cameo brooch, and the poke bonnet, like some fractious child, shaken
and petted into good condition, she would be singing softly to
herself, nodding her head to the words: which were generally to the
effect that somebody was too old and somebody else too bold and
another too cold, "so he wouldn't do for me;" and stepping lightly as
though the burden of the years had fallen from her.

One evening--it was before the advent of this Hasluck--I remember
climbing out of bed, for trouble was within me. Creatures,
indescribable but heavy, had sat upon my chest, after which I had
fallen downstairs, slowly and reasonably for the first few hundred
flights, then with haste for the next million miles or so, until I
found myself in the street with nothing on but my nightshirt.
Personally, I was shocked, but nobody else seemed to mind, and I
hailed a two-penny 'bus and climbed in. But when I tried to pay I
found I hadn't any pockets, so I jumped out and ran away and the
conductor came after me. My feet were like lead, and with every step
he gained on me, till with a scream I made one mighty effort and
awoke.

Feeling the need of comfort after these unpleasant but by no means
unfamiliar experiences, I wrapped some clothes round me and crept
downstairs. The "office" was dark, but to my surprise a light shone
from under the drawing-room door, and I opened it.

The candles in the silver candlesticks were lighted, and in state, one
in each easy-chair, sat my father and mother, both in their best
clothes; my father in the buckled shoes and the frilled shirt that I
had never seen him wear before, my mother with the Indian shawl about
her shoulders, and upon her head the cap of ceremony that reposed