[They regard the Family Failure indignantly.
Mr. C. There, there, it was all fun—no harm meant. I'll read the next. "Mr. Limpett met Miss Zeffie in the Burlington Arcade. He said to her, 'O, you little duck!' She said to him, 'Fowls are cheap to-day!' The consequences were that they never smiled again, and the world said, 'What price hot potatoes?'" (Everybody looks depressed.) H'm—not bad—but I think we'll play something else now.
[Zeffie perceives that Algy is not pleased with her.
Tommy (to Uncle Joseph). Uncle, why didn't you carve at dinner?
Uncle J. Well, Tommy, because the carving was done at a side table—and uncommon badly done, too. Why do you want to know?
Tommy. Parpar thought you would carve, I know. He told Mummy she must ask you, because—
Mrs. C. (with a prophetic instinct). Now, Tommy, you mustn't tease your Uncle. Come away, and tell your new Aunt Zeffie what you're going to do with your Christmas boxes.
Tommy. But mayn't I tell him what Parpar said, first?
Mrs. C. No, no; by and by—not now! [She averts the danger.
[Later; the Company are playing "Hide the Thimble"; i.e., someone has planted that article in a place so conspicuous that few would expect to find it there. As each person catches sight of it, he or she sits down. Uncle Joseph is still, to the general merriment, wandering about and getting angrier every moment.