out of me i find myself going with them to the � which i consider to be a of stupid jokes and noise � at two o clock in the afternoon when i ought to be in the city and i have come home in an so laden with toys upon a christmas eve as to be publicly objected to by my fellow passengers when one after forty as i did one is more induced to make a fool of one s self in this way and the younger the child is i think the more power the little darling has over one my beloved aged four and called may for and pulled my wig off the other day in the presence of persons of distinction of both sexes and yet i had not the heart to her i would certainly have put a boy to death to slow music for that i wore such a thing of london life it was i am af who let me in for the party papa dear i want a was her observation one morning when she came in as usual to my opera tions and i thinking that she meant something to eat said very well then you shall have it this concession mad e under the greatest was held by the rest of the family including even the wife of my bosom as a promise and there was no peace for the present writer until it was fulfilled i did not myself entertain any great apprehensions of the result i thought that little girls would be invited to play for a few hours with our own and that they would have cake and wine and go away again i certainly did not anticipate any personal inconvenience from their coming i intended to arrive at home from the city an hour earlier than ordinary in order to see the young folks enjoying themselves and then to dine as comfortably as usual with my assisted by the consciousness of having performed a domestic duty with a good grace when there il i lights and shadows fore my wife observed at breakfast upon the morning of the day my love we must dine at twelve o clock to day if you please the suggestion took my breath away at twelve o clock at night or at noon i inquired i well my dear at noon i know you hate dining out of all things so i have managed that we shall get a dinner � but it will be rather a scramble and they will be taking the furniture out of both the drawing rooms and the school room must be given up for the early tea so that we must dine i am afraid down stairs in the servants hall and why not in the dining room asked i aghast at these arrangements why you dear silly old man of course the dining room table will be all set out for supper long before twelve o clock and as for your � you don t mean to say madam that my study will not be sacred i ejaculated i laying down the of london life il newspaper to part with which at such a time no light thing would induce me dear papa s down observed the intelligent who as usual had taken up her post in expectation of at my knee i rose in alarm and sought my to behold with my own eyes the extent of the damage the sacred apartment had already been turned into a dressing room my desk and papers were thrust into a comer and their place upon the table occupied by a looking glass and and the genius of discomfort had rendered in twenty minutes the apartment in the house as cheerless as a s back room good heavens cried i who is it who demands these sacrifices cannot half a dozen of the girls of my friends jones and robinson be entertained without all this fuss when we lived in the country my house was never turned in this manner because in our country house there was lots of room my love returned my wife a l lights and shadows party in london requires a good deal of preparation and it is necessary to our space but my dear madam i you don t mean to say that six extra girls however preposterous may be their require there are more than six observed my wife you know you promised a party how many then are coming in gasped i with anxiety tell me the worst � that is the most that are likely to come well it is impossible to say some mothers are so stupid about answering invitations but we are sure of three and thirty at least three and thirty little girls coming to night madam what re not all girls do you mean to tell me that you have asked any horrid boys well my dear love you wouldn t have been so absurd as to give a party composed entirely of one sex the girls would not enjoy it without the boys op london i am sorry to hear it replied i at what time do they all go away now i do hope you are not going to desert us exclaimed my laying her fingers affectionately upon my arm we depend upon you for providing amusement you know the master of the house always does that he either dresses up dresses up ejaculated i indignantly what do you mean by that madam why he ix be a or a tiger or something of that sort and if he doesn t mind running about on all but if he does mind madam interrupted i with � if he at his time of life to expose to any description of ridicule what does he do then well then of course he goes out into the town and a or a punch and 