Stan Goodman Beth Trapaga Tonya Allen and the Online DistributedProofreading TeamMRS DAYS DAUGHTERSByMARY E MANN  The common growth of Mother Earth  Suffices meher tears her mirth  Her humblest mirth and tearsCONTENTSCHAPTERI      Their Large HoursII     Something Wrong At The OfficeIII    Forcuss Family AleIV     DisasterV      Deleahs ErrandVI     Sour MisfortuneVII    Husband And FatherVIII   The Way OutIX     For The Widow And The FatherlessX      Exiles From Lifes RevelsXI     The Attractive BessieXII    The Attractive DeleahXIII   The Gay Gilded SceneXIV    A TeaParty In Bridge StreetXV     The Manchester ManXVI    For BernardXVII   What Is It NowXVIII  The Dangerous ScroogeXIX    When Beauty CallsXX     Sir Francis Makes A CallXXI    In For ItXXII   The Importunate Mr GibbonXXIII  Deleah Has No DignityXXIV   The ColdHearted FatesXXV    To Make ReparationXXVI   A HouseholderXXVII  Promotion For Mrs DayXXVIII At Laburnum VillaXXIX   A Prohibition CancelledXXX    Deleah Grows UpXXXI   Bessies HourXXXII  The Man With The Mad EyesXXXIII The Moment Of TriumphCHAPTER ITheir Large HoursIt was three oclock in the morning when the guests danced Sir Roger deCoverley at Mrs William Days New Years party They would as soon havethought of having supper without trifle tipsycake and syllabub in thosedays as of finishing the evening without Sir Roger Dancing had begun atseventhirty The lady at the piano was drooping with weariness Violin andcello yawned over their bows only spasmodically and halfheartedly thethrum and jingle of the tambourine fell on the earThe last was an instrument not included in the small band of theprofessional musicians but was twisted and shaken and thumped on hand andknee and toe by no less an amateur than Mr William Day himselfThe master of the house was too stout for dancing of too restless andirritable a temperament for the role of lookeron He loved noise alwaysabove all noise made by himself He thought no entertainment reallysuccessful at which you could hear yourself speak He would have preferreda big drum whereby to inspirit the dancers but failing that clashed thebells of the tambourine in their earsThe tambourine is such fun the dancers always said who out of breathfrom polka or schottische or galop paused at his side A dance at yourhouse would not be the same thing at all without your tambourine Mr DayHe banged it the louder for such compliments turned it on his broad thumbshook it over his great head with its shock of sandcoloured and grey hairmaking as the more saturnine of his guests confided in each other a mostinfernal rowBut an exercise of eight hours is long enough for even the most agreeableperformance and by the time Sir Roger de Coverley had brought theprogramme to an end the clash and rattle of the tambourine was onlyfitfully heard Perceiving which Deleah Day younger daughter of thehouse a slight darkhaired darkeyed girl of sixteen left her place inone of the two sides of the figure extending nearly the length of theroom ran to her father and taking the tambourine from him pulled upon hishandsYes papa Yes she urged him Every year since I was able to toddle youhave danced Sir Roger with meand you shallHe shouted his protest laughed uproariously when he yielded and all inthe noisy way which to his thinking contributed to enjoyment Presentlystanding opposite the upright pretty figure of his daughter he wasbrawling to her what a naughty rogue she was and calling on all to witnessthat he was about to make an exhibition of himself for the pleasure of histyranthis little Deleah Then turning with his hands on the shouldersof the young man before him he was racing down the room to join hands withthe laughing Deleah at the end of the procession ducking his heavyshortnecked head to squeeze his broad figure with her slight one underthe archway of raised arms dashing to his place opposite his daughter atthe top of the room again Breathless laughing spluttering stamping hewent through it allAnd now he and his little partner are themselves topcouple and mustdance the half length of the room to be swung round by the pair dancingto meet them must be swung by right hand by left by both hands mustdance to bow dance to caper with the opposite couple back to back AndWilliam Day who had loved dancing till he grew too fat to dance and wasextraordinarily light on his feet for such a big heavilymade man nevercried for mercy but cheered on his companions and footed it to the endNever again he declared when the dance was over and he stood smackinghis chest panting struggling for breath with which to bid his guestsgoodnight Youll never any of you catch me making such a fool of myselfagainWhy papa you danced it beautifully Every single year you shall danceSir Roger de Coverley and you shall always dance it with meHe shouted that he would not He always shouted He would have felt himselffalling behind himself on this festive occasion if he had been lessboisterous to the endI think it has been the nicest of all our parties Deleah declared to hersister as the girls went to their roomIve certainly enjoyed it the most said Bessie And Reggie said so hadheYou danced six times with Reggie Bess I countedIt is a pity you were not better employed You wanted to dance with himyourself I supposeWhy I did Deleah cried and laughed I danced the Lancers withhim_twice_ And in the grand chain he lifted me off my feet Hes mostbeautifully strong Reggie is Did he lift you off your feet BessReggie would know better than to take such a liberty