in all their loveliness and witchery! I never saw any
like them before, with their long golden, or black, or silken curls,
their white dresses and blue sashes, their bright faces and rosy lips!
and their eyes! how can I describe them? I have seen a few diamonds in
my time, but never any that sparkled so brightly as the eyes that
flashed on me on this memorable day; indeed to compare them to
diamonds was to offer them an insult. On early summer mornings, when
the sun was shining over land and sea, I have seen the dew sparkling
on every blade of grass, or in the cup or bell of every flower, with a
whole rainbow of colours mirrored in their tiny globes, and such were
the eyes that beamed on me each time that Allie said, 'Flo,' or
'Clara,' or 'Kate,' as the name chanced to be, 'this is the gentleman
who saved me from the dog.'

"I may say I felt extremely uncomfortable during the process of
introduction, and was glad when it all ended; for what with eyes, and
the being called 'quite a hero,' and 'a darling brave boy,' and so on
_ad infinitum_, I experienced as queer sensations, as if I had been
birched by Price, or one of the under-masters.

"But it came to an end at last, and the eldest young Aveling invited
me to see his live creatures. I never knew a boy so well off for pets
as I found him to be; fine lop-eared rabbits that nibbled out of the
palm of his hand, guinea-pigs, white mice, a large Newfoundland dog,
which would carry anything he wanted it to carry, or go any where, or
fetch anything from a distance; a pony came trotting out of the
stable, as soon as it heard his voice, neighing with pleasure. There
were plenty of pigeons flying about, and I inquired whether he also
claimed them, in reply to which he said,--

"'No, they are my sister Allie's; you should see her come into the
yard; they fly round her, perch on her shoulders