"You carry your age badly," shouted the determined old man; "she should
see our Esther, shouldn't she, Mary?"

The silence here of the young people was positively electric with
suppressed laughter. Two of them escaped to explode in another room, and
Esther and her mother were left to save the situation. But on such
occasions as these Mrs. Mesurier grew positively great; and the manner
in which she contrived to "turn the conversation," and smooth over the
terrible hiatus, was a feat that admits of no worthy description.

Presently the old man rose to go, as the clock neared five. He had
promised to be home before dark, and Esther would think him "benighted"
if he should be late. He evidently had been to America and back in that
short afternoon.

"Well, Mary, good-bye," he said; "one never knows whether we shall meet
again. I'm getting an old man."

"Eh, Uncle Clegg, you're worth twenty dead ones yet," said Mrs.
Mesurier, reassuringly.

"What a strange old gentleman!" said Mrs. Turtle, somewhat bewildered,
as this family apparition left the room.

"Good-bye, Uncle Clegg," Esther was heard singing in the hall.
"Good-bye, be careful of the steps. Good-bye. Give our love to
Aunt Esther."

Then the door would bang, and the whole house breathe a gigantic sigh of