oved impossible, but, to his horror,
the Colonel emerged from his ambuscade and collared him. Then took place
two short contemporaneous dialogues:

_Julia_. "I'd never marry a jealous man."

_Percy_. "I never could be jealous. I'm above it. Impossible for a nature
like mine to be jealous."

_Colonel Clifford._ "Well, why don't you cut him out?"

_Walter_. "They seem so happy without it."

_Colonel Clifford._ "You are a muff. I'll do it for you. Forward!"

Colonel Clifford then marched down and seated himself in the chair Hope
had made for him.

Julia saw him, and whispered Percy: "Ah! here's Uncle Clifford. He is
going to marry me to Walter. Never mind--you are not jealous."

Percy turned yellow.

"Well," said Colonel Clifford to all whom it might concern, "this
certainly is the most comfortable chair in England. These fools of
upholsterers never make the bottom of the chair long enough, but Mr.
Hope has made this to run under a gentleman's knees and support him. He's
a clever fellow. Julia, my dear, there's a garden chair for you; come and
sit down by me."

Julia gave a sly look at Percy, and went to Colonel Clifford. She kissed
him on the forehead to soften the coming negative, and said: "To tell you
the truth, dear uncle, I have promised to go down a coal mine. See! I'm
dressed accordingly."

"Go down a coal mine!" said the Colonel, contemptuously. "What fool put
that idea in your head?"

Fitzroy strutted forward like a bantam-cock. "I did, sir. Coal is a very
interesting product."

"Ay, to a cook."

"To every English g-gentleman."

"I disown that imputation for one."

"Of being an English g-gentleman?"

There was a general titter at this sly hit.

"No, sir," said the Colonel, angrily--"of taking an interest in coal."

"Well, but," said Percy, with a few slight hesitations, "not to t-take an
interest in c-coal is not to take an interest in the n-nation, for this
n-nation is g-great, not by its p-powerful fleet, nor its little b-b-bit
of an army--"

A snort from the Colonel.

"--nor its raw m-militia, but by its m-m-manufactures; these depend on
machines that are driven by steam-power, and the steam-engines are
coal-fed, and were made in coal-fed furnaces; our machines do the work of
five hundred million hands, and you see coal keeps them going. The
machinery will be imitated by other nations, but those nations can not
create coal-fields. Should those ever be exhausted, our ingenuity will b