I laughed, but Theobald turned to me impatiently and said, `Please do not laugh, Overton; it will make the boy think it does not matter, and it matters a great deal'; then turning to Ernest he said, `Now, Ernest, I will give you one more chance, and if you don't say "come," I shall know that you are self-willed and naughty.'

He looked very angry, and a shade came over Ernest's face, like that which comes upon the face of a puppy when it is being scolded without understanding why. The child saw well what was coming now, was frightened, and, of course, said `tum' once more.

`Very well, Ernest,' said his father, catching him angrily by the shoulder. `I have done my best to save you, but if you will have it so, you will,' and he lugged the little wretch, crying by anticipation, out of the room. A few minutes more and we could hear screams coming from the dining-room across the hall which separated the drawing-room from the dining-room, and knew that poor Ernest was being beaten.

`I have sent him up to bed,' said Theobald, as he returned to the drawing-room, `and now, Christina, I think we will have the servants in to prayers,' and he rang the bell for them, red-handed as he was.