poodle, who seemed quite used to the proceedings; and there under the
verandah, framed with passion-flowers and geraniums, the Doctor had
gathered mats, rugs, cushions, and arm-chairs, for the party; while far
up in the sky, a yellow-faced harvest moon looked down in awful
benignity.

"Now!" said the Doctor. "Take your seats. Ladies first, and gentlemen
afterwards. Mary and Tiny, race for the American rocking-chair. Well
done! Of course it will hold both. Now, boys, shake down. No one is to
sit on the stone, or put his feet on the grass: and when you're ready,
I'll begin."

"We're ready," said the girls.

The boys shook down in a few minutes more, and the Doctor began the
story of


"THE BROWNIES."

"Bairns are a burden," said the Tailor to himself as he sat at work. He
lived in a village on some of the glorious moors of the north of
England; and by bairns he meant children, as every Northman knows.

"Bairns are a burden," and he sighed.

"Bairns are a blessing," said the old lady in the window. "It is the
family motto. The Trouts have had large families and good luck for
generations; that is, till your grandfather's time. He had one only
son. I married him. He was a good husband, but he had been a spoilt