ould have said Mrs. Jamieson did so then; for
overcome by the heat of the room, and inclined to doze by nature, the
temptation of that very comfortable arm-chair had been too much for
her, and Mrs. Jamieson was nodding. Once or twice she opened her eyes
with an effort, and calmly but unconsciously smiled upon us; but
by-and-by even her benevolence was not equal to this exertion, and she
was sound asleep.

"It is very gratifying to me," whispered Miss Barker at the card table
to her three opponents, whom notwithstanding her ignorance of the game
she was "basting" most unmercifully--"very gratifying indeed, to see
how completely Mrs. Jamieson feels at home in my poor little dwelling;
she could not have paid me a greater compliment."

Miss Barker provided me with some literature, in the shape of three or
four handsomely bound fashion-books ten or twelve years old;
observing, as she put a little table and a candle for my special
benefit, that she knew young people liked to look at pictures. Carlo
lay and snorted and started at his mistress's feet. He too was quite
at home.

The card table was an animated scene to watch: four ladies' heads,
with niddle-noddling caps, all nearly meeting over the middle of the
table in their eagerness to whisper quick enough and loud enough; and
every now and then came Miss Barker's "Hush, ladies! if you please,
hush! Mrs. Jamieson is asleep."

It was very difficult to steer clear between Mrs. Forrester's deafness
and Mrs. Jamieson's sleepiness. But Miss Barker managed her arduous
task well. She repeated the whisper to Mrs. Forrester, distorting her
face considerably in order to show by the motions of her lips what was
said; and then she smiled kindly all round at us, and murmured to
herself, "Very gratifying indeed; I wish my poor sister had been alive
to see this day."

Presently the door was thrown wide open; Carlo started to his feet
with a loud snapping bark, and Mrs. Jamieson awoke; or perhaps she had
not been asleep--as she said almost directly, the room had been so
light she had been glad to keep her eyes shut, but had been listening
with great interest to all our amusing and agreeable conversation.
Peggy came in once more, red with importance. Another tray! "O
gentility!" thought I, "can you endure this last shock?" For Miss
Barker had ordered (nay, I doubt not prepared, although she did say,
"Why! Peggy, what have you brought us?" and looked pleasantly
surprised at the unexpec