ne of the things she had not dropped was the tin trumpet. She raised it
to her lips now, and blew a blast that went through Hugo's head like a
knife.

He snatched it from her. "You're not to do that," he said. "I can't
stand it. Go and pick up those other things and show them to me."

"Loo can see zem from here."

"Not what's in the box," he suggested diplomatically.

"I'm tah'ed too," she said, suddenly sitting down on the floor. "You
fesh 'em."

"Will you play with them if I do?"

She shook her head. "Not if loo're closs, and lude and naughty and ...
stupid."

Hugo groaned and stalked over to collect the two dolls and the
tea-things. He brought them back and put them down on one end of the
sofa while he sat down at the other.

"Now," he said, "show me how you play with them."

His cigar had gone out and he struck a match to light it again. Little
Fay scrambled to her feet and blew it out before he had touched his
cigar with it.

"Adain," she said joyously. "Make anozer light."

He struck another match, but sheltered it with his hand till he'd got
his cigar going, his daughter blowing vigorously all the time.

"Now," she said, "you can be a nengine and I'll be the tlain."

Round that drawing-room the unfortunate Hugo ran, encouraged in his
efforts by blasts upon the trumpet. The chairs were arranged as
carriages, the dolls as passengers, and the box of tea-things was
luggage. None of these transformations were suggested by Hugo, but
little Fay had played the game so often under Meg's brilliant
supervision that she knew all the properties by heart.

At the end of fifteen minutes Hugo was thoroughly exhausted and audibly
thanked God when Meg appeared to fetch her charge. But he hadn't
finished even then, for little Fay, aided and abetted by Meg, insisted
that every single thing should be tidily put back exactly where it was
before.

At the door, just as they were on the point of departure, Meg paused.
"You must enjoy having her all to yourself for a little while," she said
in honeyed, sympathetic tones such as Hugo, certainly, had never heard
from her before. "I fear we've been rather selfish about it, but for the
future we must not forget that you have the first right to her.... Did
you kiss your dear Daddie, my darling?"

* * * * *

Through the shut door Hugo heard his daughter's voice proclaiming in
lofty, pitying tones, "Pooah Daddie velly stupid man, he was a vell