Pick out your plums for yourself, old fellow, and I'll be one of the first to call you a good boy for your pains." With this Mr.Sheldon slapped his brother's shoulder and departed.
"I think I've had the best of Master Phil for once," muttered George; and then he thrust his sinewy hands into the depths of his trousers-pocket, and indulged in a silent laugh, which displayed his strong square white teeth to perfection.

"I flatter myself I took a rise out of Phil to-day," he muttered.
The sense of a malicious triumph over a social enemy is a very delightful kind of thing,--so delightful that a man is apt to ignore the possible cost of the enjoyment.

It is like the pleasure of kicking a man who is down--very delicious in its way; only one never knows how soon the man may be up again.
George Sheldon, who was tolerably skilled in the science of human nature, should have known that "taking a rise" out of his brother was likely to be a rather costly operation.

Philip was not the safest man to deal with at any time; but he was most dangerous when he was "jolly.".