"
"Repetition, Babie," said her mother; "too like the Montjoie S. Denis
poem."
"It saves so much trouble, mother."
"And a recall to the freshness and innocence of childhood is so
pleasing," added Jock.
"How much did the man of family let his moor for?" asked Allen.
There Cecil saw the pitiful and indignant face opposite to him, would
have sulked, and began looking at her for sympathy, exclaiming at
last—-
"Haven't you a word to say for me, Miss Brownlow?"
"I don't like it at all. I don't think it is fair," broke from
Essie, as she coloured crimson at the laugh.
"He likes it, my dear," said Babie.
"It is a gentle titillation," said Allen.
"He can't get on without it," said the Friar.
"And comes for it like the cattle to the scrubbing-stones," said the
Skipjack.
"Yes," said Armine; "but he tries to get pitied, like Chico walking
on three legs when some one is looking at him."
"You deal in most elegant comparisons," said the mother.
"Only to get him a little more pitied," said Jock. "He is as
grateful as possible for being made so interesting."
"Hark, there's a knock!" cried Allen. "Can't you instruct your cubs
not to punish the door so severely, Jock? I believe they think that
the more row they make, the more they proclaim their nobility!"
"The obvious derivation of the word stunning," said Mother Carey, as
she rose to meet her guests in the drawing-room, and Cecil to hold
the door for her.
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