"I could have beaten her black and blue!" Her vicious eagerness was almost comic--every one laughed, including Thelma, though she pressed the hand of her little servant very warmly.
"Oh fie!" said Lorimer seriously.

"Little girls mustn't whip their grandmothers; it's specially forbidden in the Prayer-book, isn't it, Phil ?" "I'm sure I don't know!" replied Errington merrily.

"I believe there is something to the effect that a man may not marry his grandmother--perhaps that is what you mean ?" "Ah, no doubt!" murmured Lorimer languidly, as, with the others, he resumed his seat at the supper-table.

"I knew there was a special mandate respecting one's particularly venerable relations, with a view to self-guidance in case they should prove troublesome, like Britta's good grand-mamma.

What a frightfully picturesque mouthing old lady she is!" "She is _la petroleuse_ of Norway!" exclaimed Duprez.