t was
a nice mess for some days after.

"One morning, when the servants returned to the kitchen, they found
Sprite had taken all the kitchen candlesticks out of the cupboard, and
arranged them on the fender, as he had once seen done. As soon as he
heard the servants returning, he ran to his basket, and tried to look as
though nothing had happened.

"Sprite was exceedingly fond of a bath. Occasionally a bowl of water was
given him, when he would cunningly try the temperature by putting in his
finger, after which he gradually stepped in, first one foot, then the
other, till he was comfortably seated. Then he took the soap and rubbed
himself all over. Having made a dreadful splashing all around, he jumped
out and ran to the fire, shivering. If any body laughed at him during
this performance, he made threatening gestures, chattering with all his
might to show his displeasure, and sometimes he splashed water all over
them.

"Poor Sprite one day nearly committed suicide. As he was brought from a
very warm climate, he often suffered exceedingly, in winter, from the
cold.

"The cooking was done by a large fire on the open hearth, and as his
basket, where he slept, was in one corner of the kitchen, before morning
he frequently awoke shivering and blue. The cook was in the habit of
making the fire, and then returning to her room to finish her toilet.

"One morning, having lighted the pile of kindlings as usual, she hung on
the tea-kettle and went out, shutting the door carefully behind her.

"Sprite thought this a fine opportunity to warm himself. He jumped from
his basket, ran to the hearth, and took the lid of the kettle off.
Cautiously touching the water with the tip of his finger, he found it
just the right heat for a bath, and sprang in, sitting down, leaving
only his head above the water.

"This he found exceedingly comfortable for a time; but soon the water
began to grow hot. He rose, but the air outside was so cold, he quickly
sat down again. He did this several times, and would, no doubt, have
been boiled to death, and become a martyr to his own want of pluck and
firmness in action, had it not been for the timely return of the cook,
who, seeing him sitting there almost lifeless, seized him by the head
and pulled him out.

"He was rolled in blankets, and laid in his basket, where he soon
recovered, and, it is to be hoped, learned a lesson from this hot
experience, not to take a bath when the water is on the fire