very decidedly the favourite,--to bear off my beloved woolly dog to
be stabled in the houses of wooden bricks which the two were
continually constructing for their menagerie of maimed animals.

Griff was deservedly the favourite with every one who was not, like
our parents, conscientiously bent on impartiality. He was so bright
and winning, he had such curly tight-rolled hair with a tinge of
auburn, such merry bold blue eyes, such glowing dimpled cheeks, such
a joyous smile all over his face, and such a ringing laugh; he was
so strong, brave, and sturdy, that he was a boy to be proud of, and
a perfect king in his own way, making every one do as he pleased.
All the maids, and Peter the footman, were his slaves, every one
except nurse and mamma, and it was only by a strong effort of
principle that they resisted him; while he dragged Clarence about as
his devoted though not always happy follower.

Alas! for Clarence! Courage was not in him. The fearless infant
boy chiefly dwells in conventional fiction, and valour seldom comes
before strength. Moreover, I have come to the opinion that though
no one thought of it at the time, his nerves must have had a
terrible and lasting shock at the accident and at the sight of my
crushed and deathly condition, which occupied every one too much for
them to think of soothing or shielding him. At any rate, fear was
the misery of his life. Darkness was his horror. He would scream
till he brought in some one, though he knew it would be only to
scold or slap him. The housemaid's closet on the stairs was to him
an abode of wolves. Mrs. Gatty's tale of The Tiger in the Coal-box
is a transcript of his feelings, except that no one took the trouble
to reassure him; something undefined and horrible was thought to wag
in the case of the eight-day clock; and he could not bear to open