Mr.Muir was banished.

"You would be as useful as a whale," she said to him, when he offered to aid his wife in unpacking and getting settled.

"Go down to the piazza and smoke in peace.

I shall be worth a dozen of you as soon as I take off my travelling-dress." She verified her words, and before they were aware of it Mrs.Muir, who was prone to fall into hopeless confusion at such times, and the nurse were acting under her direction.

The elder little boy and girl were coaxed, restrained, managed, and soon sent down to their father, redressed and serene.