teresting people. Mrs.
Mortimer Pegg frequently had carriage callers, and not seldom sallied forth
herself in a sedate victoria from the livery stables. But beyond an
occasional flutter of excitement when their horses stopped at our very
gate, there was little in this prim couple to interest us. So neat and
precise were they as they tripped down the street together, that we called
them (out of Mrs. Handsomebody's hearing) Mr. and Mrs. "Cribbage" Pegg.

Now, on this morning in mid-spring when we looked out of the window our
eyes discovered an object of such compelling interest in the Pegg's front
garden that we rubbed them again to make sure that we were broad awake.

Striding up and down the small enclosure was a tall old man wearing a
brilliant-hued, flowered dressing-gown, that hung open at the neck,
disclosing his long brown throat and hairy chest, and flapping negligently
about his heels as he strode.

He had bushy iron-grey hair and moustache, and tufts of curly grey beard
grew around his chin and ears. His nose was large and sun-burned; and every
now and again he would stop in his caged-animal walk and sniff the air as
though he enjoyed it.

I liked the old gentleman from the start.

"Oo-o! See the funny old man!" giggled The Seraph. "Coat like Jacob an' his
bwethern!"

Angel and I plied Mary Ellen with questions. Who was he? Did he live with
the Peggs? Did she think he was a foreigner? Mary Ellen, supported by her
broom, stared out of the window.

"For th' love of Hiven!" she ejaculated. "If that ain't a sight now! Byes,
it's Mr. Pegg's own father come home from somewheres in th' Indies. Their
cook was tellin' me of the time they have wid him. He's a bit light-headed,
y'see, an' has all his meals in his own room--th' quarest dishes iver--an'
a starlin' for a pet, mind ye."

At that moment the old gentleman perceived that he was watched, and
saluting Mary Ellen gallantly, he called out:

"Good-morning, madam!"

Mary Ellen, covered with confusion, drew back behind the curtain. I was
about to make a suitable reply when I saw Mrs. Mortimer Pegg, herself,
emerge from her house with a very red face, and resolutely grasp her
father-in-law's arm. She spoke to him in a rapid undertone, and, after a
moment's hesitation, he followed her meekly into the house.

How I sympathized with him! I knew only too well the humiliation
experienced by the helpless male when over-bearing woman drags him
ignominiously from hi