As Mr. Van Buren was a prudent, wise, and good-natured man, he left all
the affairs of housekeeping to his wife. He had so seldom been "below
stairs" that he never had even made the acquaintance of Polly, the
lively bird of the kitchen. The kitten sometimes came up to visit him;
on which occasions she simply purred, and sank down to rest on his knee.

After supper was over, Mr. Van Buren caught Lucy up.

"And now what amusing thing is it that my little girl has to tell
me--something new that Nora has told you of the Fairy Shoemaker?"

"There's really a wonderful thing down in the kitchen, father," said
Lucy; "wonderfuller than anything in the Fairy Shoemaker tales."

"And where did it come from?"

"Down from the sun, father, and Nora says it came in a coach!"

Mr. Van Buren turned to his wife.

"It came from the Consul's," she said--"from Consul Bradley's."

"Has Consul Bradley been here?" he asked, thinking some Chinese curio
had been shipped over. Consul Bradley was a Chinese consular agent, a
man of considerable wealth, with a large knowledge of the world, and
a friend of the Van Buren family.

"No," said Mrs. Van Buren, "but his coach-man has brought me a
kitchen-boy."