n the kettle, and hung the lid behind the door!"

Trotty hastily repaired this mistake, and went off to find some tea and
a rasher of bacon he fancied "he had seen lying somewhere on the
stairs."

He soon came back and made the tea, and before long they were all
enjoying the meal. Trotty and Meg only took a morsel for form's sake
(for they had only a very little, not enough for all), but their delight
was in seeing their visitors eat, and very happy they were--though
Trotty had noticed that Meg was sitting by the fire in tears when they
had come in, and he feared her marriage had been broken off.

After tea Meg took Lilian to bed, and Toby showed Will Fern where he was
to sleep. As he came back past Meg's door he heard the child saying her
prayers, remembering Meg's name and asking for his. Then he went to sit
by the fire and read his paper, and fell asleep to have a wonderful
dream, so terrible and sad, that it was a great relief when he woke.

"And whatever you do, father," said Meg, "don't eat tripe again without
asking some doctor whether it's likely to agree with you; for how you
_have_ been going on! Good gracious!"

She was working with her needle at the little table by the fire,
dressing her simple gown with ribbons for her wedding--so quietly happy,
so blooming and youthful, so full of beautiful promise that he uttered a
great cry as if it were an angel in his house, then flew to clasp her in
his arms.

But he caught his feet in the newspaper, which had fallen on the hearth,
and somebody came rushing in between them.

"No!" cried the voice of this same somebody. A generous and jolly voice
it was! "Not even you; not even you. The first kiss of Meg in the New
Year is mine--mine! I have been waiting outside the house this hour to
hear the bells and claim it. Meg, my precious prize, a happy year! A
life of happy years, my darling wife!"

And Richard smothered her with kisses.

You never in all your life saw anything like Trotty after this, I don't
care where you have lived or what you have seen; you never in your life
saw anything at all approaching him! He kept running up to Meg, and
squeezing her fresh face between his hands and kissing it, going from
her backwards not to lose sight of it, and running up again like a
figure in a magic lantern; and whatever he did, he was constantly
sitting himself down in his chair, and never stopping in it for one
single moment, being--that's the truth--beside himself