We soon met Mike, running. The moment he
recognized us, he shouted:--
"Aye, ye little dhivils,--beggin' yer pardon, Masther Harry, an'
thankin' the Howly Mither that their good-for-nothin' little bones
ain't broke to bits. Av they saw a hippypottymus hitched to
Pharaoh's chariot, they'd think 'emselves jist the byes to take
the bossin' av it, the spalpeens."
But no number of ordinary hippopotami and chariots could have
disturbed the heavenly tranquillity of my mind on this most
glorious of evenings. Even a subtle sense of the fitness of things
seemed to overshadow my nephews. Perhaps the touch of my
enchantress did it; perhaps it came only from the natural relapse
from great excitement; but no matter what the reason was, the fact
remains that for the rest of the evening two very dirty suits of
clothes held two children who gave one some idea of how the
denizens of Paradise might seem and act. They even ate their
suppers without indulging in any of the repulsive ways of which
they had so large an assortment, and they did not surreptitiously
remove from the table any fragments of bread and butter to leave
on the piano, in the card-basket, and other places inappropriate
to the reception of such varieties of abandoned property. They
demanded a song after supper, but when I sang, "Drink to Me only
with Thine Eyes," and "Thou, Thou, Reign'st in this Bosom," they
stood by with silent tongues and appreciative eyes.
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