intended to excite.

'Ask him which is tag, which rag, and which bobtail,' suggested
Ethel.

'Mab, I suppose,' said Gertrude, happily closing the discussion, but
it was re-animated by her father's arrival.

'That's a nice girl,' he said, 'very nice; but we must not have her
too often in the evening, Mary, without Henry. It is not fair to
break up people's home party.'

'Bobber than bobtail,' murmured Tom, with a gesture only meant for
Ethel.

'Ave said he would be out till quite late, papa,' said Mary, in self-
defence.

'She ought to have been back before him,' said Dr. May. 'He didn't
seem best pleased to have found her away, and let me tell you, young
woman, it is hard on a man who has been at work all day to come home
and find a dark house and nobody to speak to.'

Mary looked melancholy at this approach to reproof, and Tom observed
in an undertone,

'Never mind, Mary, it is only to give papa the opportunity of
improving his pupil, while you exchange confidence with your bosom
friend. I shall be gone in another month, and there will be nothing
to prevent the perfect fusion of families.'