asperating
affection of ingenuousness and uncertainty, asked:

"Did you conquer his will, my dear?"

His wife annihilated him with a look, and led the way to the
dining-room; meanwhile Toddie awoke, straightened himself, rubbed his
eyes, recognized his uncle and exclaimed:

"Uncle Harry, does you know where we's goin' this afternoon? We's goin'
a-widin'."

And Mr. Burton hid in his napkin all of his face that was below his
eyes, and his wife wished that his eyes might have been hidden, too, for
never in her life had she been so averse to having her own eyes looked
into.

The extreme saintliness of both boys during the afternoon's ride took
the sting out of Mrs. Burton's defeat. They gabbled to each other about
flowers and leaves and birds, and they assumed ownership of the few
Summer clouds that were visible, and made sundry exchanges of them with
each. When the dog Jerry, who had surreptitiously followed the carriage
and grown weary, was taken in by his master, they even allowed him to
lie at their feet without kicking, pinching his ears, or pulling his
tail.

As for Mrs. Burton, no right-minded husband could willfully torment his
wife upon her birthday, so she soon forgot the humiliation of the
morning, and came home with superb spirits and matchless complexion for
the little party. Her guests soon began to arrive, and after the company
was assembled Mrs. Burton's chambermaid ushered in Budge and Toddie,
each in spotless attire, and the dog Jerry ushered himself in, and
Toddie saw him and made haste to interview him, and the two got
inextricably mixed about the legs of a light _jardiniere_, and it came
down with a crash, and then the two were sent into disgrace, which
suited them exactly; although there was a difference between them as to
whether the dog Jerry should seek and enjoy the seclusion upon which his
heart was evidently intent.

Then Budge retired with a face full of fatherly solicitude, and Mrs.
Burton was enabled to devote herself to the friends to whom she had not
previously been able to address a single consecutive sentence.

Mrs. Burton occasionally suggested to her husband that it might be well
to see where the boys were, and what they were doing; but that gentleman
had seldom before found himself the only man among a dozen comely and
intelligent ladies, and he was too conscious of the variety of such
experiences to trouble himself about a couple of people who had
unlimited ability to keep t