This would be well enough if Mr. and Mrs. Sliverstone kept it to
themselves, or even to themselves and a friend or two; but they do
not. The more hearers they have, the more egotistical the couple
become, and the more anxious they are to make believers in their
merits. Perhaps this is the worst kind of egotism. It has not
even the poor excuse of being spontaneous, but is the result of a
deliberate system and malice aforethought. Mere empty-headed
conceit excites our pity, but ostentatious hypocrisy awakens our
disgust.



THE COUPLE WHO CODDLE THEMSELVES



Mrs. Merrywinkle's maiden name was Chopper. She was the only child
of Mr. and Mrs. Chopper. Her father died when she was, as the
play-books express it, 'yet an infant;' and so old Mrs. Chopper,
when her daughter married, made the house of her son-in-law her
home from that time henceforth, and set up her staff of rest with
Mr. and Mrs. Merrywinkle.

Mr. and Mrs. Merrywinkle are a couple who coddle themselves; and
the venerable Mrs. Chopper is an aider and abettor in the same.

Mr. Merrywinkle is a rather lean and long-necked gentleman, middle-
aged and middle-sized, and usually troubled with a cold in the
head. Mrs. Merrywinkle is a delicate-looking lady, with very light