"Have you looked into the envelopes to see that they are all empty?"
"Oh! They're empty enough," replied Tom carelessly. "There, that funny green one has done the business. We shall have a brisk fire in a moment!"
Ned now returned with a sheet of apparently blank paper, and with a smile of curiosity spread it before the now flaming wood. Gradually brown letters appeared on the surface, and Tom spelt out the words:
"Why is Percy Manners like a deal table?
He stands upon four legs, a heavy look wears,
And all that is put on him quietly bears."
"I say, Tom," cried Ned, after a hearty laugh—at his own poor wit, "I think that your brother is so stupid that he does not see the joke!"
"No, I don't," muttered Willy, turning towards the window; then he suddenly added, "I understand it, if you mean that, but—but—"
"Oh! I did not call for an explanation," cried Ned, with a little of the temper of his father. "Maybe you had better keep your thoughts to yourself. Tom, let us visit the kennel, you have not been there." And flinging the paper into the fire, the youth quitted the apartment with his companions.
