grown-up? Have they ever thought what a boy feels when his mother
comes down to see him at school and the first thing she does when
he comes into the room is to say that his collar is dirty, or that
his hands want washing? At that moment, perhaps, she lays the
first brick in the wall which builds between mother and son. He is
a happy boy and she a blessed mother who stand always with no wall
between them. All a boy demands of his mother when she comes to
see him at school is that she shall behave just like other people,
and that she shall dress properly. If she can be beautiful, so
much the better: it will redound enormously to his credit. Boys
are very sensitive about their belongings, but when praise can be
bestowed they bestow it, as in the case of Tommy, who wrote to his
father, who had been down to the school to play in a match,
"Fathers against Sons, "Dear father, you did look odd, but you
made the second biggest score."

While I was pondering over these things, the door opened and my
niece Hyacinth came in.

"Hullo!" she said; "mum's out."

"So I hear," I said; "won't you kiss me?"

"Oh! I forgot," she said, twirling round on one leg and holding
out a cheek to be kissed. "There's going to be a party to it."

"So I see, I said; "what sort of a party?"

"Oh! it's the end-up of the dancing class, four to seven; that's
why mum asked you to come early."