mselves to a couple of very disreputable children, and
I drove swiftly away again, lest the children should dispel the
illusion. We soon met Mike, running. The moment he recognized us, he
shouted:--

"Aye, ye little dhivils,--beggin' yer pardon, Masther Harry, an'
thankin' the Howly Mither that their good-for-nothin' little bones
ain't broke to bits. Av they saw a hippypottymus hitched to Pharaoh's
chariot, they'd think 'emselves jist the byes to take the bossin' av
it, the spalpeens."

But no number of ordinary hippopotami and chariots could have disturbed
the heavenly tranquillity of my mind on this most glorious of evenings.
Even a subtle sense of the fitness of things seemed to overshadow my
nephews. Perhaps the touch of my enchantress did it; perhaps it came
only from the natural relapse from great excitement; but no matter what
the reason was, the fact remains that for the rest of the evening two
very dirty suits of clothes held two children who gave one some idea of
how the denizens of Paradise might seem and act. They even ate their
suppers without indulging in any of the repulsive ways of which they
had so large an assortment, and they did not surreptitiously remove
from the table any fragments of bread and butter to leave on the piano,
in the card-basket, and other places inappropriate to the reception of
such varieties of abandoned property. They demanded a song after
supper, but when I sang, "Drink to Me only with Thine Eyes," and "Thou,
Thou, Reign'st in this Bosom," they stood by with silent tongues and
appreciative eyes. When they went to bed, I accompanied them by special
invitation, but they showed no disposition to engage in the usual
bedtime frolic and miniature pandemonium. Budge, when in bed, closed
his eyes, folded his hand and prayed:--

"Dear Lord, bless papa an' mamma, an' Toddie, an' Uncle Harry, an'
everybody else; yes, an' bless just lots that lovely, lovely lady that
comforted me after the goat was bad to me, an' let her comfort me lots
of times, for Christ's sake, Amen."

And Toddie wriggled, twisted, breathed heavily, threw his head back,
and prayed:

"Dee Lord, don't let dat old goat fro me into de gutter on my head
aden, an' let Ocken Hawwy an' ze pitty lady be dere netst time I dest
hurted."

Then the good-night salutations were exchanged, and I left the little
darlings and enjoyed communion with my own thoughts which were as
peaceful and ecstatic as if the world contained no wh