The only drawback is if anyone makes the slightest mark on the cloth one of the silver-grey maids brings a saucer of water and wipes it off, and it is apt to make one nervous.

I shall never forget going there to a children's party with David and Jock.

Great-aunt Alison warned us most solemnly before we left home about marking the cloth, so we went rather tremblingly.

There was a splendid tea in the dining-room with silver candlesticks and pink shades, and lovely china, and a glittering cloth, and heaps of good things to eat--grown-up things like sandwiches and rich cakes, such as we hardly ever saw.

Jock was quite small and loved his food even more than he does now, dear lamb.