d protest: "Don't, Barney--
don't!" "Barney, be quiet!" Whereupon Barney would give a louder stamp
than before, or, by way of reply, elegantly wave a foot over the head of
the protester.

On one of these convivial occasions there sounded once again that
eloquent echo from below; but the performer was happily unconscious, and
his sisters, rolling meaning eyes, exerted every device to divert his
attention in another direction. Well they knew that if Mr Barney once
grasped the nature of the message his energy would increase tenfold, and
he would dance until he dropped, if only to prove his free and
independent spirit!

Then one evening came the formal opening of the war.

At an unorthodox hour of the night the letter-box clanked, and an
undirected note fell into the box. Philippa read it, and grew pale with
anger; Madge read it, and grew flaming red; Hope cried, "Oh! oh!" and
Theo tossed her head like a tragedy queen. The note was short and to
the point; it bore neither address nor signature:

"If the occupants of flat Number 10 would have the consideration to
remember the existence of their neighbours, it would add greatly to the
comfort of the other dwellers in the mansions. Such establishments
could not continue to exist if rowdiness and horseplay were permitted
without protest. It is sincerely to be hoped that the matter may be
remedied before appeal be necessary to those in authority."

"Anonymous, too! As if we did not know perfectly well who wrote it!"
Philippa cried, with curling lip. "Cranky, sallow-faced wretch! He
ought to live in a den, and not among ordinary flesh-and-blood mortals.
_I'll_ write an answer! _I'll_ settle him!"

"He banged on the ceiling one day when I was practising," chimed in
Hope, with smouldering resentment. "It isn't as if I were a schoolgirl
and couldn't play."

"Thinks we make too much noise, does he?" murmured Barney thoughtfully.
"Sweet innocent! He doesn't know he is born. Wait a bit until I have
really given my mind to the subject."

"No, no; none of that now, Barney! If we live in a flat we are bound to
keep within bounds," interrupted Stephen anxiously. He reviewed the
past fortnight, and was bound to acknowledge that the writer of the note
had some just ground for complaint. "I am afraid we have been rather
noisy since you arrived.--But perhaps you can explain in your reply,
Phil, that there have been--er--special circumstances--er--not likely to
occur a