his dear Caroline, and then let her pass on by herself.
Miss Baker was a bird easily to be lured to her perch,--or to his.
Sir Lionel felt that he could secure her at any time. Therefore, he
determined to attach himself to Miss Todd for the present. And so
Miss Baker walked on alone, perhaps a little piqued at being thus
slighted.

It was a strange sight to see the Rev. Mr. O'Callaghan among that
worldly crowd of pleasure-seeking sinners. There were, as we have
said, three sets of people at Littlebath. That Miss Todd, with her
commanding genius and great power of will, should have got together
portions of two of them was hardly to be considered wonderful. Both
the fast and heavy set liked good suppers. But it did appear singular
to the men and women of both these sets that they should find
themselves in the same room with Mr. O'Callaghan.

Mr. O'Callaghan was not exactly the head and font of piety at
Littlebath. It was not on his altars, not on his chiefly, that
hecatombs of needlework were offered up. He was only senior curate to
the great high-priest, to Dr. Snort himself. But though he was but
curate, he was more perhaps to Littlebath--to his especial set in
Littlebath--than most rectors are to their own people.

Mr. O'Callaghan was known to be condescending and mild under the
influence of tea and muffins--sweetly so if the cream be plentiful
and the muffins soft with butter; but still, as a man and a pastor,
he was severe. In season and out of season he was hot in argument
against the devil and all his works. He was always fighting the
battle with all manner of weapons. He would write letters of killing
reproach to persons he had never known, and address them by post to--

"John Jones, Esq.,
The Sabbath-breaker,
5 Paradise Terrace,
Littlebath."

or--

"Mrs. Gambler Smith,
2 Little Paragon,
Littlebath."

Nothing was too severe for him. One may say that had he not been a
clergyman, and therefore of course justified in any interference, he
would have been kicked from Littlebath to London and back again long
since. How then did it come to pass that he was seen at Miss Todd's
party? The secret lay in Miss Todd's unbounded power. She was not as
other Littlebathians. When he unintentionally squeezed her hand, she
squeezed his in return with somewhat of a firmer grasp. When, gently
whispering, he trusted that she was as well in spirit as in body, she
answered aloud--and all the lar