himself no doubt with the reflection that he could charge for the
unreasonableness of the demand in the bill. The coachman and butler
had come down two days before their master, so that things might be
in order. Mrs. Hopkins learned from the butler that though the
party would at first consist only of three, two other very august
persons were to follow on the Saturday,--no less than Lady Augustus
Trefoil and her daughter Arabella. And Mrs. Hopkins was soon led to
imagine, though no positive information was given to her on the
subject, that Miss Trefoil was engaged to be married to their
Master. "Will he live here altogether, Mr, Tankard?" Mrs. Hopkins
asked. To this question Mr. Tankard was able to give a very
definite answer. He was quite sure that Mr. Morton would not live
anywhere altogether. According to Mr. Tankard's ideas, the whole
foreign policy of England depended on Mr. John Morton's presence in
some capital, either in Europe, Asia, or America,--upon Mr.
Morton's presence, and of course upon his own also. Mr. Tankard
thought it not improbable that they might soon be wanted at Hong
Kong, or some very distant place, but in the meantime they were
bound to be back at Washington very shortly. Tankard had himself
been at Washington, and also before that at Lisbon, and could tell
Mrs. Hopkins how utterly unimportant had been the actual ministers
at those places, and how the welfare of England had depended
altogether on the discretion and general omniscience of his young
master,--and of himself. He, Tankard, had been the only person in
Washington who had really known in what order Americans should go
out to dinner one after another. Mr. Elias Gotobed, who was coming,
was perhaps the most distinguished American of the day, and was
Senator for Mickewa.

"Mickey war!" said poor Mrs. Hopkins,--"that's been one of them