"It would be useless to give the whole of it here; for it contained ten verses. The last two were those which Macassar was wont to sing to himself, as he wandered lonely under the elms of Kensington Gardens.
"'Oh, how she walks,
And how she talks,
And sings like a bird serene;
But of this be sure
While the world shall endure,
The loveliest lady that'll ever be seen
Will still be the Lady Crinoline,
The lovely Lady Crinoline.
"'With her hair done all à l'impératrice,
Sweetly done with the best of grease,
She looks like a Goddess or Queen,—
And so I declare,
And solemnly swear,
That the loveliest lady that ever was seen
Is still the Lady Crinoline,
The lovely Lady Crinoline.'"
'And so ends the third chapter,' said Mrs. Woodward.
Both Katie and Linda were beginning to criticize, but Mrs. Woodward repressed them sternly, and went on with
"CHAPTER IV. — "'It was a lovely day towards the end of May that Macassar Jones, presenting himself before the desk of the senior clerk at one o'clock, begged for permission to be absent for two hours. The request was preferred with meek and hesitating voice, and with downcast eyes.
"The senior clerk shook his grey locks sadly! sadly he shook his thin grey locks, for he grieved at the sight which he saw. 'Twas sad to see the energies of this young man thus sapped in his early youth by the all-absorbing strength of a hopeless passion. Crinoline was now, as it were, a household word at the Episcopal Audit Board. The senior clerk believed her to be cruel, and as he knew for what object these two hours of idleness were requested, he shook his thin grey locks in sorrow.
"'I'll be back at three, sir, punctual,' said Macassar.
"'But, Mr. Jones, you are absent nearly every day for the same period.'
"'To-day shall be the last; to-day shall end it all,' said Macassar, with a look of wretched desperation.
"'What—what would Sir Gregory say?' said the senior clerk.