up beyond the accustomed hour, grew fretful and exceedingly
troublesome, preventing all pleasant intercourse between the
visitors and visited, and that at nine o'clock he was carried off
screaming to his bed.

"If that were my child," said Mr. Little, pausing at his own door,
and turning round to Mr. and Mrs. Manly, who had accompanied his
wife thus far on their way home, "I would teach him better manners,
or I would half kill him. I never saw such an ill-conditioned little
imp in my life!"

"Children are children, you know," was Mr. Manly's quiet reply.

"Yes, but children may be made to behave, if any pains at all be
taken with them. It is really unpardonable for any one to let a
child like that worry visitors as he did us this evening."

"Few children of his age, Mr. Little, unless of a remarkably quiet
and obedient disposition, are much better than Pelby's little boy."

"As to that, Mr. Manly," broke in Mrs. Little, "there's our Tommy, a
fine boy of twelve, as you know. He never acted like that when he
was a child. I never had a bit of trouble with him when we had
company. We could bring him down into the parlour when he was of
Henry Pelby's age, and he would go round and kiss all the ladies so
sweetly, and then go off to bed, like a little man, as he was."

"Ah, Mrs. Little, you forget," said Mr. Manly, laughing.

"Oh, no, indeed, Mr. Manly. I don't forget these things. We could do