husband's trousers and saying, 'Brightbourne's the place for change,'"
said the girl. "Would that suit?"

"Of course not," snapped her father.

"Or the one where the bed is full of fleas?" the boy suggested.

"No jokes about fleas," said the father sternly. "No, you must change
those for something else. Don't be funny at all with either your Uncle
or Aunt. We can't run any risks. Send them local views--coloured ones,
of course, but strictly local."

"Mr. Gates helped us," said the boy meanly.

"Mr. Gates doesn't know all the facts," said the father.

"He can guess one or two of them," said Mr. Gates, jingling his
pocket.

"Fred is so quick," said his admiring wife.

"Well, and what are the others?" the mother asked. "There's Mr. Brown
and Mrs. Venning. Why shouldn't Mr. Brown have the whisky one? I'm
sure he'd laugh. But you couldn't send Mrs. Venning the old maid."

"We got this for Mr. Brown," said the boy. "The nurse bringing the
father twins and calling them two 'pink forms.'"

"That's dashed good," said Mr. Gates, "don't you think?"